Riddle: What is Often (Always?) Wasteful but Never Wasted?

Assuming you've looked at the title of this post, let me give you a few clues that might help you figure out the answer, which is expressed in various "wasteful" ways like…

… letting one of your children get a new pancake and add different toppings before the first - and maybe second - pancake with its toppings has been totally finished (note: this was the inspiration for today's thoughts and riddle)

… buying gifts for your spouse "out of the blue" or beyond your gift budget just because you know what your spouse really wants and you know it will bring a smile to her face (confession: I was terrible at this, which I shouldn't have been, because Christy was amazing at it and deserved a spouse who did this just as well)

… spending some time on Facebook just taking the time to find out how friends are doing and to let them know you care, despite the distance between you, by "liking" or commenting on their pictures, posts, and experiences

… staying up late just to catch up with friends for a bit longer (to the several friends who have recently had groggy mornings following an evening with me, thank you)

… calling or taking calls from people just to see how they're doing

… not only donating to a local ministry that helps homeless neighbors efficiently and effectively, but giving a beggar the dollar he's asking for now and then even knowing that he may use your gift poorly

… putting some of your resources toward going on a short-term missions trip rather than putting it all toward a large missions organization that could likely use the money more efficiently and effectively by supporting long-term missionaries' efforts on the mission field

Here's the riddle one more time: What is often (always?) wasteful and never wasted? 

Answer: Love

Love is not primarily about efficiency, effectiveness, or any other productivity metrics. Love is about people, about valuing them, and about helping them. So love includes aiming for effectiveness and productivity, because love wants to do the best it can for people in general. But often, helping the individuals God puts into our lives means slowing down and becoming a little less "productive" and more "wasteful" in terms of time, effort, and resources. Love like this is never wasted, because its expression communicates to those who receive it that they are valuable, worthwhile, and cherished - that they mean something and have intrinsic dignity and value. And even when people who receive love abuse it (like perhaps a beggar who uses a gift to feed his addiction), it is not wasted because the person who gave the love won the fight to keep his own heart more focused on communicating value and hope to others than on avoiding the risk of abuse.

My list of examples of wasteful, unwasted love doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of good examples, though. So if you have experienced or witnessed more love like this, please feel free to comment and encourage all of us to worry less about productivity/efficiency and to keep our hearts devoted to loving others as Jesus loved us. 

Prayer-Fueled Wrath

ALL – Psalm 136:1-26
ALL – Proverbs 30:7-9
OT – Nahum 1:1-3:19
NT – Revelation 8:1-13

Interesting passage for the day: And the perfume of the incense mixed with prayers ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out. Then the angel filled the censer with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed and rumbled, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake. – Revelation 8:4-5, The Living Bible

Thought: Often when I wake up in the morning, part of my prayers to God include these lines from the Lord’s (or disciples’) prayer: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Those prayers are beginning to be answered. In the hearts, souls, minds and strength of thousands upon thousands and even millions upon millions of people, our Father’s name has begun to be reverenced, His kingdom has come, and His will is being done.

But when will these prayers be answered fully? Why are some of our prayers going unanswered? Why do men and women get away with wickedness and evil? Where are all our prayers (and I’m talking about the godly ones, not the foolish and selfish prayers) going?

In Revelation, we see that they are being stored up to be poured out before God’s throne, mixed with incense. Our prayers for God’s righteousness to overwhelm the wickedness around us and finally reign supreme will be brought before God and presented as an offering that pleases Him. And in imagery that cannot help but communicate the connection between our prayers and God’s wrath on our rebellious world, the very censer that was once the container of our prayers, now emptied before God, becomes the tool by which fire from heaven is poured down upon this sinful earth in wrath.

Our prayers matter. God hears them. He sees our suffering. He knows our misery. He hears our sobs. He hates the injustice, oppression and wickedness that we endure. As we cry out to Him through His pure and wonderful Son Jesus Christ, God is preparing to act. He will save us completely and finally from the pains of this life, and His answer to our prayers will be a wrath against sin that makes us wonder why we ever doubted that God cares about our troubles. He cares, and in His love for us, He will respond to our prayers in His wrath.

