"If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks."--Deuteronomy 15:7-8. Here Moses instructs that Israel ought to help their own if and when it was necessary. Here we see the principle of helping the poor man (or woman) among us.
The poor man. What is being spoken about here is the Sabbatic or Sabbath year. Every seventh year, God commanded the Israelites to let the land rest from harvesting any crops. I have heard that today while this is not a law, the principle of letting the land rest still applies. This is because if you don't, you deplete the land of all its resources and then you can no longer use it at all. With Israel, what this means is that without working the land on the seventh year, there would obviously be no harvest every seven years. Therefore, if for some reason they had a bad year at some point during the previous six years, they might have to go without during the seventh year. If this is the case, Israel had a responsibility to freely open their hand, generously lend, and lend sufficient for the need. These three points are what we will explore and apply to ourselves in this morning's blog about how we ought to deal with the poor man.
The poor man. It is no secret that we are living in tough economic times. Many of our brethren are suffering from the effects of the economic downturn. Having come out of the secular workforce, I understand the feeling. Hours are getting cut, people are getting laid off and families are having to go without some things that they once enjoyed. So how are we to respond to our brethren who might be suffering in this way?
Open our hands. The first thing we must do is be willing to help. This of course calls for wisdom. There are some out there that are simply trying to take a handout without putting forth any effort themselves. On the other hand, there are some people that are simply "down on their luck." These are the ones we need to be willing to open our hand to and help however we can.
Generously lend. The key thought here is not just lending but lending generously. If you are able, don't just give the bear minimum, lend generously. Recently, I had a couple of situations where I needed some financial help and the people that helped me not only helped me but were very generous about it. They helped me with more than sufficient for the need.
Lend sufficient for the need. Another thing we can do when dealing with the poor man (or woman) is determining the specific need. This is another area where we can apply wisdom. Do they need money to feed their family? Instead of giving money, go out and buy their groceries for them expecting nothing in return. Do they need money for gas? Instead of giving money for the gas, fill up their tank for them. Again this all calls for wisdom. There are times when we should give cash if the need is there.
The poor man. The point here is not what we do for the person. The point is the person has a need that needs to be met. As followers of God, we have a responsibility to do what we can to meet people's needs, both physical and spiritual. Sometimes we need to meet the physical needs before we are able to address the spiritual needs. Jesus tells us in Mark 14:7 that we will always have the poor with us and that whenever we wish we can do good to them. Do you know someone who is in need? I am sure you do. Take some time to see what you can do to meet that need, whether it is physical, spiritual, or both. As we serve one another, let us never forget the poor man.
PRAY ABOUT IT! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Our word is our bond...
"But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these is of evil."--Matthew 5:37. Here, Jesus is dealing with the simple concept of keeping your word. Here we see that our word is our bond.
Our word is our bond. Keeping our word. I hate to be the first to admit that this is something I have failed at time and again but it is something I am getting better at. This too is part of helping us surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees. It is no secret that the Pharisees were quite literally hypocrites. They would be preaching one thing but doing another.
Our word is our bond. Jesus tells us to let our yes be yes and our no be no. He goes on to say that anything beyond this is of evil. Evil as it is used here means that what is being spoken of is socially or morally worthless. I think everyone of us know someone or know of someone who really cannot be counted on in any way. Much of the reason for this is because that person is not one known to keep their word and/or they have let us down more than once in the past. What we can gather from this text is that if we don't keep our word, our word is worthless.
Our word is our bond. Something else that plays into this is the issue of credibility. As Christians and especially for those of us that are preaching God's word on a full time basis, credibility is crucial. Our credibility can be destroyed in any number of ways but our credibility ultimately comes down to our ability to keep our word. To illustrate how crucial keeping our word is we can look to how many people's faith has been destroyed as a result of someone not keeping their word. This can lead to something a little more drastic and that is the issue of trust.
