BEST DECISION EVER: UNERECTED MONUMENTS OF GREATNESS

April 16, 2016 at 11:33 AM (Best Decision Ever, Christian Living)

In the course of a twenty-four hour period we make gobs of decisions. Some of these we make with a serious amount of forethought and prayer. Others we make spontaneously with little or no thought as to the consequences or impact our decisions will have—not only for ourselves, but for the many others whose lives are intertwined with ours.

Have you ever thought much about how a single decision can change your life forever? For better or worse?

In these blog posts I’d like to look at the one good decision that some people in the Bible made that changed the course of their life for the better. By looking at ourselves in the mirror of God’s Word I hope we’ll all take comfort, courage, and hope in the fact that, despite the mess we’re presently faced with, we can still turn things around. A lousy past or dismal present doesn’t have to give us the same future. By God’s grace, our future and life can be changed for the better…if we only make the right decision today. May God help us do that on a daily basis!

UNERECTED MONUMENTS OF GREATNESS

In a PREVIOUS POST I wrote about a man in the early church named Barnabas. I’ve thought a lot about him since then.

We’ve been studying the Book of Acts in our adult Sunday school class. Each one was asked to do a character study on any person found or mentioned in that Book. Naturally, with the thought of Barnabas fresh on my mind, I chose to do my study on Barnabas. Was I ever glad I did! Let me tell you what I mean.

We know about the conversion of the church’s fiercest and most-feared persecutor – Saul. When Saul could no longer work for the Lord in Damascus because of the opposition of the Jews, he came back to Jerusalem hoping to be received by the apostles and the church (Acts 9). But the apostles would not see him or have anything to do with him. They were afraid of Saul and perhaps thought that Saul’s conversion was a ruse to capture, imprison, and kill more Christians – especially the apostles.

According to ancient tradition (Theodore Lector, circa 525 AD), Barnabas and Saul both went together to the school of Gamaliel, the renowned Pharisaic Teacher. Barnabas had been trying for several years to convert Saul to Christ, but was unsuccessful.

Anyways, when Barnabas heard that Saul was saved and was in town, he went looking for him. In Barnabas’ eyes, even the church’s most-feared persecutor deserved a fair hearing. After speaking with him, Barnabas was convinced of the sincerity and genuineness of Saul’s conversion. To his credit and our eternal benefit and our eternal benefit, Barnabas brought Saul to the apostles and convinced the apostles to meet with him.

The result of that meeting, as we know, is history. Saul was received by the apostles and ministered for a time in Jerusalem. If it weren’t for Barnabas, the apostles wouldn’t have met with Saul; the Church in Jerusalem wouldn’t have received him; and the history and growth of the Christian Church would not have been the one that we find recorded in the Book of Acts.

You see, Barnabas believed that people—even the worst of men—can change through the power of Christ. He believed that the Church would be better if Saul were a part of it. And he believed that Saul would be an effective witness for Jesus Christ. Barnabas took a chance on Saul and history proved him right. Saul was an invaluable Christian leader, missionary, and evangelist. The Church truly was better off with Saul in it. Like I said in my PREVIOUS POST, the Christian world owes Barnabas a debt of gratitude that can never be fully paid. Thank you, Barnabas!

In view of how history was changed when Saul became a Christian and a missionary for Christ, I believe it goes without saying that Saul being received by the apostles and the Jerusalem Church—his getting their stamp of approval upon his conversion and ministry—was Barnabas’ magnus opus.

Barnabas and Saul, who was later named Paul, would spend the next several years working together in various churches throughout Palestine, Syria, and Asia Minor. They took John Mark, Barnabas’ cousin, along with them on one of their missionary trips. But for some reason that we are not told, Mark decided to leave Barnabas and Saul and return home to Jerusalem.

Well, some time after, Paul decided that he and Barnabas should return to the churches they established during their first missionary journey and see how the newborn believers there were doing (Acts 15:36).

Barnabas agreed that this was a needful thing to do. He wanted to take John Mark along with them. Paul disagreed. He thought it best not to take someone along who had, in his own words, deserted them during their first missionary journey. This was a rather strong and serious charge. In all likelihood, as we glean from his later writings, Paul had very high standards for Christian leaders. Desertion and unfaithfulness would certainly disqualify one from continuing in ministry.

In contrast, Barnabas stood by his cousin. I don’t think he did this merely because he was family. I believe Barnabas stuck by Mark because he firmly believed that you needed to give people a chance to get things right. People—even a deserter—are capable of changing through the grace of God.

The disagreement between Barnabas and Paul escalated into a severe argument, with neither man willing to concede or compromise. Both were adamant and entrenched in their position that the only recourse left was to part ways: Barnabas took Mark and went to Cyprus. We never hear again from him in the Book of Acts. Paul took Silas and went throughout Asia Minor and Europe.

Earlier, I talked about Paul’s introduction to the apostles and his acceptance by them as being Barnabas’ magnus opus. Along this same line of great works, think about how this sharp, vocal, and doubtless, heated argument could have scarred John Mark for life. Put yourself in Mark’s shoes. Wouldn’t you feel spiritually, emotionally, and mentally battered, rejected, and worthless after the great apostle Paul has made you feel unworthy, almost apostate, labelling you as a deserter? How many more hurtful words were spoken? The point I’m trying to make is, there’s no way John Mark walked away from this argument without being scarred or hurt.

Barnabas stood by Mark’s side. He took Mark back to Cyprus. And Barnabas nursed Mark back to spiritual life. He got him involved in evangelism again as they went throughout Cyprus evangelizing. Instead of doing what so many of us would have done if we were treated badly and severely bad-mouthed–drop out of  church, become bitter, critical, and antagonistic towards Christians, and turn our backs on the Lord;  Mark stayed in the ministry and proved his mettle as a Christian leader and worker that, years later, he would work once again with Paul. And Paul, having a change of heart and mind, regarded this one-time deserter as being profitable to him in the ministry (2 Timothy 4:11). John Mark’s redemption and triumph in Christian ministry, I am saying, is Barnabas’ handiwork. It is his second magnus opus.

Even though Barnabas sets sail into the sunset in the Book of Acts, never to be seen or heard from again, his accomplishments in the lives of Paul and Mark stand as an unerected monument to his greatness and his graciousness as a man who gave the most undeserving of people a chance. Without fanfare or notice, Barnabas made people great by the sheer power of love, faith, and kindness that were in his heart.

Barnabas’ disagreement with Paul, his parting ways with Paul, and his disappearance into oblivion and obscurity; reminds us that making the best, or the right, decision sometimes comes at a great cost or suffering. It comes with a lot of grief and hurt. Barnabas reminds us that there’s a price to pay for standing up for what we believe is good and right. The consequences of being faithful or true may not be pretty.

But through all the tears and pain, Barnabas teaches us to console ourselves in the fact that we did what we believed was good and right. He teaches us to persevere in the right no matter the costs or consequences. Like John Mark who needed Barnabas to stand by him and nurture him back to life, there are people out there who need our encouragement and help. No pride intended, there are people out there who need us. Like Barnabas with Mark, we need to be there for them.

History may never record another word about you. Like Barnabas, you may sail into the sunset of obscurity without fanfare or notice. But the lives that you’ve changed; the investment that you’ve made in the people you’ve helped; stand as unerected monuments—they are unwritten epitaphs and unspoken eulogies—of your true greatness in the sight of God. So persevere and press on, O child of God. A hurting world and church awaits and needs you.

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BEST DECISION EVER: BEING WHERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE

May 25, 2015 at 9:20 AM (Best Decision Ever, Christian Living)
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INTRODUCTION

In the course of a twenty-four hour period we make gobs of decisions. Some of these we make with a serious amount of forethought and prayer. Others we make spontaneously with little or no thought as to the consequences or impact our decisions will have—not only for ourselves, but for the many others whose lives are intertwined with ours.