Question: Instead of asking what you pray for, I’d like to ask: What do you pray against? Have you grown impatient because God hasn’t dealt with it the way you wanted Him to deal with it yet? When you read Revelation 8 and see the results of your prayers, are you willing to wait for God’s timing?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Love-Loosed Wrath

ALL – Psalm 134:1-3
ALL – Proverbs 30:1-4
OT – Micah 1:1-4:13
NT – Revelation 6:1-17

Interesting passage for the day: And when the fourth seal was broken, I heard the fourth Living Being say, “Come!” And now I saw a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death. And there followed after him another horse whose rider’s name was Hell. They were given control of one-fourth of the earth, to kill with war and famine and disease and wild animals. – Revelation 6:7-8, The Living Bible

Thought: I’m sorry, but this is simply not a pretty picture. Who wants to face the horrors that Jesus Christ revealed in this verse? And not just in this verse. All of chapter six is filled with clip after clip of doom.

And you know what’s really ironic? Look back at yesterday’s passage and thoughts. You’ll see what I’m talking about. Yesterday, we saw Jesus Christ, the Lamb who has eclipsed all other beings by dying and shedding His blood as a payment to buy people from around the world for God, and that He was the only one worthy to take and open the scroll in God’s hand. Today we see what it is that only Jesus the spotless Lamb was worthy to open: a scroll of war, anarchy, killing, famine, disease, wild animals, vengeance, natural disaster—a scroll filled with the wrath of God.

Only Jesus is worthy to unleash God’s wrath. And He is worthy precisely because He shed His own blood for us—in other words, Jesus’ infinite love makes Him worthy to unleash overwhelming wrath.

You might think that these two realities wouldn’t meet up in Jesus Christ, but you would be wrong. This is how the perfect God planned the course of creation all along. He knew that His creatures would rebel against Him and deserve to die, but He withheld His wrath. He locked it up in a secure chest that could only be opened with the key of love. Only when so much love had been poured out on mankind that humanity had absolutely no excuse for their rebellion would God’s wrath be unleashed. And no one in all of creation was ever worthy to unlock that chest. Humanity (which really had no excuse already) could still hold up one piece of evidence against God: “You knew how painful life would be and how sin would take us captive, but You did not prevent it and you have not done enough to save us from our sins and their curse! YOU DON’T LOVE US.”

People still charge God with not loving us enough. And I just don’t get it. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” When God sent Jesus to earth that first Christmas, God sent Him to demonstrate the fullest possible extent of love—a love that would nullify every accusation against Him. Jesus’ death on the cross was a shout of divine love, a shout that declared, “I see your slavery to sin. I see your suffering. I see your pain. I see your fears and sorrows. And I will not let them last. They’re done. I’m willing to lay my life on the line for you, to die for you to live.”

And the love expressed through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, finally provided the key to the chest of God’s wrath. No one ever has to experience God’s wrath, because everyone can be saved from it through God’s loving Lamb. God, in His love, chained up His wrath until all could be saved from it through Jesus Christ.

So the worthy and loving Lamb of God unleashed the wrath of God. But He did it only after providing for the safety of all who trust in Him.

Question: Which do you see more clearly, God’s love or God’s wrath? God’s wrath fell on Jesus so that God’s love could fall on you. But rejecting God’s love will still get you God’s wrath. What’s your take on it? Will you receive His love?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Impossible Commands

ALL – Psalm 122::1-9
ALL – Proverbs 29:1
OT – Daniel 11:1-34
NT – 1 John 3:7-24

Interesting passage for the day: And this is what God says we must do: Believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another. – 1 John 3:23, The Living Bible

Thought: Easier said than done. That’s what I think anyway. Believing in Jesus. Loving people. Both are definitely easier said than done. In fact, apart from God’s gracious intervention in our lives, they’re both impossible for any of us.

