Category: Biblical Wisdom

There’s a lot that has been said lately about entitlement. Our kids feel like they are entitled to everything from the newest electronics to straight A’s without having to do anything to earn them. A large portion of our population has decided that they shouldn’t have to do anything to earn a paycheck. They feel like the government should just give them one.

And before we get to feeling  too self-righteous and looking down on those we feel have their hand out, I have to ask how Christians are doing with our own entitlement issues.

You know how it is; we say a prayer for something that is really important to us and we feel that God should answer it immediately, in a way that suits us, thank-you very much.

There’s a great story in the Bible that illustrates humanity’s ongoing struggles with entitlement issues.

In 2 Kings, there was a commander named Naaman. He was a very good soldier and apparently well liked by all who knew him. Unfortunately, he had leprosy. That was a big deal back then. He desperately wanted to be healed.

A young girl from Israel, who happened to be a slave, told Namaan’s wife that there was a prophet in Samaria who could heal him. Her faith is noteworthy in this story as well.

Namaan went to see Elisha, the prophet, at his house. Elisha sent out a messenger to tell him to go wash himself seven times in the Jordan river and he would be healed. Wow! Healing was right around the corner, within his grasp. Was Namaan thankful or excited?

Nope. He was angry. He wanted Elisha to come out and wave his hand over him and heal him. He didn’t want to do any work and he wasn’t going to either. He was willing to ride away in his chariot angry and sick, rather than follow the steps to being healed.

Does this make you squirm at all? It makes me kind of uncomfortable. How many times do we have the opportunity to be healed and whole, but we aren’t willing to do the work? We don’t want to exercise. We don’t want to give up sugar, or drinking, or smoking. We don’t want to extend forgiveness and grace to heal broken relationships.

We also don’t want to do what it takes to receive true healing from God, which can only come from surrendering to Jesus. Then a closer walk, requires sustained daily prayer and the study of the Bible. Like Naaman, we have so much freedom and power in our grasp, but we have to be willing to do the work.

Luckily for Naaman, his servants stepped in and begged him to go to the Jordan and do what he was told. He was healed, just as he was told he would be. At last, he was thankful.

It seems that the best way to keep ourselves from feeling entitled, is to walk closely with God. When we keep our eyes on Him and try to answer His call instead of following our own whims, we can walk in humility. Humility is the opposite of entitlement.

We can also surround ourselves with Godly people who will help point us in the right direction when we stumble, like Naaman’s servants did. In the end, their love and support put him on the right track.

Entitlement issues can be hard to tackle. They seem inborn on some level, but with God at the center of our lives and a little help from our friends, we really can defeat them.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Last Sunday, our pastor was preaching about the passage in Mark, Chapter 10, where the brothers James and John, approach Jesus and ask him for a favor. They approach him and say, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” Mark 10:35

Hmmm, how many of our prayers begin the same way? “Dear, God, please give me A,B,C and D and quickly please.” Are you squirming a little? I know I am.

They then go on to ask Jesus to let the two of them sit on his right and left in his glory. They would like to be exalted above the other disciples and anyone else, for that matter.

It’s easy for us to sit and judge these guys. Isn’t it? What a selfish request for them to make, right?

But, when we honestly look at our own prayers, do we fare much better?

My pastor pointed out that Jesus often answers the simple prayers of young Christians, to let them know He is listening and to grow their faith. I know he answered my prayers for good grades on tests, when I was in high school. Perhaps you had similar prayers answered.

But, as we mature, our prayers become more complex. When we pray for our team to win a football game, or when we pray that we get that job we want, there are consequences. What if the other team is praying for a win? What if someone else is praying about that job?

Aren’t we actually praying for favoritism over someone else? James and John aren’t looking quite so selfish.

As we mature in our faith, our prayers are supposed to mature too. There is absolutely nothing wrong with bringing all of our concerns, heartaches, pain and troubles to God. That’s what we are supposed to do.

The problem arises when we expect Him to act as some type of cosmic genie and answer all of our requests in the way that we request and on our own timeline. When that doesn’t happen, we sometimes decide that God doesn’t answer prayers.

We forget that sometimes the answer is, “No.”

What we need to strive for is the, “Thy will be done;” part. For example, if we are looking for a new job, we can ask for guidance and for God to show us where we should look, instead of, “Please give me this specific job now.”

What if He has a different plan for you? A large part of faith is learning to trust in His plan and not ours. It’s tricky because we believe we know what’s best for us. We can pray for patience and perseverance too. Now we’re talking about fruit of the Spirit.

The James and John exchange with Jesus, has made me take a look at my prayers. I’m reminded to focus less on my wants and will, and more on God’s. Sometimes I need reminding. Maybe you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Last Thursday, in Oregon, a twenty-six year old gunman shot and killed 9 innocent people and wounded 9 more. They were students at a small community college who were simply trying to better themselves. Oh, yeah they were also Christians who openly professed their faith.

The media did its best to keep that crucial part of the story out of the headlines for as long as they could, but at some point, there were too many survivors telling the same story, for them to discount it.