Have you ever thought much about how a single decision can change your life forever? For better or worse?

In these blog posts I’d like to look at the one good decision that some people in the Bible made that changed the course of their life for the better. By looking at ourselves in the mirror of God’s Word I hope we’ll all take comfort, courage, and hope in the fact that, despite the mess we’re presently faced with, we can still turn things around. A lousy past or dismal present doesn’t have to give us the same future. By God’s grace, our future and life can be changed for the better…if we only make the right decision today. May God help us do that on a daily basis!

By way of introduction, the daily news are replete with reports of people who, quite tragically, were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Some of these unfortunate people end up being horrifically hurt or scarred for life. Many end up dead.

I don’t ever want to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. No matter where I am, I want to be where I’m supposed to be. Where God wants me to be.  I want to be at the right place at the right time.

But am I? Are you? Self is so deceitful and we can brusquely dismiss the question with a positive Yes, I am where I’m supposed to be! But, really and truthfully, are we where we’re supposed to be? How can we tell if we are or aren’t? Just so you know, I don’t have all the answers. But the Lord was good enough to give me one telltale way to know if we’re where we’re supposed to be.

BEING WHERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE

The time was rapidly drawing nigh when Jesus would be killed. Months prior to this, Jesus began preparing His disciples for the fate that awaited Him in Jerusalem. He would be killed. The chief priests would arrest Him, try Him, then condemn Him to death. He was gonna be crucified. As He approached Jerusalem, Jesus broke the sad and awful news: one of His very own disciples would betray Him and hand Him over to the chief priests. One of the twelve was gonna help Him get killed! It was, for sure, very sad and disturbing news.

But, good news! He was gonna come back to life on the third day. He wasn’t gonna stay dead forever. He’s was gonna come out of the grave and live again! Live forever! Hallelujah! That’s really great and fantastic news!

The problem is, even though Jesus is going to live again, He isn’t going to live on earth. He’s going back to Heaven where He came from (John 14:1-3, 16:5-7).

The thing I really like about Jesus is, He doesn’t just dump the bad news on us: He follows up with good news. WITH GOD, THERE’S ALWAYS GOOD NEWS WITH THE BAD. In the context of His departure, the good news is, when Jesus leaves this ole world He’s gonna send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to live and be with us (John 14:16, 16:7).

The Comforter is gonna do a lot of really neat things for us. He’s gonna help us, teach us, and remind us of everything Jesus taught us in His Word (John 14:26, 16:13).

The best part is coming. We’re here on earth to do a mission for God (Matthew 28:16-20). We’re supposed to be telling other people about Jesus and getting them to follow Him. We can do that on our own with very limited effects or results. But when the Spirit of God comes upon us and lives inside us, wow!, we’re gonna be filled with so much Spirit and heavenly power that we’ll take the Gospel worldwide and people in every corner of this ole world will become believers and followers of Christ (Acts 1:8). The truth is, we need the Spirit to help us make Christ known and make Christ-believers!

Jesus knew His disciples needed the Holy Spirit in order for them to be successful in their evangelistic mission. That’s why He told them in Acts 1:4, Don’t leave Jerusalem yet. Wait here for the Father to give you the Holy Spirit, just as I told you he has promised to do.

True to the Lord’s command, the disciples stayed put in Jerusalem. They waited. And prayed (Acts 1:13-14).

The day of Pentecost came, much like any other day. The sun came up, people woke up, and everyone began their daily routine. For the twelve apostles in particular, they continued doing what Jesus told them to do. They all met together in someone’s house and prayed. All twelve of them (Acts 2:1, 14).

Suddenly, at about 9 o’clock in the morning, the Father kept His promise. The Spirit came down from Heaven in such a mighty outpouring of power that Peter and the rest of the apostles went right to work, witnessing for Jesus. By the time Peter was done preaching, about three thousand Jews became believers and followers of Christ! Hallelujah! It just goes to show what great works we can do for Christ when we’ve got the Spirit working in and through us!

So what’s the point? All twelve apostles were baptized and filled with the Spirit because all twelve of them were obedient to the Lord and waited. They stayed together. They met together. They prayed together. They were where God wanted them to be. They were where they were supposed to be—all together. All waiting. All praying. Just like what Jesus wanted them to do.

Now here’s a probing question. I asked you earlier how we can tell if we’re where we’re supposed to be. We may not always see the answer for ourselves. But we can readily see it in others. Here’s the question. What if one of the apostles was a No-Show on that Pentecostal morning? What if he decided that it was more important for him to be somewhere else, doing something else? Would he have received the Pentecostal experience? Would he have been in the street that morning, with the rest of the apostles, witnessing for Jesus, and seeing thousands of his fellow Jews get saved? No, I don’t think so. The Scriptures explicitly state that the Spirit of God filled the entire house where the apostles were and they were all filled with the Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). Nothing is said about the Spirit filling and baptizing anyone outside the house.

The point is, Jesus gave His disciples a promise: the Spirit is coming! He told them what to do: wait for the Spirit to come upon you. They obeyed Him. And, as a result, God kept His Word and the Spirit came upon them just as Jesus said would happen. They were obedient to the Lord’s command. They put themselves in a position to receive the promised Holy Spirit. They were at the right place at the right time.

Like the promise of the Holy Spirit, God’s made us all sorts of promises. Gobs of them. We want them all. And, like the Pentecostal baptism, God’s going to keep His promises. Every last one of them.

But, in a manner of speaking, are we all together in the same place, in one accord, praying and waiting? Are we doing what God’s told us to do in the mean time? Are we at the right place at the right time? Are we where we’re supposed to be?

Sometimes, maybe a lot of times, it looks to us as if God’s a No-Show with some of the promises that we’ve prayed to Him about. It looks like God’s not going to keep His promise. But, instead of God being the problem, could it be we’ve not received the promise because we’re a No-Show? Because we’re not where we’re supposed to be at? Because we aren’t at the right place at the right time? Could it be we haven’t received what we’ve asked God for because we haven’t been doing what God’s told us to do?

Let me say it once again. God gave these apostles a promise. He told them what to do. They did it. And, as a consequence, they received the promised Holy Spirit. They received the Spirit because they were obedient. They were at the right place at the right time.

So where’s the right place at the right time? Where are you supposed to be? How do you get to where you’re supposed to be? Friends, you obey the Lord. You do what God’s told you to do.

In a manner of speaking, if you’re not with the rest of the disciples praying in the house, you’re not gonna receive the promise God made you. If you’re not doing what God’s told you to do, then you’re not where you’re supposed to be. You’re not at the right place at the right time. WHEN YOU’RE DISOBEDIENT TO GOD YOU’RE AT THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME.

You may think you know a better way. You have a different, howbeit, a better, idea of where you need to be and what you need to do.

Aghast! Are you for real? Have you lost your mind? When did you become smarter than God? What could possibly be better than obeying the Lord? What on earth could be more important than doing what God’s told you to do?  What could possibly be more right than obeying God?

Despite whatever temptations the apostles had to do other things beside meet and pray, they kept Jesus’ command foremost in their thoughts, priorities, and actions. They obeyed Him. And waited. And prayed. All of them together in one place.

And, as a consequence, they all received the Spirit’s indwelling. They were never again the same. Pentecost changed them into mighty missionaries. They stayed loyal and obedient to Christ that not even the threat of death, or death itself, could turn them away from Him. THEY CHANGED THE WORLD BECAUSE PENTECOST CHANGED THEM. THEIR OBEDIENCE CHANGED THEM.

