“We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts.”
–Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Life Together)
Daily Gifts
Author: Tammy M Cardwell
Meditations: Luke 16:10-11
Luke 16:10-11
NLT
10″Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.
11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?
Jesus pretty much hits on every aspect of life in these two verses, and keeps hitting on the money aspect in the verses that follow.
10″Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones.”
Every parent knows this to be true. Even toddlers can be given small jobs to do – small jobs that lead to bigger jobs as they prove themselves equal to the task. Parents watch their children and, as they show themselves to be diligent in their responsibilities, they receive larger responsibilities – more opportunities to shine. So also does our heavenly Father watch us as we grow and prove that we can handle responsibility.
If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.
One can look at this sentence in many different ways. Because my most long-term experience within the church was in the music ministry, I instinctively look to this group for illustrations. Unfortunately, they’re easy to find where this topic is concerned.
I suppose it is human nature to want the spotlight for ourselves. Often it is man’s greatest desire to step into the limelight and shine there – and his second greatest desire is to get there without paying the price.
The most obvious example of this in my experience is singers’ views of being a Front Line member (one who is out front with a microphone) versus a choir member. How many people have joined their church’s choirs with one goal in mind – to use the choir as a stepping-stone into the Front Line position they covet?
It is true that most Front Line singers, at least in our church, rise out of the ranks of the choir. And they do so just as these verses imply that they must – through faithfulness in all areas. They study to learn not only how to sing in harmony, but to hear their parts without needing to be taught each song. They are diligent to allow the Holy Spirit the freedom to minister through them at all times, whether they feel like it or not. They have also committed themselves to spiritual growth and maturity, to walk worthy of the calling with which they are called long before that calling actually draws them onto the main platform.
Who does not get called to the Front Line?
The one who cannot be bothered to be faithful to the choir – rehearsals and services – had best not expect to be called. The one who cheats even a little, choosing to depend on others around him to know the parts rather than learning them himself, had best never count on attaining any step higher than the one he stands on. Even more, the one who cheats God, refusing to grow up into the mature Christian God has called him to be, will not see God giving him any responsibilities greater than those a spiritual child can handle. Man may give them to him, but God assures us that He will not, and God is the one who counts.
Finally…
[11] And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?
Again, this can be looked at from many angles, but three words ring in my hears.
“tithes and offerings”
In Malachi, God speaks to a troubled people, a people who are troubled, He explains, because they have robbed Him of tithes and offerings.
God puts worldly wealth – money – into our hands. He expects us to return to Him the tithe and offerings beyond the tithe. If we prove untrustworthy in this, choosing to keep the entirety for ourselves (or even stealing from Him only part of what is His – cheating “even a little”) we cannot expect Him to trust us with the “true riches of heaven.”
As we say here in Texas, “It ain’t gonna happen.”
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C
Meditations: Luke 14:26-27
Luke 14:26-27
NLT
“If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And you cannot be my disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow me.
This is Jesus talking and He says five very strong words not once, but twice.
you cannot be my disciple
If He speaks these words to those who followed Him, how much more strongly must they ring in the ears of those of us who carry Him – in whom He has chosen to place His Spirit?
Do I love Him more than I love my own father and mother?
Do I love Him more than I love my husband and children?
Do I love Him more than I love my sisters?
Do I love Him more than I love my own life?
My instant reaction is a resounding, “Yes!” but is this an honest reaction?
As I wrote this meditation several years ago, the holiday season was fast approaching and bringing with it a conflict between our traditional family gathering and a church service. Many families set aside church at such times, but for us this was not an option. We could join our family before or after service, but not instead of service.
Yes, to this day we are active in our church and would be missed were we not there. We may have chosen not to create difficulty by being absent. We could have decided to attend services merely because we knew we would feel guilt if we stayed away. We could choose to forgo fellowship with our earthly family in favor of fellowship with God for any number of reasons. We choose God’s house over the family’s house for one reason above all others. We choose because He has called us to love Him with our entire being, to love Him better than others, and to allow no one and no thing to come between us and Him. He does, on rare occasions, tell us to do something other than come to His house (the church) for our regular services. These times really are rare, however, and for us to absent ourselves without His instruction (express permission) would be a sign that we do not love Him above all others and all else.
