THE COMPASSION OF GOD

I think one of the greatest characteristics of Jesus I like is His ability to be compassionate with everyone He met. I do no know about you, but the older I get the less I like people with tattoos all over their body, face and tongue piercings, all of the other body piercing, and the Christians who are just knuckle heads, who expect me to forgive them again and again for their actions when they know better. It seems as I get older I do not want to be bothered with the insanity of people, praying for them is enough for me, but that was not the case with Jesus. No matter where Jesus went the Bible says He was moved to compassion for the people, which tells me either our heart is either filled with compassion or it is filled with other things. Strange how our heart can be filled or not filled with things and we not even know it.

In the Book of Matthew we read an amazing account of the compassion that Jesus had in His heart, “And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom (both teaching and preaching there is a difference), and healing every sickness and every disease (both sickness and disease, there is a difference) among the people. 36But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” (Matthew 9:35-36) Jesus really liked people. Jesus liked people more than He did traveling, religion, ministry, preaching, teaching, healing the sick and the diseased. I wonder why we think these things are more important than people? People were Jesus’ one focus on earth. I think it is high time for the church to get back to what Jesus thought was important, people. In verse 36 it says after doing all of the things in verse 35, “but when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion.” Traveling the world in ministry, preaching, teaching, healing the sick and the diseased will never be more important than having compassion for people, I know I have done both. Who really cares how big your church building is, how many people attend your services, or who was healed when you prayed for them, all of that does not matter to God, God does not care about all of the trappings and window dressings we think are important, He really does not. God is after the things of the heart, the Spirit, even the secret things of our soul. We really need to get this in our spirit, the outward Christian appearance and form does not matter. God is looking for the Christian to beat his breast and say, “have mercy on me a sinner.” God is looking for a dedicated selfless humble pastor who is faithful to do the work God has given to him and care for, to the best of his ability, the folks God has brought his way. Again in Matthew we read, “And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. 15And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, this is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.” (Matthew 14:14-15) Again Jesus seeing the multitude of people was moved with compassion. The reason Jesus was moved with compassion was so that He could meet the need of the people. I like that so much I am going to say it again, the reason Jesus was moved with compassion was so that He could meet the need of the people. Compassion always meets the need of people. “But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. 17And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. 18 He said, Bring them hither to me. 19And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 20And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.” (Matthew 14:16-20) I am sure the disciples were quite shocked when Jesus told them to give up their five loaves and two fishes. I can imagine hearing the disciples say, “but Lord this is our lunch.” I guess they did not have compassion in their heart because Jesus had to intervene to meet the need. When Jesus spoke I believe the disciples could have blessed the food and fed the multitude, but they lacked the compassion. They had the faith, they heard Jesus say, “They need not depart, ye give them to eat” after all faith (Romans 10:17) cometh by hearing. They clearly heard Jesus speak, yet they could not do what Jesus asked them to do. When God speaks and we hear we have all of the faith we will ever need to do that which he has asked us to do. I think this was not a question of faith, but more a question of compassion. In Luke we read another time Jesus was moved with compassion to meet the need. “Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. 13And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 14And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 15And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.” (Luke 7:12-15) What I like about this story is how Jesus met the need. Jesus did not go to the mother and console her or tell her how bad life has treated her; losing a husband and her only son which is a big deal in the Jewish culture. Oh no, Jesus told her “weep not” (stop crying) and spoke to the dead son, “Young man, I say unto thee Arise.” Can you imagine the reaction of the people standing by? How could a man speak to the dead and they come back to life? Jesus met the need in a supernatural way and why? “And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people. 17And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about.” (Luke 14:16-17) I like the way verse 15 ends, “And he delivered him to his mother.” Jesus did not even talk to the woman, only met her need. I think we would have counseled her now saying, “if it be God’s will He will raise your son from the dead” or prayed this long verbose prayer trying to get God to feel sorry for us and save us and His name from shame, but no Jesus just spoke to him, raised him from the dead, and gave him back to his mom. What compassion. Did you know it is easier to counsel or do the religious church questionnaire (where do you live? do you smoke tobacco? drink alcohol?, do you do illegal drugs? will you come to our church?, etc.) and arm twisting then to meet the need of someone?

