Gift

 It’s my birthday so I’m clearly going to do gifts for today. You know if you get something covered in pretty paper or the big bow, you're getting something pretty special.

We give each other gifts on birthdays and holidays, because we care for that person. They may be a family member or friend. We love gifts. They're usually something we want. Your family member specifically picks out that gift with you in mind, because they want you to like it.

Well when you were born, you were given gifts specifically picked out for you. These gifts were given to you by God. We also like to call them talents. The talents God has given you can be whatever you're good at. Sometimes it involves a sport, maybe you have a musical talent, or maybe you're good at science and maths, or maybe you are more artistic and can draw really well. Whatever the case, God made you good at something for a reason. He wants you to serve Him with your talents.

The Bible says in Colossians 3:23-24, “whatever you do work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord not for men since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward it is the Lord Christ you are serving.” What that verse says is that with your gift you can serve the Lord.

It doesn't matter what other people think of you, as long as you're doing what God wants you to do. So don't be ashamed of your gift, or try to use a different gift that's not yours. Use the talent God gave you and you can bless others with your talent just as if you're giving them a wrapped gift. 

 

Wilderness day 4

 Temptation comes. There’s no getting around it. If you live on Planet Earth, you will encounter temptations and trials. It come with the territory.  

You can try to avoid temptation. Lots of people have tried. Through the centuries, people have castrated and blinded themselves and lived in isolation and deprivation, all in hopes of freeing themselves from temptation, all to no avail. 

Temptation is part of life on this fallen planet. More than that, we often find ourselves faced with temptation that seem custom-designed just for our own unique weaknesses. The evil one we face is sinister and shrewd, he knows our vulnerabilities well. That’s why the apostle Peter warns us to “be alert and sober of mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1Pet 5.8)

So, what’s a good Christian boy or girl to do?

The most effective way to counter temptation is by relying on the truth of God’s Word (just as Jesus did) and allowing it to stop us from rationalising. King David knew how effective this approach was. That’s why he wrote, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psa 119.11)

This method requires some preparation. If you wait until you’re undergoing temptation to start seeking out the Bible’s wisdom, you’ll find it’s too late. To resist temptation, you must cultivate a deep and abiding knowledge of God’s principles for living wisely. 

The first line of defence against temptation is wisdom, and wisdom comes from God. But though we can find strength in God’s wisdom accumulated through good, solid study habits of His Word, we are still human. And as much hope as we find in the empowerment of the Spirit-filled life as exemplified by Jesus Himself, we will also find that our hearts are at best a mixed bag, our motives are jumbled and our fallenness goes deep. 

It is for these reasons that God has seen fit to put us with other people. God never planned for people to deal with Him solo. He has no special provision for those who say, “I want a relationship with God but not other Christians.” A relationship with God requires us to have a relationship with other Christians, it’s a package deal. 

And in times of temptation, that’s a very good thing. 

Before the pandemic, Avon and Somerset Police had a scheme called ‘Jog on’, encouraging people to not jog alone. A single jogger, (dare I say a single female jogger after dark), faces potential dangers that a group of joggers do not face. Likewise, someone who embarks on a relationship with God without the assistance and accountability provided by a Christian community is more likely to give in to the dangerous temptations crafted specifically for them by the enemy. 

There are inevitably times when we fail to resist temptation as we ought. In those times, we are wise to throw ourselves fully into confession and repentance, trusting God to not only forgive and restore us, but to increase our sensitivity and resolve. 

 

Prayer 

 

Gracious God, may I learn the wisdom of quickly calling on Your Name whenever I encounter temptations, rather than attempting to deal with them in my own resources. I will draw near to You and submit to You so that I will be in a position to resist the enemy. I know that I live in the midst of a spiritual war and that I can only succeed on the battlefront of the world, the flesh and the devil through Your divine power, which works in and through me when I turn to You and walk by Your Spirit. Thank You for Jesus, the great High Priest who has been tempted in all things as I am, yet without sin. He understands what I am experiencing and offers His mercy and grace to help in time of need. As I approach Your throne of grace with confidence, I also thank You for the gift of other believers who can strengthen and encourage me so that I will not be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen. 

A coffeemaker

How many of you guys have one of these in the house? How many of you have a mum or dad who can’t make it in the mornings without at least one cup of coffee? 

For a lot of adults and even teenagers, coffee is an essential part of the day. People can’t begin their day without a cup of coffee. But there’s a funny irony in people’s dependence on coffee to get through the day: Coffee takes a little time to make. You can’t just open the fridge, take the cap off the jug of coffee, and pour yourself a tall glass of coffee. You have to wash out the pot, dump out yesterday’s coffee grounds and filter, put a new filter in, scoop in some new coffee grounds, pour in the hot water, and then wait for the coffee to slowly drip down and fill the pot. 
Imagine how frustrating it can be for some people who desperately “need” that cup of coffee, having to wait as long as five whole minutes to get their coffee so they can begin their work. 
Now imagine waiting 40 years before you can get started on your work! 
That’s the story of Moses. Many of you may know Moses as the man who led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. But did you know that Moses had to wait 40 years before he was ready to do the job God had given him? 
Moses was raised in the palace by Pharaoh’s daughter, but he was an Israelite who was well aware of his heritage thanks to his birth mother. Moses saw the way the Egyptians were treating the Israelites, and he wanted to help them. In fact, one day he killed an Egyptian for mistreating a Hebrew slave. 
But violence was not part of God’s plan for Moses, and these actions led to him living in exile as a shepherd. He lived in the wilderness, far from the splendour of Egypt, tending sheep for his father-in-law. Then one day, 40 years after leaving Egypt, God spoke to Moses through a burning bush and told him to return to Egypt. 
God has a plan for all of our lives. For some people, those plans are difficult to see. For others, they could not be clearer. But whether God gives you a clear calling or keeps you guessing, remember the story of Moses. Wait on the Lord, and let him tell you when it is time to act. You may think you have it all figured out, but God sees many things we cannot see. Wait on the Lord, and you will be amazed at his perfect timing. 

Wilderness day 3

 There were no eyewitnesses to Jesus's temptation in the wilderness. It was just Jesus and Satan out there, two cosmic warriors duking it out in the barren landscape. 

Yet we can read about it all in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

So how did the story get out?

