Archives for December 2020

Over the years I have heard people appeal for the right to have their own way, based on sentimental ideas. By sentimental I mean thinking about what seems right, what would be a nice outcome, what would make people happy or what would avoid awkwardness and pain.

Consider this statement I heard many years ago, “Surely God wants me to be happy!” The person was warned that taking their preferred course of action was not in line with God’s Word. But it was a course of action the person wanted to follow because they believed it would make them feel better.

I have heard people object to plain explanation of a Bible truth because speaking about it might upset some people. For example, some people don’t handle discussion of judgment or hell, or don’t like hearing about Godly morals, since they don’t want to live by them.

Some Christian communities have decided certain Bible truths are not to be discussed, since they are uncomfortable.

These situations suggest people can be ruled by sentiment, rather than truth. Yet truth is truth and sentimental considerations may well rob a person of the power of Truth in their lives. Let me remind you that it is Truth that has power to set us free.

“You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” John 8:32

Sentiment might seem to be a protection to sensitive hearts, but sentiment will never set us free.

Obviously there are sensibilities in the way we speak about things. We use many euphemisms to avoid saying unpleasant things. We simplify things for children and avoid speaking about things they are not emotionally mature enough to deal with. We have soft terms for such things as death. We might say to a child, “That man is not a very nice man”, when in fact he is a violent criminal.

I am not advocating that we speak stark facts without considering our audience. But I am concerned that sentiment can be a cloak for hiding from the truth.

When a person retreats into a cloud of sentiment they can be rejecting God’s truth. They might, for instance, want to believe a deceased loved-one did not go to hell. So they might say, “I’m sure God knows they had a hard life and will be kind to them.” That’s a nice idea, but it’s a purely sentimental idea.

I was once told by a church woman that despite what the Bible said about needing to put faith in Christ, she was sure God would respect all the nice things she does for people. The lady clearly relied on her works, not on faith. And she had a nice sentimental way to justify it.

So sentiment can be very dangerous to our acceptance of God’s truth.

The Bible warns against looking at things from human perspective. When we try to evaluate things based on our perspective we bring in such sentimental things as feelings, niceness, fairness and what seems to cause the least upset to people. But note the words of James.

“This wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, sensual (appealing to human sensibilities and desires) and devil inspired.” James 3:15

So a real danger in following sentimental ideas is that we are following evil wisdom that is fed to us from the devil. That’s along with the fact that when we promote sentiment we deny people the Truth that will set them free.

I know of people who could not bring themselves to tell a dear loved one that the loved one was a sinner needing to put faith in Christ. That dear loved one was so nice and kind, that it seemed out of place to suggest they were anything but a saint. Yet, without faith in Christ the sweetest and kindest of people will not be in heaven as God’s children for eternity.

If you have allowed sentimental ideas to influence how you think and see things, then you have denied truth. That puts you in a place of compromise and makes you vulnerable to things that seem wise and that suit your sentimentality, but which are used by the devil to steal, kill and destroy.

Do not be Ruled by Sentiment. Be nice in the right situations, but don’t allow truth to be displaced by sentimental, emotional ideas or concerns. If you become Ruled by Sentiment Truth will be pushed out of your life. It is said of the devil that the truth is not in him.

“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not abide in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks out of himself, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44

We too can find that the truth is not in us.

“He who says, I know God, and does not keep God’s commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 1John 2:4

When you displace God’s Word and God’s Truth with your sentimental ideas then ‘the truth is not in you’.

Imagine a cruel, abusive mother appealing for the right to dominate her children, appealing, “I am their mother. Surely you can’t deny a mother her children.” That’s an appeal based on sentiment. However abuse is not the behaviour of a ‘mother’, but of an abuser. Sentiment clouds the mind and muddies the water.

What about the happiness appeal? “I know this isn’t how God would want it in an ideal world, but our relationship makes us happy. Surely you can see that.”

We may see human happiness, but God doesn’t make human happiness the standard for our behaviour. Thieves would be happier if they could steal more, and abusers could feel happier if there was no law against it. But human happiness is subject to God’s moral order.

We are answerable to our Creator, a moral God of the highest standard. We are measured against God’s moral code, not our sentimental ideas.