Let’s be clear about one thing. The disciples were just like you and me. They weren’t omniscient. They didn’t know that Pentecost would change them. They didn’t know that the promised Holy Spirit would come on Pentecost morning. Jesus didn’t tell them exactly when the Spirit would come. They just kept on obeying the Lord. The met together and prayed. Day after day. Until God kept His promise to them and gave them the Holy Spirit. Continuing to meet and pray together was their best decision ever and it changed them for the rest of their lives.

Friends, it’s Pentecost morning. The promise is a coming. I know you’ve got a thousand and one things to do today. There’s a bunch of really important stuff you need to get done today. You’ve gone to church a lot lately. You even went to the last prayer meeting. You’re tempted to skip your time with the Lord and the rest of the believers because something you think is more important has come up.

Brethren, don’t be a No-Show. Be where you’re supposed to be. Where God wants you to be. Where God Himself is gonna be. Be at the right place at the right time. How do you do that? JUST DO, AND KEEP DOING, WHAT GOD’S TOLD YOU TO DO. IT’S HOW YOU GET ANSWERS TO PRAYER. GOD SHOWS UP WITH THE PROMISE WHEN YOU’RE WHERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE, DOING WHAT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING.  So be there! Like the twelve, newly Spirit-baptized apostles, it’ll be your best decision ever! God bless you. And thanks for dropping by.

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BEST DECISION EVER: POSTHUMOUSLY HONORED

February 22, 2014 at 10:31 AM (Best Decision Ever, Christian Living)
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INTRODUCTION

In the course of a twenty-four hour period we make gobs of decisions. Some of these we make with a serious amount of forethought and prayer. Others we make spontaneously with little or no thought as to the consequences or impact our decisions will have—not only for ourselves, but for the many others whose lives are intertwined with ours.

Have you ever thought much about how a single decision can change your life forever? For better or worse?

In these blog posts I’d like to look at the one good decision that some people in the Bible made.

By way of introduction, let me say that sometimes we don’t even know the far-reaching impact of our decisions and actions. In our human frailty we just don’t see the importance of what we said or did. We discount and dismiss the little things we say and do for God and others.

I’d like to tell you a story about a woman who didn’t know she made the best decision ever. She just did what she did and went on with life as usual without realizing the value of what she did.

That’s the way it is with all of us. Sometimes we just don’t know that we’ve made the best decision ever.

Well, now that I’ve whet your appetite, let’s get going with the story.

POSTHUMOUS HONORS

Luke 21:1-4 tells the story of a poor woman—a widow—who came to the Temple and, before she left, she dropped her offering in the collection box. It wasn’t any big deal really. She gave two small copper coins which make a farthing (KJV from the parallel account in Mark 12:41-44). So what is a farthing?, you ask. A farthing is 1/40th of a denarius. I know it’s Greek to a lot of us. But a denarius is the amount of money that an average worker made for a whole day’s work in this Biblical time period. Some modern translations say she gave what we today would consider to be a penny or a few cents. But that’s not a good gauge for understanding the true value of what she gave.

A denarius, as I said, is the amount of money that an average worker back then made for a whole day’s work. Now let’s suppose in our day that the average worker in America makes $10/hour. That may be way off base for some of you, so just put in whatever you think the average worker today makes per hour. Now let’s suppose a day’s work is 8 hours. In this framework, a denarius by today’s standard is worth $80.

This lady gave two small copper coins that were worth 1/40th of a denarius. By today’s standard, 1/40th of $80 is $2. So what this woman gave was, in our day, two bucks. That’s not a whole lot of money today. It’s a pittance, really. We consider ourselves to be in a really bad financial shape if all we had to our name was two bucks. Well, that’s the point of this story. This woman, being a widow, gave far and away what was really a pittance when you compare it to the vast sums of money that the rich folks were putting in the collection boxes. But the lady stood out from the rest of the givers because she gave the Lord everything she had!

Who of us have ever done such a thing? Yeah, some of us, quite shamefully, only give the Lord two bucks. That’s not a whole lot, considering a lot of us will go out to eat after church and spend a cool ten bucks, even more if we’re feeding the family. Which means we gave the Lord a pittance and kept the lion’s share of what we have to ourselves. Even the rich folks in the Bible story shame us by their generosity in giving. They certainly gave a lot more than our two measly bucks!

Now, just so you don’t feel too bad, giving two bucks is a lot better than not giving anything at all—especially when you have it to give. Not giving any offering to the Lord when you have a job or a source of income, even Social Security or unemployment, is, in my view, the epitome of selfishness. Really, according to Malachi 3:8, when you have money to give, but don’t put anything in the offering, you’re robbing God! It’s bad enough stealing from people. But stealing from God? Wow! That’s serious, folks!

I don’t know about you, but back in my younger, immature days, I was really critical of this widow lady. I mean, yes, I’m glad she gave something. But to give the Lord all the money you have is just plain foolish. What are you gonna live on? Where are you gonna get your next meal? Seriously, I don’t think the Lord’s gonna chide us if we gave Him a buck and kept the other buck for us to live another day.

People ate sparrows back then. You know what they are. They’re tiny little birds. A mite would have gotten her one sparrow. That’ll be a day’s worth of food for her to live on. It’s only wisdom to save or keep enough money for yourself to live and eat for another day.

But she didn’t keep a single buck or cent for herself. She gave it all away! That had to hurt!

If people knew we gave all our money to the Lord or to some other person, would people seriously take pity on us and help us out? I dare say most of us would be critical and not help at all. That will teach him or her not to be foolish! Folks, you’ve got to save what little money you have and use it to take care of yourself! That was me back in the old days. Would I offend you if I told you that’s how some of you are today if you really are that way?

A couple of things just totally amazes me about this story. Naturally, the first thing that comes to mind is this widow lady gave all the money she had to the Lord. I don’t think she was loony or reckless. She must’ve had enough faith to trust the Lord for her next meal and for her daily needs. Or she must’ve loved the Lord enough to obey Him and give Him His share of what she had—and more.

How many of us have that kind of faith or love? We say we love and trust the Lord. But our actions tend to contradict what we say. When have we ever given the Lord all of the money we had?

Remember. This woman’s a widow. And she’s poor. Being poor, she didn’t have a whole lot of money. She didn’t have a bank account or money hidden under her mattress. There wasn’t a Social Security network that gave her a monthly stipend. She lived off of the kindness of family and friends. She gave God all the money she had! You might be critical of her. But I think she’s absolutely amazing! Truth be told, she puts me to shame. 😦

The other amazing thing about this story is our Lord. Luke doesn’t say it, but Mark does. When you piece both accounts together, as Jesus was leaving the Temple He stopped, then took a seat across from the offering boxes. (They weren’t boxes, but Trumpet-shaped.) It was His last week before He died and, being busy as you can imagine, Jesus actually stopped for a few minutes to watch all these people giving their offerings to the Lord.

That’s one thing that I find so amazing: Jesus takes time to watch us give. He knows who’s giving and who’s not. Think the Lord doesn’t take notice of when you give or how much, or how little, you give? You’d better think twice. He’s awfully busy. But He still takes time to watch people give, or else pass by the offering box without giving a dollar or cent.

A second thing about our Lord is, instead of criticizing and chiding this lady for giving God all the money she had, Jesus actually commended her! In fact, in His eyes, the lady actually gave more than what all the rich folks were giving! That doesn’t sound right to us. I mean, come on, two bucks is a pittance when others are giving twenty, fifty, or a hundred bucks, even more, in the offering. But in God’s sight, we out-give those who give more than us when we give Him all the money we have.

So what’s my point? Brethren, be careful who you criticize. Wonder of all wonders, God praises the people we criticize! Ouch! Next time you’re tempted to be critical of somebody, ask yourself if God’s critical of them too. You just might be surprised to find Him commending the person you’re critical of!

