Excuses
Father, over and over in my mind I keep thinking of Your sustaining hand upon my shoulder. I have asked for it and You have surely given it to me. Over three weeks ago, I set some goals and You, being the faithful Father that You are, have lifted me up to remain faithful myself. All praise to You!
Luke 14:15-24 (<<click here to read the passage)
Have you ever had lame excuses for not doing something you said you would do? Maybe it was an invite to a gathering of friends. You could have been sort of “meh” (as my son likes to say) to the offer initially and may have feigned interest in a feeble attempt to be polite. But as the date gets closer and closer you are wanting less and less to be apart of it. Eventually, you come up with some hollow excuse as to why you won’t be attending.
In this passage from Luke, in the middle of all that’s been going on, someone at the table said, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet [to eat bread] in the Kingdom of God!” v15
Wasn’t that a nice “religious” thing to say, amongst all of his little “religious” friends? And if you’ve not caught it before, Jesus really wasn’t into all the “religious” stuff. I was into the real deal – authentic living out of our faith in what God was doing in and through us. I don’t see Him smiling as He replied with this story:
“A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ vs.16-20
According to my Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation,
The custom was to send two invitations to a party: the first to announce the event and the second to tell the guests that everything was ready. The guests in Jesus’ story insulted the host by making excuses when he issued the second invitation. In Israel’s history, God’s first invitation came from Moses and the prophets; the second came from his Son. The religious leaders accepted the first invitation. They believed that God had called them to be his people, but they insulted God by refusing to accept his Son. Thus, the master in the story sent his servant into the streets to invite the needy to his banquet, so God sent his Son to a whole world of needy people to tell them that God’s Kingdom had arrived and was ready for them.
We can get pretty “religious”, as well. We have all been abundantly blessed by God in incalculable ways. But when we are invited to take part in God’s Kingdom, how often do we come up with lame, hollow excuses.
Jesus: I need you to be here for this person.
Me: Oh, I’m sorry, today’s just not good for me. I’ve just got so much on my plate…maybe I can catch up with them later
Jesus: Could you please help out this family in financial need?
Me: Uh, this is a really bad time. I’m needing to trade in my car. It’s really starting to nickel and dime me to death. I’m sure someone else will help.
Sometimes we hear and ignore what He has to say. Sometimes our time is just so consumed by the life we have made that we don’t hear Jesus at all.
Wouldn’t it be a shame to miss out on something so spectacular from God because we settled with something so plain and mundane? What we need is a spiritual ear cleaning and one of those heart transplants we spoke of a few days ago. Let’s not miss out!
Sept 8th, 2020, Tues, 7:15 pm
Could Not Repay
Hear me as I pray, O Lord.
….Be merciful and answer me!
My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
….And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” Psalm 27:7-8 NLT
Luke 14:12-14 (<<click here to read the passage)
A few years back, Karen and I were able to pull off a nice gesture. We loved being able to do it and occasionally I will look for another opportunity, but to date, nothing has presented itself. I don’t recall sharing the incident with anyone and, honestly, I have been hesitant to do so. But it fits well with today’s passage and I want to make it clear that I am not patting myself on the back but want the act to inspire us all – myself included.
We stopped to grab a bite of lunch at a large Amish style restaurant in Berlin, Ohio. We were enjoying our meal when an older lady was seated near us. No one joined her for her meal. It was just her. We decided to foot the bill for her meal. No big deal. No big output of cash. No one knew but our server. We had no idea if she was in financial difficulties, but we felt lead to reach out and let her know that she was not alone but that someone cared.
It wasn’t anything flashy. In reality, it was very simple. But we hope that we had an impact on her.
In today’s passage, Jesus had been invited to eat at the home of a Pharisee. At one point His host and said
“When you put on a luncheon or a banquet, don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.” v12-14
I would think that many of us make donations to organizations that help people out in many ways. We may drop money in the Salvation Army kettle during Christmas season, we may support a needy child through Compassion International, we might even make a generous donation to bring God’s word to those without it in their native tongue through Wycliffe Associates. Those are all immensely worthwhile acts and thousands of people benefit from our gestures of kindness.
Many wonderful organizations provide daily meals for the homeless and down and out and they surely deserve our support. But have we ever acted upon Jesus’ suggestion? To my knowledge, I haven’t. And in today’s culture, we might find the task even more daunting. Long gone are the days of picking up hitchhikers and inviting total strangers into our homes to share a meal.
