Where Our Treasure Is

“Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.” Mark 43-44

Sometimes we do not give help, monetary or otherwise, because we are ashamed to give just a little. The poor widow that Jesus noticed one day in the temple shows us that it is not the amount we give, but what God sees in our hearts. He saw rich people giving out of their surplus wealth, but the poor woman gave out of her need. She gave her whole livelihood. 

God does not need our money, our time, our treasure. When our kids are small, and we give them something they really like, a chocolate bar, or a doughnut, and we ask for a little bit, sometimes they refuse. “This is mine,” they say. It’s funny because they would not have the treat if not for us. We are the source of all the chocolate bars and doughnuts and we can take it away. And if we really wanted, we could buy a whole car of candy for ourselves! We don’t need the candy, but sometimes we ask for some so our kids can learn to share and be generous and unselfish. 

Isn’t that exactly what happens with God who is the source of everything, every little thing we have? Our breath, our heartbeats, our intelligence, our money? In the Bible, He teaches us to be generous with our time, our money and resources, not because He needs it, but because it’s good for us. There are so many promises in the Bible that come with being generous. They are like blank checks to encash in the bank of heaven. Giving draws us closer to God for where our treasure is, that is where our heart is (Matthew 6:21). If we are faithful in whatever we have, even if it is a little, then God will reward us in heaven (Luke 16:11). Generosity brings God’s blessing, increases our happiness, expands our influence, and brings prosperity (Proverbs 22:9, Proverbs 11:24-25, 2 Corinthians 9:11a and so many more). 

We cannot take any of our money, our time, or any of our resources to heaven with us. If we buy clothes, shoes, or a fancy car for ourselves, we really lose all of it in the economy of heaven. BUT if we help someone in need, buy food for prisoners, give money to missionaries, tithe for God’s work, we do not lose any of that money. Instead we are sending it ahead for our eternity in heaven. Let us remind ourselves of Jesus’ own words in Luke 16:9, “Here's the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.”

Investment

“The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones...” Luke 16:10

Many times we hear someone say, “You are adding to your treasures in heaven” when we help someone financially or donate to mission work. In St. Paul’s letter which he wrote from a Roman prison, he thanks dear friends from Philippi for their generosity towards him. He writes, “It is not that I am eager for your gift; rather I am eager for the PROFIT that accrues to your account.” In other translations of Philippians 4:17, we read, “...I want you to receive the blessings that come from giving” (CEV), “...I desire fruit that may abound to your account” (King James), “...I seek for the profit which increases to your account” (NASB). There are many more versions with the same meaning. Did St. Paul know what he was talking about? Because if this is true, we need to be looking for ways to GIVE to God’s work. 

I like buying stocks little by little and I just keep the money there, not selling even when the Philippine stock market was on its way to a nose dive. I get tips from different sources, ask my nephew who is studying these things, pray, and buy stocks of good companies. Today I am sure a lot of the numbers are red, which means I lost money, and I have not even checked it for months! However, I am optimistic that one day, because I just kept buying little by little, the investment will be worth more than I paid for it. Of course, I am not 100% sure about that because of the way the country is run today, and what will happen in the future. 

Apparently, if I really want to make sure about my future, I should take St. Paul’s tip seriously, and put my money where God wants me to put it. We need to pray and be on the lookout for “investment opportunities” to increase our profit in our heavenly account. As Jesus said, “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones...” (Luke 16:10) Jesus’ meaning is even clearer in the next verse, “And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?” 

Lord, may I learn to use money here on earth, which is of little value to You at all, to bear fruit in the heavenly realm. Please teach me to value what You value, and put my money in investments that have Your blessing! 

God- Given Gifts

“His master praised the dishonest manager for acting shrewdly and prudently; for the sons of men are shrewder and more prudent and wiser in relation to their own generation than are the sons of light." Luke 16:8

Whaaaat?!!!  This is a complicated, confusing story! Why is Jesus telling a parable about a dishonest manager being commended by his master, his boss, for being shrewd???

