The Right Response

Matthew 12

Man’s Response – But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

Jesus’s Response – …But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Man’s Response – And behold there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? that they might accuse him.

Jesus’s Response – What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

Man’s Response – … and great multitudes followed him…

Jesus’s Response – …and he healed them all;

Man’s Response – But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of devils.

Jesus’s Response – And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand; and if satan cast out satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then this kingdom stand?

Man’s Response – Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.

Jesus’s Response – But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

Man’s Response – Then one said unto him, Behold thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.

Jesus’s Response – But he answered and said unto them that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?…For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

No God like our God

2 Samuel 7:18-22

What’s your natural response to a blessing? When someone shows you favor, or bestows a gift to you, how do you acknowledge their generous gesture? Are you appreciative of all the things you were granted from others (many of which you had nothing to do with, except receive), and are you truly grateful for all those blessings, and benefits God allowed to come into your life? Count with your fingers, all the blessings God has graced you with throughout your lifetime. By now, you should be nearing the thousands lol. God is good, and His mercy endures forever! He has done remarkable, incredible, and amazing things in the lives of His people! He has kept us safe this entire year from hurt and harm, danger seen and unseen, and even the hands of death. God has supplied an endless abundance of peace, in those moments we were close to going overboard. He has given us joy, when the enemy tried hard to keep us wallowing in sadness. In times when we were afraid to face certain challenges and situations, God gave us strength and courage to tackle all obstacles that were in our path.

There’s no God like Jehovah! He continues to sustain us, and provide our daily bread. Of all the gods and idols men serve, not one can do what our God can. Men place their hope and trust in carved statues, money, and even themselves, but none have the power to do, what the God of all creation has proven, time and time again in the lives of His people. When king David received word from the prophet Nathan, how God would establish his house, and kingdom forever, he didn’t hesitate to humble himself before the Lord and say, “For thy word’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them. Wherefore thou are great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears” (vs. 21-22).

How incredible has God been in your life? Are you grateful for all He’s done for you this year alone? We’re a week away from beginning a new year, so end this one by first, establishing a solid relationship with God, then begin to walk in your purpose. By this time next year, you’ll have endless reasons to praise, thank, and glorify the name of the Lord, for all He’ll do in your life, in 2020.

Walk in love,

Ell

The Lord responds to complaints

Exodus 16:9-12

“…for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him (Matthew 6:8). If God knows what we need, then why doesn’t He just give them to us, without having to ask Him for them? God is all-knowing, and well aware of the needs of His people, but the purpose behind us making requests is to first ensure that what we desire is what He wants us to have, and to never get to the point where we feel we can live independently from His wisdom. We pray to God, and make requests because God is the source of our supply. Whether it be a natural need, or spiritual one, God provides for all of us, whether we choose to admit it, or not. Think for moment, if God moved His hand from the earth, and caused everything to cease, except for people, how would we live, without God keeping things in motion? Could we eat, if the plants and animals suddenly disappeared? How could we build and construct things if there were no more trees to cut down for wood? God made everything while considering the future. We can barely see beyond the tip of our nose (without the help of glasses or contacts), yet God knows the end, from the beginning, so it’s always wise to seek first His wisdom, when making requests. Even when we get frustrated, and begin to murmur and complain that God may have forgotten to assist us, these are the moments when He’s stretching our faith, to see whether we’ll trust Him when we seemingly don’t have enough.

In our text, the children of Israel murmured and complained that they would be better off dead in the wilderness, and had life better when they were captives in Egypt. It doesn’t take much to cause people to complain, no matter how much good you do for them. God had performed many miracles for Israel, including delivering them out of Egypt, yet they quickly forgot about the past miracles, and were yearning for new ones. In an effort to appease their requests, God planned to provide daily miracles, so that they would know, He is the Lord their God.

God doesn’t want anyone to suffer, instead to consider Him in all things. This world is getting worse by the second, and our dependence on God’s wisdom is vital to our physical, mental, and spiritual health. There will be moments when we’ll become frustrated, and complain, but as long as we keep our focus on fulfilling God’s will, He will always answer our prayers. Be thankful for what you have, and for all God has done for you thus far in your life. Never get to the point where you become ungrateful, because God daily loads us with benefits. We simply have to stop, and look at all the amazing things He’s already done in our lives.

Walk in love,

Ell

Living among wrongdoers

Psalm 57

Many teach that the proper response to negative treatment is retaliation. When being attacked, whether you’re a Christian or not, rendering a counter attack is the worst possible thing anyone could do. For one thing, prolonging a negative situation is never a healthy option, so stirring up such a fire could cause flames that could affect innocent bystanders as well. Violence never solves anything, it only creates opportunities for people to get hurt spiritually, physically and mentally.

When a person submits their life to God, they automatically become a target for satan to attack, so it’s common for men to harbor ill wills against them. There will even be times when others will have resentment towards a Christian, when they’ve done nothing to cause it. The world hated Jesus, so expect it to also hate the fact that we operate under God’s agenda, and not the devil’s. For the believer, king David left a perfect example of how to conduct oneself in the presence of those who intentionally seek to disrupt their spiritual and mental focus. God sees and knows all that we face in life, but it’s required that we acknowledge Him in all our ways, so David made it his business to approach God with his issue, as well as praise. God knows we need Him, but He also knows when we try to pimp Him. There were many times I prayed to God to get me out of jams, but only to go back into those same situations after He had delivered me. David knew in his heart that He needed God to stand with him against his enemies, so that he would be free to offer more worship, praise, and good deeds that would bring glory to His name. When you seek God’s help, always check your motives for doing so. David also made certain to promote God’s power in his prayer, more than the ploy of those against him. God doesn’t need to be convinced of His power, but we must first convince ourselves that He is able to do “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20).