Humanity will not easily believe in the true God. He insists on His own sovereignty, not just in outward behaviors but inwards. He cannot be manipulated. If it is His will that we learn patience through suffering, then even though He fully intends to end all suffering for His people one day, He will not end it for His pleading child until patience sprouts like a lily from the suffering-tilled heart. We may willingly believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but believing in Him is another matter entirely. That requires submitting our rights, choices and desires to our Lord without bitterness. Believing in requires unconditional trust. And our hearts will not give anyone, even the Creator of the world, our unconditional trust unless the Holy Spirit has first given them the supernatural gift of faith.

Nor will our hearts love one another easily. We will shower love upon attractive people—at least, until they scorn us. We will devote ourselves to those who have blessed us—at least, until they harm us. We will commit ourselves to our families and friends—at least, until they betray us. We will serve those who pay us—at least, until they ask us to shoulder more of a burden than we think their pennies are worth. But to love one another unconditionally is hard. In fact, it is pretty much impossible. We do not easily love the unattractive. We shudder at the thought of doing a kind deed to our enemies. We boil with rage against those who have betrayed our close relationships. And we view our employment as a mere business transaction rather than as an opportunity to love; in business, love always has a price. But to love one another truly and unconditionally, regardless of seeing “what’s in it for me”—there is no human love that achieves this goal apart from the Holy Spirit’s gentle, strong re-creation of our hearts.

Believing in the name of God’s Son Jesus Christ. Loving one another. Do you hear these commands and think, “No problem!” If so, I pray that your life is soaring along on the Holy Spirit’s wings. Because otherwise, you are grossly misunderstanding the nature of true faith and the nature of true love. And if so, you are swiftly approaching the greatest failure of your existence.

Question: Has Jesus asked you to do something the risks of which you’re not sure you can trust your Lord to handle for you? Will you call on the Holy Spirit for help and believe in Jesus? Has Jesus commanded you to love someone you simply cannot love? Will you call on the Holy Spirit for help and love that someone?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Weekly Sermons in Swanton: Take the Most Excellent Way

The message, preached on November 28th, 2010, covered 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13, and it can be heard via streaming audio at http://www.swantonalliance.org. The most excellent way, as far as Christianity goes, has nothing to do with amazing gifts, roles and talents. The Christian life is not about gifts. The way of love is the most excellent way, because love offers a taste of heaven. Note: Past sermons can be accessed through the resources page.

Moment by Moment Love

ALL – Psalm 117:1-2
ALL – Proverbs 28:1
OT – Ezekiel 37:1-38:23
NT – James 1:19-2:17

Interesting passage for the day: Yes indeed, it is good when you truly obey our Lord’s command, “You must love and help your neighbors just as much as you love and take care of yourself.” – James 2:8, The Living Bible

Thought: This is a command worth living up to. At the same time, it’s a continuing command. Loving our neighbors is an obligation that’s never finished as long as we live. We never run out of people to love. There’s always an opportunity to be kind, or patient, or generous.

I’m folding laundry right now. It’s part of what Christy and I affectionately call the “never ending chore.” No sooner have we put the last pair of socks in the drawer than it’s time to wash and fold three more loads of laundry.

That’s kind of what love is like. We can burst through a high-intensity day of incredible helpfulness, goodness, and camaraderie. We can even have a heroic moment or two. Does that mean that we’ve fulfilled this command to love our neighbors? Nope. We’ve obeyed it, but we haven’t fulfilled it, because there’s more service to offer, more opportunities to exercise patience, and more people in need of our grace, mercy and love.

Sometimes it feels like a burden. But it’s a burden we bear with Jesus at our side, and so it’s not so much a burden as a way of life. It’s a great rhythm to settle into, so long as Jesus is with us always, to the very end of the age.

Question: Do you take breaks from fulfilling the command to love our neighbors? How can we rest within this command and lifestyle rather than rest by retreating from it?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

More, Please

ALL – Psalm 115:1-18
ALL – Proverbs 27:21-22
OT – Ezekiel 33:1-34:31
NT – Hebrews 12:13:1-25

Interesting passage for the day: Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never, never fail you nor forsake you.” – Hebrews 13:5, The Living Bible

Thought: Does God want you to stop earning money? Is He against an income (we’ll leave income taxes for another discussion)? Or does God just want your attention on Him rather than on accumulating George Washingtons?

