Philippians 1:15-18
Note: For the Summer we are reprinting some devotions that ran back when we were getting this site up and running. Hopefully this is new content to you, and we will get back into writing fresh devotions as our schedule allows.
15It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
There are some passages in scripture that just completely crush my sense of fairness, and this is one of them. I want things to be easy to understand. I want to make God fit in my little world, and yet everytime I think I have Him figured out, He blows my mind again. This is one of those times for me.
When you've been in the ministry as long as I have, you hear all sorts of things. One of the big things I hear is "So and so is doing ___________ for the wrong reasons". Usually it has to do with someone who wants to be up in front of people (like speaking) and usually it comes from one of their peers whose "concerned" with their well being. As a pastor, occasionally I'll have people come up and tell me that. Sometimes there is truth in what's being said, and if there is stuff going on, please come tell me, I need to know!
This section of scripture totally messes up that line of thinking though. If you read into this verse a little, it looks like some people were jumping on the opportunity of Paul being in prison to try and steal his ministry! Talk about kicking a guy when he's down! But Paul has the right view of this, he says, "The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached." It doesn't matter their heart, what matters is that Christ is preached.
I want to point out that it does matter for the person that's doing the preaching. If YOU are preaching to try and impress a guy, or because you want to be recognized, then you need to get right with God. But if you notice that in someone else, deal with the plank in your own eye before trying to remove the speck from theirs.
-Jeff-
Dealing with Offense part 3
1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." 3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish.
Today I want to look at someone who did things the wrong way. Everyone knows the story of Jonah being swallowed by the whale and how God rescued him, and a few people know why he was in the whale in the first place. But do you know why he was running from God? You may have guessed from the title, but he was OFFENDED!!! God wanted him to go and preach in the one place that Jonah hated more than anything else. We don't understand slavery and oppression like he was going through, but we do understand what it's like to get picked on.
I think Jonah knew God, and knew that He would punish people who did evil. In fact, the only thing that was keeping Jonah going was knowing that God would punish the people of Ninevah for all of the horrible things they had done. I wonder if he often prayed for the destruction of that city. I bet he did. So imagine his surprise when one day God tells him to go to Ninevah and preach repentance. He didn't want them to repent, he wanted them to SUFFER!!! So instead of following God's plan, he decided to try and avoid God, and because of that He was swallowed by a whale.
The moral of todays story? Let go of your offenses and listen to God, or you might end up somewhere you don't want to be.
-Jeff-
The Parables of Jesus: Matthew 7: 1-5
Matthew 7:1-5
1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (NIV)
When I used to babysit my cousins, fights would often break out. In most cases, both of the brothers had similar stories. They were the innocent victim and the other was the guilty instigator who should carry all of the blame, and punishment, for the fight. We often find justification in our own actions, but see other’s explanations as a “lame excuse”. We often say things like, “I only did it once” or “what I did was not half as bad as what they did”, or “I had no other choice” when we have faults. When it is someone else’s struggle, we view similar sins as inexcusable.
In this scripture, Jesus reminds us that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It is God’s laws that we are violating, as such, only God has the right to judge our actions in light of these laws. Only someone perfect can judge the intent and the heart of someone. We, with the planks in our eye, do not fit the description of perfect.
It should be understood that God does not want us to ignore or accept other’s sins. He wants us to correct in love, but not judge or punish. 2 Timothy 4-1:2 says “1In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” (NIV)
John Gesick
Dealing with Offense part 2
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Often when we read this passage, we focus on the people and their intent to trick Jesus (otherwise, why didn't they bring the man? It takes two...). And it's true. The only reason they brought this woman was because they wanted to see what Jesus would do. But I want to look at this passage from a slightly different angle.
Leviticus 20:10 says this:
10 " 'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.These men had the law on their side. Forget the fact that they were probably waiting outside her house so they could capture her, they were in the right. The law clearly says she should die. And no one would have given Jesus a hard time for agreeing with the law. But instead Jesus says "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." And at that, the men dropped their stones and walked away.
We've all been in situations where someone has hurt us, and according to the law we have the right to get them back. We say things like: "It's okay for me to hate them, you don't know what they did to me." or we talk to our friends and say: "Just thought you'd like to know, so and so did this to me." And you take those rocks in your hands and begin to throw them at the person, because it's your right to do so.
But Jesus had a different take on this. Have you ever sinned? Have you ever cut someone off in the hallway at school? Have you ever gotten carried away and done something you regretted? If you have, and you've been offered forgiveness, it is your responsibility to do the same to others. When someone hurts you, you have a choice to make. I can take the stone in my hand and throw it at them, or I can drop it and walk away. But as you're thinking about your choice, remember that God took the rock that had your name on it, and instead he threw it at Jesus.
-Jeff-
James 4:11-12
11 Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. 12 God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?
Our job is to obey God's law, not to judge whether or not it applies to us. Who are we to judge others? Where do we get off being all high and mighty? In Matthew 7:1-6 Jesus tells us not to judge others, and He compares it to someone trying to take sawdust out of someone's eye while ignoring the beam sticking out of their own eye.
I think sometimes we get wrapped up in thinking that things needs to be fair. If I do something, others should do it the same way. Yet God alone is the judge, and what should it matter to us if He chooses to save some and others go to destruction? We need to be responsible for our own lives, and let God take care of everyone else.
-Jeff-
StatCounter
