"You're Cut Off!"

VH1 has a new show entitled "You're Cut Off!" The premise of the show is to take young ladies who have been born with the "silver spoon" in their mouths and to expose them to the realities of having to earn their way. The hope is that they would come to a place in their lives that they would appreciate life and the amenities that they have previously squandered. Any person that has ever had to work for what they possess cannot watch this show without getting sick to their stomach. These girls are ungrateful, selfish, and they abuse the blessings they have been given.

This show makes me reflect on the message of Micah chapter 3. Micah's overall message is one of social justice, but chapter 3 focuses its attention on the prophets and how they misuse their position. Micah, under the inspiration of Yahweh (God), speaks out against the prophets in Israel. The prophets in Israel are rightfully accused of not only abusing their position, but also abusing the people that seek a divine word from God. Micah 3:5 says, "This is what the Lord says: "As for the prophets who lead my people astray, if one feeds them, they proclaim 'peace'; if he does not, they prepare to wage war against him."" Then Micah goes on to deliver an oracle of judgement from the lips of God, "Therefore night will come over you, without visions, and darkness, without divination. The sun will set for the prophets, and the day will go dark for them."

Basically what God is using Micah to tell these prophets is that because of how they have abused their prophetic preaching privileges, God is no longer going to allow them to hear his voice. To many people this wouldn't mean 'life or death,' but to a prophet, not hearing the voice of the Lord means simply, "You're cut off!" These prophets have abused people and have done it in the name of the Lord. As a result of this apostasy, God is punishing them by cutting off their very livelihood, the voice of the Lord. A prophet without a word from God is nothing more than a singer without a voice box; a quarterback with no arms; Bill Gates bankrupt. Just like the spoiled brats on VH1, the prophets are "Cut Off!"

I hear your question: What does this have to do with us today? Let me explain. Anytime God puts us in any particular position, his desire is that we would work for his Glory and not our own selfish gain, especially when it is at the expense of helpless people. Colossians 3:23-24 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." God does not desire for us to use our gifts for our own selfish gain. We have to remember that everything that we do we do for the Lord. These prophets had prostituted themselves to their prophetic position and the warning is clearly here for us to also take heed.

Here's my suspicion:

Often times we get caught up in the daily grind with attempts of getting rich or seeking make our lives better in some way. Really, there is nothing wrong with this. The problem comes in when we allow our hunger for selfish gain to cause us to abuse the various positions that God blesses us with. God has the power to give and take away, and to me there is nothing worse than being given a title (position) and not being able to fulfill what that position entails. That is what happened to the prophets in Micah 3, and that is what will happen to us if we disregard God in our undertakings. God has the power to "cut off" the supply of anyone who does not treat their position or profession the right way.

Here's my challenge:

Read the book of Micah (it's short), but especially chapter 3. Then reflect on how you treat your profession, position, title, or whatever capacity you operate in at the moment. Ask God to keep you aware of your doings and to always remind you why you (should) do what you do.

Be blessed family...

"Giving God Your Best?"

The story of Cain and Abel is one that has been debated for years and years, and will probably continue to be. People wonder why God accepted Abel's gift and not Cain's. Some people make Cain out to be a devilish like person who had no regard for God. Sure, his attitude toward the punishment that God served him could have been better, but I'm not so sure Cain was purely the 'Satan' that we make him out to be. Nor do I think Cain was a saint. Some hold to the notion that God was being unfair by looking in favor on Abel's offering and not Cain's. I don't believe this notion holds up when looking at the tone in this text. Some also argue that God looked in favor on Abel's offering because it had to do with blood, and Cain's didn't. If this were the case, it would make God out to be a discriminatory God who is pleased with only certain professions, and not the work people do in each of their own profession. This notion is proven wrong in Leviticus 1 when the text paints for us "The Burnt Offering" ritual, and how a person should proceed in presenting their sacrifice to God (Bull, sheep, or bird). I believe this story, prior to Cain's compounding the situation by murdering his brother, is one that shows us the attitude we should have toward our giving to God.

In Genesis four, we find the account of Cain and Abel. In verses 2b-5 we find the text in question, "Now Abel kept the flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast."
Note: The bible never says that God didn't accept both offerings, it merely shows which one he preferred.

