How often would you say you offend others?
To offend means: 1) to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall, 2) to entice to sin, 3) to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey, 4) to cause to fall away. (blueletterbible.org)
Now, what would you say?
I thought offending someone was hurting their feelings, injuring their pride. I try to stay vigilant against any action on my part that might cause this in another person. I would typically say I rarely offend anyone. However, in this light, I don’t think I can answer that way at all. In traffic (or right before I’ve eaten) the tone of my voice alone could cause another to stumble. The way I look at my kids sometimes could very well cause one to doubt the sanctifying power of the one I claim to trust. This kind of hurts!
Jesus tells Peter to pay the collectors of the two-drachma tax “so that we may not offend them.” (Matt 17:27)
In context, Jesus is saying that although we are free, children of the true King, owing no man tribute, we ought to pay the tax. Rejecting laws and governmental authority may put a stumbling block in front of those who work for, and define themselves by, that authority. This may cause them to distrust us and the one we represent. It seems that relationship trumps being right.
We are to be ambassadors of Christ, called to give the message of reconciliation between man and God. Jesus is indicating here that our actions can impede that message.
Have my actions put a stumbling block in someone’s path this week?
Has my attitude enticed another to sin?
Have my words caused someone to distrust the God I represent?
Am I more concerned with being right than drawing one to Christ?
What are your thoughts on all of this?
Blessings, Linda
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Astonishing Faith
“Lord”, the centurion said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”
“I will go and heal him.”
“Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was astonished…
“Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.
“I will go and heal him.”
“Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was astonished…
“Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.
Excerpt Matt 8:5-13
Do I have that kind of faith? The kind of faith that astonishes Christ? Does my faith, like the centurion’s, cause Jesus to stop in his tracks and marvel?
What was so astonishing about the centurion’s faith? I believe it was that he was able to see past the physical world and understand the spiritual forces that influence it. And, he recognized that it was Jesus of Nazareth, a poor Jewish carpenter, an inglorious, apolitical, unimpressive man, who had authority over these spiritual forces.
I believe it was also astonishing because he didn’t stop there. He confirmed his faith with action. This military leader, himself a man of position and authority, considered not his own reputation, but sought after and publicly submitted to the authority of a lowly Jew. He humbly denied Jesus’ offer to travel with him, enter his house and touch his servant. He requested only that Jesus speak, and he knew it would be done.
If faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see, this uncircumcised Gentile soldier could be faith’s poster child. Astonishing.
Do I have that kind of faith? Man, do I want it. This centurion is one of my favorite biblical characters, and I aspire to his faith. There are times when I do say, “This request may not heed logic, but my God moves in and out of logic. Time, power, authority, and facts bend to his will. I will humbly, yet boldly, come to the throne of grace and beseech my king for this request.”
Unfortunately, there are also those times I relate more to the poor disciples who get…shall we say…chastised by the Lord: A man approached Jesus, “I brought my son to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
“O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
The disciples asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
“Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Excerpt Matt 17:14-21
I’m thankful for the mustard seed. I’m thankful that although I may not always astonish God with my ultra-dimensional-barrier-breaking faith, He still moves. I’m thankful he chooses to honor the seed and will cause it to grow.
And then, there are those times when my faith is on an altogether different plane of spiritual reality. Times like I just experienced a few months ago. In hindsight, I see the lessons learned, the brilliance of his timing, and the mercy of his love. While I was in it, however, darkness permeated. As each new day dawned, I would lay in bed and say, ‘Dear God, not another day. I can’t see you, I can’t hear you, I can’t feel you. You have to show up today.” I would act, I would move, and the day would pass. The new day would dawn, ‘Dear God, not another day. I can’t see you, I can’t hear you, I can’t feel you. You have to show up today.” I would act, I would move, and the day would pass. The new day would dawn,…
Last month, as this period began to break, God revealed to me, “That’s what faith is daughter. Faith is continuing to walk, while still in the darkness.” Through revelations, affirmations, insight, and beautiful people, the Lord has radically turned the course of events in one aspect of the darkness, and shone such light and hope and direction in another aspect that it is now obvious my Lord heard all those cries and answered. His timing. His way. Big enough to blow me away.
