God Is Impartial

One of a series on "The Endearing Personality of God"

I sometimes feel just a little uncomfortable when I compliment people, "You have a lovely home," or "That's a beautiful car." Their response may be, "Yes, God has blessed us," or "Yes, God has been good to us." Really, I do understand the desire to credit God with what we enjoy, but in the back of my mind, I am comparing my own home or my own car and hearing, "Too bad about you."

Does God have favorites? If we are not very careful how we speak, it almost sounds that way. I do not have the home or car or clothes that compare to what other people have. Looking at it another way, if I were with the homeless or hungry or endangered, how then could I explain the advantages and comforts I have—yes, my riches? Does God have favorites? Certainly not. Everything good finds its source in Him, even if I "earned" it. If acknowledging Him carries with it even the tiniest bit of self-importance, it would be better for me to thank Him in the secret place of prayer, lest I be like the Pharisees who wished to be seen as devout.

No, God is no respecter of persons; the Bible is clear about that. (The Apostle Peter finally understood. See Acts 10:34-43) Again and again, he says, "all" and "whoever." Where did we get the idea that God's blessing, His goodness, His favor, is measured by what we own or the circumstances in which we are? If the Gospel of God's grace and goodness does not work in Calcutta or Appalachia or New Orleans, it is not the true Gospel. If it doesn't apply in prisons or refugee tent-cities or land-mined fields, then it is not the Gospel that Jesus taught and exemplified. How is it lived out in these unfortunate places? I don't know the answer to that personally, but down through the ages, Christians have proved that God is faithful in the most miserable "have-not" situations. I know for certain that God is impartial; His love and grace are available to all, and I really love that about Him!

MaryMartha

I think you would also enjoy reading two other posts; click on a title.
Does God Always Provide Bread?
But If Not

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

Things Mama Taught Me - "Answer When I Call"

Sometimes people respond to the calling of their name with the truncated answer, "What--" Given the downward inflection of the word, they are apt to seem impatient or uncaring, as if saying, "What do you want now?" even though they probably do not intend to give that impression. "Yes?" is a more pleasant answer, as if one were expectant and ready to serve.

We used to sing:

When He calls me, I will answer,
When He calls me, I will obey,
When He calls me, I will answer.
I'll be somewhere listening for my name.

How different the grudging, "What. Well, all right," from actually listening for God's call! Sometimes He calls with a Scripture verse that speaks to our hearts, "This is for you." Sometimes with the reminder of something which needs our attention that we have left undone. Sometimes with an idea that we are charged with implementing. He calls if we are listening for our name.

But don't wait for it come on an amplified sound system.

MaryMartha

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

First or Last

I noticed a book title the other day, If You're Not First, You're Last, outlining sales strategies to come out on top in the competition. It's interesting that the world so often teaches principles that are the exact opposite of what Jesus taught. He would say something like, You're Not First, Unless You're Last." (Not that one shouldn't be diligent in making their work profitable.) Jesus told His followers, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.” (Mark 9:35)

The "Good Samaritan"

Some organizations and individuals have discovered that the way to be successful is to follow Jesus' example, and they do that assiduously. While it is always right to do the right thing, I wonder about the motive of much "servant leadership." Like Pharisees standing on the street corner to pray, I suspect that some corporate action is really saying, "Look at us! We are fair to our employees. See how our good policies benefit the community!" If that's the case, is the attention they gain really going to make them first? Or is good PR already their only reward?


And Jesus' call was to serve everyone else, not just the profit-making business world or the public service sector or even the church world. Does real servanthood make much noise at home and in the marketplace? "Don't sound a trumpet before you," Jesus said. (see Matthew 6:2)


Or put another way, "Don't blow your own horn."

MaryMartha

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/ and
lavistachurchofchrist.org/Pictures/

God Is Generous

One of a Series on "God's Endearing Personality"

One has only to remember John 3:16 to know that God is generous, the ultimate Giver. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish but have everlasting life." In so many more ways than this, however, God shows us His heart of giving.

Thou that has given so much to me,

Give one thing more, a grateful heart.

--George Herbert (1593-1633)

"Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation!" (Psalm 68:19 NKJV) There is perhaps no better way for me to explain God's generous "benefits" than letting Psalm 103 (NLT) enumerate some of them.

He forgives all your iniquities; He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. What would happen if we all got exactly what we deserve?

Heals all your diseases. I believe there is no disease—ancient or modern, and not even death—that God has not shown Himself to someone somewhere as the victor over it. Some scholarly person has studied execution by crucifixion and has concluded that every type of human suffering was experienced by Jesus during His Passion. He overcame them all and lives today!

Redeems your life from destruction. How many times a day, even when we are unaware of it, has God kept us from harm? Even greater, how often He answers our prayer, "Deliver us from evil." The angel of the Lord truly is "camping" all around the person who confidence is in God!

Crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies. Some folks talk or sing about the crown they expect to have one day when they get to heaven. This crown is for "everyday" wear and is ours by our present acknowledgement of it.

Satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Physical needs, spiritual hunger, intellectual quests, mental stimulation, emotional satisfaction—God is concerned that all of these appropriately supplied.

Executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He is the helper of the helpless. We've often heard it said, "God helps those who help themselves," but another Scripture tells us differently. He is "father to the fatherless, defender of widows . . . God places the lonely in families." (Psalm 68: 5, 6 NLT) He does not ignore the needy, but sends aid—very often through the hearts of others He has touched and through their hands.

Pities (has compassion on) those who fear Him, knows our frame and remembers that we are dust. The children's little song says, "Be careful little lips what you say . . . little hands what you do . . . little feet where you go," and sometimes we grow up feeling that the Big Policeman in Heaven is just waiting to catch us in a wrongdoing. No, we sometimes forget that the song also tells us, "There's a Father up above and He's looking down in love." He is a good Father who would seek to correct rather than condemn,

The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all. While Jesus warned His followers that there would be "tribulation" for them in the world, yet the promise is that in all things He is working for our good. (See Romans 8:28)

"Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits!"

MaryMartha

Scripture marked NKJV is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture marked NLT is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

Truth in Advertising

"Do you want butter and honey for your biscuit?" the man at the counter asked, and when I replied that I did, he threw a couple of little plastic packets into my dinner box. When I sat down to eat, I found that the butter was "buttery spread" and the honey was "honey sauce." Not the real thing at all!

However, that's what the packets actually had printed on them, so there was really no deception after all. And besides, having eaten at that place before, I knew there was no real butter or honey involved!

I did start thinking, though, about how often we anticipate something that turns out to be not quite what we expected. A free cruise? A surefire investment? Or lifetime light bulbs and no-pre-rinse dishwasher tablets? We are taken in a lot by things we'd like to think are guaranteed.

That's all the more reason for us to be sure that what we say we believe and what we live are in sync, that we do indeed "walk the talk." False teachers may not be just those whose doctrine is flawed, but also those whose lives do not demonstrate truth. Remember, "What you are speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you say."

MaryMartha

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

God Is Appreciative

But no training wheels for
her ride!

One of a series on "God's Endearing Personality":

The other day my daughter and I were reminiscing about some of the things in her early childhood. "I remember learning to ride the little red bicycle," she told me. "I took off down the street, and you were running behind me screaming, "You did it! You did it!' " After many wobbly attempts, with my steadying the two-wheeler while she learned to find her  balance, she was on her own and I was so proud I cried!

Do you think the God who created us and loves us is any less appreciative when we accomplish something with His guidance and help? It's not that God can be likened to earthly parents, but instead we are fashioned after His likeness, and surely our pride and joy reflects His own. Some day, if we are faithful, He will point us out as trophies of His grace! “He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6, 7)

The praise belongs to God alone. The glory is His. And yet, sometimes even now I think I feel His satisfaction when He encourages me, "Yes, we did it, you and I together. We did it!"

MaryMartha

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

Come to the Water

As soon as I turned on the lawn sprinkler to water some newly-planted seeds, a blue jay sat in the tree above the garden area, and issued a stream of loud calls. Soon after he flew away, a number of birds of various kinds arrived to shower and have a good, long drink. Were his calls an alert to his friends and neighbors that he had spotted the location of some cool water on that hot day? It seems so.

That reminded me that we are given the privilege and responsibility of spreading the message, "Come to the water." " 'Come!' say the Spirit and the Bride. Whoever hears, echo, 'Come!' Is anyone thirsty? Come! All who will, come and drink, Drink freely of the Water of Life!" (Revelation 22:17) All around us are people who need to know that there is a place of peace and refreshing. We have discovered it ourselves, and we can invite them, "Come! There's water here. I've found it!"

MaryMartha

Scripture taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

God Is Empathetic

One of a series on "God's Endearing Personality":

Empathy is different from sympathy. The latter is sharing the feelings of others, that is, "with them" in it. Empathy is experiencing as one's own the feelings of others. That is what God does, through His Son. "Therefore, it was necessary for him [Jesus] to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people." "This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin." (Hebrews 2:17; 4:15)

While I was very ill, the thought of God's empathy was comforting to me. He knows what this is like! It's quite possible that Jesus did not ever have a sinus infection that kept Him from His work for two weeks. (But then again, we don't know that, for sure!) We presume He had a normal boyhood, with its stubbed toes and scabby knees. And we do know that as a grown-up, He got hungry, grew tired, and became emotional enough to weep. Is it absurd to think that He might have had a headache from too much sun sometimes or a case of the sniffles?

