Romans 1:8

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.

     Paul pays the Romans one of the greatest compliments that could ever be paid to an assembly of believers. He tells them first of all that he is thankful for them. It always nice to be appreciated and to know someone is glad that you are who you are. So his appreciation for them is a compliment in and of itself. It becomes even greater when you see why he is thankful for them: because of their faith.

     This is high praise indeed coming from a man who has faith so strong that he would devote his entire life to preaching the gospel despite persecution at every turn. Paul tells them that it is their faith he is thankful for. Apparantly he is not the only one who has noticed either. Paul also mentions that their faith is an example throughout the world. People were actually talking about the Romans, saying things like, “Those Christians in Rome have great faith. It is amazing what they have gone through and yet they have still stayed strong.”

     We too can be an example of faith. Granted, our intention is to never make our faith external only. It would be wrong for us to be all about appearance. That is what the Pharisees did. Nor should we desire great faith to stroke our own ego. However, if we are of great faith, we are an example to others. We are a source of encouragement in their times of weakness. They know that following God is possible because brother so-and-so has already paved the way. We should aspire to have a faith that encourages and uplifts other, not for our own benefit, but so that we can glorify God both to the world and to the church.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.

Isaiah 5:22

Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink,

     Society often times has a skewed idea of what it means to be a hero. “Manly men” are able to  hold their liquor. Men are praised and esteemed because of their physical relationships with women; the more women the better. These standards are ungodly, and yet it is easy to get caught up in them. We may even have standards, that while not sinful are not God’s standards. The man who lifts weight up to two times his own body mass or the one who can repair anything with ductape, a two by four, and three nails.

     Women have it no easier. The heroes for women are those who rebel against the domestic chores and focus solely on their career. Women are mocked for wanting to stay at home. There is nothing wrong with working, but it can not come at the expense of the family either (same with a man). Furthermore, women are highly esteemed who are “independent” and who refuse to submit to a husband. Yet in the Bible, we see that the woman to be praised is the exact opposite.

     If we are not careful, we can allow society to define our views of what it means for us to be a hero. Instead, we need to see what it is that God has laid out. To be a hero in the kingdom of God is not easy. It takes hard work and discipline. Also, we need to understand that knowing what God views as a hero is not something that comes naturally. It takes diligent study on our part.Yet the reward for the position is incomparable. We need to earnestly strive to be a hero as God defines it, not the world.

Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink,

Genesis 39:9

“There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”

     One time a close friend and I were planning a vacation. We were both very excited about it. We had planned it, anticipating all the fun things we would do. However, the plans never came to fruition. We had a falling out and the trip was canceled. Even when things were later patched up, we never could get that trip back. We may go on other trips, but that trip was a wasted opportunity. This taught me a valuable life lesson: even if relationships are renewed, sin has consequences.

     Many times we sin against our brethern. We hope and desire that forgiveness will be granted even after we mess up. Yet the forgiveness offered never takes away the events of what happened. Take David for example. He was truly penitent for sleeping with Bathsheba and murdering her husband. Did this return Bathsheba’s husband to her? No. Think back in your own life. Have their been times were a situation was resolved with a less than satisfactory solution because of people’s sin? They may have forgiven each other, but the time wasted in sin caused the perfect solution to become untenable.

    The same thing can happen with God. When we sin against God, we know He will forgive us. Yet every sin separates us from God a little more. It hurts are progression and growth as Christians. We can not earn back that time spent in sin. We can not gain back the influence we might have lost because we were mired in our sinful path. This should motivate us be more righteous in our behavior toward God and others. We may not be able to gain any wasted time back, but we can resolve to lose as little time to sin in the future as possible.

“There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”

Romans 8:26

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for {us} with groanings too deep for words;

     One day I was left all alone with my six month old neice. While at first she seemed just fine playing in her chair, all of the sudden she started crying. She would not stop. The first thing I did was try to walk around holding her, knowing that sometimes help. She continued to cry.  I tried to change her daiper hoping that would solve the problem. It did not.

