September 2013
Delight*Abide*Love
The Walking Dead
Dearest Reader, So, we tried this format for a little while but due to printing costs it would appear that we will be better off going back to the old style and layout. Thusly, enjoy this last version of the magazine like this. That all said, it would appear that I have been shirking my duties, not writing all that I am supposed to and though I tried to attach that concept to the desire to have a more magazinelike appearance, the truth is, it allowed me to write a lot less each month. I will tell you point blank, I am lazy frequently and have therefore been reprimanded. I look forward to a better focus on bringing you a magazine that will hopefully provide for your Spiritual development and encourage you in the realm of Scriptural studies. I suspect that it will become a mixture of devotional and Bible study as we traverse this road together. May the King wrap you in His loving embrace this month and provide you with tangible evidence of His adoration. Peace and blessings, Ginny Mink
www.delightabidelove.com
The Bible tells us that Solomon was the wisest man to walk the earth prior to Christ so it’s no wonder that he spent a lot of time warning us about our words; warning us about our tongues, our lips, our mouths in general. So when I read in Matthew 12:36 that we will be accountable for every careless word we speak and go on to verse 37 to see that by our words we are justified and by our words we are condemned, it’s disconcerting. Maybe you’re always nice, maybe you always edify your brother, and encourage your sister and uplift your spouse; good for you, you don’t need this piece. However, if you’re like, dare I say, most of us, there is a twinge of fear and a tremble of guilt. Jesus wasn’t playing around; the previous verse warned us that the good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil, evil. When I think about my words from that perspective I suspect I spend way too much time being evil. That’s not to say that I’m always mean, or that I always say bad things, but if I am to be a representative of Christ’s it doesn’t have to be always to taint His image. People are constantly watching us, especially if they know we claim to be Christ followers. As much as I think they want us to really be pure and righteous, a bigger part of them is always on the lookout for our failures; they want us to prove all the stereotypes (labels) that have been assigned to the name Christian. I think our biggest problem is we know what we’re supposed to do and yet somehow we are very capable of making excuses for why we’re not doing those same things. If someone talks smack about his children, he (or she) blames it on a bad day at work, a child’s bad attitude, or being tired, whatever he thinks will make up for his guilt. While other believers might accept this and move on, the nonbeliever automatically sees hypocrisy. We don’t realize how closely the world is paying attention to us and all our actions and every careless word. However, Jesus warns us that we will be judged and have to give an account for every one of them! That truth is a bit scary. I mean think about all the stupid things you said in the last week, how about the last month, how about this year…? And every single careless word over the course of your life! If you were a rebellious teenager then just those few years is enough to make you cringe. If you ever had too much to drink, ever got stoned, ever allowed anger to overtake that vile appendage, your tongue, there’s a lot of accounting to do. It’s enough of a dread inducer to make somebody want to be a mute. Perhaps considering this verse will make us more cognizant of the necessity to think before we speak. Let’s try and remember this month at least, that our tongues have the power of life and death and that another verse tells us to choose life.
Matthew 12:49
We’ve almost reached the end of chapter 12 in Matthew and I just want to bring verse 49 to your attention. To give you a little background, Jesus’ mother and His brothers have come to talk to Him and He’s in the middle of speaking to a group of people. Therefore, another man comes and says, “Your mom and your brothers are here. They want to talk to you.” Now, I have done public speaking and if someone interrupted my speech to tell me that my mother or my brother (or both of them) were there to speak to me, I would assume something serious was going on. So, more than likely, I would stop my dialogue and go see what they wanted. However, Jesus doesn’t do that. Instead He asked the man, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” I’m sure the man kind of looked at Jesus quizzically. I mean I would think, had Jesus said that to me, “Have you been in the sun too long?” Really, how could He not know who His mother and His brothers are, Alzheimers? But that’s not what He’s trying to say here and I think if we will actually grasp the magnitude of His next comment, we will be astounded by His regard for us. In verse 49, Jesus stretches out His hands toward the twelve and says, “These people are my family.” In fact, He goes on to say that anyone who follows the Father’s directives is a member of His family. I know that we read in other verses that we are children of the living God, that we are His sons and daughters and even His friends; but I suspect that we gloss over that, we read it and see it but we don’t swallow it, we don’t ingest it into our very beings, into the ways that we live our lives. Being Jesus’ sister, being related to the Sacrificial Lamb, the Savior of the world, the Prince of Peace the King of Kings the Lord of Lords, our Great Redeemer, is incomprehensible! At least it is for me. But that’s what He’s saying, that’s how wide open His arms are, as wide as arms nailed to a cross can be.
