Accustomed To Our Blessings

“I have felt for a long time that one of the particular temptations of the maturing Christian is the danger of getting accustomed to his blessings. Like the world traveler who has been everywhere and seen everything, the maturing Christian is in danger of taking his blessings for granted and getting so accustomed to them that they fail to excite him as they once did. Emerson said that if the stars came out only once a year, everybody would stay up all night to behold them. We have seen the stars so often that we don't bother to look at them anymore. We have grown accustomed to our blessings.

“The Israelites in the wilderness got accustomed to their blessings, and God had to chasten the people (see Num. 11). God had fed the nation with heavenly manna each morning, and yet the people were getting tired of it. "But now our whole being is dried up," they said, "there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!" (v. 6). Nothing but manna! They were experiencing a miracle of God's provision every morning; yet they were no longer excited about it. Nothing but manna!

“One of the evidences that we have grown accustomed to our blessings is this spirit of criticism and complaining. Instead of thanking God for what we have, we complain about it and tell him we wish we had something else. You can be sure that if God did give us what we asked for, we would eventually complain about that. The person who has gotten accustomed to his blessing can never be satisfied.”*

As believers, we have so much for which to be thankful!  But, like the Israelites, it is so easy to become accustomed to our blessings -- to take them for granted.  Perhaps that is why Paul is so insistent that we be “...always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father…” (Ephesians 5:20).  Thank You, Father, for everything!

God loves you!

Mike

*Warren Wiersbe, “God Isn't In a Hurry,” pp. 77-78

Can Fear Be Useful?

Mike Glenn shares some great thoughts about fear in a recent article titled: “Alligators Under My Bed.”  Think carefully about the following:

“As I have gotten older, I find out I’m still afraid, but I’ve changed my mind about the things I’m afraid of. I don’t fear alligators under my bed anymore. I fear missing a moment with my wife. I’m afraid I’ll miss a moment with my sons and grandchildren. I worry about the time I have with my friends. I worry about missing an adventure that would have allowed me to see the secret of the universe and missing it all because I thought I should show up for one more meeting about nothing. I’m afraid of living for nothing. I’m afraid when everything is said and done, nothing I’ve said and nothing I’ve done will have mattered.

“But this time, my fear doesn’t paralyze me, it energizes me. I’m 62 years old. I have lived most of my life. Whenever I read the paper and notice the obituaries, I’m stunned by how many people my age and younger have died! Tomorrow is never guaranteed. So, I know this. I know I’m going to die, and instead of being frozen in fear, I’m motivated to do those things – and only those things—that matter. I may be a little later going into the office because I’m enjoying coffee with my wife. I may get up and step outside of a meeting if one of my sons calls. I may linger in my Bible study and not be in such a rush during my prayers.

“I’m old enough to know what matters. I’m old enough to know I don’t have forever. Funny, but the fear in me keeps me focused. After all, you learn to get up fast in the morning if you think there are alligators under the bed.”*

            Rather than being paralyzed by fear, we can use it to motivate us to focus on what is truly important.  In that sense, fear can be useful.

God loves you!

Mike

*https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2019/11/01/alligators-under-my-bed/

Meteorological Mayhem

        “Recently, I was talking with a group of church staff sharing how in our pursuit of God we can become so focused upon going upward toward God, our hearts directed in a heavenly, spiritual direction, that we fail to come down from the clouds to approach each other, here on earth, in loving and gracious ways. As the old gospel song says, we become so heavenly minded we are no earthly good. Even worse, we can become self-righteous and judgmental. In our spiritual pride we can hurt people.
        “Anyway, in trying to share this idea, this image came to mind and I shared it off the cuff: "We become so focused upon heaven we get pulled higher and higher, so high in the clouds we freeze, so we fall to earth not as refreshing rain but as damaging hail."
I think that's a great way to think of the contrast between Jesus and the Pharisees in the gospels. Jesus fell upon the earth as a gentle rain, where the Pharisees, in their pursuit of spiritual/heavenly purity, fell upon people as damaging hail”” (Richard Beck*)
  Beck’s comparison between Jesus and the Pharisees is right on target.  For all of their well-intentioned efforts to draw near to God, many of these Jewish leaders shamelessly abused those around them.  In Matthew 23, Jesus calls them out for using their pretentious “godliness” as a cloak to take advantage of others.  The Lord pronounces woe after woe upon them for hurting others while claiming to be men of God.
  Our pursuit of God should never lead us to be damaging to others. “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.  And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also” (1 John 4:20–21).  Let’s endeavor to rain that refreshes rather than hail that shreds.

God loves you!
Mike
*https://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2019/11/are-you-rain-or-hail.html

Name-Calling

“But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs”” (Matthew 15:25–26).

The reactions to the words of Jesus in this encounter with a Gentile woman are varied.  There are skeptics who use them to claim that Jesus was just another racist bigot who shared in the sinful prejudices of His fellow Jews.  But even some who have faith in Christ struggle to understand why Jesus would refer to anyone as a “dog.”  It seems so out of character for the Savior revealed in other parts of the Bible.  What is going on here?  While a definitive answer may be elusive, let me offer some thoughts that may help.

First, technically speaking, Jesus didn’t directly call her a “dog.”  The “dog” was part of His illustration about the priority of His mission to the Jewish nation (cf. v.24).  Yes, there was likely a veiled reference to the ongoing Jew\Gentile tension of the day (and the words used by some to describe that tension), but there is nothing in the text to indicate that Jesus even remotely supported such attitudes.  Jesus DIDN’T say: “You Gentile dog, get away from me and don’t bother me with your insignificant problems!”

Second, the woman seems to receive the illustration in the spirit in which it was offered.  Rather than a racially-motivated slur, it appears to be an effort on the part of Jesus to reveal the heart of the woman -- a test of faith if you will.  There is no indication that the woman perceived the words of Jesus as being unkind or cruel.  In fact, her faith leads her to humble herself to the point of being willing to accept the crumbs of Jesus’ ministry if that is all she can have.  And her response prompts Jesus to grant her request and praise her for the greatness of her faith.

As always, read carefully and consider the context when seeking to understand the attitudes and actions of Jesus.

God loves you!

Mike