Friends, I’m perfectly happy to be sentimental. But we can’t be Ruled by Sentiment. It is the wrong basis for our thinking and living. We are to be Ruled by Truth, even if that upsets our ideas of niceness, fairness and human happiness. As we live by Truth we live in Freedom.

So friends stop and take a look at your life and your values, and be sure you are not being Ruled by Sentiment.

Some people are too lazy to listen. Or maybe they just don’t know how to be attentive to things.

As a youngster I was sent by my Mum to a small shop about a mile away to buy several things she needed. I had been sent to the neighbour to borrow things, but this was my first time sent to a shop. My mum told me what she wanted and gave me the money.

I set off on the adventure and finally arrived at the store. I waited until other customers were served, then the owner leaned over the counter to ask me what I wanted. I could not remember. I stammered for a while and then said I had to go back and ask my Mum. The man smiled as I turned and went home.

I had not yet learned to really pay attention and to lock things in mind. However, my mother resorted to writing her needs on a piece of paper and that saved my young brain from having to remember.

At other times over the years my mum or dad would call me to account over something I was supposed to do, or some way I was supposed to do it. They would say something like, “I told you what to do”, or “I told you how I wanted it done”. There is something powerful about being ‘told’.

My problem was that I didn’t realise how important instructions were or I didn’t dedicate myself sufficiently to follow them.

Over the years I learned to pay attention to what I was told, such as when being given instructions, or having some project explained to me. My older brother assured me that in school, if I paid attention to what the teacher taught the first time, I wouldn’t have to do so much homework and study. I liked the idea of not having to study, so I trained myself to pay attention in class.

Jesus frequently said, “I told you”. In saying that He pointed out that once something has been said it has an official standing and doesn’t need to be said again. The onus is on the hearer to pay attention and act appropriately in response.

“I have told you before it comes, so when it does come to pass, you may believe.” John 14:29

“These things I have told you, that in me you may have peace.” John 16:33

“If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how then will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” John 3:12

Sadly, many Christians are like I was as a child. They hear the words, but are not really listening. They think they will remember but they have not truly committed themselves to hearing, understanding and obeying. Things quickly slip from mind and they revert to what suits them.

Jesus’ words to us are amazingly powerful. They are Spirit and Life to us.

“It is the spirit that makes alive. The flesh yields no benefit. The words I speak to you are spirit and they are life.” John 6:36

So it’s quite inappropriate to treat them like white noise or the ramblings of a radio playing in the background. Christ’s words to us are the most vitally important words we can hear.

Beware the habit of discounting what you hear. Researchers suggest that when we choose to ignore something we train our brain to turn off all attention to it. That’s how we can stop hearing traffic or other unwanted noises, and how parents can turn off to the whining cry of their children.

However, that’s a danger when it comes to listening to God. If you have stopped paying attention to God’s Word or preaching, daydreaming instead of listening, your brain concludes it can turn off to that thing every time it comes up.

If you have fallen into that trap you need to consciously address the problem. Ask God to forgive you for devaluing His Word and the preaching of His Word. You can even tell your mind to pay attention, such as by saying out loud, “The Word of God is very valuable to me and I always want to pay attention to what God is saying.”

The other problem you face is that you can reject what you hear because you don’t want to hear it. When Jesus healed a man born blind the religious leaders were troubled. They interviewed the man, probably hoping to find some way to discount the miracle, so they could reject Jesus. When they asked the man to go over the details one more time he used the phrase “I told you” in his reply.

“He answered them, I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” John 9:27

They had heard about the miracle but did not want to believe. They had been told, but something inside them, unbelief, blocked them accepting the facts.

That might be happening to you, too. God may be speaking various things to you, but you shut them down and won’t hear, even though God could say, “I told you”.

Once we find a way to avoid a Bible truth we have closed our ears so we will not hear. There are those who excuse their disobedience to God’s Word, such as their rebellion against parents, independence, self-will, moral compromise, rejection of selected Bible truths, love for the world, etc. Once they have gone down that path they have an automatic switch-off when those things they have rejected come up.

There are those who reject salvation, and others who reject the work of the Holy Spirit, while others reject God’s order in the home, and others reject God’s moral standards.