One time in our business there was a rash of dishonest employees. They each found ingenuous ways of stealing money. And in a way I can relate to the manager in Jesus’ parable and can say, "Wow! These employees really used their talents, their brains, their creativity, to find a way to get what they wanted!"  If only they used their God-given abilities and gifts for something good! 

And I think this is partly what Jesus is saying in this parable. We should use our time, talent and treasure to do good, to gain friends, to build the Kingdom of Heaven, 

and to have treasure there! We should be shrewder, wiser, and more prudent than worldly men who rule this world with impunity. And we have God at our side to do it! 

Lost Sheep

 "Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep." Luke 15:6

In the 15th chapter of Luke, we have parables of the lost sheep, lost coin and a lost son. The sheep is wandering in the wilderness, in danger. The coin was misplaced, it's just in the home of a woman who searches high and low for it. The prodigal son actually 

chooses to be lost.

Whatever way we or someone we love is lost, Jesus shows us through these stories,  that even if we are lost in the wilderness, out of the church, or lost within the church, and even if we choose to rebel against God, He will turn on the lamp and search high and low for us. 

And like the father in the story of the prodigal son, He will wait for us longingly, eagerly. It's a crazy love God has for us. Even if others give up on us, God will not.  Even if we are filthy and heavy (with sin) like the sheep in the wilderness, Jesus will carry us. And every time, God celebrates when we come back to Himself!

In “The Anawim Way” which I read every day, it says, “Joy, then, comes not from being righteous in our own eyes but from being repentant. This is the joy that we celebrated on All Saints Day. Every saint in Heaven knows that he or she was a lost sheep who has been found and brought home by Jesus the Good Shepherd. The joy in Heaven multiplies with the arrival of every new saint.”

Nowhere is Far Enough

“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” 

Luke 14:27

When our Christian covenant community celebrated its 42nd anniversary, one of the sharers was Rosanne Romero, who has persevered with her Multiple Sclerosis for almost 35 years. MS is a degenerative disease that destroys the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Can you imagine the pain she deals with every single day? We who get so scared of going to the dentist because of the excruciating pain when he hits a nerve? We can't. And it's not only the pain. Things we can do easily, takes her forever to accomplish! 

Rosanne said, "God is sovereign. He decides when and how He wants to use me." And use her He does. She has written books, magazine articles, given talks around the world. Always with her bittersweet humor. She is an example of a beautiful rose in God's garden, blooming in spite of the heat, the blizzard, the storm, the floods sweeping away everything around her. She bears fruit under pressure. She flourishes and does not dry up. She carries her cross triumphantly. 

Indeed we too are supposed to bear fruit in and out of season. We are supposed to bloom under pressure. After all, we are not subject to earth's economy but heaven's. God meets our needs according to HIS riches, and He has met Rosanne's needs while she, like us, is on a pilgrim journey to her real home. 

Rosanne said in closing her sharing, "Nowhere is far enough if it is short of where God calls you to." 

Father, we fall short many times. Teach us to go where You lead, and carry the cross You've given us joyfully as it says in James 1:2, "Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." May we have a triumphant entry into our eternal home! 

We are the Clay

“As gold in a furnace, He proved them, and as sacrificial offerings He took them to Himself.” Wisdom 3:6

According to Pliny, a Roman author, naturalist, philosopher and naval commander of the early Roman Empire, “gold is the only thing that loses no substance by the action of fire, but even in conflagrations and in funeral pyres receives no damage. Indeed as a matter of fact it improves in quality the more often it is fired, and fire serves as a test of its goodness.” That’s why when we undergo trials and challenges, we liken it to being purified, the fire of adversity melting away our many imperfections. 

But smelting is too painful to think about, and I prefer the image of us as clay in our Father’s hands in Jeremiah 18. The potter sifts the clay, and pounds it before he can form and mold it. Our Father transforms us, removing the impurities. God needs a perfect sacrifice, and as we are, we need a lot of work!

