Romans 8:16-17; 1 Corinthians 10:13

Romans 8
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

1 Corintians 10
13No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it.

When you think about it, we actually choose to suffer all the time for what we feel is a greater good. We get up for work before our bodies are ready, we work-out to get in better physical shape, we stay up all night to care for a sick child, we'll even let a surgeon cut us open if we are convinced something better will come of it. The concept of choosing suffering to achieve something desirable is actually pretty routine for us. But we tend to avoid suffering when the results are not tangibly seen, and also when we won't have control over the degree of suffering that we will experience.

I think it's not the suffering by itself that we hate so much, it's these two aspects that make it so intolerable to us. You can take the same suffering event and tell someone in advance the good that will result from it and exactly when it will end and and they would often even volunteer for it. It's like someone running 5 miles a day by choice to help them win a race versus having a drill sergeant who makes them run 3 miles some days, 5 miles other days, and some days not at all, with no plan or competition at the end of the training period. The first scenario actually involves more physical suffering than the second, but is more tolerable because the person controls exactly when it will start and end and will get to see the tangible results in the competition at the end of it.

Suffering for Christ can often involve one or both of these discouraging aspects. Praying and Bible study, while I hesitate to call suffering, involves the first. We can spend a lot of time, and it is work too, praying for someone and never know how or if it helped them. We can study the Bible every day, but because we don't know how we would be if we hadn't, we will never know the degree that it has changed us. Witnessing might involve both aspects, we never know, and will have no control over, the degree of persecution we will be met with if we try to speak to someone about the Gospel, and usually will never know how it impacted them. Sometimes all we have to go on are verses like Romans 8:17 and 1 Corinthians 10:13, that say that suffering for Him does result in greater good, well beyond what we can see or comprehend, and that He is in control of exactly how much we will be subjected to. I guess that's why it's called faith.

"I can't just fight when I think I'll win, that's the end of all belief..."
--Sara Groves from song titled The Long Defeat

Matthew 25:14-30; Romans 12:3

Matthew 25
14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ 26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Romans 12
3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

I believe that the talents in this parable represent the measure of faith that is given by God to each of us. As in the parable, we have a responsibility use our measure of faith, regardless of how big or small it is, to produce more faith, both within ourselves and in others.

The good and faithful servants had evidence to show that their talents produced more, I would say this represents someone who used their faith to grow closer to God, or to help others grow closer to Him, or to make more disciples. The wicked servant did not use his talent at all, this exemplifies someone who never exercised their faith at all, either to bring more people to the Lord or to grow within himself. This would have to be because he never used his faith to take that first step of accepting Jesus as his Lord and Savior, and so was unable to do anything else with it either.

When the master addresses them, he says in effect to the good and faithful servants, "I gave you a little bit of faith and you expanded my kingdom exponentially with it. I can't wait to see what happens when I give you a lot of faith." To the wicked servant he says, "You may as well have never received the faith that you were given. You took no efforts to use it at all, even to try produce more faith within yourself (represented by not putting the talent in the bank). Because of that, there is no point in you having any faith at all, much less more. I will put your faith where it is better off, with somebody who is able to do something with it. Sadly, that will leave you with darkness and torment, but because I don't have any way to help you apart from faith, that is the only other alternative."

James 2:14-17

14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Faith without works is kind of like sheet music that has been composed but is never played. It may be a masterpiece and the musician may have it memorized, but if he never plays it, it may as well be random marks on paper. On the other hand, I think that good works apart from faith are just as dead, like the musical instrument being played without the sheet music, this can produce only noise. I tried to use the concept of this passage from James with works and faith reversed to illustrate further:

"What does it profit my brethen if someone says he does good works but does not have faith? Can good works apart from faith truly help anyone? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you gives them the things that are needed for the body, but you do not give them the things which are needed for the soul, what does it profit (will they not be in need again tomorrow)? Thus also good works by themselves if they are not inspired by faith are dead."

In both the original passage and my modified one, the person giving the assistance feels better about themselves, but allows the suffering person to remain in great need. So good works and faith must go together to achieve the genuine article-- where there is smoke there is fire, but also when you have a fire there is smoke. Or something like that.

