Offended By God

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. (John 6:66, NIV)

I have heard it said that God will offend the mind to reveal the heart. Some truths are hard to receive, hard to believe, or hard to live out. This is because we try to do it in our own understanding or strength. What is offensive to the natural man, God will supernaturally enable us to walk out. His revelations bypass our natural understanding and go directly to our spirits. Our natural understanding must then catch up.

These disciples in the beginning verse were offended by what Jesus said to them. Their response was to walk away.

Without humility we cannot walk with the Lord. To one Jesus said, “If you believe,” to which the man replied, “I believe Lord, please help my unbelief.”

Offence on the other hand hardens our hearts towards God and others. Sometimes we are offended by the Word of God, sometimes by the actions of God, and sometimes by what we deem as the inactivity of God. “Lord, if You had been here my brother would not have died.” “Lord, do you not care that we are all about to drown?” Many times in His earthly ministry Jesus was accused of not caring or challenged to prove He was Who He said He was, or condemned for saying Who He was.

Has God ever offended you? Has He ever disappointed you? Has He ever let something happen that really tied you in a knot? First of all, remember God does not cause bad, evil, sin, etc, but He is well able to use it for His purposes. Has He not done what you think He should have done? “How could You let this happen Lord?” I think it is ok to ask God questions, but it is not ok to accuse or question Him.

Has He called you to something hard or difficult? Has a bad thing happened? Has He revealed something to you about yourself that is hard to accept? Has He shown you truth in His Word and You believe something opposite of it? Has He allowed you to be humiliated? Has He not revealed something to you that you thought you should have been notified of?

We could go on and on, but the question before us now is how should we respond to God when He offends us? I would say with humility, with knowing we don’t know all the facts, with knowing that He cares, that His love and intent towards us is pure, with knowing that there is a bigger picture than the one we see.

We naturally care more for what concerns us rather than being concerned about the things that concern God. He is inviting us to a higher place, a supernatural place where only His grace can take us.

It the place where He heals our wounds and disappointments and enables us to fully trust Him. A place where we come to a point where we can cry out "Lord, give me a heart that breaks for the things that break yours."

Loaves & Fishes

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” (Jn 6:26, NIV)
I think sometimes we can read John chapter 6 and not catch what is really going on. By all appearances Jesus had just had a tremendous open air meeting, topped off with the multiplying of a small amount of food so that it fed 5000 with some left over. He sends His disciples away in a boat, dismisses the crowd, goes off alone to pray, and later He shows up walking on the water!


Then the crowd came looking for Him. “How did you get here?” they asked him. Typical of Jesus, He did not answer their question but addressed their problem. "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” Wow! Where did that come from? It might seem like a reasonable question to us, and we would also have been pretty impressed with the multiplying of the loaves and fishes. The problem was their lack of spiritual hunger and lack of spiritual perception. Their physical hunger had been satisfied, but they were not ‘hungering and thirsting for righteousness‘. They were curious but not ‘poor in spirit’. They enjoyed hearing Jesus but had no desire to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. They did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, nor their spiritual need for Him. They came for what they could get in the physical realm, not for what they needed in the spiritual realm.


Reality is that our needs in the spiritual realm are much greater than our needs in the natural realm. I think it would be safe to say that we pray more for what we think we and others need in the physical realm and, for the most part, ignore the needs of the spiritual realm. It is no wonder that Jesus’ rebuke to them catches us by surprise, for many times we come for the same reason they came.


It is not wrong to pray about physical needs, but let's not get too obsessed by them. Jesus said all the necessary things would be added to us if we would seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. We need more concern about what is or isn't in our hearts as opposed to what is or isn’t on our plates or in our closets.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Mt 6:33 NKJV)

T.R.U.S.T.

“Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.” (Ps 37:5, ESV)

Sometimes seeing a scripture in a version of the Bible you don’t usually read it in can give you a fresh perspective. I really am taken by the simplicity of the above verse. It leaves nothing to chance, nothing to conjecture, and nothing to wonder about. It leaves us room only to be in wonder. It is simple, crisp, and full of meaning.

