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But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” John 12:4-5
On occasion I am a referee for basketball games. While the money isn’t bad, I mostly do it for the exercise and because I enjoy the sport and the kids. I certainly don’t do it for the esteem or the accolades I get from the fans. In fact, when I’m on ‘the other side’ and sitting watching a game I’m amazed at the ignorance and impatience fans have with the men and women in stripes. On the lighter side, there’s an old joke among sports officials. “If you leave the gym with everyone mad at you, you’ve called a good game!”
The reality is, you will never please everyone and sometimes it’s hard to please ANYONE!
What’s true for basketball officials is unfortunately true for leaders as well, especially for spiritual leaders. The number of men and women who felt ‘called to the ministry’ and have since dropped out due to spiritual abuse is staggering.
To be fair, when a spiritual leader falls or leaves the ministry battered and bruised, it’s not always the fault of their followers. Like the basketball official, they make bad calls from time to time. But all too often the attacks on leadership are based on personal differences and have nothing to do with the ‘call of God’ on someone’s life.
Truth of the matter is, when you set your mind on your own agenda you will never see God’s working. A good case in point is none other than Jesus Christ himself. If you are like me, you have often marveled at what it was like to sit at the feet of Jesus; to see him heal the sick; to watch him deal with those who were demon-possessed or struggling with some life issue.
Yet, even Jesus wasn’t immune to the attacks of people. Some of those people were those closest to him! Take for example, Judas. At some point Judas must have seen Jesus as one worth following. Why? We aren’t sure. But there was something in Jesus Christ that attracted him, and conversely, something in Judas that attracted Jesus or he wouldn’t have chosen him as one of the 12, and the groups treasurer. (Okay, some of you theologians are going to argue that it was all part of the divine plan, and I’ll give you that, but from a human perspective, there was an attraction at the outset so bear with me!)
Somewhere along the line, Judas became disgruntled with the spiritual leadership (aka: Jesus of Nazareth). From that point forward, there was nothing that even the Son of God could have done to change him. Judas’ decision was from the heart and God will always allow us to choose. Rather than trust God, Judas chose to trust his own perspective and the results were devastating.
As spiritual leaders we are called to lead as Christ led – as servants. As those under the tutelage of spiritual leaders we are called to pray for and support our leaders. When these two attitudes are followed the body of Christ will prosper.
Don’t allow yourself to be a Judas and question how God wants to work in your life and the lives of others. Once you allow disgruntlement to set in (as a leader or a ‘follower’) you will never see the power of God manifested.
PRAYER: Father God, I confess to you that sometimes I struggle with my attitude towards those who are leaders in my life. Help me to keep a clear mind and to pray for those with whom I may disagree. Amen.
Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21 (NIV1984)
“It seemed like such a good idea at the time.”
How many times have you heard yourself or someone else mumble those words?
A couple sits across the courtroom from one another. Eight years ago they pledged their love to each other ‘until death do us part’. Now, the pieces of a family torn by doubt and infidelity and emotional abandonment are all that is left. As she looks at him she thinks back. He was a good Christian man. He was kind, generous, forgiving. Someone she could trust. Now, all she felt was hurt, all she saw in his eyes was anger. What happened?
The story is the same throughout mankind. We have plans. We have visions of what life should look like. Sometimes we make half-hearted prayers to God for wisdom, prayers which are really nothing more than asking his approval for our ideas.
Our plans can be for a successful career, a healthy family, or a large, burgeoning church. But things don’t go as we expected and we revert to our own strength and wisdom rather than look to God. We begin to compare, criticize, covet and complain about each other and about God.
Somewhere along the line we’ve gotten the idea that God’s plan for each of us is to live a fairy tale existence. The frogs of the world turn to princes. The princesses swoon at our kiss. The ‘magic seeds’ of entrepreneurial efforts become beanstalks that lift us to the heavens.
Jesus spent more of his time encouraging those who were down and out than he did catering to the social elite. Why? Because he knew man’s plans would inevitably lead to failure, pain, discouragement and destruction.
As the Lord spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, he assures us “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11) But that promise came to a people who were in exile at the time and far removed from Jehovah God.
God’s plan for us, as for the Israelites, was to prosper them AFTER they endured the trials of their own guilt.
God’s plan for each of us is first and foremost to have a healthy, vibrant relationship with him based on living a lifestyle according to his word. Anything that deviates from God’s word is man’s plan and destined to failure. Anything empowered by his Spirit and driven by his word will prosper; prosper by His standards, not the worlds.
Whether you are in ministry, a career or a blue-collar worker take a look at your plans. Make sure they are measured by relationship with God and not personal gain or tradition. God’s plans never go awry.
PRAYER: Father God. It’s so easy to superimpose my own desires and call them yours. Give me wisdom to earnestly seek your path and not the path more easily trodden. In Jesus name, Amen.
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:14 (NIV)
“I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
The familiar Christmas Carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” came from a poem penned on December 25, 1864, by Henry Lonfellow amidst one of the worst periods in United States history, the Civil War. His inspiration came as he heard the bells ringing in a nearby church.
Later, Longfellow pens two stanzas of the poem that hymn writers chose to exclude when the poem was put to the familiar tune we know it as.
Then from each black accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
One can’t blame the poet for the injection of these mournful words. In the previous year he’d lost his dearly loved wife in a fire, and his son became a victim of war.
Peace on earth?
Hardly.
Goodwill towards men?
The Civil War made enemies out of brothers.
Still, Longfellow ends his poem with:
And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!”