The author of this text is deliberate in showing the reader that Cain brought some of the best or 'choice' (firstborn) that he had, but Cain kind of brought some of what he had when time permitted (In the course of time / As time passed). The point that is being woven in these scriptures is that God was more pleased with Abel's offering, not so much because of what it was, but because of how it was presented. Cain brought the first and best of what he had, Cain just brought it (when he got ready). Both brought an offering, and I believe God accepted both, but one was presented a little more intentionally than the other, and I believe that is why God smiled at Abel's just a little more.

My suspicion:
Many of us are like Cain in our giving. We give because we're supposed to as Christians. Some of us don't give anything to God (time included). We want God to speak to us but won't give him the time or a chance to do so. We ask so much of God but many of us don't give anything back to him. When we do give, we do it relunctantly or out of compulsion. Then we expect God to bless us and to look at our offerings with favor. Let's not beat up Cain too much because some of us are kin to him.

Here's my challenge:
We offer to God something everyday, if we are actually walking 'in Christ'. We offer God monetary gifts, we offer the fruit of our lips (praise), we offer to God our time. My question is, how are we offering it to him. Do we offer God the money we have left over after we have splurged on our wants? Is the only time we offer praise when the preacher says, "you ought to praise him right now?" In regards to time, do we offer God those last moments right before we fall asleep? I will admit, I have fallen asleep on my knees (attempting to pray AFTER a whole day) plenty of times. Or, do we give him a half-butt effort in our respective professions? My challenge is for each of us to actually give to God more intenionally. More importantly, because most of us already do give something, we need to rethink the way we give to God.

Read Genesis 4:1-5 and Malachi 1:6-14. Reflect on your giving to God and pray that God would give you not only the desire to give more to him, but also an attitude of giving that is more intentional.

Be blessed family...

"An Act of Grace pt. 3"

My dad once told me a story about how he chaperoned my sister and her friends at a carnival years ago. He explained to me how they had a wonderful time and how he enjoyed seeing my sister have fun with her friends. He then told me about how their fun escapade took a sharp turn for the worst. He spoke of how the only restrooms that were available were "port-0-potties" and that he had no choice but to use one. Not the most convenient, but it works. He then painted one of the most gruesome pictures that my mind has ever envisioned. See, my dad carried his keys on his belt, and while preparing to use the restroom he went to un-buckle his belt and felt his keys drop. Hearing a small plop and some brief clanging, it sounded as if the keys fell on the floor. Upon completing his pit stop, he went to pick the keys up off of the floor... There was only one problem, the keys weren't on the floor. He searched and searched and then reality hit... The keys had fallen into the toilet.

This kind of situation is never convenient, but it would have been a lot better if it were in a 'normal' public restroom... Instead, it was in a "port-o-potty," a public toilet that doesn't flush. To make it worse it was the end of the day, so the blue water was obviously not in there alone. My dad had a choice to make, he could either: He could forget about the keys and start using his spare (or get some new ones made), or reach into this public waste and retrieve his keys.

Needless to say he chose to retrieve his keys. He reluctantly rolled up his sleeve, leaned over and reached his arm into the toilet and began the search for his keys. He then told me that he got a grip on them, along with some other things, and began to pull them out. While preparing to pull them out the other objects in the toilet interfered, and the keys slipped down further. He muscled his way through this centralized cesspool and gripped the keys tightly, squeezing everything extra through his fingers. At last, he got his keys.

This is the picture that I get when I look at Ephesians 2:4-5, "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN TRANSGRESSIONS - it is by grace you have been saved." This text deals with the reality that while we were formerly dead without a glimmer of hope, God, in his own sovereign power, raised us with Christ; but the part that sticks out to me is when he did it, "Even when we were dead in transgressions..." My understanding of God is such that God is a holy God, and cannot dwell in, or even stand the sight of sin. When Christ was on the cross, the accusation that rose toward God the Father was that of God's turning his back on Jesus... "Why have you forsaken me?" Jesus became the very picture, the very object of our sin, and in doing so He also became the object of God's wrath.

