Wheat and Weeds

  Wheat and Weeds

The apostle Paul writing to Timothy states,

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  

They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." 2Timothy 4:3,4.

We especially those of us who live in the western democracies where freedom of speech is a right, are living in the times the apostle Paul is talking about. True freedom of speech allows for people to say anything they wish provided it doesn’t hurt anyone.

Thus when it comes to the interpretation of Scripture we have people who deliberately misinterpret it. Usually for personal gain. 

Jesus speaks of these people in this parable.

In the gospel of Matthew we read,

"Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.  

But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.  

When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 

"The owner's servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?' 

" ‘An enemy did this,' he replied. "The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?' 

" ‘No,' he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them.  

Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' Matthew 13:24-30.

Thus it will be for those preachers, evangelist, teachers and anyone that deliberately mislead people. They will be burned up.

This should be a chilling thought for anyone who would wish to deliberately misinterpret the word of God and lead people astray.

Please think about it.

A duty to pray

 A duty to pray

Jesus said,

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  

Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:11,12.

I don’t know why God allows those who believe in Him to be persecuted but they are.

That being said I believe it is the duty of all Christians, especially those of us who live in countries where we have the freedom to worship the way we wish, to pray for the persecuted and imprisoned Christians around the world.

Do you pray for brothers and sisters in Christ that are persecuted?

If you want to know more about the persecuted church around the world look up Open doors ministries. An organization that helps the persecuted church around the world.

And please remember to pray each day for those Christians. Those followers of Christ Jesus who do not have the freedom to worship God the way they wish.

Please don’t just think about it. Do it. 

Where, why, and how

  Where, why and how

The Psalmist writes,

Praise the LORD. 

Praise God in his sanctuary; 

praise him in his mighty heavens. 

Praise him for his acts of power; 

praise him for his surpassing greatness. 

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,

 praise him with the harp and lyre, 

praise him with tambourine and dancing, 

praise him with the strings and flute, 

praise him with the clash of cymbals, 

praise him with resounding cymbals. 

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. 

Praise the LORD. 

                                 Psalm 150.

The above Psalm tells believers where and why we must praise God.

Where do we praise Him?

In His sanctuary.

In the heavens.

Why do we Praise God?

For his acts of power.

For his surpassing greatness.

How do we praise God?

With trumpet, harp, lyre, tambourine, dancing. 

With stringed instruments, flute, cymbals.

With every breath we have.

Are you doing this?

Please think about it.

Tell God you love Him

  Tell God you love Him. 

The Psalmist writes,

I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; 

I will tell of all your wonders. 

I will be glad and rejoice in you;

 I will sing praise to your name, O Most High." 

                                                                                   Psalm 9:1,2.

Part of being a Christian a true follower of Christ Jesus is praising God. Sadly many Christians don’t do this outside of Church. They may listen to worship music but they don’t worship. They simply listen.

Why not take some time right now to worship God? Why not tell God you love Him?

Please think about it.

Is your life an instrument ?

  Is your life an instrument?

The Psalmist writes,

"I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; before the "gods" I will sing your praise.” Psalm 138:1.

I live in Canada a country with incredible freedoms. It is also like most countries full of “gods”. We in the twenty-first century may not call them gods but they are. 

The way I see it a god can be anything we put our unwavering trust in. 

In Luke’s Gospel we read,

"And he (Jesus) told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.  

He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 

"Then he said, ‘This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  

And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ' 

"But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' 

"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." Luke 12:16-21.

This man in the parable made his possessions his god. He was relying on them to provide for him in the years ahead. They however proved to be an empty god.

On the day he passed from this life all that he had in this world was worthless. 

I believe it is important as a believer in Christ Jesus to openly worship God. That doesn’t mean we should go yelling His name from the roof tops, as good an idea as it might be. Instead however we should be worshipping God in word and deeds.

Francis of Assisi wrote,

"Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love,

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life." 

                                                                              Francis of Assisi

So is your life an instrument of Gods Love?

Please think about it.

Of Note

 Of Note

Jesus said,

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’” Matthew 25:44-45.

Here’s a warning to Christians but in general to all who have the ability to help the poor. Jesus makes it clear helping the poor is part of serving God.

It has always been my belief that if you are a true Christian you cannot turn away from the needs of the poor.

Our faith in Christ Jesus compels us to help anyone we can.

Please think about it.

Lending to The Lord

 Lending to The Lord

In the book of Proverbs we read,

 “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.” Proverbs 19:17.