Jesus must have told His followers about it; how else could they have known? Jesus thought it was important for them to know this story, so He told them. Then the Holy Spirit thought it was important for us to know about it, so He told Matthew and Luke to write it down. 

And that brings up an interesting point: There are things about this Story (the one God has invited us to be a part of) that we could never figure out on our own. There are things about this God who created us and redeemed us that we could never figure out in a million years unless He clued us in.

So He did.

And that's important. 

God does not want to keep us in the dark (though it may sometimes feel as if He does). He wants us to understand some things about Him. He wants to see us live well and thrive. He is not content to hide in the shadows, allowing only those who endure hardship and adversity to approach Him. Rather, He takes the initiative to reveal Himself to us so that we can enjoy the relationship with Him that He so badly desires. 

The apostle John wrote, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” (Jn 1.18) In other words, one of the most fundamental reasons Jesus came to earth was to explain – better yet, to demonstrate – what the Father is like. 

The apostle Paul argued that there are some things about God that ought to be obvious to the least observant people – mostly His power and creativity (Rom 1-2) – but there are qualities that would never have been known if it weren’t for Jesus. (Rom 8) For example, we could never have known just how our God is without Jesus. We would never have really understood how approachable He is, how far His love extends or how deep His grace reaches. We could have known how great He is, but we could never have guessed how good He is. (Mt 11.25-30) Jesus told the story of His temptation in the wilderness to His disciples; they wouldn’t have known about it otherwise. He must have wanted them to know about it because He wanted them to know that He wasn’t putting on a show. He wanted them to know how high the stakes are. He wanted them to know that He had the ability to overthrow evil itself, through the power of His gentle, humble love. 

Jesus matters for lots of reasons. Without His resurrection there would be no hope. Without His crucifixion there would be no forgiveness. Without His life there would be no example. Without His teaching there would be no instruction. Without His existence there would be no understanding the true nature of our Father, the One true God, who is both great and good. 

 

Prayer 

 

Father in heaven, You have graciously revealed rich and wonderful truths about Your nature and plan that we could never have known on our own. The heavens declare the glory of Your invisible attributes – Your eternal power and divine nature. But nothing in Your created order could prepare us for the revelation that the God of majesty and sovereign glory is also the God who humbles Himself to make it possible for us to enjoy a living relationship with Him through the merits of His glorious Son. What we could never learn in nature, You have revealed in Your Word, which centres on the Person and work of Christ Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega. May I grow in my love and obedience to the Lord Jesus, who has given Himself to rescue and draw me to You, and may I become more like Him in my spiritual journey. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen. 

Smartphone

 How many of you have had a chance to play with one of these? The iPhone, whether you’re a fan or not, completely changed the way people use the telephone. When Apple decided to create the iPhone, they wanted to make it simple, easy to use, and, above all, a work of art.

The “art” of the iPhone was the work of a man named Jonathan Ive. Jonathan Ive is not an engineer or a computer expert. He is an artist, and if you don’t believe me, you can google the Museum of Modern Art of New York City to see some of the amazing designs he has created for Apple. 
Apple didn’t have to make the iPhone, the iPad, or any of its Mac computers beautiful, but the cofounder of Apple, Steve Jobs, insisted on making them that way. Before Jobs hired Jonathan Ive, computers were bulky and boxy. They were functional, but they were not attractive. Steve Jobs changed all that, and Jonathan Ive was the man he chose to make it happen. 
Artistic creativity is a gift from God. In the book of Exodus, we see just how much God values this gift. God had just given Moses the Ten Commandments, and he was giving instructions for building the Tabernacle—a traveling temple that would serve as the seat of worship for the Israelites as they travelled to the Promised Land. 
God had very specific instructions for the design of the temple, and he chose by name the men who would do the work: Bezalel and Oholiab. God told Moses that he had given both men wisdom, skill, and knowledge to make artistic designs using gold, silver, wood, and other materials. God gave them these skills for the specific purpose of making the Tabernacle, his dwelling place among the Israelites. 
God didn’t have to make the Tabernacle beautiful. He wanted it to be beautiful. He wanted the Israelites to see a beauty in the Tabernacle and be reminded of their Creator—a God who values not only creativity, but also beauty. 
God has given each one of us gifts. Some of us are artists. Some are musicians. 
Others may be gifted speakers or teachers. Whatever gift you have been given, God has a plan for you, and no gift is insignificant. Whatever you do with your gift, do it as if you are working for the Lord. Always remember that it was he who gave you your gifts, and don’t be afraid to let others know that he is your inspiration. 

Wilderness day 2

 Ancient Greeks loved power. They loved to talk about power and think about power – specifically what they would do if they had absolute power! For them, power was the highest attribute of all, greater than anything else. They idealised this love of and longing for power in their gods. When it came to gods, power was more important than morality. 

The Greeks reasoned that if a god were to submit to a code of morality, then that god would be inferior to that code or whoever might enforce that code or whoever codified the code in the first place. And a god couldn’t be inferior to anything. 

So the gods in Greek mythology periodically broke their promises, just to prove that they could do whatever they wanted and no one could say a word to them about it. They were capricious. They said they’d do one thing but then did another. They flexed their muscles just to prove who was in charge. They were unstable and unpredictable. They threw a lightning bolt down on some poor, unsuspecting mortal just because. They made laws, and then they broke their laws. And if you questioned them on it, they sent a pox on your house for questioning them. 

But the God of the Bible isn’t like the Greek gods. The very fact that YHWH approached Abraham with a covenant promise meant that God was intentionally willing to limit His power. In making a promise, God eliminated a great deal of possible actions on His part. God could no longer not bless Abraham’s descendants. He committed Himself to a particular course of action. 

For the God of the Bible, the willing restraint of power – in other words, humility – is an even greater attribute than the possession of absolute power. 

An immature person feels the need to constantly flex and parade his power to impress people. A mature and differentiated person feels comfortable enough to practice self-control. There is no better example of this principle than the life of Jesus. In the story of His temptation in the wilderness, we can clearly see His determination to maintain His self-imposed limitations. 

Think of it: Satan tries to get Jesus to do three simple things, things that would not have been difficult for Him. “Turn stones into bread. If You can make stones out of nothing, how hard would it be to change them into something different? If You’re really all that powerful, c’mon show me Your muscles.”

