Pleasing God



Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Hebrews 13:15


Such a simple precept - doing good, sharing what we have. But sometimes we neglect it, don't we? The word for today is to consider what you have in terms of time, skills, material goods, money. Just think about it for a moment. Take inventory, so to speak. Don't let yourself be deceived into thinking you don't have much - if you are reading this, then you obviously have enough time and skill and material goods to share. (You're welcome!) Maybe you have enough time to make a phone call of encouragement. Maybe you have enough skill to bake a cake or sew some window treatments or mow a lawn for someone. Maybe you have enough material goods that you could donate some furniture to The Sparrow's Nest or medicine to Mercy Health Center or money to a mission trip. Maybe you have enough of all three.... Then let's ask God what we can share. How. With whom. Begin with surplus....then move to sacrifice. This please Him.


I'll just say that I think I have enough surplus of material goods that it'll take a while to get to the "sacrifice" level. How about you?



















Standing Up

My dad had the sweetest habit. He was such a gentleman that, even at 86 years of age, he would stand when a woman entered the room. It was positively charming. I remember vividly when a friend of mine dropped by to see me and popped into my folk's apartment to say hello to them. Even though he was sick with cancer, my dad stood up to greet her and remained standing, struggling a bit, until she left.


Not just this once. He would do this every single time. It was absolutely adorable. Melted my heart every time.

Now my dad wasn't a "blue blood". He never went to "finishing school" to learn etiquette. I suppose most all his generation knew how to treat people from watching their elders. And those lessons stuck. He opened doors for women, spoke respectfully to others, and, yes, stood when he was introduced to someone, especially a female.


I was touched by that every single time. What a show of kindness. Of respect. Of affirmation.
It makes the other person feel so valued. What a gift!


One of my most cherished memories is that of coming home, after having left home, if you know what I mean. College days. Marriage. Family of my own. Coming home - where Mama and Daddy lived before they moved in with me. I'd pull into our long driveway and hit the horn a couple of times. I could see my Daddy in his chair by the window, and by the time I'd parked the car, he would have gotten up and come out to my car with his arms open wide. Welcome home. Welcome home. What a feeling of love, expressed in my Dad's simple gesture of getting out of his chair to greet me. To embrace me. To welcome me home. Every time.


I thought about my Daddy the other day at church. We were reading in Acts about Stephen, who was martyred for his faith. As he was dying, he gazed intently into Heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus, standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:55).


Now, we know from Ephesians 1:19-21 that Jesus's usual position is sitting down -


and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come


But when Stephen was dying, when he was coming home, Jesus stood to greet him. What an expression of love and affirmation and joy. Welcome home!


One day, I'm going to pull into Heaven's golden driveway. And I believe my King Jesus will be standing there, arms open wide, to welcome me home. Now, I don't know if Jesus gets out of His seat for every saint's homecoming - maybe it's just for martyrs like Stephen. To think that the King of Kings would rise as I enter is more than I can imagine. But sitting or standing, it won't matter - I will fall on my face before Him and worship. To see Him face to face. To think that the Creator of the Universe will have been longing for me to come home - I cannot imagine. Oh what a glorious day that will be!


My Daddy has beaten me there. I know he will be there to welcome me. Maybe he'll be seated at a window, just watching for me to come. And I just bet he'll get up to greet me. And after I've been with my sweet Savior, there'll be another pair of arms I'll want to fall into. Another voice I'll want to hear saying Welcome home. Welcome HOME.

The power of death - harsh words


Proverbs 15:1b
but a harsh word stirs up anger

Just as a gentle answer gives life, a harsh one has the power of death.

Let's look at how the dictionary defines "harsh" -

ungentle and unpleasant in action or effect; grim or unpleasantly severe; stern; cruel; austere; physically uncomfortable; desolate; stark; unpleasant to the ear; grating; strident;
unpleasantly rough, ragged, or coarse to the touch


That covers a lot of speech. From mild ("unpleasant") to severe ("cruel"). Words along this gamut
have the power to stir up anger...the power of death.

Anger is an emotion that results when some goal of ours is blocked, some desire is unfulfilled. This might be minor like missing out on a good parking place or quite major such as parental rejection. Most all of us have pockets of unresolved anger submerged somewhere in our hearts. Harsh words from another person draw it out and stir it up.

Have you ever had the experience of someone reacting to something you said in a seemingly disproportionate way? You know what I mean - you are having a conversation with your spouse and it turns into a "discussion". (As in, "we aren't arguing - we are having a discussion". Am I reading anybody else's mail???) One of you slips in a "small" jab and the other person erupts. Seemingly disproportionately. Now you know why -- that harsh word was like a drone missile that zeroed in on that hidden pocket of anger. It found its target and stirred it up.


So what's our take-away for today? First, don't use harsh words. They carry the power of death. Seriously. Jesus connects the dots for us between anger and murder in Matthew 5. Don't be the source of harsh words - it's a revelation of what's in your heart. Later in that same book of the Bible, Jesus says "For the mouth speaks out of what fills the heart." (Matthew 12:34) Our problem is probably not that we don't know how to communicate...it's that we have a heart problem instead.

If you use or have used harsh words, go to the ones who have heard them and make it right. That will carry the power of life.

Last, if you hear those harsh words from someone else, realize that those words (and that person) is not the cause of your anger. They're just the pot-stirrer. Don't react to the one stirring the pot - instead, deal with what's inside.

And to keep those harsh words from taking up residence in your heart and possibly producing additional pockets of anger, choose to fill your heart up instead with LIFE-words from THE WORD.