Tag: encouragement

Investing Time and Honor

As I recently painted the Christmas story, I thought how the wise men heard of Jesus’ birth and desired to seek him out and honor him with gifts. Then they not only honored him, they protected him from Herod, by not telling Herod where he was, because they realized Herod wanted to harm him. They knew Jesus was to be honored. Even though I feel there were more than three wise men, I depicted three of them bearing the gifts of worth, which were gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These were lavish gifts bestowed upon a king of all ages. I want to focus on the fact that they put great effort and traveled many miles to witness that this ruler had been born. They invested time as well as luxurious gifts. They saw that a child had been born that wouldn’t be a typical man, he had a purpose to fulfill. His purpose was far above any purpose you or I have and he drew crowds everywhere he went as he grew older.

But in that same vein, how often do we overlook others in this world that we come in contact with each day and ignore their purpose in life? How many times do we wish we didn’t have to deal with lines in the stores or the person we have to call to arrange some event, reservation, or to buy something? How much time do we give others? Sometimes a simple sentence of encouragement is all a person needs to hang onto to make it through the day. Sadly, a negative phrase or sentence can have the reverse and harsher effects. Or perhaps there’s a family member who we don’t accept? But that person or those people also have a purpose in life, just like Jesus did, and just like we do. It isn’t just to service our needs or be a thorn in our side, God put them on this earth with a destiny. Are we helping them fulfill their destiny by honoring them as an individual? What gifts do we bring to them? I’m not talking physical gifts, I’m speaking of charitable gifts. The gifts we freely give to our friends. It’s easy to engage with our friends, to offer kindness, to fix a cool drink for them or offer food they like. It’s easy to converse, because we have things in common, but what about people we don’t know or haven’t taken the time to become acquainted? Do we leave them with words of encouragement? Or do we leave them wishing they’d never been born? Do we treat them with honor or impatience? We can make or break others. Words can uplift or they can destroy.

Proverbs 18:21 The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

What about our family? Are we esteeming them or do we bring them words of derision? Do we act happy to see family members we haven’t seen in a while, or do we act like they’re a burden? Is it their character flaw that we see, or is it our own shortcoming that gets brought out when we’re around them and makes us feel exposed? I’ve been around people like this and I had to reassess myself and make adjustments in my own attitude because there was nothing wrong with them, it was their shining example that shone on my lousy attitude. Once I corrected, things were so much better. I was able to see that my outlook was the culprit in the relationship and they’d done nothing wrong. I was just offended that they had exposed my weakness.

Another weakness some of us have is in giving and receiving. When and if we buy gifts for family birthdays or for Christmas; do we purchase the first thing we see, or do we put thought behind it and buy things to honor the recipient? Because a gift given without love, is a gift without life. It would be better to offer love, and be empty-handed than to offer a gift given without love. It’s equally bad to give a gift only in recompense for a gift they’ve given. People know when gifts are sincere and when they are not. They also know when strings are attached, neither are correct. We should give expecting nothing in return and we should give from the heart, not out of duty! When we rush out at the last minute to compensate for another person’s gift, it isn’t heartfelt. I personally would rather leave empty handed and be genuinely thanked for a gift I’ve given than to be given a gift that I don’t need or won’t use, because there was no forethought by the giver.

Can you imagine the wise men buying things along the way or in a rush for Jesus? Or can you imagine them coming back to remind him one day about the gifts they gave and asking him for a favor or some compensation? Yet how many times do people do this? No, their gifts were given from a pure heart, with respect and honor. They were offering and worshipping a baby who had never given anything to them, but they knew the relationship they invested in would give them great rewards. Think about that for a minute… the wise men were investing. How many of us invest these days? Whether it be time, love, kindness, sincerity, or honesty; what do we truly and freely give?

We only get out of a relationship what we put into it. If we dismiss a person as insignificant then they will be insignificant in our lives. But if we see them as valuable and worthy, they become valuable and worthy, even if only to us. You only get what you expect, nothing less. And sometimes it has nothing to do with the other person and more to do with our perception and acceptance of them. Jesus can only be Savior to those who accept him as Savior. But the clerk at our local grocer or our family member will never be cherished if we don’t value them. Let’s try to at least offer kindness, acceptance, honor, and humility to those we come in contact with each day. And in this season of giving, with family members around, let’s go out of our way with them by putting their needs above ours. Give gifts of love, honor, and respect. Show them they’re of value and have a purpose. If we are following the Holy Spirit, this should come easy by evaluating them through Christ. He didn’t hold any sins against them and neither should we.

2 Corinthians 5:16-20 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

Perfect Love Overcomes Hate

I haven’t written in a while because I’ve been mulling over the hatred in this world. I’ve been a victim of hatred by people that hate me unjustly. There is no reason that they should hate me. I’ve done nothing to them, except share a few meals and socialize a few times. I can’t understand their vitriol towards me. In trying to understand their hatred, I’ve studied the Bible and I’ve read psychiatric articles, with some understanding. My response is not to hate them back, but to pray for them from a distance.

This world is full of unjust hatred though. I’m not alone. For instance the unjust racial hatred. Ive never been a victim of racial hatred and my mother and my grandparents raised me not to see differences in race. I don’t think that way, I think of everyone as a one race, because we are all in this world together.

