Something for nothing?

Jacob, son of Issac and Rebekah, was often blessed by God and never seemed to deserve any of it. None of us do, but when a scalawag is continually bailed out but always treated well, it can seem unfair. This passage suggests he may have grown to expecting blessings without any effort on his part:  
As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month. Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” (Genesis 29:13–15)

It seems to me that God is not using this to illustrate salvation, which is never earned or dissevered, but addressing the attitude of the one is blessed by God’s favor. Gratitude is not the same as taking Him for granted. I often call myself God's spoiled brat, but realize this is not the same as having a totally grateful attitude that humbly knows His love and kindness, rather than always expecting it.

I’ve been really sick for a few days, likely a virus and no fun at all, but snapping my fingers for the Lord to fix it is not part of His plan, at least not at this time. I know that He wants me to accept this and keep my mind on the joy set before me, not grumble or wonder why He isn’t doing something for me right now.

Jesus, I’m learning to accept discomfort, even extreme and long sessions of struggle. this is on Your mind, but was not on mine. However, I do trust You and believe You lovingly remain in charge of my life. For the joy set before me, may You grant the endurance needed to glorify You.

That perfect man . . .

My daughter was in her teens when she decided a certain TV personality was a perfect man. She now realizes he was not, but at the time he looked awfully good to her. Both of us realize, as almost everyone knows, finding perfection is impossible, or is it?

Luke addressed his Gospel primarily to Greek readers presenting Jesus as the Son of Man, the ideal human being. The Greeks had long sought after the “perfect man” so this New Testament book was designed to show them their ideal. Luke did this in several ways.

First, he described the unique birth of Jesus, born of a virgin and protected by God (Luke 1 and 2). Then he writes of God’s verification of His love and pleasure:

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21–22)

Luke also tells of Jesus in the synagogue on the Sabbath day testifying Himself of His role as a man:

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:17–21)

His mission was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). He was sinless and not lost Himself.

Luke also puts emphasis on His prayer life, parables, gracious dealings with interesting people and evidence of the Holy Spirit in His life. The Spirit was involved in His birth, descended on Him at His baptism, was upon Him in the synagogue as He quoted Isaiah 61 (above) because He was full of the Holy Spirit and followed His leading:

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. (Luke 4:1–2)

I’ve been reading the book, “Twelve Patients” on which the television series, “New Amsterdam” is based. It is not an easy read. The stories of real people in dire straits, including the author who himself battled cancer, is well-written and gut-wrenching. This book is putting a stop to my whining about petty things like a sore neck. It almost makes me feel guilty about being as healthy as I am.

When I read about Jesus and His perfections, I’m pulled to the other end of emotions. It is one thing to compare my health to those worse off and quite another to compare myself with Someone who is sinless, lived totally pleasing to God, knew His mission and fulfilled it perfectly, and was willing to do whatever the Holy Spirit asked of Him, even go into a desolate place to be tempted by the devil.

^^^^^^^^^^^

Oh Jesus, from this brief overview of Luke, I am drawn again to the wonder and perfection of You. You came to seek and save me, as well as millions of others. I must bow my head in gratitude at the amazing grace of God and the humility of the incarnation. You became a man, a perfect man, that I might be redeemed, even one day to be like You. I am overwhelmed once again.

Value of Gratitude

Being thankful, or not, reveals much about a person. Those who are thankful seem to be more apt to acknowledge being needy. They also realize that someone else provided for them, maybe even God. Thankfulness is a biblical virtue, even commanded.

It used to bother me if I gave something to someone and they didn’t thank me. I felt disappointed and unappreciated. However, God has shown me that I should badly for their sake. Anyone who has forgotten or neglects to be thankful is missing out on gratitude, which is very important to Him.

Chambers says it is natural to expect some return when we are helpful or generous. This is true. However, God looks for spiritual fruit in the lives of others as a response to His grace. That suggests that if a person is not thankful, or does not acknowledge love and kindness, then a Spirit-filled person will feel badly also, not for being unappreciated but from a concern that the recipient is missing out on being grateful. Paul illustrates this when he wrote to the Christians in Philippi. He told them . . .

Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. (Philippians 4:16–17)

The above serves as explanation for something I noticed this morning. The devotional reading used a different translation from what I use. The New King James Version says this:

And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. (2 Corinthians 12:15)

From the way it is translated, it looks like Paul is talking about serving them along the lines of, ‘I do not care whether you love me or not, I am willing to destitute myself completely, not merely for your sakes, but that I may get you to God.’ In other words, the focus is about making a sacrifice regardless of the response.

However, the version I use gives a different perspective, one that I like better. It says:

I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? (2 Corinthians 12:15, English Standard Version)

In this translation, Paul seems to be looking for a return, even asking a rhetorical question as if his readers should understand this should be their response to his ministry. He reflects the clear teaching in the Bible that sinners do not love God until we realize how much He loves us. This applies also on a human level. If someone loves us to the point of being spent for us, should we not love that person in return?

