Connecting Points

Monday, May 13, 2013

Today’s Topic: Work With All Your Heart

Today’s Text:  Nehemiah 4:6 So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.

Older adults were working right alongside of younger ones. Men who are suffering from terminal cancer were carrying and cutting lumber and helping install it. Inexperienced people were carefully listening to instructions and stepping way out of their comfort zone to operate power tools so skilled people could keep working on the installation of the tile. People were stopping in just to see what they could do, and no task was too insignificant for them as they agreed to do it.

This is what I saw last week at our new church building. What an honor to work alongside of people who work with all their heart to the glory of God.

I spent a lot of time out at the building last week, and that’s why my writing of these devotionals has slowed way down. I hope you understand. But you can get great first hand communication if you come out and help. We need help. The deadline for moving is fast approaching, and there is a lot to do.

Near the end of Israel’s captivity in Babylon, Nehemiah was called by God to return to Jerusalem to start the rebuilding process. When he arrived, the first thing he did was to survey the needs. When Nehemiah saw what needed to be done (Nehemiah 2:11-16) he immediately informed the leaders of the need and the plan to fix it. He called them to work.

The people of Jerusalem responded as one, and in a very short time they were half done with the job. Some opposition arose, people got tired from all the hard work, some opposition arose from outsiders which quickly turned into discouragement amongst the insiders, and suddenly the completion of the project seemed overwhelming. (Nehemiah 4:1-12) So Nehemiah prayed, encouraged the people, and put a new plan into place. The people responded, and they finished the job in record time.

With all of that in mind, it is time to report to you exactly where we are in the building process, what the needs are to finish, and encourage you to help in any way you can. Please pray, and provide as God has equipped you to provide for His Kingdom.

Work to be completed:

• Ceramic tiling of the bathrooms and the kitchen. This is a high priority and it would be nice to have the bathrooms done this week and the kitchen by the middle of next week. This will take several workers to assist our tile layers.
• Completion of the cypress trim in the church offices. The varnishing is being done today, with installation scheduled for tomorrow and Thursday.
• Painting, primarily spraying but some rolling and brushing. If you have any experience with an airless sprayer, we would appreciate your help in finishing all of the auditorium walls. We also need people to do touch up painting in next week as the building nears completion.
• Kitchen Cabinet installation when tiling is completed. The installer could use manpower for lifting and moving and fastening of all the cabinets.
• MOVING: We need lots of help packing at both our current facility and the church offices. We must have all our storage and personal items out of our building by May 25. We will also be moving many of the office items like the pastors’ libraries and youth equipment during that time.
• LANDSCAPING.: The parking lot is being staked out this week and will hopefully be done early next week. Once finished, we are responsible for the planting of 55 trees and all the grass. This is where we will need lots of people to help.

Needs:

• In addition to the labor required to finish this project, we are in need of financial contributions as well. Many of you have already given sacrificially of your time, energy, and finances, for which we are inexpressibly grateful. Some of you are not able to participate in the labor, but would like to be a part of this great work of God. Thank you in advance for your generous gifts to allow us to provide for the fixtures and supplies that are needed in many of the rooms and for the reduction of our debt, which now stands very near our maximum level.

That’s a summary of where we are. Our goal is to move into the building in early June. Our optimistic goal is that we will have our first worship service there in 20 days. It took the people of Jerusalem only 52 days to guild the whole wall around the city. If we all work with all our heart, we can do it. Call me and I will show you how you can serve.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Monday, May 06, 2013

Today’s Topic: Spilled Apples

Today’s Text:  Deuteronomy 4:35, 39  ³⁵ To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him…³⁹ know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.

I am overwhelmed to the point of speechlessness. Hard to believe, right? But it’s true. I am not able to formulate any clever or clear thoughts to write. I can only think of one thing – the awesomeness of God. He has completely captured my attention this morning by interrupting what I thought were well laid plans of His design, and has totally upset the cart. Apples – golden apples of God’s wisdom – are spilling all over the path of my life, and it is incredible. The potential is unfathomable. The possibilities are indescribable. It is the hand of God moving.