It’s easy to think that money can solve all our problems. Everything we can’t have has a price tag attached to it. We’re constantly told that the primary barrier between us and our dreams is the sheer limitations of our bank accounts.

So we get educated to pursue a higher income. We stuff our consciences away somewhere in the dusty corners of our closets to avoid offending that boss who might just be about to give us a raise. We leave friends and family behind because our career is beckoning. We make money our god—we’ll do anything to deserve its blessings.

God isn’t against work. He spent the first six days of creation working. God isn’t against compensation for work. He says, “The worker deserves his wages.” But God hates to watch His people cry out to false gods for food, clothes, shelter, transportation, joy, security or anything else. If anyone’s capable of providing those things for us, it’s God. Our God has pledged to be faithful to us, to stay with us, never to leave us high and dry.

So should we work? Draw a paycheck? Yes. And breathe a prayer of thanks to Jesus for the strength and opportunity to work, the money He’s provided, the food and clothes and everything else. Pursue more? Not necessarily. Accept raises, promotions, new job opportunities? Often, if we’re convinced that they’re coming from Jesus’ hand. But pursue them? No. Instead, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well.”

You can either love God or money. Not both.

Question: Have you ever been uncertain of whether you were about to choose a direction out of love for God or out of love for money? How did you guard your love for God? How did you oppose your love for money?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Rules and Rituals

ALL – Psalm 106:32-48
ALL – Proverbs 27:10
OT – Ezekiel 18:1-19:14
NT – Hebrews 9:1-12

Interesting passage for the day: For the old system dealt only with certain rituals—what foods to eat and drink, rules for washing themselves, and rules about this and that. The people had to keep these rules to tide them over until Christ came with God’s new and better way. – Hebrews 9:10, The Living Bible

Thought: When you look at the Old Testament laws, it really is pretty amazing to think that you don’t actually have to love God in order to obey them. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that anyone could obey them perfectly—whether she loved God or not. But the laws themselves are rules about men’s actions and behaviors. They’re all outward, and anyone can follow them as much as he wants to or is compelled to.

Would it make a difference to have a heart that wanted to follow God’s laws? Sure, and the laws are sometimes accompanied by purpose statements where God says, “Here’s the law, and you need to follow it because...” Follow the law because you love Me. Follow the law because you’ll show your concern for your parents. When the laws are joined to purpose statements like these, it’s obvious that God was never calling people to a heartless religion. But at the end of the day, laws are still laws, rules are still rules, and it’s all too easy for them to usurp the focus of humanity’s religious devotion to God.

Now we’ve been set free from rules. We Christians are still called to live good, upright and moral lives. But we’re called to such lives not by rules, but by love—Christ’s love within us, compelling us to love God and one another wholeheartedly, with every cell of our bodies. And we’re free to live by love rather than by rules because God first loved us and sent His Son to die for our sins, so that we need never face their penalty.

Love begets love, not rules. Even though they sometimes look the same.

Question: Are you living by love, by rules, or by both? Take a moment and ask yourself whether you would live differently if rules weren’t a part of the equation? How would you live differently? In what ways would your life look exactly the same?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Brother-Slave

ALL – Psalm 101:1-8
ALL – Proverbs 26:20
OT – Lamentations 1:1-2:19
NT – Philemon 1:1-25

Interesting passage for the day: Perhaps you could think of it this way: that he ran away from you for a little while so that now he can be yours forever, no longer only a slave, but something much better—a beloved brother, especially to me. Now he will mean much more to you, too, because he is not only a servant but also your brother in Christ. – Philemon 1:15-16, The Living Bible

Thought: Slave – noun – a human being whose primary purpose in life is to do the will of another human being known as master, and who can be treated in any way the master deems appropriate.

Brother – noun – a valued family member, ally, partner and friend who is loved and needed, and for whose sake you would put your own life on the line

Slave. Brother. Brother-slave. Words make such a difference in how we see one another.