Our word is our bond. If we continually fail to keep our word, people's ability to trust us is utterly destroyed. I know from personal experience, there is not much of an uglier feeling than knowing you are unable to trust someone. No matter how you cut it, every single relationship in our lives, including our relationship with God is built on trust. What makes our relationship with God unique is that with God, it is impossible for Him to lie as we read in Hebrews 6:18. Therefore, we can ALWAYS trust God to keep His word when we choose to obey His commands as given through Christ and the apostles in the New Testament.
Our word is our bond. Have you recently made a promise to someone? Follow through with that promise, no matter how big or small. If there is something that needs to be made right, make it right. Our whole relationship with someone, God or people rides on our ability to trust and to be trusted. I know many times this is easier said than done. If you have gone back on your word with someone, it is not too late to make it right but if for whatever reason it is too late, learn from it and don't let it happen again. But more importantly, if you have found yourself going back on your word to God that you would follow Him, it is not too late for you to come back and never will be as long as we are on this side of judgment. So do what you got to do. Why? Because our word is our bond.
PRAY ABOUT IT! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!
Our word is our bond. Keeping our word. I hate to be the first to admit that this is something I have failed at time and again but it is something I am getting better at. This too is part of helping us surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees. It is no secret that the Pharisees were quite literally hypocrites. They would be preaching one thing but doing another.
Our word is our bond. Jesus tells us to let our yes be yes and our no be no. He goes on to say that anything beyond this is of evil. Evil as it is used here means that what is being spoken of is socially or morally worthless. I think everyone of us know someone or know of someone who really cannot be counted on in any way. Much of the reason for this is because that person is not one known to keep their word and/or they have let us down more than once in the past. What we can gather from this text is that if we don't keep our word, our word is worthless.
Our word is our bond. Something else that plays into this is the issue of credibility. As Christians and especially for those of us that are preaching God's word on a full time basis, credibility is crucial. Our credibility can be destroyed in any number of ways but our credibility ultimately comes down to our ability to keep our word. To illustrate how crucial keeping our word is we can look to how many people's faith has been destroyed as a result of someone not keeping their word. This can lead to something a little more drastic and that is the issue of trust.
Our word is our bond. If we continually fail to keep our word, people's ability to trust us is utterly destroyed. I know from personal experience, there is not much of an uglier feeling than knowing you are unable to trust someone. No matter how you cut it, every single relationship in our lives, including our relationship with God is built on trust. What makes our relationship with God unique is that with God, it is impossible for Him to lie as we read in Hebrews 6:18. Therefore, we can ALWAYS trust God to keep His word when we choose to obey His commands as given through Christ and the apostles in the New Testament.
Our word is our bond. Have you recently made a promise to someone? Follow through with that promise, no matter how big or small. If there is something that needs to be made right, make it right. Our whole relationship with someone, God or people rides on our ability to trust and to be trusted. I know many times this is easier said than done. If you have gone back on your word with someone, it is not too late to make it right but if for whatever reason it is too late, learn from it and don't let it happen again. But more importantly, if you have found yourself going back on your word to God that you would follow Him, it is not too late for you to come back and never will be as long as we are on this side of judgment. So do what you got to do. Why? Because our word is our bond.
PRAY ABOUT IT! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!
Family Influence...
"If your brother, your mother's son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying 'Let us go and serve other gods' (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), you shall not yield to him or listen to him..."--Deuteronomy 13:6-8. Moses, instructing the Israelite people what to do when they are influenced by those closest to them to disobey God.
Family influence. We all know our family has a huge influence on us. Our family is a lot of the reason we are who we are today. Many of us were fortunate enough to grow up in a household where our parents were members of the Lord's church. However, for many others such as myself this was not entirely the case. It is when this is the case that being a follower of God can become difficult. It can become difficult due to the family influence that still surrounds us. Even for those who did grow up in Christian households, there are those who have other family members that are not followers of God so that influence to not follow God can still exist, even if it is not particularly strong.