The shooter first had his hostages lie face down on the floor. Then he had them stand up one by one and asked them if they were a Christian, if the answer was, “yes,” he shot them in the head.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time we have heard this narrative. The shooters at Columbine High School back in 1999, asked students to renounce Jesus. When they refused, they too, were shot and killed. There was even a story where one of those shooters pleaded with a girl to renounce Christ, like he didn’t want to shoot her, but had no choice. She refused and he killed her.

Interestingly enough, her father has appeared before Congress to discuss the importance of school prayer. He had the real issue right, way back then.

The families of the Oregon shooting hadn’t even been notified before our President had a press conference to call on new gun control laws and the press and political pundits jumped on board, both sides throwing barbs at the other. The Constitution was of course invoked, and the insults have flown.

And the real culprit, he’s enjoying every minute. Of course, chaos and destruction are on the top of his to-do list. The headline is not about guns or the right to own them or whether they should be controlled. The real headline is not even about the death of these saints who are sitting with Jesus.

The headline is that God has an enemy and therefore, God’s people have an enemy. Our enemy is Satan and he’s clever. He specializes in murder and mayhem. John 8:44 calls him, “a murderer from the beginning.”

1 Peter 5:8, says, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

Revelation 12:9, calls him, “the deceiver of the whole world.”

Does any of this sound familiar when we think of the killing of Christians? The bottom line is whether the murderer is in the form of ISIS, or two high school kids, or a teen who opens fire in a church, or a twenty-six year old loner, when a person kills another person for being a Christian, they are followers of Satan.

It’s not about mental illness or guns. Satan did a fine job throwing Christians to the lions back in 64 AD. I suppose we would consider Nero mentally ill today. Christians have been killed since Jesus went back to heaven.

Satan doesn’t need guns. All he needs is a populous who doesn’t call Jesus savior and doesn’t read the Bible. If people don’t read the Bible, then he can continue to do all of his evil undercover and we can all debate gun control.

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

How can we resist the devil if we don’t acknowledge his existence?

To stop the violence, we have to turn back to God. We have to teach our children about Jesus. We have to share truth with our neighbors and with people who seem lost and on the edge.

The Bible says God is light and Jesus taught that the most important thing is love. When we were a nation of faithful Christians, we knew that. We were able to stop evil in the world, like Adolf Hitler, who I suppose now would be considered mentally ill.

The simple answer is Jesus. Any other debate is just a smoke screen.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Yesterday, my hubby and I were talking to our middle school Sunday school class about Creation. When we try to teach kids about the nature of God, we always start with the Bible. Everyone seems to have their own image of what God is like or what God would do in this situation or that. But, if we want to see the true nature of God, we really have to start with His Word.

Genesis is such an amazing book. It’s quite the page turner; everything from Creation, to the fall of man, to the Flood, to Abraham, to Sodom and Gomorrah, to Joseph in Egypt. There’s so much that happens between God and man in that one chapter, the very first one.

But, what grabbed me yesterday as it does every time I read it, is in the very beginning of Genesis. In the very first chapter of Genesis, God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.” Genesis 1:3-4

What does that tell us about God and His nature? Well, light is important to Him and what He creates is good. In the New Testament, many years later, the Apostle John wrote, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5

Ever notice how humans seem to instinctively seek the light? We look for houses with lots of windows. When we get a warm, sunny day in early spring, we go outside in droves. We like to have fire pits in our yards and everyone loves to sit around a campfire whether it’s cold outside or not.

Perhaps we are drawn to the light because we are innately drawn to God, who is light. We may not know that we are drawn to Him, yet we are on an instinctual level.

Think about it. When we are in a dark room, we can talk ourselves into believing all kinds of evil may be lurking about. Isn’t it amazing how simply flipping a light switch can chase so many fears away? The light brings us comfort. When we turn it on, we realize that we had nothing to fear in the first place.

Why do you think that is?

God who is light, draws us to Him where we feel safe and loved. We matter so much to Him that He sent His son to light our way.

Speaking of light, “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

Jesus is like a flashlight for us with batteries that never die. He lights our way on every single path that we walk, no matter how dark or scary. When we follow Him, we never walk alone and we never walk in darkness.

Sounds, pretty good, doesn’t it?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

A friend of mine recently texted me and asked me for prayer. Apparently, the principal of her school had taken it upon herself to omit, “one nation under God,” when she led the daily pledge of allegiance. She had done it the previous day as well.

My friend was greatly troubled and she texted that many of her students were too. Her school has always begun the day with the pledge. Why omit God now? Didn’t we just observe 9/11?

I immediately said a prayer for her. As I prayed, I immediately thought of some Biblical people who had been placed in hostile territory for reasons that they couldn’t possibly understand at the time, and I felt led to share them with her.

Joseph, the one with the colorful coat, was sold into slavery as a teenager. He spent the rest of his life in a foreign land. But, Genesis tells us not once, but twice that, “the Lord was with him.” God didn’t remove him from Egypt, although I suspect that would have been Joseph’s preference, but God was with him. Joseph allowed God to use him by remaining faithful. Because of Joseph’s faithfulness, the entire fledgling Nation of Israel was saved.