Now please do not make the mistake to think love is compassion, love is love and compassion is compassion. Often we make this mistake and confuse the situation and hinder what God wants to happen. Peter said, “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: 9Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.” (1 Peter 3:8-9) Here Peter gives us a list of things we are to have for the brethren and those lost in their sin. Please notice compassion; Strong’s #4841, to suffer or to feel pain together, while love here in this verse is; Strong’s # 5361, in a broader sense, loving one like a brother, loving one’s fellow countrymen. Now this also is not the Greek word Agape; Strong’s #25 to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly or to dedicate yourself towards someone but, is a brotherly type of love. Compassion is compassion and love is love. In 1 John we read, “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:17-18) Also please know mercy is not compassion. Mercy is mercy and compassion is compassion. In Romans Paul shares with us, “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy (Strong’s #1653, to help one afflicted or seeking aid or to help the afflicted, to bring help to the wretched), and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” (Romans 9:15) We must never get these words confused. It is interesting (and surprising) to know mercy is much closer to compassion than love is. I am not sure which of the three (compassion, love, and mercy) words is more important, I guess it depends on what side of the word you are standing; giving or needing.

When the word of God comes to us one of the properties of the word of God is it acts as a mirror to show us what is in our heart. And until we allow the word of God to come to us we will see life in a very selfish and self-centered way, but when Holy Spirit comes to us through word of God and shines His revelation light it will illuminate mind and thoughts and we will be able to sort of see what is in our heart. The more we allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate our mind and thoughts the more we will know as we are known by our friends and enemies. One of the greatest revelations we can receive from God is who we really are as compared to him and how others see us. This, my friend, will really scare you and bring you to your knees, which is God’s idea. Paul shared this thought with the Church in Corinth when he said, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12) Strange how we live our lives thinking we are better than what we really are or thinking we are something or someone we are not. But if we allow the Holy Spirit to open our mind and thoughts He will be faithful to show us the truth about ourselves. And when we look deep into the face of the truth we will see how much we are NOT like Christ. I guess when we see (understand) something in Christ it often reveals a short coming in our lives. For example I really like how compassionate Jesus was while on earth, thus this truth reflects a lack of compassion in me. I saw this when my father died. My father’s death has had a great impact in my life I can even see that in my writing. For the last few years I have had little to no compassion for my brothers and sisters. Love and mercy was there, but compassion was not in my heart. They have greatly disappointed Karen and I walking away from the Lord not to mention some heinous things that have been said and done to me and our kids. These things still need to be reconciled so Karen and I are keeping them in our hearts, yet still open before the Lord. But when we went up to the hospital to see my father a few days before he died, unexplainably God dropped compassion in my heart for them I previously never had. I guess it was born out of a heart desiring reconciliation and a heart that was hurting from the sting of the up coming death of my earthly father. I really felt sorry for them, the wrong that was perpetrated against us was still there, but for now the compassion God dropped in my heart was enough to get us through my father’s death, the funeral, and a beginning to mend hearts, ours included. I know Paul said, of the three (faith, hope, and charity (or love)) the greatest is love (1 Corinthinas13:13), well I think Paul was comparing the word characters of God we must possess. But I am not sure how that verse and Chapter would have ended if mercy and especially compassion was added to the list. Written by David Stahl