Family influence. Early on in my Christianity, the influence of the world that came through a lot of my family still had a pretty good grip on me because even though I knew I was saved, I still had no idea what God really expected of me now that I had chosen to follow Him. Yes I knew I had to make adjustments to my lifestyle which involves repentance, but I had no idea how much of an adjustment. As those first few years carried on, I stumbled on Luke 14:26 where Jesus says that if we do not hate our father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters and even our own life, we cannot be His disciple! This verse did not really set right with me at first. I originally construed it as and asked do I literally have to HATE my family in order to follow Christ? I have not been the first to ask this question and I am pretty sure I won't be the last. The answer to this question is yes, we do have to hate our family. However, not according to the world's definition of hate but according to God's definition of hate as it is used in Luke 14:26 which more often than not can be drastically different. When we use the word hate, we intend to say we have an intense dislike toward something or someone. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines the word in this way. However, the Greek word miseo which is used here in Luke 14:26 means to be disinclined to or disfavor in contrast to preferential treatment (BDAG 653). In other words, what we have to do is love our family less than we love Christ which means that our commitment to Him is primary even above our own family.
Family influence. So how does this all fit in to Deuteronomy 13:6-8 and how can we apply this? Well as we read on through Deuteronomy 13:9-11, we find that the one who is influencing the people toward not following God is to be quite literally gotten rid of. Of course we are no longer under this law but the principle still applies. When it comes to our family trying to influence us toward ungodliness, we must remember our commitment to Christ comes first even in the midst of persecution. Secondly, what we can do in the coming days is as opposed to letting our family influence us, try to influence them toward obedience to the gospel. One way to do this is simply striking up a conversation about God or even something as simple as inviting them to church services. While our family influence can be strong, the influence we can have with the gospel message can be much stronger.
PRAY ABOUT IT! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!
Family influence. We all know our family has a huge influence on us. Our family is a lot of the reason we are who we are today. Many of us were fortunate enough to grow up in a household where our parents were members of the Lord's church. However, for many others such as myself this was not entirely the case. It is when this is the case that being a follower of God can become difficult. It can become difficult due to the family influence that still surrounds us. Even for those who did grow up in Christian households, there are those who have other family members that are not followers of God so that influence to not follow God can still exist, even if it is not particularly strong.
Family influence. Early on in my Christianity, the influence of the world that came through a lot of my family still had a pretty good grip on me because even though I knew I was saved, I still had no idea what God really expected of me now that I had chosen to follow Him. Yes I knew I had to make adjustments to my lifestyle which involves repentance, but I had no idea how much of an adjustment. As those first few years carried on, I stumbled on Luke 14:26 where Jesus says that if we do not hate our father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters and even our own life, we cannot be His disciple! This verse did not really set right with me at first. I originally construed it as and asked do I literally have to HATE my family in order to follow Christ? I have not been the first to ask this question and I am pretty sure I won't be the last. The answer to this question is yes, we do have to hate our family. However, not according to the world's definition of hate but according to God's definition of hate as it is used in Luke 14:26 which more often than not can be drastically different. When we use the word hate, we intend to say we have an intense dislike toward something or someone. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines the word in this way. However, the Greek word miseo which is used here in Luke 14:26 means to be disinclined to or disfavor in contrast to preferential treatment (BDAG 653). In other words, what we have to do is love our family less than we love Christ which means that our commitment to Him is primary even above our own family.
Family influence. So how does this all fit in to Deuteronomy 13:6-8 and how can we apply this? Well as we read on through Deuteronomy 13:9-11, we find that the one who is influencing the people toward not following God is to be quite literally gotten rid of. Of course we are no longer under this law but the principle still applies. When it comes to our family trying to influence us toward ungodliness, we must remember our commitment to Christ comes first even in the midst of persecution. Secondly, what we can do in the coming days is as opposed to letting our family influence us, try to influence them toward obedience to the gospel. One way to do this is simply striking up a conversation about God or even something as simple as inviting them to church services. While our family influence can be strong, the influence we can have with the gospel message can be much stronger.
PRAY ABOUT IT! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Divorce: What does Jesus say? Part 2...
"They said to Him, 'Why then did Moses command to 'Give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?' He said to them, 'Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.'--Matthew 19:7-9 Here we see why Moses and in turn God allowed divorces for just about any reason. It was not because God wanted it that way. It was because of their hardness of hearts.