     We continued this guessing game for a while. I tried putting on her sock and jacket, since I noticed that her feet were cold. Finally her grandma came in, and she was happy to see her and then quickly fell asleep. In all honesty, I still do not know what it was that was bothering her. It could have been all the things I was trying to fix. It could have been that she was sleepy and fighting sleep. It could be that she wanted a woman around. I have no way of knowing.

     In our lives, sometimes we feel like my neice when we are talking to God. There is something wrong in our lives. We are hurting or we are scared or we are uncomfortable. Yet when we try to explain it to people, or to God, it really does not make sense, even to ourselves. We just know something is wrong and we are trying to get it fixed. Luckily for us though, we have a translator: the Holy Spirit. He tells God what we are trying to say in a way that we never could express. Then God is able to help exactly as only he can. We need to thank the Lord that He has given us such a translator.

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for {us} with groanings too deep for words;

Acts 5:2

and kept back {some} of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet.

     As you read this story you can almost see what is going through the minds of Ananias and Sapphira. They had just recently seen Barnabas sell his property and give the money to the elders. Barnabas is the epitomy of unity of the first century church, and is used that way by Luke’s narrative. What he did was very praiseworthy and you can imagine that it was something that people noticed and spread. It may have even been this story that began the trend of him being called the “son of encouragement”.

     The attention given to Barnabas for this great act was not lost on Ananias and Sapphira. They see the attention that has been garnered upon them, and it becomes their undoing. Somewhere in their heart they desire the glory that was given to Barnabas. So they come up with a plan in order to receive the same praise. They decide that they will lie about what they sold their property for. It is bad enough to do something righteous for evil motives, but to pretend to do something righteous is even worse. They want all of the recognition with none of the sacrifice.

     To say that God did not appreciate their actions is an understatement. God struck both of them dead. It seems as though God would us be in open, honest rebellion rather than to decietfully appear as though we are following Him. God desires us to do good out of love and righteousness. Many times we do it because we want the appreciation or the recognition. Instead we need to do it because it is a noble thing to do, not because we want others to think we are noble. Otherwise our fates will not be much better than Ananias and Sapphira.

and kept back {some} of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Acts 4:36

Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement),

     Joseph the Levite is not a name used often when people are talking abou the Bible, despite the fact that Joseph was a pivotal character in much of Luke’s narrative in Acts. Everyone knows him by the name of Barnabas. It would be interesting to see how many people know what his actual name was. The name conferred to him is very descriptive of his character. It means son of encouragement. Anyone who is given that name should consider it a great honor.

    The often gave names based on character traits in Biblical times. This was definitely the case with Barnabas. He was a man who offered great encouragement. In this chapter we see that he sells off property in order to help fellow Christians who are in need. Elsewhere in scripture we see that he was one of the first in Jerusalem to accept Paul’s conversion. He journeys with Paul and helps in many conversions. He is in prayer often. Here and elsewhere we see that when his fellow Christians have needs, he is one of the first one’s there to sign up.

     We need to aspire to be like Barnabas. We need to develop the attitude of service that he did. He was encouraging because he was always looking ot help others. He found needs and did what was necessary to help. We can do that today too. It does not just have to be financially either. We can encourage others through our service. We can have a kind word in the midst of a frustrating day. We can offer prayer and study in times of trials. We can offer a shoulder to cry on. Yet all of these rely on a specific component in our life: sacrifice. We have to be willing to sacrifice our time, our money, our effort. If we are willing to sacrifice for the sake of others, then we too will be sons of encouragement.

Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement),

Psalm 139:12

Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike {to You.}

     My Father has an English Bulldog named Minnie. She is one of the orneriest dogs you will meet. She really does not like to be still when ever company is over. The fact that she is a very excitable cement block means that when guests come over Dad needs to corral her so she will not hurt anyone. So Dad goes over and puts her on her specific spot. She is not allowed to move from her spot.

