The Principle Of Multiplication

“There is an ancient Indian legend of a king who loved chess. He challenged visitors to a game, and was usually victorious. One day a traveling sage visited the kingdom and was challenged to a game. To entice him to play, the king offered to give the sage whatever reward he asked if he won. When the king was defeated, to honor his word he asked the sage what prize he would like. The sage asked for one grain of rice to be placed on the first square of the chessboard, and then that it be doubled on each following square.

“The request seemed modest, and the king ordered a bag of rice to be brought. One grain was placed on the first square, two on the second, four on the third, eight on the fourth and so on. But it quickly became apparent the terms of the request were impossible to meet. By the twenty-first square more than one million grains of rice would be required. By the thirty-first square the total would go over one billion—with more than half of the chessboard still left to go. Small things have a big impact when they are added together.”*

When the body of Christ works together, they multiply their effectiveness as well. According to Paul, the church grows and becomes more effective when it is “...fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working  of each individual part…” (Ephesians 4:16). God takes our individual abilities as disciples and joins them together in such a way that the effect of our combined efforts is greater than the sum of our individual contributions.  Mathematically speaking, 1 + 1 becomes more than 2 when it comes to kingdom work. The word “together” appears in the NASB95 New Testament 120 times in 118 verses. Groups gathered together for evil as well as for good. When God’s people join together to do God’s will, they accomplish more than they could ever accomplish alone.

God loves you!

Mike

*https://ministry127.com/resources/illustration/the-growth-of-wisdom 

Sincerity

“So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them. And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities” (Acts 26:9–11).

The apostle Paul had been given another opportunity to tell his story. Speaking with King Agrippa and Bernice, he recounts his past life as Saul of Tarsus, a “...Pharisee according to the strictest sect of our religion” (Acts 26:5). This religious background led him, like many other Jewish religious leaders, to take an antagonistic stance toward Jesus. Saul just took the opposition to a whole new level as the text beginning the article reveals. Saul felt compelled by God to oppose Jesus as well as those who chose to follow His teachings.  Read again his words: “So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. He thought he was doing what was right. He was sincerely trying to please God.  But he was sincerely wrong.

It’s good to be sincere when that sincerity is properly motivated. Believers are  encouraged to be sincere and blameless (Philippians 1:10).  It’s good to have a sincere faith (1 Timothy 1:5; 2 Timothy 1:5). We are to have sincere hearts (Hebrews 10:22), a sincere love for our brothers and sisters (1 Peter 1:22), and a sincere mind (2 Peter 3:2). But misguided sincerity can be a very dangerous thing. If I convince myself that God is calling me to abuse and mistreat others, it doesn’t matter how sincerely I feel that what I’m doing is right. I am still wrong.

God loves you!

Mike 

Tasty Faith

“Larry J. Henry reports that his family bought a microwave, and can now cook a hot dog in less than two minutes. “We want instant everything,” he says. “But as nice as ‘instant’ is, it is still hard to beat a good old-fashioned home-made stew that has simmered for hours on the stove. Some things just take time.” Christian maturity is like that. We would all like to have the kind of faith that moves mountains, and we want it right now! But for God to develop that kind of faith in us, He must let it simmer for awhile” (preaching.com).

It is the struggles of life that often provide the simmering heat for a strong, mature faith. And while the struggles may be unpleasant, they can also be viewed as a joy because of their faith-building properties. James says: “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).

Peter must have had the same Teacher as James because he says the same thing: “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7).

Paul must have had the same Teacher as Peter: “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope…” (Romans 5:3-4).

The savory stew of an enduring faith is simmered over the flames of struggle. Without the heat, we are left with a watery mix of ingredients that never come together as they should. That doesn’t sound very appetizing, does it?  Lord, help me to have a tasty faith.

God loves you!

Mike

Regardless

“But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul imprisoned” (Acts 24:27).

This is one of those verses that are easy to pass by quickly without pausing to consider the implications. Paul’s current problem began all the way back in Acts 21. It all started with false accusations about preaching against the Law and desecrating the temple of God. A riotous crowd begins to beat Paul and he is rescued by Roman forces. One thing leads to another and eventually he is transferred to appear before the Roman governor Felix in Caesarea. There are precious few time markers in the text, but the ones we do see lead me to guess that all of these events have perhaps taken a few weeks. Paul once again makes his defense and, once again, a decision is deferred. Paul remains under arrest. In fact, as the verse above states, the missionary to the Gentiles remained imprisoned for two more years.

I have to imagine that all this must have been very frustrating for the apostle. After all, didn’t God want him to share the gospel among the Gentiles?  Of course He did.  Didn’t God have the power to miraculously free him from custody? Of course He did.  He did it for Peter, remember?  Yes (Acts 12:6-8). Why doesn’t God step in? There are people that need to hear the gospel. There is preaching to be done.  Why God? Perhaps Paul was thinking none of these things. But I know I likely would have.

The fact is that the Sovereign God of the universe does things His own way and on His own time table and I need to be okay with that. I am called to be faithful whether things are working out the way I like or not. If something is taking longer than I think it should means that God has a reason even if I don’t understand it. Father, help me to trust You regardless.

God loves you!

Mike