I’m not sure how we would go about it but it would sure be good to reach out and impact someone who could not repay us.
Lord Jesus, the whole idea is a little scary in our day – though in reality it probably wasn’t that much different when You set out the challenge. Help Your suggestion linger in our hearts and minds, in the midst of our lives may we act on it, loving others as we love ourselves. Not for our glory but for Yours alone. Amen.
Sept 7th, 2020, Mon, 6:55 pm
Something Everyone Can Afford
Father, I come before You this evening and humbly ask to have You pull me up into Your lap. I’m not overwhelmed with anxiety regarding school starting back this coming Tuesday, but it is starting to nibble at the edges of my mind. I know I will find peace in Your arms and that You are with me always! Thank You, Father.
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Recently a pastor friend of mine shared a post of a friend of hers and I thought it was very inspirational. I was given permission by the author to share it. He asked to remain anonymous, so I am honoring his wishes.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I were in a community in which we used to live and drove by our old house. This is the house we lived in before moving to where we live now. We rented it from Mr. and Mrs. Herron, a kind, elderly couple who lived across the street.
Mr. and Mrs. Herron bought this house because the neighborhood was getting less safe, and they wanted to rent it to someone they knew and trusted. We all attended the same church, and when they approached us about living there, we were excited! This house was a palace compared to our tiny apartment.
So, we moved in and developed a caring relationship with Mr. and Mrs. Herron. We looked out for them and they looked out for us.
Meanwhile, my job wasn’t going so well. I had taken a job as an insurance salesman for a large company in another state, writing pre-need contracts for funeral homes in our area. The leads the company provided dried up, and eventually so did my paychecks.
So, we were living on my wife’s small salary as a secretary for a local doctor. The bills were piling up – a student loan, a car payment hospital bills from two surgeries my wife had had, rent. Our debt was overtaking us like a tidal wave.
Just as we were losing hope, an old acquaintance of mine asked me to come home and become his partner at the local funeral home. I needed a stable job with a stable future. So, I accepted his offer.
Before we left our house, Mr. Herron came over to say goodbye. And he handed me a check. It was a check for all the rent we paid over the two years we lived in the house. He said we needed that money to start our new life. We were so overwhelmed that we could barely speak. It is one of the kindest gestures ever made to me and my wife.
We are all tenants on God’s earth. And we are all drowning in debt because of our sin. But God offers to pay our debt and give us a fresh start.
The Bible says this:
Because we broke God’s laws, we owed a debt… But God forgave us of that debt. He took [that debt] away and nailed it to the cross. Colossians 2:14 ERV
Jesus paid our debts…with His life. To give us a fresh start. To give us a stable future. It is the kindest gesture ever made to mankind. And if you accept His loving gesture, all you’ll owe Him is a debt of gratitude. And that’s something everyone can afford.
Sept 6th, 2020, Sun, 8:31 pm
Humble Yourself
The Lord is my light and my salvation—
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the refuge and fortress of my life—
Whom shall I dread? Psalm 25:1 AMP
Father, You are all I need!
Luke 14:7-11 (<<click here to read the passage)
Pondering on humility is a difficult thing. Trying to come up with some pensive life experience has been unproductive in the, almost hour now, that I have sat here. I have looked at things, I have looked up things, but with scant results.
I wouldn’t say that I am not humble but to think that I am humble, smacks of pride, and a lack of humility. So, I will move on…but maybe not so fast.
In looking up Biblical definitions, I came across one on the Doug Britton Books website. It said,
Godly humility is being comfortable with who you are in the Lord and therefore putting others first. The picture of humility in the Bible is one of a strong person who loves others, not someone who is a wimp.
Sitting here contemplating examples of humility, someone special to me comes to mind. She would be absolutely mortified to think I would associate her with being a model of humility. But as I read through the above definition, she fits it to a T!
At this point in life, she has a couple of years under her belt. But in all her years she has lived out her love for her Lord. She is as close as one can get to Him and her life reflects it. She is diligent in maintaining her relationship with Him, but she would not hesitate to say, “I am His and He is mine.”
In pretty much every aspect of her life, and many of those have been spent in ministry, she has always been about putting others before herself. Other’s needs are addressed before her own. If there was only one piece of pie in the tin, she’d make sure that you took it. She doesn’t take pride in it, it’s just the way she is.
