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Scripture Reference: Proverbs 11:1

God detests dishonest  and unfair business practices. He is pleased when we do business with integrity whether anyone is watching or not. God blesses integrity in business affairs. All that you do will be blessed if you do business with integrity. If not, we may be filling a purse with holes in it. As soon we get something, it is gone and we have no idea where it went or find ourselves wondering why we don’t have anything worthwhile  to show for it.

The LORD detests dishonest scales,
but accurate weights find favour with him.

The false perception that we must act godly only within the confines of a church building is a dangerous one. God fills this entire universe with His presence. He is not so small that He can only see what we do in church. His watchful eye doesn’t miss a thing.

Therefore, a person who fears God will live with the knowledge that God sees everything they do. This awareness of God’s all-seeing eye along with their love for Him will cause them to act with integrity in all situations, including in business practices. We honour God when we do business with Him in mind –at all times, not only when someone is watching. Integrity in business affairs is as much part of being a follower of Christ as every other action is.

It is foolish to think that God is pleased when we act spiritual in church or in the presence of church leaders but as we go about our daily affairs we live as if God is blind. Religious activity cannot make up for dishonouring God by our actions. An example of this is King Saul, who deliberately disobeyed God, then tried to cover it up with offerings. “Obedience is better than sacrifice.”

In teaching us to discern between the false and the true people of God, Jesus said you will know them by their fruit. How they live every day, not only on church days, will show us if they are His people or not. The ancient Hebrew people did everything with God in mind. There was never a separation between spiritual things and secular things for them. God saw it all and they lived to honour Him in all things –whether it was worship or work.

In referring to our daily work, the Bible teaches us to do all things for the Lord, and not only to please people. If that is the case, we would be really careful to act with integrity in all our business affairs because we desire to please the Lord in all that we do. Our honesty won’t be determined by who is watching. We will do the right thing because God is watching.

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Suggested Reading: Isaiah 23

It isn’t just bad luck when the high and mighty, proud and arrogant leaders of this world come to a fall. The Lord Almighty planned it.

Isaiah 23 is a prophecy against Tyre. It was a hothouse of merchants enriched by seafarers. In Hebrew, the name Tyre means rock. Tyre was a favourite trading port for the Phoenicians since it had greater natural advantages than all other ports in the Mediterranean. As time passed these natural advantages changed and even though Tyre is now the fourth largest city in Lebanon, it never regained the former international trading glory it once held.

Tyre is described as a city of much party and pleasure. Because of their prosperity, the inhabitants of Tyre became secure in themselves and a proud people who despised others who did not enjoy the things they did. They became so secure that they disregarded God’s warnings. They were having too much of a good time to listen to “God-talk”. It was an old city that has stood the test of time and this further gave them false security thinking that their prosperity will last forever. Tyre was in existence before the time of Joshua (see Joshua 19:29). However, God’s word came true and looking at the city after its destruction, it was hard to believe it was the same city that used to be filled with so much enjoyment.

“The LORD Almighty planned it, to bring down her pride in all her splendour and to humble all who are renowned on the earth.” (Isaiah 23:9)

God’s plan is to humble all arrogant leaders of the earth and this event is foretold by the prophet Isaiah so that when it happens, they may know it is God’s work and not just some bad luck that befell them. The LORD Almighty planned it long ago. Throughout history we can see that God humbles the most distinguished and important places and leaders so that they can serve as examples to show how easy it is for Him to humble the haughty. He does this to show that although revered and honoured by people they are foolish and weak in His sight.God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Although they appear powerful in the sight of man, God can make them appear as light as feathers which a breath can blow away.

This is an example to all of us of how offensive pride is in the sight of God. It is also to show how useless it is to seek after honour in this world because the honour of man can be reversed with one swift action of God. They sought to be admired by people while being offensive to the Lord.

He does this to ensure that people understand how vain and uncertain earthly glory is. It is temporary even if one can get the impression it will last forever. If we seek honour in these temporary things, our honour will be for only a short while. But those who look to heaven will be honoured forever. He who exalts himself will be brought low.

God is known to shake rulers who were secure in themselves and who became puffed up with their own importance. No matter how secure and invincible they may appear to us, God has only to speak a word and that would be the end of them. The magnificence of Tyre could not save it. Its wealth could not save it. All its partners in trade could not save it. It is better to trust in God than to trust in man.

