precious

You Are Precious

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Amos 8:6
“That we may buy the poor for silver, And the needy for a pair of sandals— Even sell the bad wheat?”

Because of sin, conditions in the nation of Israel had become so bad people were essentially, selling themselves to have their basic needs met. Men, women, and children were involved in deplorable acts for pennies. Amos figuratively describes a person who had sold themselves for a pair of shoes. I have often been struck by how little some people value themselves. Their self worth is so low, they will sell themselves to the first person who will give them the time of day. I think it might do us good to consider the value God places upon us.

You are not a byproduct of random chance that could be reproduced in a laboratory, with a few dollars worth of parts from the local hardware store. You are a highly valued work of the creative genius of God. In fact, you are the height of His creation, far above any thing else He made, for you were created in the very image of God. So important are you, that the Bible declares you were purchased by God. Peter explains,  the purchase price was not perishable things like silver and gold, but you were bought with the life of the Son of God. God gave up what He could not replace to purchase you for Himself. You are not a sale item, to be given away at a bargain basement price, to the first person who will look your way. Don’t settle for ungodly relationships or get get involved in harmful practices, because you are simply worth way too much for that.

Pastor Jim

 

Wise Guys 

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Proverbs 2:6-11
“For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path. When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you, . . . “

Wisdom can be defined as the proper application of knowledge in any given situation, or simply knowing what to do. We have all felt, at times, that we do not know what to do. We are faced with a problem, and are crippled with indecision. It is comforting to know, God promises to give wisdom to His children. The question that remains is, how do I get my hands on the wisdom He has? There are at least three simple steps.

First, we must understand there is a difference between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of this world. Not all advice is godly, and not every direction will lead us closer to Him.

Second, we must cry out to God for His wisdom. James wrote that if we lack wisdom we must ask Him for it and He will give it to us (James 1:5). Solomon wrote that we should search for it as you would for a precious treasure (Proverbs 2:4). When we do not know what to do, we should look up to Heaven and cry out for help.

2 Chronicles 20:12 “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

Finally, wisdom is acquired by asking God, and looking into his Word. Since the wisdom of God differs from the wisdom of the world, the means by which we find it, will also differ. Heaven’s wisdom is not found on the TV screen or at the box office. It is rarely listed in the advice columns, or even in university text books. Instead, the wisdom of God is found in the pages of His Word. When Israel was about to enter the Land, God told them, if they followed His Word, the nations around them would be stunned by how brilliant they seemed. They would ask where they acquired such know-how and wisdom. Their answer is recorded for us:

Deuteronomy 4:6 “Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’”

When we apply the Word of God to our lives, we will find that our own lives are better, and we become a witnessing tool to those around us. Let’s be careful to seek wisdom as a precious treasure.

Pastor Jim

 

Favorite One 

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Song of Songs 6:9
“My dove, my perfect one, Is the only one, the only one of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The daughters saw her and called her blessed, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.“

This young Shulamite woman has become the envy of everyone in the nation. She is looked upon as the favorite of her mother and receives praises from queens and concubines alike. Her beauty seems to have no rival within Israel, and she is put upon display for all the world to see. This had not always been the case. Earlier we read of how this young woman was viewed by those who knew her.

Song of Songs 1:6 “Do not look upon me, because I am dark, because the sun has tanned me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept.”

Her mother and her brothers saw no beauty in her, and sent her to work the fields. She soon saw herself in the light of the rejection she had always received, and describes herself as being unkept. It was not until Solomon saw her, and poured his love upon her, that her real beauty began to appear. As others saw the love, attention, praise and affection given to her by the king, they began to reevaluate her. Soon, she was no longer the forgotten child in the fields, but became the princess admired by all. How she saw herself, and how others saw her, was now determined by the love given to her by the king.

There is a valuable illustration here, for those who have received Christ. We often see ourselves in light of the way we are treated by others. If we grew up being neglected, not having many friends, rarely picked for sporting events, or invited to the parties, we probably have developed a very low view of ourselves. We might not think  of ourselves as pretty, valuable, or worth very much. The problem here is, we are looking at ourselves through the eyes of others, instead of through the eyes of Christ. If we want to uncover our true value, we must begin to evaluate ourselves in light of how He sees us.

Jesus laid aside the glories of heaven, wrapped himself in human skin, and laid His life down, in order to purchase us as His beloved. While we were living our own life with little thought of Him, He has been thinking of us more than there are grains of sand on the sea shores. He is watching over us as a father does his children, and has been praying for us daily. He orchestrated events in our lives to get our attention, and sent forth His Spirit to draw us unto Himself. When we finally received Him, He turned heaven into a celebration in anticipation of our arrival. When we stumble back into the things from which He delivered us, He provides forgiveness through the cross, cleansing through His word, and strength by His Spirit. All this, so we might overcome these failures and grow ever more like Him. When we talk about Him, He writes it in His journal, and even spends time singing about us.

Beyond question we are His beloved.

Pastor Jim

 

What’s It Worth

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1 Kings 21:20
“I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord”

This is certainly not the only record of Ahab’s sin. He was a man who long ago had given up on any desire to live a life that honors the Lord. This passage does however illustrate, quite strongly, the question asked by Jesus, when He said, “What will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24)

We all know we will never gain the whole world. A few have tried, but none have succeeded. Many, however, have traded eternity for some temporal pleasure or possession. Like Esau, who gave his birth right for a bowl of soup, many give up eternity for something that lasts only a moment. For Ahab, it was a field. He wanted a garden he could enjoy from his palace window. There was however, a problem; the land was owned by another man. Instead of letting it go, he plotted to take the field by force. For a plot of ground, he took a life. In doing so, he revealed how cheaply he valued his own life.

The Bible tells us redemption of the soul is costly; our actual value is infinite. Peter explains we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19), because no amount of silver or gold would do. Instead of sitting on the sale rack, selling yourself off to participate in a passing sinful experience, remember you are worth much more than that, and are a blood-bought child of the Lord.

Pastor Jim

 

Solid Gold

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Malachi 3:3
“He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.”

/home/wpcom/public_html/wp-content/blogs.dir/b9a/30989304/files/2014/12/img_1273.jpgSince ancient times, precious metals have been purified using intense heat. The process involved a craftsman stirring a crucible filled with molten gold. Flames, reaching an excess of one thousand degrees, would liquify the gold and send the impurities to the top. The craftsman would then skim off the impurities, thus purifying the gold. The tradition remains largely untouched today, with the exception of a few advancements for safety and precision. For smaller amounts of gold, a second method of refining is often used today,  involing the use of strong chemicals to dissolve the impurities. The purified gold becomes a powder when dried, then it is heated into useable gold. Whatever the process, it is clear, for purity to take place, intense heat is involved.

It is important to remember, as a believer, you and I are in a purifying process. The Lord is seeking to make us more holy and thus more useful for the kingdom. This process almost always includes heating things up around us. We may find the normal activities of life become overwhelming, as the Lord seeks to draw our attention to Himself. We may also find life being filled with added pressures, which serve the purpose of leading us to Christ, to become more like Him.

Whatever you are facing as this year comes to a close, keep in mind, it is the desire of God to purify you. He is a Master Craftsman who can use the experiences of life to form us into the image of Christ.

Pastor Jim