1 John 2:28; 1 John 4:16-19

28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when[f] He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

If you live to be a hundred, how many years is that from now? Now if you are so inclined, take that number and read this to yourself: "In no more than ___ years I will see Jesus face to face, and will be speaking with Him in person."

On that day we will no longer have the things that define us now. We will not be a husband or wife, mother or father, doctor or lawyer. We will not have a job or own a home or have an address. Whatever we are good at now, be it business or sales or science or athletics, will not be part of us anymore. At that moment, we will not even have a face or a body to define what we look like. The one and only thing we will have left is our relationship with Jesus.

Most of us don't like to think about that day very much, but whether we consciously think about it or not, we know it is coming, and we live with that fact each day. Whether we think about it consciously or subconsciously, I think that the way that we feel about that day determines the way we feel about life. If we believe that He loves us and that we love Him, we go through life confident, bold and worry-free because that day does not loom over us. If we are not sure about His love for us or our love for Him, we live in fear to varying degrees.

1 John 4
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him[b] because He first loved us.

Colossians 1:11; 1 Corinthians 3:18-20

Colossians 1
11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;

"...longsuffering with joy..." That phrase makes me do a doubletake. Does it even make sense? Can we endure suffering while simultaneously experiencing joy? I guess Paul wouldn't have told us to do it if it weren't possible. It helped me understand it better to reverse all the terms and say, "for all instant gratification and indulgence with depression". This phrase seems to contradict itself also, but we can certainly see evidence of it being true in many people. I think this is just another example that shows how the ambitions of men apart from God, even when completely successful, lead to suffering, while the pursuit of godliness, even (especially?) when it is accompanied by suffering, leads to joy.

1 Corinthians 3
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”;[a] 20 and again, “The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”[b]

Luke 14:11

11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

This verse says that God relates to people in one of two ways. Either way God acts lovingly towards us. We choose which way He relates to us as individuals. If we choose to exalt ourselves, it is in directly in opposition to Him and therefore is the worst thing we could be doing, both for ourselves and those around us. He lovingly humbles us when we do that, to protect us, and to draw us back home where we are safe. When we humble ourselves, He is able to shower us with His blessings, because when we are humble, there is no risk of these blessings puffing us up and making us turn away from Him and into danger.

The word "everyone" indicates that there are no exceptions. So if you think you are humbling yourself but don't think you are seeing results, or maybe you think it is even working against you, don't give up because your God appointed time of exaltation is inevitable.

Psalm 95:1-6

1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
3 For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

You have heard it said that "the truth hurts". I disagree with this. I think when we are touch with the complete truth about God and ourselves, it comforts and sustains and lifts us up. The real truth is that Jesus loves us so much that He did not hesitate when told to go to the cross for us. He did this so that we could know Him and His Father, and all of the beauty and riches that that means. When we stay connected with God, we remain consciously aware of this truth, and this allows us to stay thankful beyond measure, no matter what else happens.

Luke 18:9

9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

The second part of this verse always seems to go with the first part. I don't think it is possible to trust in ourselves that we are righteous without despising others, because, short of being perfect, the only way to call ourselves righteous is to have some standard to measure against. This standard is always some other poor guy or girl that we think we are better than.

Unfortunately, this happens to all of us, there are moments that we just feel like we are pretty good people. It might happen after we have made a charitable donation, or maybe after we finish praying for some time or have just read our Bible or when have just helped someone. When this happens, if we do some self examination, we will see that we are using someone as a standard to justify our good judgment of ourselves. We might even use ourselves from a former time. We might think, look at me, I never would have done something that good back in such and such year. This practice makes the least sense of all.

The Bible says that there is not one person who is righteous apart from Jesus Christ. If we accept that, our good deeds can be performed to His glory, and they won't inflate our opinion of ourselves. Then we can do good without the temptation of "despising others".

