Category Archives: Faithfulness

June 19, 2017

Doing Our Duty

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 27:18

18 Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.

Lazy or Hardworking?

Perhaps you have heard the fable of “The Grasshopper and the Ant”.

The ant works hard all summer getting food ready for the winter. The grasshopper merely enjoys his lazy summer days lying around making fun of the ant for working so hard. When winter comes, the grasshopper has no food, so he goes to the ant. Depending the version of the story you find, the ant tells the grasshopper “If I give you food to eat that you did not earn, I will not have enough to get through the winter. You cannot have any of my food.”

If we have a garden and do not tend it, there will be very little food to eat at harvest. If we tend our garden and work hard at protecting and nurturing it, we will have an abundance of food at harvest.

Serving our Master

Likewise, if we work hard at what we are tasked to do (at work, at play, in anything that requires doing something that may be hard), we will be honored – respected, and rewarded.

This can be seen through promotions or bonuses at work, new friendships, getting awards, or another other number of good things.

Also, if we serve our Lord and Savior faithfully by sharing the gospel and helping those in need, we will one day get to hear Jesus say to us in persons “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3:23-34, NIV

Dear Lord, give us the strength and integrity to do what we must and to do it well. Empower us to share Your love and healing with our world that we may One Day hear You say “Well done!”

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February 13, 2017

Unnecessary Pain

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 25:19

19 Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.

Hiking the Trails

I enjoy going on hiking and camping trips. I find them relaxing and refreshing.

Those long walks and getting away from it can be a relief to a weary mind and soul. Making simple meals over a fire (or out of a bag) is such a joy.

However, if I were to slip and twist my ankle, my hike would be more of a bother than a time of relaxation.

If I in my slip I fell and broke my tooth, my meals would be a time of anxiety rather than of joy.

A “friend”

On one trip into the wilderness with a college group, we had been out hiking and camping for three days. We had a great time.

On the hike out, a couple of the hikers grew quite tired and had run out water. One of our friends, who had decided at the last minute to join our group, did not even slow down to help. When all but those two were at the meeting point for almost half an hour, we got worried. The one mentioned seeing them, and then he started walking on ahead toward the exit.

He did not help us locate our friends, and he did not seem interested in helping in any other way, either. All he managed was to cause unnecessary pain through more grief and tension!

The Golden Rule

Followers of Jesus are expected to help others, for we may in fact be helping Him increase His Kingdom (Matthew 25:31-46).

What kind of friend are you?

If you see someone in need do you find out if you can help, or do you carry on your way with little thought about the matter?

Do bring relief or cause more pain?

9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:9-12, NIV

Lord, help us to love as You love. Fill us with Your compassion and grace, that we may not cause unnecessary pain on others in their time of need. Help us to be Your faithful servants to this lost and hurting world.

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January 30, 2017

Refreshed

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 25:13

13 As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters.

Working Up a Sweat

I was born in upstate New York, so I know some things about snow.

I was raised in central Illinois, so I know some things about harvest time.

I currently live in Phoenix, Arizona, so I know some things about wanting some of that snow again!

I have worked in corn and soybean fields in the middle of summer.  I have also done many different things outside during the summer in Phoenix. They can be very hot and demanding on the body. It is the kind of thing where you long for a just a moment of snowfall to get relief from the heat and exhaustion.

It is kind of like getting a hold of some ice-cold water in the middle of those days, but it cools the entire body.

Refreshing the Soul

Whether a sinner far from God or the godliest saint alive, we all go through times when life just seems too much.

It feels like it has been forever since we have found encouragement, spent time with friends, had a fulfilling day at work, or just a day off.

Having that one person who comes along and says just the right thing, hangs out with you, makes your work feel worth it or helps you get through the worst part of your work, or takes a shift for you can feel like that sudden snow at the end of a late, hot summer day.

Likewise, when the weight of this world weighs heavy on your shoulders, that person who shares the gospel or a word of encouragement from God can be just as refreshing.

It is the One who literally took on the weight of the world on His shoulders coming into your heart and lifting it up.

It is so refreshing knowing the Lord of Creation and Lover of your soul is there with you.

Dear Father, grant us peace throughout our days and in our troubles. Help us to rely on You. Help us to carry your refreshing grace to our tired and burdened world.

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October 28, 2016

Parents’ Joy

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 23:24-25

24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

My Testimony

Today, I begin a new chapter in my theological journey at Phoenix Seminary.

My parents are very proud to see me pursuing ministry for God so diligently and wholeheartedly.

My parents raised me to be respectful. I was also taught to be open-minded yet reasonable.

When I first began attending a local church, they were not enthused. They were worried I might be indoctrinated with bigoted ideas and a judgmental attitude.

Instead, I began to believe what I was taught about the Bible and Jesus of Nazareth. That little Church of the Nazarene congregation helped me see the truth of love and grace and the need of a Lord and Savior.

In less than a year of my believing, of my life being changed, of the Holy Spirit moving through to me to act in wisdom and righteousness, my parents believed in the same Savior.

