Obedience

Isaiah 1: 19

“If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land.”

Pastor, this is one of the quickest ways to empty out the pews; talk about obedience. The very fastest is to teach on tithing, which I did yesterday. However, we must move into what I call “Grown-up Christianity” and I pray that all of the pastors who read today’s devotion are blessed with mature Christians who can hear the Word of God.

Look, there is good news attached to obedience. That is why Isaiah has sent us this word. We don’t have to cringe when we hear the word “obey” because there is blessing tied to it. Hooray! Now let’s just apply some simple logic to this. If I obey God; if I do what He instructs me to do, is it reasonable to expect that good things are going to happen for me? Well of course! Whenever we walk down the path He directs us to, it will always lead to provision and blessing. I have said this before but I imagine the old Pony Express in the American west. Those riders followed a prescribed path. Why? Their provision was there. They had the freedom to go any way they chose but the waystation with the food and fresh horse was on the suggested trail. That is what this passage means to me. When we consent and obey, when we do as the Father has instructed, then the natural consequence of that action is that we eat the best of the land. Isaiah is just trying to get us blessed. He is simply saying that if we will do what God has said, we will benefit.

Now, doesn’t that make obedience a bit more palatable?

 Making it Easy

Deuteronomy 14: 12

“You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year.”

Hey, let’s make this easy on you and answer some questions about tithing and offerings. Well, first of all, yes, there are more gifts to the Lord than just tithes. There are times when you will want to give a gift which is above and beyond your tithe. Today, instead of the theology of tithes and offerings, though, I want to talk about the practical side of life. Let’s begin with some basics though.

Tithe, quite literally, means the tenth part, hence ten percent. The tithe is paid on gross income. You have probably heard it said that God gets the first ten percent. Paying on gross rather than net is what that refers to. So, if you are an employee that means you give God ten percent of your gross pay. You can do that each paycheck if you like and that certainly makes it easy. You can also do it monthly if you prefer. You could even give every week. Just find something that makes sense with your pay schedule and your life. If you own your own business, then you would give ten percent of your total income. Again, do that weekly or monthly.

Okay, now, how about the question, “Who do I send my tithe to?” Well, it should be sent to the one who is feeding you. Who do you rely on when you need help? Who is feeding you day in and day out. Are you a member of a church congregation? That church supports you by having regular weekly services and providing for your needs in other ways. When you give that church your tithe, you pay the electricity bill, the water bill and all of the other necessaries, including salaries, which allow that church to keep providing services.

This once was not to be a difficult question because we all simply gave our tithe to our local church. Today, however, we may be fed by any number of ministries through internet or television ministry. Do these ministries deserve a portion of your tithe too? Well, perhaps so. However, you can also reserve a gift for those ministries if you like. In other words, you could still give your whole tithe to the local church and send the other ministries that feed you a monthly gift. Some ministers teach not to split up your tithe. Personally, I am alright with it. I do feel we have a responsibility to the church we attend every week but I also think there is something fundamentally wrong with us feeding off of a ministry and never providing any substance back to that ministry. Take this question to the Lord in prayer but don’t be so bound by tradition that you cannot hear His leading.

What about setting up an auto payment? You have probably heard some ministers teach not to set up your tithe on auto payment. Their reasoning is very good but at the end of the day I have reasons which for me are more compelling for using an auto-payment function. One of the key reasons some folks don’t want you to use auto-pay is because your tithe and your gifts and offerings should always be purposeful. In other words, we should be engaged with God over our giving. Every time I give something to the work of the Lord I want to be engaged emotionally and intentionally in that transaction. That can be hard while using bill pay. Besides being purposeful, our giving should also always be done prayerfully. Again, this can be difficult if you use an auto payment feature. One thing you can do, though, is set up your bill pay so that it sends you an email when that payment is about to go out. Pray over that gift then. It might not be as perfect as sitting down and writing checks but I think it will work.

The real advantage to the auto-pay feature is that you don’t forget. This is a big deal for me because I travel a lot. I don’t want to get two months down the road and realize I have forgotten to send in my tithe. So whether I am on the road or in town, I know my tithe, gifts and offerings are going to be sent on time.