My emotional and personality tendencies are to experience the highs and lows, the dark and the light. God never lets me speak about anything I haven’t personally experienced. I may yet again experience such a low; yet as long as I keep walking, I’m living in faith. And my God will hear my cry and answer.
My faith may not always be astonishing. But, I’m thankful, my God always is.
Do I have that kind of faith? The kind of faith that astonishes Christ? Does my faith, like the centurion’s, cause Jesus to stop in his tracks and marvel?
What was so astonishing about the centurion’s faith? I believe it was that he was able to see past the physical world and understand the spiritual forces that influence it. And, he recognized that it was Jesus of Nazareth, a poor Jewish carpenter, an inglorious, apolitical, unimpressive man, who had authority over these spiritual forces.
I believe it was also astonishing because he didn’t stop there. He confirmed his faith with action. This military leader, himself a man of position and authority, considered not his own reputation, but sought after and publicly submitted to the authority of a lowly Jew. He humbly denied Jesus’ offer to travel with him, enter his house and touch his servant. He requested only that Jesus speak, and he knew it would be done.
If faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see, this uncircumcised Gentile soldier could be faith’s poster child. Astonishing.
Do I have that kind of faith? Man, do I want it. This centurion is one of my favorite biblical characters, and I aspire to his faith. There are times when I do say, “This request may not heed logic, but my God moves in and out of logic. Time, power, authority, and facts bend to his will. I will humbly, yet boldly, come to the throne of grace and beseech my king for this request.”
Unfortunately, there are also those times I relate more to the poor disciples who get…shall we say…chastised by the Lord: A man approached Jesus, “I brought my son to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
“O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
The disciples asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
“Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Excerpt Matt 17:14-21
I’m thankful for the mustard seed. I’m thankful that although I may not always astonish God with my ultra-dimensional-barrier-breaking faith, He still moves. I’m thankful he chooses to honor the seed and will cause it to grow.
And then, there are those times when my faith is on an altogether different plane of spiritual reality. Times like I just experienced a few months ago. In hindsight, I see the lessons learned, the brilliance of his timing, and the mercy of his love. While I was in it, however, darkness permeated. As each new day dawned, I would lay in bed and say, ‘Dear God, not another day. I can’t see you, I can’t hear you, I can’t feel you. You have to show up today.” I would act, I would move, and the day would pass. The new day would dawn, ‘Dear God, not another day. I can’t see you, I can’t hear you, I can’t feel you. You have to show up today.” I would act, I would move, and the day would pass. The new day would dawn,…
Last month, as this period began to break, God revealed to me, “That’s what faith is daughter. Faith is continuing to walk, while still in the darkness.” Through revelations, affirmations, insight, and beautiful people, the Lord has radically turned the course of events in one aspect of the darkness, and shone such light and hope and direction in another aspect that it is now obvious my Lord heard all those cries and answered. His timing. His way. Big enough to blow me away.
My emotional and personality tendencies are to experience the highs and lows, the dark and the light. God never lets me speak about anything I haven’t personally experienced. I may yet again experience such a low; yet as long as I keep walking, I’m living in faith. And my God will hear my cry and answer.
My faith may not always be astonishing. But, I’m thankful, my God always is.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
The Fire Is Lit by Linda Stevens
Our on-line Bible Study read chapters: 3-7 in the book of Matthew this past week. When I read chapter 5:14-17, I experienced an immediate recognition of truth that I had never seen in these verses before. A light went on. I felt that in that moment there was a convergence of the counsel I’d been receiving, the coaching I’d been given, and the prayers I’d been offering; all confirmed and illuminated by scripture. All I could say was, “That’s It! That’s what God wants of all of us, and for all of us!”