Romans 15:13

13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Pasted below are song lyrics for "It Might Be Hope" by Sara Groves from the new "Tell Me What You Know" CD

You do your work the best that you can
you put one foot in front of the other
life comes in waves and makes it's demands
you hold on as well as your able

You've been here for a long long time

Hope has a way of turning it's face to you
just when you least expect it
you walk in a room
you look out a window
and something there leaves you breathless
you say to yourself
it's been a while since I felt this
but it feels like it might be hope

It's hard to recall what blew out the flame
it's been dark since you can remember
you talk it all through to find it a name
as days go on by without number

You've been here for a long long time

Hope has a way of turning it's face to you
just when you least expect it
you walk in a room
you look out a window
and something there leaves you breathless
you say to yourself
it's been a while since I felt this
but it feels like it might be hope

1 Samuel 17:33-37

33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 Moreover David said, “The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!”

What crisis are you up against today? As bad as it may be, it probably isn't the worst thing you have ever faced. Chances are, at some point in your life, the Lord has already delivered you from the "paw of the lion" and "the paw of the bear". Memories of these events can be used to give you confidence and boldness against today's "uncircumsized Philistine".

Because Goliath was fighting against God, he had no chance, yet he had somehow managed to paralyze the entire army of Israel with fear, with his size and bravado. Don't let your Philistine accomplish that in you today. Remember, like David did, that you have defeated stronger foes than it with God's help, and also that like Goliath, it too is fighting against God as you call upon Him.

Psalm 139:7-12; Romans 8:31

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

He'll be there. No matter what happens to us, be it something we had no control over or something we brought upon ourselves, He'll be there. You lose your job, He'll be there. You get a bad report from the doctor, He'll be there. You plunge into depression and think you'll never be yourself again, He'll be there. Your child is hurt, He'll be there. No one understands you, He'll be there. You disappoint Him, He's still there. You become a failure by all societal standards, He'll be there. You try to run away from Him, He won't leave you. You embarass yourself publicly, He's there.

Romans 8:31
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Gensis 3:4-5; John 12:23-24; Romans 5:18-19

Genesis 3
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

John 12
23 But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.

Romans 5
18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

Adam was pursuing life in the Garden of Eden when he ate the forbidden fruit, but his pursuit of life resulted in death for all of his descendants. Jesus was pursuing death at Calvary when He allowed Himself to be hung on the cross, but His pursuit of death resulted in life for all of His descendants.

What does this mean to us on a day-to-day basis? To the extent we choose the way of Adam, we also choose death. To the extent we choose the way of Christ, we also choose life. Unfortunately, we naturally prefer the way of Adam. We can't help but live out the Garden of Eden scene constantly, as the world promises life in return for self promotion in various forms, but delivers a degree of death each time.

There are those brilliant moments in our lives however, when the way of Adam is rejected and the way of Christ embraced. Some have enough faith to experience many of these moments, some even actively pursue them. People often wonder what the secret is for someone like this. As followers of Jesus, we already know the secret, may God give us the grace to pursue it each day.

Proverbs 11:24

24 One man gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

I find it fascinating when a law of God, though proven to be true, opposes our natural instinct and in some cases even defies logic. My instinct tells me that if I have $100 and I give away $50, I am left with $50, and therefore poorer than before I gave half of it away. This verse says that it doesn't work that way. Maybe it works more like physical exercise and the body. Strict logic would say that if one person exercises for half an hour each day for a week and another person does nothing but lay on the couch during that time, the person who exerted the least amount of energy would have the most left in reserve at the end of the week. But we know that the opposite is true. Based on this verse, the same concept would apply to money. When we are generous with it, we somehow receive more, when we try to conserve it above what is right, we lose it.

Jeremiah 17:5-8

5 This is what the LORD says:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
8 He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."

I believe this passage illustrates a proven fact, as sure as gravity. What confidence we could have if we could be like the tree planted by the water. It always looks exactly the same, regardless of the conditions around it, and it can be counted on to bear fruit, even in the dryest season. When we place our safety, security, and even our identity in the God who never has, and never will, fluctuate or change, we set ourselves up for assured success.

The tree has an advantage over us though, because it is controlled completely by God. It has been placed right at the source of its well being, which is the stream. When rain pours in its location, God does not allow it to grow bigger than the stream will be able to support by itself. He does not let the tree pull up its roots because it thinks the rain is easier to absorb at the surface. And the tree is not able to move away from the stream to see if the conditions are better somewhere else.