GOD DOES HAVE A BIG STICK

If I hear another pastor say, God does not have big stick to discipline us I am going to scream. I cannot believe how a pastor could read the Bible (maybe they do not) all of the examples in both the Old and New Testament and say God does not have a big stick of judgment. From Genesis to Revelation God flexes His muscles in an attempt to get us to do the things we must do so that He can bring us to the plan and purpose He has created us for. Now many Christians say this is not true or it is not important, let us focus on God’s love for us after all God is love, well God is, but here is the problem with this wrong thinking, when we lose the fear of God (by believing He does not have a big stick of correction) we also lose restraint and an understanding of goodness and righteousness in our lives. We also lose the desire to have obedience worked into our lives. Our thoughts and motives are unto ourselves, like sheep we all have gone astray each to their own way. We see this today in the world and even sadder we see this thinking infecting (like a quick growing cancer) the church. God is the old man with a white beard upstairs who loves us and only wants good things for us. He would never do anything bad to us. Joel Olsteen and many others you watch on TV are good at telling this half truth (also know as a lie) not preaching on God’s requirements to receive His blessing, sin, hell, or that God will not hold us accountable for our actions. My friend if there are no consequences for our actions then we will always take the path of least resistance. Our desire for righteousness, obedience, and wisdom will not be needed in our lives, our choices will always be selfish and self-centered, our earthly lower nature will rule our mind and spirit. Please my friend do not be deceived by them, they have been deceived by the humanistic, new age religion, and diversity gods of this world out from a desire to gather people for personal gain and ambition to be held high in man’s eyes, but in God the way up is down. This thinking reveals a great disrespect for God. Many Christians think God the ruler of the universe, creator of all things will not and can not correct or punish us, rubbish. This thinking reflects a willful disrespect for God’s plan and purposes in our lives, thinking we know better than God. Their words reject God’s authority and it is an out and out rejection of God Himself. These folks are fools and know not God. David said, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.” (Psalms 14:1) When we cast off restraint and think there are no consequences for our actions we have told (in action and maybe not in words) God; He is not God we are the captain of our ship a very dangerous presumptive place to be in. It is an admission of our inability to be discipled and to be taught, we “are corrupt” and “have done abominable works.” If this is your perspective of God please repent of your wrong (most denominations, after all it takes a lot of money to run a denomination and the bigger the denomination the more money it takes to keep it alive) thinking and ask God to give you a heart felt wisdom and understanding to the truth from God’s perspective. It is our perspective that must match up with God’s not the other way around. My friend God is a loving God, but please never forget God does have a big stick and it is only His long suffering and mercies (that are new every morning) that keeps Him from smiting us. One of my favorite Far Side cartoons is God at His computer and on the screen you see a man walking down the street and a piano is being held over his head by a rope while God has his finger ready to touch the smite button. Also in the Psalms David also said, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.” (Psalms 111:10) The fear of the Lord always brings us to God on our knees broken and contrite before Him which is the beginning point of all wisdom. The place of being useful to God. Watchman Nee said, “the broken and humble alone are useful” and boy do I see that more and more as I get older in my life. The writer to the Hebrews encourages us to come boldly before the throne of grace, well I promise you my friend if you come before the throne of grace with the wrong perspective of God you will leave from God’s presence as you entered probably still misguided and disillusioned. God will let you enter, but to receive from Him there must be the right heart condition in us He is looking for (a pre-condition) and an understanding of who God is and how He operates, if not we will have nothing of God, nothing of His Spirit, and no hope of a future in Him.

I know I turned out well. The lessons and training my parents invested in me was well worth their dedication and commitment to see me turn out to be a Christian and a productive citizen of society knowing right from wrong, knowing honor and integrity when I see it. But when I was a child growing up I was petrified of my father. Now I know my father loved me very much even if he did not tell me, because every day of my life I saw his selfless actions of love providing for his wife and six kids. You know most often words are cheap, actions speak louder than words. His hard work and dedication sometimes working three jobs to make sure we had food on the table and clothes on our back gave me stability, I was (and even in his death still am) so proud of my father. I did not want to disappoint my father because I knew if I disappointed my father I knew what was coming. He had a narrow leather dress belt which was the fashion at the time we kids (John Chris, and I) called it the fire belt and I can remember many a time dad lit a fire on my butt with it for my own good. My dad also had the fastest wrist in the world. In church we kids would not sit with our friends like today in most churches oh no, we would have to sit in front of our parents in the next pew and if we even looked like we were going to talk my father would hit us in the back of the head and have the song book back in the holder before we hit the pew in front of us or the floor. My parents were concerned about our behavior and attitudes, concerned that they be what God expects in our lives. And that was accomplished out from a healthy fear and respect of my father. Today my prayer for my two brothers and two sisters is that they remember what our parents taught us and if need be return to the fear and wisdom of our heavenly Father. Growing up I saw the usefulness in my life and tried to instill this training and usefulness in the lives of our kids.