Having said all that, I can conclude that yes, I believe I do love Him more than my father and mother, husband and children, sisters… But what about self?
This is where it gets tough for me. In general, I love Him better than my own life – my own self. For decades, my habit has been to crucify my flesh on Sunday mornings and make it get up early when it would rather sleep in. I often bite my tongue and forgive when my flesh pointedly does not want to, simply because the One I love expects it of me. I study His Word and pray because these things are absolute necessities if I am to truly know Him – and I want to know Him. Still…
There are too many times when self/flesh wins the argument. It may be true that I still love Him better than I love my own life in those moments, but you couldn’t tell it by looking at me. I am reminded of a friend’s experience. She was out shopping with her spiritual mentor when a sales clerk messed up. My friend tore into the clerk and then huffed out the door. She apparently felt convicted almost instantly, because she turned to the older lady and muttered, “Well, I guess I wasn’t much of a witness.”
“Oh…” the more mature friend replied, “you were a witness all right.”
Her friend’s point, of course, was that, like a man in the witness’ box at a trial, we are always being watched by those who witness what we say and do. The question is, do we represent our Lord well…or badly? Is our love for God strong enough that it will overpower our love for our own lives, our own selves? Is it powerful enough to still our tongues (as He would wish) when our flesh would rather lash out and cut deeply?
Yes, I do believe I love Him better than I love my own life. I am well aware, however, that I do not always display this love as He desires, that I must continue to crucify the flesh and improve my ability to walk the walk.
And you cannot be my disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow me.
There is a piece that makes its way around the internet on occasion; this has reminded me of it.
In the story, a man goes to God complaining that his cross is too heavy, too much of a burden to bear. God takes him to a room and gives him permission to lay down his cross and pick up a different one. Going to first one and then the next, he tries each and every cross in the room until his finds the perfect fit. Not surprisingly, the cross he carries from the room is the very same cross he carried in.
Each of us really does have our own cross to bear, and no other person’s cross will do. No matter how rough my life gets, no matter how busy, no matter how complicated, no matter how challenging or downright hard, I know one thing; God has it all planned out and knows exactly what the path ahead of me looks like. The cross I bear fits me for the path, giving me the learning experiences and tools I need to accomplish exactly what God wants me to accomplish, to reach the goals He has set for me. Were I to set aside my own cross and carry another’s cross down the road that lies before me, I would undoubtedly arrive at each turning without important things that I need, unprepared for what I faced and destined to fail.
It is not only obedience to take up our own crosses and follow Jesus; it is absolute necessity. His command to take up our own crosses and follow Him is not a command that creates a burden; it is, rather, a command that fits us for the journey and saves us from carrying burdens that were never meant to be ours.
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C
Lord & Savior
Way back in my AOL days, a lady once emailed me asking if I would be willing to be her mentor as a Christian. I was honored, obviously, but also somewhat unprepared since I’d never been asked that question before. Not knowing what else to do, I answered honestly that I would count it an honor, but the very best advice I could give anyone is to truly accept Jesus as their Savior and LORD – giving Him full control of their life.
Her reply made me sad. She said she wasn’t ready to let anyone else be in control of her life, that she wanted to continue controlling it herself. Looking back, I realize I understand a tiny bit of what Jesus must have felt when talking to the rich young ruler.
We toss the phrase “Lord and Savior” around like it’s nothing, but in fact it is everything – and in my opinion we say the words out of order. First, we accept Jesus as Savior. Until we’ve done that, acknowledging that He has literally purchased us from our slaveholder (sin), we cannot submit to and serve Him as Lord. It’s simply not possible.
But then, to know Him as Lord, we must understand what a Lord is. Modern day life doesn’t help us in this area; we have to look back. In past times your Lord was, quite literally, your ruler. His word was supreme in your life and you owed pretty much everything to him. You owed him all loyalty, all fealty, and a certain percentage of everything you produced on the land he provided for you. Yes, he told you what to do and you did it…or else.
