GOD IS IMPARTIAL--A Message To Those Looking For Status

It hurts to be left out of a game or not chosen at recess. And even after the school years are over, adults ignore, reject, give the cold shoulder, vote you off the island. Why are people excluded or kept out of “the little group”? It could be pride, fear, ignorance or the desire to feel superior.

In Matthew 15 Jesus shows incredible impartiality to a Canaanite woman who appeals to Him for her daughter’s healing. The disciples thought they knew who Jesus did and didn’t have time for and they wanted to send her away. Jesus struck at their prejudices and sense of their own superiority and healed her daughter.

The disciples didn’t quite get it, just like some people today. It’s one thing to have contempt for someone behind their back, but it’s another thing to hear our ugly thoughts and feelings expressed out loud to a real person. None of the disciples spoke up for this woman. In John Ortberg’s book Everybody’s Normal Till you Get To Know Them he says,

“Thinking of sin as exclusion helps us get to the core of Jesus’ teaching…Jesus names as sin what often passes for virtue, especially in religious circles. The religious leaders in Jesus’ day believed that their refusal to associate with people who did not live up to their religious standards was the highest proof of their devotion to God…When people truly begin to follow Jesus, they find themselves becoming Embracers.”

Impartial acceptance is a wonderful gift we all can give to others. Ortberg adds,

“This is the irony of the spirit of exclusion. It causes us to think that merely to associate with those we consider outsiders is doing them a favor. We forget that wherever the spirit of exclusion reigns, it marks those farthest from the Fellowship of the Trinity. When we exclude, we don’t just hurt those we keep outside; we damage our own souls far more. And when we embrace, we ourselves are the ones who receive the greatest gift.”

What could you do to show acceptance to someone in your life today?

GOD IS GENEROUS-- What does that tell us about Him?

On a recent vacation my husband and I were eating dinner at a restaurant. I ordered the all-you-can-eat ribs. They were delicious, but I was stuffed after one plate of them. The waiter came by and asked if I wanted more. I told him I couldn’t, but he insisted that I take a box with me. Business was slow that night and they had plenty or something like that. He brought a take-out box jammed with twice as many ribs as I’d started with. Yes, he earned a nice tip.

You probably know some generous people too. What are characteristics of a generous person? Someone with money to spare? Hardly. I think a generous person is not only unselfish, but compassionate, secure in himself, someone who walks in forgiveness, is positive. I like to think of big people and little people. Big people have the traits of a generous person. Little people are the bickering complainers with a critical bitter outlook on life. Always waiting to jump on every little mistake. Generally they are insecure and negative. You won’t find generosity there.

God is generous. Yes He’s just, He’s holy—but He loves to be generous with His kids too. In Isaiah 54:10 He says: My covenant of blessing will never be broken.

What about you—big person or little? Your heart, not your bank account, shows how generous you are.

GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY -- Are You?

Many of God’s characteristics are to be demonstrated by our lives. We can become more like Him in love, forgiveness, compassion. We can’t become like Him in all things—for instance, we can’t be all-powerful. He is trustworthy and I think that’s something we should each strive to be.

A gossip goes around revealing secrets, but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence. Proverbs 11:13

When I was a girl, my mom told me a story. When she was in third grade her teacher asked her to carry a note from the classroom to the principal’s office. Mom was walking in the hallway when her teacher caught up with her. Her teacher asked, “Faye, did you open that
note and read it?” My mom told her she did not. Even though no one would've known if she had read the private note, she proved herself to be trustworthy.

If you cannot keep a secret, a confidence, someone’s words to you that would hurt them, some bit of information that is meant to be kept private, you are not a trustworthy person. Time for you to go back to school and to THE BOOK!

GOD IS JUST -- A Lesson From The Garden

It’s a beautiful sunny day and I was pulling some weeds in our garden. Whenever I’m working in the dirt all sorts of spiritual parallels come to mind. Today’s was just too obvious. As I hoed the weeds between the rows of lettuce, green beans and spinach I couldn’t help but think of Jesus’ parable about the weeds and the wheat in Matthew 13:24-30.

God's kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too.

The farmhands came to the farmer and said, 'Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn't it?
Where did these thistles come from?'

He answered, 'Some enemy did this.'

The farmhands asked, 'Should we weed out the thistles?'

He said, 'No, if you weed the thistles, you'll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I'll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.'

I pulled a lot of thistles out of our garden today. For a while, when the weeds and the plants are small, they look a lot alike. In the same way, people who are not truly serving Christ can be “planted” near us. We live, work and sometimes serve side by side. God allows this –for a while. The farmhands asked the farmer in the parable if they should pull the thistles. The farmer didn’t want His precious crop harmed so he let the weeds grow with it. God is so concerned for His own children that He sometimes lets the “impostors” be, for the time being, and doesn’t judge them immediately. When you observe injustice and wonder why God doesn’t deal with wrongdoers immediately, remember that God’s harvest is coming. The weeds are still small.