I started my blog by saying that sometimes we don’t even realize the importance or value of what we said or did. Sometimes we make the best decision we’ve ever made without ever realizing it. It’s no big deal. We say and do things, then go on with life without giving ourselves a pat on the back for saying something nice to somebody or for doing a good deed for someone else.

As proof, let’s look once again at our Lord and this lady. Jesus didn’t go up to this lady and say, Way to go, lady. You’ve put more money in the box than all the others combined! Instead of telling the woman this, He told it to His disciples.

So what am I saying? The women went on her way and never got to hear the Lord say a good word about what she did. What’s more, the Lord went on to have her good deed recorded in Scripture for succeeding generations of people worldwide to know about her. Chances are she didn’t live long enough to see all the Gospels written and find herself the honored recipient of our Lord’s kind words. She gave what she gave, then went on her way without thinking anymore about it. The Lord honored her at that moment, though to her unawares, and He honored her posthumously by having her offering recorded in Scripture.

How awesome is that? Is your kind word or good deed recorded in Scripture? No way! We weren’t there when Jesus was alive. But I’m telling you, dear friends, that God’s recording your kind words and actions in His Book in Heaven. You may not ever know that you’ve just made your best decision ever. You might not think it’s a big deal. But believe me, God knows just how much your encouraging, complimentary words meant to someone. He knows how much your kindness improved someone else’s life. They’ll remember you and thank you for the rest of their life! God sees you and thanks you too. You may not ever hear Him say a nice word to you about it. But rest assured. He’s writing everything down. And one of these days, when you get to glory, you’ll hear Him say it to your face and you’ll probly just pass out in amazement that the Lord would say such nice things about you in Heaven. Your time’s coming. So keep up the good work. In the words of Galatians 6:9, Don’t get tired of helping others. You will be rewarded when the time is right, if you don’t give up.

Keep on helping others and saying nice, encouraging things to them. Chances are, every time you do that you’re making the best decision ever. On God’s behalf, I thank you for being so nice and for saying a kind word to all the people in your life. May God truly and richly bless you! Thanks for giving me a few moments of your time. 🙂

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BEST DECISION EVER: TAGGING ALONG

November 13, 2012 at 9:31 AM (Best Decision Ever, Christian Living)
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INTRODUCTION

In the course of a twenty-four hour period we make gobs of decisions. Some of these we make with a serious amount of forethought and prayer. Others we make spontaneously with little or no thought as to the consequences or impact our decisions will have—not only for ourselves, but for the many others whose lives are intertwined with ours.

Have you ever thought much about how a single decision can change your life forever? For better or worse?

In these blog posts I’d like to look at the one good decision that some people in the Bible made that changed the course of their life for the better. By looking at ourselves in the mirror of God’s Word I hope we’ll all take comfort, courage, and hope in the fact that, despite the mess we’re presently faced with, we can still turn things around. A lousy past or dismal present doesn’t have to give us the same future. By God’s grace, our future and life can be changed for the better…if we only make the right decision today. May God help us do that on a daily basis!

TAGGING ALONG

The Israelites were not too long ago delivered from a lifetime of bondage in Egypt. They were now in the desert, making their way towards Mount Sinai where they were to rendezvous with God. After Sinai they would resume their journey to their ultimate destination, the Promised Land called Canaan.

Anyways, I’m really getting ahead of myself. The Israelites were probably two or three million strong. Their caravan had to have been really humongous. And their campsites had to have struck awe and wonder at the sheer number of people involved. If I was an enemy bystander I’d think twice before attacking this huge number of people!

Anyways, the Amalekites weren’t similarly inclined. They found the Israelites encamped at a place called Rephidim and figured they were easy pickings. So they attacked the Israelites and, of course, the Israelites had to respond and defend themselves. So Moses told Joshua, his lead General, what to do.

Exodus 17:9-13,  And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.”  (10)  So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.  (11)  And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.  (12)  But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.  (13)  So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

In a very real way, Israel won the war because of Moses’ uplifted hands. Thank the Lord for Aaron and Hur who held up his hands and enabled the Israelite victory!

How different the war would have ended if Moses hadn’t brought Aaron and Hur along! If they hadn’t held up Moses’s hands, Israel would have lost the war. Moses couldn’t hold up his hands all day by himself! He needed help. And that’s where Aaron and Hur came in. So a large part of the credit for the battle’s victory went to Aaron and Hur.

Did Moses know in advance how long the battle would last? Did he have any idea that it’d last the whole day? Did he know that it wasn’t going to be enough to hold the rod of God in his hand? That he’d have to hold the rod up until the battle’s end to accomplish the battle’s victory? Did he know he was going to need Aaron’s and Hur’s help to hold up his hands? I don’t know. But Moses’ decision to bring these two guys along was, to that point in time, his best decision ever. Israel would have been decimated and vanquished had it not been for Aaron and Hur!

Sometimes we make decisions that, at the moment, seem rather inconsequential. Moses could have gone up the hill by himself and left Aaron and Hur in the camp to take care of things for him. But, rather wisely and with foresight, he decided to let Aaron and Hur tag along. And, in hindsight, we learn that the decision we made as a matter of no consequence turned out to be a momentous, life-changing decision.

Brethren, don’t ever underestimate the importance of any decision you make! The little stuff can end up being a really really big deal!

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BEST DECISION EVER: BARNEY’S GAMBLE

September 9, 2012 at 1:38 PM (Best Decision Ever, Christian Living)
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In the course of a twenty-four hour period we make gobs of decisions. Some of these we make with a serious amount of forethought and prayer. Others we make spontaneously with little or no thought as to the consequences or impact our decisions will have—not only for ourselves, but for the many others whose lives are intertwined with ours.

Have you ever thought much about how a single decision can change your life forever? For better or worse?

In these blog posts I’d like to look at the one good decision that some people in the Bible made that changed the course of their life for the better. By looking at ourselves in the mirror of God’s Word I hope we’ll all take comfort, courage, and hope in the fact that, despite the mess we’re presently faced with, we can still turn things around. A lousy past or dismal present doesn’t have to give us the same future. By God’s grace, our future and life can be changed for the better…if we only make the right decision today. May God help us do that on a daily basis!

BARNEY’S GAMBLE

Who of us have not heard of the apostle Paul? From his zealous persecution of Christ’s followers, to his dramatic conversion on the Damascus Road, to his tireless work in spreading the Gospel that he once sought to destroy; to his many letters which were later included in the canon of sacred, inspired Scripture; the apostle Paul almost singlehandedly changed the world of his day and made Christ known to a world who knew Him not. Christianity today is largely the religion that it is because Paul stood fast on the conviction that Christ was for everyone—not just for the Jews, but for the Gentiles too. And through his tireless missionary efforts and undaunted zeal in the face of horrendous pains and persecutions; his courageous stance against those who wanted to keep Christianity Jewish; Christianity grew beyond the bounds of a peculiar religion of one race of people, the Jews, and became a worldwide religion with followers from every nation and tongue. Through him, this Apostle to the Gentiles brought to fulfillment the promise God made centuries earlier to Abraham that through him all the nations of the earth would be blest (Genesis 22:18). If you stop and think about it, Paul changed the world of his day and his profound influence continues to be felt in our world thousands of years after his death.

What many of you may not know is that all this would not have happened the way it did had it not been for one man. Barnabas was his name. Now Barnabas was an influential leader in the early church. He wasn’t an apostle like one of the twelve, but he was well respected throughout the church and the apostles used him quite a bit in the work of the Gospel.

Anyways, Paul, who was at that early time known as Saul, was dramatically converted to Christ on the Damascus Road (Acts 9). Christ personally appeared to him in a vision and that was the end of Saul the antichristian persecutor of the church. (Just goes to show you’re bound to change when you meet the Lord!)

