Ask

“God said, ‘Ask. What should I give you?’” (1 Kings 3:5b CSB)

What if God asked that question to you?

God appeared to Solomon in a dream and told him to ask. He said, “What should I give you?” You know the rest of the story. Solomon asked God for wisdom, for a discerning heart, so that he could rule Israel wisely and render good judgments. God gave him that and much more.

But what if God said to you, “Ask. What should I give you?” How would you answer? If you were sure that God would give you one thing that you asked of Him, what would you ask for?

Your answer to God would speak volumes about you, just as it did for Solomon. If you say to God what you value. It would speak of what drives your life.

In the New Testament we read, “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and don’t receive because you ask wrongly, so that you may spend it on your desires for pleasure.” (James 4:2c-3 CSB) We hear Jesus say, “Keep asking, and it will be given to you.” (Matthew 7:7a CSB) So, in the realm of possibilities, we might ask Jesus for that one thing we would like God to give us, and it might be granted. Thus it is important that we think about what is so important to us that we would ask God to give it to us. Who knows, He may just do that.

Lord, Help us to evaluate in our hearts and minds today those “things” of this life that drive us, so we can better know how to ask. Amen.

The Cost of Sacrifice

“The king answered Araunah, ‘No, I insist on buying it from you for a price, for I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.’” (2 Samuel 24:24 CSB)

David got it. He understood the concept of sacrifice and worship, offering, and giving. There is always a cost associated with it, and for it to be genuine, the cost has to be borne by the one giving it. That is what makes the offering significant. That is why it isn’t how much someone gives, but the cost of the giving that is important. Jesus remarked to His disciples once about a widow who put her last two pennies into the temple treasury as her offering that she gave more than any of the others did, though the size of her offering was miniscule in comparison. Sacrifice determines significance, and sacrifice costs.

Our American forefathers, the pioneers of our nation, paid some huge costs in order to give the sacrifices they gave, so that we could have this life of freedom we now enjoy. Millions of others along the way have contributed their sacrifices as well. That is why each year we give thanks to God during a season we call “Thanksgiving.”

Paul said to the Thessalonians, “We always thank God for all of you, remembering you constantly in our prayers.” (1 Thessalonians 1:2 CSB) He went on to remark about what he recalled when he prayed. He recalled their “works of faith, labors of love, and the endurance of their hope.” These were their sacrifices, each with a cost: faith, hope, and love. So their sacrifices prompted thanksgiving. It always does when we take the time to remember and recall how we’ve gotten to where we are.

Lord, We thank You for the sacrifice You gave on the cross for us, a cost we cannot even begin to understand. Yet, we accept the grace of Your sacrifice, and we do so today with hearts of thanksgiving. Amen.

Three Invitations

“Come, let us shout joyfully to the Lord, shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation! Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving.” “Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, the sheep under His care.” “Today, if you hear His voice: ‘Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah.’” (Psalm 95: 1-2, 6, 7b-8 CSB)

Psalm 95 is an invitation to worship, and this invitation relates to giving thanks. We are invited to express our worship to God and our thanksgiving because of the salvation He has provided for us, because of the provisions He has supplied for us, and because of His promise of rest.

The last portion of the psalm points to a time when the people of God were not interested in giving thanks to God for what He had done for them. These were the wilderness years. The Scripture tells us that those folks hardened their hearts against God, even though they saw firsthand the works God performed in Egypt and in the desert. God said that He was disgusted with that generation for 40 years. He described them as “a people whose hearts go astray; they do not know my ways.”

Truly giving thanks to God is a way that keeps our hearts tuned to His. When we acknowledge what He has done for us, that has a way of keeping our hearts on track so that we move forward. And moving forward – both past event and future event – is what thanksgiving is about.

You might want to take a moment now to bow before the Lord to give thanks for all He has done and will do for you.

Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul; thank You Lord, for making me whole. Thank You, Lord, for giving to me, thy great salvation so full and free. Amen.