But here is the part most people don’t grasp. He also, if he was a good Lord, took responsibility for you, took care of you. In telling you what to do, he was looking ahead, figuring out what it would take for you to prosper, and setting you up for that prosperity. He understood that for his realm to do well you had to do well, and he did all he could to ensure you did – if he was a good lord, which our Lord obviously is.
My life became EASIER when I moved past merely accepting Jesus as my Savior and into submitting to Him as my Lord. It’s all on Him now. He’s the one responsible for telling me which direction to take; all I have to do is listen and obey. Proverbs 3:5-6 is one of my favorite Scriptures: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” There it is in a nutshell.
I readily admit that I’m a recovering control freak. Those who have fought this battle know what I’m saying when I confess that learning to let God have control was HARD, and I still don’t get it right anywhere near often enough. Even so, it is literally the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done and, though I’d not lie and say life has been easy ever since, I can honestly say I have MORE freedom, MORE joy, and MORE peace than I ever had while trying to run things myself.
What about the lady who emailed me on AOL? Well, I did hear from her again a year or so later, and she seemed an entirely different person. She wanted me to know that she had finally accepted Jesus as her Lord… and had discovered the true freedom and peace I’d promised.
Yes, I was shouting.
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C
Meditations: Luke 11:23
Luke 11:23
NLT
Anyone who isn’t helping me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.
I like this translation. We’ve probably all heard, “He who is not for me is against me” – possibly so many times that we only give mental assent to the truth and move on. But…
This is a vital verse for those who think to sit on the fence; it makes it crystal clear that there is no fence. It is even more essential that the import of Luke 11:23 be grasped by those who religiously attend church services every Sunday morning, arrogantly thinking that in merely attending a church service they have completed their Christian responsibility. Jesus says otherwise.
“Anyone who isn’t helping me opposes me…” Can He express it more simply than this? If I think I can merely sit in my padded pew and do nothing to help Jesus expand His kingdom, if I think I can ignore the Great Commission that was given to each of us, I am in gross error. I am also in opposition to Jesus. There is no passively sitting and doing nothing; Jesus says that if we do not actively help Him, we actively oppose Him.
“…and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.” Here He speaks even more strongly and more clearly. Yes, He honestly does expect us to work. He expects us to go into all the world and preach the gospel (Mark 16:15) and, in the local church body, He expects us to be fitly joined together with everyone else, each of us doing our part to supply the needs of the body (Eph 4:16).
What work does He call us to where the church is concerned? Just as it is in the physical body, so it is in a church body – each part supplies what it is designed to offer. In my case, for nearly thirty years this meant serving in the Music Ministry…even after coming on staff full time. The next person may fit in entirely differently, serving in ways that have never occurred to me. The bottom line is that we are both working with Jesus to build up the church and expand the Kingdom of God so that He will not say of us, “They are actually working against me.”
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C
Meditations: Matthew 7:1-2
Matthew 7:1-2
AMP
Do not judge and criticize and condemn others, so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves. For just as you judge and criticize and condemn others you will be judged and criticized and condemned, and in accordance with the measure you deal out to others it will be dealt out again to you.
A friend, on reading this meditation, made a comment that motivated me to slip in here and add a preface. I do not wish to imply that we are never to judge others at all; that stand would be unscriptural as the Bible clearly commands us to know those that labor among us, to judge them by their fruit, and I Cor 5:12-13 shows clearly that we are not to ignore it when church members sin.
With that clearly understood…
Many people read Matthew 7:1-2 and instantly set the verses aside, thinking, “I don’t judge people, so this doesn’t apply to me,” but is this true? I think not, for most of us. If, as I drive the freeway, another driver cuts me off and I respond by calling him a fool, I have judged him. I have also, by speaking the judgment aloud, criticized. This Scripture clearly warns me against both.
Why? Why does God warn us not to do these things? I believe it is at least in part because of the laws that say, “…whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Gal 6:7, NKJV) and “Give and it will be given to you…” (Luke 6:38, NKJV) Yes, “give and it will be given” applies to good gifts, but I believe it also applies to this.
