Can You Relate?

 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me
welcomes the one who sent me.”

 

-- Matthew 10:40

We've all done it once or twice, and some people tend to do it more than others.

It's name-dropping, or suggesting that we have a relationship with a celebrity, politician or other notable personality. It's a favorite sport at parties, and sometimes it's useful at job interviews because it can create familiarity and connection.

Name-dropping can also be annoying, but it's OK to brag a bit about a relationship

with the right person. In the Bible, this is actually encouraged. After all, Christianity is a faith that embraces relationship over religion. Specifically, there's a parent/child relationship between us and God. And it's a bond that's only made possible through Jesus' substitutionary death on the cross -- a punishment we all rightly deserve for our lifetimes marked by personal failures and shortcomings (also known as "sin"). But since we're connected with the right person (Jesus), he's already paid the price to save us from a certain death and eternal separation from God.

  

That's the primary relationship we enjoy as Christ-followers. But God also wants us to make relationships with others. That means introducing them to Jesus, sharing his story and relating how his death on the cross means a whole new life now -- and later in eternity.

How can we get the ball rolling? One of the best ways is to pray for people by name. They can be family members, co-workers, neighbors, political leaders, the unsaved -- and particularly our enemies. After that, don't be surprised if God opens up the circumstances where we become the answer to someone's prayer.

Jesus set our example when he sent 12 of his followers to the nearby Jewish communities to spread the Good News (the Gospel):

"Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel," he told them. "As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give."

Here was a time Jesus instructed his followers to be the answer to someone's fervent prayers in the midst of difficulties and pain -- and all while using their connection with him to do the seemingly impossible. As the saying goes, it's not always what you know that counts in life. It's who you know that makes all the difference.

Seek First

I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens, when I have enough to eat and when I go hungry, when I have more than I need and when I do not have enough.

-- Philippians 4:12

The story goes that a reporter once interviewed a billionaire and marveled at the rich man's ability to amass wealth. "Just how much money is enough?" the reporter inquired. 

"Just a little bit more," replied the billionaire.

Whether you're rich, living from paycheck to paycheck or somewhere in between, a little bit more always seems to be the remedy for life's dissatisfactions. Rather than In God We Trust, perhaps America's national motto should be Supersize It.

God has blessed us with a nation of incredible wealth. Even our poor and unemployed could be considered rich by the standards of most of the world. Yet an epidemic of discontentment tends

to blind us to this fact. The more possessions we gather and the higher we climb on the corporate ladder, the more disillusioned and unfulfilled we become. And rather than thanking God for his blessings and making the most of them, we wonder (often aloud) if this is all there is to life.

This disease of discontentment has some nasty symptoms. Those afflicted with the malady often turn to alcohol, drugs, illicit relationships and gambling to ease the self-inflicted pain. Things might get better for a while. But the hunger returns soon enough.

This problem is hardly new. And it's not confined to the United States or even Western society. In fact, the Bible addressed the issues of greed and discontentment centuries ago. And its advice is as valid today as it was back then:

First, consider how God has blessed you. It could involve your family, career, health, friends ... just count the ways. Then, stop trying to compare what you have with your neighbor's possessions. Advertising agencies prosper when they convince you that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. But don't forget that someone else is probably wishing they could enjoy just one or two of your blessings!

Contentment isn't something that we can get by buying a new car, moving into a bigger house or landing that job with the corner office. Rather, it’s an internal source of fulfillment and comfort acquired by knowing our Savior and living out the abundant life he's purchased for us.

It's really all about Jesus. A growing relationship with him renders contentment because there's nothing bigger, better or more necessary. Comparisons fall away and material things lose their luster. What was once so important soon fades into obscurity.

Does this sound simplistic or too good to be true? A whole new life is just inches away: It's the distance between our head and our heart. And we’re all free to accept Jesus' grand offer and grow in contentment.

"Seek first God's kingdom and what God wants," he tells us through Matthew's gospel. "Then all your other needs will be met as well."

Best Laid Plans

We are ruined by our own stupidity, though we blame the Lord.

-- Proverbs 19:3

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray,” wrote Scottish poet Robert Burns. And no matter how well we prepare, “stuff happens.” When it does, it can lead to disappointment — or much worse. Just ask the Coca-Cola executives about their disastrous product known as New Coke.

Back in the 1970s and 80s, Coca-Cola and Pepsi were engaged in an intense conflict to win the hearts, minds and taste buds of American consumers. The press dubbed the companies’ marketing efforts The Cola Wars.

The Pepsi Challenge is probably the best-known battle of the conflict. It was a

series of TV commercials depicting head-to-head taste test comparisons between the two colas. Time after time, Pepsi was the people’s choice. And within a few years, Pepsi’s sales overtook Coke’s, which lead to one of the greatest marketing blunders of all time: the reformulation of tried-and-true Coca-Cola into New Coke.