Because of what God has done to Tyre, every neighbouring country felt the effects since so many of them depended on Tyre for their prosperity.When the mighty falls, those who depended on them for their prosperity will be affected too.

If we spent more time reflecting on the falling of the great and mighty around us, we also gain a more realistic picture of our own vulnerability and then we would not fall prey to an over-inflated view of our own security. Those who think they are standing strong are in most danger of falling.

There is a marked contrast here between the enemies of God and the children of God. God will Himself ensure that His children be remembered. The enemy, on the other hand, has to work very hard and use flattery and deception in order to grow important enough to be remembered. See how God instructs Tyre to take up the harp, walk through the city, play the harp and sing many songs in order to be remembered. “Because of their unbelief they will never enter His rest.” His rest comes to those who trust Him to lift them up and who do not depend on their own understanding and abilities to be lifted up. How much peace do the children of God not know because they rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him!

In his mercy, God has not altogether forsaken this once great city. Jesus Christ Himself visited Tyre as we read in Matthew 15:21 and Paul found disciples there in Acts 21:3-6.

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Suggested Reading: Psalm 31:7-8

It is difficult to be interested in the emotions of someone we don’t care for. On the other hand when we love someone, we are sincerely interested in their emotions.

Today, when someone’s emotions are consistently invalidated, it is called a kind of emotional abuse. We all desire to be understood and validated. Love and understanding go hand-in-hand and it is exceedingly frustrating and painful when someone we think loves us, disregards and shows no interest in our emotions or make no effort to understand where we’re coming from. But there is one comforting thought provided for us throughout Scripture: God loves you and understands you, even when no one else does.

In this psalm, David praises God for His love and deliverance. He evidently has a deep understanding of God’s love. He understands that the release he received from his affliction did not come from his own planning and power, but from the love of God. He understands that the mere fact that God took an interest in the anguish of his soul is proof of God’s love for Him.

No matter how insignificant it may seem, we take a keen interest in the emotions of our children –most especially when they are upset. The reason is simple: We love and care for them deeply. When our child cries over a lost toy, we don’t brush it aside as rubbish. Instead, we make an effort to put ourselves in their situation and understand how upsetting it must be from their perspective.

God did exactly that. He put Himself in our situation, so to speak. He became a Man, so that He could share in our humanity with all its joys and pains. And therefore, we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.

David knew he could take his cares to God and that God will be sincerely interested in the reason for his anguish –even if it appears insignificant to an all-powerful God from our human perspective. He understood that God will put Himself in his place and take an interest in what bothers him. Jesus later confirmed this when He said that God even numbers the hairs on our heads. I believe that if someone is interested in me to the point that He will number of hairs on my head, then there must be very little else about me that will not interest him.

Having experienced God’s deliverance, this psalm is much more than just a song to David. He has been personally touched by God’s love and therefore he declares that he will be glad and rejoice in the knowledge of this love. For so many out there, the love of God is just a term. They have not had a personal experience of His love. They have not tasted it. They have not felt it warm their hearts. It doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love them, it’s just that they haven’t had a personal encounter with this Love.

I read somewhere that we should be slow to judge someone who has never encountered true love, for love has the capacity to melt the hardest of hearts. My prayer is that all those who seek for love, and have been doing so looking in all the wrong places, will have a personal and intimate encounter with the love of Christ –the kind of love where a man will lay down His life for His friends.  Notice how God’s expression of love for us was more than just emotion; it was an action. He came and took the punishment we deserved. I know this one thing: No one who has experienced this love can ever be the same again. I pray that people will know this love for themselves.

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19)

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Suggested Reading: Matthew 12:15-21

One of the outstanding features of the Gospel of Matthew is how he would often connect what Jesus said and did to the fulfillment of a prophecy. Here he says, “This was to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah…“

This prophecy was written about 600-700 years before the time Matthew quoted these words. He makes it clear that these words point to Jesus and, remarkably, it is a character portrait of the coming Messiah and one among all the others, which Jesus fulfilled perfectly. Matthew quotes from Isaiah 42:1-4.

