Stale Food and Soiled Currency

                                           

"Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts". Malachi 1 

When we have esteemed visitors over for a visit, we try and offer the best we can. Best crockery and cutlery, the best of foods, the best seat in the house and the best comforts.

When God knocks, in the form of a hungry person, what do we offer? Stale food? When asked by beggars -do we give soiled or unusable currency and keep the crisp notes for ourselves?

It's not what we give. It's how we give. Let's not put terms and conditions to our giving. Recognize the need and give honorably, thereby honoring God for there is God in each human. 

Give more or give less, but give with honor, not in boasting but in humility.

When Satan Laughs in Delight

In the 70s there was a very famous song called American Pie. It was a chart buster and remains popular till this day. A line in the song is very thought provoking and it says, "I saw Satan laughing in delight". 

Strange, isn't it? But think about it. What makes Satan delighted. Do you and I delight Satan?

We spend so much time on developing our lives to delight God and trying to follow it, we seldom stop to think what about our life delights Satan. Let's think about it today.

Possibly because we are a material society, we believe what we see, therefore we have a far-off belief in the spiritual wars we face and hence don't take the trouble to know our enemy - Satan. Big mistake because then we severely underestimate the tactics and character of our enemy.

In the ancient Chinese military classic, The Art of War (attributed to Sun Tzu), it is commented, "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."

Let us then prepare for battle and understand what makes Satan happy, because that makes God sad.

Delight no. 1

Blake Labaree says - "If we, being friends of God, can be moved against Him in action, word, or thought, the Devil will have accomplished something that he could never do by his own hand, chiefly, the disgrace of the child of God bringing reproach on God’s name". Most common reason: our pride.

Delight no. 2

Being unforgiving or holding a grudge against our fellow men. Gossiping, backbiting, judging. Common enough?

Delight no. 3

Giving in to Satan's pressures. Very common. We try and take the easy was out without pausing to think if that is the way God would want. Remember, Satan can cause a lot of pressure, so much so that we break and give in and turn away from our goal of delighting God our father or doing His work. This pressure can be at work, financial mountains, personal sickness, anything to break us. We are not the only ones. Remember 1Th 2:18 "Therefore we wanted to come to you--even I, Paul, time and again--but Satan hindered us". If he can hinder Paul, who are we?

To hinder is to impede. To not let it happen by cutting off the way. Satan is all about cutting off our way to the destination God planned for us.

Delight no. 4

Our will and way over Gods will and way. A very common act that most of us do without a second thought. Let's call it "unconscious rebellion". This state is so actively promoted by the devil and his cohort that it spares none. He uses temptation, fear, pride, ego as well as a fond memory of a past sin even though one asked for forgiveness. All this and more and every other weakness of man are in his arsenal.

And in the midst of all of this is our tendency to sin, "idolate", hate, prejudice, and judge.

How can we overcome?

Corrie Ten Boom, a holocaust survivor, who's story we talked about in an earlier post (you Can read it here) has this to say-

"When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops studying the Bible, the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy.”

These are reasons as well as the antidote to overcome the poison of Satan. Three very vital practices that every child of God can employ: Fellowship. Study of the Word and Prayer.

Today, can we identify areas of our life which delight Satan? Can we become actively conscious of them and use Corrie Ten Booms advice to overcome all those weaknesses which delight the devil.

A very relevant sermon on how we can overcome was given by Pastor Jolly Raj, of the Bethel Methodist Church in India, and we strongly recommend you hear it here.

Right Time. Right Place.

"For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” - Esther 4:14

What a profound ultimatum was given to Esther! 

But in  Esther we find a powerful message of courage and divine providence. Esther found herself in a powerful position as a queen. She used her position to save her people from a terrible fate at the urging of her cousin Mordecai, who is quoted above as well. In fact, till this day the Israelites celebrate Purim, to commemorate the defeat of Haman's plot to massacre the Jews as recorded in the book of Esther. 

Like Esther, have you ever felt you were in a certain situation for a reason? That perhaps, like Esther, God has orchestrated events in your life to fulfil a special purpose? It can be easy to feel insignificant and powerless, but God often places us exactly where we need to be for such a time as this. 

