Drawing Your Conclusion

Scripture:
Job:42:1-8 (NIV)

Then Job replied to the Lord:

“I know that you can do all things;
    no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
    Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me to know. 

“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.’
My ears had heard of you
    but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore I despise myself
    and repent in dust and ashes.” 

After the Lord had said these things to Job , he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” 

Devotional:

Matthew 7:1-2 (NIV), “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  Jesus’ words can cut us like a hot knife through butter.  People tend to draw conclusions about something at a glance.  More than once I have looked at an image advertising a movie and drew my conclusions from that picture.  More than once I didn’t really want to watch a movie based on that image, only to find out the movie was really good.  Looking at the image and reading a brief description does not give enough information about the movie to be able to draw an accurate conclusion.

We tend to do the same thing with people.  We look at someone and think the worst, or just the opposite.  I remember a friend once told me about a man who dressed in a nice suit.  He took a hundred dollar bill and stood in front of a coffee shop.  As people walked by he would explain how he bought a cup of coffee but the store couldn’t break the hundred.  Could they spare a dollar?  The man supposedly made over ten-thousand dollars a year just by doing this on his lunch break.  How many people passing by drew the wrong conclusions based on a short fifteen second conversation and on how the man looked?  

Jesus clearly tells us not to judge others.  Sometimes I think we miss another aspect which is mentioned in Job.  It is important to make sure we get it right.  Eliphaz and his friends spoke falsely about God.  They drew incorrect conclusions and shared it with others.  We are not to judge others.  It is just as important not to speak out inaccurately.  A false witness or testimony goes against God as well.  Something I tell others is that there are always two sides to a story, and the truth is somewhere in the middle.  We need to make sure we do not accept something on the surface as being the total truth.  We must dig deeper to make sure we have an accurate picture of things.  Then we can give an accurate and truthful report.

The Lost Toy

Scripture:
Luke 15:4-10 (NIV)

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. 

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Devotional:

There are times when one of the girls will come up to me asking where such and such toy is.  My typical response is “I don’t know, where did you leave it?”  There response is usually “I don’t know…”  Off they go searching for it, sometimes I even help in the search.  Oh, how much joy there is when the toy is found?  Cora has a favorite My Little Pony horse she plays with.  When it is missing she gets all upset.  When it is finally found you can see her joy light up her face.

How much more are the angels in heaven rejoicing when a lost soul is found?  How bright does God’s face light up when we accept Christ as our savoir?  We are much more precious than any toy or trinket.  We are more valuable than all the gold in the world.  It is a tragedy when someone remains lost in the dark.  Pray with me and help me light up the world so that we can make a difference.  Let us strive to bring Christ to the ends of the world…

Turn Your Eyes Back Onto God

Scripture:
Jeremiah 2:13 (NASB)

“For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me,
The fountain of living waters,
To hew for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That can hold no water.

Devotional:

I have come to a simple conclusion for fixing our woes.  The United States of America was a nation firmly founded upon Christ or Lord and Savior.  Many people have forgotten that simple fact, and try to deny it.  During conversations about how great this nation use to be and all the problems we are now facing I tell people I have a simple solution.  I tell them that it really is a simple solution, but not necessarily simple to put into action.  They ask what my solution is.  I inform them it is a simple one word solution, the “bible.”  As a nation we need to turn our eyes back on God.

In Jeremiah 2:13 we see the state of the U.S.  We have forsaken our God.  We left him behind telling Him He cannot be in our government, our schools, and we are trying to remove Him from all public places.  Then in the next breath we ask ourselves how God could allow these things to happen.  Well to tell the truth God didn’t allow them to happen, we did.  Very simply to fix our nation, no matter where you live, all you have to do is turn your eyes to God.  The process may be difficult but through Christ we can overcome all things.  God is there waiting for us.  Through turning our eyes back on God we can fix all our problems.  It is that simple.  The problem isn’t God, it is us.  For whatever the reason we may not fully trust Him.  We think we can do better.  That doesn’t mean we will not face our consequences or go through hard times.  It will be rough.  It will not be easy to implement.  But by turning our eyes back on God we can fix all our problems. 

OK, you might think how is that going to fix healthcare, social security, or any other problems we face.  Well let’s look at these problems.  We have welfare to help the poor and needy.  What if churches all over our nation started building funds just for that purpose and put the money into the communities?  There would not be a need for welfare.  Healthcare problems, OK that one is bigger than what I can answer.  However, if people in the churches banded together we can assist one another with health care, and funds for health care.  Social Security, if the churches all over this nation were taking care of their elderly there would not be any need.  If we look at the Bible for our answers we can find an answer for any problem we have.  The question to ask, do you trust God enough?  Are we going to band together to put God’s word into action?  One person cannot go at it alone.  That is why we are the “Body” of Christ, a team, a family…

The "Right" Crowd

Scripture:
Psalm 1 (NIV)

Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. 

Devotional:

I have had conversations with people about why we chose to home-school our children.  Someone once said wouldn’t it be better for your kids to be in public school so that they can make a difference with all the other kids.  On the surface that is appears to be sound logic.  We must be in the world if we are to reach out into it and make changes.  The problem is that instead of one making a difference on twenty, the twenty influences the one.  I have seen this happen to more than one child or teen as they grow up.  Things start out well.  They have a firm foundation and seem good and solid, and for the most part they are.  However, too much influence from the wrong crowd and not enough positive influence from the right crowd had a negative impact.  

Psalm one tells us to watch who we keep company with.  We need to make sure that we are associating ourselves with Godly people in order to help maintain our faith.  It is too easy to lose track of who we are.  If you think a certain way long enough you will start to believe it.  If you are around the wrong crowd too long they will affect the way you think.  While it is important to go forth into this world to shine for Christ, it is equally important to make sure you are still hanging with the “right” crowd.