Character Profile of Christ:

1. He will not quarrel: Jesus was not in the business of having drawn-out arguments about His message. He simply spoke the truth and left the acceptance or rejection of His message over to the hearers. “He who has ears let Him hear…”  In other words, the responsibility stays with the one who is listening.  Knowing that He spoke the truth, He didn’t feel threatened by what others believed. And so we never read of Jesus getting into ugly disagreements about His message. As for us, when we speak the truth, we will also not feel threatened by opposition. The truth gives one a sense of security and strength. When one tells a lie or if one is not completely convinced in his heart that his beliefs are true, any notion of opposition becomes cause for concern. Feeling threatened when our views are opposed may actually be a sign of insecurity about what we believe in. If I am secure about what I believe in, it would really not matter what others say since the truth always wins in the end. With this, Jesus also sets an example for us to avoid quarreling. Paul instructed the New Testament Church to do the same. If Jesus didn’t go about quarrelling with people about the Message, then neither should we.
2. He will not cry out: He was not the kind of person who would try to dominate and try to control people by raising His voice. He went on His way every day doing good without His own image in mind. He gave up the high impression the church leaders may have had of Him by keeping company with sinners and tax collectors. He just did what God wanted Him to do without allowing what people think of Him to deter Him from His purpose.
3. No one will hear His voice in the streets: This does not imply that Jesus won’t speak in public. We all know from the Gospel accounts that He did most of His teaching in public. It is a reference to trying to draw attention to yourself. Jesus didn’t do that. That is one of the reasons Matthew quoted this part of Scripture to explain Jesus’ character after Jesus asked people not to tell others about Him. He didn’t want to become Prime Time entertainment. He knew people’s tendency to follow the latest thrill. Also, His voice was not heard in the streets because He didn’t have marketing team who went about advertising His sensational miracles. On certain occasions, He even asked those who experienced the miraculous healings themselves to remain quiet about Him. Not that we are not called to share our testimonies today, but Jesus had a specific mission which had to be completed at a specific time.
4. A bruised reed He will not break: Jesus will never trample on a person who is already down and out. His life on earth is testimony to the fact that this prophecy was about Him. In fact, He went out of His way to stand up for the weak, much to the indignation of the church leaders. They only had room for the strong and the excellent. But Jesus did the opposite. He came to the rescue of a woman who was about to be stoned to death for adultery. He rebuked His disciples for trying to keep children away from Him. He also rebuked them when they had a problem when a woman with a bad reputation came and anointed His feet. On the Cross, He prayed for the forgiveness of those who crucified Him, showing that He understood their ignorance about who He really was. As believers in Christ, we have the Spirit of Christ and His Spirit develops in us compassion for the weak, not irritation. A  follower of the Lord Jesus will not delight in crushing those whom they consider to be weaker than themselves.
5. A smouldering wick He will not snuff out: Jesus would never take the last little light that a person has and put it out. On the contrary, He has been shown to encourage people to understand better. He warned His listeners to take care how they listen to His teaching since those who gave careful thought to His words and desire to apply it in their lives, will be given even more understanding. He didn’t look down on those who didn’t understand spiritual things very well. In fact, there are several instances where He patiently taught those who came to Him with honest questions to increase their understanding.

Those who claim to live in Him, must walk as Jesus did. I believe the more we learn about the character of our Lord, the better we are able to accurately measure if we are walking as Jesus did. It also helps us to discern between true and false teachers of the Gospel.

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Scripture Reference: Proverbs 10:17

Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life

Being open to correction is one of the signs of good leadership. Good leaders are humble enough to understand that they are not perfect; they don’t know it all and they need the advice of others. They are accountable to those they lead.

A good leader will in fact welcome the input of others. He values the views of those he leads. Because he is willing to learn and to be corrected where he goes wrong, he leads people in the right way. He can be trusted to take his team to their common goal.

This is, of course, even more important in a spiritual sense since the destination is an eternal one. Jesus is the only perfect Leader and those who are appointed as earthly leaders of His people, have an even greater responsibility to continually assess whether they are leading God’s people on the way of life -Jesus is the Life (John 14:6).

One of the reasons I find Paul to be such an outstanding leader is that he never placed his authority as a spiritual leader above that of the truth and said, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” In other words, “If I don’t follow Christ anymore, then don’t follow me.”

Another example of a leader who didn’t reject correction is Peter. Although Peter was the one who spent the 3½ years with Jesus, being personally groomed by Him, he did not reject Paul’s correction (see Galatians 2:6-15). Even though Paul came on the scene much later and had in the past been a persecutor of God’s people, Peter accepted that correction and had the utmost respect for Paul. He later writes of Paul:

And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—  speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction. (2 Peter 3:15-16)

A good leader will be willing to accept correction because he wants the benefit of everybody and not just what serves to his/her personal advancement.