‘Peace on Earth; Goodwill towards men’ still eludes us. The news is full of horrific tales of violence mankind pits against one another. Only the most horrific acts gain media attention. Behind the scenes of mass murder and natural disasters are family members abusing one another; accidents claiming the lives of young fathers and mothers and children; disease taking lives of people all too soon.
So where is the peace that Longfellow fell back on as he closed his poem that dark Christmas Day? Where is the peace the Angels sang of on that dark hillside outside Jerusalem?
Like the Angels, Longfellow knew what we must never forget. ‘Peace on earth; Goodwill towards men’ will never be dictated by a politicians mandate, a hefty retirement account, a fulfilled relationship or healthy eating/exercise regimen. Peace and goodwill always has been, and always will be a state of mind that transcends the tragedies of life, and based on faith in Jesus Christ.
God’s favor, his peace rests on those who rest in him. Tragedies will come. Horrific acts of violence will happen. Innocent lives will be taken far too soon. But right will prevail. Jesus has promised us that he will be with us always, even in the midst of the storm.
The Angel song of honor reminds us that God’s kingdom of peace has a present reality to those who follow Jesus, and a future hope when he returns for his own.
PRAYER: Father, I pray for those who are struggling with a variety of hurt and anguish today. Evil seems to have engulfed us of late. Help us, even in the midst of tragedy to feel your peace here on earth. Amen.
Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9 (NLT)
When you find something that works, you stay with it. After all, if ‘it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’
At first glance one might think the Apostle Paul is just an arrogant Bible thumping preacher. “Just do what I do and everything will work out just fine…” But a study of the life of Paul reveals quite the opposite.
This great orator and defender of the faith says in other writings, things like:
“Not that I have already attained it, but I press on towards the mark.” (Philippians 3:12)
“All those things I want to badly to do, I don’t do. Rather I find myself involved in doing the very things I hate.” (Romans 7”15)
“For I am the least worthy of any of the apostles” (1 Corinthians 15:9)
There are other places as well where Paul bears his soul to say, in essence, I’ve not attained the standard of living I desire in my life. I’m weak, I fail. I’m unworthy. Yet here, in Philippians 4:9 he offers a testimonial of hope to those of us who struggle on a daily basis. He encourages each of us to take a good look at reality.
Remember what you’ve learned [about your faith], he says. Too often life situations, doubts, and our own failures will lure us away from the fundamentals. A championship team in any sport is one that continually practices the fundamentals, the little things so that the victory can be won. Rarely does a team sound in the fundamentals, lose.
In the same way, Paul is telling us from his personal experience that as he has learned to follow the basics, he has seen God work in mighty ways.
Does that mean hardship won’t come? Unlikely, since Paul wrote this letter from prison.
Does that mean we won’t fail through our own weakness or outright rebellion and sin against the God we chose to love? Paul reminds us that we battle continually with the old sin nature. Only reliance on the Holy Spirit will change that.
We are instructed to be a holy people, separated unto God, to live a life above reproach. But holiness in the human realm doesn’t mean perfection, it means we deal correctly with sin as soon as it enters our life. We go to the throne of grace, confess our sin, as forgiveness, and repent (change our attitude).
Stay the course. Remember the simple truths you learned as a child, or seek them out from God’s word. Trouble will come. You will fail. Others will fail you. But as you remain true to the basic tenants of our faith (love, grace, forgiveness and mercy) the God of peace and comfort will encourage you today.
PRAYER: Father God, help me to live in such a way that I can say, as Paul says, that my walk with you has taught me the way to peace. Empower me with your Holy Spirit to live in the basic truths of my faith so that others may find the peace I have found. Amen.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance. Psalm 33:12 (NASB)
It’s been said, “Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
During Old Testament times God repeatedly warned his people that judgment would come if they refused to heed him as the one and only true God.
As they entered the Promised Land they were warned not to engage themselves in the rituals and customs of the people who lived there. They were to remain true to the teachings of Moses, remain true to the covenant of Abraham.
They didn’t learn, of course. Throughout the ages history has proven that when a nation followed the principles laid out in the Holy Bible, God blessed them. When that nation strayed from those principles, decay began. People began to question the harsh expectations of God, or even doubt his existence. People looked to government for provision instead of relying on and trusting in God. They trusted their own consciences over the teachings of God’s Word.
There is a positive side, however, to dwelling in a land where the government refuses to acknowledge God. The church of Jesus Christ tends to thrive. Throughout history godless dictators and leaders have tried to squash the church. The early Jewish leaders tried it through persecution; Nero tried it with horrific slaughter of those who followed ‘The Way’.
God isn’t as concerned about the spiritual condition of government systems as he is the faithfulness of his people. The churches most famous persecutor, the Apostle Paul, tells us, “Again I say, don’t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.” Timothy 2:23-26 (NLT)
Do followers of Christ have a responsibility to involve themselves in political and social activity in order to show Christ’s love and share his grace and forgiveness? Certainly. But our main focus should be to bring our hearts, minds and passions into conformity with Christ.
Recently I’ve been reading “Throw Me Another Brick” by Charles Swindoll. The most important nugget I’ve taken thus far from his study of Nehemiah is that God changes leaders through prayer more than protests and outspoken criticism. A nation that refuses to acknowledge the God of the Holy Bible will fall, but the churches responsibility is to pray for its leaders (regardless of their religious affiliation) and show the world the love of Jesus Christ.
PRAYER: Most gracious and powerful Heavenly Father. I remind myself today that you are the supreme commander-in-chief of my life. No earthly power will change my allegiance to you. I pray for our leaders that they may follow your precepts, but more importantly I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ, that we may show your love and grace daily to those around us, especially those we disagree with. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 