[If such a proposal is too much of a stretch for you, just ignore it.] It has been, however, a source of encouragement to me that Jesus understands our human frailties, for He faced them too. Without murmuring or blaming or evading, He became one of us. True, He has taken our sins away, removing the guilt of them completely, as depicted by driving the scapegoat into the wilderness during the time of Old Testament sacrifices. But I do not see the Scripture indicating that He took away our sorrows, our neediness, our suffering of various sorts. Isaiah 53 says that he carried our griefs and bore our sorrows. But He did not carry them just so that we won't have to. He bore them, endured them, so that He could be our merciful and faithful High Priest. In fact, we are able to find peace in these various situations because as we carry them, we can be united in a special way to Jesus who carried them for us.

Of course, that is not all. I am not denying Divine healing power for the physical being as well as the spirit. But it is important to me to know that God is not just sorry for me when I'm down. He remembers being like me.

MaryMartha

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Art from http:www.sxc.hu/

"He Maketh Me to Lie Down"

In recent weeks, I have tried conscientiously to spend a little while resting after my work in the morning and early afternoon. Sometimes, I am restless; there is always just so much to do! The other day, I was fussing inwardly at the restriction with which I felt compelled to comply. As I was forming my complaint, I remembered the words in the familiar 23rd Psalm. It says, "He makes me lie down in green pastures."

Was that God speaking to me? I'm not sure, but it certainly was an appropriate reminder! I've never heard anyone expound on that part of the verse. Always the emphasis is on the plentiful supply provided by the Good Shepherd, drawn from the picture of abundant grass for grazing. Only one of the classic commentaries available to me mentioned "making me lie down." Charles H. Spurgeon, the "prince of preachers" and a prolific author, wrote in his commentary on this psalm about the "distracted souls" who know what it is to feed on God's grace, but never find the rest and satisfaction of appropriating it as their own—lying down in it.

God wants to lead us in paths of righteousness and perhaps through the shadowed valley too, but what if He plans for us to lie down sometimes? He wants us to be spiritually fed and satisfied, of course, but could He be guarding our health and safety and well-being by encouraging our literal lying down as well? Isn't some of our busyness a nicer-sounding word for anxiety?

MaryMartha

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

Retreat

Earlier this summer, I was able to spend a few days at my favorite "retreat" place. Although the Prairie Oasis is actually a bed-and-breakfast, it is very special to me as a place to rest and hear from God. So I wrote a bit of inelegant poetry about it:

The Beautiful P.O.

(may be sung to the tune of

"Where the Healing Waters Flow"

How the sister-campers smile

At the beautiful P.O.!

They are happy all the while

At the beautiful P.O.

Chorus- Where the healing breezes blow

At the beautiful P.O.

There is peace and rest and love

At the beautiful P.O.

What a lovely place to be,

At the beautiful P.O.!

Mind and spirit are set free

At the beautiful P.O.

Napping, reading, thinking, praying,

At the beautiful P. O.—

All this happens without our saying

At the beautiful P.O.

I wish for you a similar place of rest and spiritual attention!

MaryMartha

Art fom a snapshot I took last year.

Staying with It

Whew!

It is HOT in Kansas! Some lawns are turning a crispy brown, a few trees are shedding leaves prematurely, and wide cracks are appearing in soil banks. Some of us were discussing the heat, but we agreed that this was nothing like the summer of '80. That was the summer I moved here, and though the large city from which I came was very hot, I was almost convinced I'd made a mistake. That year we had temperatures of 100° or higher for 46 days, 18 of them in a row! By contrast, the summer of 2010 has had a dozen or so, with probably just a few more on the way. The schools were not yet air-conditioned then, and the little house in which I lived did not for awhile have AC either!

But what I'd have missed if I had not stayed with it! I established firm family ties which before had been shaky. I reared my family in a comparatively safe environment. I found exceptional professional people: doctor, dentist, attorney, auto mechanic, and pastor. I met and married the love of my life. I embarked on a satisfying career, lasting even into retirement years. I am fully convinced that God is involved in the choices we make, often more intimately involved than we realize. "The LORD directs the steps of the godly [not godlike, but God-fearing]. He delights in every detail of their lives." (Psalm 37:23) I've found it so.

MaryMartha

Scripture quotation is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

Another Virus

Don't I wish!

After being ill with what started as a viral ear infection that lasted a couple of weeks, I next discovered that my faithful computer was also "ill" with a virus, and another two weeks was spent in repair. We're back now, at last!

It's amazing to me how doctors and repair persons know how to diagnose problems and how to remedy them. I don't think God actually sends problems so that we learn gratitude, but problems do have the effect of helping us be thankful rather than accepting blessings as our due and taking them for granted.

Just a reminder: "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above." (James 1:17)

MaryMartha

Scripture is from the New American Standard Bible, used by permission of The Lockman Foundation, http://www.lockman.org/

Art from http:www.sxc.hu/