But Jesus refuses. 

“Okay, throw Yourself off the top of the Temple. Prove to everyone that You’re not subject to the laws of gravity or cause-and-effect like everyone else. You know God’s not going to let His Son die like that. If You’re really who You say You are, prove it.”

But Jesus refuses. 

“Okay, if You won’t prove it to me, I’ll prove it to You. I have the power to transfer power over all the kingdoms of the earth to anyone I choose. Wanna see? Wanna see me flex my muscles?” 

Once more, Jesus refuses. 

Jesus understands that people don’t need a God who can flex His muscles for His own benefit. People need a God who will keep His promises and use His power for their benefit. 

Ancient Greeks loved power. 

YHWH loves people. 

 

Prayer

 

God of grace, I give You thanks and praise that You desire to have an intimate relationship with me as an adopted child in Your heavenly household. Your power and might are boundless and transcend human comprehension. I cannot fathom even the fringe of Your ways. And yet You have chosen to use Your power to love and serve people who are weak and insignificant apart from You. You have restrained Yourself to accommodate the needs of Your people, and the clearest display of the humility of restrained strength is the Lord Jesus Christ. I am amazed that He never did anything to impress people, but that all His actions were intended to serve them. He came in humility, walked in humility and died in humility, and yet He was the most powerful person the world has ever known or could ever know. Thank You for the gift of Your other-centred love and grace. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen. 

A lunch box

How many of you have a lunch box? Do most of you carry your lunch to school, or do you buy lunch in the dinner hall? Do you ever trade snacks and goodies with your friends? What’s the best lunch trade you were ever able to make? 

Today I want to tell you about a boy with a lunch box. In his case, it was probably a basket, and the lunch he took might not be worth much in trade. He had five small loaves of bread and two pieces of fish. How many of you would be willing to give up your Jaffa cakes for a piece of fish? 

The boy wasn’t going to school that day, but he was going to hear a great teacher, Jesus. He was one in a large number of people who went to hear Jesus that day. The Bible says there were 5,000 men. If we guess there was one woman and two children for every man there, that means this little boy was one of at least 20,000 people gathered to hear Jesus speak! 

It was getting late in the day, and Jesus was still speaking to the crowd. It was close to suppertime, and many of the people were probably getting hungry. Very few, if any, of them brought food like the little boy did. 

At the front of the crowd, Jesus’ disciples were telling him to send the people away so they could get dinner. But then Jesus, as he often did, put a challenge to the disciples. You give them something to eat! The disciples were beside themselves. It would cost a fortune to feed so many people! 
Now we don’t know how it happened, but somehow, this little boy found out that Jesus was looking to feed the crowd. One of the disciples brought him to Jesus, and the little boy offered the little food that he had, five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus took the food and blessed it. Then he began to break up the food and distribute it among the people with his disciples. Suddenly, one little boy’s lunch fed more than 20,000 people, with 12 baskets of food left over besides! 
It would have been very easy for the little boy to keep his lunch for himself. He was one person in a crowd of 20,000, and what difference would five loaves of bread and two fish make in a crowd that large? But the little boy didn’t keep it to himself. He gave all he had. He placed it in Jesus’ hands, and look what Jesus did with it! 

No gift is too small when given to the Lord, and no offering is too small to make a difference. Remember that, and look for opportunities to give to God and to others. You’ll be amazed at what he can do with a giving heart! 

Broken coffee cup

Well what today’s object is, or should I say, was? As result of an accident, this used to be something very useful, it was once held coffee or orange juice as it did on the fateful day of its demise. But now, now it’s nothing but a broken pieces of pottery, good for nothing that has now been thrown away. 

There’s a story in the Bible, however, in which a man found a different use for broken pottery. His name was Job, and he was one of the richest men in the world. Job owned hundreds of animals. He had a big house, lots of land, and a huge family. More importantly, Job was a man who loved God. He loved God so much that the devil went to see the Lord about Job. He told God the only reason Job loved God was because God had blessed him so much. So God allowed Job to be tested. 
In one day, everything Job had was taken away. Everything he had was stolen, and all of his children died! Job remained faithful to God, so the devil asked God to test him further. Job got sick and had sores all over his body. The Bible says the pain of the sores was so bad that the only way he could get relief was by scratching his sores with broken pottery. 
Can you imagine being in that much pain over your whole body? Job was miserable. His wife told him he should curse God and die. His friends told him that he probably had done something to offend God. But Job knew he had done nothing wrong! 
But even through all that suffering, Job did not sin. He did not curse God. He knew that the one thing that could never be taken from him was his faith in God. Only he could give that up, and Job refused to let go. He didn’t know that God would restore everything he had and then some. (And God did when Job’s test was over.) He just knew that God was still there, and he refused to let go. 
You know, when this pottery was intact, it would have made a nice part for some relaxing meal. Some pottery is used to show off flowers either from your garden, or a token of love you gave to someone. In the New Testament, Jesus talks about the flowers. They have no way of making clothing for themselves, and yet God clothes them in the most beautiful of colours. 
Like the flowers, Job did not worry about losing his possessions or even his life. Even when all he had to relieve his pain was broken pottery, he trusted the Lord. 
Let’s pray that God will give us the faith to trust him, no matter what our circumstances, and to always remain faithful! 

Red shoelace

 Or rather the cord i can  use to tighten the hood on my sweatshirts. Would you believe me if I told you that a simple scarlet cord like this saved a woman’s life? And not only the woman, but also her whole family? Actually, it wasn’t the thread that saved her; it was God. And the woman wasn’t exactly the kind of person you’d expect God to save. But this woman played an important part in the Old and New Testaments.