But whoever ignores correction leads others astray

Now, on the other end of the scale, there is the arrogant, “who-are-you-to-tell-me” kind of leader. You see, for such a leader his/her authority is placed above what is right and wrong; what is truth and deception. He would rather be wrong and do his own thing, than be corrected and do the right thing.

And since he spurns the correction that could get him back on the right track, he will lead not only himself astray, but everyone of his followers goes astray along with him. The person who cannot stand being told that he is wrong will continue to miss his goal. His leadership position has gone to his head and robbed him of common sense and humility.

From a spiritual perspective: A true follower of Christ will display the humility of Christ, even if he is appointed into a position of leadership. This is how Paul put it:

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion. (Philippians 2:1-8 The Message)

Since we are all leaders in some form or the other, be it as parents, teachers, whatever capacity, how we respond to correction can serve as a mirror for our own attitudes, but also give us discernment in who are truly leading us in the Truth of Christ, and who is there to advance only themselves and their egos and their personal agendas.

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These words have become quite the cliché even to the point that some believe it is an American Proverb! Since this phrase is often quoted out of the context from which it is written in the Bible, it is also given to much misinterpretation. In order to understand the purpose of this phrase in the Bible, I will give some background regarding the context and then discuss the life application.

The Context

Isaiah 22 starts with a prophecy against Jerusalem. The city is about to be invaded by the enemy. Biblical scholars believe that the prophecy refers either to the invasion by the Assyrians under Sennacherib or Nebuchadnezzar. Either way, the city is in turmoil and confusion because of the impending threat. During the time of Isaiah Jerusalem was an affluent city. It offered many opportunities to enrich oneself and to improve your status in life. It was bustling with people running here and there –everyone being in an eternal hurry to achieve the next big financial break. But, as we know, where there is much money to be made people are also less inclined to seriously consider morality and integrity. More effort is put in arranging or attending the next big party. The high profile social scene becomes the guide for people’s decisions and actions.

However, as the danger approaches, Isaiah exposes the inhabitants’ misguided confidence in worthless things. They have ignored all of God’s warnings. They despised His message and His messengers who urged them to turn back to God. They have become contented and self-confident. They became arrogant and defiant. They rejoiced in their own capabilities and so deceived themselves by becoming complacent.

Unless the people turned back to God, Jerusalem will be attacked. But instead of heeding these warnings and repenting of their wrongs, the people reverted to any means of protection possible, except asking God for His protection. They placed their trust in their own understanding, their own wisdom, their impressive weapons and even in their pagan neighbors. All these, however, turn out to be futile as the army of the enemy marches toward Jerusalem.

During the time of their prosperity they made another mistake. They had became so complacent during the time of peace that the walls fell into decay and no one bothered to fix them. Now that they are in danger they wanted to fix what they neglected to do during the good times. Now they wanted to ensure that they will be protected against the enemy, but it was too late. However, if His people repented and called to their God, the destruction could have been averted. But, in self-reliant alienation from God, Jerusalem did not rely on God in their time of distress, but on their own resources.

Life Application:

Now, the Lord warned them about the impending danger so that He could save them. However, they considered their situation hopeless. And there are two common responses to hopelessness: despair and self-indulgence. They decided to indulge in the temporal, enjoying the present moment as if there is no tomorrow. It doesn’t mean they did not fear the thought of impending death, but instead it indicates that they had an imbalanced and distorted view of life. Instead of repenting and praying, they decided to live it up and party.

 “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

They could have trusted in God to change their situation. But since they thought their death was inevitable, they opted to self-indulge. They reasoned that calling to God will not help them as whatever must be must be. They figured that praying to God now will be a useless effort, as they have already gone too far in their sinful lifestyle. This is also a lesson for people today. It is never too late to repent and change our ways. It is never too late to cry out to God for help! Think of the thief on the Cross.

Because of this destructive thinking, they didn’t make an effort to change their ways and instead fell even deeper into their sin. The threat of death was designed to make them reconsider their ways and their lifestyle, but in their case they rather abused His offer of mercy and while He was showing them an alternative way that will lead them to life, they preferred to continue on their merry old way to death.