Divorce. Earlier today, we did a mock counseling session in my marriage and family class. We the students did this with each other. The sessions involved various issues that married couples face up to and including marital unfaithfulness. Those of us involved in the sessions played the part. It was kind of fun actually but it did give us a taste of what we preachers will face when we get into our work. Of course divorce came up during the session on unfaithfulness.
Divorce. As I mentioned before, divorce in Jesus' day was not much different than it is today. Originally, people could legitimately divorce for just about any reason but this all changes when Jesus utters five little words: "And I say to you..." in Matthew 19:9. What Jesus says next is what would be at the center of divorce controversy within the Lord's church. Jesus will state that the ONLY reason one could legitimately divorce is because of immorality or porneia which encompasses all forms of sexual immorality. Jesus takes this an additional step further. He says if a divorce happens for any other reason besides porneia, in the eyes of God you are still married to the one from whom you thought you were divorcing. So what this means is that if someone (never married) marries someone who is previously divorced for any other reason besides porneia, both parties are committing adultery. This is a difficult pill to swallow. The apostles recognized that this was a difficult teaching to accept based on Matthew 19:10-11.
Another thing that was discussed during our mock counseling sessions today was the fact that divorce can be such an ugly thing. This is no secret especially when there are children involved. Divorces impact not just the couple but also others that might be linked to the couple in some way such as the children. One of the most notorious divorces in recent months has been that of the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers from his wife. This divorce impacted the team in that the Dodgers were left bankrupt. I bring this out to illustrate how divorces impact more than the just the ones getting a divorce. This is why divorce is such an ugly thing and this is one among many reasons, God never intended for divorce when He created marriage.
Divorce. In Matthew 19:5, Jesus quotes Genesis 2:24 where marriage was originally instituted. This is where God joined man (Adam) and woman (Eve) to be one flesh through marriage. In Matthew 19:6, Jesus affirms that since God joins man and woman (and man and woman ONLY, NOT man and man or woman and woman like many are propagating today) through marriage, He intended for the two to be PERMANENTLY bound. Therefore, as Jesus says in the second part of Matthew 19:6, what God has joined together let no man separate. Furthermore, in Malachi 2:16, God says very plainly (and bluntly) "I hate divorce."
Divorce. So my encouragement to you in all this is simply this. First of all study this issue further as there is much more to be said regarding the subject. Additionally, if you are reading this and have been the victim of porneia, make an attempt to first work it out even if you do have every SCRIPTURAL right to get a divorce. But if you are the one who was unfaithful or is being unfaithful, repent of that sin and work things out with your spouse and make an effort to rebuild that trust. God has said He HATES divorce. So even if you are within your scriptural rights to get a divorce, this does not necessarily mean you should. Make an effort to work it out even if it is for the sake of the children that might be involved. As for the rest of us who have not yet been married, remember that if and/or when you do, God intended marriage to be permanent. This includes our "marriage" with Him which we have through Jesus Christ so if you are being unfaithful to Him in any way, may we also repent of those sins and if we have not done so, be baptized for the forgiveness of those sins. Encourage others with these words.
PRAY ABOUT IT! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!
Divorce. Earlier today, we did a mock counseling session in my marriage and family class. We the students did this with each other. The sessions involved various issues that married couples face up to and including marital unfaithfulness. Those of us involved in the sessions played the part. It was kind of fun actually but it did give us a taste of what we preachers will face when we get into our work. Of course divorce came up during the session on unfaithfulness.
Divorce. As I mentioned before, divorce in Jesus' day was not much different than it is today. Originally, people could legitimately divorce for just about any reason but this all changes when Jesus utters five little words: "And I say to you..." in Matthew 19:9. What Jesus says next is what would be at the center of divorce controversy within the Lord's church. Jesus will state that the ONLY reason one could legitimately divorce is because of immorality or porneia which encompasses all forms of sexual immorality. Jesus takes this an additional step further. He says if a divorce happens for any other reason besides porneia, in the eyes of God you are still married to the one from whom you thought you were divorcing. So what this means is that if someone (never married) marries someone who is previously divorced for any other reason besides porneia, both parties are committing adultery. This is a difficult pill to swallow. The apostles recognized that this was a difficult teaching to accept based on Matthew 19:10-11.