Rahab lived in the city of Jericho, which was in the land of Canaan. The Lord had promised to give Canaan to the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham, and when the Israelites crossed into Canaan, Jericho was the first city they came to. 
The people of Canaan were strong and powerful, and they were not about to just hand their land over to the Israelites. They knew about the Israelites, and they knew about all the Lord had done to help them since they left Egypt. In spite of all this, the people of Jericho believed they would be victorious over Israel. 
But not Rahab! When two spies entered the city and needed a place to hide, Rahab helped them. She knew that God would give Israel victory over Jericho, and she was not about to stand against God. 
Because Rahab helped the two spies, God spared Rahab and her family. The spies told Rahab to hang a scarlet cord out the window of her apartment. When the city of Jericho fell, Rahab’s house was unharmed. And when the Israelites invaded, they spared everyone in Rahab’s house. Rahab went on to marry an Israelite man. In fact, in the book of Matthew, Rahab is listed in the genealogy of Jesus, making her one of Jesus’ earthly great-great-great-great-great-grandmothers. 
Sometimes in our lives, we try to resist God’s will. We know what God wants and what he wants from us, but we think we can do things on our own. We live in a world that tries to defy God in almost everything, don’t we? But God has a way of getting what he wants, whether we like it or not, and Scripture tells us that in the end, God will be victorious. 
Rahab knew better than to try to resist God. Rather than stand with the people of Jericho, she surrendered. She risked her life to help the spies because she knew God would have the victory. It takes a lot of courage to stand with God when the whole world is against him, but if we do, we will stand victorious with him in the end! 

Wilderness day 1

 John the Baptist seemed, to the watching world, a crazy man. Unkempt. Unshaven. He ate who knows what – locusts, bugs, wild honey (maybe even the camel whose skin he wore as a coat). He called people names, telling them that they needed to turn back and get right with God.

The Baptiser attracted a following, though. And people came from miles around to see the spectacle of a man swt on fire for God, burning from the inside out with a message he absolutely had to deliver. 

John’s cousin Jesus had lived a quiet life.  He burst onto the scene 30 years or so before, but hadn't yet lived up to all that potential. (How do you live up to your potential when a chorus of angels shows up at your birth and announces that you're the One who will bring peace on earth? The bar was set pretty high.) Jesus hadn't done much to confirm John's suspicions that the angels might have been right.

Still, there had always been something about Jesus. There was that time in the Temple when He was 12 – when He confounded the brightest religious scholars of the day with His insights. But after that, He seemed content to stay in Nazareth, working with His dad, providing for their family.

Until now.

Now here He is, all of a sudden, demanding that John baptise Him. John’s dumbfounded, just like his dad had been all those years ago. (Lk 1.5-25)

“Me? Baptise You? You must be kidding! If anything, You should baptise me.”

“Just do it, okay, John? It’ll make sense later.”

Down He goes. Up He comes. Something comes out of the sky like a bird. It lands right on Him, and then a Voice from nowhere says something probably no one besides Jesus could really understand. 

And then He’s gone, into the wilderness by Himself for 40 full days. Not eating. Fasting. Praying. Thinking.

The wilderness had long been thought of as a place of testing. It certainly is for Jesus. There in the sparse, dry countryside He faces down the devil, proving that God and His Word are more than a match for the most evil forces in our world. Not once but three times, Jesus uses the book of Deuteronomy to fend off the evil one’s attacks. 

Satan leaves, a defeated enemy. He’s down but he’s not out – not yet, at least. He’s got a plan, and he’s content to bide his time. Jesus has won this round, but will He have what it takes when the pressure gets a little more intense?

 

Prayer

 

Father, out of Your glorious workmanship You have created each of Your people for good works, and You prepared these beforehand so that we would walk in them and find fulfilment in them. Life without You would have its transitory joys and setbacks, but none of this would have any enduring meaning in a godless world. You are the true Source of meaning and of purpose and of hope in this life, because You have made it clear that we live in a soul-forming world that is preparing us for our eternal citizenship in heaven. Therefore I will rejoice in hope, knowing that both the joys and setbacks of this life are part of a much larger whole, and that nothing in heaven or on earth can thwart Your purposes. You have invited me to participate in a grand and glorious drama that will conclude with the death of death itself.

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Magazines

 How many of you like to read the headlines on these silly magazines in the supermarket? These are called tabloids, and believe it or not, these magazines make a lot of money, in spite of the fact that very few of them tell the truth! These magazines sell copies with stories about Bigfoot and UFOs. They scare people with prophecies about the end of the world. They spread all sorts of stories about famous people and celebrities. And like I said, most of what they say is wrong! Some of them exaggerate. Some of them simply reprint gossip without bothering to check if what they’re printing is true. And some just make stuff up. If any of you have any aspirations of being a famous singer of actor, you need to be prepared for someone to print some ugly, untrue things about you one day.

King Hezekiah was one such person. When Hezekiah was king of Judah, the king of Assyria decided to conquer Judah and its capital city of Jerusalem. But the king of Assyria didn’t just roll in with his soldiers and chariots. He first attacked Judah with gossip and rumours.

Do you know what the big rumour was? He tried to make the people of Israel believe that God was not going to save them! He told the people that Hezekiah was lying when he said the Lord would save them. He bragged about how many soldiers and horses he had. He bragged that the forces of Israel were no match for him.

Why would he do this? Because he wanted Hezekiah to surrender. The king of Assyria didn’t want to go to war. He wanted Hezekiah to give up without a fight. What better way to do that than to convince the people of Judah that their king was powerless to stop them?

But Hezekiah did not listen to gossip and rumours. Hezekiah was a good king, a godly king, and he knew better than to give in to fear and gossip. Hezekiah went to the Lord in prayer. God listened to Hezekiah, and through the prophet Isaiah, he told Hezekiah the truth: Assyria would not conquer Judah. God would save Judah, and the king of Assyria, not Hezekiah, would fall. 

Gossip is a powerful and destructive force. If you haven’t experienced it in your life up until now, you will. But there’s one thing more powerful than gossip, and that’s the truth. When rumours and gossip try to make you give up, when they fill you with fear, follow Hezekiah’s example and take that fear to the Lord. Ask God to reveal his truth to you, and don’t give in to gossip. 

Above all else, let gossip end with you. When there’s no one left to spread gossip, there’s no more gossip.

A real live human God day 4

 Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men. 

Now, most of us have reached a place where our stature is what it is. We’re as tall as we’re going to get, in fact, some of us have reached the place where it’s starting to go the other way. At some point, we just can’t grow any taller. So let’s take stature out of the equation for a minute. 

Jesus grew in wisdom and in favour with God and men. 

Those are three pretty good target growth areas; wisdom, favour with God, favour with men. 