“They refused to listen and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their ears, so they would not hear.” Zechariah 7:11

Friends, God has spoken and Jesus is speaking into your life. Make sure you have not blocked your ears and stopped listening. When you are called to account before God you will have no excuse for what you have done, for God will say to you, I Told You.

Jesus frequently commanded people to follow Him, as when He called His disciples. So I want us to consider this command of Christ and what it might mean to us today.

“As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. Then he said to them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:18,19

“As he walked along, Jesus saw Levi son of Alphas sitting to receive custom payments. Follow me, Jesus said, and Levi got up and followed him.” Mark 2:14

“The next day Jesus purposed to go to Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, Follow me.” John 1:43

For each of these men the call to ‘Follow Me’ meant abandoning whatever they were doing and setting off to be with Jesus. They put aside their fishing or other employment, and what other plans they might have had, and walked the dusty roads of Israel with Jesus.

They went where He went and engaged with whatever He was doing. They were disciples, walking with their Master. They did not call the shots, but submitted to whatever their Master had for them or took them through.

We most commonly use the idea of ‘Follow Me’ in a temporary sense, such as when we follow someone’s car to know the way to some place. That kind of following is to aid us and it only relates to the momentary objective.

When Jesus called His disciples with ‘Follow Me’ it was a much deeper call. It called them into a lifetime and a lifestyle radically different to their normal life. They lost career, personal plans and eventually their life, because they accepted the command to ‘Follow Me’.

Does that command of Christ, to ‘Follow Me’, still have validity today? Was it just a command for the disciples in Jesus’ day? The answer is No! Consider these other things Jesus said.

“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also

will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.” John 12:26

“My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

“Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:38

So the call to ‘Follow Me’ is a call on all of us. It had a specific application for the disciples, but each of us, as believers in Jesus, is called to follow Christ, including taking up our cross as we do so.

Many Christians follow Christ on a temporary basis, as in being led out of a situation. 

For example, someone might cry, “Lord, how do I deal with my fear?” The Lord may well lead them to truth and response that allows God’s love to cast fear out of their life. But the one who asked for that help may then return to going their own way and following their own instincts, hopes and plans.

Westerners have a notion of independence and self-management, reserving the right to make personal choice on a point by point basis, as to what we will do. But one who follows as Christ commands, gives up that right to self-determination. Their only choice is to follow or give up following altogether.

There were followers of Jesus who abandoned following Him when things became too challenging.

“From that time on, many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. So Jesus said to the Twelve, Do you also want to leave? Simon Peter replied, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.” John 6:66-69

Many people are given the impression they can add Jesus to their life, like an upgrade enhancement. However Jesus calls us to something far more radical than that. Jesus is not an optional extra, but a complete overhaul of our life and direction.

If you have added Christ to your life then it is wonderful that you recognised your need for Him and put your faith in Him. But now you are on a journey. A wonderful journey that will take you far beyond what you expected. This journey is made by you learning to completely follow Christ.

You will follow where Christ leads. You will follow Christ’s teachings. You will follow Christ’s instructions. You will follow in Christ’s footsteps. You will follow Christ’s faith. You will follow Christ’s voice.

In doing so you will not just look for the occasional instructions to get you out of a tight spot, but you will walk away from things you once held dear and plans you had for your life. You will walk humbly beside your master, mentor and tutor, Who is your brother, your Saviour and your Lord.

He may well take you where you would never choose to go. He may take you away from things you never wanted to give up. He may bring into contact with people and challenges you never wanted to face.

That’s what you sign up for when you respond to Christ’s instruction to ‘Follow Me’. Yet, following Christ also leads you into heavenly glories, and the power of the Holy Spirit in this life, and love, joy and peace, and to purposes this world can’t provide.

Christ leads you to victory over sin and satan, and to power to bless others. He leads you out of darkness and defeat into a glorious kingdom of light.

So, friends, pause what you are doing right now and accept Christ’s call. Quietly tell your Lord that you will respond to His call and yield yourself to a life of obeying His command to ‘Follow Me’.

In nature the yearly crop cycle involves a season of sowing crops and a time of reaping them. That cycle is so obvious it almost seems childish to mention it. Yet it is so profound the Bible highlights it for us.

