We Must Not Take for Granted God's Forgiveness

      In the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35, a servant owe the king a great amount of money that he could not repay. The king wanted the servant, the servant's wife and children to be sold. He wanted everything that the servant had to be sold so to pay for the debt. The servant beg the king for his patience and give him more time to pay off the debt. The king had pity on him and release him and forgave him of his debt.
     The servant left the king and found someone who owe him money. Instead of being forgiving as the king did to him, he choke his debtor and had no mercy upon him. He had his debtor thrown into prison until he could pay off his debt. Another servant of the king saw what he had done and told the king about it. The king was very angry that the person that he had forgiven did not forgive someone else. So the king summoned that servant before him and told him since he did not give mercy to another, no mercy will not be shown to him. The king had that servant thrown into jail.
     In Matthew 18 verse 35 Jesus said to his disciples, "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."
     This parable is about our sin (our debt) against God. We could not repay it on our own. Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross paid for our sins. God had mercy on us and took our sins away. Here is where not taking God's forgiveness for granted comes in. We were all forgiven of our sins by God's grace. Now it is up to us to give mercy out to others who have trespass against us and if we do not, on the day of our judgement no mercy shall be shown to us. We will be imprisoned in a very bad place, a place you do not want to spend your eternity in.

How Valuable is the Kingdom of God to You?

     Mathew 13:44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." This verse tells me to place my service to God first and foremost in my life. It tells me God is not satisfied with partial worship but only with my total commitment.
     In Matthew the 19 chapter a man ask Jesus, what must he do to have eternal life? In verse 21 Jesus said to him,"If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." verse 22, When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." In these verses it showed a young rich man could not give his heart and soul totally to God's service for a part of him value his material possessions over his value of the kingdom of God.
     In Mark 12:41-44 tells a story of a poor widow who put two small copper coins in the offering box, while the rich put in large sums of money. Jesus said to his disciples that the poor widow put in everything that she had, all she had to live on, while the rich only donated out of their abundance. The poor widow loved God more than she loved herself. She clearly demonstrated the greatest commandment. Matthew 22:36,37 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."
     The apostle Paul show us the right attitude in serving God. In Philippians 3:8,10,11 he said, "Indeed. I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. ¹⁰that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."
     Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."
     Jesus gives us comforting words if we are feeling a lost in his service. Jesus told his disciples this in Luke 18:29,30 And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brother or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life."
     In these modern times that we live in, fame and fortune seems to be the main goal in life. We are told to buy many things and that having these things will bring us happiness. We see in God's word the Bible that this is a lie that we are told. Having true value in our life comes with serving our God with our whole heart, mind and soul. All other things in our life will disappear but God's kingdom will last forever.                                                      (ESV)
       

The Little that You do may Mean a Great Deal to Others

     When I worked in a store at one point in my life, there was this woman who looked almost exactly like my aunt shopping. I went up to her and said, "Hi, how are things going for you?". When she turn around and I saw her up close I realized she was not my aunt. I felt a little embarrass for being so familiar to a complete stranger. To my surprise, she turn around and responded in a very friendly way. She even told me how her day was going.
     Every week when she came back into the store she would say hi and start up a conversation with me. After a few weeks she said that talking to me had made her feel better. She said that her husband had a stroke. She said she was going through a bad time in her life and my little weekly talks with her helped her to get through it. At the time it was no big deal to me, it was me just being friendly to another person but to her it meant a great deal.
     After that conversation I reflected on what else I have done in which it seem was very little but it meant a lot to others. I believe God had a hand in this meeting. I mistook her to be my aunt at the same time she needed someone to talk to. God to me is a master at the domino effect (when one event effects the other). I believe at sometimes we are lead by God to do his work even if we are not aware of it at the time.

On What Foundation have We placed our Lives?

