Today, as Well?

Posted on December 5, 2022 by drgause@agause.com

Some might think I should have published this in time for Thanksgiving Day. But I purposely waited. Thanks is not something confined to one day a year. In fact, Thanksgiving Day isn’t even a biblical holiday; it began in America in 1621 with the Mayflower pilgrims who founded the Plymouth Colony. The Bible teaches that we should thank God every day of the year. Certainly nothing wrong with designating a day for giving thanks as a nation, but we must not limit it to that. In thinking about thanks, I surprised myself when I looked for a word study or topical study I had previously conducted. But I found nothing in my notes. I realized I had never done an in-depth study on thanks.

In the Old Testament Law, God stipulated five sacrificial offerings; One of these, the Peace Offering, was also called a Thanks Offering. We find numerous verses throughout the Old and New Testaments. When you sacrifice a Thanksgiving-Offering to God, do it right so it will be acceptable (Lev 22:29 MSG). In Psalms: A THANKSGIVING PSALM. Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth! (Ps 100:1 NET). I will present my thank-offerings to you. For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling (Ps 56:12). Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish . . .But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord (Jonah 2:1, 9).

The New Testament continues with the theme of thanks seventy-one times. The Gospels record seven times Jesus gave thanks to the Father. When He fed the 5,000, Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks (Jn 6:11). Before raising Lazarus from the dead, So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me (Jn 11:41). At the Last Supper, when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them (Luk 22:19).

Several times during my ministry, I’ve heard people say, “I have nothing to thank God for. My life is dreadful, so why should I be thankful?” “I don’t feel like giving thanks.” My response was to remind them they were still breathing, it didn’t appear they were starving, and thanking Him would probably make them feel better. Paul gives one significant reason: Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! (2 Corinth 9:15). Paul adds that we must still give thanks during challenging times. Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (2Corinthians 5:20). Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thess 5:16-18). Note the wording; Give thanks in all circumstances; it doesn’t say ‘for’ all circumstances but ‘in’ or during. We don’t thank God for evil, but give God thanks despite evil. Giving thanks honors God. He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me (Ps 50:23). Thanks, show we trust the Holy Spirit.

Giving thanks can chase away anxiety. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6). Giving thanks can confuse our enemies and bring victory. An excellent example is when Moab, Ammon, and the Meunites came to make war against Jehoshaphat (2Ch 20:1). The Lord gave King Jehoshaphat an unusual military strategy. When he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, “Give thanks to the Lord, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” 

As the Levites . . . marched ahead of the warriors, they sang: Give thanks to the Lord, for his loyal love endures. Judah giving thanks confused their enemies; why was Jehoshaphat’s army giving thanks to the Lord? When they began to shout and praise, the Lord suddenly attacked the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir. Fearing their coalition of three nations was betraying one another, The Ammonites and Moabites attacked the men from Mount Seir and annihilated them. When they had finished off the men of Seir, they attacked and destroyed one another (vv 21-25).

Keep in mind the difference between praise and thanksgiving. Praise is expressing our admiration for who God is, and thanksgiving is being grateful for what God gives us. Thanksgiving is tangible, and praise focuses on God’s character. Paul warns of the process of sin that leads God to give the wicked over to a depraved mind (Rom 1:28). But note where it began: So that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful (v20, 21). Have you given God thanks for something today? First, if for no other reason, I thank God I woke up this morning.

Sustaining Word for the Week: Enter His gates with thanksgiving (NASB) — Enter with the password: “Thank you!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him (Ps 100:4 MSG).

I gave a lot of Scripture; each one worth an individual study.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Today, as Well?