When Paul wrote this letter to Philemon about his slave Onesimus, we can hope that Philemon was already being a good master to his slave, because he was a godly Christian who was apparently known for kindness. But in his mind, Onesimus’ identity was bound up in the word “slave”. Maybe “good slave.” Probably “bad slave.” Either way, “slave.”

But Paul wrote to tell Philemon that Onesimus had a new identity: “brother.” Legally, he was still Philemon’s slave. Slave was still his role. But his identity was now “brother.” And Paul was asking Philemon to treat Onesimus like the spiritual brother he had become.

Could you allow your brother to remain a slave? Especially to you? No wonder slavery was eventually abolished!

But we do the same thing with our labels. We look at those around us, even in the church, and we think of each other in ways that allow us to avoid expressing the love that Christ has created us to express.

Here are some possible labels we’ve used for those around us: “Legalist.” “Pleasure-seeker.” “Young.” “Old.” “Strange.” “Too friendly.” “Irresponsible.” “Stiff.” “Gossip.” “Withdrawn.” All of these words may be true of the people we’re describing, just as “slave” was true of Onesimus. But we can’t define anyone’s identity with these words when we’re looking at fellow-believers. Fellow-believers’ primary identities in our minds should always be “father,” “mother,” “brother,” “sister” (Philemon 1:16; compare 1 Timothy 5:1-2).

Question: Is there a fellow-believer that you just can’t get along with—perhaps don’t even want to get along with? What is your label for him or her? What identity should you be using for this person who has been redeemed by Christ with you? How might your attitude change? How might your choices and actions change?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Which Came First? Unbelief or Rebellion?

ALL – Psalm 84:1-12
ALL – Proverbs 25:15
OT – Jeremiah 23:21-25:38
NT – 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17

Interesting passage for the day: He will completely fool those who are on their way to hell because they have said “no” to the Truth; they have refused to believe it and love it, and let it save them, so God will allow them to believe lies with all their hearts… – 2 Thess. 2:10-11, The Living Bible

Thought: We like to think we’re pretty decent people, not rebels-at-heart. God wants to bust that myth. So here’s an issue of myth-busters for us:

Myth: We disobey God because we don’t know any better and haven’t been given a chance to believe Him.

Truth: The reason we disobey God is not that we don’t believe God; the reason we don’t believe God is that we disobey God and rebel against Him.

At least, that’s what this passage teaches. A deceiver is coming who will fool a bunch of people. But what people will he fool? He will fool people who are “on their way to hell because they have said ‘no’ to the Truth.” They heard the Truth, but they rejected it. They “refused to believe it and love it.”

Do you see? The problem people have with the Truth is not that they can’t understand it. It’s not even that they can’t believe it. It’s that they don’t want it. They rebel against it. They refuse it and reject it and hate it.

The result of this willful rebellion against the Truth? “God will allow them to believe lies with all their hearts.” Deception. Deception is made complete as God permits them to believe the lies they themselves have chosen to prefer over His Truth. The rebellion comes first, and then the unbelief.

Isn’t that how it was with Eve, when you really think about it? She HAD the truth. God had made it plain to her that she was free to eat from every tree except one. When the serpent questioned her on the limitations God had set up, she made it clear that she knew exactly which tree was off limits. And then the serpent lied to her. At that point she had a choice to make between obeying God’s instructions and following the serpent’s suggestion. How did she make her choice? “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it” (Gen. 3:6, NIV). She chose to go with her desires and the serpent’s lie rather than to trust God’s words. She had believed God up to that point, but then she rejected His words and rebelled against them. Before she could believe Satan’s deception, she had to willfully reject God’s Truth. Rebellion came first in her heart, then unbelief and outward disobedience.

Every human being on earth is the same. We have all rejected God’s Truth before falling into disbelief. “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20, NIV).

What came first? The disbelief or the rebellion? The answer is clear: the rebellion. In my heart and yours. The gospel is God’s power for saving those who believe—who stop rebelling and instead bow humbly before His Truth. As a former rebel, I beg everyone out there to stop choosing to be fooled by deceivers and instead to submit to God’s Truth. Jesus died to pay the penalty for your sins. You know the Truth. Why reject it?