Have you ever had this happen to you? Right when you thought you had brought the plan to conclusion, God upsets it and says there’s more. Our response at such times is important. Some try to pick up the apples and put them back in the cart where they were. Others consider all the apples a waste and move on to find other apples. Some try to find a bigger cart and rearrange the apples so they don’t spill again.

Me? I am just standing here staring at the apples and the cart, and wondering what God is going to tell me to do with it all. Anything I try to do at this point will minimize my understanding of who He is and what He can do. So instead of doing anything, I turn to Scripture and read about His greatness. When His hand interrupts life, I have found that the wisest and best thing to do is to move my eyes from what His hand is doing and focus on His heart that moves His hand.

²⁵ To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. ²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. ²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God”? ²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. ²⁹ He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. ³⁰ Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; ³¹ but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:25-31 (ESV)

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. Isaiah 57:15 (ESV)

“There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty. ²⁷ The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33:26-27 (ESV)

For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. ⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. ⁸The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Psalm 138:6-8 (ESV)

I confess that my first thought at times like this is to ask, “So God, what’s next?” But I’m learning instead to just wait until He initiates that conversation. Until then, I’m just going to press on with what He’s already said to do, and enjoy His presence as I wait for His next move. There is no other God like Him, and He will fulfill His purpose if we wait for Him to do it.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Monday, May 06, 2013

Today’s Topic: It’s Better Up Ahead

Today’s Text:  Proverbs 23:17-18 (ESV) ¹⁷ Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day. ¹⁸ Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

I’m not a huge fan of the opening weekend of fishing season. Don’t get me wrong, I really like to fish, but I don’t get really excited about it until spawning is over. This year more than ever I’m glad I don’t have a love for opening day, because I’m even less of a fan of ice fishing.

Fishing trips with my sons, my brother and his son, and my best friend are my favorite. The last two years have been similar, as we fished on two lakes we had never been on before. Actually, I had been on them, but only to scout them out to provide everyone else with the best possible experience.

When we got on the lakes for the first time as a group, and headed out from the campsite, it was fun to watch and listen to the guys in the boat as I drove. “That looks like a great spot.” “Let’s try that spot, it looks perfect.” “Slow down, I want to try over there.” Onward I sped, promising them that up ahead was something even better.

How often in our lives are we distracted from what has been promised by what looks good right now? The answer is obvious: it happens all the time. We are compelled by our need for immediate satisfaction to look around, when the greatest gratification is to be found in the glory that is to come. We settle for less than has been promised even though the Guide has been where we are and promises something better up ahead.

I was convicted of that truth this morning when I read today’s promise from Charles Spurgeon’s devotional called Faith’s Checkbook. Here it is:

When we see the wicked prosper we are apt to envy them. When we hear the noise of their laughter and our own spirit is heavy, we start to think that they have the best of it. This is foolish and sinful. If we knew them better, and specifically if we remembered their future, we should pity them.

The cure for envy lies in living under a constant sense of the divine presence, worshiping God and communing with Him all the day long, however long the day may seem. True religion lifts the soul into a higher region, where the judgment becomes more clear and the desires are more elevated. The more of heaven there is in our lives, the less of earth we shall covet. The fear of God casts out envy of men.

The deathblow of envy is a calm consideration of the future. The wealth and glory of the ungodly are a vain show. This pompous appearance flashes out for an hour and then is extinguished. Is the prosperous sinner the better for his prosperity when judgment overtakes him? As for the godly man, his end is peace and blessedness, and none can rob him of his joy; wherefore, let him forgo envy and be filled with sweet content.

This line truly captured my heart – The more of heaven there is in our lives, the less of earth we shall covet. Let that be our perspective today and every day. Let nothing of the present distract us from the promised glory that is ahead.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Friday, May 03, 2013

Today’s Topic: Someday…

Today’s Text:  Genesis 45:3-8 (ESV) ³ And Joseph said to his brothers…⁴ “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁷ And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors…⁸ So it was not you who sent me here, but God.

Someday. That word begins many of our thoughts and our spoken sentences. We use it to express goals and ambitions. When I was young I had a lot of somedays. Someday I will be a doctor. Someday I will be a Coast Guard officer. Someday I will be a pilot. Someday I will be a missionary.

