The Emporer’s New Clothes
There’s a lot pressing on my mind, Father, but I would ask that You would enable me to focus on Your word for this time. Amen.
Luke 16:14-15 (<<click here to read the passage)
When I read these verses, one of the first things to come to mind was Hans Christian Anderson’s story, The Emperor’s New Clothes.
The familiar story is about two swindlers who convince an emperor that they can supply him with magnificent clothes that are invisible to those who are stupid or incompetent. The emperor and his officials seeing empty looms but wanting to avoid being thought of as fools, pretend to see the clothes. Heading off for a procession before the whole city, in his new “attire”, everyone plays along not wanting to appear inept or stupid… until a child blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all!
The Pharisees, hearing Jesus’ teaching on a proper attitude toward money “scoffed at him” for they “dearly loved their money” and honestly, they had the notion that their wealth was a sign of God’s approval. They, like the emperor, thought they were all that, but God is not fooled. They appear to be “holy” and “righteous” and above all the riffraff, but God knew their hearts – they in reality were laid bare before Him.
The Amplified Bible states that their hearts encompassed their thoughts, their desires, and their secrets. Jesus says, “What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God.”
Our culture – and for that matter many cultures – place great emphasis on material wealth. But as we spoke of yesterday, the problem arises not necessarily from wealth itself, but when wealth becomes “king” and rules all. And in the process, God is moved off the throne of our hearts to make room for “more important” things.
Many struggle at some point in time with keeping up with the “Joneses”. Everybody else has this, that, or the other thing. They get to enjoy those things and we want to enjoy them, too! It’s only fair! …right? But at what price? What do we give up to “have it all”?
More people than we know are over their heads in debt, so they can get what everybody else has got. At some point in time, we’ve got to draw the line – enough is enough!
For those of us who strive to follow Jesus, our goal must be to invest not in the temporary, “here today and gone tomorrow” wealth but we must strive to invest in the eternal. Possessions don’t even factor in. It’s what we do in our relationships with each other that truly impacts eternity for His Kingdom. And if wealth can help us to accomplish that, fine… but it cannot and should not, be our sole goal.
Lord Jesus, enable us to put wealth in its place. May we use what we have to benefit ourselves and others, but may it always take second place in deference to You. Amen.
Sept 2nd, 2020, Tues, 1:19 pm
Only One King Can Rule
Father may all of Your children cling to You today. May we not have the mentality that we can handle it…because we can’t. Our only hope is to hold tightly to Your hand, then, and only then, can we handle it. Help us to grasp more of Your love each day! Amen.
Luke 16:13 (<<click here to read the passage)
“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand devotedly by the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon [that is, your earthly possessions or anything else you trust in and rely on instead of God].” AMP
Now, this is going back pretty far but one of the games we played in Kindergarten was King of the Mountain. We played on top of an embankment and the goal was to hold your position at the top, not allowing anyone else to pull you down or knock you off and replace you.
It may have been a game of my childhood but, Lord, it is something I must decide upon each day of my life, even now. Who, this day, will be the king of my life? There cannot be two kings. Only one king can rule. Will the king of my life be money or possessions or fame or status…or will it be You, Lord?
The world is constantly trying to usurp the throne. It entices me with all kinds of temptations. Pastor and author David Jeremiah said in his book Signs of Life,
“In case you haven’t noticed, the world frontloads its pleasures and back loads its pain. The Christian life sometimes front loads the pain, but it always back loads the pleasure. And I’d definitely rather be moving toward joy than moving away from it. That’s why I’ve chosen to live my life for the Lord and to walk in fellowship sweet.”
Lord, I choose You to be King of my mountain. Everything else will pass away, everything else will let me down, the promises of everything else will come to naught. But You?
[You] alone [are] my rock and my salvation,
My defense and my strong tower; I will not be shaken or disheartened.
Psalm 62:2 AMP
Sept 21st, 2020, Mon, 1:13 pm
(Content first posted Jan 31, 2018, on Morethanuseless.com.)
Use What You’ve Got
Father, may I continually sit in Your presence. May the day of rest not forever be a day of stress. Whatever the new normal becomes may You fill it. May I find that Your blessings overflow it! And in the midst of it all, may my joy be found in You! Amen.
Luke 16:1-12 (<<click here to read the passage)
We all are given a certain amount of assets of which to make use, or at the least, the gifts and abilities to assist us in bringing those assets into being. Our job is to use those things to the best of our abilities to assure our ongoing capacity to further our lives.
Some are gifted in areas where advanced schooling will enable them to pursue occupations where they can perform specific tasks giving them the capacity to further their lives.
Others are gifted in areas where trades are grasped, and skills are honed to provide much-needed services, enabling them to perform specific tasks giving them the capacity to further their lives.
There are things in life at which we excel…but if we set them aside, we lose the ability to excel at them any longer.
In middle school, I took up playing the trumpet. As time went on, I eventually learned to play the French horn, as well. I really enjoyed the French horn and was first chair in my high school band.
When I went to college, I played in the band my freshman year but eventually, I set it aside to focus on participating in choir and putting more time and effort into becoming a better piano player.
I rationalized that if I was going to be a Minister of Music, that in many settings choirs and maybe even needing to accompany choirs was of greater importance than my continued investment of time in playing the French horn.
