Tag: bible verse

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We’ll Never Know the Cost of Saying No

I’ve written previously about God placing certain ideas or desires on people’s hearts. It’s usually manifested as a sort of supernatural notion, it’s an unexplainable sense of “I can’t explain it, but I’m supposed to do this thing.” Anything from “I’m supposed to stop and talk to that stranger” to “I’m supposed to give that person some money” to “I think God wants me to start a new business,” or any number of other possibilities. I’ve referred to it in the past as “God’s nudge.”

I can remember one time as a kid, I received one of these nudges. It was probably my first one. I can’t remember what it was, but I clearly remember that I ignored it. Whatever I felt like I was being prompted to do, I thought “No, that doesn’t make sense. Why would I do that? That’s ridiculous.” I wish I could remember what it was, but whatever it ended up being, the action that was supposed to be taken…didn’t get taken (at least by me).

I’ve also written before that God doesn’t need us to be a part of fulfilling His plan, but He invites us to be a part of it. This is one case where I refused the invitation. As a result, I missed out on something, and this side of Heaven I won’t ever know what it was. It may have been something limited to that day, right then and there, or it might have been on a grander scale, setting back a lifestyle of “saying yes to God” (and the corresponding level of positively impacting the world) by a period of years. I essentially told the Holy Spirit to buzz off. As you might imagine, that has its downsides; I couldn’t tell you how long it was after that before I received the next nudge.

This probably isn’t a commonly discussed concept, but every Christ-follower has a certain number of these nudges they’ll receive between the time they accept Christ and the time He calls them home. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, I imagine there’s quite a bit of variation from believer to believer. Like me, I’m sure many people have declined to accept a nudge at least once. It’s impossible to know what we’re forfeiting by not taking part. Here’s how I see it though. One of your goals as a believer, from here on out, should be to respond positively to 100% of the remaining “nudges” you get from God. I don’t have any idea how many that means; you could be shooting for one out of one, 50 out of 50, or 1021 out of 1021. The goal is 100%.

Think of that 100% fraction, whatever the size of the denominator, as being “full.” Then, looking through that lens, see if the two parts in the second half of this verse hit you any differently:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. –John 10:10

Instead of “full,” many translations say “abundantly.” Not only does Christ come so we can have life, but so that we can have it abundantly. I believe the abundance, the fullness, discussed here goes hand-in-hand with those nudges and our response to them.

I started this blog as a result of a nudge God gave me. I’ll be the first to admit not every post is great. Some of them are just plain mediocre. As I look back over time, though, I see how God can use simple persistence and faithfulness in a fallen human to build something bigger than I once thought I would. I started posting in the Fall of 2018. It’s now been a little over five years, and this is my 300th post.

I don’t have a massive readership. Most of the people that subscribe are family, friends, or friends of family. I can tell you this, though. People from all over the world somehow stumble across the blog. I don’t see any details about who they are, all I see is that someone from country X clicked on post Y. The part about that that’s really cool for me, as an introvert who gets drained talking to people, is that I’m advancing ideas that come from God, not only to people I’ll never meet in person, but it’s happening while I’m sleeping, while I’m at work, while I’m on vacation, and when my thoughts are far away from blogging. When God gives a nudge, don’t worry about outcome. Worry about obedience. Obedience is your responsibility, and outcome is God’s responsibility. There are now 300 different posts that God can lead people to, and He can bring them to just the right one, exactly when they need to find it.

Probably in the early part of next month, I’ll fill you in on some of the insights about the blog’s readership for the year 2023. My intent is not to brag, but to show how a guy with no particularly relevant credentials, demonstrating only faithful obedience to God’s calling using the talents God’s entrusted to him, creates opportunities to reach and encourage people that he would have never had a chance of influencing before. I want to help give you the confidence to follow the nudges YOU receive. God has invited me to take part in His story, and it’s humbling to start to see how, years later, He uses my acceptance of His invitation to enable me to live my own life more abundantly. My intent is to show you for the sake of encouraging you, too, to accept His invitation. He doesn’t need us on the journey, but He wants us to come along. What better way to live our lives than in a way that brings Him glory?

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In Everything Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is this week! We’re moving into the time of year where a lot of people have mixed emotions. Brokenness, loss of loved ones, and relationships that simply didn’t work out as hoped all contribute to some people having a difficult time during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons.

Then there are those whose hearts are overflowing with joy during this time of year. For some this serves as an opportunity to count their blessings, reunite with those they’ve been separated from, and catch up on things that have happened since they were last together.

