What denies

James explained it first but Paul put it in bold-faced type in his letter to Titus.

Titus was left on the island of Crete to do some corrective work there. Leadership had to be placed and bad doctrine replaced. Paul didn't hold back in describing some of the troublemakers.

"They claim to know God," he wrote to Titus, "but by their actions they deny him." (Titus 1:16)

Strong words. I have rushed by them too many times but they grabbed my ankle this time. James warned us that our actions reveal our faith and Paul makes it clear that words aren't enough.

These people of Crete claimed to know God. But their actions denied him. Their actions didn't simply reveal their faith; in this case, they denied God by what they did.

That's a major disconnect and one we need to take seriously. By looking at my actions, I can know where my allegiance lies. If it's not where I want it to be, I need some strategic adjustments.

For just as the body without the spirit is dead,
so faith without works is also dead.
James 2:26

What God did

Yesterday, we saw how Mike wrestled with giving some of his income to orphans.

Mike started sending money the orphanage every month and the raise at work didn’t come immediately. He’d kind of been expecting that or maybe a gift from a generous uncle.

Instead, he had to drive a little less because he didn’t always have enough money for gas. He started walking to work and that’s when he met Serena. She was walking to the shop where she worked, close to his job, and, after a few weeks of walking together, he invited her to his youth group.

Two months later, she responded to an invitation to follow Jesus.

When Jenny sent out a new e-mail trying to get ideas for Christmas gifts for the orphans, Mike got a bright idea. He sold his iPod – surprisingly, it sold fast and for top dollar – and financed a special party with treats and gifts for all the orphans.

The photos Jenny sent ended up on his screensaver so he could watch the delighted kids whenever he used his computer. A crayon-colored thank-you letter from one of the little girls at the orphanage was stuck up on his wall beside his desk. He really liked the part where she said God had been good to her.

After a year, Mike still didn’t have his new Xbox. But, oddly, he didn’t care so much.

“Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” (2 Cor 9:13)

Saving up

Mike was expecting a raise at work. He’d done all they had asked but his boss told him that business was slow and he’d have to wait for a raise.

He was still stewing about how unfair this was when his older brother, Jeremy, called him. “Hey, bro’, just got an e-mail from Jenny.” Their cousin, Jenny, was working with an orphanage in Haiti.

“What’s up?” Mike asked.

“She’s trying to get a birthday club started for the kids there. She wants people to sign up to buy a birthday gift. I’m gonna sign up and I thought you’d want to know, too.”

“I can’t afford that,” Mike said. “The boss didn’t give me a raise. I got expenses, you know.”

“Hey, man, we’re rich compared to those kids. And you could send a little bit every month and never even notice it.”

Mike was silent. He’d already spent his raise in his mind, planning on saving for an Xbox 360 Elite. Now Jeremy wanted him to have less than he’d had before. This was going backwards.

But Mike had been reading in 2 Corinthians. And this verse popped into his head: “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” (2 Cor 9:11)

Was Jeremy right? Was he rich? Not according to what he wanted to buy. But he’d seen Jenny’s pictures of those kids. They owned nothing. Even their clothes weren’t their own but went back into the clothes box when they outgrew them.

Well, this would be a great chance to see if God could keep his promises, Mike thought. I am kinda rich, maybe, and I wonder what would happen if I was generous? What would God do?

“Hey, Jer,” Mike said. “E-mail me the info. I’ll give it a try.”

Tomorrow: what God did

Cheerfully?

Danette was a single working gal, paying her bills every month but not much more. But when a need came to her, she’d always pray: “God, if you want me to give to this, just send the money my way.”

She said it was surprising how often money came in from some unexpected source. And she always sent it on.

In his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul described his plan to pick up an offering for the poor living in Jerusalem. The Corinthians had pledged to give and Paul wanted them to give cheerfully.

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Cor 9:7)

Why? What’s the big deal about giving cheerfully? Isn’t it enough to give? Do I have to enjoy it, too?

Paul makes it clear. Each person should give from his heart. Notice that Paul didn’t say, “each should give what he or she decided after looking at how much money he had left” or “each should give according to how much money he or she can earn in the next month.”

In other words, Paul wanted them to give as God had asked them to give. What did their heart tell them?

Danette gave to many worthy causes – joyfully. And we can have the same joy if we don't sweat our budget and instead let God lead our heart.

No big deal

Jim was part of a mission team going to Paraguay, needing to raise about $5000 in six months.

While his team members sent out letters and held car washes to help raise the funds, Jim put it off.

“It’s not a big deal,” he said. “If I need to, I’ll just take out a loan.”

That’s what he did, too, when the time for turning in money for the trip came. He was the first to have the full amount, because he’d just signed the loan papers and had the money in hand.

But three weeks before the team was to leave, their director got an interesting phone call. A donor wanted to finish out the funds for any members who didn’t yet have their full funds.

Most of the team members were close to having enough money for the trip and this donor gave them the rest of their funds.

Except Jim, who had chosen to get the money his own way. He got nothing from the donor.

Paul wrote, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Cor 9:8)

Think of what we miss when we do it our way.

Praising

"These are the days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed except his own."

G. K. Chesterton

Rock reality

Well-trained with clear eyes, the soldiers from the South surveyed the hillside. They would kill an intruder if they located one – and the little puff of dust had aroused their steely view. What had slid down the hill? They searched intently.

They ignored the boulder at their feet, standing close enough to see there was nothing hiding behind it.