It doesn’t get much clearer than that!
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”28:19a
Thinking out loud, or at least in print, I guess a big point of contention for me, is that I often wonder what His will is. And in writing that, I want to laugh because He makes His will very clear to us. One of the last things that Jesus said on this earth was that we go and make disciples; and He only gave us two commandments which He said summed up all the other ones and that was to love our neighbors as we love ourselves and then of course the even greater one, which is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind. That’s the will of God and yet because I come from an Americanized version of Christianity, I’m so deluded to think that He should share with me a personal plan, one that is specific to me because I’ve been taught (and sadly still allow myself to believe), that it’s all about me. God’s will is that I tell other people about Him and His method is that I love them; it doesn’t get much clearer than that.
Have you been at a place in life where you wonder, why am I here? What’s my purpose? Is anything I’m doing of any value at all? You know that God created you, you know that He sent Jesus to die for you, you know that He loves you; but you’ve got this nagging question that really is just one word, why? My grandmother has a friend who recently told her that she wished she could just leave this world. My grandmother told her that she was here for a reason; that God wasn’t done with her yet. I’m sure each of us have heard that at some point in our lives, but really why isn’t He done with us? Why are we still walking this planet? A lot of times we have life questions that seem like they’ll go unanswered till we meet Jesus face-to-face. But the question of purpose is one that is specifically answered in biblical text. We are not unlike Cain, in Genesis 4:9 he questions, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The world would tell us that the answer to that is, “NO!” In fact, one of the most deceptive things the world tells us is that we’re to look out for number one, that we are in charge of our own destinies and not responsible for anybody else’s. I think that God’s
We are our brothers’ keepers! directives are completely opposite. Let’s take a look at Ezekiel chapter 33. I’m going to attempt to paraphrase verses 1 – 7. God tells Ezekiel to tell the people that when He brings a sword against them and their watchman warns them that the sword is coming, if they choose not to heed his warning then it’s their own fault. However, if the watchman sees the sword coming and doesn’t warn the people then their blood is on his head. God then goes on to tell Ezekiel that his job is to be a watchman and that if God tells him to tell somebody, “You’re screwing up,” and he doesn’t tell them then that person’s blood is on Ezekiel’s head. I know that people would be tempted to say, “Oh well, that’s specifically to Ezekiel,” and I suppose you could grab onto that conviction. Unfortunately for me, I see it as being a broad representation of what believers are in this world. We are the watchmen, we are here to warn the wicked and if we don’t, their blood is on our heads. It would be really easy to negate that situation, ascribe it to Old Testament verse, but then I am reminded of Jesus’ parable about the kingdom of heaven being like leaven. Christ followers are the yeast, we are here to affect everything that we touch and to
I know that was a bunch of to make it rise. We are here to uplift our believing brothers and sisters, and we are here to raise the dead to life by shining a Light into their lives (that Light being Christ in us). Immediately from there my mind jumps to the Great Commission which is found in the end of Matthew 28, when Christ closes His time on earth by telling us to go into the world and make disciples. Listen, He called Simon and Peter to become fishers of men and then He left us with the instruction to make disciples. We are our brothers’ keepers! So, if our purpose is to bring people to Christ, if our reason for being is to reel men in with the hook of our testimony and the line of God’s grace, how? There are two words that answer that and they mean essentially the same thing: persevere and endure. 1 Timothy 4:16 tells us to watch how we live because our lives affect other people’s (actually, Paul’s telling Timothy that- but I suspect it’s useful advice). Hebrews 10:35-37 tells us that when we do what His will is we receive His promises and He’s coming soon, basically it just reemphasizes the concept of us being watchmen. Colossians 4:2 tells us to never stop praying and giving thanks, Philippians 3:15 – 16 tells us to keep living righteously. Matthew 10:22 warns us that we’ll be hated, but if we endure we’ll be saved and finally Matthew 24:12 – 14 tells us to stand firm. Every person whose life is devoid of Christ is indeed the walking dead, a zombie.