One other thought. I really do believe in tithes and offerings. I never give only ten percent. That doesn’t make me special. I am just more desperate for God’s blessing in my life than some other folks. Sometimes, though, when we set up our tithe on auto-pay, we disengage mentally from the whole process. That is the thing I would not have you do. I want us to all be conscious every day about what the Father is speaking to us about giving. He might have a gift He wants you to sow today that has nothing to do with your regular giving. So, my bottom line is this: first, whatever Dad tells you to do relative to who you give to, how much you give (above the tithe) or the delivery method, you should do. I strongly believe this should be something you do with the father. Secondly, if any of the technological conveniences cause you to be disengaged in this process, then I suggest abandoning them. I personally hate to miss a month, especially when I know some ministry is counting on my regular monthly contribution but you can make it up next month if you do make a mistake. Don’t mishear me. I am not saying it is okay to miss a month. I am just saying that if you do, send double next month or send a check the moment you realize. It is important for your giving to be done purposefully and prayerfully. I don’t want your bank account tithing. I want you tithing. So, if you set up your bill pay and then forget it, disengaging in an activity that should be done mindfully, then take it out of bill pay and go back to the old fashion ways.

Lastly, if you have more questions, you may use the comment function of this devotion to post your question or click here to go to our Ask Ivey webpage and ask your question there. We would love to hear from you and you will get a personal response from me. Your question might even inspire another Word of the Day because if you are thinking it, so are other folks.

Check-up

Luke 6: 46

And why do you call Me “Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I say?

I have this verse highlighted in my Bible and every now and again it just jumps out at me. I kind of wish I had not highlighted it. Then again, it is a good question the Lord Jesus poses and one that is worthy of repeated consideration. How am I doing, today, at following his words?

I am not the only Christian who stumbles here. It is quite easy to settle into a comfortable, if a bit apathetic, routine with the Lord. We are supposed to zealously follow Jesus but it is difficult to retain that zeal on a day by day basis if we are not purposeful about it. The world and life intervene. There are many things we must do and it is so easy for that myriad of obligations and just daily life to take our eyes off of our first love. Then we have to wake ourselves up and look at our priorities. When that event occurs, I think the question we must ask ourselves is, “Am I truly doing what Jesus said?” It seems to me that this question must be answered at two levels. The first and most obvious as well as most important is, “Am I doing all that is recorded in the Bible?” Some people might ask that question differently to essentially limit the assessment to the red letter portion of the New Testament. I believe that to be error because Jesus is the Word. He is the whole Word so when the Bible says in the Psalms to trust the Lord that is every bit as strong an edict as something printed in red ink. So, are we, am I, doing all that Jesus has directed me to do in the Bible?

The second inquiry is into those things God has specifically spoken into my life. Am I following the dietary instruction He has given me? Am I following the course He has laid out for me? Did I give what He told me to give? Did I apologize to that person He told me to apologize to? Basically, this question represents the directions God has given to you pertaining directly to your life.

How are you doing? This is a challenging process but it helps us get back on track if we have slipped a little and it helps us refocus on whom we actually serve as our Lord. As Jesus says, if I am not following what He has told me to do, then how can I really say He is my Lord? It hurts a bit to realize how disobedient I have been but oh, it feels so much better once I realize the truth and apologize to Jesus. We get to start again and he holds no grudge. He is so good.

So, give yourself a check-up. Regardless of the answers, it really does bring life and light into your life and we all need that.

Be a blessing & Be blessed

Proverb 10: 22

It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich , and He adds no sorrow to it.

I wrote yesterday that the fastest way to bless yourself is to pray for those in leadership positions above you. Frankly, you ought to be praying for those people in the organization who are below you too but that topic is for another day.

Do you know it is okay to be blessed? Even financially? Well, think about it. Who should be the most blessed, the kids of the King or the heathen unbelievers? There are a lot of components to being rich but it would be pure foolishness for me to suggest that financial wealth isn’t one of them. Dad wants you blessed in every area of your life. that, truly, is the only way you can be rich. You gotta have health, money, a great relationship with your heavenly father, and good friends. You are not, however, going to have these things if you don’t believe the father wants you to have them. If you think any part of the blessing is prohibited then you are going to choke off the flow. Believe it!