If we do not see God having a big stick not to beat us, but discipline and train us then we can never be called His son or daughter, the requirement for his favor and honor is quite restricted and according not to God’s love and mercy for us, but according to our ability to endure God’s chastening and rebuke. Again the writer to the Hebrews says to us, “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” (Hebrew 12:5-8) What do you mean God does not have a big stick? Read that verse again. Now I am not talking about the hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, famine, and etc. at His disposal that He often uses to get our attention , but of the deep work God must be able to do in our heart and mind to correct our thinking to get us to think like and act like Him. Even Jesus had this work done in His life and is the servant greater than the Master? Yet again in Hebrews we read where Jesus learned obedience. Please do no think Jesus became the author of eternal life because He was God’s precious Son, oh no the Bible says, "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 9And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;” (Hebrews 5:8-9) Does God have a big stick? Please read those verses again, “yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered” and “being made perfect.” Again is the servant better than the Master? In Philippians Paul tells us of Jesus, “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:” (Philippians 2:7-9) Jesus, “humbled himself and became obedient unto death (death to His self-life and His desires), even the death of the cross.” I would consider a wooden cross a big stick. If this was the way everlasting the Father had for Jesus (the Master) to go what then will be our way to go?

I wonder what does God use to comfort His children? Well, David gives us a clue to God’s tools of comfort, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Psalms 23:4) What strange tools to use to comfort someone. You would think God would use these tools to chasten His children with, but no David said, “they comfort me.” We would think God would use a good blessing, a new car, or new job, but here we see God uses a metal rod and a hard wooden staff. How strange but not so, if you understand the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep. Many years ago I was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for about two weeks ministering in huge church and wherever we would go I would see a shepherd herding the flock from the back of the flock. Now the sheep close to the shepherd did not stay near the shepherd too long because the shepherd had a whip and he knew how to use it quite skillfully. The shepherd would keep the flock moving and discipline them by striking the sheep closest to him. Not too many of the sheep wanted to be close to the shepherd. They would quickly jump free of the swing of the shepherd’s guidance and get over into the fringe of the flock where danger like a car or bus was waiting for them. Not too many sheep wanted to stay in a safe place under the shepherd’s discipline, but the ones that did were safe from all harm. So too, not too many Christians desire to stay near to God, nor near His discipline. Maybe that is why the shepherd has to do other things to bring the awareness of danger and destruction to the sheep. We have a statue given to us by Karen’s brother John many years ago. I am sure you probably have seen one it is of Jesus standing with His staff (to strike or hook the sheep around the head so that He can get the sheep’s attention) in His hand and a baby sheep on his shoulder. I always liked that statue and theme until I traveled to Israel and found out why Jesus was carrying the lamb on His shoulder. I thought Jesus wanted the lamb to rest, He would do all the work or Jesus did not what the little lamb to get its little feet dirty, but these were not the reason. The reason Jesus was carrying the little lamb was because Jesus broke the leg of the lamb because it was straying to far from the flock out on the fringe where the wolves, the enemy lurk and to teach the little lamb to stay close to the shepherd. The shepherd would break a leg so that the little lamb could get a good smell of the shepherd, learn to know how the shepherd walks and talks, and learn the shepherd will take care of its every need until his leg mends. Now the lamb has learned to stay close to the shepherd for only near the shepherd is life found. The lamb also learns the shepherd has a big stick that can both care for and discipline him. This is way God has to break our heart sometimes and hopefully He will not have to break a leg, but for those who walk with a limp they know the Good Shepherd’s (Jesus Christ) loving touch. Written by David Stahl