Question: If you reject the Truth, I would be interested in knowing why you want to reject it. What is it that you want to have or to do that you think you would lose if you believed and submitted to God’s Word?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Gospel Love, Life Love

ALL – Psalm 79:1-13
ALL – Proverbs 24:30-34
OT – Jeremiah 12:1-14:10
NT – 1 Thessalonians 1:1-2:8

Interesting passage for the day: We loved you dearly—so dearly that we gave you not only God’s message, but our own lives, too. – 1 Thess. 2:8, The Living Bible

Thought: That’s what ministry should look like. It should be about love. Love is the motive for telling people about Jesus—for giving them the bad news that they have rebelled sinfully against their King who created them, but also giving them the good news that this Creator King Jesus loved them so much that He Himself died for their sins so they wouldn’t have to pay their own penalty, rose to life, ascended to heaven, and invites them from heaven to become loyal to Him, to receive His Holy Spirit, and to look forward to eternally unblemished life with Him.

But love goes beyond delivering a message—whenever possible, love should cause us to give people ourselves, too.

Confession time: This is where I feel like I fall short, personally. I do pretty well at making sure that I deliver God’s message (in love, too!). I really want people to know Jesus. But giving myself is a lot harder. I feel like I have given people too little time with me—not that it would be a great privilege for them to spend time with me, but just that I want to be a more of a blessing to the people I’m around all the time than just the blessing I offer as a professional preacher. Am I clearly also a friend? Am I helpful? I pray that I will love well—not just well enough to “do my job,” but well enough to give myself to those around me.

Question: Where does your love fall shortest—in giving yourself to your neighbors, co-workers, families and friends, or in sharing God’s good news with them (or both)? Let’s cry to Jesus to make us people who love well in every possible way for the good of every person we meet.

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Weekly Sermons in Swanton: The Right to (Self)Slavery

The message, preached on September 19th, 2010, covered 1 Corinthians 9, and it can be heard via streaming audio at http://www.swantonalliance.org. We all have rights, but sometimes we insist on them a little too strongly. From his own example, Paul encourages us to love, because love is our right to give up our rights and it’s a disciplined gospel race. Note: Past sermons can be accessed through the resources page.

Weekly Sermons in Swanton: Love Goes the Extra Mile

The message, preached on September 12th, 2010, covered 1 Corinthians 8, and it can be heard via streaming audio at http://www.swantonalliance.org. When we get into debates about what Christians are allowed to do (or aren’t!), we ought to remember not to depend only on our knowledge, but to let love for one another guide our actions. Note: Past sermons can be accessed through the resources page.

Professionally Sincere, or Just Sincere?

ALL – Psalm 57:1-11
ALL – Proverbs 23:9-11
OT – Isaiah 12:1-14:32
NT – 2 Corinthians 13:1-14

Interesting passage for the day: I pray that you will live good lives, not because that will be a feather in our caps, proving that what we teach is right; no, for we want you to do right even if we ourselves are despised. – 2 Corinthians 13:7, The Living Bible

Thought: Why do people seem to fight a pastor’s advice more than each other’s? Is it some suspicion lurking in people’s minds that the pastor is just trying to be a know-it-all and prove how great he is? When a pastor wants people to do something good, does everyone assume that he’s just giving his particular advice “because that’s his job”?

Pastors love their people. At least I hope so. Personally, I don’t look at being a pastor so much as being paid to give good advice. I see it more as being financially supported so that I can max out my time doing what I would try to do even if I weren’t a pastor—loving people and encouraging them to follow Jesus.

“I pray that you will live good lives…even if we ourselves are despised.” For me, that’s not just a phrase I’m paid to say. I don’t write this blog every day because I’m paid for it, either (I’m not). It’s because I love you (yes, you, whoever’s reading this, even if I don’t know you) and want to do everything I can to encourage you to love the God who loves you, hates sin, and died to show the extent of both.

Question: Which people do you suspect are only saying good things because they’re supposed to? What would it take for you to follow their counsel anyway?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Sorry. This Relationship’s Exclusive.

