Gifts left unwrapped

I wonder how often as Christians we receive answers to prayers and requests, and then we end up not accepting God's special assistance and intervention.

We ask.

God offers help.

We pass.

Wisdom not accepted, divine guidance not acted on, warnings not heeded, opportunities not taken.

I have both seen personally and heard others tell me of times they have prayed for someone else, either for spiritual awakening or financial and relationship help, and then we see those prayers answered in some way. A renewed interest in spiritual things, a second chance at a relationship, or an opportunity providing a way out of the financial trouble they are in.

But before long, the interest wanes, the chances are squandered, and opportunities get missed.

What happened?

And just as importantly: Is this happening in my own life as well? Am I getting answers to prayer and then not recognizing or ignoring the advice, squandering my temporary financial relief by relaxing a little rather than using it to improve my situation?

And for those times that we pray for others, and then see the answers come to them, is there anything we can do to keep God's gifts from amounting to nothing?

Have others seen this same effect or am I imagining things?

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From Morris Venden's "Life's Little Instuction Manual"

1. Above all else, love God alone.
2. Bow down to neither wood nor stone.
3. God’s name, refuse to take in vain.
4. The Sabbath rest with care maintain.
5. Respect your parents all your days.
6. Hold sacred human life always.
7. Be loyal to your chosen mate.
8. Steal nothing, either small or great.
9. Speak truly of your neighbor’s deed.
10 Rid your mind of selfish greed.

Everybody does it

"Everybody does it" can sometimes lull us into complacency about the higher calling we are called to. God expects us to be different, in places calling us his "strange and peculiar people" and "the salt of the earth"

Some areas we might be lax:

* Fudging or cheating on our tax reporting
* Our language
* Speeding
* pre-marital sexual relations
* watching inappropriate material
* downloading pirated songs or movies
* keeping the change if a clerk makes a mistake

Why do these "Little things" matter? They matter because if we are no different from others in the world, then we don't represent the change that Christ brings about. Often Christianity is discarded as an option when those who might otherwise be seeking have been exposed to Christians who showed them there is no difference. As Christians we are representatives of Christ, and when we are shown to be dishonest, poor at repayment of debts, given to adultery, using "that's business" as an excuse to be hard-nosed or greedy, then we don't represent Christ at all, and we convince others that Chistians have nothing special, or worse, that we use our Christianity as license to do as we please.

So next time you think "Everybody else does it" just remember, we're not everybody else. We're called to be different.

Selling your birthright for a bowl of porridge

In these tough economic times, some people are being forced to sell possessions on craigslist or kijiji etc. for less than they paid for the items initially. Furniture, computers, electronics, the "extra" vehicle, all are being considered as a way to make it through the month, making the rent and credit card payments.

But what went into those credit cards? Fast food, coffee drinks, a night at the movies, snacks and impulse stuff. In the end we may have to sell something valuable and more important to pay for our poor impulsive decisions to buy a "bowl of porridge" (Juice instead of water, snacks at high prices at the gas station, movies instead of waiting for the DVD or better yet, reading a book or enjoying family time)

I don't mean to cheapen the traditional moral of that story, which is that we should be careful not to trade away things eternal for the frivolous "now", but the real-life economic metaphor can perhaps serve as a reinforcement of that same principle.

Kids and Faith

As parents we learn to never take on a conflict with our children unless we are sure we're going to win. Unless we're willing to follow through with the punishment or other measures the child needs for training on a certain issue, then we avoid the conflict; otherwise we might be "training" our children that they can get away with inappropriate behavior.
As a young parent I tended to apply the same principle to faith, but I now think that was a mistake. Usually, if I didn't think there was a strong chance that a payer would be answered "yes", I kept my prayer requests private and didn't involve the kids. In a few cases even prayers I fully expected to get a "yes" ended in disappointment and I worried it would hurt my children's faith, but it hasn't.
When discussing discouragement and a seemingly unanswered prayer with my now much older 17 year old son, he said "You're looking at it wrong, God isn't some prayer vending machine where you always get what you asked for." I see that faith is strong in all three of my children; they often turn immediately to prayer in the face of dangers and perplexities. I now wish that I had included the kids more often when they were younger in our family's prayer requests. I think it would have given them an even richer prayer life experience, and more data points in which they could see that God often allows the events of life to take their course, even with prayer, but finds a way to take care of us in other ways that make everything okay, even if He didn't intervene in the way we'd expected or hoped.
A sick cousin, Taylor, who dies and is not healed, and yet maybe got an extension on her life and had a greater bonding and parental relationship than most kids get in a lifetime. A car wreck that happens even though special attention was put on prayer for safety for that trip, and yet no one was seriously hurt in the head-on collision.
Not to say that God doesn't directly intervene and provide the miracle we would have wanted, but more often in my experience God finds a way to make things work out anyway. And I think now that those initial disappointments followed by discoveries of divine assistance is not something we should protect our children from, but rather an important part of developing their young faith.
There is a value in putting our hopes in the Lord, regardless of the outcome, and teaching our children to put their hopes in the Lord will be a strength to them their entire lives.

