Reflections

How Honest Are You? Acts 5:1-11 Those who deal truthfully are [God’s] delight. (Pro  12:22 ) Woman’s Day  magazine surveyed more than 2,000 people to check out their honesty level. When asked, “How honest are you?” 48 percent said  very honest,  50 percent said  somewhat honest,  and the other 2 percent said  not very honest. Sixty-eight percent of respondents confessed that they had taken office supplies from their job for personal use. And 40 percent admitted that they would cheat on their taxes if they knew they wouldn’t get caught. Ananias and Sapphira must have thought they could get away with lying (Acts 5:1-11). But they quickly found out differently when Peter confronted them and told them that they had lied to the Holy Spirit. Immediately they were struck dead (vv.5,10). The Lord’s desire was to keep His new church pure so He could use the believers in the lives of others. As Bible teacher G. Campbell Morgan says, “The church pur...

Untended Places Psalm 119:9-16 Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.(Psalms 119:11) Our family had just arrived at the lake cottage we had rented for a week of much-anticipated vacation when my wife discovered the unmistakable evidence of spiders and mice in the house. It wasn’t that we had never encountered such things, but that we had expected the cottage to be cleaned and prepared for our stay there. Instead, the counters, cabinets, and beds were littered with the residue of infestation, requiring much cleaning before we settled in. It wasn’t a bad house; it had just been left untended. We might be guilty of dealing with our hearts the way that cottage was managed. Our “untended places” can become breeding grounds for infestations of wrong thinking, poor attitudes, or sinful behavior—creating problems that require significant attention to correct. The wise path is to recognize our need to tend our hearts by staying in God’s Word and embracing...

How To Become Rich Luke  12:13-21 Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. (Luke 12:15) I find it interesting that Jesus taught more about money than anything else. And He wasn’t trying to ratchet up the treasury. As far as we know, He never even asked for an offering. The reason He taught extensively on the subject is that nothing clogs our spiritual arteries more quickly than money—either working to have a lot of it or wishing that we had. Think of the man who brazenly asked Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me” (Luke 12:13). Amazing! He had an opportunity to “go deep” with Jesus, but instead he wanted deep pockets. Jesus responded with a stunning, counter intuitive statement: “Beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (v.15). He then went on to tell the parable of a rich man who was wildly successful fro...

Comforted To Comfort 2 Corinthians 1:3-11 [God] comforts us . . . that we may be able to comfort [others] with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.(2 Cor 1:4) While speaking to a group of Christian athletes, I asked them how they normally responded to hardships. Their responses included fear, anger, self-pity, aggression, despair, abusive behavior, apathy, and turning to God. I encouraged them to trust that God would comfort them and then use them to comfort others. Just as I encouraged those athletes, Paul encouraged a group of believers in a town called Corinth. He reminded them that afflictions were inevitable for the follower of Jesus. Many were being persecuted, imprisoned, and oppressed—all because of their relationship with Jesus. Paul wanted the Corinthians to know that in the midst of their trouble God was their source of help. He would come to their side and help them to have godly responses. Then Paul gave one of the reasons God allowed suffering...

Unanswered Prayers Luke 7:1-10 [Jesus said], “I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” (Luke 7:9) An explanation we often hear for “unanswered” prayers is that we don’t have enough faith. But Jesus said in Luke 17:6 that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we can command a mulberry tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea and it will obey us. In other words, the effectiveness of our prayers depends not on how much faith we have but on whether we even have faith. Luke tells of a Roman centurion with “great faith” (7:9). His faith was expressed first as an appeal to Jesus to heal his dying servant. Then it was expressed as an acknowledgment that Jesus could heal his servant anytime, anywhere. The centurion did not ask Jesus to do things his way. Faith has been described as “trusting God’s heart and trusting God’s power.” Some prayers that seem to go unanswered are simply instances in which God has lovingly overruled our wishes. He knows that what we ha...

Prelude Of Praise Psalms 150 I will sing praise to Your name forever, that I may daily perform my vows.(Psalms 61:8) We enter a concert hall, find our seats, and listen with anticipation as the members of  the orchestra  tune their instruments. The sound is discordant, not melodic. But the tuning is simply a prelude to the symphony. C. S. Lewis suggested that’s how it is with our devotional practices and even our worship services. Sometimes they sound discordant, but God hears our prayers and praises with fatherly delight. We are really preparing for participation in the glorious symphony of heaven. Now we are making a minuscule contribution to the harmonies of angelic and redeemed hosts. But our adoration, though feeble, pleases the heart of the Divine Listener more than the finest rendition of earth’s greatest orchestra. Are we eagerly awaiting our participation in heaven’s symphony of praise? Are we joyfully participating in the adoration that delights the heart...

Life Is Good Romans 8:31-39 I am persuaded that [nothing] shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.(Romans 8:38-39) While shopping in a nearby tourist town, I wandered into a small store stuffed with clothing and other items all marked with the slogan “Life is good.” Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of that simple truth. When the work of earning a living, raising a family, maintaining health and fitness, and managing relationships starts to overwhelm us, it’s good to think about how small our part in the universe really is. While we obsess over our work, God quietly does His. He keeps the earth rotating, the planets revolving, and the seasons changing. Without any help from us, He makes the sun rise every morning and set every evening. Every night He changes the pattern of lights in the sky. He turns out the light so we can sleep, and turns it on again so we can see to work and play. Without lifting a finger, we get to enjoy sunri...