Paul continued the rest of his trip to Damascus as a changed man. Shortly thereafter he went into seclusion in Arabia. We don’t know exactly how long he was in Arabia. But we surmise with good reason that it was during these solitary times in Arabia where the Lord taught him and convinced him of the truths of the Gospel (Galatians 1:15-17). From there, Paul returned to Damascus and began to preach with boldness and conviction the truths that he was now fully persuaded of.

Three years later, after his conversion, his time in Arabia, and his evangelistic ministry in Damascus, Paul returned to Jerusalem (Galatians 1:18). He sought to meet with the believers there, including most especially the twelve apostles. But, wonder of all wonders, the Christians in Jerusalem wouldn’t have anything to do with him! Acts 9:26 tells the story. After Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples. But everyone was afraid of him. They wouldn’t believe that he was a disciple.

He’d been saved for 3 years. He spent the last 3 years ministering for the Lord in Damascus. His was a courageous stance. His life was on the line. In fact, the reason why he came to Jerusalem was because of a Jewish attempt to assassinate him in Damascus (Acts 9:23-25).

Didn’t the apostles and church in Jerusalem hear about his miraculous encounter with the Lord and his subsequent conversion? Didn’t any of them bother to go to Damascus and check out this sensational story of the church’s chief persecutor? Apparently not.

They wouldn’t believe that Paul was saved. They didn’t believe he was a changed man. Like many of us, they probably thought this was Paul’s ploy to discover who Christ’s followers were in Jerusalem and where their meetings were at so that he could have them all arrested. It made perfect sense to the Christians and the apostles. Their lives and the well-being of their families were on the line. They would do the safest and sensiblest thing: they would refuse to have anything to do with Paul.

But Barnabas wasn’t similarly inclined. He contravened the apostolic stance, took his life in his hands, took a risk and a gamble, and went to see Paul. Didn’t it occur to him that the apostles and the entire church were right? Mightn’t this be Paul’s ploy to discover, arrest, and wipe out the entire Jerusalem church? Did Barnabas seriously think that he was right and the apostles and everyone else was wrong about Paul? What made Barnabas want to see Paul anyway? The Spirit? Curiosity? The principle of fairness and giving a guy a chance to speak for himself instead of letting his past, his reputation, and everybody else speak for him?

I don’t know what went through Barnabas’ mind. I’m sure, being human like all of us, he struggled with the fears and doubts that plagued the rest of the church. But when it was all said and done, Barnabas mustered the courage to seek Paul out and give him a chance to tell his story. Turned out, after he heard Paul’s testimony, Barnabas was convinced that Paul was indeed a changed man, a believer, and a God-called minister or apostle.

With this firm conviction in hand, Barnabas risked incurring apostolic censure and discipline, he risked the criticism and wrath of the Christians in Jerusalem; by courageously bringing Paul before the apostles. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus (Acts 9:27).

As it turned out, there were only 2 apostles in Jerusalem at the time, or perhaps only 2 apostles who succumbed to Barnabas’ persuasions and agreed to meet with Paul. They were Peter and James (Galatians 1:17-19). When the four of them met together, it was Barnabas who started out doing the talking. The apostles trusted and respected Barnabas. On Barnabas’ words, they let Paul speak for himself. And when Paul was done speaking, Peter and James were convinced that Paul was indeed a changed man. They extended the right hand of fellowship to him and told the rest of the church that it was safe to let Paul in. Paul got to meet the Christians in Jerusalem. He testified of Christ throughout the city. And the rest, as you know, is history.

History all because Barnabas rose above his doubts and fears, did the right thing, sought Paul out, and gave him a chance to tell his story, believed him, defended him, and advocated for him. It was Barney’s best decision ever! How different Christianity would have been if it hadn’t been for Barnabas! Isn’t it amazing how one decision to go and talk to Paul changed the course of history!? Think about it. If it wasn’t for Barnabas the apostles wouldn’t have seen, believed, or received Paul. They believed Paul because they believed Barnabas. If it wasn’t for Barnabas we wouldn’t have the Paul of Acts and the Epistles. We are where we are today because of Barnabas. And the Christian world owes him a debt of gratitude that can never be fully paid. Thank you, Barnabas!

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BEST DECISION EVER: A MOTHER’S CHOICE

June 26, 2012 at 11:14 AM (Best Decision Ever, Christian Living)
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In the course of a twenty-four hour period we make gobs of decisions. Some of these we make with a serious amount of forethought and prayer. Others we make spontaneously with little or no thought as to the consequences or impact our decisions will have—not only for ourselves, but for the many others whose lives are intertwined with ours.

Have you ever thought much about how a single decision can change your life forever? For better or worse?

In these blog posts I’d like to look at the one good decision that some people in the Bible made that changed the course of their life for the better. By looking at ourselves in the mirror of God’s Word I hope we’ll all take comfort, courage, and hope in the fact that, despite the mess we’re presently faced with, we can still turn things around. A lousy past or dismal present doesn’t have to give us the same future. By God’s grace, our future and life can be changed for the better…if we only make the right decision today. May God help us do that on a daily basis!

A MOTHER’S CHOICE

Many of you are familiar with the story of Samuel, the renown prophet, priest, and judge of Old Testament times. He was one of the most important transitional figures in the Bible. Transitional because he was the last of the Judges. After him, and ever afterwards, the nation of Israel would be ruled be Kings.

In fact, when the people asked him if they could have a king to rule over them, Samuel at first objected (1 Samuel 8). He saw it as the people’s rejection of the Lord as their ruler. As far as the prophet was concerned, Israel was asking to be like the rest of the nations of the world. Every other nation had kings and it just seemed natural to the Israelites to have a king also. But to Samuel, Israel wasn’t like the rest of the world. She wasn’t supposed to be like everyone else. She was unique. She alone worshipped the one true God. God was her Ruler. Israel was a theocratic nation and that’s the way Samuel wanted it to remain.

But God intervened and persuaded Samuel to accede to the people’s request. The people wanted a king and that’s exactly what God would give them. So God had Samuel begin the search for the man who would be Israel’s first king. This man, it turned out, would be Saul (1 Samuel 9). He was truly a handsome man. Head and shoulders taller than any man in Israel. He came from a fine stock and was a marvelous specimen of manhood. He would be a good military commander and king. So Samuel summoned the entire nation to Mizpeh, which was the ancient capital of Israel at that time, and there in the sight of the people he anointed Saul to be King over Israel.

Well, Saul was doing great as a King and General of the Army. For a time it seemed as if the nation had done good by getting themselves a king. But the honeymoon would eventually end. It always does when you’re outside of God’s will.

God told the King to utterly destroy the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15). No one was to be spared alive. Not even the women and children. Even the Amalekites’ animals and livestock were to be killed. God wanted that entire race of people to be extinct from off the face of the earth. The Lord’s instruction was pretty clear and straight forward. There was no mistaking the Lord’s order.

But the King failed to obey the Lord. The army wanted to keep some of the spoils of war for themselves. Besides, we could use all these sheep and oxen and sacrifice them to the Lord! We know what we’re doing! Let’s not kill them, Saul. So the King listened to the army. He even went one step farther and saved the King of the Amalekites alive.

Well, it wasn’t long before the man of God came along. The bleating of the sheep and the lowing of the oxen told him the story: the King had disobeyed the Lord’s order. It was this single act of disobedience that spelled the end and downfall of the King. God would henceforth reject him as Israel’s King. So God told  Samuel to go out and search for a new King for Israel.

The prophet’s search ended with David (1 Samuel 16). Of course, you know the rest of the story. The entire nation was changed by David’s Kingship and Israel became a regional superpower.