It’s so simple. That’s what God wants all of us to do. To allow ourselves to shine our light. To celebrate it. To find our stand and display our light proudly. When feeling doubtful, shy, insecure, and even a tad hermit-like, my new mantra will be, “Put your light on its stand, woman!” (Of course, it will be spoken in the spiritual tongue I always hear the deepest of truths…..that good ol’ New York Italian/Jewish accent.) They’re kind of marching orders, aren’t they? Yet, like only God’s Word can do, they are also encouraging, edifying, uplifting, and empowering.
The light which shines from within us all, is his. The stand, the lamp, the house, however – that’s unique to us. I believe God has a venue particular for each of us. One that fits our experiences and personality, gifts and environment.
There is that for which we were all made. This is cause to celebrate. A cause to feel valued, significant, priceless in the kingdom of God and precious to our Father the King. The challenge before us this day is not only to identify the stand, the lamp and the house, but to allow ourselves to experience the joy and freedom and empowerment in knowing that we are a gifted vessel within whom the light of Jesus shines.
The questions for the day are:
Do I know the house in which my Father wants me to shine? (Who are the people to whom I am to minister?)
What does my lamp look like? (What are my gifts through which He will shine?)
Is my light shining brightly?
Check out www.thats-extraordinary.com if you want help through this process. We have some amazing women in who are able to help you walk through these steps.
May God help you identify your purposes and venue. And when you do, in the words of Kathy Triccoli, ‘Go light your world!’
In Him,
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Worship– it’s to Him; but it’s like Him to make it for us
While running home from church today I had an epiphany. I love how God seems to meet me every time I’m out there – whether ‘there’ is barren, back-roads or fume-filled city streets.
He shows up, seems to say, “Hi. I’ve been waiting for you.” I feel His smile and am filled with His mutual excitement for what we are about to share. Like two giddy kids we go off on our adventure. I feel His power in my legs, His breath in my lungs and His inconceivable joy in my heart.
He then humbles, cajoles, comforts, encourages, confirms or directs – whatever my current heart condition may need.
Today, as I was listening to Todd Agnew’s CD, ‘Reflection of Something’, I was completely enraptured by the holy majesty and freeing presence of my God - my running companion. In the silence of a break between tracks my auditory senses became flooded with my own breathing pattern. (It was loud panting actually.) In that brief moment my mood, mind-set and focus shifted – and not for the better.
In that instant I shifted from thankful, joyous, confident, strong, capable and able to accomplish the challenging task at hand to doubtful, weary, concerned, self-focused and inadequate. The moment I heard the reality of my own panting I thought, “Listen to how hard I’m breathing. Wow, this must be really difficult. I must not be doing as well as I thought I was. Hey, I’m out of breath. I’m working too hard. I can’t do this. I don’t think I can make it the rest of the way.”
And then the music began.
Again, I was in His comfort, His hands, His ability.
That was the epiphany. I finally understood, I mean really understood, not only what worship is, but why I need it so desperately. When all of my senses are focused on all that He is, I become unaware of the facts of my own condition. The earthly reality of my emotional and physical state becomes inconsequential. Reality? Yes. A burden? No. A challenge? Yes. Insurmountable? No. Still dealing with flesh? Yes. But in the beauty of being utterly and completely engulfed in His presence the facts don’t matter. They don’t even seem to show up. They fade to indiscernible.
It’s all about Him; and in that, He takes care of all of us.
When focused on me; my problems, my issues, my tasks and my burdens, the only sound I hear is the panting of my own breath; the only counsel I receive is the discouragement of my own mind; the only strength I exhibit is bound to the limitations of my own body.
But in worship-in allowing my Self to be utterly taken over; in that position of absolute surrender; of showing up and saying, “Take Me. Please”, He breaks through the time constraints of the kingdom paradox and saves again what has already been saved, purifies what has already been purified, delivers what has already been delivered, and tenderly, powerfully, brings us to that heavenly experience of peace–right here –on earth.
Worship– it’s to Him; but it’s just like Him to make it for us.
Blessings, Linda Stevens
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