Consumers weren’t convinced. And after plummeting sales and more than 400,000 letters of complaint, Coke’s executives admitted their mistake, reintroduced the beverage’s original formula (called Coca-Cola Classic) and eventually won back their audience. Today, Coke is the king of colas with a nearly 18% market share. Meanwhile, Pepsi’s share has dropped over the last decade from 10.3% to 8.4%.

We all make plans that result in varying degrees of success or failure. And we’ve also felt from time to time like our circumstances have gotten out of hand. Maybe you feel like that today — and for good reason. But believe it or not, God is in control of the situation. 

This is a fundamental truth that every Christ-follower should embrace. One reason that we don't feel his control is because we can't see the big picture. We don’t know the life-changing people and situations that he’ll introduce to the mix. We also don’t have his vantage point of knowing what’s around the corner and miles up the road. Moreover, it’s hard for us to see a greater purpose in our lives when we're going through the pain of unemployment, lingering illness, family problems or even death. But God is in control. And for those who trust and follow him, he offers this assurance:

"Before I made you in your mother's womb, I chose you,” says our Creator. “Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Have your best-laid plans led to frustration and depression? Don’t lose hope. God knows what we need — and he knows it long before we ask him for help. And when our plans align with his purpose, success is on the horizon.  

Our Backs to the Wall

Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary.
Be strong and do the work.

-- 1 Chronicles 28:10

About 200 years before Jesus’ birth, construction began on the world’s largest man-made structure. The Great Wall of China, which stretches across Asia, was built to protect the Chinese dynasties against invading semi-nomadic people known to cross into the land and steal just about anything of value.

The wall’s completion was an incredible engineering feat, even by today’s

standards. After all, transporting large amounts of building materials was essentially impossible in a time before 18-wheelers, cranes and excavators. The solution was a reliance on locally-accessed resources such as stone from the mountainous regions. In some remote desert areas with few available building materials, the Great Wall was formed with soil pressed between wood, which was bound with woven mats.

Work on the wall continued into the 1600s. The result was a 4,000-mile-long monstrosity that — at its peak — was guarded by more than a million soldiers. Historians estimate that 2-3 million workers died over the centuries of construction and repair. And was it worth the immense cost and effort? For the most part…yes. Indeed, The Great Wall of China generally succeeded in repelling invaders. However, in 1644, the Manchus crossed through (but not over) the massive barrier when a Ming border general who disliked the ruling Shun Dynasty simply opened the wall’s gates. The capital city of Beijing soon fell into the enemy’s hands.

Tragedy struck when a lone individual failed to protect the heart of their great nation. Likewise, Christ-followers have a duty to protect their hearts and minds from invasive influences that can wreak havoc on their souls. That’s an important concept because what we expose our heart to is what flows out of it. Let’s consider this admonition from the apostle Paul to the believers at the church in Ephesus:

“Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil,” he wrote. “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit …”

As Christ-followers, we have a duty to make the most what God gives us each day. Let’s recognize that we'll have no neutral opportunities. Moreover, it’s how we approach life that determines how we experience it.

Be Prepared

So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

-- Matthew 24:44

On December 22, 2018, a tsunami (“tidal wave”) struck Indonesia. Casualties included more than 400 people killed and about 1,500 injured.

It was nearly 14 years earlier that a similar natural disaster struck the region. December 26, 2004, began innocently enough, with families enjoying the morning on tropical Asian beaches. Suddenly, a magnitude 9.3 earthquake, as powerful as 23,000 Hiroshima-style atomic bombs, struck near the island of Sumatra. The resulting tsunami rose to the height of an 8-story building and struck 11 nations along the Indian Ocean. More than 200,000 people died.

Seismic equipment had detected and recorded the massive earthquake. However,

for both the 2004 and 2018 events, Indonesia had no working tidal gauges to spot a tsunami. But warning signs were there. And most of the victims either didn’t recognize them, heed them or have time to react. They were completely unprepared.

Disasters, whether natural or man-made, happen every day. They’re often unpredictable. And there’s no guarantee for saving ourselves, our family or property — even if we do recognize the warning signs. There are, however, signals for a much greater world-changing event that could happen at any moment. What’s more, we can begin our preparations right now.

God has promised us that one day, a Savior (Jesus) will return to right all the wrongs of this world, save and reward those who believe in Him, and send all others to an eternity of torment. No one knows the exact time or day that Christ will appear. But many of the related Bible prophesies have already been fulfilled, such as the re-birth of the State of Israel. There’s nothing to stop His Second Coming.

