Good News for Bad Times

"...He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we might ask or think." (Eph. 3:20)

For many their Christian faith is reduced to platitudes and nice ways of thinking. But if you take your faith seriously and believe that the Word of God is absolutely true, God is described as a God who is able. What is He able to do? Actually, anything that He chooses to do. And Paul says to the Ephesians more than we are able to ask in prayer, and more than we can even imagine.

God provided for over a million of His people as they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. They called in "manna" which literally means "what is it." But God provided for them daily, and only enough for each day so they would depend upon Him. God's economy is never in a recession. He is able to provide what we need daily, if we trust completely in Him.

Elijah, the prophet, in I Kings 17, was depending on God beside a brook where the ravens were feeding him. But the brook dried up. God took him to a widow lady who was down to her last bit of ingredients to prepare a meal for her son and herself. Elijah told her to feed him first, and she stepped out in faith. Because of her obedience, she discovered a never ending supply. God has not promised us everything we want, but when we fully surrender to Him in obedience, He has promised us everything that we need.

My hope is built on nothing less than..... How would you answer that? Is your hope in congress or the president? Is it in Republicans or democrats to save the economy? Is your hope in a 401 K plan that has decreased tremendously over the last months? Or is your hope in the God who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond what you might ask or think?

In the Belly of the Ship

"This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God."
(1 Cor. 4:1)

The church in Corinth was choosing sides over their favorite leader. One said, "I like Peter best, he was with Jesus." Another said, "I like Paul, he is a great church planter." And yet another said, "I prefer Apollos, he can really preach." So Paul writes to the church and says, all of us are simply servants and stewards. While he speaks in this case specifically of leaders, it is true of every Christian.

The word for "servant' here is unique. It was a word used to describe the person who was a slave in the belly of a Roman ship, rowing at the orders of a master. Paul says that we are simply "under-rowers" with Christ as our master. Our responsibility is to simply obey.

The word "steward" describes a person who does not own anything but manages the affairs of someone else. We are stewards of the "sacred secrets" of God that have been revealed through the ages, but are made clear in Jesus Christ.

So Paul says each one of us are given ministries from God that relate to communicating the truth of God through Jesus Christ to the people groups of the world. We are not compared to one another, but we are judged by God based on our faithfulness to obey Him. The question is, "have we done the very best we could with what God has given us to do and with the resources He has entrusted to us to do it?"