Tag Archives: Matthew

Are you ready for opportunities to serve Christ?

Posted on May 28, 2013 by | Comments Off on Are you ready for opportunities to serve Christ?

Ni Vanuatu man wood carvingRecently I was asked by my pastor to take the lead in putting together a monthly church newsletter.  The idea first came up while we were serving the ladies in attendance at the annual Mother and Daughter banquet held in May as a  part of our church’s celebration of Mothers’ Day. When my pastor, Alan Ramsey first looked at me and asked “we can do this, right…?” I immediately began to think of things I knew would be great to include in our newsletter.  Mrs. Ramsey added a couple of ideas, such as a devotional and a listing of the birthdays and anniversaries, while others wanted to see nursery schedules, articles highlighting different church functions and special events, and even a map to the church and the plan of Salvation.  These were all terrific ideas and each one has found a place in the pages of this newsletter.

As I began to work on the newsletter, a passage out of the Gospel of Luke came to mind: Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them (Luke 35-37).  While there are so many lessons and applications about this scripture that demonstrate the need to be ready for the rapture, I want to take a minute to share with you another application:  as children of Christ we need to be ready to do whatever work He calls us to do at a moment’s notice.

Both Peter and Andrew heard the Master’s call and immediately went out to do what he had called them to do—they were going to become fishers of men.  Through their childhood and into adulthood, they knew how to catch fish, they knew where the best fishing spots were, what bait to use, and even the times of day that would yield the best fish.  Jesus knew that these skills would be just as applicable for the two brothers in their endeavors to become “fishers of men.”  Yes, they had the talents and skills that would be useful  in serving God; however, they had to be willing to heed the call and use their abilities for His glory.

I also think of the teaching of Christ about the servants and the talents as told in the gospel of Matthew.  After distributing the talents, the master went away and each man was expected to do something—anything—with what he had been given by his master with the end result being an increase.  For the master, it did not matter how much the increase was but what mattered was that each of the men be willing to do something with what had been given to them.  When the master returned, the first two not only brought the original talents they were given, but also brought an increase, yet this: His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord (Matthew 25:21 & 23).  In the eyes of the master it truly did not matter who earned the most or who was the first.  Both men had taken what was given them and did something with what they had been given.

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Prayer: the need for intercession for ourselves and others

Posted on May 16, 2013 by | Comments Off on Prayer: the need for intercession for ourselves and others

HPIM0326 (Medium)As Christians, we never know who is watching us or the circumstances that will occur to bring someone into our daily routine that needs to hear the reassurance that there is a God who cares and loves them.  It may seem a strange fit for this lesson to be connected with the picture taken at the Audubon State Park in Henderson, Kentucky – the picture of the bridge over a small gully, but for what happened this morning, it will make perfect sense once I share what happened this morning and how I was able to be a “bridge” to someone involved in a spiritual battle.

But first, a little background about that bridge picture.  At the Audubon State Park there are several hiking trails that offer spectacular opportunities for those who enjoy photography the way that I do.  A few years ago during one of our Saturday outings, we walked along this one trail that rings a small pond within the center of the wildlife area.  As we were making the last of the trail’s bends and heading back to the road, we came to this old wooden footbridge that spanned a small little gully at the southeastern end of nature area.  It was a small bridge, but underneath it was a small little creek that flowed into the pond.  The area around the creek was not only marshy, but was in a bit of a gully – an area that had most of the topsoil washed away that exposed the large rocks in the creek.  Had it not been for the bridge, we would have had to get our feet wet, risk injury by walking on wet rocks, or would have had to go off the beaten path in search of a better area to cross.  Not only was the bridge convenient, but it was just what we needed at that time to cross that obstacle.