Jesus grew in wisdom. He always made the wise choice and frequently quoted biblical passages as explanations for His behaviour. He didn’t quote Scripture in some rote, mechanical sort of way, He actually understood how to apply to his own life verses that had been written hundreds of years before His birth. 

Jesus grew in His ability to see the true nature of things from God’s perspective. His actions were informed by a deep understanding of His heavenly Father’s nature and desire. Maybe you could stand to grow in wisdom, too – not just your Bible knowledge, but your ability to see things from God’s perspective and act accordingly. 

Jesus grew in favour with God. The writer of Hebrews tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Heb 11.6) Just after Jesus was baptised, God said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Mt 3.17) We can infer from reading these verses in tandem that Jesus must have had faith. Growing in faith is linked to growing in favour with God. 

But how does one grow in faith? Well, there are several different methods. You can read books or articles on it, or dare I say things like this, and see how faithful God has been over the centuries. You can get together with a group of other people and ask them for stories about how God has been faithful to them. Or – and this is possibly the best bet – you can test Him out and see what happens. What happens when you follow His advice for living? What happens when you follow His advice for marriage? What happens when you follow His advice for money-management?

Jesus grew in faith because He learned just how faithful His heavenly Father could be if Jesus totally trusted Him and followed His will. Maybe you could stand to grow in favour with God, too – not just in your level of obedience, but also in your level of trust in the God who knows how things are supposed to operate

Finally, Jesus grew in favour with others. He followed the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." He honoured others, treating them with dignity when others did not. He touched lepers. He taught women. He hung out with hookers and taxmen. He answered their questions and went to their parties.

Jesus was the most righteous human being who ever lived, but He had not a trace of self-righteousness about Him. He was approachable in a way that His followers have not imitated often enough. The most important person to Jesus seemed to be the person who was right in front of Him. For many of us, the person right in front of us is just in our way.

Jesus treated others with love, kindness and respect. He redefined the Golden Rule so that now we are called to treat others the way He has treated us. Maybe you could stand to grow in favour with others, too – not just treating people well to get something in return from them, but treating others the way Jesus has treated you

 

Prayer

 

Dear Lord, just as Jesus is Your beloved Son with whom You are well-pleased, so I also want to be pleasing to You as Your beloved child. May I pursue the wisdom of treasuring relationships above all other goods, and may I put You uniquely above all relationships. It is as I love You more than others that I will be empowered to love them more. May I learn to know You better through meditation on Your Word and through the actions of trusting obedience. May I learn to acknowledge You in all things and to welcome You into my thoughts , decisions and actions throughout the day. And may I learn to be an other-centered person who expresses the fullness of life in Christ in the way I treat people with kindness and concern.  Empower me to edify, encourage and exhort others to enjoy a closer relationship with You. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

Fleece blanket

 I have a blanket that is made of fleece, and even back in Old Testament times, it was not uncommon for people to have fleece in their homes.

Fleece is a very soft, very warm fabric, and it just so happens that a fleece blanket plays a key role in the story of Gideon. 
Gideon lived during the time of the judges—a period that follows the Israelites’ arrival in Canaan but comes before the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel. God had allowed the Israelites to fall captive to their enemies as punishment for their sins. When the Israelites cried out to God, God called on Gideon. 
Now Gideon wasn’t exactly the kind of guy you’d figure for a world leader. He was not from a powerful or important family, but God doesn’t always call on the “important” people. God knew Gideon was the perfect man for the job. The problem was that Gideon didn’t believe he was the man for any job! 
When God called Gideon to save Israel, Gideon put him to the test. He set a fleece outside and prayed to God. He told God, “If you want me to save Israel, then in the morning, there will be dew in the blanket but none on the ground.” The next morning, Gideon saw that the blanket was wet but the ground was dry! 
Would one test have been enough for you to believe God? Believe it or not, it wasn’t enough for Gideon. The next night, he asked God to make the ground wet but leave the blanket dry! God passed the test once more. 
Some people today would look at Gideon and say, “Well, he just didn’t have enough faith!” 
But there’s a valuable lesson in Gideon’s testing God. Too many people today run out and try to do God’s will without ever asking God what he wants! They say, “I will start a Christian band!” or “I will start a Christian TV show!” or “I will start my own ministry.” Are their motives right? If they want to serve God, then yes. But just because you want to do something doesn’t mean that it’s God’s will! 
God has a plan for all of us, but finding that plan can sometimes feel like a series of tests. 
Oftentimes when we try and fail, we want to blame God. But maybe those are the times when God is simply saying, “No, this isn’t my plan. My plan is over here.” 
Gideon didn’t dare do anything until he knew for sure it was God’s plan. And while we shouldn’t get into the habit of testing God, we need to take every thought and every idea captive, praying to God and asking, “Is this your will or mine?” If it’s yours, then let it go. If it’s the Lord’s, then go, and get ready to see God move.

House key

 How many of you have one of these for your home? How old were you when your parents gave you one? Why did your parents decide you needed a key? What rules did your parents give you when they gave you a key?

There’s a great deal of freedom that comes with having that key, isn’t there? You can get into the house without the help of your parents (or someone else inside). But there’s also responsibility that comes with having a key. When you leave the house, what do you have to do? You have to lock up! You have an obligation and a responsibility to keep the house safe.

Can you loan your key out to a friend? No! You also have a responsibility to keep that key to yourself and not to let your copy or any others get out. Your family’s safety and possessions depend on that.

Way back in Genesis, God gave Adam and Eve the keys not only to their home, but also to the whole world. God placed them in charge of the animals and the plants that he made to fill the world. He gave them these things for their pleasure and enjoyment, but he also gave them the responsibility to keep them safe and to protect them.

How do you think we, as their descendants, have done in that job?

When you look at the pollution, the litter, and the harm that has come to the planet, it’s pretty clear we haven’t lived up to the responsibility. That’s not to mention all the endangered and extinct animals whose very existence depended on our care!

God gave us this world to enjoy. He gave us food to eat and beautiful sights to take in, from waterfalls and mountains to the turning leaves of autumn. But we can’t take these gifts for granted. We have a responsibility to keep our world clean and keep all God’s creatures safe.