The original language agrees with that idea. Paul isn’t offering the example of selfless service to point out that the more he is rejected, the more he will love them. This isn’t about him, but about what he wants to see in their lives. He is glad to serve them selflessly, but expects that they will respond to his love.

Jesus gave Himself for me. The Bible says: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)

The point either way is that I do things for others without reserve just as Jesus died for sinners whether they responded or not. Paul preached to everyone, regardless of their response. The ministries to the homeless in our city feed these men and women whether they are thankful or complain about the food.

From this, it seems that willingness to serve others without a return is important, yet doing it with hope that there will be a fruitful response is more like Jesus, more like Paul. I am not to martyr myself in service with a focus on ‘look how sacrificial I am’ but with a focus on, “God, use this to bring forth a godly response that pleases You and blesses those who bear the fruit.”

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For the family: My brother-in-law’s funeral is March 5.

Journal keeping and prayer lists

Joshua 12:1–13:32, 2 Corinthians 11:7–15, Psalm 52:1–53:6

After reading the Bible through each year for several years, I still want to skip the genealogies and long lists of names and places. However, this morning God showed me something I’d not seen before. This passage in Joshua is a list of conquered tribes and kings, and the allotment of their land to the people of God . . .

“Now these are the kings of the land whom the people of Israel defeated and took possession of their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon, with all the Arabah eastward . . . . And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak . . . .” (Joshua 12:1,7)

Other than writing down who owned what parcel of land, these records seem of little importance, but what if they were considered journals? What if a church or each Christian kept a journal recording their victories in Christ? What if this journal was read at regular intervals? Wouldn’t that be an encouragement? Re-reading these victories would also be a reminder so when the same temptations and problems came up again (and they do), conquering them would be easier.

The next attention-getting verses don’t offer the same positive results, at least at first. They say, “Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, ‘You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess. This is the land that yet remains . . . .’” (Joshua 13:1–2)

For Joshua, this was a to-do list. God told him to rout the evil out of their land, but much of that land remained as it was before. He needed to spur his people to action. Some of them became complacent, or didn’t see the dangers posed by these tribes, or had other reasons for not wanting to engage in war against their enemies.

Although I’ve done this on a very limited basis, this reminded me of taking time to write a list of problem areas, things that continually trip me up, and issues the Bible calls besetting sins. Those are “land yet to be conquered” and need a determined effort. Since I know that Jesus is my Savior and I cannot save myself, this list has to be a prayer list. After praying about a particular temptation, or about any persistent sin, God has a way of cleansing it out of my life. Sometimes I’ve given my list to my husband and he intercedes for me also.

The NT reading and the one from Psalm 52 gave me a couple items to put on that prayer list. The first one is specific, but the root of it takes a backhand to my pride: “Did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God’s gospel to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you.” (2 Corinthians 11:7–8) I’m not preaching, but I do have a problem in some areas with humbling myself so others can be exalted.

The psalmist begins with another challenge: “Why do you brag of evil, ‘Big Man’? God’s mercy carries the day.” (Psalm 52:1, The Message). While I rarely brag of evil, I do like to brag. Pride again, but this verse convicts me. I may not be bragging about evil, but in bragging about anything, the bragging becomes an evil. Another item for my prayer list.

The third one is from these verses: “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. I will thank you forever, because you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.” (Psalm 52:8–9)

Trusting God’s love is easier than being continually thankful for it. I’m not sure Satan keeps whispering his original lie to me (God doesn’t really love you) and I buy it, or if I take God for granted, or what is going on, but I suspect by persisting in prayer about this need to express gratitude will be God’s way of getting to the root of it.

Overflowing gratitude and joy

“ . . . You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” (Psalm 23:5)

This portion of God’s Word is becoming even more precious this week because of some interaction with a person who is without this anointing. I’ve never been one to count my blessings based on the lack of blessing in the lives of others, yet this person vividly demonstrates to me what my life would be like without the anointing of God.

For one thing, it keeps me from being deceived by false teaching. 1 John 2:26-27 says, “I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.”

Christians in tune with the Spirit of God can spot false teaching. This ability has nothing to do with IQ. It comes from the Holy Spirit who lives in us, who has given us the mind of Christ . . .

For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:11–16)

This is why the New Testament is filled with warnings to abide in Christ and not think or act according to our sinful natures. Every time I neglect to abide, my discernment becomes blurry. It also happens if I become totally focused on one thing (like healing, or spiritual gifts, or something I want from God). He tells me to abide in Christ, be filled with the Spirit, and not let the flesh win that battle between it and God’s Spirit. This is vital in fighting false teaching because yielding to God always comes first toward winning any spiritual battle. Only He can empower His people in our struggle to resist Satan (James 4:7).

I need God’s anointing. The enemy is strong and relentless. I cannot keep my own mind from drifting off into false notions or other kinds of sin. “It is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” (2 Corinthians 1:21–22)

In all things, the Lord is my Shepherd. He anoints my head with the oil of the Holy Spirit and because of Him, my cup overflows with gratitude and joy!