This means that Jesus could return in 5 minutes or in 500 years. But either way, we must be prepared. That’s because we don’t know when our time on Earth will cease. Check the headlines and you’re bound to find stories about people killed through accidents, from crime or by sudden illness (like a stroke or heart attack). Like the victims of the tragic 2018 and 2004 tsunamis, they had no idea that their time was up.

Here’s the obvious question: Are you prepared to meet your Maker? Your answer has eternal consequences. “So you also must be ready,” Jesus warns us, “because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Our God is a God of justice. And since we’ve all failed to live up to His high standards, we all deserve the death penalty that Jesus endured for us on the cross. If you’re not sure whether you’ll spend eternity with God or without Him, the Apostle Paul offers this guidance:

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

The signs are all around us … and disaster is on the way. But don’t panic. Instead, be prepared.

Rejoice!

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

-- Isaiah 12:3

There’s not much to feel happy about these days — at least according to the news media. But the truth is that billions around the world would do just about anything to trade places with us. That’s because even the poorest of the poor in the United States are considered rich (at least statistically) when compared with much of humanity.

Of course, poverty and wealth are relative terms. And they don’t respectively go hand-in-hand with misery and happiness. Money and possessions can be blessings, but having a big bank account is no guarantee of contentment. The 2018 Gallup Global Emotions poll seems to confirm this biblical truth. It revealed that Paraguay — a relatively poor nation — has a population with some of the most positive emotions in the world. And the peoples of other impoverished lands such as Ecuador, Guatemala and Uzbekistan follow close behind on the happy list. Meanwhile, Singapore — a nation with one of the highest per capita gross domestic products (GDP) — didn’t make the survey’s Top 10. Even the residents of El Salvador and Indonesia were more upbeat!

Regardless of what the marketers say, money and possessions

can’t buy joy and happiness. In fact, the Bible reveals that for many people, wealth can be a stumbling block to spiritual health. Rather than a reaction to something external, like a new car or a diamond ring, real joy is an internal source of gladness and thanksgiving that helps us see the true picture though the most difficult of circumstances. As Christ-followers, our relationship with Jesus grants us access to our Creator, a loving Father who hears our prayers and looks for ways to bless us. So no matter how bad things get in our lives, we already know that our ultimate story will end on a very positive note.

The life of the apostle Paul is a rich illustration of this important principle:  

“Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,” he wrote in 2 Corinthians. “I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.”

That doesn’t sound like a fun-filled existence. Yet Paul wrote that he was joyful.

With so much negativity in the world today, what’s the secret for achieving a joy-filled, Christ-centered life? The Bible tells us to blend thanksgiving for our blessings and authentic, regular prayer with discernment — the ongoing, intentional functions of living, thinking and acting positively. Christ-followers must habitually look for the good and dwell on the positive.

When we have lives that are filled with joy, even the most unpleasant of circumstances can’t bring us down. Paul spent years in prison chained to his guards while under the constant threat of death. But he always prayed thankfully. And instead of feeling sorry for himself, he used his plight to change the lives of fellow prisoners and jailers alike — all while writing much of what we today know as the New Testament.

The human experience is often difficult, and many people feel that they have little to smile about. But Paul’s advice to weary Christ-followers remains both simple and profound:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

The Gift of Love

Give him a generous farewell gift from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Share with him some of the bounty with which the Lord your God has blessed you.

-- Deuteronomy 15:14

Christmas is just around the corner, but we shouldn't despair if we're still looking for that perfect gift for that someone special. After all, there are plenty of options, and a quick trip to Amazon.com will confirm it. But with money particularly tight these days for so many people, every purchase has to count. We need gifts that will make an impression. We need value. It comes down to getting bang-for-the-buck.

There's nothing wrong with trying to stretch a dollar. But maybe a gift's real

value has much more to do with the meaning and person behind it than its Low Everyday Walmart price.

That's certainly the case if we're to believe the Bible. So what does it say about the characteristics of a good gift? And more to the point, what does Scripture tell us about being a good gift-giver? We can find the answers through its vivid portrayals of Jesus related to the issues of living, relationships and love.

It's from Christ's example that we learn to give with an attitude of generosity: one that exceeds what we expect to receive. Our gifts should also affirm the value of the recipient. But most importantly, our gifts -- whatever they may be -- should be given out of love.

The Bible doesn't say that an Apple iPhone is a better gift than a bicycle or a sweater. But the same principles apply. And what we also learn is that when it comes to gift-giving, it really IS the thought that counts. (Your grandmother was right!)

Christmas is straight ahead ... and time is running out. But before we head to the mall, log onto Amazon.com or tune into the Home Shopping Network, let's follow the examples of Jesus, who was and is the ultimate gift-giver. His greatest present was the salvation he bought for us through his death on the cross. It was an incredibly valuable gift that we can never repay. It was also given out of love. And it's free and available to anyone who's willing to open the package.