When We Search for the Lost, Then We Are Found

It’s funny how Christians, for the most part, are no different than people in secular society. That goes for myself, as well. Last evening I was watching a program called Celebration on the Daystar Christian television network. They happen to be in their winter Share-a thon season; during this time they ask for donations to support the network for the next year, which is run similar to public television for those who may not be familiar with it.

During these share-a-thon events they preach a lot about how giving to God’s work creates blessings in the life of the giver; and I’m all for that, so for those who thought I was going in the direction of “them just wanting my money”, that’s not what I am referring to. I believe in this type of giving and that it does create blessings from God, because giving something as precious and hard to come by as money shows God your faith in Him; and of course, it’s biblical.

But, each night as I watched, there are many themes that relate to self, even when they talk about helping the poor and destitute they will mention the residual effect of self-blessing to get people to donate. Now, again this is a proven principle.

But, is this what it has to come down to for even born-again Christians who are filled with the Spirit of God? In order to motivate one to give to a worthy cause; they have to mention what it will do for the giver. Yes; there is a residual effect, as well as a good feeling that we feel inside of ourselves after we do obey God and give to those in need. This is instilled in us by God as not only a motivation for us, but mainly as a sort of reward for obedience.

This kind of giving makes us feel that nice warm feeling inside of us, this warm feeling is enjoyable and makes you enjoy giving. We get confirmation of this in Psalm 126:5, “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.”

Last week I was watching the God channel and they had their version of Share-a-thon, called Mission Week. Now, they were using the same principles as Daystar to motivate giving. Is it just me thinking this or does anyone else see something wrong with this picture? Didn’t Jesus call us to the lost of the World? If your not sure, here is His quote; Matthew 10:6, “But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Who are the lost sheep of the house of Israel? Well, The tribe of Judah, the Jewish people today, we know where they are, but they are lost in their quest for Messiah; so, yes, we should be reaching out to the Jewish people and try to show them that their Messiah is our Messiah that they missed.

But, there are eleven other tribes. The Bible tells us that the tribe of Benjamin merged with the tribe of Judah to form the nation of Judah, so with that understanding, there are ten tribes that are still lost; could Jesus have been referring to them?

I personally believe that many of the descendants of those tribes may very well be Christians today. But, there are many more who are lost and have no idea that they are who they are. Jesus told us it is our job to find them and bring them home to their spiritual faith.

Christians, for the most part have fumbled the ball and are so wrapped up in their own lives that we are missing this very important task. Just for the record, I’m condemning myself, as well. No wonder for ten years after being born again, my life was a complete disaster, and I wanted to know why after accepting Jesus into my heart, nothing changed in my life? Why wasn’t God speaking to me? Why wasn’t I receiving the blessings that are promised in the Bible?

I was full of excuses, as well. “I can’t tithe this week, my bills are due.” So what! Didn’t God promise to take care of our needs? I know when I would read about God taking care of my needs, I overlooked the step I need to take to activate that blessing.

It sounds like I’m talking about my works providing blessings for me, but that is not what I am saying. I’m saying we are not activating the Holy Spirit, which Jesus died on the Cross so we can have in our lives. Selfishness is sin, it is going to separate us from God, and if not repented from, it will keep us separated.

Although they are well-meaning, these Christian networks are playing on selfish attitudes to motivate us to give. That in-turn creates selfish behavior; and you now how easy it is to create poor habits in peoples lives?

Again, I was a culprit, one share-a-thon, I was told that if I donated a $1,000 I could be on the list God gave them of becoming one of 300 millionaires within three months of that giving. I don’t know; did they truly hear from God on that? Anything is possible for God. But, I sat and waited three months…nothing happened.

Should I condemn them for lying? Not at all! What did I do in that three months to produce that result? NOTHING, but wait selfishly! Maybe they should have specified that to wait selfishly could interrupt the receiving of the blessing; that’s how Satan works, you know. He will do all he can to disrupt your communication lines to and from God. God isn’t the problem, it is us! We are not looking without, we are looking within!

So, as Christians, let’s pick up that fumble and let’s hold tightly to that ball and why not run it back for a touchdown!

Church! We need to get moving; it’s getting late early out there!

If you would like to learn more Bible truth, click here!

Faith You Can Trust!

What is faith? Hebrews 11:1, tells us, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” When you read your Bible, let’s face it; it takes a lot of faith to believe in what it teaches. Much of what the Bible teaches about events in history, such as, Noah and the flood, Moses and the parting of the Red Sea, Elijah the prophet being taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire, are hard to fathom.

I can go on-and-on and reference events from the Bible, which it claims are true, yet they are hard for us to believe. Why? Because man just does not know God! Plain and simple. We are so far removed from God as a people, we are not able to see these events as fact. Many of the Bible’s historic stories are written in a fairytale form, as though they were just some stories with a moral ending.

But, they are more than just stories or a bunch of fairytales; they are historic events that when we put our faith in them, they can change our lives dramatically. What do I mean by putting our faith in them? I am not talking about human faith, but a true faith; a godly faith, a faith that God tests.

Just as Hebrews 11:1, says, that we should be sure of the hope that the Bible presents for us, and be certain of those things we cannot understand or see. This is not an easy thing to do; especially for human beings who only know how to discern things in this life through our physical five senses of taste, touch, smell, feel, and hear.

Given something spiritual to comprehend and we are lost. Why? Because since the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve transgressed against God’s perfect Law, we became separated from Him and became imperfect and corrupted with the ways of the world, or Satan’s way. And that way is away from God.

Jesus talks a lot about faith and the lack thereof. He also talks of faith that has the ability to heal and restore life. When His disciples fell short of His expectations for them, He would say to them often, “You of little faith.” But, in instances where people showed strong belief that Jesus is from God, no matter how hard is is for us to fathom, Jesus would respond as He did to a woman in Matthew 15:28, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.”

Jesus also alluded to the fact that it wasn’t the amount of faith, rather it was the quality of that faith that was important. In Matthew 17:20, He referred to an amount of faith the size of a mustard seed that could move a mountain. You see, worldly faith or human faith is not true faith at all; but a faith that comes when we relinquish all the worldly faith and tell God, “I believe you, even though I don’t see. That’s godly faith! I put all my hope in you even though the world is asking the question, ‘how can you be sure?’”

If you’ve ever asked that question or even if you are contemplating it right at this moment, you can trust the faith the God speaks of in the Bible. If you want to read more about the kind of faith that can move mountains in your life; I’ve written a study that delves into that subject, to read just click here.