ALL – Psalm 53:1-6
ALL – Proverbs 22:28-29
OT – Isaiah 3:1-5:30
NT – 2 Corinthians 11:1-15

Interesting passage for the day: I am anxious for you with the deep concern of God himself—anxious that your love should be for Christ alone, just as a pure maiden saves her love for one man only, for the one who will be her husband. – 2 Corinthians 11:2, The Living Bible

Thought: Ok, so it’s not all that shocking, but people don’t like being cheated on. We reserve our deepest displays of love for that “special someone.” Obviously, as a Christian I believe that the “special someone” should be a spouse. But even those who aren’t married expect their boyfriend or girlfriend to be faithful to them so long as they’re a couple.

So why is it so hard to understand that Jesus wants us to be faithful to Him? Why do Christians toy with pleasures Jesus hates and with lies that Satan promotes? Why does the world mock those who are faithful to Jesus for being “narrow-minded,” when even worldly couples want an “exclusive” relationship? Is it really so hard to understand? Jesus isn’t a style of clothing, a haircut, or a skin to cover our cell phones. We don’t change gods and religions at whim, as though the fall season religion is out and winter season religion is now in. We don’t trade Jesus in for a newer model.

Jesus is a person, a very real person. He’s not a philosophy. He’s not a daydream. His love for us is very real. His suffering for us is very real. His death for us was very real. His life is fully devoted to us, the church, His bride. And we are meant for Him. Exclusively for Him. Let’s be faithful and pure.

Question: What alternative loves are distracting you from Jesus? When are you tempted to pursue other interests? Why not call on Jesus now, confess your heart’s unfaithfulness and impurity, and ask Him to forgive you, purify you, and draw you even closer to Him?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Love that Spills Over

ALL – Psalm 50:1-23
ALL – Proverbs 22:22-23
OT – Song of Solomon 1:1-4:16
NT – 2 Corinthians 8:16-24

Interesting passage for the day: He is glad to follow my suggestion that he visit you again—but I think he would have come anyway, for he is very eager to see you! – 2 Corinthians 8:17, The Living Bible

Thought: I love these personal touches we find in the Scriptures. Paul’s letters are full of teaching, logic, and sometimes even argument. But we can never forget that these letters are intensely personal. Paul wrote to people he loved dearly, and he was happy to tell them how much others loved them, too.

How well do we communicate our love for one another inside the church? Or, for an even more foundational question, how much do we actually love one another? Sometimes the evidence for our love runs thick, but sometimes it feels as if our love for one another is more of a show than a heartfelt reality. Christ died and rose for us because of His love for us, and because of the Father’s. And His command is that we love one another. Love must be sincere. If it’s genuine, it’s gonna show.

Question: How dearly do you love other people – your family, neighbors or associates? After you’ve answered a quick, self-defensive, “I love them very dearly, of course!” ask yourself whether deep down in your heart, you actually love them or love when other people think you love them. Would you pray with me that our Lord Jesus Christ would give us hearts whose love for each other grows continually?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Loving Actions, Unmotivated Heart

ALL – Psalm 37:1-11
ALL – Proverbs 21:23-24
OT – Esther 8:1-10:3
NT – 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13

Interesting passage for the day: If I gave everything I have to poor people, and if I were burned alive for preaching the Gospel but didn’t love others, it would be of no value whatever. – 1 Corinthians 13:3, The Living Bible

Thought: Why would I give everything I have to the poor if I didn’t love them? Why would I allow myself to be burned alive for preaching the Gospel if love wasn’t motivating me?

Sometimes we act as though the answers to those questions are obvious: “I wouldn’t.” But is that really true? I can think of other motivations. What if I didn’t love, but I was trying to prove that I did love? What if I was trying to convince myself that I truly loved God and the people He created? What if I was motivated by a fear that I wasn’t actually good and loving enough to walk with God forever? What if I really wanted to impress someone else? What if it was the only way of life I knew, and I tried to excel because I was scared to go in a new direction?

