I remember a time recently where I was helping a guy out (well, the church was, I was only the “delivery guy”) with some needed financial assistance, and as I gave him the cash, he began to lay a guilt trip on me about how much more he was going to need to make things work out for him. At that moment, I became pretty irritated. I kept my composure, and just explained that this was what we could do, and what had been agreed upon. As I left his hotel room, I was really struggling with my anger. I told the Lord, “Lord, I am sick and tired of trying to help people and all they seem to do is take it for granted. I mean, you give and give, and hardly is there ever anyone who sincerely thanks you, they just act bummed that you didn’t give them more!” Quietly the Lord reminded me of the many times that there HAVE been people who sincerely appreciated the help they were given, and that there have been many people who genuinely needed the help.
But then (as usual, because He always likes to bring the focus back on me and my own issues) He began to remind me of all the times that I have taken His grace (The Greek word “charis” – unmerited favor) for granted. I have received grace and instead of appreciating it, I got an attitude because God didn’t seem to do what I wanted Him to do. I thought of just how many times (as if I could count that high) I have messed up, only to have His grace and mercy poured out on me. I began to feel ashamed of my attitude. As I asked the Lord for forgiveness, I found myself thinking of the times that I have “helped” someone with a smile on my face, but in my heart I really had an attitude towards them. I thought of how generous the Lord is with what is His. He didn’t have to give us all these amazing resources, and when you come down to it, it’s all His anyway, as David pointed out: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Psalms 24:1 ESV). If it is all His, then He can give it to who He wants to, and it’s not up to us to decide who gets what. Now I have understood this for a long time, but I still carried an attitude sometimes. But I realized that by having an attitude when giving, in a sense I am guilty of the same attitude of the unforgiving servant that Jesus told us about in Matthew 18. I have been not only forgiven so much, but I have been given so much!
In light of that, how can I possibly distribute God’s resources with an attitude? Jesus said in Matthew 10, “Freely you have received, freely give.” Now, in the Greek, that word freely literally means “for nothing” – in other words, “no strings attached”! And that includes my attitude, because if I am giving with an attitude, then not only am I misrepresenting the Lord, I am assuming the position of deciding who REALLY deserves what, AND I’m just flat out being a hypocrite. With my actions I’m saying one thing, but with my heart, I’m saying something totally different.
There’s one other reason why it is important to give “no strings attached”. If we don’t, and we give out of “this is what I have to do, but I’m really not happy about it, and I really don’t think you deserve this, etc.”, then we will slowly get more and more bitter towards those who need help. We will become more and more jaded, and eventually we may even cease helping at all, which means that we completely stop representing Christ to this world.
I am reminded of Victor Hugo’s great work “Les Miserables”, in which the main character Jean Valjean escapes from prison and hides in a church. The bishop is very kind to him, feeding him and caring for him. Jean flees the church, however, and steals some silver candlesticks from the church. He is captured, but when he is brought back to the church, the bishop tells the guards (who are unaware he is an escaped prisoner) that he gave Jean the silver. The guards release him, and the priest later tells Jean, “I have redeemed you with these two candlesticks”. Jean goes on to become a man who lives his life for the benefit of others. How do we know that the guy that we are helping out isn’t a “Jean Valjean”, and that our gift may be the catalyst in his life that finally brings him to Jesus? It isn’t up to us to decide, but to give. God has given us everything, freely, with no reproach. He has redeemed our lives with the life of His own Son, and then filled us with Himself, giving us “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”(Eph. 1:3). Simply astounding!
It is my prayer that we, as the body - the “hands and feet”, if you will - of Christ, will give like He does, and love like He does, because that’s what really makes the difference. Let us hold loosely to the things of this life, choosing to be a conduit, not a receptacle, of God’s grace and provision.
I love you all...
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
A new project...
So, last Wednesday a good friend and I picked this up:
Eventually, the plan is to make it look something like this:
So, between dad's 57, Jeremiah's 59 F100 and now this one...we gotta lot of classic trucks hanging around. It's good stuff.
Eventually, the plan is to make it look something like this:
So, between dad's 57, Jeremiah's 59 F100 and now this one...we gotta lot of classic trucks hanging around. It's good stuff.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Fresh Fish Or Freshly Fixed?