God the Father sent His Son to die, and then He sent my parents’ son to show them His Son.

It was none of my own righteousness and wisdom that won them over. It was seeing the righteousness and wisdom of the Father – Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit – that drew them to glorify His name!

They found true joy and the true reason to rejoice through me, thanks to our Lord!

A responsible and intelligent child can bring much joy to his or her parents. The greatest joy comes from seeing God manifested in the life of their child, and that is only true if God is manifested in their lives, as well!

Heavenly Father, gracious God, help us to seek You diligently. Live in us and through us that our parents and our children may see Your glory and turn to You. Make our joy complete as Your joy is made complete in us through Your Son.

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Faithfulness, Parenting, Paths of Life, Trust the Lord

April 6, 2016

Weighty Truth

By Anthony Baker

Proverbs 20:10

“Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.”
“Differing weights and differing measures— the LORD detests them both.” (NIV)

Flattering Scales

I know some people who hate being weighed. They cringe at the thought of stepping on scales. So, to  make things a little easier, they find ways to make adjustments.

Believe it or not, some people (and you know who you are), adjust their bathroom scales to show less than a person’s actual weight. In other words, some people, after stepping out of the shower, would prefer that their scales lie. They like being flattered, not fattened.

Lying Scales

Balance à tabac

Balance à tabac (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This proverb has to do with scales, but here they are called “diverse weights, and diverse measures.” They were used back in the old days for determining the value or authenticity of an item. For example, if someone said he had an ounce of pure gold, a standardized ounce of pure gold, when set on the other side of the scale, should balance out. If something was off then the scales would tip.

Many times dishonest merchants would cheat their customers by using “diverse” weights, or weights that said they weighed a certain amount, but didn’t. God hates lying, even when it involves weights.

Heavy Truth

Sometimes the truth may seem too heavy to bear. It may be disappointing to know how much we actually weigh. Those who have flattering scales in their bathrooms are often brought back to reality when they have to visit a doctor – their scales don’t lie.

What is wrong with a little scale tampering every now and then? The problem is that a lying scale leads people to believe a lie is the truth. With God there is no room for error or falsehood. Jesus is the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life. There is no coming to God by way of a faulty scale.

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February 12, 2016

Head vs Heart

By Nick

Proverbs 19:2

‘Desire without knowledge is not good –
how much more will hasty feet miss the way!’

Desirable

It’s good to be passionate, to have strong desires to be love and to care. Without it life would be very boring, but as this Proverb hints at heart without a bit of head can lead us to miss the real path.

Unbalanced

A lot of people these days are driven purely by emotion. They go after things they want with reckless abandon. When we are totally driven by emotion we often end up making bad decisions and hurting people in the process. People driven by emotion will throw away relationships on a whim because they have seen the next best thing, they will chase promotions at the expense of colleagues, they will attempt to satisfy every whim and fancy in any way possible, and worst of all usually be blind to the trail of destruction in their wake. Our emotions need to submit to our common sense, and both need to submit to Jesus.

Counting the Cost

We need both desire and knowledge to make our decisions as we do not want to miss the way. Consider the words of Jesus:

Luke 14:28-33 ‘Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, “This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.” ‘Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.’

May we learn the power of passion and desire guided by wisdom and knowledge.

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January 25, 2016

Big Ears

By David

Proverbs 18:13 

He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.
To answer before listening – that is folly and shame. (NIV)

It doesn’t matter how much teaching we receive on the subject of listening, or how many times we are reminded by Scripture (James 1:19) to be quick to listen and slow to speak, most of us are not good listeners. Isn’t it true that when we are on the listening end of a conversation we are only partially listening? Generally we are working out our reply and looking for the opportunity to interrupt so that we can say what we want to say.

Our failure to be listeners exists despite our own experience of being in conversations where we know that the other person hasn’t heard a word we have said. Such experience means that we are all acutely aware of the need to be good listeners. It is foolish, rude, and shameful to interrupt with a response when the other party to a conversation has not finished speaking.

Listening requires focus and concentration. It is important that we hear correctly and understand what is being said, not just in conversations with other people, but when we come to God in prayer. So how do you approach God in prayer? With a listening heart or a chattering mouth? Or do you start out planning to listen but end up butting in so many times that you never really hear what God is saying to you? God speaks to us in many different ways. It is essential that we take time to ensure that we hear what He is saying. While that means listening carefully, it also means growing in our understanding and knowledge of Him. It is a bit like learning to speak a foreign language effectively. It requires practice and a lot of work to achieve real understanding.

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September 18, 2015

Can You Hear Me Now?

By Jason Sneed

Proverbs 15:29

The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.

220px-George_MullerHis name is one that many people may not know. It sounds like any other name and if it was said aloud, most would scratch their heads and wander who is this gentleman. His name was plain, but to a group of children that depended on him every day for their well-being, he was a saint. His name was George Muller.

George Muller was a christian evangelist and director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England. It is said that during his time as director, that more than 10,000 children were cared for and loved.