 

A real live human God day 3

 Jesus had a body – a flesh and blood, physical body with a heart, two lungs, kidneys… the works. He had teeth and a tongue, a digestive tract and all that goes with it. He ate. He drank. He slept. He worked with His hands and He walked on His feet. He sweated. He bathed. He blew His nose. He sniffed and He scratched and He spat on the ground. 

I hope I’m not weirding you out, am I?

Jesus was a man with a body, and it’s high time we take His physical presence seriously, because if a body was good enough for Jesus, it ought to be good enough for us. 

The very first heresy the Early Church encountered wasn’t that Jesus was only a human and not God. The first heretical development was called docetism, and docetists believe that because Jesus was God, He couldn’t really be human. They believed that matter – the stuff your body is made of – is inherently evil. But the writers of the New Testament want to make it clear that “the Word became flesh.” (Jn 1.14) That’s an affirmation of matter. “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature.” (Lk 2.52) He grew up in a body, hit puberty, His voice probably broke. He grew hair in all the appropriate places. 

Let’s not shy away from this. Let’s celebrate this. The Son of God didn’t just create the physical world. (Col 1.16) He became part of it. There’s no stronger affirmation of matter than that. There is no room for some kind of over-spiritualised notion that this physical world doesn’t matter, none of that nonsense about ‘spiritual’ things being prioritised over mere ‘physical’ things. God made matter and called it good, no less than seven times in the very first chapter of the Bible. If matter is good enough for Him, then (whether we acknowledge it or not) it is plenty good for us, too. 

Has matter been corrupted? You better believe it has! But despite how cosmic the ramifications of the Fall are, they are not enough to eradicate the inherent goodness of God’s creation. Besides, God’s plan is to eventually redeem it all, to restore creation to its original, pristine state. 

  This is my Father’s world – 

  O let me ne’er forget

  That though the wrong seems oft so strong,

  God is the Ruler yet. 

  This is my Father’s world!

  The battle is not done;

  Jesus who died shall be satisfied. 

  And earth and heav’n be one. *

 

Let’s not disparage God’s physical creation with all its physical inhabitants of various physiques. Let’s cultivate it and enjoy it properly, giving thanks to the Father, from whom all of these good gifts come!

 

Prayer

 

God of all creation, You have embedded me in a physical existence on a planet perfectly fine-tuned for life that orbits just the right kind of star in just the right kind of galaxy. But more extraordinary than all the wonders of the hundreds of billions of galaxies with their hundreds of billions of stars is the human body. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, a marvel of Your handiwork. I thank You for the mysteries of human existence and the ability You have given me in Christ to present to You the members of my body as instruments of righteousness. And though in this life I am subject to the conditions of the curse, I know I can anticipate resurrected life in a body that will be conformed to the Body of the glorious resurrected Christ. May I use the opportunities You have given me in this life to accomplish what will endure in the next. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen

 

 

*’This is my Father’s world’ Maltbie D. Babcock

A glass

Today, I want to tell you about a man whose job was to serve glasses like this. Actually, his job was a little more complicated than just serving drinks. His official title was “cupbearer.” That means he served drinks to the king and his court. But that’s not the end of it either. Sometimes, before serving the king, the cupbearer tasted the king’s drink. Do you know why he did that? Because the king was afraid of being poisoned! If the cupbearer drank and didn’t become ill, the drink was safe. If the cupbearer got sick or died—well, the king didn’t drink the wine. How would you like that job? Because of the nature of this job, cupbearers were highly paid. They were also among the most trusted people in the palace because the king literally put his life in the cupbearers’ hands. So when I tell you that Nehemiah was a powerful man who had great wealth and the king’s ear in ancient Persia, you get an idea of just what I mean. 

But Nehemiah was not a Persian. He was an Israelite, and as a young boy, he was taken from his homeland as a prisoner when Babylon conquered Israel. It says a lot about Nehemiah that a slave boy would grow up to be one of the king’s most trusted servants. Nehemiah loved the king, and he had a very comfortable life in Persia. But when Nehemiah learned about how things were in his homeland, he became greatly troubled. The city of Jerusalem was in ruins. The walls were still broken down, and the city’s most beautiful places lay in ruins. Nehemiah wanted to do something, so he began to pray.

Nehemiah felt the Lord leading him to go back to Israel. He went to the king and told him about this, and the king allowed his servant to return home. There, Nehemiah became one of the new leaders of Israel. Nehemiah spent the next several years of his life living among ruins and working hard to rebuild a conquered city that was constantly under threat of attack. 

Can you imagine giving up a position of power like Nehemiah? Imagine leaving a big, fancy house and an important job to go live in a war zone. Yet that’s what Nehemiah did. He didn’t consider how much harder life would be. He didn’t even think about how dangerous it might be. Someone had to start rebuilding the nation of Israel, and when God called, Nehemiah didn’t hesitate to go. Someday, God may call on you to leave your nice home, your safe city, or maybe even your country. He may call you to go someplace dangerous. He may send you into a war zone. Someday, God might call you to do something even more terrifying, like becoming friends with a kid at school nobody likes or standing up for the truth when no one else will. When that time comes, remember the man who held the king’s cup. He didn’t stop to think about all that it would cost him to obey God. He simply obeyed.    

A real live human God day 2

Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird. It's a plane. It's ... Jesus! Yes, it's Jesus – strange visitor from another planet who came to earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Jesus, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel with His bare hands and who – disguised as a mild-mannered carpenter from a tiny village in Galilee – fights the never-ending battle for Truth, Justice and the American Way.

Ok, Jesus was one of a kind. There’s no debating that here. Jesus was the Son of God, the only begotten Son of God, totally unique, preexisting, eternal member of the Trinity. 

And yet. Jesus was not Superman. 

The first heresy of the Early Church was that some people thought Jesus only seemed to be a real flesh-and-blood person. But the Bible goes to great lengths to correct this misperception (1Jn 4.2). Jesus fully entered into humanity. He really did become a human being. He got physically fatigued. He endured physical pain. He experienced emotion. 

One of the few things we know about Jesus’s childhood is that He “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men.”(Lk 2.52) Jesus increased in wisdom? What does that imply?

Jesus was God – let’s be clear about that. However, when he came to earth, He fully embraced human limitations. He could no longer be everywhere at once (He wasn’t omnipresent). He willingly gave up His power to do anything He wanted (He was no longer omnipotent). He surrendered the knowledge of certain things (He was not omniscient).