The way of unbelief is to live in hopelessness and to reason that we might as well give ourselves over to whatever pleasures there are. As God’s children, however, we know that He can change any situation around, even if it appears to be beyond hope.

When people live as if there is no life after death, they seek their rewards only in this life. They succumb to the most deplorable sins, considering that they won’t be held accountable for their actions and they may as well live as they please. But living this way is sinning against the remedy and is grossly offensive to God, as it reveals contempt of His Word and a hardness of heart that rejects His offer of mercy. It exposes a disdain for His promises. He promised that He will generously forgive those who come to Him with a repentant heart. Someone who despises the remedy perishes willfully.

Around us today there are many people who live without hope. There are two common responses to hopelessness: despair and self-indulgence. Regardless of how people respond to hopelessness, we can bring them the Good News. We need not live without hope. We have a living hope since our hope is in the Living One –the Resurrected One. When we face obstacles and difficulties in this life or when our weaknesses have become overbearing, we don’t need to throw everything overboard and live as if there is no tomorrow. We can trust in God and His promises: A living hope offered us in Jesus Christ. “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow…“

So, to say “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die,” is like saying there is no God and there is no hope. This is the language of the world, but the children of God speaks the language of God. They know that there is no hopeless situation because Jesus lives!

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Scripture Reference: Psalm 28:6-9

The Bible teaches us to give credit where credit is due:

Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor (Romans 13:7).

This is only being honest. Isn’t it dishonest to take credit for anything that is not yours? I also believe that the most dangerous form of dishonesty is taking credit for something for which we should be honoring God.

In this portion of Psalm 28 as in other psalms, we can see how David habitually gave credit where it was due. We will look at how he ascribes to God what belongs to God and I will also examine the effects of honestly giving glory to God.

David praises God because God has heard his cry for mercy. He had a request. God answered that request. He didn’t forget all about God and ran to all his friends after his prayer was answered. He remembered the One who helped him.

He says that God is his strength. He doesn’t ascribe his success to himself, even though he was an acclaimed military champion. He knew where his help came from.

Praise be to the LORD,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.
The LORD is my strength and my shield

He calls God his shield. He recognizes that he was protected from danger because of God and not because of his own intellect. David fearlessly attacked the lion and the bear in order to save the sheep he was caring for. Later, as he related these incidents to Saul, he gave credit to God for helping him.

But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:34-37)

His ascribes his help to God because he knows he placed his trust in Him.

My heart trusts in him, and he helps me

The Effect of Giving Honor to God

1. We are filled with Songs of Praise: The answered prayer fills his heart with joy and he expresses his praise in song. We are not all musicians and there is not only one way to praise God, but music does lift up the soul and David loved to praise God in the form of song.

My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.

As long as our singing doesn’t become a routine we go through, and our hearts are truly engaged in our singing, God delights in our songs of praise.

In Amos 5:23, God says about singing in a ritualistic way:

I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me? (The Message)

When we sing without sincerity, it sounds like noise in the ears of God. It may sound beautiful to the ears of humans, but God sees the motives behind our every action. Likewise, even though our singing may not be perfect, it may be a beautiful sound to God.

2. We become unselfish and think of others: In characteristic fashion, David now turns the attention from himself to others. He acknowledges that God is not only his strength, but the strength of all His people.

The LORD is the strength of his people

3. We reflect on God’s promises: He refers to the coming Messiah when he says, “A fortress of salvation for His Anointed One.” God delivered Jesus from death and kept His promise to the Messiah that His bones will not see decay. He delivered Him from the hands of the enemy.

David now prays that God will extend that same salvation (from death, hell and the grave) to all His people.

Save your people and bless your inheritance.

Did God answer that prayer? He certainly did, for it is written about Jesus:

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  (Matthew 1:21)

4. We fix our eyes on Jesus: His prayer doesn’t stop there. He prays that God will lead them. He uses the analogy of a Shepherd. David knew first hand what this picture entailed. He knows how a shepherd leads. He was a shepherd himself. He knew that the leading of a Shepherd is gentle. He doesn’t push and shove the sheep around. The shepherd also understands that the sheep has a natural tendency to stray and he also knows that if they do, they will be powerless against predators and incapable of finding their way back on their own. Therefore, David prays that God will lead His people as a shepherd leads his sheep –with gentleness and understanding and carrying them close to His heart.