Another thing that was discussed during our mock counseling sessions today was the fact that divorce can be such an ugly thing. This is no secret especially when there are children involved. Divorces impact not just the couple but also others that might be linked to the couple in some way such as the children. One of the most notorious divorces in recent months has been that of the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers from his wife. This divorce impacted the team in that the Dodgers were left bankrupt. I bring this out to illustrate how divorces impact more than the just the ones getting a divorce. This is why divorce is such an ugly thing and this is one among many reasons, God never intended for divorce when He created marriage.
Divorce. In Matthew 19:5, Jesus quotes Genesis 2:24 where marriage was originally instituted. This is where God joined man (Adam) and woman (Eve) to be one flesh through marriage. In Matthew 19:6, Jesus affirms that since God joins man and woman (and man and woman ONLY, NOT man and man or woman and woman like many are propagating today) through marriage, He intended for the two to be PERMANENTLY bound. Therefore, as Jesus says in the second part of Matthew 19:6, what God has joined together let no man separate. Furthermore, in Malachi 2:16, God says very plainly (and bluntly) "I hate divorce."
Divorce. So my encouragement to you in all this is simply this. First of all study this issue further as there is much more to be said regarding the subject. Additionally, if you are reading this and have been the victim of porneia, make an attempt to first work it out even if you do have every SCRIPTURAL right to get a divorce. But if you are the one who was unfaithful or is being unfaithful, repent of that sin and work things out with your spouse and make an effort to rebuild that trust. God has said He HATES divorce. So even if you are within your scriptural rights to get a divorce, this does not necessarily mean you should. Make an effort to work it out even if it is for the sake of the children that might be involved. As for the rest of us who have not yet been married, remember that if and/or when you do, God intended marriage to be permanent. This includes our "marriage" with Him which we have through Jesus Christ so if you are being unfaithful to Him in any way, may we also repent of those sins and if we have not done so, be baptized for the forgiveness of those sins. Encourage others with these words.
PRAY ABOUT IT! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!
Caution...
"Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it."--Deuteronomy 12:32. Moses stated a similar command all the way back in Deuteronomy 4:2. I dealt with Deuteronomy 4:2 in my blog called "Adding or Subtracting." It is here in Deuteronomy 12:32 that we see that we are not only to not add or subtract from what God has commanded but we also see here that doing this requires caution.
Caution. I am sure we have all seen caution tape similar to that in the image above. This tape is usually put up to keep us from stepping into a dangerous area. This morning I want to break this verse up into three parts. First, "Whatever I command you to do." Second, the focus of this verse, "You shall be careful to do," and third "You shall not add to nor take away from it." Then we will tie them all back together in the end.
Whatever I command you to do. These areas where God has "put the caution tape" up are areas where God has stated specifically what He wants from His people. Just last night I was doing my personal reading back in Exodus. I was reading about the construction of the tabernacle and about the priests that were to preside over the tabernacle. One thing I noticed as I was reading was that God was VERY specific as to what He wanted. This is not the only time. God was also very specific even earlier when He was giving Noah the instructions as to how to build the ark and as to what kind of how many animals were to go on the ark with him. These are examples we will look more closely at along with New Testament examples as we move in to the second part.
You shall be careful to do. In today's world, almost everywhere you go there is some sort of protocol or instructions has to follow. Problems arise when any one person deviates from that protocol in any way, shape, or form. This of course means when one is doing any given assignment, one must exercise great CAUTION to do the assignment according to the given protocol. The same is true when it comes to following God. God gave very specific protocol to His people in the past. There are countless examples of what happened to those who deviated from the God given protocol in the Scriptures, they were disciplined, if not destroyed altogether. Many times these people were trying to please God but they did not do so according to what God had commanded so in this way they "broke protocol." This can lead us to ask what would have happened if Noah had decided to use oak instead of gopher wood for the ark? Or what if Moses had chosen to make the table of the tabernacle 3 cubits long as opposed to 2 cubits long as given in Exodus 25:23? (1 cubit is approximately 18 inches). There are areas where God has also gotten VERY specific in the New Testament. For example, we see that bread and fruit of the vine was used for communion. What would happen if we decided to use milk and cookies? In Mark 16:15-16, Jesus tells us we must believe AND be baptized to be saved. Shouldn't this logically mean that we must do both and not just one or the other in order to be saved? Again, God has put the caution tape up in these areas and others because God has spoken or commanded us as to what He wants in these areas. As I mentioned before, caution tape also functions to keep us from stepping into dangerous areas. This brings me to my third point.