We use someday to express hope. Someday the snow will be gone. Someday I will play golf again. Someday I will get to go fishing on open water. Someday the Lord Jesus is coming back.

We also use the word someday to express hurtful thoughts. Someday they will get what’s coming to them. Someday I will pay them back.

That could have been the attitude of Joseph. Sold into bondage and considered dead by his brothers, and reported as dead to his father, he ends up in a foreign land as a slave. Resentment and bitterness could have easily been his choice. Plans for revenge could have occupied his thoughts. Someday I will use my power to teach them a lesson they will never forget. I will pay them back.

We would not have any trouble identifying with Joseph had he done that. We have done it. It would validate our own choices. But that was not the choice Joseph made. He chose a different someday.

I think Joseph chose the most honorable someday anyone can ever choose. He chose to say, “Someday I will return good to those who hurt me and use whatever was intended for harm to produce a blessing.”

That’s what faith looks like – faith in the absolute sovereignty of God. Joseph had faith in the promises of God and the character of God to fulfill those promises without fail. He had faith in the timetable of God: not only is everything for a Divine purpose but also fits perfectly into a divine plan. He had faith enough to endure unjustified suffering multiple times, and like his prophesied Messiah he never retaliated or spoke a word of defense or hurt in return. Joseph had the authority to do whatever he wanted with his brothers when they came to him for help, but he did not do it. He worked out a plan that eventually brought the whole family under his protection while gently teaching them to admit where they had been wrong.

Oh how much like our Savior that is! God the Father, in His eternal love for those He created in His image, has the power and authority to do with us whatever He chooses and our sin deserves, yet He patiently waited for the Someday when He would send His Son to do good for us while gently teaching us to admit where we were wrong. That is the glory of the Gospel – Jesus Christ willingly suffering unjustly for those that He intends to save.

Someday I will get that right. Someday I will stop trying to get ahead, or at least even. Someday I will be strong enough to endure whatever is said about me or done to me and trust God to work it all out according to His plan and in His time.

Lord, let someday be today.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Thursday, May 02, 2013

Today’s Topic: Purity

Today’s Text:  Genesis 39:9 (ESV) “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”

We are surrounded by it. We are constantly confronted with visual images that immediately connect with pride’s pursuit of personal pleasure. From television commercials to regular programming, it is almost impossible to spend more than five minutes watching anything without either innuendo about it or clear and corrupt communication describing it. It covers the magazines at the grocery check-out counter. It pops up in totally unrelated ads on the sides of our Facebook pages. It is not an assumption to say that it sells. We allow it to. We choose to pay attention to it. We are silent about its presence in our lives but even more silent in public about our superficial stand against it.

Fornication is the term that best describes it, even though it is an outdated word according to modern culture. Its definition has been revised to include words like freedom, personal choice, and sexual expression leading to greater fulfillment. But call it what you will, it is outright rebellion against God. It is wickedness and sin.

It comes in many forms, but it all starts in the heart of a person who allows the lust of the flesh to become a choice to gratify self. Sexual expression and sexual experiences of any kind outside of the bond of marriage between one woman and one man is an abomination to the Lord God. Every form of lust and sexual expression other than God’s ordained type of marriage defiles us.

Strong words I know, but they are not mine. Jesus said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” Matthew 15:19-20 (ESV) Paul said, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;  that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,  not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 (ESV)  And Peter said, “The Lord knows how to … keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones. 2 Peter 2:9-10 (ESV)

The Apostle Paul has more words about this in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”  And the writer of Hebrews says this – “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” Hebrews 13:4 (ESV)

It is about time that the people who call themselves followers of Christ begin to deal with the issue of secret sexual sin, and become so convinced of Christ’s saving power from all sin that they are able to proclaim as Joseph did in the face of sexual temptation, “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”

It starts by cleaning up and renewing our minds. How can we say or even desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit when we have made an intentional choice to hang on to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. We lust in our minds based on what we have seen and done in the past. We lust with our eyes based on what we want to see again. And it is all motivated by the pride of life that compels us to seek personal gratification because we do not really believe that Jesus Christ is sufficient to fill us and fulfill our lives.