All I’m saying is this: it is possible to do the godliest of activities outwardly without any godliness inwardly. Obeying Jesus matters. But obeying Jesus isn’t about fulfilling duties and regulations. Obeying Jesus is about a whole life—both inward and outward—devoted to living out His Greatest and Second Greatest Commandments: Love the LORD your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Outward actions are the best evidence we have of inner motivations. And supposed inner motivations without outward actions are pretense. Love calls for our whole existence to be devoted to our God—inward and outward.

Question: Given the Scriptural importance of love, why do we pray for so many other gifts and fruits first? When is the last time you asked God to make you a truly loving person—both inwardly and outwardly—toward Him and all those around you?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Free to Show Restraint

ALL – Psalm 25:1-11
ALL – Proverbs 20:13-15
OT – 2 Chronicles 30:1-31:21
NT – Romans 15:1-22

Interesting passage for the day: Let’s please the other fellow, not ourselves, and do what is for his good and thus build him up in the Lord. – Romans 15:2, The Living Bible

Thought: Have you ever been asked not to do a good thing? I mean, you’re having a great time and following Jesus with all your heart at the same time. And then someone gets offended for what seems to be no good reason, and they want you to stop whatever it is you’re doing.

Our tendency is to want to justify ourselves and keep going. Am I right? It’s irritating that anyone would want us to stop. Why stop having a good time when I’m not really hurting anyone? Sure, some moron’s offended, but he shouldn’t be—he’s just a moron!

When we adopt this attitude—when we justify ourselves, reject the “moron” and keep on doing whatever we were doing (because it’s a good thing to do, after all… there’s nothing wrong with it)—we forget and neglect the second greatest command of God: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We show that we are more concerned with our own pleasures than with pleasing others. It’s not as though the people who get offended are asking us to do something sinful—usually they’re trying to avoid sin, right? So it really comes down to a question of love. Do I love this person enough to stop offending them (even if they’re wrong and a bit stupid)? Or do I love myself and my own way of enjoying life more than I love my neighbor? Our attitudes and behaviors reveal a lot. Love sets us free to accept restrictions—even when they’re pointless.

Question: What are some of the most irritating restrictions other people want for you? Could you respond more lovingly? How?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Putting Things in Perspective

ALL – Psalm 24:1-10
ALL – Proverbs 20:12
OT – 2 Chronicles 29:1-36
NT – Romans 14:1-23

Interesting passage for the day: You have no right to criticize your brother or look down on him. Remember, each of us will stand personally before the Judgment Seat of God. – Romans 14:10, The Living Bible

Thought: I’m about to preach on 1 Corinthians 5, a passage where Paul (the same author who wrote Romans) says that it is our business as Christians to judge those inside the church. So how can he say both? How can it both be our business to judge fellow believers and not be our right to criticize our brothers?

One reason for the difference is that the “sins” to be judged are different. In 1 Corinthians, a man is being sexually immoral—and with his own father’s wife! If ever there were an obvious sin, this would be it. Here in Romans, the issue is that some people are eating meat sacrificed to idols, and some people are observing Jewish religious days. The “sins” are less obvious—in fact, Paul says that they don’t exist!

So in 1 Corinthians, Paul was dealing with real sin. Real sin is serious. But in Romans, Paul was dealing with consciences. It is important that we all stay within the bounds of our consciences. But Paul insists that we should not impose our consciences on other people. We are not to judge and criticize others for things that are not sin. Instead, we are to love one another enough to bite our tongues and trust that God is able to guide all of us! The second greatest command must be our guide: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” One of the ways we like to be loved is to have other people assume the best about us. Let’s do that for one another.

Question: I’m someone who tends to impose my conscience on others too quickly. What lessons have you learned that might help someone else to be less critical and more understanding?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Weekly Sermons in Swanton: Watch Yourself to Guard Your Reward

The message, preached on May 2nd, 2010, covered 2 John, and it can be heard via streaming audio at http://www.swantonalliance.org. We who follow Jesus have a reward coming our way, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have to watch the way we live. We are to follow Jesus’ teaching and to persevere in truth and love. Note: Past sermons can be accessed through the resources page.