The Good Portion

  "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Mt. 5:13-16). There are few things easier to forget in the Land of the Free than the fact that we Christians are not our own, we were bought with a price. Our purpose in life is not to please ourselves, but to glorify God (see 1 Cor. 6:19-20).The purpose of salt is to be salty; the purpose of lamps is to give light; and the purpose of Christians is to glorify God with our lives. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offens...

  What were you hoping for this Christmas? Whatever it was, I doubt it was this. This has been a year of disappointments. So many hopes, big and small, have been dashed. So many plans have been thwarted. So many people are suffering. So many people have died. Our todays and tomorrows have been rearranged without our consent. Nothing in our world is what we expected, and we sense too keenly that our lives are not entirely in our own hands. Now Christmas is here, threatening for many of us at least as much disappointment as joy. The book of Matthew begins with a genealogy, a disappointing beginning, perhaps, to the modern reader, but not to his original audience. Genealogies, for the Jews, were the tributaries through which the promises of God flowed. From Adam to Abraham and through Judah they coursed. From Judah would come King David, and through the line of David would come the Messiah, the ultimate fulfillment of all of God’s promises: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the L...

What behaviors come to mind when you think of an unrighteous man? What habitual behaviors might lead you to believe you are not dealing with a Christian? I'm sure we can all think of a few, and that most of them are included in the following list: "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God ? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers , nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Cor. 6:9-11, my emphasis) We Christians are known for our outspoken opposition to many of the behaviors in that list. But there is one I have yet to hear Christians protest against. It is the sin of reviling: *Revile: –verb (used with object)  1. to assail with contemptuous or...

  The joy of the Lord is my strength. Years of Sunday school ensured that I can’t think those words without a beat: The jo-oy of the Lo-o-o-ord  is my strength! Those lyrics are a nearly exact quote from the most (only?) famous (part of a) verse of Nehemiah:  “Then he [Ezra] said to them, ‘Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength’” (Neh. 8:10). That last phrase, with its corporate “your” changed to “my” to make it more personal, makes a chipper little tune. As a child it was fun to sing. But as an adult staring down the barrel of life’s very real griefs and challenges, it can ring hollow. Divorced from its context as it is, it comes across more like a happy-slappy taunt to the strengthless. I don’t have that joy? How will I ever find strength? Singing that song over and over does little to drum it up. So how, I wonder, c...

Several years ago, I received a daily devotional for my birthday. In the introduction, the author explained how she had come to write it. Once, while alone in nature, she had a strong sensation of what she believed to be the presence of God. Afterward she spent many years attending seminary and working as a Christian counselor. But, though she read her Bible and kept a prayer journal, she was dissatisfied. "I knew that God communicated with me though the Bible, but I yearned for more. Increasingly, I wanted to hear what God had to say to me personally on a given day. I decided to listen to God with pen in hand, writing down whatever I believed He was saying. I felt awkward the first time I tried this, but I received a message.” She goes on to say, “This practice of listening to God has increased my intimacy with Him more than any other spiritual discipline” (emphasis mine).* She wrote down the words she “believed” God spoke to her personally and eventually published them, makin...