Well, things didn’t pan out like I thought they would. I gave up something at which I excelled – the French horn – and invested in something at which I would (at the time) only be mediocre in my offering. (At this point in my life, I don’t even play for my own enjoyment, much less in a church setting…) Unfortunately, I have lost any ability that I did have in playing the French horn.
A gift that I was given, I chose to set down. And because of that choice, the gift has been lost. I am grateful that other gifts that I was given I have used faithfully. I have honed and worked at them. I have prayed over them. And even though they may be difficult at times to maintain, God continues to bless their use.
As Jesus has admonished us all, “If [we] you are faithful in little things, [we] will be faithful in large ones.” v10a God takes those areas in which we are faithful and multiplies them how He sees fit to further His kingdom.
If we squander the gifts we have been given or if we set them down, refusing to use them, they often just cease to be. The phrase, “But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities” v10b reflects that mentality.
Lord Jesus, may we wisely invest in the gifts and abilities that we have been given. Though my life did not necessarily go the way that I thought it would, You took what I have and made it what You needed it to be for the furtherance of Your kingdom. Continue to use me as you will. Amen.
Sept 20th, 2020, Sun, 6:19 pm
Encourage One Another
Father, I would pray that You would enable me to get back into a groove again. Getting adjusted to a new routine of “early to bed, early to rise” has been difficult. I need a routine that gets me moving for sermon preparation and writing. Amen.
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I haven’t shared a bus story for a while…but then I’ve only been at it with kids for less than two weeks!
This morning I picked up one of only two kindergarteners that I have this year (last year I had 12!) He is a very precocious young man, and, boy, does he love to talk! I have my kindergarteners sit right behind me upfront and he sits in the seat directly behind my seat. Conversation is non-stop for the remainder of my route!
Well, this morning he was excited to share with me that he could count to 100…and he did! There was a little pause before each “ten”, but he did great!
In recent conversations with Karen, I know that they are supposed to be able to do that by the time they get to 1st Grade, so he’s ahead of schedule and not a thing wrong with that!
Now, if I told you that I could count to 100 and wanted to count it our for you, you’d probably think I’d lost it! It’s not quite as impressive for a man of my age, education, and life experience. But the sad thing is, as we get older that joy and wonder of learning and growing begin to fade for most of us. And unfortunately, we get pulled into the game of one-up-on-you. We feel that we always have to be better than our “opponents”. We have to show them up. We have to outdo what they did. Aren’t there a lot of circumstances where it would be great to just share in the joy of another in something they learned or accomplished, and regardless of what we know, that we could appreciate their excitement and cheer them on?
The verse that comes to mind is from the first part of 1 Thessalonians 5:11,
So encourage each other and build each other up… NLT
No matter the age or the circumstances – from kindergarteners to old friends – share in their wonder! Love them enough to build them up. It’s not us against them! We are in this together and there is no one who doesn’t need a steady diet of encouragement!
As has happened many a time, this brought to mind a song! And once more it is a song from my Children’s Pastor days in the late 90s. It’s another song from Steve Green’s Hide ‘em in Your Heart album – a collection of children’s songs taken straight from the Bible. For your listening pleasure, here is a link to listen to Encourage One Another! Take it to heart!
Sept 17th, 2020, Thurs, 12:51 pm
The Other Prodigal
Thank You, Father, for a good night’s sleep! As I get older that is not always the case. Thank You for Your presence.
Luke 15:25-32 (<<click here to read the passage)
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve shared thoughts on this parable from a couple of different angles…but here is a third. We know who the prodigal son is, but have you ever thought about the other prodigal?
When the younger brother returned, we know he was welcomed by his father. And not just welcomed but celebrated! The father proclaims here in verse 32, that his son who was dead…has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”
But the first-born son was just a tad less joyous upon his younger brother’s return. In fact, he was so angry that he wouldn’t even join the party. His father had to come out and beg him to come in.
Don’t we all sort of side with the older son? He had done the right thing. He had stayed the course. He had done what he was supposed to do. He never even got a little goat party, much less a fattened calf party! He was ticked! And we all pretty much think he got the short end of the deal…right?
He may have stayed home and diligently worked on the farm. He may have kept his nose to the grind. But he was no less a prodigal, he was no less lost, than his brother.
Just because we hang around our Father more frequently than those who turn their back on Him, doesn’t mean that we cannot be lost. Just because we reside in righteous territory doesn’t mean that we don’t get angry, or stubborn, or have a mindset of entitlement, or have to deal with self-righteousness. We can be just as guilty as the older brother.
And how about forgiveness? That’s a toughie. It is so easy to hold a grudge…to become imbittered. What’s tough is letting those kinds of things go. The older son was going to have to deal with his need to forgive his brother for doing all he did and then having the gall to come back and expect any kind of welcome. And he needed to forgive his father (if you can call it that!) not just for welcoming but celebrating his brother’s return.
Lord Jesus, may we closely examine our own hearts.
Search me, O God, and know my heart today
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray
See if there be some wicked way in me
Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free – J. Edwin Orr, 1936
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Matthew West released a song a few years back entitled Forgiveness. It’s a great song inspired by a true story. Here’s a video, with lyrics, of the song. I’ve also included a video of the story behind the song.
Sept 16th, 2020, Wed,