Promise!

People come in different shapes and sizes. So do parents. Some of us are blessed to have parents who are God-fearing and loving. Some of us do not. Some of us have parents who are strict disciplinarians; some have parents who are not. Some parents are generous, some are stingy. Some are logical and fair. Some are quite unfair. Regardless of what our parents look like, or behave like, regardless of their parenting style, they all have one thing in common: All parents love their children and would give the best for their children.

Whoever our parents are, whatever kind of person they are, whether we have close relationship with them or not, we are called to Honor our parents. (Exodus 20:12)

This is the only commandment that comes with a promise “so that you may live long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” The promise of long life – interesting, isn’t it? In what way does honoring our parents promote long life? If we live honorably, and if we do honor our parents and elders, our own children will see our model and thus will inherit the “promise” in the form of their values, character, and attitudes. In this sense, regardless of how long our physical bodies live on earth, our moral and spiritual legacy will remain with our children, and if we truly did it right, with our children’s children.

As an adult, how do I honor my parents?

Compared to other cultures, the Filipino-Chinese people often do not have problem showing their filial piety. We obey their wishes even if we do not always agree with them. We try to make them happy. We live with them and if not, we visit them often. Though, it doesn’t always mean giving up our own life so that things can always be comfortable and convenient for them. We do try our best to make things comfortable and convenient for them.

Honoring your parents means that you acknowledge them as the people God used to bring you into the world. Honoring your parents means honoring the place God gave them. It involves treating them with dignity and respect. It involves doing nothing to intentionally embarrass, hurt, or disgrace them.

Honoring your parents is something that is first between you and God. Whether your parents feel honored or not won’t be the measure when you stand before God. The measure will be your heart’s intent. Do you do it sincerely? Or do you show up simply because you are obligated? Do you honestly love them or do you consider them simply a part of your responsibility?

Honor your father and mother. This is one of the Old Testament’s greatest pearl of wisdom. In it lies your life, your future and your children’s future.

WALKIE-TALKIE OR INTERCOM?

Until you know that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for. Prayer is for the accomplishment of a wartime mission. It is as though the field commander (Jesus) called in the troops, gave them a crucial mission (go and bear fruit), handed each of them a personal transmitter coded to the frequency of the General’s headquarters, and said, “Comrades, the General has a mission for you. He aims to see it accomplished. And to that end he has authorized me to give each of you personal access to him through these transmitters. If you stay true to his mission and seek his victory first, he will always be as close as your transmitter, to give tactical advice and to send air cover when you need it.”

But what have millions of Christians done? We have stopped believing that we are in a war. No urgency, no watching, no vigilance. No strategic planning. Just easy peace and prosperity. And what did we do with the walkie-talkie? We tried to rig it up as an intercom in our houses and cabins and boats and cars --- not to call in fire power for conflict with a mortal enemy, but to ask for more comforts in the den.

Satan’s aim is that nobody be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. And one of his key strategies is to start battles in the world which draw our attention away from the real battle for the salvation of the lost and the perseverance of the saints. He knows that the real battle, as Paul says, is not against flesh and blood. So the more wars and conflicts and revolutions of “flesh and blood” he can start, the better, as far as he is concerned.

We must seek for ourselves and for our people a wartime mentality. Otherwise, the Biblical teaching about the urgency of prayer, and the vigilance of prayer, and the watching in prayer and the perseverance of prayer, and the danger of abandoning prayer will make no sense and find no resonance in our hearts. Until we feel the desperation of a bombing raid, or the thrill of a new strategic offensive for the gospel, we will not pray in the spirit of Jesus.


taken from "Let the Nations Be Glad" by John Piper

THE BOTTOM LINE

World evangelization is for God. It is common to work out of a concern for the many needs of people, either to see them saved from hell, or to see them brought to communal wholeness, or both. Such compassion is biblical and necessary. However, our love for people takes on balance and power when our overriding passion is for God to be honored and thanked personally by the people transformed by the power of the gospel.

Jesus was moved with great compassion, as He saw the multitudes as abandoned sheep, but He did not respond to the naked need. He deliberately recast His vision of the same lost crowds with a different metaphor. He saw the people as being “His Harvest.” Who can comprehend God’s delight in the fullness of the fruit He receives from people’s lives? Jesus began to do just that. From that vision He implored the Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers to bring God His Harvest (Matthew 9:35)

Mission efforts which draw their motivation from compassionate response to human needs will only go so far. Believers need to be nurtured into a far-reaching jealousy for God’s glory. With confident certainty that God will fulfill His promise, we can be deeply moved by needs, while acting boldly for God’s purpose.