GOD IS SOVEREIGN-There are controlling personalities and then there's control

If I did not know and truly believe that God is in control over this world, I think I’d be a basket case. Just the election season alone is enough to give a person the heebie-jeebies. God is in perfect control over all His creation.

We can get ourselves in a tizzy over just about anything. The price of gas, the way someone treated us, whether our dreams for the future will come to pass. We worry about things
we have no control over.

I love Nancy Leigh DeMoss’ definition of God’s providence, which is similar to His sovereignty.

What is providence?

It’s God’s watchcare over His creation. It’s the fact that God sees ahead what is going to happen. God ordains ahead, and God goes before His people to make provision for those circumstances before we ever get there.

As I lay on the hammock in our backyard the other evening, I looked at the high fluffy clouds in the sky. I thought about God’s promise,

My thoughts are completely different from yours. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9

Those clouds were awfully high in the sky and God’s ways are awfully different from mine. So when I don’t understand, I try and remember that God’s ways are beyond mine. He works in the unseen and on the inside, when I want to see change on the outside. He is not indifferent, uncaring, unjust or powerless. If you can trust that He is sovereign—even in your pain and confusion—you’ll conquer doubt, one of Satan’s greatest footholds in your life.

We don’t know the future, but know that God is already there, He loves you and He is working for your good in all things.

GOD IS ETERNAL-The urgent vs. the important

Eternal seems so far away. I can’t identify with eternal when I need to make dinner, pay the bills and run the kids to practice this afternoon. We’re so confined by the everyday, the temporary, it’s hard to think in terms of eternal. Time is always pressing on us!

If you have time—no—take time to sit for a few minutes and contemplate eternity. Once life here is ended there are no more opportunities. Mo more opportunities to make things right between you and that other person. No more chances to tell your neighbor about Christ, no more opportunities to develop Christlike character. It’s so easy to put those things off until a more convenient time.

God is eternal and so are we. We will live forever, either with Him or without Him. Are we making time for what’s important or just doing what’s urgent?

Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living! 2 Peter 3:11

GOD IS MERCIFUL-More than we can imagine

We are oh so much harder on ourselves than God is. God’s mercy is more extensive than we can comprehend.

The children of Israel had everything going for them—God literally leading them into a land that He had promised to them. And it was full of blessings for them. All kinds of good things just waiting for them there.

Our ancestors captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took over houses full of good things, with cisterns already dug and vineyards and olive groves and orchards in abundance. So they ate until they were full and grew fat and enjoyed themselves in all your blessings.

But what did they do? They blew it! They were disobedient and rebelled against God.

In your great mercy, you sent them deliverers…

In your wonderful mercy, you rescued them repeatedly!

But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever.

Nehemiah 9:25-31 (selected portions)

God’s mercy sometimes seems too good to be true. He puts no limit on the number of times we can come to Him for forgiveness, for another chance. The only stipulation is that we come.

GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY-Getting God's promises from your head to your heart

We know, from reading it and from head knowledge, that God can be trusted. That’s a little different from learning it by experience though. It’s easy to give in to fear when trouble comes. Fear affects our decisions, our moods, our words.

I thought about some words I spoke recently and wish I could take them back. Then I asked myself what was behind those words and I realized it was fear.

Have you ever thought about how much of your behavior may be influenced by fear?

We don’t know why God is doing what He’s doing. But God knows. So look for evidence of God’s providence around you. And when you can’t see it, which most of the time we can’t, then trust that He is at work. He is planning. He is preparing. He is orchestrating. He is weaving this great plan, and we get to be a part of it.

Anytime you experience God’s faithfulness in your life, write it down. Keep it in a notebook where you can add to it. Once you begin to develop a track record of His work in your life, it will become easier to trust Him. Then the next time you face something that scares you, go back and review. Sometimes at night just before I fall asleep I recount situations where I was scared that this was the end. Then I thank the Lord that He came through and proved His trustworthiness.

God’s Word…and time…will prove to you that He is trustworthy.

What we think about God is the most important thing about us

One morning as I told God how terrible my life had become, I realized my complaining was a dead-end street. I needed to turn my worry into praise. Instead of fear and hopelessness, I needed to build my faith by praising the Lord. Although I didn't feel like it, I began to say, "I exalt you, Lord. I praise you. I worship you. You are good." I too soon ran out of praise words. I didn't know what else to say. For what else could I praise God?
--an excerpt from Knowing God By Heart

The premise behind Knowing God By Heart is to explore 31 of God's characteristics--one for each day of the month. Each of these attributes is a handle for worship and praise. This is a way I can focus on one of God's qualities each day. Even before I get out of bed in the morning, I try and praise God for the characteristic I'm concentrating on that day. When I'm aware, I will more readily see His faithfulness, His love, His sovereignty and many of the other qualities we'll be looking at. Feel free to give me your comments and the ways you see God's attributes operating in your life.

If you wish to order copies of Knowing God By Heart, email orders are accepted. The books are $15 each plus $3 postage. They are also available at amazon or pleasantwordbooks.