There is a reason Solomon wrote this verse. He conveyed two messages in it. First, wealth comes from the Father. Period. There are no qualifiers here. God is the Lord of the blessing. He is the one who sends the blessing to you. Secondly, Yahweh means for you to have the blessing and to be rich without guilt. He is the one who blesses you. What reason would you have to feel guilt over what the Father is doing?

Here is the point I want to get to though. As we saw in yesterday’s devotion, the way to be blessed is to bless. If you will hold up your leaders to the Lord, praying for them and refraining from speaking negatively, then good will come. Now, here is the rest of the secret. The remainder of the blessing comes on the same highway. Father God is the Lord of provision. No doubt about that. He has warehouses full of provision with your name on it. The easiest and the best way to requisition what He has already laid up for you is to give to someone else? Be a blessing and be blessed. That’s how this thing works. “That’s crazy!” you say. Yep! It is. The Kingdom of God does not work the way the world does and that actually makes sense too. The world has been perverted, which means it has been twisted where it just doesn’t work any longer the way it was designed to work. So, knowing that, you really wouldn’t expect the world and the Kingdom to work the same way. The secret is in knowing how the Kingdom works and applying those procedures. That is why I am telling you this, so that you can apply the Kingdom principles and get yourself blessed. Doesn’t that sound great?

Bottom line? If you want to be blessed, be a blessing. Kinda weird, very cool, but most importantly, it works.

The Way of Wisdom

Proverb 11: 11

By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.

So, yesterday was election day in the United States. Job done, right? No way. No matter what country you live in, registering your vote is the smallest part of the job. You can bless your city, country or province or you can curse it. Which shall it be?

Most of us do not understand the power we have as Christians to bring blessing everywhere we go. By our blessing, we are also blessed and this is no clearer than in the administration of government. Whether your candidate won or not, the real job begins now. We are taught to pray for our leaders, “First of all, I encourage you to make petitions, prayers, intercessions, and prayers of thanks for all people, for rulers, and for everyone who has authority over us. Pray for these people so that we can have a quiet and peaceful life always lived in a godly and reverent way. This is good and pleases God our Savior” (1 Timothy 2: 1 – 3). What this means is that we should be praying for every leader of every organization we are members of including our churches. Why? We make our lives a whole lot better if we do. In the book of Acts, “They had the disciples in each church choose spiritual leaders, and with prayer and fasting they entrusted the leaders to the Lord in whom they believed” (Acts 14: 23). These people entrusted their leaders to the Lord Jesus and we must do the same. This would be our spiritual leaders, of course, but also our bosses, presidents, governors, the president of the PTA, the leader of the Bible Study and every other person you can think of who is in a leadership position. It is the Lord Jesus who gives us all the grace to do whatever we are called to do. He is what makes a great leader. And if you are involved in choosing a leader for your organization or for a government office the best thing you can do is to pray. Some people pray for their candidate to win but after the election is over, that is when the prayer is most needed. No matter who wins, they are not qualified to lead. Only Jesus is fully qualified so we need all of our leaders following him. We need all of our leaders blessed and ministered to by him. I don’t care who the person is, it is almost immaterial. The key is for that person be able to hear the leading of the Holy Spirit.

We like to elect Christians to political office but a Christian who does not hear and listen to the voice of God will be just as lost in the fog as a non-Christian. We need people in all of our organizations who can, and will, hearken to the voice of the Lord. If an unsaved person was elected in your jurisdiction, then you will want to begin to pray for that person’s soul. I don’t mean that you should begin praying condemnation prayers over them. I mean you should pray compassion prayers for them. Pray for them like they were your only child. We all need a touch from Jesus. They are no different from us in that respect. Even if the individual is a person of God, don’t you think they will be tried and tested? Of course they will and they need our support every day. By your blessing of them, you will be blessed.

You can speak ill of your leaders or you can speak well of them and pray for them. If you constantly run down your boss, your political leaders and your church leaders, what do you suppose you will get? Remember, words are power containers. You are going to end up unhappy and oppressed. Then who are you going to blame? You are going to get what you sow. Therefore, pray for everyone who in anyway provides leadership in your life. Pray and curse not. This is the way of wisdom.

And while you are at it, pray for me too. It is only when God speaks through my fingertips and keyboard that I have anything valid to say and to send to you, so pray for me and I promise I will pray for you.