WAITING ON YOU

Back in April Karen and I traveled to Panama City, FL to keep Abigail and John (our grand kids) while Daniel our son had a hernia repair. This was our third trip to Dan and Sarah’s place so we knew of the pleasures awaited us when we arrived; our grand kids, Sarah’s great cooking and hospitality, time spent with Dan is always a reward for us, and yes the short walk from their home to the Beacon Beach Marina and then the long walks along the white powdery sand beach. Every day, twice a day, we would take the kids and the dogs (they need their exercise too) and go for a walk. We really enjoyed our walks, the exercise the great weather, the sandy beaches, God really did a masterful job when He made the beaches and scenery around Tydnall Air Force Base housing. Well on this day we walked over to the pier that goes out in the water about 50 yards, just enough to be able to throw out a line and not be able to clearly see the bottom. The pier is about three quarters of a mile from Dan and Sarah’s and since the weather was nice so we decided to walk down to the marina another mile and a half. At first I did not want to walk down to the marina, but suddenly there were swells (this is the only way to describe it) of desire to walk down to the marina, so off we went. This was a strange feeling indeed so I knew God had something great in mind for us that morning and I also knew I needed to just go along for the ride. We walked the distance with two kids and two dogs in tow without any difficulty yet I was puzzled, after all God has something great in store for us. As we rounded the beginning of the parking lot that leads to the marina club house and restaurant, the really nice sail boats moored along the floating docks, and the causeway where we often fish, the Lord directed my attention to an object laying in the middle of the parking lot. As we continued to walk it seemed as if the Lord was directing my path right for the object so I just went along with what the Lord was doing. As we got closer I could see it was some type of camera, well when I picked it up it was more than some type of camera it was a Sony 10 megapixel with all of the bells and whistles. I will be honest I first thought, wow God gave us a new camera (I even told this to Karen), but Karen’s good Catholic up bringing kicked in and she said Dave you cannot keep that camera it is not yours. And I said yea you are right and just then the great thing God lined up for us that day was revealed when the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “I was waiting for you to come by and find it, I knew I could count on you to do the right thing.” Sheepishly I relied yes, Lord thank you and walked over to the marina club house and gave it to the lady who runs the place. I do not know what she did with it and it does not matter I did that which was right before God and man. She could have kept it for herself or she could have asked some of the people who live on the boats at the marina or she even could have asked some of the fishermen who come by to put their boats in the water, but again it does not matter I did that which was right and now finding the camera’s true owner was not my responsibility I did my part. I later mediated on this and thought what if I would have kept the camera? Why would God have me find something as small and insignificant as a camera? Never forget God will check us out to see how much of His character and integrity is in us. God is more concerned about how much of his character and integrity that is in us than how long we can pray, prophesy, or praise Him. It has been my observance over the many years of being a Christian those that are more concerned about praying, prophesying, or praising God have developed only a little bit of His character and integrity.

Now the answer to both of these questions can be found in a wonderful parable Jesus shared with the disciples recorded in Luke. I like to include verses eight and nine, the words are so telling to the deception and worldliness of the unjust steward. Here in Luke we read, “And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. 9And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Luke 16:8-9) Here the Lord commends the unjust steward because he had done wisely far greater than the children of light. And did you get that, not everlasting life, but “when ye fail (what a promise from God), they (the children of this world) may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Strong’s #4639, shade caused by the interception of light, an image cast by an object and representing the form of that object, a sketch, outline, adumbration) If we willfully enter into such a relationship (our choice) then we will be brought into an everlasting shadow of the true substance for the things of God. Here Jesus is giving them a choice; they can make friends with the children of the world because they are better at handing money and earthly things or (now this really sets up the next three verses) “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.” (Luke 16:10) Faithfulness in the least is one of the greatest qualities God is looking for us to develop. God is looking for us to be faithful in little things, not big things, but little things. Things we think have no bearing on our spiritual growth and development. We may think something is insignificant, but my friend God sees it as important. God will look into the least of things He finds us moving and operating in. He will scrutinize (closely examine) us in these things to see how we behave in the least, not in the greatest. Just like with the Sony camera I found (I could have kept it and no one except God and Karen would have known), but God wants to know how faithful or unfaithful are we in those little things. God gives us things, He brings us into little difficult situations so He can see us operate in the insignificant things.