The Japanese have a beautiful way of redeeming broken pottery. This art form known as Kintsugi or “golden joinery” puts together the shards of the broken object with lacquer mixed with gold powder. There is a philosophy behind the practice which we can relate to. When we are broken, we need not think we are of no value to God and to others. God can redeem us in a way that our brokenness is part of who we are and we become more beautiful to Him. 

Father, thank You that You will do everything to make us beautiful in Your sight! 

Pour Out Your One Life

“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6

There is an old song by the group Kingston Trio named “Desert Pete”. It tells of a water pump in the desert. When travelers cross the dry dusty cactus desert, they are joyfully surprised to find this water pump. There’s a bottle of water and a note stuck to to the pump which says, “This pump is old, but she works. You’ve got to prime the pump. You must have faith and believe. You’ve got to give of yourself ‘fore you’re worthy to receive. Drink all the water you need but leave the bottle full for others.”

The traveler has to pour all the water in the bottle over the pump to get it to work. If he drinks all the water first, the pump won’t work, he’ll get thirsty again and the next travelers won’t be able to drink. 

Life is like that. We are all travelers, pilgrims, thirsty and hungry for the meaning of life and our purpose. Some of us, just take our one life and spend it on ourself. But we will soon be empty again. Some of us meet Jesus and empty ourselves into His hands. He will be the living water for us, and He will give our life meaning and purpose.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati was an Italian Catholic activist dedicated to social justice issues. He was the son of a Senator and was as political as his father. He was also a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Although he hated violence, he regularly attended anti-fascist demonstrations. He was arrested several times, once because he defended himself when the police became violent at a rally initiated by the Church. When he was asked why he continued to attend the protests, he answered, “One ought to go and one does. It is not they who suffer violence who should fear it, but those who practice it.” 

Frassati died at 24 in Turin of poliomyelitis. His life had been filled with daily Mass, personal prayer, and direct service to the poor. He was willing to pour out his life for Christ and for others. Lord, be with Your people and fight for us. Amen.

Send Me!

“ Love your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12:31

I am always in awe of people who can really love their neighbor as much as they love themself. If one can put another’s good, another’s comfort, before their own, that is truly exemplary. Megan Boudreaux was a 24 year old when she heard God in dreams telling her to go to Haiti. For months, God would wake her up in the middle of the night to ask her to leave her comfortable American life, her good job, family and friends to do His work in Haiti. He did not give her a clear plan and when she reached this God forsaken, poverty stricken place that was just devastated by an earthquake, she wondered what she was doing there. 

On her second day in Haiti when she felt so alone, she asked herself, “Am I crazy? My friends are right. I must be crazy to leave such a great life in the States for a place like this. I don’t even know why I’m here. Oh Lord. Did I make a mistake? Should I just go back home?” 

A few days after that, she walked up to the top of a mountain. She found the tree in her dreams, and it had these dead cats hanging on it. She didn’t know that in Haiti they used mountain tops for voodoo rites. She noticed two little girls crying there. They looked very pitiful, as if they had been beaten up. She asked them what was wrong but since she did not speak Creole, they could not communicate. She looked up in desperation asking God what was she doing there if she couldn’t even help these two little heartbroken kids! Right then and there God gave her the gift of speaking, and understanding Creole! She had her own Pentecost up there in that voodoo mountain! She found out that these precious little kids were child slaves! 

Three years later, Megan was able to build on six acres on that same mountain called Bellevue a school for 500 children. She founded nonprofit Respire Haiti where a staff of 200 educate, feed and address the spiritual, physical and medical needs of these children. "The amazingness of what God did after I made the choice to be obedient is incredible," Megan wrote in her book, “Miracle on Voodoo Mountain”. 

We have so many opportunities to love our neighbor where we are with what we have. And we certainly don’t need to wait for God to call us to uproot ourselves and leave everything behind. Let us not be afraid to say, “Here I am, Lord, send me!” 