The more we can behave like the tree in these things, the more we will look and feel like the tree when hard times come. Again, the tree does have an advantage, but it is an advantage available to us too, when we yield control to God.

Luke 9:12-17; Luke 10:40 John 11:21; John 11:32; Matthew 16:22-23; Luke 8:24; Genesis 12:11-13; 1 Kings 19:1-4

Luke 9
12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.” 13 But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.” 14 For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.” 15 And they did so, and made them all sit down. 16 Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17 So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.

Luke 10
40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

John 11
21 Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.

32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Matthew 16
22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"
23Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Luke 8
24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.

Genesis 12
11 And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. 12 Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I[c] may live because of you.”

1 Kings 19
1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”

In the story of the feeding of the 5,000, notice in Luke 9:12 where it says "the twelve came". Based on that, I picture that they came to him as a consensus. As it got later and later, they must have started getting hungrier, and then started complaining to each other, then finally called a meeting amongst themselves to discuss the problem of no food. At that point they had little confidence in Jesus's leadership. They felt it necessary to intervene, interrupt His healings, and bring to His attention a detail that He had obviously forgotten about.

This seemed to happen a lot in the Bible. Martha thought Jesus had forgotten about all the work to be done as He sat there with her sister Mary (Luke 10). Martha and Mary both thought that Jesus just couldn't quite make it in time to save their brother Lazarus (John 11). Peter corrected Jesus as He surely had it wrong when He said He was going to be crucified (Matthew 16). The disciples assumed they would die in the storm before Jesus woke up and calmed the seas (Luke 8). Abraham, after he was promised his inheritance, denied that he was married to his wife to avoid being killed by the king, who he assumed would do so to steal his wife (Genesis 12). Elijiah thought he was as good as dead when the ungodly Jezebel promised to kill him, even though he had just single handedly killed 450 false prophets (1Kings 19).

All of the above are very anxious moments that occurred because those involved made a false assumption about God. In those situations it is hard to blame them, but when we do this we also suffer great anxiety. Many of us often think that God has put us in a storm that will surely be the end of us, that he has given us responsibility that we can't possibly carry out successfully, that he is not paying attention to what is going on. We can use these examples from the bible to give us hope and shed light upon these lies we tell ourselves. When we feel all hope is lost, these stories remind us that we just might be wrong, and they also teach us that we don't always have to understand exactly what God is up to trust Him.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18; Philippians 1:6; Revelation 21:5

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ

5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”

Anything we can see in the world is perishing. Nothing gets younger or newer with age. New cars, clothes, and houses are all in a progressive state of degradation. Unfortunately, this is also true of our bodies. The body of every person we know has the same destination-- six feet in the ground. These thoughts are depressing, I only state them as a setup for what comes next.

There is one thing that does get newer, brighter, shinier and closer to perfection with each hour and that is the Christian soul. This is the thing which is "not seen", and if only we could see with our eyes what is happening in the Christian soul day after day and year after year, we would be very encouraged. The good news is that according to this passage, we can actually look at the things which are not seen which means we are able to, at least in a symbolic sense, see this amazing renewal occurring in ourselves and in others.

I think the ability to see this comes only with a trained "eye". The degrading outward man acts like a semi-transparent cover which allows us to see inside only at certain angles and when we are really focusing. The better we can train ourselves to see inside, the more encouraged we will be. I think that if we get good at this, a reversal may occur, where the ugliness of the degrading outer man becomes the invisible part and the renewing inner man is all we can see. Wow! And even better than that, some day, the cover of the outward man will be gone completely and we will all be left only with the perpetually new inner man.

Luke 13:23-28

23 Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.