Be their shepherd and carry them forever

This verse, incidentally,  was the inspiration for naming this blog because I know from personal experience that Jesus Carries Me. I could never find my way back to Him by myself.

Here are some other verses to reflect on:

He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young. (Isaiah 40:11)

I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—  just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:14-15)

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As 2011 drew to a close and the New Year dawned, I reflected on my own new beginning with the Lord. I took the time to go through some of the notes I wrote right in the beginning of my journey with the Lord and I discovered this note written on the 1^st Day of February 2007, a few short months after that first day of my new beginning. It is a short summary of a story about a Garden and a Desert. As we enter 2012, I thought to share it with you. I love new beginnings and this little note is about the two new beginnings that God has orchestrated.

A Story about a Garden and a Desert:

When God first created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, everything was perfect and beautiful and good. He created mankind after His own image and placed them in a perfect garden called the Garden of Eden. However, the poison of sin found a way of entering this perfect setting and gradually the decay that came with it became ever more apparent to the point where today the entire creation groans under its load. We were entrusted to care for what God had created and we have messed up. We were in serious trouble and doomed to self-destruction. We needed help.

Thankfully God didn’t throw His hands in the air and give up on us. He didn’t turn His back on us and decide He had enough of this lot. He immediately revealed a plan to save us out of our dire situation. In speaking to the serpent, God promised: “He shall bruise your head…” (Genesis 3:15). There’s finality in that promise. That’s sorting out the enemy once and for all.

However, while the first beginning was beautiful and perfect the second beginning had to come at a price. There was nothing pretty about what ensued. We were supposed to pay the price, but God decided He will take the payment for our wrongs on Himself and came to us, not as a powerful King –which He is, but as a humble servant.

The kind of leader that is prepared to leave His throne and serve among the people cannot be brushed aside in an off-handed way. Such an action commands attention. We are accustomed to leaders who expect to be served and carried on everyone’s hands. This King, however, did the exact opposite. He got off His throne and stepped in to help because His people were in desperate trouble. He died the death of a criminal on our behalf.

But that was not the end of the story. He took sin, nailed it to the Cross, took it to the grave, left it there and defeated death because the grave cannot hold the sinless. Death is the consequence of sin. He had no sin and therefore death had no victory over Him!

There is a marked distinction in how the two eras came to be. Following the first beginning, man found himself in a perfect garden with everything he could ever desire surrounding him, including being able to speak to God face to face. The second beginning played itself out, in part, in a desert where there was nothing that is needful to man, not even something as basic as bread. Here is the greatest contrast:

It was by eating, in the garden, where there was an abundance that man succumbed to the temptation of the devil and in doing so brought a divide between God and man.

In stark contrast, it was by fasting in a desert where there was nothing that Jesus resisted the temptation of the devil and in doing so paved the way to bridge the divide between God and man. It is written there is only one Mediator between God and Man: The Man, Jesus Christ. No other man can therefore lay claim to being a mediator between God and man.

As we enter the New Year, I would like to use this opportunity to publicly thank God for not giving up on us and instead offering us salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

I am also thankful to all of my readers for sharing my journey. Without you I would in effect be talking to myself.  :) A Happy and Successful and Blessed 2012 to all of you!

Related articles

• Wastelands become a Garden (cbnindiablogs.wordpress.com)
• Friendship With God (lbbfchurch.wordpress.com)
• The Story of God (A Summary) (pastorderick.wordpress.com)

A Merry Christmas to all my readers. I am thankful to be connected with all of you.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—  children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God (John 1:12-13).

On this special day we celebrate the birth of the greatest, wisest, most powerful yet most gentle man who ever walked the face of the earth. His Name is Jesus and He is our Lord and Saviour.

I wish all of you a time of joy, peace, love and happiness as we generously share with others what God has so generously shared with us: Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

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Scripture Reference: Matthew 12:1-14

One of the things the church leaders couldn’t stand about Jesus was how He ignored their church rules. These rules were man-made and not from God. Jesus knew what mattered most. It was more important to keep the rules of God than keeping the man-made rules of religious institutions.

In this portion of Scripture we see two incidents that show us what is truly important to God. Yes, the Sabbath rest was instituted by God, but all these other rules that the church leaders added were not. In the first incident we see  Jesus point out that a human need such as hunger is more important than church rules. The second incident, the healing of a man with a shrivelled hand, He shows that helping another human being is more important than keeping church rules.