      Shortly thereafter Minnie almost always tries some sort of trick in order to get off of her spot. Mostly she tries to crawl slowly over to where all the people are. We always laugh at her, because she seems to think that this actually hides her movements, that we will not notice what she is doing so long as she crawls. Yet we are completely aware of every action she makes. We know when she misbhaves, yet she thinks she can hide it.

    While we laugh at her feeble attempts, it is also important that man realize that their attempts at secret sin are just as feeble before God. We sometimes like to think that we are sneaky, or that maybe if we do our sin in the shroud of darkness, somehow God will overlook it. This is never the case. God notices all that we do. We can not hide anything from Him and we should not even try. We need to live righteously before Him in all that we do. Otherwise we will face His judgment.

Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike {to You.}

1 Thessalonians 5:18

in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

     Some people do not know how to handle compliments. Anytime someone tries to say something nice about them, they either dismiss it or contradict the person. While the person may just be trying to show humility or feels embarassed about the situation, what they fail to realize is that such comments show a lack of appreciation for the compliment given. It will not take long before people stop giving such compliments because they obviously are not wanted.

    Whatever the reason may be for disregarding compliments, it fails to take into account the role of the person who gives a compliment. They offer it to show appreciation for something about the other person. They desire to make the person they compliment feel better. When it is rejected, the gift of the compliment is rejected. Having made themselves vulnerable, the one who offers the compliment is sad that his gift went unaccepted.

    These verbal gifts and the lack of appreciation shown by the recipients are a good example of our relationship with God. God offers us an innumerable amount of gifts. There is literally now way for us to list all of the things that God has done for us. Yet like the person receiving a compliment, we can shrug off the blessings of God. We show that we do not care for His gifts. Such a rejection is hurtful to God and is in effect a rejection of Him. We need to be appreciative of all that God has given us and make sure we acknowledge what all He has done for us. We want Him to know that we are thankful for all that He has done.

in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 25:13

“Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

     One day I had to take a very important test. The instructions as I signed up told me that if I did not show up on time, then my test would be forfieted with no refund. As I was getting ready to go to take the exam, I decided to give myself some extra time, just in case traffic was congested. This was unusual for me because normally I expect everything to go according to plan. It was quite suprising to me then when my tire went flat on the way there. Having no way to push through, I had to pull over and change it.

     Luckily for me, on this occassion I had prepared myself for such an occassion. While there was a bit of panic I was able to make it on time to my test. However, if I acted like I normally do, I would have missed my test and lost a considerable amount of money. It was scary to realize how close I was to being unprepared. The situation reminded me of the ten virgins found in Matthew 25. Some were prepared with extra oil, while others were not. Those who were not prepared were shut out of the banquet feast.

     In our daily walk, we need to make sure we are prepared. It is easy for us to get lacksidasical. We figure everything will be just fine today, so we do not need to prepare. We allow ourselves to dabble in sin because God will probably come back another day rather than today. We cannot make such allowances. Instead we need to be prepared every day for the Lord’s return. Otherwise we might have a flat tire on the wrong day and miss the banquet feast.

“Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

James 1:17

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

     One night as I was up late studying for  a math test, I felt the need to curse variables. It gets very difficult trying to solve for x in all these different situations. Yet doing so is necessary. The very nature of life is that it is always changing. Math is a representation of this. The equations and the variables are always changing because there are things that are always shifting. Imagine doing a word problem based on the cost of gasoline. We would be adjusting our problem repeatedly to deal with the fluctions in the cost of gas per gallon.

     Gasoline is not the only example that we have of this. Go to the store and you will find that prices change, sometimes dramatically, on the products you wish to buy. If you talk to someone who has lived a full life, they will tell you how the remember when the cost of things were only a nickel. The stock market changes daily. On top of that things like our living situation, our friends, and our jobs are constantly shifting. In many ways the only constant is that there will be change.

     There is one thing that does not change, however. It is the nature of our God and Savior. He is constantly blessing His creation. He gives us good and not evil. He has shown over and over again throughout history how much He loves us and that He wants to help us. With all of these variables bouncing around these days, it is difficult for us to know what we should hang on to. We must grab hold of God, for He will never change and we can rely on Him.

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.