She is a strong daughter of Christ who loves others with all her heart.
In today’s passage, the poor Pharisees with whom Jesus was dining were so far down into the pit of pride that he gave them a couple of baby steps to take to start moving them in the right direction.
He suggested instead of being humiliated by being asked to step down from an honored seat, that if they would sit at the least honored seat, then they may very well be asked to move up.
Jesus works with us all, right where we’re at! Even the notorious Pharisees were loved by Jesus and He at least got them thinking. You’ve got to start somewhere!
Jesus concludes His directive on humility by saying,
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled [before others], and he who habitually humbles himself (keeps a realistic self-view) will be exalted.” v11 AMP
James, the brother of Jesus, wrote,
Humble yourselves [with an attitude of repentance and insignificance] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up, He will give you purpose]. James 4:10 AMP
Don’t be like the Pharisees, instead be like the godly lady I spoke of earlier. Amen.
Sept 3rd, 2020, Thurs, 7:10 pm
Loving as We Should
As we are readying ourselves for what this new school year may be, Father, it was so nice to get away with my favorite girl for the day! Thank You for keeping us safe and giving us a wonderful day of just being together away from all the craziness heading our way – at least for a little while!
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There is a topic on which I have written numerous times, and that is my role as a husband. You would think after 34 years I would have it down pat, but nope, nowhere close! I think I have come a long way, but I sure have a long way to go!
The Apostle Paul admonishes husbands in Ephesians 5:25-30. Here is verse 25,
Husbands, love your wives [seek the highest good for her and surround her with a caring, unselfish love], just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her… AMP
I pray about my relationship often and when I really focus on my prayers and seek the Lord’s direction, I know I do better. But it is so easy to slip back into the clueless void that many men live in.
Example #1: Karen does a wonderful job of preparing our meals. I should play a bigger part, but my brain far too often steers me to sit at the laptop working on church stuff or to even just lay on the couch reading. Most times I don’t even think about it, though I have to admit that there are times where it crosses my mind to help but it’s a fleeting thought that easily gets shuffled to the bottom of the deck!
It’s not that I should take over but setting the table does not require an advanced degree in Home Economics! I do help her on occasion by doing what I can – grabbing ingredients for the meal from the pantry or the fridge (and putting them back where I found them!), setting the table, carrying the food and drinks to the table, helping clear the table when we are done, etc. Just talking with her as she does her thing would be an act of love!
Example #2: Sometimes we are both guilty of this, but I by far am the more guilty. I am addicted to my phone/tablet! One or the other seems to be permanently attached to my hand! Recently I have been trying to make a point of leaving it to charge while we eat. Often at the end of a long day, we will be in the living room and both of us have our faces in our phones.
Yeah, it has some entertainment value, but what is more important watching full-grown men drop a bowling ball off a dam trying to get it to hit a trampoline far, far below them…or loving my wife. And loving my wife means giving her attention – not just hearing her but listening to her! It means doing things that show her I love and cherish her. She loves to have her back scratched! She likes to have her shoulders massaged – and those things need to be done with no strings attached! No paybacks should be expected!
I inserted the quote from Ephesians specifically from the Amplified Bible because it fills out Paul’s directive, giving us no excuse as to what we men should be doing.
Love is not just a note we jot down on a birthday or anniversary card or a word that comes out of our mouths on occasion. It is an action word! Loving our wives means seeking the highest good for her. We’re not necessarily talking monetary value here. She deserves, first and foremost, the best of us that we can give her!
Our unselfish love should show itself in how we treat her, how we think about her, where we place her on our list of priorities. Oh, now I might be stepping on some toes. Is my wife more important than my downtime activities? …than the things that I feel are necessary to let off steam?
Men, we are called to love our wives as Christ also loved the church. And how did He do that? He gave Himself up for her…
The New Living Translation puts it like this, He gave up his life for her. Paul goes on to say we should love our wives in the same way we love ourselves.
Do you love golf? Love your wife more. Do you love reading? Love your wife more. Do you love work? Please…love your wife more. You love your phone, and your friends, and your free time? Please, please…love your wife more.
Lord Jesus, help us to, first of all, lift up our wives in prayer – they need it. And may we sacrifice ourselves on Your altar, giving up our selfish desires and giving ourselves over to loving our wives as we should. Amen.
Sept 2nd, 2020, Tue, 8:34 pm