The ultimate value of salvation is not to be seen in what they are saved, but rather what they are saved for. People are saved to serve and glorify God. However accustomed we may be to seeing people as being of paramount importance, the Bible is clear: The rationale for mission is the absolute worthiness of God.


taken from “The Story of His Glory” by Steven C. Hawthorne

Mission's Vision

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.

Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal of missions. It is the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God's glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. "The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!" (Psalm 97:1) "Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!" (Psalm 67:3-4)

But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You cannot commend what you do not cherish. Missionaries will never call out, "Let the nations be glad" who cannot say from the heart, "I rejoice in the Lord... I will be glad and exult in You, I will sing praise to your name, O Most High" (Psalm 104:34; 9:2) How can people who are not stunned by the greatness of God be sent with the ringing message, "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; for He is to be feared above all gods." (Psalm 96:4)?

This truth is the lifeblood of missionary inspiration and endurance. William Carrey, the father of modern missions, who set sail for India from England in 1793, expressed the connection:

"When I left England, my hope of India's conversion was very strong; but amongst so many obstacles, it would die, unless upheld by God. Well, I have God, and His Word is true. Though the superstitions of the heathen were a thousand times stronger than they are, and the example of the Europeans a thousand times worse; though I were deserted by all and persecuted by all, yet my faith, fixed on the sure Word, would rise above all obstructions and overcome every trial. God's cause will triumph."

Carey and thousands like him have been moved and carried by the vision of a great and triumphant God. That vision must come first. Savoring it in worship precedes spreading it in missions. All of history is moving toward one great goal, the white-hot worship of God and His Son among all the peoples of the earth. Missions is not that goal. It is the means. And when this sinks into a person's heart everything changes. The world is often turned on its head, and everything looks different -- including the missionary enterprise.

-- taken from "Let the Nations Be Glad" by John Piper

I Love You, Will You Marry Me?

In the first century, during the New Testament time, when a young Jewish man reached marrying age and his family selected an appropriate wife for him, the young man and his father would meet the young woman and her father to negotiate the “bride price,” the figurative cost of replacing a daughter. The price was usually very high.

When the negotiations were complete, the custom was for the young man’s father to pour a cup of wine and hand it to his son. His son would turn to the young woman, lift the cup and hold it out to her, saying, “This cup is a new covenant in my blood, which I offer to you.” In other words, it was his way of saying, “I love you, and I’ll give you my life. Will you marry me?”

The young woman had a choice. She could take the cup and return it and say no. Or she could answer without saying a word—by drinking the cup. This act was her way of saying, “I accept your offer, and I will marry you and give you my life.”

On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus and his disciples sat down together celebrating Passover. The disciples knew the liturgy very well; they had celebrated Passover all their lives. When it came time to drink the third cup of wine, the cup of redemption, Jesus lifted the cup as the disciples would expect and offered traditional Seder thanks. The same words are used to this day: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, for giving us the fruit of the vine.” And then he offered it to them but said something they probably did not expect: “This cup is a new covenant in my blood, which I offer to you.”

It’s hard to know what those disciples thought that night. Maybe a few chuckled a bit at Jesus making a marriage proposal, which must have seemed totally out of place in a Passover Seder. And yet, they may have understood Jesus’ willingness to die, be buried, and eventually raised to say, “I love you, and as my Father promised your fathers, I’ll pay the price for you. And in response will you love me back by giving me your life?”

When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we must be mindful of Jesus’ offer. He still says, “I love you.” He proved the extent of his love by dying on a cross for our sins. He says to us, “I offer you my life. Will you be my bride?” The taking of the cup is a solemn moment, a sentimental memento, for it is in that moment that one looks to the Heavenly Father and says, “Yes, I accept your offer, and I give you my life in response.”

It was our sin that nailed him to the cross. He was an innocent victim. He did not deserve to die. We did. But he took our place. And so that we will never forget, we gather at the table, to remember him. We taste the bread and sip from the cup to recall the life that was taken, the sacrifice that was made, and our part in the tragedy.

Have you taken the cup? Have you accepted Jesus’ offer? Have you given your life in response? Do you remember when you did that? Is it as vivid in your mind today as the day you prayed to invite Jesus in your heart? That moment needs to be etched on the recesses of your mind. This is something we cannot forget.


Excerpted from: The Symbols: So You Will Never Forget. Rick Ezell. www.lifeway.com

Yes, Dear!