False Feeling

2 Corinthians 5: 7

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

As I apply this verse to my own life I say, “I walk by nothing which is not of faith.” In application “sight” certainly would refer to physical sight but we also speak of seeing things other than with our physical eyes. Someone explains a matter and we say, “I see that.” These kinds of sightings, it would seem to me, must stand up to the test of faith as well. I know for myself one of the most deceptive signs for me to follow is my feelings. They are often wrong. I do not deny the expression of emotion, not by any means. I just mean to say that I must still put feelings and emotions to the test of faith and the word.

One epiphany of this principle came to me shortly after I had some minor surgery on my shoulder. The surgeon put the stitches under the skin which was great because there is no scarring. A couple of weeks after the surgery, though, those sutures started dissolving and when they did, they would pop. When the first one popped my eyes probably got as big as saucers. I had no idea what it was other than a bit painful. I thought something might be wrong which was especially bad because I was out of town at the time. The sutures continued to pop one after one. I was beginning to get a little concerned about it because I didn’t know what was happening. Finally, though, I figured it out. Then I could relax as they continued to dissolve. I learned from that experience, though, that a feeling, whether an emotional feeling or even a physical one, can be misleading. I was beginning to think something was wrong in my shoulder when it was actually the healing continuing.

That is the way it is with life. Sometimes we get emotionally charged over something and can easily misinterpret the signs. I learned from the false feelings in my shoulder that I need to follow God by faith rather than simply following my feelings. God has made us many promises and the Bible has revealed many truths. We are given opportunities all of the time to choose what evidence we will follow. Are we going to trust the words Jesus gave us or are we going to believe the 6:00 news? Which one is going to inform our decisions and subsequent actions? I am telling you that you can have emotional or even physical feelings in your body that are just plain wrong. Just like I thought that popping in my shoulder evidenced a problem it is easy to be misled by these false guides.

There is only one safe trail leader, that is the Holy Spirit of God. He will never lead you astray. Whatever is going on in your life, whatever emotions you are experiencing, you can check them out with the Holy Spirit. He will guide you into all truth. That is good news in these confusing times. Trust the Word, trust the Lord. Let faith in God guard and protect you.

Holy, Holy, Holy

Exodus 28: 36

Holy to the Lord.

You probably recognize this verse as coming from the epic tale of the Israelites escape from captivity in Egypt and ultimate arrival in the promised land. Aaron was Moses’ brother and the first High Priest of Israel. His appointment and consecration to his office was met with solemnity and formality. This marked the beginning of the priesthood of Israel. God set out exactly what the priest’s attire was to be. One of the things God ordained was that a medallion of pure gold was to be engraved with the words, “Holy to the Lord” upon it. This medallion was to be affixed to the center of the turban that the High Priest was to wear. Everyone, therefore, who encountered Aaron would be met first by these defining words.

It is noteworthy that God did not have these words engraved on a ring, a necklace or any other adornment. The words, “Holy to the Lord” were worn right in the center of Aaron’s forehead. Kings and Queens wear and carry many symbols of their office and of power. None is more poignant, though, than the crown. There is something about crowning a person’s head that seems to produce a greater message than anything else. That is why it seems significant that God chose the forehead of the priest for this telling message. Think of this too, if you look at yourself in the mirror, do you not almost always see your head? You may not see much of the rest of your body but most often the image of your head is reflected back to you. So, imagine what Aaron looked upon every time he saw himself.

So, you are waiting for the parity of this verse to your life, aren’t you? Well, I say that “Holy to the Lord” is emblazoned on your forehead as well. I honestly believe that every one who can see in the spiritual realm, including demons, sees that you have been marked as a highly valued member of the royal family. We know that there will be a time when people will be pressured to take the mark of the beast upon themselves but there are verses in the Bible which tell us that we have already been marked by and for God (Ephesians 4: 30 Amp). We are His and His alone and I think you can take great comfort in that. I want you to see even more than that though. I want you to see in the reflection in your mirror, “Holy to the Lord”. Every time you look in the mirror to put on your make-up or shave, the words “Holy to the Lord” should shine back at you. You are holy and precious. It is right there, as plain as the nose on your face.