So, in hindsight, Samuel was a truly pivotal and landmark ruler in Israel during his lifetime—both politically and spiritually. He galvanized the nation behind him. The people looked to him for guidance. And even in an hour when the nation turned its back on God, Samuel continued to serve God’s people and direct them in the knowledge and obedience of God. Israel’s history was forever changed by the lone and solitary voice of God speaking and working through this one man named Samuel.

Like I said at the start, many of you know the story of Samuel. He got his start in the priesthood because his mother, a woman by the name of Hannah, was barren. She was so distraught with her inability to conceive and have children that she finally had a meltdown with God at the Tabernacle in Shiloh (1 Samuel 1). She made a deal with God. God, if you give me a child, a boy, I’ll give him back to you. I’ll bring him back to this Tabernacle and leave him here for you, to serve you all the days of his life. You can have him, dear Lord. Only let me have him first for a few years, then I’ll give him back to you (1 Samuel 1:11).

Well, God heard her anguished cry and gave her a son. She named him Samuel, which means asked of God. Hannah asked. And God gave.

As you can imagine, Hannah cherished every day with her son. Samuel was the answer to her heart’s cry. He filled a void in her life that only a child could fill. She was thankful to God and you can be very sure she savored every moment of every day with her son. She knew a day would come when she would have to give him back to God. After he was weaned (which most scholars believe took place when a boy was 3 to 5 five years old), she’d have to take him to Shiloh and leave him there for the rest of his life—just like she vowed to God.

Samuel is now weaned and it’s time for Hannah to make this dreaded trip to Shiloh. But in the years since her vow, conditions in Israel have deteriorated badly (1 Samuel 2). Eli the High Priest was too old. And inept in the priesthood. His sons, also priests, were sons of Belial. Which is to say, they weren’t the holy men they were supposed to be. They were as heathen as the priests of a false god. They robbed from the people. They even had the audacity to have sex with women at the Tabernacle! Their sins were so flagrant and irreverent that the whole idea of worshipping God was a mockery. Anytime you came to the Tabernacle you’d be raped or robbed. So, quite understandably, you can imagine how God’s people really hated showing up at the Tabernacle at all.

Now, knowing these things and the despicable conditions in the Tabernacle, place yourself in Hannah’s sandals. You made a vow to God to give your son back to Him if He gave you a son. God keeps His part of the bargain. Now it’s time for you to keep yours. But, quite clearly, the Tabernacle is no place to give your son, much less raise him. God, these sons of Belial are going to teach my son to be a rapist and robber. He isn’t going to be priest of God. He’s going to be corrupted. He can’t serve you if I give him over to these wicked, despicable priests!

So what do you do? Do you keep your bargain? Or do you find a way to conveniently postpone or delay it until conditions improve in the Tabernacle? Surely God would understand! He wouldn’t want a boy growing up in that kind of deplorable, immoral environment!

Hannah’s got a choice. She’s got a difficult decision to make. She’s a mother. And a mother, by nature, isn’t wont to hand over her son to immoral men who would only teach her son the ways of sin. What good would that accomplish? So you keep your side of the bargain, but your son doesn’t become the man of God that you always imagined he would become. He’d be a robber and rapist like the rest of them. So what good is a bargain kept if it’ll only result in a godless priest? Hannah doesn’t have it easy. Not by a long shot.

Of course, you know what Hannah ends up doing. She takes her son to Shiloh and, tearfully I’m sure, she leaves him there just as she promised the Lord she would do. Not an easy thing to do, especially when you’ve got pictures of a beloved son becoming a rapist and a disgrace to the family name. Hannah left her son in God’s hands. God gave him to her. He belonged to God. And Hannah somehow must have found the grace, and courage, and faith, to believe that God would watch over her son and keep him in spite of the deplorably sinful condition of the priesthood.

As it turned out, this was Hannah’s best decision ever. She gave her son to the Lord. And in doing so, she gave the nation the hope of change. The nation was changed—and remarkably so—because her son was preserved by the Lord and he cleaned house. He started with the Tabernacle. He restored the true worship of God. Then he ventured forth out of the Tabernacle and went throughout the nation, teaching God’s laws and bringing God’s people back to the worship and obedience of God. Israel was forever changed—all because a mother kept her promise to God.

So you’ve got a thousand and one reasons not to keep your promise to God. You made Him a promise. God kept His end of the bargain. Will you keep yours? Think of Hannah. And let your promise kept be the beginning of a change that will change your life forever and the lives of those around you.

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BEST DECISION EVER: THE ERRAND

May 16, 2012 at 3:59 PM (Best Decision Ever, Christian Living)
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In the course of a twenty-four hour period we make gobs of decisions. Some of these we make with a serious amount of forethought and prayer. Others we make spontaneously with little or no thought as to the consequences or impact our decisions will have—not only for ourselves, but for the many others whose lives are intertwined with ours.

Have you ever thought much about how a single decision can change your life forever? For better or worse?

In these blog posts I’d like to look at the one good decision that some people in the Bible made that changed the course of their life for the better. By looking at ourselves in the mirror of God’s Word I hope we’ll all take comfort, courage, and hope in the fact that, despite the mess we’re presently faced with, we can still turn things around. A lousy past or dismal present doesn’t have to give us the same future. By God’s grace, our future and life can be changed for the better…if we only make the right decision today. May God help us do that on a daily basis!

THE ERRAND

I’m a father of young adults. I’m a grandpa. And I’m a Christian. The heart and prayer of a father for his children is that they turn out alright in life, make the right choices, be healthy, keep safe, have a good life, and most of all, give their life to Jesus. Life will eventually disrupt the family. Once the kids leave home the family will never again be the same. Life will separate the family by miles. And death will eventually rob us of the loved ones we hold most dear in life. Jesus alone holds the key to an eternal family reunion in Heaven. And that’s why I pray fervently that my children will love the Lord as I do, even more, and serve Him faithfully to the end of days. Having given you a father’s perspective on his children, let me put this train of thought on hold and let’s take a whirlwind tour of David’s life.

We’re all familiar with the story of David. He bursts on the scene in the Valley of Elah where he kills Goliath and leads the once fearful, demoralized Israelite army to victory in the ensuing battle against the Philistines (1 Samuel 17). From this point on, David is pretty much stuck by the King’s side: King Saul isn’t letting go of this young warrior and hero. He promotes him to General of the Army and David’s valor and victories in war become the stuff of legend. David’s so successful that King Saul gets really jealous of him and tries to kill him on many occasions. One of the King’s murderous plans, however, backfires on him and, as promised, the King gives David one of his daughters to marry as a reward for a successful expedition against the Philistines. So now, David is a member of royalty and that, as you can imagine, really infuriated the jealously-demented King.

Well, David was a good man and there was no way he was going to lift sword or spear against his King. So he goes on the lam and for the next several years he lives in exile in, of all places, the land of his enemy the Philistines (1 Samuel 19-30).

King Saul gets killed in battle against the Philistines (1 Samuel 31). David returns to his homeland of Judah. And there he is crowned King by his tribe (2 Samuel 2). He’s King for 7½ years in Judah.

During this time, in the aftermath of Saul’s death, his son Ishbosheth becomes King of Israel (2 Samuel 2). Ishbosheth reigns as Israel’s King for 7½ years. He eventually gets assassinated and that’s when all Israel came together and asked David to become their next King (2 Samuel 4-5). So altogether, David is King for 40 years. Under his military prowess he enlarges Israel’s Kingdom to its greatest extent ever. His enemies fear him. And Israel is established as a regional superpower.

All this began in the Valley of Elah when David pretty much came out of obscurity and dumbfounded the cowardly Israelite army. He made quick work of beheading the giant, then just as deftly and decisively, he went on to rout the Philistines in battle. In the Valley he emerged as a national hero. Became General. Then son-in-law of the King. Eventually King. And master of a regional superpower. Imagine all the good things that happened to David and all Israel just because he came to the Valley of Elah! If David had not come to the Valley, the course of history would have been drastically different! We would not be amiss at all in saying that the course, future, and destiny of the nation of Israel were forever altered when David showed up in the Valley of Elah!