This scene from the movie The Two Towers prickles with suspense for we know what the soldiers do not. The boulder is an illusion. We know that the heroes, Frodo and Sam, are huddled beneath an elvish cape, which is only a cape from the inside. But from the outside, where the soldiers stand, it is a solid rock.

We sit nervously, wondering if the soldiers will spot the deception. Will Frodo and Sam trust the cape or their own legs? Might they give up on the cape’s protection and make a run for it?

They stay and the soldiers shrug their shoulders. Probably a small animal tumbled down the hill. The men return to their battalion and we, along with Frodo and Sam, sigh in relief.

How easy it would have been for Frodo and Sam to trust their own eyes rather than trust the cape. How easy to craft a scheme of escape based on what they could see.

We’re under that cape, too. We see what others see and yet we trust what seems to be impossible. We can’t see from the other side, where the enemy stands.

I am reconciled to God through Christ. It all seems ridiculous. I live in a world where my own plans and schemes are thought to be the only solution. I see the inside of the cape just like those around me.

Are you ever tempted to throw aside the cape and make a run for it? Do you ever shudder as enemy boots stand solidly inches from your toes, ready to kill at a slight flutter? Do you trust the Cape?

From our side, the cape looks like ordinary cloth – unable to protect anything. But from the other side, it’s a rock.

It’s a Rock.

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” Eph 6:13

This is for the fathers

I know a man who wrenched his own heritage away from his children and planted a new legacy in its place. He started life like many of us, with a rebellious self-indulgent spirit. He left home at 16 and sired a child out of wedlock at 19. Theft, speeding, reckless driving pepper his background.

But, like so many, the day came when he had a wife and young children. He was just doing his fatherly duty in joining them at church when the Fisher of men hooked him. He was changed.

After that, he never hesitated to write a check for his children to go on mission trips or youth conferences or Bible studies. Summer church camps were a given. His kids were always there. He drove many van loads of kids to rallies and meetings.

I know another man who also did his duty. His kids were in church every Sunday and heard Bible texts every day. He taught them to fish and to pray, to shovel walks and carry groceries for the widows.

Lives are changed as fathers set aside their own schedule and appetite for their family. Not every father warms to the responsibilities of being a dad. Fathers disappoint, as do children.

But our measure is to be found in God, who always does his duty as our father. We don’t always deserve it, but he can change our lives with his devotion.

Happy Father’s Day! There are many men who have made a difference in their children’s heritage. They deserve our honor and respect. And praises to our Heavenly Father, who illustrates daily the love and wisdom of a faithful Dad.

O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.

Isaiah 64:8

Wrestling with God

Maybe he built a small campfire and ate a simple supper of cheese and bread. Maybe he paced the campsite counting the stars. We don’t know for sure, but we know the night began with haunting emptiness. Jacob had sent his family ahead of him. His possessions were split into two groups, a practical precaution in case his brother started a war. Hopefully one group could escape.

Jacob’s life had been about accumulating. He had coveted Esau’s birthright and the blessing as well, scheming to get both. He had desired Rachel and worked 14 years to her hand. Many years before, on his way to Paddam Aram where he was to meet Rachel and Laban, he had encountered God in a dream.

God made a simple contract with him: I am the Lord your God. Your descendants will be as plentiful as dust. I will not leave you until my promises are complete. (Gen. 28:10-22)

Now, the schemer sat alone. He had prayed: God, please don’t let Esau kill me or my family (in that order). Remember that you promised descendants as plentiful as the sand. Please don’t let them be killed.

After he prayed, Jacob, the man with a thousand schemes, had played his hand and spun his plans. Now he waited alongside a stream, isolated. What could he trust? An old dream about God’s promises? His strategies?

Jacob thought his problem is Esau. His problem was his allegiance. He had met God and basked in God’s provisions. “I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups.” (Gen 32:10) God kept his part of the bargain.

Many years before, Jacob had promised that, if God brought him back to his father’s house safely, then the Lord would be his God. Now the time of reckoning was at hand. Esau stood in his way, a formidable foe who might be looking for an understandable righting of wrongs.

And so the schemer wrestled with God. He had given the Lord lip service and had basked in the riches of provision. But when the crisis came, Jacob trusted in his own schemes. He did the “first I’ll pray, then I’ll take care of this” approach to his problem.

God was not to be set aside. He came to Jacob on that lonely campsite. They wrestled. They struggled. Jacob demanded blessing. God wanted commitment. He continued the scuffle until it was Jacob who refused to let go. Jacob was so changed by the encounter that he was given a new name. No longer was he “deceiver” but Israel, “he struggles with God.”

The schemes were over in that incredible reversal. Jacob had a new name and a new identity. He had met God in a powerful, painful battle and he had chosen to grab hold of God rather than his own methods.

His life had been about gathering in God’s promises. But now it was about hanging on to God. Once his hand had been open to receive; now it was clasped tight on the Lord.

“I saw God face to face”

Gen 32:30

Friday Five: Quotes

Here are five quotes that influenced me in the last week:

“We act like pagans in a crisis; only one out of a crowd is daring enough to bank his faith in the character of God.”(Oswald Chambers)

“It is not only wrong to worry, it is infidelity, because worrying means that we do not think that God can look after the practical details of our lives, and it is never anything else that worries us.” (Oswald Chambers)

“What you do reveals what you believe about God, regardless of what you say.”(Henry Blackaby)

“The reason much of the world is not being attracted to Christ and His church is that God’s people lack the faith to attempt those things that only God can do.” (Henry Blackaby)

“It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. How great are his signs, how great his wonders!” (King Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty king of Babylon)