We may not face the same dramatic circumstances as Esther but we all encounter moments where our choices can make a difference. It maybe a time when speaking up could bring about justice and healing. it maybe an opportunity to extend grace and forgiveness to someone in need. Whatever the situation, we have the choice to step into our God given role and purpose and make an impact.  

Like Esther, we must have the courage to step out of our comfort zones and trust in God's provision. When faced with fear or uncertainty, let us remember Esthers example and lean on our faith to propel us forward. 

Then think about Noah and his family. They  must have felt pretty isolated. For forty days the rain fell, and the flooding persisted for months beyond that. But the scriptures remind us that God had not forgotten Noah—or even the animals. 

Sometimes when we feel like we’re left out, we are exactly where God needs us to be, so that we may be ready when His plan comes to fruition.

So, embrace the call of God on your life. Be bold and courageous, knowing that you are here for such a time as this.  

The Terror of The Night

Imagine you are being chased by violent robbers who not only want to rob you but do bodily harm. You run here and there, trying to find an escape route but they are relentless. There is a whole bunch of them, brandishing knives and pistols, shouting and screaming about what they will do to you when they catch you. You run and run, hard and fast but they are catching up. You know it's only a matter of a couple of minutes before they catch you. As you run you think of your family, friends. You also think of who or what can help you. You rue the fact that you did not put emergency on fast dial on your phone, because you know when they do catch you, they will take away the phone. Suddenly as you zig zag you see an alley... though it's dark but it does provide you with an escape route. You duck into it hoping to find escape. The robbers are right behind you. As your eyes focus in the dark you see that it's a dead end. A 20 feet fall blocks any thought of escape. You turn to face the robbers. To face possible death. Your heart is beating, fear is making you cringe, paralysed. You think of your family, their images fleet before you. You know it's the end of the road. You tried but failed. You fall, defeated.

Can you feel the fear and defeat? What would you feel and do if you ever came into such a situation?

Back to our story.

As you lie there hopeless and helpless, you see the robbers closing in. As their eyes adjust to the dark, suddenly a door opens behind you; strong hands reach out and pull you in and lock he door again. You see that you are in a room with many people, all smiling and comforting you. They offer you water and make you sit. You start to feel safe.

If this happened to you what would you feel? Do you think this can never ever happen to you?

This story is fictional of course. What is not fictional is that the same situation actually befell the Hebrews as they tried to escape the Pharoah. Before them was the red sea and behind them was Pharoah. While a lot has been written about what happened after their experience, no one really thinks about what they felt prior to the event. What fear and hopelessness they may have felt. They may even have said farewells to each other, knowing surely that some, if not all, would die. They would not know then that God would fight their battle that day. He would use His weapons of the wind and the waves to give the Pharoah a final defeat. What sword can fight of the wind? What shield can protect against a tsunami wave? What human can outrun a tsunami?

Today, our battles are as real as they were for the Hebrews that day. What protects us against known and unknown dangers? Only the Almighty. (Remember the pandemic).

You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
Isaiah 54:17

Transforming Sadness to Hope

Proverbs 19:17

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed. ESV

17 Mercy to the needy is a loan to God, and God pays back those loans in full MSG

In the quoted verse I believe that the thought is better represented by the word "needy" rather than the word "poor" as it is inclusive and refers to various needs of people.

Meeting those needs creates a transformation - From Sadness to hope. Such a transformation creates hope in the hopeless when their mental or physical needs are met.

This transformation can happen to anyone and everyone, who asks, as God is the author and the architect. But we too can participate in the transformation helping God with small things. 

It could be helping someone buy groceries, share time with someone who maybe lonely. Maybe chat with lonely elders and listen to their stories, which, by the way , are usually very interesting, entertaining and informative. Sometimes all we may need to invest is a smile; or time; God will never ask us to invest what we don't have.

Today, can you think of one person you can help transform?

On this first day of the week, may our prayer be:

Lord Jesus, I surrender to You my case! Help me to be an agent of transformation in someone's life. Open the eyes of my heart so that I can see the needs of people around me so that I can be your channel of comfort to them. In my own life, I too want to be made whole by You! I believe in Your ability to work powerfully in my life as well over all the difficulties I am facing. As I rise up and walk, towards being an agent of your transformation, thank You for transforming me because You walk with me on the journey in Jesus’ name! Amen!

ReplyForward