Now, back to the events of this morning.  I had an 8:30 a.m. appointment at the VA Clinic in Evansville and had arrived a few minutes early.  already knowing that I was going to be there for a while, I opened up the KJV Bible application on my phone to do some reading when I was called back.  I was shocked that I had actually been called back into the lab by 8:35 and was out by 8:45, but while I was in there, I had the first opportunity to minister to a fellow laborer in Christ.  The nurse that normally draws my blood when I get lab work done asked me if I would pray for her and her husband.  She told me that she didn’t want to go into specifics, but that there was a need that they needed to have met.  Taking the advice of my pastor, Alan Ramsey, instead of waiting to pray later and running the risk of forgetting, I asked her could we pray about it right then, so she reached out her hand, and we both began to pray about her and her husband’s needs.  In a few seconds, I felt another hand on my shoulder as one of the other nurses had heard us praying and she felt led to come in and join us in our prayer.  As we said our amens, I quoted Matthew 18:20, For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

The third lady that had joined us looked at me and the other nurse and said she had forgotten about that scripture but knew when she heard us praying that she needed to be a part of it.  As I was having the various blood samples taken, we had a miniature Bible study on the importance of prayer, how Christians should be ready at any time to pray for one another, and the importance of keeping a clear conscious when it comes to our daily walk with Christ. I had never imagined that this morning I would be given the opportunity to serve as a “bridge” between God’s reassuring love and a fellow Christian struggling with a need.  I had no idea that I would be given the opportunity to serve as a “bridge” between two nurses that only a few minutes before had no idea that the other one was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.  The second nurse commented that in their work environment at the VA, they are openly told by management not to discuss or share their religious views openly with co-workers or patients.  When she heard us praying, she said she knew she would be safe joining us.

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Posted in Christian Living, Discipleship, Our relationships with other Christians

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Christian discipleship from a superhero

Posted on May 13, 2013 by | Comments Off on Christian discipleship from a superhero

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In the town of Metropolis, Illinois, a statue stands in front of the local municipal building that celebrate the connection of the town’s name with that famous superhero from DC Comics – Superman.   In fact, the entire town is one big play on that connection.  The local newspaper, The Planet, even has a logo that is a lot like the logo of The Daily Planet, the newspaper that Superman’s alter ego, Clark Kent, worked for during his journey on Earth.  Next month, the entire community will be deeply involved with the annual Superman Festival.  No one thinks it strange when old and young, male or female, walks around that town dressed in a costume or a tee shirt of their favorite superhero.

As I was preparing to do today’s entry, I began to search through my library of digital photos to find an image for what I had planned to connect to today’s lesson.  Instead, what happened was that as I was looking in the folder, the image of Superman who “fights for truth, justice, and the American way…”  really stuck in my mind.  There’s a spiritual lesson to be learned from the concept of Superman; its not in his mighty strength, his alien origins, or even in his alter ego and romantic interests, but within the concept of what Superman has come to represent to generations of Americans since this comic book character’s introduction many years ago.  Besides the outlandish costume complete with cape, there are other things that Superman did possess:  integrity, honesty, compassion, and a never ending pursuit of justice and righteousness. Superman, who generations were introduced through radio and television serials, comic books, cartoons, and even a few movies, defended the concepts of justice, righteousness, and freedom.

Anyone who knows anything about Superman knows that kryptonite was that mysterious rock that caused Superman to lose his powers. While he was nowhere near the stuff, he was faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and could leap tall buildings in a single bound… (I could not resist the old television show tag!).  But just as soon as someone brought in a small chunk of kryptonite, his powers were gone and he was only as strong as a normal man.  What an accurate description of what happens in the life and testimony of a Christian when sin enters into the picture.  The apostle Paul wrote on this very topic as a warning to the early church at Corinth about the dangers of even just the minutest sin within the life of the believer, Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (I Corinthians 5:6-8).

For Christians, even just a little sin in our lives can destroy our testimony and render us ineffective for the Lord.  As a child of God, we cannot be possessed by Satan nor can we be condemned to hell but we can have our ability to serve God while in this life diminished. To have a life that honors God, that allows us to selflessly serve Him, and to enjoy the fullness of our salvation, we must examine ourselves daily.  Even the Old Testament prophets brought God’s warning to his people, Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways (Haggai 1:6-7). All of these things listed were areas where it was hard to become content, to be comfortable with what they had.  Of course, the minor prophet, Haggai, later explains that their inattention to the things of God had led to God withholding his blessings from them.  When we choose to remain tied fastly to our sins, we choose to remove ourselves from a place of heavenly blessings!

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