And, too, the King James puts it simply; “Judge not lest thou be judged.” If I am judgmental where others are concerned, I am essentially begging God to be judgmental towards me. Also, I have seen from experience that he who judges often ends up committing the very same error himself. Yes, logic would say that if we see another’s actions as wrong we will not perform the same actions ourselves, but many parents will admit that they too often find themselves doing the very things they most hated for their parents to do. I believe there is a reason for this. As I see it, when I judge another and do not repent of having judged them I open a door that can lead me into doing the very same thing for which I have passed judgment. I believe this not only as a result of reading Scripture, but because I have seen it happen time and again.
I know a man who saw other male friends, Christian men, go through midlife crises and completely lose it. I’m sure he prayed for these men, but he also judged them harshly and criticized them, declaring that there was no excuse for a Christian to go through a midlife crises at all. It wasn’t too very many years before this man was deep in his own midlife crisis and, though he came out of it with his marriage and family intact, it was only by the grace of God that he did. Meanwhile, another friend was judging him harshly, as he had judged the others. In a few short years, this other man was in position to be judged for much the same thing.
I can also give an example of my own. I had a Christian friend who’d had multiple nervous breakdowns. I could not understand how a Christian could have a nervous breakdown and found myself judging her as apparently lacking in some area. Mind you, I never spoke my thoughts – never criticized; I loved her far too much for that anyway and felt badly that I had these judgmental thoughts…not that it occurred to me to repent of them.
Then I had a nervous breakdown.
I have since been able to analyze that time period and could list the things that led me into this horrible experience. It is possible that it would have happened anyway, even if I had not judged this other friend, but I’m sure that through judging her I did open the door that led to me going down the same – or at least a similar – path. God was good to me; He surrounded me with people who loved me, prayed even when they didn’t understand what was wrong, and did everything they could think of to help me down the road to recovery. I would much rather, however, have avoided that terrifying experience entirely.
I am very glad that I have a good God who occasionally reminds me, “Tammy, judge not lest thou be judged, for with the same measure…”
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C
Meditations: Matthew 6:33
Matthew 6:33
AMP
But seek for (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right], and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.
But seek for (aim at and strive after)
This is no small thing. Whatever it is I’m seeking, I’m to aim carefully for my goal. Someone told me once that in the earliest archery targets there was nothing but a mark in the center of a plain field that was called ‘sin.’ If you “hit the mark” you did well, but if you fell outside the mark you were “in sin.” I don’t know if this story is true or not, but it does illustrate the importance of proper aim. The fact is that in anything we do “hitting the mark” is the only fully acceptable result.
And then there’s the word “strive.” According to Webster’s 1828 dictionary, it means, “To make efforts; to use exertions; to endeavor with earnestness; to labor hard.” This is a meaty word, one that implies the necessity of WORK on our part.
first of all
Before anything else!
His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right]
So here is what we are to work so hard to attain.
His kingdom
His righteousness
His way of doing and being right
I’m told that one translation says we are to seek first the expansion of His kingdom and that makes sense too, considering Jesus’ command to go into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)
And if we do this, then…
all these things taken together will be given you besides.
“All these things” would be the things He talked about in verses 25 through 31, the things the Gentiles seek and the things that He commands us not to worry about. He is, after all, our heavenly Father who knows we need them. If we just do things His way, those other ‘things’ are automatically ours.
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C
Meditations: Matthew 6:31-32
Matthew 6:31-32
AMP
31Therefore do no worry and be anxious saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear? 32For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek after all these things; and your heavenly Father well knows that you need them all.
First God gives us a command, “Do not worry.” Worry, then, is something we choose to do or not do. This is interesting in itself because worry always comes with a sense of helplessness. Tell someone to stop worrying and their answer will likely be, “I can’t!” We honestly believe this when we say it, but God states quite clearly that we can stop worrying if we choose to. So when we worry we are actually listening to, and believing, two lies instead of one. We are listening to the lie that inspires the worry, and we are listening to the lie that says we are helpless to stop the worrying. Once again, listening to lies leads us to sin, in this case the sin of worry.