Recognize Our Gifts

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:11

There are many misconceptions about humility. One might say that it is thinking oneself more inferior than others. But I think humility is knowing the truth about oneself, knowing one's place in the world. Seeing ourselves through the eyes of God, our Creator. Knowing that we need Him. C. S. Lewis in his remarkable book, "Mere Christianity", wrote, "True humility is not thinking less of yourself: it is thinking of yourself less."

If we are talented, beautiful, intelligent, creative, we should know it and be grateful. We should be confident in our abilities, knowing that God in His goodness has given us our talents for a purpose- to bless us and more so, to bless others!

BUT we should always always know that we are NOT better or superior to others.

Rabbi Israel Salanter said, “I know that I have the mental capacity of a thousand men, but because of that, my obligation is also that of a thousand men.”

This is a perfect example of Luke 12:48- “To whom much is given, much is required."

One day in 1993, a young girl named Darlene faced a problem that made her heart heavy and discouraged. She sat in her home in front of a piano her parents had given her when she was five years old. There, she opened her Bible and started reading Psalm 96. As Darlene meditated on, “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise His name; proclaim His salvation day after day,” she played with the keys of the piano. Suddenly music began to flow and after twenty minutes she had a song! 

Although she was quite reluctant and embarrassed, she asked her music pastor Geoff Bullock to listen to it. “Please  don’t look at me but face the wall,” she asked. After she played haltingly, he assured her that her song, “Shout to the Lord” was wonderful and they sang it at the offering at church. Her Pastor was Brian Houston of Hillsong. As he predicted then, Darlene Zschech’s song would be sung all around the world. Since then, she has written too many praise and worship songs to count. “Shout to the Lord” has been performed for the Pope at the Vatican, and for the President of the United States. 

God can use even our heartbreak to bring something new and wonderful in our life. We just need to recognize our gifts and offer it to Him in humility. 

How much has been given to you? Do you use it to enrich yourself or to bless others?

One Who Saves a Life

“Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?” Luke 14:5

If we wish to follow Jesus who repeatedly said we had to serve others like He did, we should not be entitled, expecting others to serve us. We have to have the mind set of loving, and caring. We have to have compassion and empathy for others. It’s not easy at all to do, because by nature we see the faults and failures of others, and not the hurting heart that God sees.

In 1945, 13 year old Edith Zierer was freed from a Nazi labor camp in Częstochowa, Poland. She was so weak she collapsed in a busy village train station. Many passed by but no one helped until a young man stopped to give her a cup of tea, bread and cheese. He then carried her on his back to catch a train in the next village bound for Krakow, and accompanied her to where she wanted to go. She wrote his name down in her diary, the young man in a seminarian’s white garb who saved her. 

In 1978, Edith read in a copy of Paris-Match that Karol Wojtyla was elected Pope! She broke into tears when she recognized the name of her rescuer and wrote him from her home in Haifa, Israel. When they finally met again, Edith recited a line from the Torah: “One who saves a life, it is as if he saves the whole world." 

I believe God gives us all opportunities to save lives. It may not be as dramatic as Edith's story, but let us keep a look out for those opportunities all the same!

Saints

“You are fellow citizens with the saints..." Ephesians 2:9

Saint Paul wrote this to the people of Ephesus, and I am sure if he wrote to us today, he would say the same thing. That we are fellow citizens with the holy ones, part of God's household. I could think I am no Mother Teresa who took care of the sick and dying, and who thought of herself as a little pencil in God's hand. I could tell myself I will never be a Pope John Paul II, a great man of God, who heard God call him as a young man, and followed Him to the Vatican, and helped bring down Communism. I'm not a Saint Francis of Assisi who left all his worldly goods to become a poor monk who built God's church at a time when it was crumbling. 

We may not be called to do something great, but like Mother Teresa, we can be God's pencil, and write what He wants us to write with our life. In 1 Peter 2:5, St. Peter wrote that we are like living stones being built into a spiritual house. Each of us has a role to play, a unique call and vocation. Certainly nothing is impossible with God!