In the beginning was Eve who gave some forbidden fruit to her husband, who was with her, and he ate (Genesis 3:6). To be fair, Eve simply handed over the fruit; she didn't insist that Adam eat it. Adam decided to eat it and mankind fell. With the fall of our first parents came all sorts of marital problems.

Look at Abram and Sara. When Sara was not able to conceive, she took her maidservant and gave her to Abram to be his wife. (Yikes! No modern woman would do that!) But that was the custom of their time. Sara said “Go.” And Abram agreed. But God did not call us to follow our culture. We are called to follow Him. Abram and Sara should have trusted God’s timing and provision but they did not. Hagar and Ishmael later gave their family some serious problems.

Look at Isaac and Rebecca. Isaac loved Esau and Rebecca loved Jacob. Instead of loving both sons equally and fairly, they played favorites. They became a divided family.

Look at Jacob and Rachel. When she could not give birth, she developed a foul temper. She demanded from her husband, “Give me children, or I’ll die!” Did Jacob comfort her? No! He instead sought solace in his other 3 wives. (Yup, read their story again. Jacob had 4 wives: Leah, and her maid Zilpah, Rachel and her maid, Bilhah.) No wonder their children could not get along.

Though these men (and women) did great things for God, their marriages were far from perfect. Why? Simply because they did not submit to one another. In doing so, they disobeyed God in their marriages.

The word submit is surely one of the most difficult and disliked words in the Bible, especially by modern women. Perhaps because submission means to be under someone else’s power, and surely, nobody want their rights and identity trampled upon. But Paul says in Ephesians, "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." (Ephesians 5:21) It is something Paul thinks every Christian can and should do – both men and women.

The key words are, “out of reverence for Christ.” When you submit to your husband, you are submitting to Christ. When you love your wife, you are submitting to Christ. Submission doesn't mean you go along with everything your partner orders. Submission means trusting your husband to make the right decision for the good of the marriage and for the family. Submission and loving means that the husband will put his wife’s and his children’s interests first when he makes decisions, as he leads the family, God’s way. Submission is not following blindly when you're being asked to do something that violates Scripture, your conscience, or common sense. Submission is simply taking into consideration your partner’s well-being and happiness, thinking of your partner instead of yourself. We cannot do this loving on our own – because we are fallen beings, we are naturally selfish. That is why we have Christ as our model and the Holy Spirit as our strength. Wrap your marriage in prayer, with God’s Word as its anchor. Surely, you will experience marriage made in heaven.

Do You Love Me?

“I’m going fishing!” Peter said one day after the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was saying to the other disciples that he was going back to his old fishing business. (Of course at this time, this group of disciples was not aware of the Lord’s resurrection yet.) Since Peter was the leader, the rest followed him dutifully to the boat. But you know from the story found in John 21 starting at verse 2, even if they worked hard the whole night, they caught nothing.

“Have you caught anything?” a stranger called out to them at dawn on the next day. “Cast the net on the other side of the boat and you’ll catch some fish.” They did what the stranger suggested and boy! Did they catch some fish! The nets were so heavy they could not even pull the nets aboard the boat!

John said, “It is the Lord.” Peter got so excited that he jumped off and swam ashore. Jesus invited them for breakfast – perhaps prepared supernaturally. As Peter and the other disciples sat and ate with Jesus, Peter must have thought, “What a fool I am! I have been disobedient again. I have failed again.” Peter had virtually failed every test the Lord had given Him. Remember just a few days back, he denied the Lord three times. He had repented but now, he tried to go back to what he used to do instead of doing what the Lord wanted him to do. He just could not succeed. Does this sound like us?

Then Jesus asked him, not once, but three times, “Peter, do you love me more than these?” These meaning – the boat, the nets filled with the catch, the fishing business. This could have been the question our Lord Jesus Christ is asking from us. Do we love Him more than these? More than what He already gave us – our family, our homes, our business, our work, our church? Do we love our Provider more than what He had provided for us? Deep in our hearts we love Him, and yet, just like Peter, why do we serve Him poorly?

Peter was grieved after the Lord probed for the third time. “Lord, You know all things. You know I love You. Look into my heart.” Aren’t you glad that even if we fail again and again, we have an omniscient God who knows us well? But this does not give us any excuse for not serving our Master. The Lord taught Peter, not once but three times “Tend my sheep.” It seems just like Peter, we do need repetitive lessons in obedience. Do we love God? Then we should show our love through our actions, through our lives.

“Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” 1 John 3:18 NASB



Illustration taken from: The Keys to Spiritual Growth. John MacArthur. Crossway Books ©2001. pp. 108-109.