Whether you’re one extreme, the other, or somewhere in between, may these words from 1 Thessalonians shape your outlook to be more like what Christ wants it to be:

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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For Now This Rental’s Our Home

Christians are citizens of two worlds. We know in our minds that we’ll one day enter into eternity in Heaven, but there’s so much happening in the here and now that Heaven can sometimes seem very far off.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites were downright terrible at keeping their end of the covenant God made with them. Time and again they failed to live up to their responsibilities, and God showed enormous patience with them on many different occasions. When punishment finally did come, it was only after He provided plenty of warning.

In the book of Jeremiah, false prophets ran around proclaiming peace and security when in reality God was planning to hold the Israelites accountable. Jeremiah came along and preached repentance, but to no avail. After generations of not paying God the proper respect, He used the Babylonians as a means of chastising them, carrying the Israelites away into exile.

As far as exiles go, this one was pretty relaxed. Sometimes captives are made into slaves, or split up and distributed across the nation to ensure they can’t band together and rise up. Instead, the Babylonians allowed them to continue practicing their customs and allowed them to preserve their corporate identity. Even in this punishment, God took it a lot easier on them than He needed to.

In this new land the false prophets resumed their habit of proclaiming messages that people wanted to hear, rather than what God was actually saying. They claimed that it would only be a matter of days or weeks before God rescued them from captivity the way He brought them out of Egypt. Jeremiah came and set them straight. Can you imagine how crestfallen you’d be if, caught up in the excitement of orators confidently claiming an imminent return home, a man of God comes along and tells you “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” –Jer 29:5-7

That’d be a hard pill to swallow. It sounds like at least a generation or two! Then comes the part that makes you weak in the knees. Remember, these false prophets are in the middle of proclaiming an imminent return when Jeremiah hits them with This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” –Jer 29:10-14

Seventy years! That all but guarantees that, if Jeremiah’s right, you’re not making it back home. We know that Jeremiah’s words ended up being true and the Israelites remained in Babylon for that length of time.

You can see the similarities between them and us. The Lord could snatch us away today, but we have to plan for the long haul. Settle in, you’re probably going to be here awhile.

In the meantime, use the opportunities you have to serve the Lord. Do His will where you are, in the circumstances in which you find yourself. Life doesn’t have to go the way you planned it in order to be faithful to the Lord.

We’ll have a permanent place in Heaven someday, but for now this rental’s our home. Do a good job taking care of the things God’s charged you with doing, but don’t get too comfy here, because one day we’re all headed to our “forever” home.

Lord, thank You for being faithful even when we’re not. Please help each of us to heed your call, trust Your timing and plan, and contribute to the work You’re doing. Amen.

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What’s the Difference Between the Rapture and the Second Coming?

The world is generally out of control right now. We’ve got wars in Ukraine and Israel, mass looting in cities, economic uncertainty in lots of countries, the breakdown of law and order, dissolution of America’s southern border, and general unrest all over the place. It’s natural to wonder if we’re in the period the Bible refers to as the Tribulation.

Well, the short answer is that unless a ton of people have already up and vanished without a trace, the answer is “no.” If you’re not one to do a lot of Bible reading, or even to connect certain parts of the Bible, it’s easy to jumble together a lot of the events related to the natural end of time (the part where God decides He’s had enough and shows up in a big way).

There are two major cataclysmic events at the end that will stop people in their tracks. The first is the Rapture. This is where Christ comes back from Heaven to pull His people (the Church) out of the world. This is a removal of the faithful, sparing them from the turmoil that’s about to take place. If some major fraction of humanity has up and vanished and that fraction doesn’t include you…no matter what sort of explanation is provided (I’m guessing aliens and UFOs), take a closer look at who’s disappeared. There’s sure to be a lot of confusion initially, but when the dust starts to settle and a clearer picture emerges, you’ll see that they’re all Christians. I’d guess that this linkage will try to be hidden, so you may have to go looking for evidence to connect the dots on your own. Yes, there will be church-going people, even clergy members, that did not disappear, and they’ll be hit with a hard truth: they did not have a saving relationship with Christ as Lord of their lives. People of other religions, along with other people of fine morals, good people, will also remain. The Christians’ disappearance will hasten the downward spiral of humanity. The churchgoers are the ones slowing humanity’s decay right now (October 2023), but once they’re gone, it’s a whole new chapter in the progression of unspeakable evil. It’s as though God says “I’ve been telling you for millennia how to live, and you rejected me this whole time. You know what? Fine. Have it your way. See how that goes for you.” The good news here is that there’s still time to embrace Christ.