Narrow Gate

“Lord, will only a few be saved?" Jesus answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate..." Luke 13:23-24

Sometimes when we listen to preachers, it seems like all we need to do is say the sinner's prayer and that's it. You're saved. But Jesus says here we have to strive, to "strain every nerve to enter", to "force yourself through it", “to endeavor with strenuous zeal".  The word 'strive' is translated from the Greek AGONIZOMAI, where the word 'agony' comes from. This word is used to describe athletic contests and war. And we know what kind of contests and wars the Greeks had!!! 

It sort of reminds me of the big man who insisted on going through Fat Man's Squeeze in Rock City, Tennessee. His friends said no, let's find some other way, but he insisted on going through this narrow passage between two huge rocks. First he removed his jacket, gets out, removed his shirt, then tried again. Then he unbuckled his belt to take it off. He was able to "force himself through” finally! 

Jesus is saying here it's not as easy as saying a prayer, or getting in a line to accept Him as Lord and Savior.  It's working at it our whole life. There are things we have to get rid of too, like the man unbuckling his belt and removing his jacket.

But I hold on to Philippians 1:6, “…He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion..." Let's strive with confidence and finish the race!!

With God, there is Always Hope

“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.” Romans 8:18

In the Bible, it says: “He watches everything closely, examining everyone on earth.” (Proverbs 5:21) Not everyone believes this. They say there is no God because there is suffering, there is perversion, there are horrible things happening all around the world. Just last week 17 missionaries and children were kidnapped in Haiti and the gang leader is threatening to kill them if they are not paid $1 million dollars for each hostage. Isn’t God watching? On my home front, I continue to need oxygen, and my heart beats very fast when I just go up the stairs. Doesn’t God care? 

I believe He watches and knows everything. But suffering and sin and sickness entered the world when man chose another way other than God’s way. We cannot say there is no God if there is evil in the world. Recognizing there is evil means we recognize there is good and we prefer the good. There is good only if there is a moral law, and there can only be moral law if there is a moral law giver. Who else can that be, except God? 

Bertrand Russell, the famous agnostic, wrote in a 1953 essay that, "it is impossible, or at least impossible at the present time, to know the truth in matters such as God and the future life with which Christianity and other religions are concerned." When I read the Bible, I realize how fantastic it may seem to some people. Although more than half of the scientists in top universities are atheists, more and more scientists today believe in God because of new discoveries about the creation of the universe and how finely tuned it is to support life. 

I am happy that my faith is supported by reason and logic, even by mathematics and science. But I am even more happy that I believe in God because I experience His love, goodness, faithfulness, and sometimes His discipline. When I ask, He answers. When I listen, He speaks. I know without a doubt He watches over me, in every little detail of my life. And I know there is hope. There is always hope when one believes in God, the One who loves us best. 

The One Who Loves Us Best

“This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?” the Lord said. (Luke 13:16)

I always marvel at how much knowledge, entertainment and news is at our fingertips if we have a computer or a phone with an internet connection. The first computer was the size of a room, and the first hard disk drive was the size of a cupboard! And now, my phone has more power than that monster computer which I think was powered by steam!!!

Before, news had to carried by people on horses and letters by boats which took months to reach its destination. Now, a glance at my twitter feed can bring me news faster than CNN! What an amazing world we have!

But are we just as amazed at how awesome it is, that the Messiah that "kings and prophets" longed and waited for, is here with us today? That we can actually have a relationship with Him? We can read His words, His love letters to us. We can read His story and if we read it often enough, and get to know His character and personality, the more clearly we can hear Him speak. One of the best reasons to read scripture is to know Him who loves us best. He can answer our questions and guide us the same way He did for our forefathers. In this story in Luke 13, we see His compassion, even that He is willing to fight the authorities for us, just so He can help us and free us! 

Is it not that we often take for granted that we can actually worship and fellowship with other believers without fear of getting caught, stoned, burned at the stake, or carted off to be killed by animals in the middle of an arena like the Hunger Games? The Jews are still waiting for their Messiah. 

Have we "found" Him for ourselves? 

I Want to See

“What do you want me to do for you?” 

