It is better to give.

My husband and I have just experienced the wonderful joy of giving to another. You see, several years back we bought a timeshare in a ski town in our beautiful state of Colorado. We (almost) immediately regretted the decision, but decided to make the best of it. In the past years we haven’t used the timeshare much and rather it has begun to feel like a weight around our necks with the homeowner’s fees, etc, etc. So this year we decided to rent out our week since we wouldn’t be able to use it anyway. After a few weeks, many of the days were not rented, so we began to offer the time to friends, so that at least it wouldn’t just sit empty.

Then, last Sunday, I met a lady who goes to our church at the Christmas choir practice. She introduced herself and said she was getting married in six days and that consumed her thoughts. Later during practice I asked if they were going anywhere and she mentioned a casino town that they would stay at for one night. Later that day it hit me: we had the timeshare time.

It was probably one of the most random voice messages I have ever left: “Hi, are you the one singing in the Christmas choir that’s getting married this weekend? If you're not, this message won’t make sense. I was one of the sopranos singing with you and I got your number from the church directory. I wanted to offer you our timeshare in Breckenridge for the four days after your wedding…” She called me back later, ecstatic! Her joy, and the joy I felt, moved me to tears.

In Acts 20:35, Paul reminds his audience that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Before this last weekend, I knew it. I believed it in my mind as a truth. Now, I know it in my heart! I have experienced it! But what I have realized is that this is how we are to conduct all our giving. We give to others because we are not bothered if we lose it. It was easy to offer the timeshare to my new friend because it was not a loss anyway – it would have sat empty, not earning us money. As God’s stewards, this is how we are to treat all our possessions. They aren’t ours, they are our Master’s, and He doesn’t mind if we offer them to others freely. The mill stone around our necks, a.k.a. timeshare, has been turned into a blessing, because we were able to use it to bless others.

When we hold things so tightly, we miss out on joy and blessing. When we say, “This is mine,” we are carving out an area of our lives that we refuse to give to God. So God can’t use it to bless others, or to bless us. Believe me, this is no easy thing. We all have debts to pay, bills to pay, hobbies to fund, and at this time of year, Christmas presents to buy. The question is, do we want man’s blessing and gifts, or God’s? This is not prosperity gospel. When we turn our entire selves and all we have over to God and depend on Him to provide for us we are blessed because our worth, value, and identity are now found in God, and not in what others think of us, or what we have. This is what it means to be blessed: our identity and inheritance are found in God and cannot be taken away. So when we hear that it is more blessed to give than to receive, it is because giving is a characteristic of God. When we become givers, we become more Christ-like, and we look to God to give us worth and an identity.

So, be blessed and joyful, and be wise, but generous givers.

Psalm 19

Psalm 19 begins with an exposition of how creation declares the glory of God. The skies and the sun show that He is great and powerful and worthy of honor and praise. Then the psalm turns towards God’s law and what He has revealed about Himself to mankind.

7          The Law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.

            The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

8          The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.

            The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

9          The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.

            The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.

Really? Have you ever found the Law of the Lord to be refreshing? Or is it condemning? Do we really believe that the statutes of the Lord are trustworthy? Why don’t we follow them completely then? Do the precepts and commands of the Lord bring us joy which shines through our eyes? Do we live out the righteous decrees of the Lord, or do we shy away from the hard ones that require great sacrifice? Do we truly desire to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ through obedience?

I confess, this Psalm took me by surprise as I read through it one morning this week. These three verses are something I can mentally affirm. Yes, I believe all these things. However, I do not always live in light of them. God says to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). But this is really hard to do when someone is slandering our name, gossiping about us behind our back, or making life really difficult. My prayer in such circumstances is that God would deal with them, not that God would help me love them!

Psalm 19 tells us what kind of God we serve: One who is perfect and can refresh the soul; one who is trustworthy and can grow us; one who is the source of joy and light, one who is pure and endures forever; and one who is righteous and unwavering. What an amazing God! In God’s law, statutes, precepts, commands, and decrees, God has revealed Himself to us, and as we keep these things, we come to know Him and become more like Him.

The psalm continues:

10        They are more precious that gold, than much pure gold

            They are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.

11        By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

12        But who can discern their own errors? Forgive me hidden faults!

13        Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.

            Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.

14        May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart by pleasing in your sight,

            Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Is our greatest fear falling into sin? If so, then God’s law is so valuable to us! It is sweeter than honey and more precious than pure gold, because it warns us of where we will fall into sin. By it, we are warned, taught, enlightened, and can seek forgiveness so that we can stand before God innocent.

If our greatest fear is not falling into sin, and harming our relationship with our Redeemer, then God’s law is just a guideline, not a lifeline.  Take time to examine yourself and your heart. Are you troubled by your sin? The white lies you tell to get out of something or puff yourself up before others? The blind eye you turn towards the suffering and the desperate? The evil thoughts you think towards others while driving?

God is troubled by your sin. He is so troubled that He foresaw your sin and transgressions, and sent his only Son to pay the price for them so that you could be saved and have a relationship with your Creator and Redeemer. He gave us His law and precepts, His idea of what righteousness, justice, mercy, and grace look like so that we could learn His ways. May we all desire righteousness through obedience to the law and will of God!

God gave because God is sovereign: Daniel 1

The first chapter of Daniel opens with a brief summary of the events that led up to the Southern Kingdom of Judah being exiled: Nebuchadnezzar came, besieged Jerusalem, and won. So he took some of the vessels of the temple of the Lord and brought them to Babylon to put in his own god’s temple.