The Need for Food:

Jesus and His disciples were walking through grain fields. It was a Sabbath day and the disciples were hungry. Being surrounded by food, they started to pick some heads of grain and ate. As could be expected by now, the church police were not far behind. Wherever Jesus was, there were they. They were always on the look-out for a reason to accuse Him of law-breaking giving them a reason to arrest Him.

Aha! They thought they found a reason when they saw His disciples breaking one of their Sabbath rules which apparently forbid a person to pick some grain on the Sabbath. They quickly pointed this out to Jesus. “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath!” But Jesus quickly corrected their misguided accusation by pointing them to an historical event in Scripture. It was as if He was saying that this is nothing compared to what David did! He went right into the temple and ate the communion bread reserved only for priests when he and his men were hungry. And even priests desecrate the Sabbath by eating that bread, if one goes according to the rules of these church leaders. But these people were innocent in the sight of God, for human need is more important than man-made rules.

“One greater than the temple is here.” They were looking at how people must obey the rules of their temple, but it is for people that Jesus came to give His life –not for a building. People are more important in God’s sight than a building, even if that building is a “house of worship.” Moreover, Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. In other words, what He declares lawful on the Sabbath will be lawful. Jesus came for people, not religious institutions.

It is important to keep in mind what matters to God. We often get so caught up in denominations and religious institutions and what they require of us that we forget how we treat people matters to God more than keeping a bunch of rules.  The basic needs of a human being come before the “temple.” Jesus accuses them of condemning the innocent because they don’t understand what God truly desires. He says to them that they must go and learn what these words mean, “I desire mercy; not sacrifice,” quoting from Hosea 6:6. He desires that we treat people right not make endless sacrifices. God is not interested in how often we attend church and participate in church activities and keep the church rules. God desires that we are merciful to the needs of others. People have been created in God’s image, not buildings and institutions. The problem is that sometimes in our attempts to obey church rules we may be breaking God’s rules. Especially where church rules place the needs of a human being second to the rules of an institution.

The Need for Healing:

To drive the nail deeper into their religious coffins, Jesus moves on from there and meets the church leaders on their own turf: The church building. He goes to their synagogue. A man with a shrivelled hand is there. They see yet another opportunity to catch Jesus breaking some or the other Sabbath rule and they ask Him “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” He has already pointed out their erroneous understanding of what God desires when it came to human needs, but they obviously didn’t get the message.

Here before them is a man with another need. He needs healing and they see this man’s need as an opportunity to attack Jesus from a different angle. Once again, there are no surprises. Jesus silences them in a most amazing way. In the previous incident He pointed them to the Scriptures to expose their error, but now He points them to their own actions. He reveals their hypocrisy by saying that they would rescue one of their animals on the Sabbath day if necessary, but they have a problem if a human being is healed on the Sabbath. If one of their sheep fell into a pit on the Sabbath, they would certainly reach out and rescue it. Is a human being not more valuable than a sheep?

This infuriated them. The truth hurts to the degree that it is true for the one hearing it. Besides they didn’t like it that He damaged their egos because once again they lost a round to Jesus (they are the church leaders after all!). They didn’t like being humiliated by someone with no standing in their religious institution.

To add insult to the injury, while looking them straight in the eye, Jesus went ahead and healed the man’s hand  –right there in their church on the Sabbath Day!  They didn’t care that the man had his health restored. They felt no joy on his behalf. Instead, they left there and started plotting how they might kill Jesus. People’s welfare was really of very little importance to them. Their rule-keeping became more important and a human life had to take a backseat to their church rules. This only confirmed that they didn’t know God at all –even though they claimed to be the ones through whom God spoke and taught the people.

It is okay to respect the rules of religious institutions as long as we don’t lose sight of what is most important to God. I think a fair question would be how willing would we be to stop and help someone along the road while we are on our way to church. Would we then consider that person’s need more important, or would we be concerned that we may break one or the other church rule when we arrive late? There are obviously many other scenarios where we may be tempted to disregard a human need or even look down on people who don’t keep the church rules as well as we do.

Related articles

• “The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath” (worryisuseless.wordpress.com)
• Why Jesus disagreed about the sabbath law (wiki.answers.com)