It may not be possible to avoid every display of sexuality in the world around us, but we can certainly say no to every temptation to let it into our hearts and minds. We can turn away, turn off, and turn around every time it presents itself. That is the promise of victory over every sin as we walk in the Spirit and not according to the flesh. (Read Romans 8:1-11)

So let’s all begin today to have the heart of Joseph, and no matter what society says, recognize that we are all ultimately responsible to God and every sin is first and foremost against Him.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Today’s Topic: Consider Christ

Today’s Text:  Genesis 39:20 (ESV)  And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.

Is not the picture of Christ becoming more and more clear in the life of Joseph? Does not the nature of the Perfect Servant manifest itself in the response of one who loves the Lord to the injustice thrust upon him? Are we not strengthened and encouraged for the reality of our own lives when we see the faithfulness of God to sustain and strengthen those who are faithful to the Holy Spirit in them?

The deeper I go into this incredible study of the life of Joseph, the more I am confronted with my own pride that seeks to protect myself and to be known by taking the side of righteousness. I am convicted of my motives for arguing right and wrong, which many times are just to prove I’m right so I can validate myself. Yet here, in this simple life of Joseph, I see Jesus, our supreme Example of how to walk in an evil world.

Joseph was described as a handsome man in both form and appearance. Potiphar’s wife took notice, and while her husband was busy running the country, she wanted some attention and sought it from this Hebrew slave. She tried to use her position and his bondservant obligations to satisfy her own pleasures. Joseph refused, and in her fear of being discovered she took the offensive and falsely accused Joseph of attempted rape. Her husband believed her, and had Joseph thrown into prison.

“That’s not fair!” We cry out against such injustice, and well we should, for it stands in opposition to the spirit of holiness and justice we have received from the Lord. But we have also received the mind of Christ who humbled himself to suffer unjustly on our behalf. (Phil. 2) Consider the agreement between Joseph’s response to injustice and the life of Jesus:

• Both were tempted but did not sin;
• Both resisted the temptation three times;
• Both were falsely accused;
• Both remained silent in their own defense;
• Both accepted the punishment they did not deserve;
• Both punishments purchased freedom;
• Both imprisonments – Joseph’s literal and Christ’s spiritual – pronounced judgment.

Read the story again in Genesis 39-41. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the incredible truths of redemption. See the practical and prophetic applications of Christ’s life lived in the midst of injustice.

Oh that our lives would first and foremost embrace the life of Christ that willingly sacrifices self for the sake of others. Then and only then may we confidently and correctly address the injustice around us with the right motives – motives of humility, not pride.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Monday, April 29, 2013

Today’s Topic: Do It Well

Today’s Text:  Genesis 39:3-4 (ESV) ³ His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. ⁴ So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.

I saw a funny post on Facebook this morning. It was a picture of a young woman sitting on the floor with her head in her hands. The caption read “The first five day of the weekend are the hardest.”

Mondays are tough for many people because it means back to work after one or two days off. We tend to live for self. We serve our employer out of obligation and necessity, but we set our sights on the times we get to do what we think makes us happy. We endure work so we can reach playtime.

May I suggest to you that as followers of Jesus Christ we choose a different perspective? You see, work is not cursed. God gave Adam work to do in the Garden before Eve was even created, let alone sin showing up on the scene. God ordained work as good and meaningful for man. It was a part of His perfect creation designed to bring abundance to man’s existence.

Over and over in Scripture we read of people who worked hard and were blessed. We hear the Apostle Paul saying, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ,” and “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,  not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,  rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,  knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.”

Only one conclusion can be drawn from the preponderance of evidence in the Bible – your work matters to God and He expects you to do it well, even on Mondays.

Joseph wasn’t in the ideal job. He wasn’t even in his place of choice. It was all forced upon him by the evil intentions of others. Yet Joseph did three things that we can connect with:

1. He accepted his position as the current choice of God for His life, knowing that God’s presence brings God’s blessing.
2. He let everyone around Him see that the Lord was with him.
3. He did any job he was given with excellence, and he found favor with his master.