Pickpockets

Posted on November 14, 2022 by drgause@agause.com

When people are about to travel abroad, they often ask me what they should be most vigilant about. “Don’t drink the water, don’t eat anything raw that doesn’t have a peel, and beware of pickpockets!” I’ve accompanied too many groups that ignored the first two. In Ethiopia, one team member inadvertently moistened his toothbrush with tap water. He did not have a pleasant flight home—neither did anyone seated near him. A group I led in Ukraine became violently ill. I discovered they ate slaw, not remembering slaw was just cut-up raw cabbage. Yet, I couldn’t emphasize enough that people watch out for a thief. A pickpocket can spoil and inconvenience an entire trip. You can lose money, credit cards, passport, and visa. They can take your property and be gone before you realize it.

Jesus cautioned about spiritual thieves. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy (Jn 10:10a). Here, He is contrasting this with what He gives us; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly (v10b). The word thief is the Greek word kleptēs, from which we get the English word kleptomaniac. It gives the picture of a bandit, pickpocket, or thief so artful they can steal your valuables and go completely undetected.

Before examining this verse, let me ask, who is the thief Jesus is warning about? I’m sure the majority said what I’ve always heard—the Devil. However, the Devil does not appear anywhere in this passage when considering the context. Jesus, the good shepherd, directly responded to the Pharisees for mistreating one of His sheep, the blind man He healed on the Sabbath. Jesus clearly identified the religious leaders as thieves. Jesus also added that they weren’t the first to steal from God’s sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers (Joh 10:8). Even though the Devil isn’t the thief Jesus is charging, throughout the Bible, Satan exhibits these evil characteristics. He uses men, even religious leaders, to carry out his agenda.

It does not satisfy a spiritual thief merely to take the blessings God gives us. He plans to kill you, which has nothing to do with killing in terms of murder. To fully understand this, we must examine the word used for kill. It refers to the sacrificial giving of an animal on the altar. We can also translate this word to sacrifice, surrender, or give up something precious and dear to you. If the thief hasn’t already taken all your blessings, he will try to convince you that you must give up everything not already taken.

An evangelist came to our church to raise money for one of his projects. It was a worthwhile venture. But here is his last plea after a tear-jerking sermon. “I want you to write me a check for all the money in your bank account. Tomorrow, go and borrow an amount of money far beyond your means. Then send it for this project. Show your faith and trust God to give it back to you ten or even a hundredfold.” He may have claimed to be a church leader, but he really was a thief trying to kill us by manipulating people to give him all their blessings. This would also destroy us when the hundredfold didn’t come. The thief cannot bear the fact that you possess any kind of blessing.

The thief also comes to destroy. It pictures something ruined, wasted, trashed, and devastated. This kind of thief’s ultimate goal is to obliterate you to the point you end up feeling as if you are finished and out of business! A perfect contemporary example is Kim Jong Un and what he did to his uncle, whom he accused of treason. The leader ordered him brutally executed (some report it was with a rocket). They killed his entire family. Officials destroyed everything written about him and any trace the uncle ever lived. Soldiers destroyed the 500-acre theme park Jang Song Thaek built for the nation. Today you will find no evidence the man even existed. This horrific act of evil pictures the meaning of the word, destroy, and vividly shows what thieves desire for us.

 An extended translation: “The thief wants to get his hands into every good thing in your life. In fact, this pickpocket is looking for any opportunity to wiggle his way so deeply into your personal affairs that he can walk off with everything you hold precious and dear. And that’s not all — when he’s finished stealing all your goods and possessions, he’ll take his plan to rob you blind to the next level. He’ll create conditions and situations so horrible that you’ll see no way to solve the problem except to sacrifice everything that remains from his previous attacks. The goal of this thief is to totally waste and devastate your life. If nothing stops him, he’ll leave you insolvent, flat broke, and cleaned out in every area of your life. You’ll end up feeling as if you are finished and out of business! Make no mistake — the enemy’s ultimate aim is to obliterate you….”  (Rick Renner).

The older I get, the more I realize the blessings thieves stole from me—some friends, colleagues, leaders, fellow believers, etc. Their methods happened through false teaching, hypocritical friendships, manipulating praise, jealousy, and selfish leadership.