That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. John 21:7 (ESV)
So a few weeks had passed since Jesus had risen from the dead and had met His disciples in the upper room. One day Peter decided, "I am going fishing". The others said, "We're going with you". So out they went.As they fished that night, they caught exactly zip. Nothing. Nada. Here they were, professional fishermen, and they couldn't even catch a gefilte fish. All night they drifted, with no results.How discouraging! They used to make a living doing this, and now they seemed totally inept. And then something happened. In the morning, as they drifted back towards the shore, someone from the beach called out to them, "Hey, kids, did you catch anything"? (My paraphrase)They called back, "No". I would imagine there's nothing more irritating and frustrating when you're fishing and not doing well than someone walking up and asking, "Didja catch anything?" But then this person yelled back, "Throw your nets on the OTHER side, and you'll find the fish!". I can imagine Peter thinking, "Uh... yeah, because there's a huge distance between the two sides of a small fishing boat... ok, whatever, bro." And yet, perhaps this suggestion triggered something in his memory, because that's what they did, and sure enough, "Jackpot!!!" Then we find this verse: "That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.” (John 21:7)
John totally realizes it's the Lord - After all, He had suggested the same thing before with the same results. And then Peter does something that seems strange: he takes his outer garment (like a cloak), puts it on, and then jumps into the water. Weird, huh? Why, if you were going to jump into the water, would you PUT ON more clothes? Well, here's my suggestion: Peter had once been a fisherman until this Jesus had told Peter to follow Him, saying, "I will make you a fisher of men". While he followed Jesus, that's exactly what he did. But that night in the courtyard, when he denied Jesus... Maybe he just couldn't shake that. Maybe he didn't feel worthy to be with Jesus, even though Jesus had proved He was Who He said He was. But when Jesus called out to throw the nets on the other side, and all those fish crammed into the nets, perhaps for Peter it was the reminder he needed of just Who Jesus was. And so he grabbed his coat, and jumped into the water. I don't think he planned on going back to that boat – that’s why he grabbed his stuff. He didn't care what the others did, he wanted to see Jesus. It's interesting to me that after they had eaten breakfast, Jesus has a conversation with Peter, and asks him three times if Peter loves Him to which Peter affirm his love for Jesus. And then Jesus tells Peter that he is going to die bringing glory to God, in effect telling him that he's never going back to fishing. He has been restored, and is given a commission to "feed My sheep". Sometimes in our lives we are at a place where we have been serving God, and seeing Him do marvelous things.He has turned us from "fishers of fish", to "fishers of men." But then something happens. Maybe it's sin, maybe someone hurts us, maybe we become discouraged. But whatever the cause, we find ourselves sitting in a smelly fishing boat, having fished all night, and having caught nothing, feeling discouraged.You know why?Because that's not what God has called to or equipped us to do. He called us out from the smelly fish, has given us new life, and new purpose, and He desires to use us to bring others to Him.
May I encourage you to never go back to "fishing"?God is always faithful to restore what the enemy rips off, and no matter what has happened, God wants to use you, and He has equipped you for something far greater than just "fishing for fish".So like Peter, when you see the Lord doing great things around you, grab your stuff, jump in and head to Jesus, because He has great plans for you!
I love you all,
Pastor CJ
So a few weeks had passed since Jesus had risen from the dead and had met His disciples in the upper room. One day Peter decided, "I am going fishing". The others said, "We're going with you". So out they went.As they fished that night, they caught exactly zip. Nothing. Nada. Here they were, professional fishermen, and they couldn't even catch a gefilte fish. All night they drifted, with no results.How discouraging! They used to make a living doing this, and now they seemed totally inept. And then something happened. In the morning, as they drifted back towards the shore, someone from the beach called out to them, "Hey, kids, did you catch anything"? (My paraphrase)They called back, "No". I would imagine there's nothing more irritating and frustrating when you're fishing and not doing well than someone walking up and asking, "Didja catch anything?" But then this person yelled back, "Throw your nets on the OTHER side, and you'll find the fish!". I can imagine Peter thinking, "Uh... yeah, because there's a huge distance between the two sides of a small fishing boat... ok, whatever, bro." And yet, perhaps this suggestion triggered something in his memory, because that's what they did, and sure enough, "Jackpot!!!" Then we find this verse: "That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.” (John 21:7)
John totally realizes it's the Lord - After all, He had suggested the same thing before with the same results. And then Peter does something that seems strange: he takes his outer garment (like a cloak), puts it on, and then jumps into the water. Weird, huh? Why, if you were going to jump into the water, would you PUT ON more clothes? Well, here's my suggestion: Peter had once been a fisherman until this Jesus had told Peter to follow Him, saying, "I will make you a fisher of men". While he followed Jesus, that's exactly what he did. But that night in the courtyard, when he denied Jesus... Maybe he just couldn't shake that. Maybe he didn't feel worthy to be with Jesus, even though Jesus had proved He was Who He said He was. But when Jesus called out to throw the nets on the other side, and all those fish crammed into the nets, perhaps for Peter it was the reminder he needed of just Who Jesus was. And so he grabbed his coat, and jumped into the water. I don't think he planned on going back to that boat – that’s why he grabbed his stuff. He didn't care what the others did, he wanted to see Jesus. It's interesting to me that after they had eaten breakfast, Jesus has a conversation with Peter, and asks him three times if Peter loves Him to which Peter affirm his love for Jesus. And then Jesus tells Peter that he is going to die bringing glory to God, in effect telling him that he's never going back to fishing. He has been restored, and is given a commission to "feed My sheep". Sometimes in our lives we are at a place where we have been serving God, and seeing Him do marvelous things.He has turned us from "fishers of fish", to "fishers of men." But then something happens. Maybe it's sin, maybe someone hurts us, maybe we become discouraged. But whatever the cause, we find ourselves sitting in a smelly fishing boat, having fished all night, and having caught nothing, feeling discouraged.You know why?Because that's not what God has called to or equipped us to do. He called us out from the smelly fish, has given us new life, and new purpose, and He desires to use us to bring others to Him.
May I encourage you to never go back to "fishing"?God is always faithful to restore what the enemy rips off, and no matter what has happened, God wants to use you, and He has equipped you for something far greater than just "fishing for fish".So like Peter, when you see the Lord doing great things around you, grab your stuff, jump in and head to Jesus, because He has great plans for you!
I love you all,
Pastor CJ
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