“While the earth remains seedtime and harvest and cold and heat and summer and winter and day and night will never cease.” Genesis 8:22

“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot” Ecclesiastes 3:1,2

We even refer to Sowing and Reaping as a Bible principle given to us by God. That principle informs us how to be wise and diligent in managing our lives.

There are many who wish they could make things happen as and when they want them to. They can be like the child who planted a seed then went back the next day to dig around it to see if it was sprouting yet. Such impatience is out of place, as things will take their time and work according to the natural principles God put in place. Adding more water and fertiliser may have some helpful effect, but the process of germination and growth has its own steady rate that we have to be patient with.

So one of the lessons of the Sowing and Reaping principle is the patience of a farmer who waits for the crop to grow and mature.

“Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until the crop receives the early and latter rain.” James 5:7

When I was studying investing I heard the term ‘investor patience’. One of my sons came up with an obvious saying to summarise what investor patience is like. He said, “It takes a year for a year’s worth of interest to accumulate.”

Seedtime and Harvest is the natural cycle, not ‘get rich quick’! While wealth can come in many ways, the yearly cycle of sowing and reaping is not a snatch and grab way to get wealth. Those who want to jump the queue and get ahead quickly are warned by wise King Solomon.

“A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who is hasty to be rich will not be innocent.” Proverbs 28:20 

The principle in Seedtime and Harvest is one that works for those who are faithful and diligent. And it is a wonderful promise of growth and progress.

Because there will always be a new season of sowing, followed by reaping, then again by sowing and more reaping, we can learn how to work along with that and grow our crops and reap the blessings.

If we are lazy, hasty, slothful, distracted, foolish or abandon the cycle of things, we will miss out on planting and miss out on the harvest.

Seedtime is the time when we plant. There are many seeds we can plant, apart from a crop in a field. Seeds can be of learning and knowledge, and of investment and input, and of witnessing and preaching. The principle of Sowing and Reaping prompts us to keep on sowing, whenever and wherever we can. The more we sow the more we can reap, in due course.

“In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening keep at it: for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both will turn out good.” Ecclesiastes 11:6

Those who are diligent in building their business will automatically sow more seeds of promotion and energy into what they are doing. They are the people most likely to succeed, because they are employing a Bible principle.

Harvesting is also a significant thing since the crop won’t wait forever. If we are slack about bringing in the grain it rots and is lost. That is why King Solomon lamented about the kind of man who won’t get up and work in the harvest season.

“Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. He who gathers in summer is a wise son. He who sleeps during harvest is a son who causes shame.” Proverbs 10:4,5

When the season for harvesting comes, that’s not the time to go on holiday.

While there is a natural cycle of seasons, so you simply can’t sow at the wrong time of year, and you have to wait for harvest time, that is not the case universally. You can always sow some things, like righteousness, love and friendship. You can always sow the Gospel seed into people’s hearts. God can give you a harvest of blessing and peace, salvation, deliverance and rest outside of the natural calendar.

If you are sowing the wrong things at the wrong time you will suffer the consequences. What you sow is what will grow, so don’t go sowing bitter, angry, selfish or proud things in your life and family.

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that is what he will reap.” Galatians 6:7

If you are reaping a harvest of futility, broken relationships, lost opportunities, frustration, negativity and so on, then maybe you’ve been sowing all the wrong things. It’s time to start sowing faithful and righteous things.

Wonderfully, by coming to God with a humble and repentant heart, God can wipe out whole crops of weeds in our lives. We can then start planting much better seed.

So, while the Seedtime and Harvest cycle is a given, it is something we each need to take stock of. What are you sowing and what are you reaping? Are you diligent in sowing the right seeds, or are you lazy and distracted? And when the harvest comes, are you also diligent? Are you planning for your next crop, or just stumbling from day to day?

The principle of Sowing and Reaping is no secret, but maybe it’s a bit too obvious for some people to stop and consider.

May your heart be opened to God’s wonderful wisdom and may you become diligent in sowing the right things and reaping the best harvests, in the fear of God. And may you be blessed as you diligently take advantage of Seedtime and Harvest.