Sustaining Word for the Week: Think about what the thief has picked from your spiritual pockets. Begin to reclaim God’s blessings.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Pickpockets

Why?

Posted on October 28, 2022 by drgause@agause.com

If you could ask God only one question, what would you ask? Christian Apologist Lee Strobel commissioned a national survey and asked this question. He writes, “The Number One response was: ‘Why is there suffering in the world?’” Probably every believer has asked God why about something that happened in their life or the world. “Why did my daughter die? Why do I have cancer? Why was our home destroyed?” I ponder why God allows the wicked tyrant in Russia to continue inflicting death and destruction in Ukraine and why the godless despot in North Korea continues spending millions of dollars on his obsession with destroying America while the country’s people are starving.

With no definitive human answer, people also ask, “Why didn’t God create a world where suffering and evil didn’t exist?” Scripture answers this question, but people overlook or ignore the answer and immediately blame God. First, we must understand God did not create evil or suffering. Instead, He made the world without suffering. At the end of each creation day, God saw that it was good (Gen 1: 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). After creation was complete, God saw all that he had made, and it was very good (Gen 1:31). So, what happened?

 God gave humanity the freedom to choose. He did not force men and women to love Him. Instead, He wanted people who would freely choose to love and obey Him. However, Adam and Eve abused our freedom; they rejected and disobeyed the Lord’s one command to them. Their sin, called the fall, brought death and suffering into His perfect creation. The fall plunged all their descendants (us) and even the earth into despair. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now (Rom 8:22 NET). “When we humans told God to shove off, He partially honored our request. Nature began to revolt. The earth was cursed. Genetic breakdown and disease began. Pain and death became part of the human experience” (Cliffe Knechtle).

With sin entering the creation, we now live in a broken world where suffering never ceases. Be mindful that receiving Jesus does not exempt believers from the effects of sin. However, the Bible assures us He is with us through all our times of trouble. “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you” (Heb 13:5 NET). The analogy behind this verse is a soldier mortally wounded and surrounded by the enemy. In the distance, he can see his fellow troopers fleeing as fast as they can. They have abandoned him. Jesus, using the most vivid wording, promises He will never, never, never leave us in such a situation. King David went through countless painful experiences but knew he was never alone. Even when I must walk through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me (Ps 23:4 NET).

Pain and suffering come from two sources—the sinful nature of humans and the broken natural world. Universally, all people are born with a sinful nature. Charles Spurgeon said, “As the salt flavors every drop in the Atlantic, so does sin affect every atom of our nature.” Jesus taught that out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder,adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly (Mk 7:21, 22 NET). One example of man’s evil greed is the earth produces enough food for every person alive to have 3,000 calories daily. So, why do 828 million people suffer going to bed hungry every night? Because of men’s evil, selfish nature. Knechtle comments, “It is a cop-out to blame God for human irresponsibility.”

Man’s disobedience also corrupted nature. We call this second source ‘natural evil’. The ground is cursed because of you (Gen 3:17). After this proclamation by the Lord, men had to grow their own food through hard labor because of “thorns and thistles”. This decree on the ground also brought suffering through earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes, heat waves, etc. Not just man but the whole creation groans and suffers (Rom 8:22 NET). Nature longs for redemption to come and for things to be set right.

Suffering is never good, but God will take the dire circumstances we endure and cause good to emerge. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him (Rom 8:28). Paul even tells us we can rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint (Rom 5:3:5 HCSB).

Not only will God turn our suffering into good in this life, but the Bible also assures that our worst moment of pain isn’t even worth comparing to the eternity of blessings and joy we will experience. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Rom 8:18).

Sustaining Word for the Week: Why? We may never know in this life. But you can stand on the fact God didn’t cause it. All suffering results from living in a broken world and among people with sinful natures. And God makes suffering work for our good and gives believers the Holy Spirit to have victory over our own nature of sin.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Why?