So rather than sit around with your head in your hands dreading the return to work, start thanking God that you have work and that He is at work in your life. Instead of complaining about your boss, impress him with your excellence. Someone has said that the reason the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence is that you are spending too much time there watering it when you should be watering your own grass.

So get to work – and do it well. It is God’s will for you.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Today’s Topic: Sitting in the Waiting Room

Today’s Text:  Genesis 39:1 (ESV) Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.                              Genesis 37:9 (ESV) ⁹ Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

How many minutes of our lives are spent sitting and waiting? Maybe it would be better tallied in hours. We wait in doctor’s offices, DMV (department of motor vehicles) lines, grocery store check-out lines, Texas Roadhouse, and the worst of all, stoplights. Hours of life spent waiting. We do it because we know what’s coming. We are willing to wait for what has been promised – medical help, driving privileges, nourishment, and green lights.

The issue is not that we wait, but rather how we wait. What we do while we are waiting says a lot about who we are.

The sign on the wall of the doctor’s waiting room says “If you have been waiting more than twenty minutes for your appointment, please tell the receptionist.” After ten minutes I am already watching the clock and at nineteen minutes I’m starting to make my move.

At the DMV we watch the numbers flash on the wall, trying to predict who will be next, and hoping that someone got discouraged and left so our number comes up faster. We call ahead for seating at the restaurant so when we arrive we can jump ahead of those who have been waiting longer. And at stoplights, we watch the light controlling the opposing traffic so we can predict when ours will turn green and we can get an immediate jump on everyone else.

We have trouble waiting, and the trouble is caused by our need for immediacy. We want immediate gratification, immediate fulfillment, and immediate solutions. We think we have the right to put our needs ahead of everyone else’s. We determine the appropriate amount of wait time and when it is reached, we spring into action to bring about a quicker resolution. After all, a promise is not a promise unless we can have it fulfilled now, right?

What we do while we wait on God is a significant statement of our faith. Weak faith takes action. Strong faith gets stronger. Weak faith disrupts the potential for the greatest blessing. Strong faith receives the full reward God intended. Weak faith enjoys a moment of personal satisfaction in knowing what it accomplished. Strong faith enjoys an eternity of joy seeing what God has accomplished. Weak faith takes control of the outcome and suffers the consequences. Strong faith leaves the outcome to the Lord and experiences peace that passes all understanding.

In all of the tragedies of Joseph’s life that were thrust upon him by weak-faithed control freaks, never once did he stop waiting for God to fulfill His promise to him. He had enough faith to never stop believing the God-given dream. He never tried to change the dream or hurry the dream, and he most certainly never tried to fulfill the dream in his own way. He waited, and as he waited through false accusations and false imprisonments, and false friendships, he grew stronger until the day God chose to fulfill the dream.

Those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Many of us are sitting in waiting rooms right now. We are waiting on construction jobs, job interviews, relationships, financial issues, adoptions, and a myriad of other situations. Life is lived most often in a waiting room. But it is a waiting room of God’s design and choosing. So pick up the available reading material on the coffee table that’s been provided by the eternal Doctor (the Bible), and sit back and relax. No matter how long it takes, God always fulfills His promises.

Just ask Joseph.

Connecting Points

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Today’s Topic: He Became a Servant

Today’s Text:  Genesis 39:1 (ESV) Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.

Thank you for sticking with this study of the life of Joseph, which up to this point may have seemed too doctrinal and not very practical. But doctrine is the foundation upon which all practical application must be built. If we do not have solid doctrine we will be, as Paul warns in Ephesians 4:14, children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Do not let doctrine scare you. Do not permit shallow waters to be your only place of refreshment because they are warm and comfortable. Dive into the deep waters and swim where faith is required and strength grows.

As we continue to discover the marvelous picture of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior that is painted by the life of Joseph, we come to the parts of the story that combine good doctrine with personal application.

First, we see Joseph being sold on the slave market by the clan that bought him from his brothers. Through an uncontrollable series of events in which Joseph was powerless he goes from being the chosen and beloved son of prosperity in his father’s household to a common slave in a foreign land. Yet the degradation he experienced was nothing compared to the voluntary self-humiliation of Jesus Christ when He left His throne in the Father’s house and became man – and not just man, but servant-man and eventually, on the cross, a slave to sin.