Everything You Do

“And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17 CSB)

Two essential expressions of this life are words and actions. We need words to communicate, to express ideas and thoughts, to share our lives with one another. Words are not just words. Each one represents something important to the one speaking them, just as they have meaning for the one hearing them.

We also communicate through our actions. Sometimes an action is just an action, like tightening a screw, or painting a house, but just as often, an action we take can communicate caring concern. Painting a house may be just painting a house, but when a group of young people get together to pain a house for an elderly person who is unable either to do it or afford it, it communicates more than just painting a house.

This is why Paul says that our words and our deeds need to be expressed in the name, or in the “character,” of the Lord Jesus Christ. Words and actions from a Christian are not just expressive of the individual, but also reflect the individual’s walk with the Lord. So, as we live the Christian life, we want to conscientiously ensure that all our words and actions show forth Christ.

Important to all of this is the “background.” Every beautiful painting has some kind of background, which is sometimes noticed and sometimes not so much. But in the background of our words and deeds, we need to continually give thanks to God the Father. We thank God for the opportunity first to be a Christian, and for the opportunity to live this Christian life in serving the needs of others. We thank God for every breath we take, since He is the Author of life. And we thank Him for all of His abundant provisions for us.

Lord, Help us to remember today that every word and action on our part is in some way a reflection of our walk with You. As we live out our lives this day, help us to do so with genuine thanksgiving. Amen.

A Day of Mixed Blessings

“Ziba answered, ‘The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride, the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat, and the wine is for those who become exhausted to drink in the desert.’… Shimei said, ‘Get out, get out, you worthless murderer! The Lord has paid you back for all the blood of the house of Saul in whose place you rule, and the Lord has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. Look, you are in trouble because you’re a murderer!’” (2 Samuel 16:2, 7-8 CSB)

David had a really bad day, as noted in 2 Samuel 16. It was a day of mixed blessings, to say the least. His son, his very own flesh and blood, Absalom, had succeeded in taking the kingdom from David, so David was fleeing from Jerusalem with those still loyal to him. Along the way, a man named Ziba, who was the servant of Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, son of Saul brought went to meet David and give him so provisions for his family and his men. That was a blessing David appropriately acknowledged. A little further along the way, a man named Shimei came out to meet David and hurled rocks and curses at him, accusing him of murder with regard to the house of Saul. Ironically, David actually expressed some appreciation for this curse when one of his men thought Shimei should be struck dead. David said that he thought that if the Lord heard Shimei’s curse, maybe He would be merciful and restore the goodness of His blessings. So, it was a day of mixed blessings for David, but whether blessing or cursing, David continued moving forward, because he knew the task that was ahead of him had to be carried out, even though it was one he did not look forward to.

We all have them, don’t we? We have days when some pretty rough events come our way, along with others we’re not very sure about. These events can rock us and cause us to dig deep for more sand for the sandbags. What needs to be done is often obvious, so the best we can do on days like this is to just keep moving forward the best we can in the strength the Lord gives us, trusting ourselves to Him because we know He loves us.

Sometimes a stray dog may wander into a neighborhood where there are lots of other dogs. When that happens, a sudden cacophony of barking erupts. The little critters all stand at their gates or fences, some running back and forth, but all letting this stray dog know this is not his turf. The stray dog never goes up to one of the fences to have a friendly conversation, though. He just keeps on moving, pretty much ignoring the others, moving to wherever it is he is going.

We don’t want to press that example too far, but we do learn a lesson here: in times when things may not go quite as well as we might like, we simply need to stay focused on where the Lord wants us to go, and just keep moving toward that goal.

We move forward because we first know that the Lord is trustworthy, that He loves us beyond any measure, and that He will use every event that comes our way for our good ultimately, whether we see it at that point or not.

Lord, We give thanks to You for all the blessings of this life. You have truly blessed us abundantly. And even for those events that don’t feel very much like blessings, we thank You that You will find a way to use them for our good and Your glory. Amen.