One hundred percent

Giving 100%, nothing held back, will open the floodgates of blessings from heaven. So many Christians do the equivalent of dipping their toe in the water but don't just jump in and go for it. They fully intend to "someday" but convince themselves that they are doing pretty good by choosing one thing to work on, and use that one thing as a distraction from having to feel guilty about whatever it is that they are holding back.

A 100%-er is someone who has no sin they are unwilling to give up. A 100%-er is someone who gives their whole heart to God, imperfections and all, nothing held back. They say:

"God I give you my life. Wherever you may lead I give you full reign of the events of my life. I give you my abilities, my hopes, my past present and my future. I give you my health, my family, my finances, my fears. I give you my sins and weaknesses, my strengths and talents. I give you all who have wronged me and forgive them. I give you all that I have ever done wrong and ask forgiveness. I give you my possessions and means, my ideas and imagination. Whatever is your will in my life, I trust you with it."

It is so liberating to have nothing held back, to know that although you have a road yet to travel, that as of right now you are "right" with God, and knowing that no matter how bad things get, you can trust that God will guide your path so that you can have a worry-free life regardless of your circumstances. God is the same God who blessed Job and made him very wealthy. The same God who gave Solomon all his famous riches. God will probably not make you wealthy in a monetary sense, but he will take care of you so that you will lack nothing, and make you wealthy in the abiding presence of the holy spirit.

Another wonderful thing about being a 100%-er. You get to participate in the miracles of God. People love to hear about miracles and God's intervention. By becoming a 100%-er you'll be joining His inner circle, and some pretty amazing things happen there. Not all the time, not instantly, but you will be where the "action" is, and it can be very fulfilling to be in God's inner circle. Just remember that Paul prayed three times asking God about his "thorn in the flesh" which the devil was pestering Paul about. Finally the third time God gave him an answer. The miraculous and direct answers from God will still be the exception, and may never become commonplace, but if you're going to be a Christian, being a 100%-er is definitely the place to be.

If you are part of a church group, a sign of a 100%-er is that they will be an active worker and contributor, not just another person sitting in the audience.

Catching the Sin Bug

When we hear about how we have a sinful nature and how we can't be good, it's easy to feel helpless and wonder, "so why even try?" But let's consider an analogy to a very similar weakness we have: the common cold.

Let's think about this - it's almost cliche' to refer to "finding the cure for the common cold". Truth is, with a normal immune system we always get over it, thus it's "cured", but the old cliche' is referring to wiping out the common cold altogether so that we never catch it again. 

Well, that cure has not been found (and as a side note, our body's continual battle with a potential cold keeps us stronger, so that we're actually better off with colds than if they didn't exist. It's also a way to make us slow down once in a while when we've overworked ourselves to a weakened state.) 

And so far, neither has the cure for sin. But just like we can be healthy and without a cold, so we can be sin-free. Lest someone is inclined to disagree, think about it - can you keep from sinning for a while, say while attending church or while in prayer? Sure you can. And you can go even longer than that. You don't have to feel helplessly addicted to sin, and you can be sin-free for periods of time. Just as everyone will get a cold again some time, so we will all sin again sometime. 

But just as we can take measures to protect against a cold, so also we can take steps to avoid sin. Funny thing is, some of the steps ARE EXACTLY THE SAME. You are much more likely to sin in a weakened state, such as lack of sleep, too much sugar, overworked to exhaustion, or exposure to those already sick (peer pressure to sin). 

We can prioritize rest, maintain a healthy diet, and surround ourselves with people who uplift and encourage us. We can choose to live a life that honors God and pursue righteousness even though we'll sometimes need a little help.