God stands at the ready to assist His people in all situations, but we must activate that power with our faith. You can sit in a car all day and pray that it starts, but until you turn the key, or push the start button, you’ll sit there until your buttcheeks get numb. In his prayer of distress, David’s faith was shown in his great admiration for God, and His everlasting mercy. When you pray, do you cry and moan about your issue the entire time, or do you reverence God, then get off your knees feeling motivated to knock the devil out like Rocky did against that tall Russian dude? Talking to God should always motivate us to stand strong against our adversary, because it’s in Him that we live, move, and have our being, so acknowledging our association with the greatest source of power known to all creation, gives us the hope we need that all will soon be well.

Never be afraid of what men try to do to you, because they can only go as far as God allows them to. God allows certain situations to occur in order to see what level our faith is, and whether we need to mature more, or use our faith to motivate someone else. “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45a).

Walk in love,

Ell

Longing for God’s help

Psalm 42

Trust is something not easily earned these days. Oftentimes, people lose trust in others based on reasons of unreliability, or lack of confidence in their words and actions. When you’re in need, you desire only what will satisfy those needs. In times when your health had failed you, you sought only those who could offer guaranteed methods to bring your body to a more stable condition. Even in times when your money was low, you knew who you could, and couldn’t rely on to give you assistance, based on the level of trust you had in them. When we need help, we make sure to run to sources we can trust, while avoiding those who are unreliable, and could possibly make our situations worse.

King David experienced the love of God on so many levels, until he developed a longing for His help at all times. In all that David experienced in his life, he knew that God was the most trusted source in all the universe. He looked to God for wisdom, direction, courage, strength, and all he needed, as he faced the fear of death, loneliness, and shame from his enemies. Some trusted in chariots, and some in horses, but David always remembered the name of the Lord.

In our text, the writer was seeking help in a time of distress. David was totally transparent in his writings, and shared with God his deepest thoughts and feelings. He wanted God to know exactly what his thoughts were, so that God would, in a sense, feel what he felt, but God already knows everything about His creation, and He in fact is sensitive to our feelings. During this moment of distress, apparently David’s enemies were pouring heavy oppression upon him, and he sought God for deliverance, but God delayed His rescue for reasons known only to Himself. I often express that God, at times, delays His response to our call in order to monitor how we react while we wait. God was, and is always reliable and trustworthy, and David knew this truth, but he couldn’t understand the purpose for God’s delayed response. What I admire about David most is, while he suffered, struggled, and waited for his deliverance, instead of murmuring and complaining, he offered continual prayer and praises to the One who would soon deliver him from his oppressors.

Who do you long for when trouble knocks on your door. Do you reach out to those you know can possibly assist, but would bring it up in every conversation after, or are the people you confide in phony and unreliable? Trust in the Lord in every situation you face in life. Our God is the only One who has an answer to every problem we face. Man can offer temporary solutions to some of the things we encounter, but God’s love has the permanent fix for all we experience in our lives.

Walk in love,

Ell

Respond to abuse with a blessing

1 Peter 3:8-12

When teaching or presenting information to an audience, speakers usually drive their message home through their conclusion. These final words are aimed toward causing the listeners to grab hold of the key points of the presenter’s message. The apostle Peter presented his final words of inspiration to the church in this text, as he touched on concerns of major importance. The sum of his message was that everyone share a like mind, and do all things in love. More specifically, Peter encouraged the believers to have compassion for one another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous; not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, but blessings instead.

Where there’s unity, there’s strength. Where there’s division, there’s mess. God is love, and every word He spoke, proves it. As children of God, our lives should be lived, loving as well. Peter came from a unified body as he and the other disciples followed Jesus, so he understood the power of togetherness. He stressed to the church that we should seek only to make peace with our brothers, rather than evil. But how do we show love when someone has treated us unfairly? There are times when some people are able to use self-control to counter a negative act from another, but in order to be consistent in responding to negativity with love, we must have the love of God dwelling in our hearts. Attempting to confront evil on human strength alone will leave you in utter embarrassment and shame. But walking in the Spirit of God, gives one access to the same divine power Jesus used to conquer sin.

The relationship among believers must be tightly knit, and established on godly principles. Peter’s commands to the church weren’t just rules to abide by, but ways to strengthen the body, while receiving blessings from God for their obedience. When people wrong you, or attempt to pull you out of character, respond in love, and watch their reaction. God will smile on you for your generous act of humility, but he’ll use your kindness as a lesson for the other person to learn, and hopefully grow from. It’s not the place of a Christian to criticize and get back at evil men for their doings, but we are to overcome evil by doing good. This is how we win others to Christ, by proving that no matter what they did, or how they did it, God still loves them, and He’s waiting to forgive.

Seek peace,

Ell