Mark 10:51

Jesus asked blind Bartimaeus what he wanted Jesus to do for him. Of course Bartimaeus said, “I want to see!" Can you imagine being blind? I am sure we would be willing to spend an awesome amount of money just to be able to see! I know I would!

And so I can consider myself a multimillionaire a million times over! Because I can see, I can walk, I can reach out and take hold of things with my fingers, my heart is beating without a pacemaker, I can enjoy food, I can paint and draw and sing and dance (not very well! my friend once said I dance like a tree trunk!), I can sweat (it's difficult if you can't), I feel pain (even more difficult if you can’t!!!!), I have hair, I have a wonderful family…

and  great relationships in and out of Facebook (ha ha ha!!!) Ohhhh, the list goes on and on and on! But the most wonderful gift is I know God and I know He knows me! The more we know scripture, the more clearly we can hear His voice saying, “I love you.” The more we can hear Him ask, “What do you want me to do for you?” 

Clean Heart and Hands

“Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? or who may stand in His holy place?” Psalm 24:3

Yes who? It seems as if our country and even our Church are filled with people who do not know right from wrong! The answer follows: “He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain.” I’m sure that discounts me! It discounts Saint Paul as well, who claimed in yesterday’s reading from Romans 7, “For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want.” Paul realized his sinfulness and his need for Jesus. 

When we realize our sinfulness, we see that our wisdom is foolishness in God’s eyes and become aware of our pressing need for Him. We can depend on God to redeem us just as He did Paul. He did not forsake Paul even when he was pursuing His followers, and putting them in chains to punish them. He did not give up on Paul even as Paul watched happily while the first martyr of Christianity, Saint Stephen, got stoned until he died. We too can take courage that God will use us even in our frailty, make our hearts new, and cleanse our dirty hands. Let us always take the time to connect with the only One who can do the impossible and bring us into His holy place. 

In His Will

“Why do you not know how to interpret the present time?" Luke 12:56

In this chapter of Luke, Jesus is frustrated that people can't 'interpret the present time', can't see things as they really are.  Part of discernment is seeing things as they are, not misinterpreting situations, people, choices etc. Sometimes I think if only God would make His will clear. If only He would speak and we would just need to obey. To have clarity without doubt!!  

When my son Josh was a baby, it was very difficult for me to breastfeed. Painful!  I wanted to stop but Luigi, my husband, insisted I continue.  So I asked God, hoping He would give me permission to stop.  I was listening to the radio at that time, to FEBC, a Christian station.  Right after I asked the question, the announcer said, “Don't quit. God doesn't like quitters."  I got my answer, loud and clear!

But most of the time, we don't get the answers so clearly. Should we expect God to speak to us?  In John 10:27 there is this reassurance: “My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me."  And then there's Matthew 7:7 and Luke 11:9 where Jesus says, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you will find..."  If we persist in seeking God's will, we will find. And why should we persist?

"In His will is our peace." 

Consuming Fire

“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” Luke 12:49

Why in the world would Jesus say that? I think of the conflagration in Australia from July 2019 to March last year which devastated 46 million acres. More than 5,900 buildings disintegrated to dust, ashes and rubble. At least 34 people were killed, and nearly 3 billion animals were affected in Australia’s worst wildfire season in modern history. Is this what Jesus meant?

In Deuteronomy 4, there is a verse there which says, “For the Lord, your God, is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” In another version, it reads, “a devouring fire”. Devouring and consuming are certainly descriptions of the wildfires in New South Wales and Victoria! It is something to take seriously! 

Deuteronomy 4:23 reads, “Take heed, therefore, lest, forgetting the covenant which the Lord, your God, has made with you, you fashion for yourselves against His command an idol in any form whatsoever”. How serious a sin is making an idol in any form, shape or configuration? Very very very serious! 