verses and you’ll need to go back and check those out, but in doing research for this article I guess it’s safe to say that I’ve been shocked by the import of evangelism. There’s another purpose, and though it ties into the concept of bringing people to Christ it’s a little bit more specific. Read Exodus 9:16. We are here for God to show His power and spread His fame throughout the earth. Biblical descriptions of God show us that He is radiant, that He shines in such brightness you can’t even look at; why else do you think Jesus tells us we’re the Lights of the world? When you got saved, a Light entered your body, something that lit up your eyes that brought you to life. You are no longer the walking dead. With the fascination and focus on zombies these days, it’s interesting to consider that every person whose life is devoid of Christ is indeed the walking dead, a zombie. We are here to show them the way to life, we are here to make them rise. Are you ready to serve your purpose? Will you endure?
Enter chapter 13, Jesus has just shared the parable of the sower. I don’t know if you’ve considered that parable before but it takes place in verses 3-9 (in case you want to go look at it now). I have often considered this parable and where my life fits in. I’ll tell you right now that verse seven describes me. That’s the one where the seeds fall among thorns and the thorns grow up and choke them out. When Jesus later explains that parable in verse 22, He says that the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word and it proves unfruitful. I’m kind of jumping ahead of myself but I think this particular section of that parable describes a believer. Coming from a Baptist background you hear a lot of the use of the word backsliding and I suspect this is a prime example. The world can be very tempting, it can snatch our hearts (those wicked things) away from our One True Love.
My experience is that I got saved at 12 and lived a mostly faith-based life until I was 21 at which point the world swallowed me whole. Jesus tells us to be fishers of men, the goal is to reel people into a relationship with Him. However, the world has that same goal with regards to fishing for our souls only it wants to take us away from the Living Water. In my life, I had tried really hard to walk righteously. I attended a private Baptist college, went to chapel and Sunday services and was getting a minor in Christian Social Ministries. So, the enemy knew that his lure needed to be impressive, something that my deceitful and deceived heart thought it couldn’t live without. In warfare, if you want to win each battle you must study your opponent’s areas of weakness and if you don’t want your opponent using that weakness, you need to be acutely aware of its existence. Do you know what your weakness is? Because the devourer does! I told you I was getting ahead of myself so let’s go back to verse 11 of chapter 13. I’ve read this verse many times and each time I wonder, “Really?” Contextually, the disciples have asked Jesus why He speaks to the masses in parables and Jesus tells the 12 that they’re special, that they have been given the ability to know the secrets of His kingdom but that everybody else, all the people He’s been preaching to, have not been given that privilege. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t really feel like I know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven; do you? It seems to me that if we did know those secrets we would be much better apologists. Yet, some part of me suspects that Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit because He’s the teacher that we’ve been given. Paul writes that the words in the Bible are spiritual and that they can only be discerned spiritually. For the average reader, that statement would probably seem like nonsense. Perhaps you have experienced that moment in which the words on the page of this giant book suddenly leaped out at you in a comprehensible manner, suddenly you’ve got it; the secrets of heaven were opened to you. That’s what Jesus is talking about.
Verse 12 can be a little disconcerting. Jesus tells us that if we have an understanding of His Word then we will be given an even greater enlightenment to the point that we will have an abundance. However, He says that for those people who don’t get it, even the small parts that they did comprehend will be taken from them. Some people would think that harsh; it’s like taking a lone quarter from the indigent, like snatching a scrap from the starving. Why would He take away their minute speck of hope, their pinprick of Light, their drip of Living Water? I get why people think that’s unfair, I understand why someone would think it cruel, but here’s the thing: if eternal life has been offered to you and you are satisfied with a minute, you really don’t deserve that either. Let me put it another way: you win the lottery and the government offers to give you $50 billion but you just smile and take five cents; that’s lunacy. God doesn’t want people in His kingdom that don’t deeply desire to be there, that aren’t on fire for Him, that don’t long for His love, His presence, His grace. What they have, as little as it may be, will be taken from them because with God, it’s all or nothing!