The second event is Christ’s Second Coming. Moments after the Rapture all the Christians will have disappeared, but by the time of the Second Coming, seven years after the Rapture, more people will have become Christians. They’ll still have to endure some very difficult circumstances, but they’ll have the hope of Christ. For everyone else still on the planet, they’ll face a reckoning. At this point everybody starts to realize the jig is up, that there’s no getting out of this one, and that they should have paid more attention to what they heard earlier about Christ forgiving sins. Now it’s too late to change their minds.

There’s no question that these two events are easy to get blended together, but here’s a list put together by the late Dr. Norman Geisler to help separate them out. They give the reader a better picture of some of history’s final events. I have to warn you that some of these are a little tricky and don’t say much at first glance, but a study bible helps see beyond the face value, the deeper meaning, of the verse in question.

If the rapture hasn’t happened yet, study these verses and the ones near them so you can better understand what’s happening as events unfold. If the rapture already took place and you’re still around to read this, it’s even more important to get your hands on a bible (preferably a study bible that has additional notes and context on what the verses mean). If you believe the entire bible, you believe that Satan and his fallen angels exist. Well, they can read it too, and they know what’s coming. In my mind, I believe that’s why UFO activity has been ramping up in the past few years. These fallen angels are setting the stage to have a plausible explanation for the mass disappearance of a significant percentage of humanity. “They were abducted! They had to have been abducted, there’s simply no other explanation!” It’ll be quite the coincidence that a lot of those abducted people loved Jesus. Once that common thread gets out, don’t be surprised if you also hear things like “see what happens to people that follow Jesus? Let’s round up all the bibles and other commentaries about it and destroy them before this happens again!”

Anyway, we’re not in the Tribulation yet, but it increasingly seems like it’s not too far away. Think of this as an opportunity to focus your studies of God’s word on what’s coming.

Lord, if this blog is still around after the Rapture has occurred, I pray for those reading this. They’re dealing with mass fear, confusion, and many types of hardship that are turning or will turn their lives upside down. I pray that this post will help point them to You and the truth, that they would embrace You as Lord. As they approach the end of history, may You be glorified, God. I pray these things in Your name, Amen.

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Every dog has its day. We do, too.

I know a married couple that has two dogs. One of the dogs, Maggie, is on the older side at this point and was rescued from the streets earlier in her life. She lives in a safe environment now, but you can still see echoes of that dark phase (she doesn’t do well with loud noises, she’s quick to bare her teeth when she feels even the slightest bit insecure, etc.).

For the other one, “massive” is the best way to describe him. Murphy is a bull mastiff. He’s so big he doesn’t even realize how much room he takes up and how his size affects others. He’s lived in a safe place his whole life, and between his secure upbringing and his sheer mass, there’s not much he’s afraid of. He’s a confident dog.

Murphy’s size dictates what others in his life can do nearby.

The two are an odd pair, but from a security perspective, they do a great job. If Maggie even thinks she hears something outside, she starts barking away, hanging back from whatever’s happening but alerting everyone else to it. Murphy, curious to see what Maggie’s barking about, silently gets up and walks to investigate, moving directly toward the potential danger. I’ve personally seen a distracted delivery driver recoil in surprise as he dropped off a package near the door, only to look up and see a  175+ lb monster looking back at him with a cocked head through the storm door.

Maggie starts barking because she’s afraid. Murphy walks toward the danger because he’s not afraid. Imagine having that kind of confidence.

For most of us, I’d say we’re probably not often afraid of physical dangers. We’re more afraid of things that might happen. Particularly in our spiritual walks, it’s easy to be distracted by things that simply aren’t true. “What if God stops loving me?” “What if I lose my salvation because I can’t stop sinning?”

I don’t really believe it would be in our best interest to impersonate a bull mastiff, but we can take a lesson from the traits he displays. Our confidence and assurance are not to come from ourselves, but from one we can depend on even more than ourselves. Here are some Bible verses to help remind you about the confidence you’re entitled to as a Christian:

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. -Hebrews 4:16

But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. -1Thessalonians 5:8

so that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”-Hebrews 13:6

In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and his children will have refuge. –Proverbs 14:26

By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. -1 John 4:17

For You are my hope; O Lord God, You are my confidence from my youth. –Psalm 71:5

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. -1 John 5:14

For the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught. –Proverbs 3:26

Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. –Hebrews 10:35

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. –Philippians 1:6

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Annual Performance Review: Be an Overcomer

I’m sure it irritates folks that are hostile toward religion, but there are still some things in our culture that stem from Judeo-Christian beliefs. I like that we still have “In God We Trust” on our money, but at this point I think we’re probably kidding ourselves about its accuracy for the nation. Maybe the one that will stick around the longest is a seven-day week. Those aren’t the only examples though.