Prayer and Thanksgiving

“Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2 CSB)

Staying alert in prayer may sound easy, but anyone who has tried knows better. The disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before the crucifixion of Jesus discovered that it is easier said than done. In observation of this Jesus said to His disciples, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Staying alert and focused in prayer is, in fact, not at all easy. Some thoughts run screaming across your mind like a child throwing a tantrum and demanding your undivided attention, while other thoughts may plow through your mind like a rooting hog. Still other thoughts can drop by to just “hang out” for a while.

Satan does not like it when we pray, so he will do whatever he can to try to distract us. Often that has to do with thoughts pointed in directions other than God, and sometimes it has to do with the actions of others when you are trying to pray.

This is why the key to staying alert and focused in prayer is found in the word “devote.” To have an effective prayer time and to stay focused during that time requires that you set aside, or devote a time when you can do this. A sufficient quantity of time has to be set aside so that the quality of that time can be established. You also have to take whatever measures are possible to ensure the fewest possible distractions. This means that a particular place needs to be found where you will have the least amount of interruptions. When those random thoughts then begin to show up, you then need to be intentional at identifying them and then bringing them “captive” to Christ. One measure you can also take is to identify one by one all the things that you want to thank God for. Giving thanks to God for one thing in your life leads to thoughts about other things in your life you can thank God for, and that then helps you to remain alert and focused in prayer.

Father, Help us to recognize that there is one who does not want us to pray and, when we pray, wants to throw us off track. Help us to learn how to pray and stay alert through thanksgiving. Amen.

Illness

“The Lord struck the baby that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.” (2 Samuel 12:15b CSB) “See, you are well. Do not sin any more, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.” (John 5:14 CSB)

Does someone’s illness come about because God made them sick because of some sin they have committed?

In a very general sense, all sickness is the judgment of God on mankind’s sin. Illness and death are, in fact, the result of Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden. Their sin “broke” the universe for everyone. God’s judgment was that man’s rebellion would not be tolerated, so man must die. Thus, the Lord condemned man to death, which means illness entered into the world. So, sin is the general cause of all illness.

But what about one individual person’s illness? Is that particular illness the result of his or her sin?

The text above points to two examples in the Bible where illness was the result of someone’s sin. The baby borne to David and Bathsheba was stricken with an illness from the Lord. That is what the Bible tells us. It may seem unjust in our way of thinking. We certainly do not understand it, but we simply trust that our Sovereign Lord had some good reason in making that decision. Clearly, it was punishment on David and Bathsheba for their sin, which included adultery, the murder of Uriah her husband, and the deaths of a number of other soldiers who happened to be near Uriah when it happened.

In the New Testament, Jesus healed a man who had been sick for 38 years. When Jesus found the man later in the temple He told him, “See, you are well. Do not sin any more, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.” That suggests to us that the man’s illness of 38 years was related to his personal sin, and that further sin would result in an even worse condition.

On another occasion, the disciples asked Jesus about a sick man they saw, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” Jesus told them that neither of them sinned in a way that resulted in that illness. And remember Jesus’ friend, Lazarus? He got sick and died, but that was not related to sin.

So, here is what we understand. There are certainly times when God afflicts people with an illness as the result of their sin. Not every illness, however, is necessarily the result of someone’s personal sin. Yet, all sin is the result of the original sin.

When someone gets a serious illness, he or she should first examine himself and determine if there is sin that needs to be dealt with, but no one should just assume that an illness is the result of personal sin. To do so would be to put yourself in the place of an all-knowing God. If we cannot point to a personal sin that resulted in our condition, we need then to simply realize that it is not related to personal sin, and simply seek healing from the Lord.

Father, Help us to be honest before You and with ourselves in any illness we may face and seek Your heart as to whether there is sin in our lives that does not belong there. Help us also to accept as truth when sin is not part of this, as Your Spirit may testify to that. In either case, we seek Your healing, whether spiritual or physical. Amen.