Friends, do you know how David found himself in the Valley of Elah? What brought him to Elah? Well, David was a young shepherd boy living in Bethlehem with his family. He was tending his father’s flocks of sheep when, one day, his dad sent him on an errand. 1 Samuel 17:17-19 tells the story of how it went.  One day, Jesse told David, “Hurry and take this sack of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers at the army camp.  (18)  And here are ten large chunks of cheese to take to their commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are doing and bring back something that shows that they’re all right.  (19)  They’re with Saul’s army, fighting the Philistines in Elah Valley.”

Dad Jesse was getting worried about his sons. They were in the army. And, being the soldiers that they were, dad was all the time worried about them. He had every right to be. The Philistines were the most feared army in the world at this time and, realistically speaking, the Israelites weren’t much of a match against them. Pictures of death and defeat are probably racing through Jesse’s mind. Are my sons alive? Did they get killed in battle? Are they coming back home safe and sound? So, being the worried father that he was, Jesse sent his son David to Elah to see how his sons were doing. You’d be totally right to say that Jesse was checking up on his sons. Unbeknownst to him, Jesse sending David to Elah would change David’s life forever and alter the course of Israelite history. A worried father’s decision to send David on a domestic errand turned out to be his best decision ever!

As a mother or father, we make all kinds of decisions that impact and affect our kids for life. It’s not always the big decisions that affect them the most. Sometimes, it’s the smallest decision we make—like sending them on an errand—that starts a chain reaction that will change their lives forever. So, parents, pray for your kids. Pray about the decisions you make. With God’s guidance and help, like Jesse, you can make the best decision ever! God bless you with Jesse’s care and success!

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BEST DECISION EVER: THE INFORMANT

April 3, 2012 at 5:22 PM (Best Decision Ever, Christian Living)
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In the course of a twenty-four hour period we make gobs of decisions. Some of these we make with a serious amount of forethought and prayer. Others we make spontaneously with little or no thought as to the consequences or impact our decisions will have—not only for ourselves, but for the many others whose lives are intertwined with ours.

Have you ever thought much about how a single decision can change your life forever? For better or worse?

In these blog posts I’d like to look at the one good decision that some people in the Bible made that changed the course of their life for the better. By looking at ourselves in the mirror of God’s Word I hope we’ll all take comfort, courage, and hope in the fact that, despite the mess we’re presently faced with, we can still turn things around. A lousy past or dismal present doesn’t have to give us the same future. By God’s grace, our future and life can be changed for the better…if we only make the right decision today. May God help us do that on a daily basis!

THE INFORMANT

We all are probably familiar with the story of Mordecai and Queen Esther. The preservation of the Jews in Persia has largely been attributed to the good and beautiful Queen. And rightly so. But I’d like to look at the story from Mordecai’s perspective.

What were the Jews doing in Persia in the first place? Here’s the scoop. Mordecai’s and Esther’s forebears had been carried into captivity in Babylon (part of the Kingdom of Persia). That was over a hundred years ago  in Mordecai’s time. Many of the captive Jews subsequently returned to Judah when the Persian King Cyrus gave the Jews their freedom and released them from captivity. But Mordecai’s dad and granddad decided they were going to stay in Persia. Esther’s parents decided to stay too. They lived in Shushan, the capital of Persia. Anyways, both of Esther’s parents died when she was still young. So Mordecai, her cousin, being much older than her, took her in and treated her as if she was his own daughter.

Anyways, you know the story. The Persian King Ahasuerus is looking for a new Queen. Gobs of young virgins from all over the Empire are brought to Shushan to serve as concubines for the King. One of these lucky concubines, whoever pleased the King the most, will be chosen as the next Queen.

Well, Esther was one of these virgins and, to make a long story short, the King immediately fell in love with her and crowned her his Queen. Of course, nobody in the Court knew she was a Jewess. That would have caused quite a scandal. Imagine a Jewess being Queen in Persia! That wouldn’t go over too well with the Persians. So Mordecai told Esther not to tell anyone in the Court her true nationality.

The next time we hear about Mordecai, we find him sitting in the King’s gate (Esther 2:19). That’s where civil trials were held. So Mordecai is probably a Judge. If not that, then he’s a royal government official. In any case, he’s probably there because his daughter pulled some strings for him and got him this gravy job in the employ of the King. (By the way, I neglected to tell you that Mordecai also told his daughter not to tell anyone that Mordecai was her dad.)

One day, while Mordecai was at the gate, he happened to overhear two of the Court officials plotting the kill the King.  They were eunuchs who stood guard at the door of the King’s bedroom. So they had easy access to the King and that made the King all the more vulnerable to their treachery and treason. So Mordecai ratted on them and told the Queen about the plot.

Of course, Esther wasn’t going to let these royal guards get away with murder. So she went to the King and informed him of the conspiracy. This she did wisely in Mordecai’s name (Esther 2:22). That is, she gave Mordecai full credit for the information. She told the King that it was Mordecai who uncovered the plot.

Well, when the truth of the conspiracy was confirmed, the two conspirators were promptly hanged. End of threat.

Now it was customary for Kings to reward their spies and informants handsomely for passing on life-saving news of this sort. After all, they did save the King’s life. But, for some unexplained reason, King Ahasuerus never rewarded or recognized Mordecai for his valuable service. I wonder if Mordecai was outraged and offended by this royal flub. If it was anyone of us, we’d probably be counting all the ways we would spend the King’s rewards. What a bummer to spend our days waiting for a recognition and reward that would never come!

Fast forward several months. The wicked Haman, who was the King’s Grand Vizier or Prime Minister, has built a gallows for Mordecai. He so despises the Jew who wouldn’t bow before him and reverence him that the wrathful Haman is fully intent on destroying what he sees is a Jewish dog. In fact, he’s not only going to kill Mordecai: he’s going to kill every Jew in the Kingdom! Haman’s hate was truly legendary! He issues a royal decree in the King’s Name and, on a certain day, every Persian is given the right to kill every Jew in sight (Esther 3). This would be the original Holocaust of the Jews.

Well, the King couldn’t go to sleep one night. So he commanded the chronicles of the Kings to be brought forth and read to him (Esther 6). That would surely put him to sleep! Or so he thought. Quite providentially, (don’t you just love the hand of God working everything out!), Mordecai’s name comes up in relation to the two conspirators against the King. At the remembrance of the event, the King’s ears perk up. What did we ever do to reward Mordecai for his life-saving information?, the King asked. Nothing, sir, replied the scribe. We never paid him a dime for saving your life.

Well, this just isn’t right! It won’t do! We’ve got to pay him back for saving my life, the King said. So, with Haman’s unwitting help, Mordecai is paraded throughout Shushan’s streets, clothed in the King’s robe, wearing the King’s crown, and riding the King’s horse. Haman himself went before the royally-honored Mordecai as a herald, shouting, This is what happens to the man who the King honors!

Haman is utterly humiliated! The guy he was planning on hanging is now honored by the King. Everyone in Haman’s house sees the handwriting on the wall. Haman’s days are numbered. Instead of you hanging Mordecai, that Jew is going to hang you, Haman!

Well, the King ended up hanging Haman. And he made Mordecai Grand Vizier in Haman’s place (Esther 8). He even gave Mordecai the royal ring with which he was authorized to issue edicts in the name of the King. It was this ring that enabled Mordecai to issue a national decree: every Jew in the Kingdom was given the right to bear arms and defend himself and his family on the day of Haman’s Holocaust. When it was all said and done, it was Mordecai’s vizierate, ring, and decree that preserved the Jews from extinction in Persia. God and the Queen placed Mordecai in the King’s good graces where he could play a pivotal role in the preservation of God’s people in Persia.