He wasn’t faking His humanity. 

The writer of Hebrews says that Jesus became like us in every way.  (Heb 2.17, 4.15) He was not the Six-Million Dollar Man with a computerised brain, supersonic hearing and bionic limbs. He was not impervious to the limitations that accompany humanity. He was not the Man of Steel with a microchip in His head. He was physically and mentally limited. He knew human existence, but He knew it without sin. 

Here’s why that’s so important: You can never become like Superman. You can never learn to fly or concentrate hard enough to have X-ray vision. But you can become like Jesus. 

Jesus is more than our Saviour and our Lord. He’s not just a teacher. He is a model of what life can be like when it’s fully surrendered to the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus did what He did because He was filled with the Spirit. (Mt 12.28, Lk 3.21-22, 4.18-19, Ac 10.38) This means something absolutely astonishing for those of us who follow Him: It is actually possible for us to live like He did, to live a life totally surrendered to and empowered by the Spirit of God. This means that we are able to carry out God’s plans, to continue the mission Jesus began during His earthly life and ministry. We are able to live in harmony with God, in touch with His power. 

 

Prayer

 

Heavenly Father, You have chosen us to obey Jesus Christ by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. In Christ, You have granted us everything we need to manifest the fullness of life that is empowered by Your indwelling Spirit. I know that it is impossible to live out the spiritual life in my own resources and power and that only as I abide in Jesus and walk by the Spirit is it possible for me to display a life of godliness and righteousness. As I live by the Spirit, may I bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. May I be strengthened with power through Your indwelling Spirit so that I can live a life that will be pleasing to You and edifying to others. May the love of Christ overflow in my thoughts, words and deeds this very day. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen. 

Glass of water

 I have a glass of water. I got this water from a bottle of sparkling spring water. It's clean, free of impurities, just plain pure water. On a hot day, a nice, cold glass of water like this looks pretty good, doesn't?

Next to it I have a glass of water I got from the sink I washed my hands and face in this morning. But what happens if I do this?  And I take a spoonful of my sink water and add it to my spring water.

What's happened to the water? It's not pure any more, is it? You can still see through it, but it's become polluted. If I drop more in here, it'll become even cloudier. It's not so appealing any more, is it? You'd have to be pretty desperate to drink this water. 

You know, we can add more water to the glass and reduce the pollution. But no matter how much more water we add, it's still going to be polluted. 

A clean glass of water is like a good reputation. If people know you to be honest, polite, a person who obeys their parents and follows rules, they see you like the clean glass of water. But it only takes one lie, one act of sin, to pollute the water. Suddenly, people don't see you the same way, do they? And you can work and work all you want to im­prove your reputation, but that sin is still going to be there. The only way to truly restore this glass of water is to dump it out, rinse it, and fill it up again. The only person who can do that for us is Jesus. 

Proverbs 22: I says, "A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold." It's hard to maintain that good reputation, and none of us stays perfectly spotless. But it's a lot harder to clean up a bad reputation once it's gone bad. That's why we must always be careful to tell the truth, to be obedient, and live a life like Christ so that our reputations don't become polluted by sin.  

 

An ear of corn

Corn is one of the most amazing crops we have. Corn can be used to make all sorts of useful products, ethanol fuel, shaving cream, paper products, rugs, paint, glue, aspirin, toothpaste, cleaning products, and of course…all kinds of food.

Corn served another purpose back in the book of Genesis. It saved an entire nation! 
You see, the ruler of Egypt, Pharaoh, had a dream. Two dreams, in fact. In one dream, he saw seven skinny cows devour seven fat cows. He then saw seven shrunken, shrivelled ears of corn devour seven fat, delicious ears of corn. These dreams troubled Pharaoh, and he did not know what they meant! 
When Pharaoh’s butler heard about the dream, he told him about a prisoner he had met when Pharaoh had thrown the butler in jail. The prisoner’s name was Joseph, and he was from the land of Canaan. Joseph had interpreted a dream for the butler, and the butler believed he could also interpret the Pharaoh’s dream. 
Joseph was brought before Pharaoh, and sure enough, Joseph interpreted the dream. There would be seven years of good harvests, followed by seven years of severe famine. Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph that he made him his second-in-command and put Joseph in charge of storing food for the famine. By the time the famine struck, Joseph had stored enough food to get the entire nation of Egypt through the famine! 
But Egypt is not the nation I was talking about at the beginning of the story! You see, Joseph was the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, whom God had promised to make a mighty nation. Joseph was one of 11 sons of Jacob, and in case you’re wondering how he came to be in jail in Egypt, I’ll tell you: His brothers had sold him into slavery! 
Joseph was the favourite son. His father loved him more than all the rest and made no secret of his favouritism. Not only that, but Joseph also had several dreams that one day his brothers would bow down before him. You can almost understand why his brothers hated him so much, can’t you? 
But then, one day, Joseph’s brothers did bow down before Joseph. The famine hurt them too, and their father sent them to beg for food. Joseph could have refused. He could have put them in prison or worse without even giving them a trial. He was, after all, the second most powerful man in Egypt! But Joseph knew that God had allowed everything to happen so that Joseph could save his family—a family that would become the nation of Israel. 
It’s not always easy to love your siblings, especially when they do you wrong. But God put them in your life for a reason, the same way he put Joseph in his brothers’ lives. Be thankful for the siblings you have. Love them, and always be willing to forgive them. A lot of friends and people will come and go in your life, but your brothers and sisters will always be your brothers and sisters. And you never know—you just may need them one day! 

A real live human God Day 1

 MATTHEW 2:13-23;LUKE 2:21-52

Jesus grew up, He increased in wisdom and in favour with God and other people. That's all we know for sure. Everything else is speculation.

Did He play with other children? Did He scrape His knee and run to His mother? Did He wrestle with His younger brothers? Did He ever notice the girl next door and her sparkling eyes?

We don't know.

He grew taller and wiser, and had a way with people. He had a good relationship with YHWH. That’s what we know.

Jesus was born while the family was on the road, and there was something of a commotion immediately after the blessed event of His birth. Angels sang and shepherds came out of the woodwork with a crazy story. Strange travellers from the East showed up to worship the new-born King of the Jews, sending the current king the Jews into a jealous tirade. Babies were killed –  at least a few. The family had to relocate to Egypt until the whole thing blew over.