You shall not add to nor take away from it. This part of the verse is one that has generated controversy. The question rises, what is addition and subtraction? The question is harder than the answer. Addition and subtraction deals with adding to or subtracting from areas where God has given very specific commands and/or examples in Scripture. For example, what if Noah used gopher wood but decided to add some oak in there for good measure, God would not have been pleased. Or what if with communion, we just thought partaking of the bread or the fruit of the vine by itself was enough, God would not be pleased. Another example that has been the center of a lot of arguments is that in Ephesians 5:19, God has commanded us to sing. Given that singing has been specified, shouldn't that logically show us that God wants singing and singing ONLY without the use of instruments? All through the Scriptures, we see that people are careful or CAUTIOUS to do everything that God commanded according to HIS specifications.
Caution. There are areas where God has not spoken one way or the other. However, there are countless others where God has been very specific as to what He wants. It is in these areas where God has put up the caution tape. Just like it's dangerous for us to cross the caution tape at something like a construction site, it is also dangerous to cross the caution tape that God has put up when it comes to His specific commands. So this morning I encourage you to study God's commands to determine where we have wiggle room and where there is caution tape that we cannot cross without putting ourselves in danger.
PRAY ABOUT IT! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Divorce: What did Jesus say? Part 1
"It was said, 'Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce;' but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery."--Matthew 5:31-32. Here Jesus begins a section on what has been at the center of a lot of controversy among Christians. Here Jesus deals with the topic of divorce. We will deal with this in two parts. We will look at this passage in Matthew 5:31-32 and then tomorrow night we will briefly jump ahead in Matthew and look at Matthew 19:7-9 since both deal with the same topic.
Divorce. I come from a divorced family myself. My parents divorced when I was very young so it did not really phase me as much as it would children who were older when their parents split up. I got used to growing up in a single parent household. Furthermore, I know several people, young, old, and everywhere in between that come from families that have been torn apart by divorce.
Divorce of course is no foreign concept to us. It seems divorces are being granted at the same rate that pancakes are being sold at IHOP. It has been noted that the divorce rates are actually on the decline. Tonight we won't go into the reasons for that. However, tonight we will look at why people are divorcing and compare/contrast it against the Scriptures, namely what Jesus says here in Matthew 5:31-32 about divorce.
Divorce. So why are people divorcing? Well it seems divorces happen for any given reason these days. This too was the case in Jesus' day but it is after Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 24:1 that He says a key phrase in the Sermon on the Mount: "But I say to you..." so what does Jesus say about divorce?
Divorce. Looking at Matthew 5:31-32 and Matthew 19:9 which we will explore further in context tomorrow night, Jesus is saying that unchastity or adultery is the only reason for divorce. Unchastity comes from the Greek word porneia which has to do with any and all sexual sins including sex outside of marriage. This word may look familiar because it is the same term from where we get the word pornography. Just like today, in Jesus' day people could get divorced for any reason. Something as small as burnt toast could be grounds for divorce before Jesus says what He says.
Divorce. In today's culture we also hear of any number of reasons for divorce. Everything from 'irreconcilable differences' to 'It just wasn't working out.' As I have already mentioned, the issue of divorce has been and continues to be at the center of a lot of controversy among Christians. We will look further at this issue tomorrow night and bring this issue to a conclusion. Even though tomorrow night's blog will conclude the issue, there is still so much more to be said about the issue. What we looked at here and what we look at tomorrow night only scratch the surface.