Are you a faithful person? Do you remain faithful when things don’t go as you want? Do you do all that is asked of you without complaint or expectation of special treatment?

Jesus gave His disciples a lesson on what a faithful heart looks like in response to their request that He increase their faith.

“The apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith!” Luke 17:5

If I was asked such a question I would be inclined to think about what it takes to build faith, such as digging deeper into the word of God, since faith comes from hearing God’s Word.

“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17

I might also suggest that people use the faith they have to build it up by exercising it. However Jesus answered differently.

Jesus explained that the smallest amount of faith could work miracles.

“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this tree be uprooted and planted in the sea and it will obey you.” Luke 17:6

Then Jesus explained about having a Faithful Heart. In the Koine language Jesus spoke the word for faith is the same word as that for faithfulness. So Jesus saw building faith as connected to our level of Faithfulness.

Jesus talked about someone having a servant working in the field who returned to the house at the end of the day. Jesus asked if the master of the house would serve the servant by making a meal for him.

That would never happen. A servant is expected to serve. A servant is expected to do all the master asks of him, without expecting any consideration or special treatment. The servant is in the home to ‘serve’.

“Won’t the master rather say, Prepare my supper then wait on me while I eat and drink and after that you may eat and drink’?” Luke 17:8

We don’t have a record of any response from the Disciples, but they certainly would have agreed with Jesus. A servant is not being abused when expected to do his duty. The servant may serve himself when he has finished serving his master.

Jesus asked, “Will the master thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?” and the answer is “Of course not!”

Then Jesus added, “So you also, once you have done everything you were told to do, say, We are unworthy servants; we only did our duty.?” (Luke 17:10)

Jesus described a Faithful Heart, by showing us the true humility of a dutiful servant. The servant doesn’t look for favours or expect to be rewarded for doing what it expected. That’s just his duty.

Any servant who became resentful at the workload, or at having to watch his master eat while he is hungry himself, is out of order. That would be pride or self-focus. A servant isn’t to be focused on himself, but his tasks and duties. When the servant has done all that was assigned for him to do he can’t brag about that. That was simply what was expected.

So, the Disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith and Jesus responded by showing them what a Faithful Heart looks like.

Some time later Jesus asked a strange question, about whether there will be faith in the earth when Jesus returns.

“When the Son of Man comes will He really find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8

Jesus is not asking about faith in our hearts for salvation, but most likely asking if there will be people with a Faithful Heart. Will there be people who will humbly go about their service of God without grumbling, or being selfish, or expecting special treatment from God?

To illustrate what a Faithful Heart might look like consider the Apostle Paul who was called by God to do great things. He was already warned that he would suffer many things in the process of serving Christ.

When Paul wrote from prison to his protege Timothy he tried to cheer Timothy up. Paul was the one in prison, yet he had not become resentful, but remained faithful to Christ.

In his second letter to Timothy, Paul declares his fixed place of faith in Christ.

“For the cause of Christ I suffer, nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know who I believe in, and am persuaded that he is able to keep the things I have committed to himself, ready for that future day.” 2Timothy 1:12

So let’s look into our own hearts. We are expected to be faithful children to our parents and we promise to be faithful in marriage. Parents are to care for their children faithfully. We are to serve our employers faithfully and to live for God faithfully. We are to be faithful with our responsibilities and commitments.

Yet many people have excuses for being unfaithful, inconsistent, selfish and proud. Children rise against parents, and spouse despises spouse, while parents give up on their children and employees abuse their employers. People even resent God and feel they can do as they please, being slack with responsibilities and their word.

If you have a Faithful Heart you will be solid in your readiness to do all that is required of you, without even giving yourself a pat on the back. That is your duty, so you can hardly take credit for it. 

If you are a faithful child, faithful spouse, faithful parent, dutiful employee, always true to your word and trusting God no matter what goes wrong, then you have no right to congratulate yourself. That is your basic duty.

And having that kind of Faithful Heart has built you up in your faith. How do you increase your faith? You step up to a new level of faithfulness.

So, may the Lord lead you to lift your game, repenting of unfaithfulness of heart and becoming diligent in doing all that is required of you, without expecting anything in return. And may the Lord bless you abundantly for your Faithful Heart.