Do you know how Mordecai got in the King’s good graces? Queen Esther, in a moment of time, decided to tell the King that it was Mordecai who discovered the plot against his life (Esther 2:22). She could have kept quiet and not said anything to the King about who her informant was. She could have claimed all the credit for the conspiracy’s discovery for herself. But the good Queen gave credit where credit was due. Mordecai’s name got written in the history books. And the rest is history.

So, in a very real way, the preservation of the Jews in Persia can be attributed to Esther’s decision to name her informant. It was one little decision made spontaneously in a moment’s notice. But it was a decision that would ultimately save all the Jews in Persia. Wow! How neat is that!

Friends, don’t ever minimize the decisions you make. ONE TINY, SEEMINGLY INSIGNIFICANT DECISION CAN END UP CHANGING THE COURSE OF YOUR FUTURE—OR SOMEBODY ELSE’S FUTURE.  One “small” decision can be larger than life and end up being your best decision ever. May you be blessed with many such “small” decisions!

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BEST DECISION EVER: HANGIN’ AROUND

February 23, 2012 at 5:54 PM (Best Decision Ever, Christian Living)
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In the course of a twenty-four hour period we make gobs of decisions. Some of these we make with a serious amount of forethought and prayer. Others we make spontaneously with little or no thought as to the consequences or impact our decisions will have—not only for ourselves, but for the many others whose lives are intertwined with ours.

Have you ever thought much about how a single decision can change your life forever? For better or worse?

In these blog posts I’d like to look at the one good decision that some people in the Bible made that changed the course of their life for the better. By looking at ourselves in the mirror of God’s Word I hope we’ll all take comfort, courage, and hope in the fact that, despite the mess we’re presently faced with, we can still turn things around. A lousy past or dismal present doesn’t have to give us the same future. By God’s grace, our future and life can be changed for the better…if we only make the right decision today. May God help us do that on a daily basis!

HANGIN’ AROUND

Many of us are familiar with the trials and triumphs of the apostle Peter. On the night of Jesus’ arrest, just hours prior to that, Jesus prophesied that all His disciples would fail and desert Him that very night (Matthew 26:31). No way!, Peter vowed.  He’d never deny the Lord (Matthew 26:35). He’d rather go to prison and die for Jesus than deny Him (John 13:37). In fact, at that very moment, he was all pumped up and ready to follow Jesus to the very end (Luke 22:33). Come what may, Peter was going to be supremely faithful to his Lord. No way was he ever going to deny the Lord! The poor guy was surely intent on proving the Lord wrong!

But, as surely as the Lord prophesied, Peter and the rest of the disciples all forsook and deserted our Lord that evening. To his credit, however, Peter followed the arresting party to the High Priest’s house and watched from a distance what would become of Jesus. He hid himself, as it were, as he wandered fearfully about the lion’s den. When folks recognized him as one of Jesus’ disciples, Peter would deny the charge, brush his accusers aside, then go to some other dark corner of the courtyard to hide. Alas, when the cock crew, he caught a glance of Jesus just as Jesus turned and looked him straight in the eyes. He’d just denied the Lord thrice, just as Jesus said he would. And with the shameful realization of what he’d just done, Peter left the courtyard and went out into the night, weeping profusely in condemnation and sorrow (Luke 22:62).

I feel so sorry for Peter at that very moment of realization because that’s exactly what I would have done. I’d be so condemned that, apart from God’s grace, I’d have killed myself. There’s no way I could have lived with the guilt and shame of denying my precious Lord. I’d rather die than live with the torments and haunts of my cowardice and guilt.

Honestly, if you were in Peter’s sandals, feeling everything he was feeling, what would you have done that night after you left the High Priest’s house? Some of us would opt for suicide. Others among us would have left the city immediately: no way am I gonna hang around and see my precious Jesus get Himself crucified and killed. That would only be adding infinitely more grief and unbearable guilt to that which were already killing me.

My first thought would be to go back home to Capernaum, my adopted hometown; or back to Bethsaida where I originally came from. But then, on second thought, I’d probably not go anywhere where I’d be recognized as being one of Jesus’ disciples. I couldn’t bear the people’s scorn and ridicule.

No, I’ll buy me a one-way ticket to nowhere where I would be a complete stranger, go on with life, and find a way to live with myself. In any wise, I definitely wouldn’t hang around Jerusalem. I wouldn’t go back to my friends and the other apostles. I just couldn’t handle the shame and guilt that were sure to come from them. No, just let me leave on a jet plane, I’ll not be back again. I’m done. I’m through. I’m all washed up. I’m a has-been. And that’s what I’ll always be.

But to Peter’s credit, he didn’t kill himself or leave. Just like he did at the High Priest’s home, Peter decided to hang around. He stayed put in Jerusalem. Presumably, he was in the crowd of Jesus’ followers who stood afar off at Calvary and watched the agony of Jesus’ crucifixion (Luke 23:49). On Resurrection Sunday when the women found the empty tomb, they hurried back into the city and relayed the news to the eleven apostles (Luke 24:9). Peter was there. And both he and John ran to the empty tomb to ascertain the truth of the women’s incredible report (Luke 24:12). It wasn’t until later that same night when Peter and the other apostles saw Jesus alive for the very first time after His crucifixion (Luke 24:33,36). I’m sure all the disciples were reinvigorated when they saw the risen Lord for themselves. The depression and guilt that hung on their shoulders weighed heavily upon them. I’m so totally sure that they got things right with Jesus and went on to have a fabulous time with the Lord for the remainder of the evening.

Peter, however, was not totally healed or relieved of his guilt—not as far as he was concerned. Just a few days later, he decided to go fishing (John 21:3). The sense in the Greek text of the Scripture is that he was going back to fishing as a livelihood. He was abandoning his apostolic calling and ministry. He was calling it quits. He was walking out on the Lord and the apostles. He was through being an apostle. That’s when the Lord showed up on Galilee’s shores and called him back to the ministry (John 21:15-19). Thankfully, Peter acceded and the rest is history.

Think about Peter’s fiery Pentecostal sermon that resulted in the conversion of thousands of Jews (Acts 2). His bold stance against the the religious leaders in Jerusalem (Acts 3-4). His judgment of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5). By him the first Gentiles were saved (Acts 10). When the apostles questioned his ministry among the Gentiles, it was Peter who convinced them to open the doors of the church to the Gentiles (Acts 11). Peter didn’t stay put in Jerusalem. He went out and became a travelling missionary in Asia Minor. And he wrote a couple of letters that became a permanent part of the Holy Scriptures.

Wow! What an amazing comeback from a guy who sobbed bucket loads of tears, got buried ‘neathe a load of guilt and shame, survived the worst case of self-condemnation and depression, and went on to become a shining light of the early church. Man oh man! What happened to him? What changed him? How did he do it? Here’s the answer. Instead of Peter killing himself or splitting the scene, he decided to hang around town and stay with the rest of the disciples. I’m very sure this was a difficult thing for him to decide and do. It took guts and loads of humility. But he made the decision to stay put. And, in doing so, he put himself in a position where Jesus could crown him the comeback kid.

Have you ever made a mistake that just killed you? Are you tempted to run off and forsake the Lord and the church? Are you wanting to fall into some dark hole and die? Dear friends, look at Peter. Hang tight. Hang tough. Hang around. God’s not done with you. Resurrection Sunday’s coming round for you and Jesus is coming to crown you the next comeback kid. So cry out to God, get back to church, and make this your best decision ever. God bless you and help you be the next comeback kid.

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