I have no practical application for this specific issue tonight simply because this issue is just as much a reality for us today as it was then and I will deal with the practical side of this when we conclude tomorrow night. My encouragement for tonight is simply this. Whenever you are challenged with the issue of divorce or any other issue and someone says "Well I say...," remember that while people have their opinions, Jesus said "But I say to you..." A popular adage in years past was "WWJD?" or "What Would Jesus Do?" With the way our faith is challenged today with the issue of divorce and so many others, our mindset as Christians needs to be "WWJS?" or "What Would Jesus Say?" And what He would say can be found in the pages of the New Testament. So, in closing WWJS?
PRAY ABOUT IT! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!
Divorce. I come from a divorced family myself. My parents divorced when I was very young so it did not really phase me as much as it would children who were older when their parents split up. I got used to growing up in a single parent household. Furthermore, I know several people, young, old, and everywhere in between that come from families that have been torn apart by divorce.
Divorce of course is no foreign concept to us. It seems divorces are being granted at the same rate that pancakes are being sold at IHOP. It has been noted that the divorce rates are actually on the decline. Tonight we won't go into the reasons for that. However, tonight we will look at why people are divorcing and compare/contrast it against the Scriptures, namely what Jesus says here in Matthew 5:31-32 about divorce.
Divorce. So why are people divorcing? Well it seems divorces happen for any given reason these days. This too was the case in Jesus' day but it is after Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 24:1 that He says a key phrase in the Sermon on the Mount: "But I say to you..." so what does Jesus say about divorce?
Divorce. Looking at Matthew 5:31-32 and Matthew 19:9 which we will explore further in context tomorrow night, Jesus is saying that unchastity or adultery is the only reason for divorce. Unchastity comes from the Greek word porneia which has to do with any and all sexual sins including sex outside of marriage. This word may look familiar because it is the same term from where we get the word pornography. Just like today, in Jesus' day people could get divorced for any reason. Something as small as burnt toast could be grounds for divorce before Jesus says what He says.
Divorce. In today's culture we also hear of any number of reasons for divorce. Everything from 'irreconcilable differences' to 'It just wasn't working out.' As I have already mentioned, the issue of divorce has been and continues to be at the center of a lot of controversy among Christians. We will look further at this issue tomorrow night and bring this issue to a conclusion. Even though tomorrow night's blog will conclude the issue, there is still so much more to be said about the issue. What we looked at here and what we look at tomorrow night only scratch the surface.
I have no practical application for this specific issue tonight simply because this issue is just as much a reality for us today as it was then and I will deal with the practical side of this when we conclude tomorrow night. My encouragement for tonight is simply this. Whenever you are challenged with the issue of divorce or any other issue and someone says "Well I say...," remember that while people have their opinions, Jesus said "But I say to you..." A popular adage in years past was "WWJD?" or "What Would Jesus Do?" With the way our faith is challenged today with the issue of divorce and so many others, our mindset as Christians needs to be "WWJS?" or "What Would Jesus Say?" And what He would say can be found in the pages of the New Testament. So, in closing WWJS?
PRAY ABOUT IT! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!
Not even a hint...
"You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place."--Deuteronomy 12:3-4. God, through Moses instructing Israel that they are to completely destroy anything having to do with the false gods the people they would conquer are serving so that there is not even a hint of them left in the land.
Not even a hint. Yesterday at worship services, our preacher made the statement that when we are first baptized into Christ, much of the time is that our mindset at that point is that we are going to serve God with everything we have and nothing is going to stop us. This is a great mindset and the Lord expects this kind of commitment from us. However, the next the statement our preacher made was that soon the challenges to our faith come and tempt us to give second thoughts to the commitment we made. This was in the context of a sermon based on Luke 9:23 where Jesus says that whoever wishes follow Him must deny Himself, take up His cross and follow Him.
So with all this is mind the question becomes what can help Israel follow God with everything they have and most importantly what can help us as Christians follow Christ with everything we have? In both cases, we must do everything we can to destroy anything having to do with foreign gods so that there is not even a hint of them left.