Daniel, of the lion’s den fame, was captured and hauled off to Babylon as a teen. I’m sure he longed go home. God didn’t remove him from Babylon, but he used him in huge ways throughout his captivity there. There’s no way of knowing how many people came to know God because of Daniel’s faithfulness. God was with him.

Then there’s Esther. She was scooped up by a king and forced to live in his court, just because she was pretty. She had no choice in the matter. When she was told of a plot to kill all of the Jews in the land, she prayed and then used her influence with the king to save her people. God didn’t remove Esther from the king’s court, but she allowed Him to use her. God was with her.

It’s difficult not to see the parallels that we have with these people. We are all living in a Babylon of some type. Our world is not really Christian friendly at the moment. Has it ever really been? But, if we believe that God has His hand in all matters of our lives, both big and small, then we have to know that we are in this place at this moment for a purpose.

We may not like it or understand it. I’m fairly sure Joseph, Daniel and Esther had no idea what kind of impact their faithfulness and obedience would have in the future of God’s people. But, God knew.

I reminded my friend that she is the only face of Jesus that some of her students may see. I reminded her that the Bible is full of examples of people who find themselves in Godless places, but through them God was made known to people who were lost. I reminded her that God is with her.

God is also with you in whatever unfriendly place you may find yourself. Perhaps you needed a reminder.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

As humans, we often find our spiritual selves and our physical selves at odds with one another. Our physical selves really want ice cream every night for dessert. Our minds know it’s not good for us and can lead to obesity and eventually to diseases like diabetes. Our spiritual lives can suffer if we are constantly battling physical disease.

But, physical desires can be incredibly strong. Ask anyone who has tried to give up smoking. Ask and alcoholic who has tried to give up drinking.

There are many issues that face humanity that are close to impossible to handle with our physical will alone. Try forgiveness for something horrible that was done to you. Try forgiveness for a betrayal of some sort. How often have we heard it said, “I just couldn’t get past the lies told, the actions done, the infidelity, (you fill in the blank here.)”?

How often have we personally said things like, “I just couldn’t help myself,” when it comes to anything ranging from bad relationship choices, to impulse purchases, to having too much to drink at some get together?

Here’s the truth about humanity. “We can’t, but God can.” It seems so simple doesn’t it? It’s something I would highlight if I were reading it somewhere, but how often we forget.

Our physical bodies are weak. We can’t stop drinking, or stop smoking, or say no to dessert, or forgive the unforgivable, but God can. God has sent us the Holy Spirit to guide and help us. Yes, the Holy Spirit can physically help us. When we feel weak and that the right path is impossible, we can call out for help.

Jesus even acknowledged this when he told Peter, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Matthew 26:41

When we pray and read the Bible, the Spirit gets energized. The impossible becomes impossible. Our faith, not our physical bodies can move mountains. “‘Have faith in God,’ Jesus answered. I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt it in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.” Mark 11:22-23

Our faith, not our bodies, can move those mountains which appear impossible for us to budge. This is the truth. The Bible says it is so.  Whatever our physical weaknesses or struggles may be, no matter how big or small, we can choose to turn away from trying to conquer them physically. We can choose to turn towards the spiritual.

Because once we give it to God and we walk in His will, wearing His armor including the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, we will win every time. All things are possible with God.

We simply have to acknowledge and embrace the spiritual. The choice is ours.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Sometimes as Christians, we decide that we need to withdraw from a corrupt world gone bad. There are those who are convicted not to work for a company that doesn’t hold their values or to work with people who don’t know Jesus. There are parents who put their children in Christian schools because prayer is not allowed in public schools.

First of all, God calls us all in different ways onto different paths. When we prayerfully give our concerns to God and we feel led to leave a job or convicted to pull our kids from a school, then we should definitely do that. He has plans for us and our children that we can’t possibly know or understand.

But, for many of us, the secular world at large, is the place for us to be the face of Jesus, the place to let his light shine through us.

A workplace where we find ourselves to be the only Christian, may not be pleasant or comfortable, but it may be where we are called to be. We may be the only Christian some of our co-workers have encountered or perhaps the ones they may have encountered previously, didn’t leave a good impression. We may have the opportunity to present a different face on Christianity to those who desperately need it.

We have to remember that God didn’t call Jonah to go to a place where believers would welcome him. Nope, He called Jonah to a place that was Godless. Paul often found himself in enemy territory when he was sharing the Gospel as well.

Jesus once said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:31-32

Most of us are not called to be Billy Graham or some great evangelist, but we are all called to share the love of Jesus in some unique way. We don’t have to quote scripture to share Jesus. It’s our actions that make the biggest impact. How do we treat others? How do we react to adversity? How do we react when we are mistreated? How do we react when we have been blessed? Is there a peace and joy that set us apart? What makes us different?

How can we share any of these truths if we withdraw from what we consider to be secular? If we withdraw from society, how can we make a difference? How can we make a kingdom impact? If the Christians leave, who wins?

We are not called to try to save the entire world. Only Jesus can do that. But, we are called to be a living witness to those who cross our paths, wherever those paths may lead. Sometimes I need a reminder.

Maybe you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