“For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek after all these things.” Why do the Gentiles (heathen) seek them? Because they have to! Unlike us, they don’t have a heavenly Father who sees their needs and supplies those needs. Like street children, they must grub around for whatever they can find and then fight to keep it. We, on the other hand, are our Father’s children. What child of a good, loving and prosperous father has to worry about food, drink or clothing? For that child to worry is absurd. For me to worry is absurd! “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C
The Art of Listening
I know what it is to hear God’s voice; we’ve had that kind of relationship for decades. Even so, since I began working with a new prayer journal last December, my relationship with Him and my experience with hearing His voice have been revolutionized.
This journal has a section specifically set aside for listening to Him. Every day, when I come to that section, I literally shut up and take dictation. That first day it felt slightly awkward, but it wasn’t long before I was sitting there in awe, writing as fast as I could while trying to process what He was saying. The experience was, and still is, AMAZING.
It’s not possible to entirely “get” what He’s saying as He speaks it, of course, so I then go back and read what I’ve written and talk to Him about what He’s said. He has opened my eyes to astounding things this way, and in letting Him talk freely (instead of me interrupting Him) I find that we get on topics I’d never have dreamed of. He tells me things that blow my mind, give me instruction, encourage me…
One advantage of this method is that I have what He’s said written down and can go back to refer to it at any time I wish…or any time He tells me to. This morning was one of those times, and while reading I came across one section I wanted to share with you. He was talking about the close relationship I have with Him where, among other things, He tells me secrets just like a best friend would.
This is what life should have been all along, the relationship I desire with everyone. You are no more special than anyone else. You have merely developed the art of listening and learned to trust your ability to hear.
Trusting myself to hear has been a big deal – meaning a big challenge. God and I have conversations throughout the day, and sometimes when I ask Him questions His answers surprise me. At those points, I’ll pause and ask, “Was that You or was that me?” I can almost hear Him chuckle as He answers, “That was Me.” So my faith in my own ability to hear has been growing.
But still, the first key to the truly tight relationship we should all desire to have with God (or anyone else) is in the first part of that last sentence. Develop the art of listening.
I have desired this type of relationship for most of my life. Who’d have thought that it would start with something so simple as me learning how to shut up and listen?
Well… you probably figured it out a long time ago. Sometimes I can be a bit slow.
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C
Meditations: Matthew 6:19-20
Matthew 6:19-20
AMP
19 Do not gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust and worm consume and destroy, and where thieves break through and steal; 20 But gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal.
I’ve had head knowledge of this verse for years. I know I cannot outgive God – that no matter what I give, be it money, time or something else, God brings increase. At one point, however, in a split second, while I was reading something only marginally related, it dawned on me…
This is literal; God means it!
I know, this sounds so very simple. And it is simple, but really…
From what I’ve learned about the lives we’ll live for eternity, it seems to me that the lives we live here are a type and shadow of the things to come – like the life of the Old Testament was a type and shadow of the life of the New Testament. If I am right… What does this mean?
“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…”
If we store them up, it is so that they will be there when we arrive. If they are treasures, they will be of significant value when we get there. Bottom line: We are storing up something that will matter.
Analogy: There are those who would call a man a fool for not having a retirement plan – because he is not storing up money for that time in the future when he will need it. I know one man like this. He feels that you have no business doing anything else at all with your money until you have a certain amount set aside for the future. Yet he seems to give no thought at all to storing up treasures in Heaven.
But, as I begin to see it, that is the ultimate retirement plan! The life we live here is so finite, so limited, but the life we soon go to live is infinite.
Again, back to the analogy… If one were to be given a choice of two retirement plans – one that would pay out in three years and one that would pay out in thirty – which would the wise man choose? (I assume that, by the world’s standards, the obvious choice would be the thirty-year plan.)
Yet here we are, being offered two plans – one that pays out today and one that will pay out in tomorrow’s eternity when we’ll really need it – and which do most of us choose?
I really am rethinking certain things now…working at moving a few mindsets out of my way. I’m not against earthly retirement plans, of course. On the contrary, I am only just now recognizing their real significance…
…especially as a type and shadow of things to come!
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C