And yet this passage tells us that God literally reached into the world and retrieved each and every one of us, while we were resting in our own cesspool of sin. God did not wait until we cleaned ourselves up, he did not get his spare key and forget about us, but he set his own holy nature aside and came down to earth, retrieving and redeeming that which was lost... You and me.

Here's my suspicion:

Many of us have no real concept of the reality of God's grace. We don't really know what it looks like, or what God actually did for human kind. We sing songs like "Amazing Grace", but it has no meaning behind it. We claim to be Christians but have no idea how we got to be. Well, I hope the picture that I have painted for you will help your understanding of the gruesome process that God initiated just to redeem you and I.

Here's my challenge:

Read Ephesians 2:1-10; reflect on how God, in his own strength, has achieved salvation for humanity; pray that God would allow you to understand, receive and reciprocate his grace to any and everybody that you come into contact with.

Be blessed family

"An Act of Grace pt.2"

In modern church today, we as Christians can be so microscopic when looking at other people's lives, and yet so telescopic when it comes to examining ourselves. We act as if everyone else's problems are on the front lines of our interactions with them, but our own issues are so far off that we couldn't see them if we possessed God's omniscience.

Jesus addresses this reality for us in John chapter 8 when he puts the Pharisees, or "religious people," in their place after attempting to trap Jesus with their haughty questioning. Apparently they "caught" a woman in adultery and brought her before Jesus to test him. There is no record of how exactly they caught her; perhaps one of these supposed upright Pharisees was involved...? I digress... These men, according to the Law of Moses, would have been justified in stoning this woman to death. So they present their proposition to Jesus, with the law in mind.

Then Jesus responds, "If any one of you is without (this) sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Jesus puts these self proclaimed sons of God in their place by basically saying to them, "If any one of you is "without sin" (early manuscripts say, "this sin") then you go right ahead and start stoning her." Humbled with tails tucked, these men leave one by one, stones still on the ground. But then Jesus turns his attention toward the young lady, who to the Pharisees was the culprit but to Jesus the victim. She is indeed guilty and punishment would be justified, and even though the Pharisees were not qualified in dishing it out, Jesus certainly was. Instead of giving her what she deserves (according to the law), he asserts His Grace; Verse 10-11, "Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

Here's my suspicion:
Most of us are so quick to pinpoint someone else's stumbling, yet we are so aloof when it comes to our own. We can be so judgemental as Christians. Instead of pulling people toward Christ, we push them away, thinking that we're pushing them toward Him. That is the problem: We spend too much time "pushing," when in reality, if we were truly "in Christ" all we would have to do is "pull." The point is, we can't "pull" anybody toward a place that we ourselves don't reside.

Here's my challenge:
Jesus asserted Grace where punishment belonged, and we should quickly learn how to do the same thing. That is what truly changes a person's heart; kind of like God asserting Jesus on the Cross rather than his wrath, changed ours. Read John 8:2-11, Matthew 7:1-6 and/or Luke 6:37-42 in your quiet moments with God. Pray that God would give you a softer and more discerning heart in your dealings with other people. There are times when people need to be held accountable (graciously), and there are times when they, like little helpless children in need of encouragement, need Grace. But be certain of this: There is never a place for condemnation and always space for Grace.

Be blessed family

"An Act of Grace pt.1"

Has someone ever confronted you in a not so friendly way? Have you ever been in a conflict of some sort with a person, or people? In 2 Kings 6:8-23 we find this very situation playing itself out. The Arameans were at war with Israel. The king of Aram would periodically send a band of troops to certain places in Israel's territory to attempt to besiege them, with hopes of eventually destroying Israel. After the Aramean's plans continued to be foiled due to the prophet Elisha's divine revelations, the Bible says that the king of Aram sent a "strong force" to surround Israel by night. Basically, the Arameans "emptied the clip" on Israel, sending everything they had. The Israelites, God's chosen, end up capturing that "strong force." Now these Arameans are in the hands of the Israelites and are facing certain death, then the unthinkable happens...

2 Kings 6:21-23, "When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, "Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?" "Do not kill them," he answered. "Would you kill men you have captured with you own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master." So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel's territory."