Strangely enough, it appears some of our corporate culture is modeled after Jesus Christ’s example.

If you’ve ever spent time in a work role that involves giving or getting formal feedback, you’ve probably seen this firsthand.

If you’ve ever been a supervisor, you’ve probably had to have some uneasy or unpleasant conversations. When I was in the Air Force, practicing this very thing in a class, all of us got to do a hard one. I think I had to sit down with a fake subordinate and let them know that they needed to shower more frequently or something like that. Not such a fun task.

Usually giving feedback isn’t quite so drastic, but there are times when hard conversations need to happen. If you’re dealing with a stellar performer, you want to let them know you see how great a job they’re doing, but you always want to give them some kind of constructive criticism. If you’re dealing with someone that’s barely avoiding a pink slip, the conversation is harder. The model typically followed is:

  1. Start with something positive about their performance.
  2. Call out the ugly.
  3. Chart a path forward for getting back on track.
  4. End on a positive note.

You may ask “this model is in the Bible?” Why yes it is.

The book of Revelation is the last book of the Bible, most famous for its cataclysmic account of history’s culmination. Less flashy is the part early in the book where Christ provides feedback for seven kinds of churches (chapters 2 and 3). These seven churches were actual churches in named cities in the first century, but I imagine most churches that profess Christ as Lord today fall into one of these categories. They are the loveless church, the persecuted church, the church that compromises, the corrupt church, the dead church, the faithful church, and the lukewarm church.

All seven of the churches are initially commended for their works, suggesting that pretty much all churches do stuff that’s looked upon positively. Some of the churches in these two chapters are commended more robustly than others. “I know your works.” “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty.” “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil.”

Five of the seven (not the persecuted or the faithful church), however, have some kind of flaw that needs to be addressed. “Nevertheless I have this against you.” “Nevertheless I have a few things against you.” “But I have a few things against you.”

Then Christ gives instructions for correcting the flaws. “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.” “Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.” “Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.” “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” Repenting is a common theme. In the modern workplace, it’s akin to the person receiving feedback acknowledging that yes, there is a shortcoming of some sort and a correction needs to take place. This blog post isn’t that long, so it seems like I’m glossing over the whole “hey, get your act together and start performing like you know you should” thing. This is obviously where the hard work begins and where the bulk of the feedback actually occurs.

After that, though, it’s very possible, or even likely, that someone’s on the defensive (or if they’re humble and acknowledge the discrepancy, are saddened) and needs a little encouragement. Finally, the Lord ends each session on a positive note. Listen to the emphasis that’s placed on ‘overcoming’ the challenges of life in these seven passages. It’s as if Christ understood that the Christian life, as hopeful as it is, is a hard thing to lead. “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” “He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” “To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations…” “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more.” “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

So in all circumstances, you’re facing a charge to correct your actions/thought processes, you’re a little bit broken by the realization of your shortcoming, or you’re gearing up for some challenges ahead. God would have assigned someone else to the task if you couldn’t remain faithful to what you know you’re supposed to do. Don’t be disheartened. Be an overcomer.

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Talking About it Normalizes it

If you look at how the Bible says the world ends, one of the key components is a one-world government that’s run by a very charismatic and charming fellow that ends up running an authoritarian regime.

While I believe this prophecy is inevitable, it’s impossible to know a lot of the things that will happen between now and then. Just by looking around at how our country’s going, it seems like people are all too eager to grant more power to the state at the expense of individual freedom, which only makes it easier to be subsumed into a one-world government later.

Ever notice that undefended viewpoints tend to be ignored? If Christians don’t speak up about their beliefs, those beliefs will more quickly be overrun by some kind of legislation, executive order, or social branding. In many cases they’re already on their way. It’s not the job of thought leaders, pastors, missionaries, or some kind of religious professional…it’s yours. You should spend time with people that are not believers. (How else will you influence the world for Christ?) You may be the only Christian in your social circles. If that’s true, you may be the only live link to Jesus those people ever see.