Did you know God is also looking for faithfulness in unrighteous mammon? “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon (money, treasures, and riches), who will commit to your trust the true riches?” (Luke 16:11) If we are not faithful in that which does not apply directly to God’s righteousness then God cannot and will not commit righteous things into our hands. For example, we can not say a car or money is righteous. These things are not classified in the righteous category. In fact often we use these things for unrighteousness. Here Jesus is saying draw the contrast of the spiritual and material realm. If we have not been faithful over these unspiritual things that we have been given; who is going to commit to our trust that which is spiritual and righteous? Is God going to commit to us that which is spiritual if we can not be faithful, to use unrighteous or unspiritual things for God’s glory, in the least and that which is unspiritual. If we handle correctly the unrighteous things we then can be trusted by God to handle the righteous and spiritual things. I truly believe God is more concerned about the unspiritual and unrighteous things we do than the righteous and spiritual things.

Never forget God’s goal in our faithfulness is for us to be able to receive from God. “And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?” (Luke 16:12) If we become faithful in the least then God can commit righteous and spiritual riches, even our own things. He commits His things to our keeping, to our trust, to our investment. He pours into our lives, because He has found us to be faithful. The condition to be able to receive your own things is to be “faithful in that which is another man’s.” Do we take care of “another man’s” things when we borrow them? Do we return something back in better condition than what we received it? And to think God wants to give us His things. Here Jesus tell the disciples, “For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.” (Matthew 25:14) The servant (us) did not get their own things (goods), it was the goods of their master. The Master is the Lord, he comes and He calls the servant and says here are My goods, I entrust them to you, to your keeping, to your working. You take and carry them. These goods will now be your responsibility. Remember how we respond to the testing of the Lord will be the difference between God not trusting us or God being able to give us something greater in our lives. God will not trust to our keeping anything of spiritual value unless we can prove ourselves and qualify for the next thing God has for us. I hear many Christians pray, “come and bless me, God give me your best.” (they do not even say please) And they will really try to twist God’s arm praying in the name of Jesus. Well, God does not operate that way. Anything we get from God is out from our obedience and faithfulness to Him and those He calls friends. Nothing is free in God, our salvation was not free it cost Jesus His physical life, but more costly His heavenly life. This thought always amazes me, how could Jesus who was before time eternal, who laid the foundation of the universes could empty Himself of all of His heavenly divinity and put on earthly humanity. This to me seems more amazing than dying on a cross for our sins which He did thank God. After all, many people have been crucified and died, but only one man, “the man Christ Jesus” became God in the flesh, lived a sinless life, was crucified for our sins, was buried, and arose from the dead (according to the Scriptures) in great power and authority giving us a hope and purposed end for our lives.

When I found the Sony camera God was counting on us to do the right thing. He knew who He sent by and He knew He could count on us. I often teach on a spiritual principle that God desires to bring into our lives, righteous living. What a wonderful thought a life of living in which everything we do is righteous. Well this is God’s intention for our lives, living where everything we do and say is righteous, it becomes automatic like breathing. We do not have to think to breathe it is an automatic process in our lives. Well this is what God wants for our lives, us so plugged into Him so that His love can grip our heart to such a degree all we do and say becomes righteous. All of our relationships are righteous, we have no desire to take advantage of someone, but desire to see them push forward in the God, true biblical prosperity. It is hard to believe this is what God wants for our lives, but it is true. Are we not sons and daughters of God? Was Jesus not this expression of the Father? Yes and yes, this is God’s intention for us to be able to work in our lives to such a degree where we come into a righteous relationship with Him and others. Until then I guess God is waiting on us. Written by David Stahl