Philippians 2:5-8 (ESV) ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus himself said, “The son of Man has not come to be served, but to serve.” And again He said, “He who would be great in the Kingdom of God must be the servant of all.”

The connecting point to our lives is apparent – we are most like Christ when we are the servant of God and the servant of others. Paul’s challenge to us in Philippians 2:5 is to have the same mindset as Jesus Christ had when He willingly gave up His position and power in heaven to become a servant of those He loved. The promise he declares is that in Christ we have that mindset as a permanent reality.

We all carry around in our minds the list of things we would never give up for God or for others. Each list is divided into one or more of the following categories:

• Time – there are limitations on how much time I can surrender without affecting my own agenda and goals.
• Treasures – there are limitations on how much I can give without affecting my personal financial security and my goals to have more treasure.
• Talents – there are limitations on how my skills can be used to serve others without affecting my ability to get things done for me or for my boss.
• Title – there are limitations on how much honor and prestige I can surrender without affecting my personal assessment of my worth.
• Trust – there are limitations on how deep my relationships with others will be allowed to go so I can avoid the pain of conflict and broken trust.

Joseph had no such list. Jesus had no such list. Slaves and servants are not allowed such lists. As a servant of Jesus Christ, today I destroy any list I have, for I have been crucified with Christ, and the live that I now live is not my own. I was bought with a price – the price of Christ’s life – and I accept His life of servant-living as my own.

Connecting Points

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Today’s Topic: He Sent His Son

Today’s Text:  Genesis 37:14 (ESV)  So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.”

When I was a young dad, one of the ways I taught responsibility to my children and instilled confidence in them was to send them on errands. They were simple errands at first, like bringing me the remote for the television, yet each errand showed them that I trusted them and believed in their ability. It had nothing to do with me being lazy. Really.

But seriously, sending someone on an errand is a statement of trust and an affirmation of ability. When Jacob sent Joseph on an errand to find his brothers and bring back word of their location and condition, he made a statement of his trust in Joseph and affirmed his ability to accomplish the task. Yet this errand didn’t turn out well. It ended in what Jacob thought was his son’s death as Joseph’s brothers conspired to eliminate him from the family line once and for all so they could protect their lifestyle choices and futures.

The grief and guilt Jacob must have felt was intense. He mourned for his son many days and refused to be comforted, stating that he would go to his grave in grief. He had no way of knowing what would happen to his son when he sent him on the errand, but that did not reduce his grief. If only he had known the real story and had been able to see the end result, it might have helped. But that raises the most important question of all – if he had known what would happen, would he have chosen to send his son at all?

What if Jacob knew in advance everything that would happen to his most beloved son?

• His own brothers would not believe his words. He had revealed to them the secrets of their futures and they rejected it.
• They conspired to eliminate the threat to their own plans and purposes.
• They stripped him of his coat and exposed him to public shame and humiliation.
• They threw him into a pit and left him for dead.
• They hypocritically tried to erase all guilt from their hands by turning him over to someone else who would be responsible for his future.
• They covered his precious coat in blood to convince their father that Joseph was truly dead.

What if Jacob had known all of this? Would he have chosen to send Joseph on that errand? Maybe, just maybe, if he would have known the future results that would eventually save them all from certain death. But even then, for any human father, that would have been unimaginably hard no matter how much we trusted their ability to accomplish it.

Yet that’s what God the Father did when He sent His Son on an errand to find His brothers. The Father knew His Son would not be believed; that He would be rejected; that the very people to whom He came to show the Father’s love would conspire to eliminate Him; that they would strip Him of His robe and expose Him to public shame and humiliation; that they would attempt to remove themselves from any responsibility for His death by having Him killed by another group of people – the Romans; and that they would put him in a pit and leave Him for dead, and then conspire to make everyone believe that He is still dead.

Yet God sent His Son on that errand knowing all of those things. His love for each and every sinner is so great and eternal that He was willing to watch His Son suffer more than we can imagine because He knew it meant ultimate salvation from certain death.

God sent His Son for me.

For you.

Now what will you do? Will you be like Joseph’s brothers, or will you become the brother of Jesus and a child of God?