I once heard someone discussing an unrelated topic. Whatever she was discussing wasn’t a mainstream viewpoint, but she wanted to get the perspective out in the public sphere. She said she wanted to talk about it because “talking about it normalizes it.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard it put that way before, but it makes a lot of sense. So then, in all the commentary and opinion that passes for news today, you probably don’t hear a whole lot that agrees with your worldview. The focus should primarily be Christian, but there are a few others thrown in. Maybe it’s up to you to talk about, and thus “normalize” your viewpoint. Here are a few examples:

  • “I am a Christian and I try to model my life off Christ’s teachings in the Bible. That is my choice, and it is a right guaranteed to me as an American in the United States Constitution.”
  • “People can identify with whatever gender they wish and pretend their chromosome combination doesn’t affect biological reality, but they can’t force me to play along with it. My right to freedom of religion (which includes embracing truth over lies), guaranteed in the Bill of Rights in America, trumps their desire to strong-arm others into seeing the world as they do.”
  • “Schools should ensure their students get really good at reading, writing, and arithmetic before they look to broaden their scope into other areas.”
  • “If you look closely at them, ‘Greenism,’ ‘Wokeism,’ and ‘Stateism’ are all structured in a remarkably similar fashion to the way religions are. They should be subject to the rules of separation of church and state as much as any other religion is.”
  • “Science and Christianity complement one another. There are many areas of science to explore, but if you consider the system of bytes of data (which relies on ones and zeros to denote characters), it’s tough to imagine a system like that just evolving itself into existence. It had to be designed. How much more unlikely, then, would it be for DNA to arise spontaneously? Consider the complexity of DNA, the fact that it reads four characters instead of two, how every three base pairs specifies which one of 20 amino acids to link to the last one, and that these chains of amino acids can link together to form proteins that serve different functions in life. There are actually people who believe this system, more complex than, say, 90% of our most complex technology, started from nothing (even before bacteria came along), but they refuse to even entertain the notion that maybe, just maybe, someone actually designed the system.
  • This is the most important one on the list. “It’s easy to divide people. What do you say we take a look at who’s trying to unite them? Christ came for the criminals, the law-abiders, the young and the old, uneducated and scholars, men, women, people that looked like Him, people that came from far-off lands, the rich, and the poor. We therefore cannot be selective about with whom we share the Gospel.”

If you’re a Christ-follower, the world is going to align itself against the way you think. That doesn’t mean you need to roll over and get steamrolled. Standing your ground in the face of opposition may be exactly what causes an unbelieving onlooker to reconsider their position. If this is an idea you find difficult to agree with, you’re making it that much easier for opposing viewpoints to engineer the terms of your suppression. Don’t be afraid to push back.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. –Eph 6:13

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Quick Hit: One Look is All it Takes

The simple act of making eye contact with someone at the right time can be a powerful thing.

There are different types of situations where a short bout of eye contact can convey a lot without saying a word. I’m thinking particularly of instances where someone in authority over you, a coach or a supervisor for example, looks silently to you during a high-pressure scenario, as if to say “I know what you’re capable of, and I’m looking to you to do it now.”

Whether you come through in the clutch or you let someone down, those are the kinds of moments that stick with you for a long time.

Christ told His followers the world would hate them, but He also told them He was relying on them to carry out the great commission and spread the good news. This charge extends to Christ-followers of today and tomorrow. Having perfect knowledge of how history will unfold, the Holy Spirit empowers each Christian with gifts to be used for the glory of the Lord’s Kingdom. Now, at a time when our nation is frighteningly divided, the Lord is looking at His followers, some of which were created specifically to address this challenge, and saying “I know what you’re capable of, and I’m looking to you to do it now.”

I urge you, fellow Christ-follower, get out there and do what you were created to do. Become who you were made to be. Although the Lord is completely capable of providing compassionate or encouraging looks, it’s important to remember that He’s also capable of shooting looks that remind us of our shortcomings in our service to Him, and it’s our choice whether we’re on the receiving end of that look or not.

Then the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. And Peter remembered the word from the Lord, and how he had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” So he went outside and cried bitterly. Luke 22:61-62

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God Already Has All the Money

One morning as I was heading in to work a few years back, I had some cash in my pocket that I wanted to deposit into the bank. Unfortunately, somewhere between when I parked the car and when I got to my desk, I must have dropped one of the bills without realizing it (I think it was a $50). As you can imagine, I was pretty upset about it when I figured it out, but there wasn’t really anything I could do about it.