Another form of hatred I’ve become aware of is hatred of those in position of power or political office. I don’t belong to either main party in the US and I’ve seen the Republicans tear down our last president in mean and demeaning ways. Now I see the Democrats tearing down our current president. I’m not here to take a stance for either party or man. But why do people hate?!

I recall a time when I used the word hate on my mom when I was very young because I didn’t get my way. As I was sent to my room, I lashed out with the word hate. Who knows where I heard it, because it wasn’t in my mother’s vocabulary. That day, I learned the negative impacts of hate! My mother calmly called me down the stairs and asked if I wanted her to die! I was horrified at the thought!! Of course I said no, and she explained to me that to hate someone is to wish they were dead, that the word ‘hate’ was vile and detestable and should only be used for the most evil things in the world. She told me it was okay to hate bad things, like sin. I took the word hate out of my vocabulary that day. She also said that being angry was human, but as Christians we must learn to control what annoys us. Other people should not be hated and should not anger us to the point of lashing out, because we can remove ourselves from bad situations most of the time. I cannot remember ever hating anyone. But I have been the victim of jealousy and greed that turned into hatred towards me more than once.

1 John 3:15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.

1 John 4:20-21 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.

Proverbs 6:16-19 There are six things the LORD hates-no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.

The Bible tells us that we cannot hate our fellow man and still love God; it’s as if we are murderers. We would be murderers of God’s own, because God is no respecter of persons and loves each and every one of us. If we hate anyone else, we are sinning against those whom God loves. God hates the sin of pride and self-righteousness, gossiping, running to tell others things we cannot prove, plotting bad things to happen to others, or wishing they were ill or dead, he detests liars and those who stir up trouble in families.

As I read psychiatric articles to understand why people hate, I learned many times it comes from feelings of being different, jealousy, or envy. People hate what is not like them, but there are also times that people hate what is most like them, because they don’t like or accept themselves. This usually comes from someone who didn’t feel loved or accepted as a child. Sometimes people hate as a sense of belonging to a group of like minded people or for a need to fit in. This is also from a void in a person’s life. They join a group of haters, sometimes very small in number, because they have a cause they believe in, however misguided. Hatred is a distraction from emptiness, feelings of unworthiness, self-loathing, and loneliness. Hatred empowers some people and allows them to maintain a distance. It disenfranchises them from living life fully because that is too scary for them. They hold on to their inner hurt and hate others instead of dealing with their own inner turmoil. They lash out at what they cannot control and show anger as a sense of empowerment.

But these are not Christian attributes of love, joy, peace, and long suffering. The Holy Spirit can guide us into healing from hatred with love. What can all those feelings be replaced with? The fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; which all displace hatred and anger. That doesn’t mean we have to like how others live around us, but we don’t talk about them incessantly and complain and we certainly won’t hate them. Because whether they know Jesus or not, he certainly knows them and wants them to come to know him. Another way to deal with hatred and anger towards an individual is to pray for them earnestly. This is true of our leaders, and we are instructed to do this in the Bible. With the Holy Spirit’s guidance Love will dispel hate!

Ephesians 4:29 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

John 13:34-35 “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Perfect Love gives us the ability to be healed from past hurts. It sets us free from pains we’ve endured throughout our lives. This love only comes from having Jesus Christ as our Savior and by the Holy Spirit guiding us each day, each moment of our lives. Let love dispel any hate, any jealousy, any greed, or sin we may be holding onto, so we can lead the life God intended for us. May we pray for all who have hatred toward us and show them his mercy and love. May God give us grace to show love and grace to those who may rub us the wrong way and remove any offense we feel.

Lamb, You are Covered

“Talitha koum”… Many have heard the story of Jairus’ daughter. But this is a view that you may not have thought of or studied before. I posted this the other day in relation to our granddaughter who is critically ill in the hospital. We believe she will be healed and know that Jesus will lift her up.

In Mark 5:21-43 is an outstanding example of healing: Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, approached Jesus and fell at his feet, his daughter was ill. He came to ask Jesus to heal her, but before Jesus had reached Jairus’ house, his messengers told him his daughter had died, but Jesus told Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” He then forbid the crowd to follow them. He chose only Peter, James, and John to accompany them (those who believed) to Jairus’ house. When they arrived, he told the people who gathered to mourn; that the girl only slept and they laughed and scorned him. So, Jesus told them all to leave. He only allowed her parents and the three disciples to accompany him into her room. He went in took her by the hand and told her, “Talitha koum.” Immediately, the 12 year old girl arose, then Jesus instructed the parents to feed her nourishment.

jairus-daughter1
Jairus’ daughter – Del Parson

The phrase, ‘Talitha koum’ stood out to me and in the different translations, it is worded many different ways, but I felt there was more than has been translated, so I did some searching of my own on the root word. If you look up the etymology of the word ‘talitha’ in Aramaic, going all the way back to the root, it means “lamb.”  If you look at it in Hebrew, the word ‘taleth’ is very similar in sound and also means, “lamb.”  But there is also another set of words that are very similar to these two ‘talya’ and the meanings are to lift up and to cover. This word later became the name Talith, meaning “a cloak of honor or distinction.”

Who is Our covering, but THE LAMB, Jesus, and we are His Lambs, we Belong to Jesus. So to me it is no wonder, he would say, “Lamb, you are covered, be lifted up!” Remember only the lamb can resurrect the dead in Christ and can heal the sick. The power to heal comes through Jesus.