      Our views, our beliefs is what we base our life on. Those views and beliefs make up the foundation of our life. We build our life upon and around the views and beliefs we have. Upon that foundation we view and interact within our world.
     Each of us have our on unique view of the world around us base on the information we received throughout our life. The information is imperfect from imperfect people. We had to decide whether or not to believe it. Those of us with an open mind will question that information and others will think it is the absolute truth.
     I believe there is an intelligence that knows the absolute truth but with my limited mind I will only come to a partial knowledge of that truth. I can build my life on the perfect information from God but I can never come to a complete understanding of it due to my imperfect condition. So in faith I have to live my life until the day God makes my mind perfect.
     I have come to a conclusion in my life that Jesus Christ knew the absolute truth and in his compassion he shared it with us. So I choose to build my life on the foundation of his word.
     Each of us have built their life around something and each of us believe in something and our life is built on the foundation of that belief.    

What's Inside of the Box?

     It won't be long till Christmas and you will be seeing beautifully gifted wrap presents. Some will be store wrapped and others will be done by yourself. The decorative paper and ribbon will make the present look impressive. But even with all that work done on the outside we will still judge the value of the present of what is on the inside. No matter how beautiful you make the gift wrapping its whats on the inside that counts.
    Another example if we were to buy a car that caught our eye, meaning will were impressed by the outside package. Then we get inside and take it for a drive and the car breaks down on the road. What happens to our opinion of the car? We would probably hate it. Even if the car looks good to us, our value of the car would be low.
     Again here is another example. When we go shopping at a grocery store, we see many cakes, cookies and pastries that look good to us. We judge them to be delicious by what we see but it is when we actually buy them and taste them we know for sure how good they are. What we see on the outside can be deceiving.
     God also places more value on what is on the inside than the outside. In first Peter 3:3,4 Peter said, "³Do not let your adorning be external--the braiding of the hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear-- ⁴but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." First Samuel 16:7 "But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."
     God is looking past our appearance and looking inside our heart. God is not impressed with pretty wrapping but with the content within. So if our appearance is less than society's standards God will still accept us if our heart's condition is right. Who are we trying to impress anyway God or man? The one who gives eternal life or those who worship the temporary.
     What's inside of the box? We have to guess but God knows.

A Righteous Soul's Torment

     How hard it is to be a righteous man and to live in an evil world. Lot was greatly distressed while he was living in Sodom and Gomorrah. In 2 Peter 2:8 the apostle Peter talk about Lot's mental condition he said in verse 8 "(for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);"
      Living in today's world as Christians are we not also tormented by people's lawless deeds? We who work hard on improving ourselves through God's word the Bible are sometimes made depressed by those who bathe themselves in sin. As we grow in Christ our conscience is made more refine. What we could live with before, we have a hard time living with it now. We want to live perfectly and to be perfect just as Jesus Christ. The people of our world have other ideas in how to live their lives usually in a sinful manner and not a righteous one.
     We endure and wait for our Lord's arrival. I hate to say it but I think that our world is slipping more into darkness than enlightenment. The programs on television seem to be more and more violent. I believe that wholesomeness in programming is a thing of the past. Where are the role models in today's society? I do not think that people are taking what Jesus Christ had to say seriously. They are living their lives the way they want to and caring not for what harm that they may do to others.
      We are many ways like Lot, living in our own Sodom and Gomorrah. We ache inside and pray for a better world. We all know how Sodom and Gomorrah ended by the judgement of God. Our world will also be judged when Jesus Christ returns. We know this to be true, where our world seems to ignore it. Lot was rescued by God and God will rescue us as well. Even though we live in a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah we will not be destroyed, God will carry us through.

Am I More than Just a Reader of God's Word?

     I have asked this question of myself. Am I more than just a reader of God's word? I do sometimes struggle with my understanding of the Bible. It's words are very wise and carries a depth of understanding, an understanding I try my best to know. Even with my best effort I still far short. I have to admit to myself I am just an imperfect man trying my best to know the perfect ways of God. It feels sometimes like I am just reading about God's words and not knowing how to really apply them.