There’s an odd story in Matthew chapter 17. Back in Bible times, adult males over 20 years of age needed to pay an annual “Temple Tax” for the upkeep and maintenance of the temple. In verse 24, some tax collectors came to Peter and said (paraphrased) “Hey, uh, so does your teacher pay the tax?” “Yes he does,” came the reply.

Peter then went into the house, where Jesus was. Jesus, knowing what was going on, threw in a little object lesson, but then said “well, we don’t want to offend anyone, so we’d better pay it.” I don’t know if Jesus was short on cash or exactly why He did this next thing, but He took an unorthodox approach.

“Go to the lake, throw in your fishing line, and take a closer look at the first fish you catch. In its mouth will be a coin that’s enough to pay the temple tax for two people. Give it to them and pay the tax for both of us.”

This is a famous story in the Bible, and you’ve probably heard it before. By all means, it’s miraculous. Jesus had no way of being able to make such an audacious prediction and have it come true, outside of being God incarnate. Let’s take this a step further, though. Do you think He just conjured a fish with a coin in it?

While Jesus certainly has the power to do that, I don’t really think that’s how He rolls. If these events were to happen today, I think there’d be bills with verifiable serial numbers on them. These events probably involve the story of some guy whose experiences didn’t make it into the Bible. This guy, or maybe this kid, I don’t know, was probably goofing off near a dock or in a boat, playing with a coin a little too close to the water. Fumbling the coin, he dropped it into the water accompanied by a cuss word muttered under his breath as he watched it sink into the water. If it was in shallow water, he probably thought about jumping in after it. “It’s not that deep, I can get it!”

Starting to take off his sandals, he kept an eye on the coin fluttering to the bottom, only to see a fish swim up to the shiny object, gulp it down, and swim off. I imagine the guy then slumped onto a seat in the boat, dejected, wondering about what he was going to tell his dad, or his wife, or somebody else about the bonehead move he’d just lived through.

If that’s what really happened, I feel like I can relate to the guy. While I doubt that the money I lost was used for anything so noble as it was in the Bible story, God has control over even the small details of daily life. Whether the cash I dropped was squandered or used for something great after it left my possession, it happened exactly the way He wanted it to. When God miraculously provides for someone financially, it usually comes out of someone else’s pocket. I’m not thrilled about it and it’s probably not the way I would’ve chosen for things to happen, but I still got to eat that day and I didn’t have to move out of the house I was living in because of it. I’ll bellyache about it, but I survived the “hardship” of that loss just fine.

You may have experienced similar things in your life. Our gut reaction, and sometimes even our reaction even after we’ve had time to cool off, is to be upset. Try to think of it this way, though: it’s all God’s money. He can do whatever He wants with it. Everything we have is on its way to where He wants it to go.

I don’t know that it will be in my top 10, but I think one of the questions I’ll have for God when I get to Heaven is “Whatever happened to that $50?”

24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

25 “Yes, he does,” he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”

26 “From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27 “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.” –Matthew 17:24-27

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Passing the Baton, and Time is Short

(This has been kind of a stressful week where regular routines got tossed aside and our family had to call some audibles. Part of that change meant not having much time or mental energy to devote to a blog post. My teenaged daughter was sweet, saw that I was stressed about not having the time to write something, and offered to let me use something she wrote. So without further ado, here’s the worldwide debut of my daughter’s writing skills. Thanks kiddo!)

Witnessing to people is hard. You know that’s what God tells you to do, and you can’t imagine people you know and love going to Hell, but sharing the gospel can be very difficult.

Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:2 that “for you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” Thieves come unexpected and unannounced. As Christ said in Mark 13:32, “But concerning the day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

But what if you did know? What if you knew God was coming back, say, tomorrow at 3 pm? What are some things you would do before His arrival? I know one of my top priorities would be to tell my non-Christian friends. I would not care what they thought of me because I would know, Christ’s coming back! I would just want to save them from God’s wrath before it’s too late.

Well, we don’t know when Christ is coming back. But what we do know is that sometime, anytime, Jesus IS coming back. It could be tonight, five years from now, or maybe even tomorrow at 3 pm. The possibilities are endless!

My point is, God’s coming back. Those things you would do if Christ was coming tomorrow? Do them as soon as possible, for all we know, the Lord may be coming back tonight. Don’t be caught off guard.

What are some things you want to have done before Christ returns? How can you make them happen as soon as possible?

Lord, help me to live my life as if you were coming back anytime, because no one knows the day or the hour. Amen.