More importantly, George Muller was a man that loved the Lord. No, I am not saying that George Muller was a religious man, I am saying that he had a personal relationship with God.

Our verse today talks about the “prayer of the righteous”. I can assure you that the Lord heard the prayers of George Muller. Am I saying that George Muller was perfect? Far from it, but I know by his fruits that he loved the Lord with all his heart and it showed.

James 5:16b says these very powerful words, “…the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

Mr. Muller never once asked for donations from the public to help support the orphanage. He always prayed and depended on God to supply the need. On one occasion, when there was no food in the orphanage at all, Muller had the children come to the tables for breakfast and sit down and pray. At the end of the prayer, a baker and a milkman showed up at the front door with both bread and milk to meet the need.

The Lord heard the prayers of George Muller and He can also hear the prayers that comes from you and me, but we must have the correct connection.

Several years back, Verizon Wireless had a commercial that showed a guy walking around everywhere asking the question, “Can you hear me  now?” The point of the commercial was to show the consumer that Verizon’s coverage was strong and that the connection between two phones was always going to be there and that both parties would be heard.

God has laid out for us some requirements in order for Him to hear our prayers – WE MUST BE RIGHTEOUS! Does this mean that we have to be perfect, no, but we must strive to fear Him and be faithful to Him in everything we do.

Do you want God to hear your prayers? Then strive to be a righteous person – not religious, but righteous!

“The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them” (Psalm  145:18,19).

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August 20, 2015

Sacri-nice

By Nick

Proverbs 15:8

“The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked,
    but the prayer of the upright pleases him.”

What God Wants…

God hates the sacrifice of the wicked, but he isn’t to keen on the sacrifice of the righteous either, especially when it becomes the be all and end all. Countless times in the Bible God makes the point that He isn’t interested in sacrifices, the idea of coming and making a payment for your transgressions. No, what He is interested in is your behavior, how you will respond to His grace and forgiveness in your own life, and how that will inspire you to treat others.

Inspired by?

In Matthew 18 we see the story of a servant who owes his master a huge amount of money. He’s panicking, how will he pay this back? What will happen to his family? He goes before the master and begs for more time, and incredibly the master let’s him off. Scot free. Let’s not miss the huge significance of this – this is truly incredible and as counter cultural now as it was then.

I sometimes watch Undercover Boss, now I am not naive I know it’s probably scripted, but I can’t help but be moved when some big CEO enters the life of a low level employee, sees their struggles and their debt, and does something about it. What we never see is how this affects the person in question. They seem very grateful in the moment, but we never see the lasting change.

Not so with this servant. The Bible tells us that straight away he went looking for another servant who owed him a considerably smaller amount. We’d be entitled to think that he had in mind to set this servant free from his debt, to share the grace he had experienced. But in fact all he wants is the money owed to him. How sad that this servant was even more enslaved to money than he originally thought.

Washing feet

At the opposite end of the spectrum we find Jesus. Jesus the entirety of God squeezed into man form, denying His deity to inspire humanity, relying fully on the Father to further the future of the broken. We all know Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, we all know this should blow our tiny minds, but I’ll be honest it was just one of those things I accepted, until I reread the account and came to these verses in John 13:3-5 ‘Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.’ 

Why did Jesus do this? BECAUSE He knew who he was. Because He wanted to show the world a powerful image of what happens when we take the lowest place.

Prayer

All very good and well you may say but how’s this connected to the proverb? Prayer changes everything. If you want to be a person who shares grace rather than shrugs grace then you need to start on your knees.

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August 4, 2015

Carpenter King

By David

Proverbs 14:35

“The king’s favor is toward a wise servant: but his wrath is against him that causeth shame.”

I only know one King. He is not an earthly king, in fact he was born into poverty, apparently while his parents were accommodated in a stable. While He was still quite young, this King was exiled from His homeland. When He returned home this King learned a trade, and qualified as a carpenter. Some years later, but while He was still a young man, the carpenter King became an itinerant. He had no palace, in fact He had nowhere to lay His head.

Somehow the itinerant King gathered a band of followers, twelve of whom became so special to the King that He called them His disciples. These disciples weren’t exactly servants, and they struggled to understand their King at times. The King rejoiced when His disciples exhibited wisdom, but often felt frustration at their lack of understanding. While they may have let him down from time to time, only one disciple disgraced the King, and walked away from His favor.

It seems incredible that this disciple rejected his King, turning the King over to the authorities of the day for a financial reward. In a disgraceful, shameful act of betrayal this disciple led soldiers to his King. He planted a kiss on the King’s cheek to identify Him. The King was taken away, interrogated, tortured, and sentenced to death. Although the King was innocent of all charges, He was publicly executed by being nailed to a wooden cross. As He hung on that cross He accepted the wrath and the shame that should have been levied against His subjects.

Lift up your eyes to the cross of the King! While He is long gone from that cross, the cross reminds us that our shame has been replaced by His favor, because He took the shame and made it His. That is His gift to you. Favor instead of shame. Are you a wise servant? Will you accept this gift from the King?

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