Take of Granted

Posted on September 26, 2022 by drgause@agause.com

“Sorry, I took that for granted.” Some events we can take for granted. Last night, you probably didn’t worry about the sun coming up this morning. However, human nature can lull us into believing many facts we’ve learned will always be the same. We take our hearing for granted until we need hearing aids. We all tend to take life for granted until we face death. For over ten years, I knew readers expected a new Sustaining Word every Monday morning, but my health declined. Now, a bit slower, I write as I can. The Holy Spirit recently taught me I was taking some ‘common and simple’ Bible teaching for granted. One example for me has been the doctrine of ‘faith’. After five decades of studying and teaching the Bible, I assumed I didn’t need to dig deeper into the meaning of ‘faith’. I had accumulated page upon page of research and notes. Well! As usual, God reminded me His Word doesn’t work that way.

“Name it and claim it; by faith, it’s yours.” “Don’t worry if you don’t understand; faith is a blind leap into the unknown.” In the past years, probably every Christian has heard teaching like this or similar erroneous claims. We must be cautious because faith is not just important to believers; it is crucial. It’s impossible to please God apart from faith (Heb 11:6 MSG). With such a warning, we must safeguard our understanding of biblical faith.

Where do we start? Throughout our walk as believers, we should occasionally reexamine the fundamental elements of our beliefs. We can learn one lesson through a secular example. Vincent Lombardi, arguably the greatest football coach of all time, took nothing for granted. Every season, he began training camps with the elementary fundamentals. Lombardi started from scratch, assuming that the players had carried over no knowledge from the previous year. On the first day, he would walk into the locker room, hold up a ball and say to his team, “Gentlemen, this is a football,” and continue through the rudimentary abc’s of the game—blocking, tackling, throwing, catching, etc. Next season, he again repeated these fundamentals.

We should also begin with the most basic tenets when we revisit our belief system. Faith isn’t a complex subject. It is simply taking God at His Word and acting upon it. But faith must always be based on something or someone; it cannot stand alone. Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes, “faith never points to itself.” Faith is only as reliable as the trustworthiness of its object. As I have taught the correct view, some people opposed, “Oh, I have my faith,” or “I’m trusting in my faith.” Such so-called “faith” is meaningless and worthless because it has no object. People base their alleged faith on faith alone. Biblical faith is God-centered. It is rooted in ‘trust’ and confidence in the character of God. “Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right.” – Max Lucado

Even though the foundation of faith is simple, that does not eliminate the challenges we face in a fallen world. Satan attempts to elevate the theories of anti-god intellectuals to be greater than biblical truth. Media daily bombards us with misformation through documentaries that cast doubt on the accuracy of the Bible. Many claim the Bible is historically inaccurate, full of errors, one story among many valid religions, and opposes logic and scientific reason. Paul instructs Timothy, Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses (I Tim 6:12 NIV). Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them (Elisabeth Elliot). “It is no sin to doubt some things… it may be fatal to believe everything. Faith never means gullibility (Tozer).

Fundamental truths that we must keep in mind as we revisit the tenets of our beliefs: Faith is s gift of God. “For by grace are ye saved through faith [trust]; and that not of yourselves: it [faith] is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8). Every believer doesn’t have the same level of faith. God has apportioned to each a degree of faith [and a purpose designed for service] (Rom 12:3 AMP). Our faith can grow, But we hope that as your faith continues to grow (2 Corin 10:15 NET). Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (Rom 10:17). In contrast, our faith can grow weak if we take our eyes off the promises of God and stop listening to His Word.

Faith is not simply the assent of the intellect to a revealed truth; it is the practical submission of the entire man to the guidance and control of such truth (Ungers). Faith isn’t passive but must be active. You believe that God is one; well and good. Even the demons believe that—and tremble with fear (James 2:19 NET).

Sustaining Word for the Week: Faith is not a wish. Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see (Heb11:1 NLT). We don’t depend on a feeling. Faith is a decision built on Biblical truth and the character of God.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Take of Granted