A little Leaven Goes a Long Way We already talked about the parable of the sower and the explanation therein, so let’s move on to the parable of the weeds. That starts in verse 24 and ends in verse 30. I particularly like this parable because in my mind it proves the concept of us versus them. Essentially, Jesus says there are God’s children here on this planet and there are the enemy’s children here on this planet. If you don’t see that then look at verse 28 after the servants have asked the master, “Didn’t you only sow good seed, then why are there weeds?” The master responds, “An enemy has done this.” It doesn’t take a brainiac to ascertain that the master is a representation of God, nor that the enemy is satan. Therefore, God says the enemy has put his people here too. I know that a lot of people find this concept disturbing because there is this deepseated belief that every person can be saved. I understand why people desire to believe that but if what you believe doesn’t align with Scripture (and I hate to say this to you but truth is truth), it’s a lie. As we continue in this parable there are some things we need to see. Verse 29 tells us that the master doesn’t want the weeds rooted up because then the wheat might get pulled out too. Then in verse 30 he says, “Just let them grow together until the harvest at which point you can snatch up the weeds, tie them up to be burned and then gather up the wheat and put it in my barn.”
I bet these verses rub people the wrong way, this concept that there are indeed children of the enemy walking this planet, and that certainly they will be burned at the time of the harvest. Reading verses like this kind of puts a damper on our Americanized view of God, that cuddly cherub imagery, that Santa Claus/grandpa-esque concept. Elsewhere in Scripture we find that God knows His children and that they know His voice. He won’t play around with those who don’t. The parables are always an enjoyable section of Scripture. When Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed and leaven anyone that’s missing the enlightening of the Holy Spirit will find it difficult to gain insight from these comparisons. I want to draw your attention to verse 33. Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman hides in three measures of flour until all of the flour is affected by that leaven. Now I’m not a Bible scholar, nor am I classically trained, don’t have a Master’s degree in biblical studies, I’m not a doctor of divinity, but from what I understand, leaven is just like yeast and basically that’s tiny specks of an ingredient that causes a flour substance to rise. That in and of itself is an interesting thing to consider. First, let’s think about the fact that leaven is small, but just a small amount of it will affect something three times its size. That’s not to say that the kingdom of heaven is small but rather that the world is large and the children of God are just a minute section of it. However, the strength of our presence on this planet will spread His Word from sea to shining sea.
You put one believer in a room full of nonbelievers and if that believer is doing what he or she has been called to do, every person in that room will have heard the gospel in a relatively short period of time. That minute leaven, that pinprick of Light, that pinch of salt, will alter all that it comes in contact with and that’s our job as Christians. We are here to season this world, to make it thirst for Christ, to open the eyes of the blind, to Light the way to salvation. That’s why we’re here; and that’s why the kingdom of heaven is like a little bit of leaven. The other part of leaven, yeast, is the fact that it causes things to rise. I have to tell you, this thought is really exhilarating for me because as Christians, as people who claim to follow Christ, our purpose, our job, our reason for being, is to cause things to rise! We are to uplift each other, we are to bring glory to our King, we are to direct the blind and the deaf to the Savior. The lives that we live should so represent Him, should be completely demonstrative of His love, His grace, His mercy, to the extent that everything about us is heavenward and that whenever someone’s around us he/she desires that upward mobility, that reach the skies of salvation, that we have been granted with. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven because we invade every molecule of life on earth and we make it rise! I wish you could see just how excited I am about this concept, this visual of our import. We tiny granules of humanity devoted to the Savior, have the power to completely alter the lives of all those we come in contact with if we’d but listen to His voice. Oh, Father! Please empower us to lift
others up. As Maya Angelou so beautifully put it, “Still I rise!” May we rise to His occasion, to His pleasure and to His glory that others will do the same in His Name!