What Would You Give?

 

                                               

 Aloha Dearest Family,

                 I love the Bible. And I have been blessed throughout the years to have been taught the Bible from the greatest teachers in the world. I have travelled long distances in order to hear God’s Word taught. I remember telling a co-worker that I was taking time off of work to go to Maryland in order to attend a Bible seminar. He was shocked that anyone would want to do this. Why would I do this? Because The Bible reveals God’s son, and His son reveals God. And I need to know God; He is my Father.   

                 Which leads me to the title of this sharing: What would you give to know him? To many Christians, Jesus is just one of the many things that they are into, like music, cooking or sports. But others have a different attitude in regards to their relationship with Jesus Christ. Some of us have left occupations, friends and even family in order to follow the Savior and be his disciple. And some have even faced death for his name, refusing to deny him. The decision to follow him brings with it certain challenges at times but also brings the greatest rewards.

 In Jesus’ sermon on the mount, Jesus says,

 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)

 In this verse, the words “hunger” and “thirst” depict a great need for righteousness. This type of desire means the seeker would seek out the things of God above even their most basic needs. If we have this type of desire for the Savior, we will be filled. 

                 Let’s now look at the example of Zacchaeus.

                 “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19;1-5)

 To the Eastern mind, the sycamore-fig tree is a despised tree and no one would ever eat the fruit from this tree, much less climb into it. The fruit of this tree was considered only good enough to feed livestock.  But Zacchaeus went against common Eastern culture JUST TO SEE JESUS. Imagine a rich man like Zacchaeus running ahead of the crowd and climbing into the hated tree, ignoring what anyone else would think or say. You can see why Jesus would have wanted to stay at his house. Zacchaeus showed the lengths he would go to just to see him. He hungered for righteousness.

                 Jesus told two similar parables about finding something valuable.

                 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:44-46)

 The two men, the one who bought the field and the one who bought the pearl, must have considered their prize so valuable that they would gladly sell everything just to have it. How much value would you place on the chance of knowing Jesus Christ and to spend time in his company? Would you give up everything for him?

                 Paul had everything a Jewish person could want. He had power, prestige and authority. He was perhaps the most respected among his peers. But all that changed when he met the Savior. His life would never be the same again. In Philippians, Paul tells of what he gave up to know Christ.

                 “But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ…” (Philippians 3:7 and 8a New American Standard Bible)

 To Paul, nothing else mattered except coming to know his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He gladly gave up all to walk and talk with him. If we read the book of Acts and his epistles to the church, we see the lengths he went to and endured just to show others this same Jesus who could save them and give them eternal life. For in Christ alone is the way to the heart of the Father. 

                   Love Always, Ray

Changing Focus

                                                                                                                                                                                          

                                        Aloha Dearest Family,

        Once again, we are facing trying times. It seems that the troubles just keep getting worse month by month. We see crises upon crises, and if you watch the news, you will find every reason to have fear and uncertainty.

And once again we have to ask ourselves, “What does the Bible say?”

       First let’s ask ourselves, are we facing something “new”? Solomon wrote,

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.“ (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

I’ve had people ask me if what we are seeing is God’s punishment for our sins? If we look into God’s Word, we will find the answer. During the times we are living in, it is important to understand that the things we are seeing are NOT from God. They are the work of our adversary, the devil. HE is the ruler of this present world.

“We know that we are of God, and that the whole world is under the power of the evil one.” (I John 5:19)

So is it any surprise then that we are witnessing disaster, confusion and chaos on a daily basis?  We know that these attributes are is Satan’s M.O. – not God’s. (See John 10:10)

Secondly, we must learn to change our focus. It is time to stop looking at the things we see in the world and start to focus on God and His son. Jesus himself said that there would be tribulation in the world. But he also us told us where to find peace.

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Jesus said “I have overcome the world.” The biggest challenge that any of us will ever face is death. And Jesus OVERCAME DEATH. He died and rose out from among the dead and now lives forever. The great thing is – we look forward to the same future. We have been given eternal life because of our Savior’s work on the cross. And we can be assured that when he returns for us, we will enjoy an inheritance that he has won for us. This is something we should rejoice over.

With this is mind, we will be able to endure anything that the devil may throw at us. Satan’s goal is get us to turn our focus away from God and onto the situations we see around us. If we fall for this trick, he has won.

          

        And finally, we need to realize that we are at war with the powers of darkness.

          "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)

We are in a spiritual fight, not a physical one. The only way to fight a spiritual battle is with spiritual armor.

           

         “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” (verse 11)

If you keep reading this chapter you will find that much of this armor relates to the thoughts we put on in our minds. When we focus on what God has already done for us, we can defeat the enemy on a daily basis.    

So let’s change our focus from the events we are bombarded with on a daily basis, to looking to the Father and the victory He has won for us through His son.

        Love Always, Ray