Not even a hint. Of course today the foreign gods people serve are not always worshipped in temples or sacrificed to at altars on some high mountain. No, the foreign gods today are sacrificed to at our jobs, our extrra-curricular activities, banks, at casinos, on our computers and dare I say it? Even on Facebook!!! The list goes on and on. No, I am not by any means suggesting that we go out and destroy the places or abstain from some of the activities I just mentioned. I am simply saying is that if we don't have our hope fixed on the living God (1 Timothy 4:10), then we will very easily fall into idolatry if we allow some of these activities to separate us from God.
But why? Why is it so important that we make an effort to get rid of any hint of a foreign god in our lives? Well the fact is that if we don't they will become a snare or a stumbling block to us. As we read on through the Old Testament we see that Israel actually failed to get rid of those foreign influences. What it led to was them being separated from and in some cases forsaking God altogether. Much of the time this does not happen overnight. It happens a little bit at a time because we choose to make compromises. Pretty soon we are no longer attending worship services and next thing we know, we find ourselves doing the things we vowed not to do anymore when we became Christians. This is all because we did not "utterly destroy" any and every hint of foreign gods in our lives.
So my encouragement to you is simply this. Is there something keeping you from being all you can be in the army of the Lord? Figure out what you can do to take steps toward "destroying" that god in your life. This might mean you have to shut off the television. This might mean you have to stop hanging out with certain people. It might mean you have to stop going certain places. There are any number of ways we can "destroy" the foreign gods in our lives. My prayer is that you keep your commitment to Christ. But also if you have not yet made that commitment to Christ by obeying the gospel, do not delay because without doing so, there is no hope of salvation since the gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16).
PRAY ABOUT IT! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!
Not even a hint. Yesterday at worship services, our preacher made the statement that when we are first baptized into Christ, much of the time is that our mindset at that point is that we are going to serve God with everything we have and nothing is going to stop us. This is a great mindset and the Lord expects this kind of commitment from us. However, the next the statement our preacher made was that soon the challenges to our faith come and tempt us to give second thoughts to the commitment we made. This was in the context of a sermon based on Luke 9:23 where Jesus says that whoever wishes follow Him must deny Himself, take up His cross and follow Him.
So with all this is mind the question becomes what can help Israel follow God with everything they have and most importantly what can help us as Christians follow Christ with everything we have? In both cases, we must do everything we can to destroy anything having to do with foreign gods so that there is not even a hint of them left.
Not even a hint. Of course today the foreign gods people serve are not always worshipped in temples or sacrificed to at altars on some high mountain. No, the foreign gods today are sacrificed to at our jobs, our extrra-curricular activities, banks, at casinos, on our computers and dare I say it? Even on Facebook!!! The list goes on and on. No, I am not by any means suggesting that we go out and destroy the places or abstain from some of the activities I just mentioned. I am simply saying is that if we don't have our hope fixed on the living God (1 Timothy 4:10), then we will very easily fall into idolatry if we allow some of these activities to separate us from God.
But why? Why is it so important that we make an effort to get rid of any hint of a foreign god in our lives? Well the fact is that if we don't they will become a snare or a stumbling block to us. As we read on through the Old Testament we see that Israel actually failed to get rid of those foreign influences. What it led to was them being separated from and in some cases forsaking God altogether. Much of the time this does not happen overnight. It happens a little bit at a time because we choose to make compromises. Pretty soon we are no longer attending worship services and next thing we know, we find ourselves doing the things we vowed not to do anymore when we became Christians. This is all because we did not "utterly destroy" any and every hint of foreign gods in our lives.
So my encouragement to you is simply this. Is there something keeping you from being all you can be in the army of the Lord? Figure out what you can do to take steps toward "destroying" that god in your life. This might mean you have to shut off the television. This might mean you have to stop hanging out with certain people. It might mean you have to stop going certain places. There are any number of ways we can "destroy" the foreign gods in our lives. My prayer is that you keep your commitment to Christ. But also if you have not yet made that commitment to Christ by obeying the gospel, do not delay because without doing so, there is no hope of salvation since the gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16).
PRAY ABOUT IT! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!
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