The Arameans found themselves at the mercy of the very people they were trying to kill and yet, totally against all logic and custom, Elisha and the Israelites spare them. Not only do they spare them but they wine and dine them, and then allow them to go back where they came from. Wow, what an amazing act of Grace!!

Here is my suspicion:
Most of us, when under attack from a person or people immediately get on the defense and try to defeat the other party. We would rather save face then risk being on the losing end of the conflict. So we jump to the battle lines and attempt, at all cost, to symbolically subdue our opponent.

Here is my challenge:
Next time you find yourself in an argument, quarrel or any kind of conflict with another human being / beings, remember this: Grace is the only thing that will truly change someone's heart and get them to be at peace with you (and themselves for that matter). It's totally unorthodox, it doesn't make sense and it does not feel good to do; but it pleases God and it is effective. God applied Grace to us when we deserved the ultimate punishment, and God desires for us to apply that same Grace to others, especially when we are justified in retaliating.

I challenge you to go back, in your quiet moments with God, and read 2 Kings 6:8-23. Pray that God would first help you realize the Grace that he has freely given you, in Christ. Then ask God to help you learn how to extend that same Grace to other people, especially when you would be justified in dishing out your "wrath".

Be blessed family.

"Convenient Obedience?"

Have you ever "pretty much" carried out something that God told you to do? Have you ever convinced yourself that as long as you "pretty much" do what God (or God's word) has instructed that it will be good enough? This was Saul's attitude in 1 Samuel 15:3,9: Verse 3: "Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys." Verse 9: "But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs - everything that was good."

God commanded Saul to completely wipe out the Amalekites, no "ifs, ands or buts" about it. Saul did go and engage in war with the Amalekites, he did defeat the Amalekites and he did do most of what God told him to do; but he did not completely finish the job. Saul not only chose to keep King Agag alive, but he and his men also took for themselves all that was "good" in the Amalekite camp. In Saul's eyes, to get rid of all the good and economically beneficial things that were available once the Amalekites were defeated, would have not been smart. What he didn't realize was that his actions were speaking volumes to how he viewed God in relation to himself. He was basically telling God, "God, I will obey you as long as it is convenient for me." Saul simply loved himself more than God, and in turn he placed himself before God. The real issue was and is still "Love."

Note: Jesus told (and tells) us in John 14:15, "If you love me, you will obey what I command."

My suspicion is this:

The sad reality of our culture and some of our personal lives today is that many of our actions say the same thing to God, that Saul's actions did. We are willing to obey God, as long as it is convenient. Christianity was never meant to be convenient. Think about it: We are called to put others before ourselves, live and love sacrificially, "wait" when the culture says "go", etc.

My challenge is this:

Read John 14:15-31

Reflect on your life and evaluate your "Love" for God. Pray that God would give you a heart for Him and His word. Obey God's word, completely.

Be blessed

"True Worship?"

Why do we go to church on Sundays? That is a question that we should all look in the mirror and ask ourselves from time to time. In 1 Samuel 15:30, Saul, upon being called out for his arrogance and disregard for God's instruction, replies to Samuel (the prophet) by saying, "I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God."

To some this response may seem harmless, but upon truly reading that text it comes clear that Saul's problem ran deeper than disobedience. The word 'honor' in its original language literally means: to be heavy, be numerous; or to be impressive, renowned or glorified. Saul knew that if he returned to his people without the presence of the prophet Samuel, his worship would not have been legitimized. Literally, it would not have "been heavy" or carrying much weight. But if he could somehow have the man who represented God's presence with him, it would appear to the people that everything was alright.

This text reveals for us a serious character flaw in Saul... He was more concerned with the image of worship than he was with true worship. He wanted to appear to the people as a sincere God-follower, but in reality he was living for himself.

My suspicion is this:
Many of us have Saul-syndrome, in that we often times get more caught up in the image of Christianity than we do in the authenticity of it. We would rather appear to be worshipping God when really we worship ourselves (our flesh).

My challenge is this:
Read Isaiah 29:13 in the quiet moments of your alone time with God, and ask God to make your worship authentic. Let's get back to "True Worship."

Appendix:
Isaiah 29:13, "The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men."

Be blessed.