A prayer for witnesses:

Remind us again
How it would be
Without You
For all eternity

Remind us again
That we were lost
In a sea of ourselves
When we were boss

Remind us again
About our pain
The frustrating search
That was in vain

Remind us again
Help us burn
For Your children
Who won’t turn

Remind us again
That they aren’t free
They don’t understand
And can not be

Remind us again
What they would reap
What it means to gnash
And how it feels to weep

Remind us again
But hear our plea
Don’t say to them
Depart from Me

Remind us again
What to say and how
Use us all Lord
Show them home now

1 Corinthains 8:1b

Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

C.S. Lewis, in the book The Screwtape Letters, speaks of the type of person who probably does not know about this verse: "She's the sort of woman who lives for others, you can tell the others by their hunted expression." That is funny, but it happens when we focus on communicating to people how much we know about their problems instead of just simply encouraging them.

Experts say that communication is only 10% verbal, which conveys what we know, and the rest is tone and body language, which conveys how we feel. This supports the concept of this verse, that what we can teach people is not as valuable as how much we care about them. When we are presented with somebody's vulnerability, we do have an opportunity to make ourselves feel important and needed, but if we can resist that temptation, we also have an opportunity for a much greater blessing, which is to show someone that we care about them.

Luke 12:16-21; Matthew 11:28-30

16And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Is the message of the parable of the rich fool that God does not want us to, "take life easy, eat drink and be merry"? Reading other passages like this one from Matthew 11, I think just the opposite, that God wants us to know true ease in life, the best eating and drinking, true enjoyment, and true merriment, the kind that storehouses full of grain can't provide, the kind that only He can provide. When our resources increase, when all storms seem to have passed, when we feel secure about our health, safety and financial stability, we may be tempted to try to believe that God is no longer needed. The parable of the rich fool reminds us that everything we have was ultimately given to us by God, and it has no power to help us apart from Him.

Luke 12:16-21

16And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

What does it mean to be "rich toward God"? This passage doesn't tell us, but it does tell us that devoting our efforts in life to gaining ease and comfort for ourselves is not being rich toward God. Ironically the pursuit of ease and comfort seems to makes life very hard and uncomfortable. Maybe this is because no matter how easy and comfortable our life may be at the time, if it is our central goal for it to stay that way, it becomes a life of fear and frustration, as every little discomfort, incovenience or challenge becomes a threat to us. I believe the only way to avoid this trap is to make the central goal of our life something other that ease and comfort, which brings us back to the original question, we must find out what it means to be "rich toward God".

Psalm 107:23-32; 2 Corinthians 1:8-10

23 Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters,
24 They see the works of the LORD,
And His wonders in the deep.
25 For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
Which lifts up the waves of the sea.
26 They mount up to the heavens,
They go down again to the depths;
Their soul melts because of trouble.
27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble,
And He brings them out of their distresses.
29 He calms the storm,
So that its waves are still.
30 Then they are glad because they are quiet;
So He guides them to their desired haven.
31 Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
32 Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people,
And praise Him in the company of the elders.

8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, 10 who delivered us from so great a death, and does[a] deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, 11 you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our[b] behalf for the gift granted to us through many.

Hopefully you have never experienced "the sentence of death" Paul describes in the first chapter of Second Corinthains. But chances are, you have experienced a crisis in which you felt impending doom, something you thought was going to turn out very badly and that you felt little control over. Why would a loving God would actually place us in those situations on purpose, like these passages state? I think the reasons are also given in these passages. In Psalm 107, the men on the ship were forced to cry out to the Lord in their trouble. They then got to experience His great saving power followed by a sense of great thankfulness to the Lord. In Second Corinthians, Paul said his crisis happend " that we should not trust in ourselves but in God", and "that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf."

These crisis situations can motivate us to grow spiritually in ways that we would not be driven to otherwise. In these situation we are taught things that can serve us in all aspects of our lives, including:

1) How to call upon God for help. Someone who usually saves this option for the last resort, when faced frequently with the last resort, might begin to call upon God sooner for help in times of trouble.

2) How to trust in Him only. Someone who prefers to trust in their own strength, if faced with the fraility of that strength frequently might begin to embrace the availability of a stronger source.

3) How to better understand His ability to save us. This can give us the confidence to take more risks and thereby live fuller lives.

4) How to thank Him. Someone who ordinarily takes for granted God's blessings in their lives can no longer ignore His benefits right after they have been delivered by Him in a life or death situation.