When they returned, they settled in a town called Nazareth, in the hill country of Galilee. Jesus was – in some respects – a hillbilly, Probably had a funny accent and everything!

He would have gone to school, learning to read and write, memorizing portions of the Torah (the Jewish Law). The education system in His neck of the woods was pretty good. He spent time reading and pondering words from Deuteronomy (more on that next week with the temptation), and a fair amount of meditating on the psalms. From an early age, He had a keen understanding of things, a way of asking questions nobody had thought about. He listened well and gave thoughtful answers when He was questioned.

Once, He got lost in the big city of Jerusalem. His parents were frantic, but Jesus didn't panic. He told them, "You should have known where to find Me” (see Luke 2:49). But sometimes parents just don't understand – not even the parents of the Messiah!

He would have learned a trade from His father, carpentry (probably including masonry of a sort). He and His father may have participated in the construction of a huge amphitheatre in the city of Sepphoris, a few miles away from their home in Nazareth. (When Jesus was a teenager, maybe younger, a man named Judas broke into an arsenal in Sepphoris and led a revolt. When the Romans found out about it, they captured Judas and crucified him, showing everyone in Galilee what happens when a hillbilly dares to stand up to them.)

That's all we know. Mostly what stands out about Jesus' childhood is how normal it was. He was born. He went to school. He learned a trade. Nothing really remarkable about any of that.

Except for this one thing: He was God in a human body.

 

Prayer

 

Lord God, You are the God of the extraordinary in the ordinary, of heaven on earth. When Your Son took on human flesh and pitched His tent in our midst, He became one of us and genuinely experienced the human condition from the inside out. He showed us what it is like to be fully human, and He did this in innumerable small things as He prepared for His public ministry. In the same way, You teach me to glorify You in whatever I do, even in the most mundane areas of life. You call me to honour You in the way I listen and speak to people, in the way I do my work, in the way I relate to my family and friends, and in the way I think and choose. Even the most routine tasks can become great when done in Your Name. May I seek to practice Your presence not only in the big issues of life, but also in the small and often overlooked areas.

In Jesus's name, Amen

 

Iron

If you have a lot of nice clothes in your closet, you probably have some that require ironing. Ironing is kind of a hassle. You have to set up the ironing board, and wait for the iron to heat up. You have to keep the iron moving so you don't leave burn marks on your clothes, and you also have to be careful not to drop the thing. Ironing boards are not the most stable piece of equipment in your house.

But if you think that's bad, think about it from your shirt's point of view. You're not the one being straightened out by scalding hot iron. That's a level of pain I'd rather not experience.

We make a mistake that requires us to admit a fault, or right or wrong. Maybe we have to endure some sort of punishment or consequence for our actions. But when the hard times go away, we're not the same wrinkled people that we were before. God is able to use that pain, straighten out our lives, and make us like new. That's a hard thing to see and understand when we're hurting, but when the pain goes away, we look back and see that God was in control the whole way.

When painful times come into our life, our first reaction is just to pray that the pain will go away. Well God will get us through the pain, but not before he uses that pain to straighten out our lives. We've all got lots of wrinkles and some will only come out with a little ironing. Let God have his way and he will make something beautiful of your life.

 

 

New t shirt

 Hey guys! I just got a new shirt. I was almost going to wear this morning, but I can’t yet because it's still got the price tag attached to it. Now obviously, if I wanted to, I could wear it with the price tag attached, but I don't think that would be a very good idea.

The price tag isn't part of the shirt. It’s there for a little while when the shirt is still in the sales rack but once it's mine, the tag is no longer needed. Sure you can keep the tag attached, but if you did you'd be itching the back of your neck all day. The little paper tag and the plastic strip that keeps it together is pretty irritating. Thankfully, this is an easy problem to fix. One snip and the tag is gone.

When the Israelites moved to the promised land, their brand new home. God gave them similar instructions cut off the people who already live there. Get rid of them, get rid of their idols, leave nothing. Cut them off and get rid of them. Unfortunately the Israelites didn't do as God said. The people and the gods who inhabited the land before Israel constantly irritated Israel and their God. The Israelites let the Canaanites lead them astray, worshipping false gods instead of the one true God.

The Old Testament teaches us what happens we don't cut off bad influences in our lives, they will never leave us alone and they will always be a snare for us. Some of you may need to cut some ties in your life. Maybe it's a so-called friend who's a bad influence, or maybe it's a habit. Whatever it is it'll constantly rub and irritate you until you cut it off. Get the scissors, cut the tag, and toss it away. Only then will you be free from the temptations that are holding you down.

 

 

Liberty for the captives

Before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 1 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son to redeem those who were under the law. 2

Now we are released from the law. 3 God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 4

Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart. Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of men! For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron. 5

The LORD sets the prisoners free. 6 He leads out the prisoners to prosperity. 7

Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD: that he looked down from from his holy height; from heaven the LORD looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die. 8

 

1 Gal 3.23 2 Gal 4.4-5 3 Rom 7.6 4 Col 1.13-14 5 Psa 107.10-11,13-16 6 Psa 146.7 7 Psa 68.6 8 Psa 102.18-20

Salt and pepper

 A salt shaker, and I bet every time you sit down to eat there's one on the table. We see them at home, and at restaurants. Even the cheapest fast-food joint has a salt shaker on the table. We expect it. But let me ask you something, is that the only thing we expect to see on the table? Who sets a table of just salt? If you're going to have a salt shaker on the table, you're going to need a pepper shaker too.

Salt and pepper are complements to foods that come together like jam and cream on a scone. Salt and pepper are usually in similar containers, but on the inside, they don't look alike at all. They don't taste alike either, and yet in spite of their differences, salt and pepper go together perfectly. True friendship is like salt and pepper.

People can have number of differences; but in spite of those differences, they can find a common ground to share good times and bad. Salt and pepper can take a bland, boring meal, and turn it into something delicious. True friends can take a bad situation and turn it into something wonderful. You'll never find salt without pepper. And like salt and pepper, true friends are the ones that'll stick with you no matter where you are, what situations you face. You don't have to be exactly alike or have everything in common, you just have to be willing to be there.