An idol is a false God. It doesn’t have to be a piece of wood, or a marble statue in a church. It can be anything we put in the place of God. It can be a person we obey and admire and defend even if he himself does and says things against God’s laws, and asks us to do things that God hates. It can be our work if our work separates us from God and the family we love. It can be many things if we put those things before God. Indeed, Jesus wants to bring fire into our lives to burn away whatever is dross from the gold. Are we prepared for God’s consuming fire? We need to be if we are serious about going to heaven! No dross is allowed there! 

Much is Required

“When much has been given a man, much will be required of him.” Luke 12:48

God gave each of us gifts, talents, natural aptitudes, and resources. It’s up to us to discover them, hone them so they become skills, an expertise that we can use to bless others and give glory to the One who was generous with us. We’d like to think that God was equally generous with everyone, but the parable of the talents that Jesus told in Matthew 25 shows us that God entrusted more to some and less to others. 

My mom used to say that she had little talent compared to others but that she used it to the last drop. She also did not have much money to start a business. She started by using scraps to make stuffed toys. She did not have business expertise, she used her common sense. But she had faith, a whole lot of it. She prayed for a business, worked hard, prayed, learned what she could, prayed, persisted, prayed, and now that business is 54 years old this October. 

I have to admit, compared to my siblings, that I don’t have as much talent as they do when it comes to art. For years, I did not touch a brush or pencil. But in 2006, when I was dissatisfied that at 10 am I could not remember what I prayed about early in the morning, I decided to embellish the bible verse I meditated on. I would cut up magazines and put borders around the Bible verse in my journal. I would cut up pictures that would illustrate the verse. Eventually I started to draw. My drawing was so elementary but I kept at it. Then I started to paint. Every day I kept at it. Then I discovered painting in my Bible. When I got sick and could not go downstairs by myself to my craft room early in the morning, I started drawing digitally with Procreate. I believe the little seed God put in my hand has grown and will keep growing if I water it every day. 

I would think it’s scary if God gave us many many gifts!!!! We would have to grow each one! But I think God only gives us what we can handle. I remember a story of a little boy following his dad in a supermarket. The boy was holding a basket and the father was putting the bread, cheese, milk into it. A woman observing them, asked the son, “Isn’t that too heavy for you?” “No,” he answered, “My father knows exactly how much I can carry.” So too with our Heavenly Father, He knows how much of a burden we can carry.

Thank You Lord for all our gifts. Help us to take care of everything you give us. May we be grateful, and not proud of what we have, nor envious of what others have. Teach us to use our gifts to help and bless others. How wonderful it is to partner with You in discovering Your plan and purpose for each of us! 

Servant

“Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.” Luke 12: 35-36

My neighbor has a lot of horror stories about her house help. One helper would hide pasta and spaghetti sauce and other goodies in a box hidden in their laundry area. It was covered with old bottles and other recyclables. On her day off she would bring the box with her in a taxi. Another one, a cook, would tell all the other new helpers that my neighbors were super strict and would cook very little food for them until the other helpers would leave and she would have the house to herself. Later it was found out that she would bring home the extra food for her family. Then there were two helpers who spent so much time sleeping at the same time. Anyone who rang the door bell or knocked would have to wait a long time before they would hear and open up. 

In Luke 12, Jesus tells us that we are not to be like that, caught sleeping, or it will not go very well for us. He says we are to be ready for His coming at any time, even in the second or third watch. If He finds us alert, we will be blessed because He Himself shall wait on us at table. 

During this pandemic it has been heartbreaking to hear of so many who have lost their lives, sometimes suddenly, sometimes after a protracted stay in the hospital. We never know when our invisible enemy will hit close to home. That is why we have to be ready at any time to go to our real home. Jesus tells us that if we have “girded our loins and lit our lamps” waiting for Him, He will lead us to a feast, a banquet table. 

We are Jesus’ friends but He also teaches us that we should learn to be servants. When God created us, He gave us a purpose, and He put that in our hearts. We also have a calling, and that’s what we have in our hands. If we want to be good stewards of what He has put in our hands, our gifts and talents, our resources, our time, we need to use it all to fulfill God’s purpose for us. 

Lord, may I be a good servant and use what I have in my hands to fulfill what You have put in my heart.