Some years ago I came across the following from Days of Heaven Upon Earth:

April 11. "Commit Thy Way unto the Lord" (Ps. xxxvii. 5)

Days of Heaven Upon Earth — Rev. A. B. Simpson "Commit thy way unto the Lord" (Ps. xxxvii.5). Seldom have we heard a better definition of faith than was given once in one of our meetings by a dear old colored woman, as she answered the question of a young man how to take the Lord for needed help. In her characteristic way, pointing her finger toward him, she said with great emphasis: "You've just got to believe that He's done it, and it's done." The great danger with most of us is, that after we ask Him to do it, we do not believe that it's done, but we keep on helping Him, and getting others to help Him; superintending God and waiting to see how He is going to do it. Faith adds its amen to God's yea, and then takes its hands off, and leaves God to finish His work. Its language is, "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him; and He worketh." Lord, I give up the struggle, To Thee commit my way, I trust Thy word forever, And settle it all to-day.

When I saw the words "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him, and He worketh", it really caught my attention because of the way it was worded. It comes down to trust, having faith. I would believe the opposite true also, if we don’t commit, don't trust, He doesn’t work.

The Good News Translation of the Bible words this verse as follows: “Give yourself to the Lord; trust in him, and he will help you;”

Take some time and ponder on this today and ask God how it fits into your life.

"Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him, and He worketh"

Hello, My Name Is Trouble



One Sunday some years ago my family and I gathered with a church whose pastor is a friend of mine. In the course of the service, he shared about a teen he had met. The impression he gave of the teen was that he is mouthy, craves attention, and can be irritating.

At some point while the teen was around, my friend did a couple things he had not done previously. He gave the teen value by giving him a task to do, and he talked with and listened to what the teen had to say. In the process he found out this young person had never even talked once with their natural father. My friend had a better understanding of the young man after their conversation and the young man had grown in value in my friends eyes.

What to do with this teen was a subject of thought for him. He knew that as a father of three and having three jobs he didn’t have the time or inclination to father this young man. He finally got some understanding from The Lord.

While he wasn’t able to father this person, he was able to carry God’s presence to him. What the young man needed in his life at this point could only be done by God.

Both of these thoughts are part of our own lives. First of all, what we really need in our lives can only be enabled or done by God. Secondly, we are to carry God’s presence with us everywhere we go. The world is filled with needy people who need the presence of Jesus Christ in their lives.




But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)




Let's go forth and smell things up!

Rabbits & Hotdogs

My first hero was a rabbit, and not just any rabbit, he was Crusader Rabbit. He rode a horse, wore a suit of armor, and went on crusades against bad guys and injustice. He had his own TV show on our local channel and on your birthday you had a chance to be on the show.

One day my turn came...I was on the show with a few other kids, They served each of us a single portion carton of milk and a Tarnow hot dog. We sat at a long desk and the host of the show talked to us on the air for a few moments.

I don't remember the contents of the episode of Crusader Rabbit we watched that day, as a matter of fact, I don't remember any of the episodes. But I do remember that hotdog! It was really good.



When I think of Crusader Rabbit, I think of hot dogs. I didn't want to be like him, I did not even want to go on crusades with him, but I would have gladly eaten hot dogs with him at a moments notice.

Could You Tell Me Which Way Jesus Went?

As far as direction goes, God is everywhere, so no matter which direction we go, God is already there. Any direction we take is towards Him. The direction God wants us to go is framed in obedience. When we walk in obedience, we are following Jesus. When we walk in love, we are following Jesus. When we are walking in the Spirit, we are following Jesus. When we are denying ourselves, we are following Jesus. When we are walking in humility, we are following Jesus. When we are being persecuted for His sake, we are following Jesus. When we are feeding the poor, we are following Jesus. When we are visiting orphans and widows in their distress, we are following Jesus.

Following Jesus is not a direction...it's a lifestyle.

 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. (Lk 9:23 NIV)

Just Say No

 

It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions  (Titus 2:12a, NIV)

I remember some years back that the slogan for the then new anti-drug campaign was “Just Say No”.  I delighted in telling people that this was not the first time that expression had been used, but was in fact in the Bible. Of course the campaign was only directed towards drugs and the verse above was directed towards all ungodliness and worldly passions.

Another difference, the campaign was dependent upon a person being able of themselves to stand against peer pressure and not do drugs. The admonition in scripture was dependent upon the grace of God. Here is the full passage:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope–the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:11-14, NIV)

God’s grace teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions. It enables and strengthens us to no only say no to them but also to resist their pull on our earthly natures. And that is not all. God’s grace also gives us the desire and enablement to live upright, self controlled, and godly lives in the midst of this present evil age.

We have been redeemed (saved, rescued, delivered) from all wickedness by Jesus Christ and are purified by Him to be a people dedicated to Him and who are eager and enthusiastic about doing what is right and just and kind.

And the Blessed Hope -- the glorious appearing of our God and Savior Jesus Christ will soon be upon us!