I think individuals have to be careful here. I’ve heard people say “well I’m giving to the poor so God will bless me two, four, ten times what I give. Nothing could be further from the truth.

When we give we should remember the words of Jesus who said,

"Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 

"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.  

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:1-4.

We must give secretly first of all. Not only that I firmly believe we must give with a good conscience not expecting any return on what we give. We must give because we want to, because we believe it is the right thing. With no expectation of reward.

So, why do you give?

Please think about it. 

A righteous man knows

  A righteous man knows

In the book of proverbs we read,

"A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge." Proverbs 29:7.

I don’t think you can be a true Christian if you don’t know the rights of the poor. 

All to often I’ve heard both from outside and inside the church people who call the poor lazy. This is not the case. There are a lot of reasons someone is poor. These range from mental health issues, to lack of education, drug addiction, to poor choices in life. The list of why a person is poor is seemingly endless. 

Never-the-less the poor have rights. Even someone who is not a Christian has to agree that everyone on the planet has basic human rights. The right to enough food. The right to fresh water. The right to a safe home. The right to good medical care.

I believe that people who deny these basic human rights will one day answer to God for their actions, especially those with political power who have the ability to provide these things.

I think it is therefor imperative that we as Christians. We as believers in Christ Jesus, do all we can to help the poor.

If you consider yourself a Christian are you doing what you can to help the poor?

When was the last time you seen a homeless person on the street and at least slipped them some of your spare change?

Please think about it.

The poor and you

  The poor and you

In the book of Leviticus we read,

“If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you.” Leviticus 25:35.

Simply put. God cares for the poor and wants to use us to help those who are “Poor and cannot maintain himself...”

In Deuteronomy we read, “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.” Deuteronomy 15:11.

We are to support the poor if we are able. That’s not to say the poor should not do anything to help themselves. They should. That being said people are poor for a myriad of reasons. Mental health problems, lack of education, poor paying jobs, addiction problems the list goes on and on.

As individuals we may not be able to help a great deal but we can all give to food banks and agencies that support the poor.

Also helping the poor doesn't just end with the individual. As Christians we should be contacting our government leaders. Telling them to help the poor by raising the minimum wage, building affordable housing, offering educational opportunities. 

Please think about it.

In a gentle and respectful manner

  In a gentle and respectful manner

The apostle Peter writes,

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." 1 Peter 3:15,16.

I am against the fire and brimstone preachers. I am against those who would as someone has said “scare them out of hell and into heaven”.

I say this because many non-Christians first of all do not believe in Hell. Secondly most non-Christians would tell you that they are a good person and therefore believe they are going to heaven.

That’s why we should at any given time be prepared to tell people what we believe and why we believe it. While at the same time respecting what they believe.

God gave each and every person a free will to do and believe what they wish. That freedom extends to not believing what Christians believe. Each individual has the right to even believe God does not exist.

The bottom line however for a Christian is that when asked about our faith we be ready and willing to tell people about it in a gentle and respectful manner.

Are you doing this?

Please think about it.

That they may glorify God

 That they may glorify God

The apostle Paul writes,

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  

For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.  1 Timothy 2:1-6.

Here the apostle Paul tells us to make requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving for everyone. For kings and those in authority.

Note here Paul dose not say pray and expect the governments agree with us. Remember we live in a largely non-Christian world. The governments of this world are for the most part secular or have as their base other faiths. There are no Christian governments in the world today.

The best I believe Christians can hope for is to live at peace with them. To live quiet lives of godliness and holiness so that we can present our beliefs to others.

The apostle Peter tells us,

“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” 1 Peter 2:11,12.

Are you doing this?

Please think about it.

Correctly handling

  Correctly handling

The apostle Paul writes,

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2Timothy 2:15.

So the question is are you doing your best to present the word of God correctly?

Do you question the preachers, evangelist, or teachers you listen to?

Do you take their word that what they are saying is correct, inerrant? 

I firmly believe that there is only one way to know if what we are presenting as Gods word is correct and that is by prayer, bible study, and having a multitude of council.

We need not only to listen to those we agree with us but to listen to those we disagree with. When someone disagrees with what we believe we need to ask ourselves “why to they believe that way” “am I right in my beliefs or are they?”

We need also to gather around us study bibles. We also need study books that agree and disagree with what we believe. Again asking the question, is what I believe right or wrong?

But above all we need to realize the only true source of all Christian knowledge comes from the Bible and anyone who dose not agree with it is not a Christian.

So are you studying the Bible? 

Are you doing your best to correctly handle the word of God?

Please think about it.