Keep in mind that in the Ancient Near East, every war was a holy war. The nation with the stronger god would win the war, and then plunder the temple of the weaker God. Remember 1 Samuel 4-5? When the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant they brought it into their god’s temple. Then next morning the statue of their god, Dagan, had fallen over. So they set it back up, dusted it off and went on with their day. The next morning, the statue of Dagan had fallen over again, and its head and hands had been broken off in the fall. So the head priest called the architect and engineer to lodge a complaint. No. The Philistines were shaken, because not only had their god fallen to the ground before the ark of the Lord (1 Sam 5:4) and been broken, the people began to get sick. So they say, “Dagan is our god (1 Sam 5:7),” and send the Ark of the Lord back to the Israelites.

Fast forward to Daniel’s time, Nebuchadnezzar is plundering the temple of the Lord because, well, because he can. The book of Daniel gives us a new perspective on what is actually going on. Daniel 1:2 says, “The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God…” Nebuchadnezzar didn’t just come and take because he had a larger army; he came and took because God allowed it. The God of David is not the weaker god; by contrast, he is the one who allowed the Kingdom of Judah to survive Sennacherib of Assyria’s attack about 100 years before (2 Kings 18-19). This time, he takes his hands off, and allows Nebuchadnezzar to come and conquer the kingdom.

Further on in the chapter, Daniel has decided that he didn’t want to defile himself with the King’s food so he asked for a different diet. The commander of the officials who was in charge of Daniel didn’t really want to do this, but in Daniel 1:9, “God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander.” God honor’s Daniel’s request and desire by turning the heart of the commander to be favorable towards him. God is still watching over his people because He is not conquered and weak, but just, sovereign, and faithful.

Finally, in Daniel 1:17, “As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom. Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dream.” Once again, God is watching over His people, even in exile. Nebuchadnezzar may have the visible victory, but God has been working, placing his people in positions so that they can testify to His greatness and glory to the leaders of the day. God gifted these four young men with the skills and talents they would need to serve in the Babylonian Empire, and attain confessions of the glory, greatness, and power of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Sometimes, we feel that God is doing things illogically. But that’s because we don’t see what He sees, and we don’t know what He knows. God is not most concerned about our comfort and happiness, but about our holiness. He will do what it takes to make us holy, even if it hurts. Because God is in control, we can trust that no matter what we are going through, can be turned around for our own good. It’s hard to believe that sickness, disease, exile, being disowned or abandoned by loved ones, or financial hardship is part of his perfect plan for us. But if we claim that we are saved by Jesus Christ, then we also believe that God is sovereign, all powerful, all knowing, and in control. Remember our highest desire is to be like Christ, not like the Joneses. So where is God working in your life now? What has He given you over to because of your sin? And what is he giving you to overcome it?

Amen!

The word “amen” actually comes from Hebrew, and other Semitic languages. It was transliterated into Greek for use during the early church period, and from there became used in a multitude of other languages as the standard ending to prayers and hymns. The meaning for it as it is used in English liturgy and worship is, “So be it,” and it is often translated as “verily” or “truly” in Scripture. But there is a fullness to “amen” that is missed if we just stop at these words.

The word “amen”, as we use it today, is an adverb, the verb form, aman can mean confirm, support, nourish (as a foster mother/father), faithful, made firm, sure, lasting, established, reliable, trustworthy, trust, believe, stand firm in its various forms. So when we utter our “amen” at the end of our prayer times, worship, or singing, we are not just saying, “so be it”, we are saying that we affirm God and all his ways, believe Him, trust Him, and will stand firm in Him.

I feel sometimes that we use “amen” in much the same way that we do, “good bye”: it marks the end of a conversation. But it shouldn’t be this way! Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Therefore, when we say “amen,” we are proclaiming our joy in our salvation, and our faith in God to work through all our circumstances to grow us to be more like Jesus, and that our hope and trust is firmly rooted God. “Amen” is not just a good way to end prayer, it is a proclamation about the God to whom we pray, and that He is worthy of all our prayers, worship, praise, singing, and time.

Amen and amen!

Psalm 39:1

I said, “Let me guard my ways so I will not sin with my tongue. I will guard my mouth with a muzzle whilst the wicked are in my presence.

Biblical Context:

            This is the first verse of a psalm of David that speaks of enduring through illness and the consequences of sinful decisions. It might refer to consequences of David’s actions with Bathsheba and the lost of his child with her. It begins with controlled silence and then moves to a very motivated and passionate speech which acknowledges the seeming brevity of human life and significance before the Creator of the universe. All this is in context of the immediate suffering of the author. Finally, the last few verses beg the Lord for deliverance from his sins, guilt, shame, and despair so that he can smile again before his death.

Life application:

            Perhaps the church and Christians are too quick to speak. This Psalm can offer a general pattern for prayer.  The author begins in silence; he is silent before all, including “the wicked”. Then his heart burns and he speaks. But the silence seems to be important for several reasons. First, if one is quiet, then one can listen. Second, being quiet before the God who created the universe gives one time to ponder the God one is speaking to. Finally, silence gave David the appropriate perspective on what he had done. We often fill our lives with stuff and busyness to the point that we cannot take the time to sit in silence and consider our ways and what God might think of them. This verse should also be seen as good advice to take the opportunity to shut up sometimes. 

             The church today is often ridiculed as being full of hypocrites and pretenders. And why should it not be? We are often too careless with our speech and actions. If we are truly new creations, then we should try to speak like new creations, and act like new creations all the time rather than slipping back into our old habits and patterns when other Christians aren’t looking. Leading a double life in the church only leads people to be hurt because we effectively lie to them. Non-Christians especially can be driven from God when they see our inconsistent actions and words thus making us ineffective representatives of God. As with David’s sin with Bathsheba, his mouth and tongue did not only lead him into sin, but led many others there too. By muzzling our mouths we protect ourselves, but also protect others from sinning as well. By muzzling our mouths and being still, we see our sin for what it is, confess it, learn from it, and grow into greater maturity and faithfulness.