Immeasurable

     (per a conversation I had with a friend a couple of weeks ago, this study has been burning in my heart. this is part one)

     Talents can be added to, multiplied. decreased and divided. Talents are goods, possessions, commodities. They can be traded with the intent to gain increase or banked to gain interest, depending on the type of commodity in question. 

     The talents spoken of in Matthew 25:14-30 are given by The Lord God as stated in verse 14 "the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country". The kingdom of heaven denotes sovereignty and kingship. And, who is King but our King? who is God but our God? Psalm 113:5 " Who is like the LORD our God, the One enthroned on high?"

     Who receives these talents? The Lord's servants (V.14). Who are His servants? Exodus 19:5,6a "Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine. And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." 1 Peter 2:9 "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." 

     What determines who receives each quantity of talents? (V.15) "To every man according to his ability." Talents are not abilities. Ability in this instance means "miraculous power, might, strength" according to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. God knows the hearts of His servants and to each of us He has given a portion of His goods. Not bury in the ground and hide away (V.25), but to increase such goods that God would be glorified by our actions. 

     Since it is God who determines what is given to whom, we are not to wonder, envy, nor judge what has been given but help one another to increase the talents. But the talent (talanton) is not a monetary unit, but a measuring unit by which all commodities are weighed, such as by scale, as each country has it own coin and trading system. 

     We are each given a measure of faith (Romans 12:3), a portion (territory, tract of land) of our inheritance, our reward. But it is up to us to multiply our measures, that when our Lord returns for what is His we are able to give Him the bounteous harvest He is looking for on His return. 

A Man Is Measured

A MAN IS

MEASURED

BY WHO

HE IS IN

HIS HEART

1 SAMUEL 16:7 

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.”

MATTHEW 15:18

But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man.

It is for this reason that our hearts need changing, but this changing cannot be done on our own. We may do random acts of kindness, good deeds, charitable contributions and every other feel good thing: none of these changes the heart.

Our hearts must be cleaned by the blood of God's Lamb, Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son. It was for this purpose that Jesus died on the cross, for sin begins in the heart, ere it ever makes its way to the thought-chambers of our minds. We need to repent of the sins that are in our hearts, believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, and He will was our hearts clean with Himself. 

ROMANS 10:8-10, 13

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,”that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.

for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

It is only after we get saved, and our hearts are cleansed, that we can begin putting new items into our new hearts. While this process takes a lifetime to accomplish, the baptism of the Holy Spirit happens when we wait for Him to fall on us and fill us. Don't be impatient for this to happen. Just wait. The process of having a changed heart will be done daily as we read, study and pray God's Word into our lives. 

We can also stop putting the old garbage into our new hearts. The old way of life we lived before we asked Jesus into our hearts. We should not even want to live that way now that we have Christ in us. We allowed ourselves to get into the habit of doing certain things and it is these habits that need to be broken and discarded in our lives, whatever they may be. I cannot tell you. The Holy Spirit will tell you what you need to do and what you need to stop doing. 

To day is the day to make your hearts ready. 

The Cost of Integrity. Part 1

You can't preach Christ crucified, if you are first not willing to live it.
 

What does it mean to have integrity? Yes, God does know what is in our hearts. But we do not know what is in each other's hearts until we see their action and hear their words. One can say they are a Christian; but if their actions do not back up their words, doubt makes itself known in our heart. And, yet, Christ Himself reminds us not to judge another until we have first searched our hearts and removed that which is the same in ourselves before we confront the one we doubt.

So, we ask ourselves, “Am I living in integrity? Am I practicing what I preach? Am I walking the talk?” My spirit says 'Yes.' My body says 'No'. Probably because having a life-changing chronic illness, with which I am at peace with now, continues to affect decisions I make regarding my life.

My faith has been questioned by people who 'mean well'. This phrase is totally oxymoronic. Usually people who mean well, don't. Sometimes people say really stupid things to me. One of these phrases is “if you push yourself you will get better.” When I push myself, not only do I not get better, I seldom make it out of bed. Thank God we have a dog who can't let herself out; or in. And I have to get out of bed and meet her needs. But then a hot shower massage and I'm almost alive again.

 

 

Some people tell me that if I eat right or stop eating different foods or change my diet in some unsatisfactory way, that I will get better. You have no idea how my dietary habits have changed. When I worked, I ate. I needed to eat to keep up with the amount of energy my body was expending. We had a snack drawer at work. I helped stock it. When I was able to exercise, I ran. That was fun. Now, I can barely walk. Don't tell me to eat right and I will be okay. I seldom eat. It is not a spiritual fast; it is a 'I am not hungry' fast. I feel full all the time. And sometimes, lately, eating makes me nauseous.

Don't question my faith. Don't criticize me for lacking faith to be healed. I have faith that God will heal me in His time. And just because His time is not your time does not mean I will not be healed. Nor that I am lacking in the 'faith in God' department. God I trust. You? You in general I don't trust. People must prove themselves to each other that trust might be manifested in their relationships with each other.

 

Though there were times when I doubted my abilities to function at all, now I know that God is m Strength and in Him I can do all the things which He calls me to do. It is not my abilities that are called on, it is my willingness and obedience to serve Him as He sees fit that are important. When God wants me to do something, I do it. Now. Times past, before I knew God as I know Him now, I did not walk the talk. Now, I do. And, while God is my Judge, He is also my Friend. Now. And I am not lonely any more. Nor am I alone.

Do I have enough integrity-based actions in my life to question yours? Hm. I don't know. But I do know that on this part of this journey I travel in the life in which God has placed me, God will reveal to me where I lack. Maybe through you I will learn a lesson. Or not. Maybe you will learn a lesson through me.

 

Don't tell me “it's all in your head”. You want me to tell you that the next time you fall down or can't get organized? Being this sick is not “all in my head”. It does however originate in my brain. My brain is broken. It does not function the way it is supposed to. And while it is only in the last few years that I personally have noticed the tremors in my hands and my mouth, I have been made to understand that signs of this showed up in my childhood; just not this obvious.

It took God a long time to make me. It may take a while to fix me. But until then, I will continue to seek Him out in His Word and speak with Him in my silences, that He may show me and reveal to me what He wants me to do. Like this newsletter of my studies.

I questioned someone's integrity recently and The Holy Spirit confronted me and asked if I was living a life of integrity. Can I preach Christ crucified, if I am sick or unable to do the things I wish I could do? Yes. I am. I can. And, now, I am tired again. And thirsty. I am usually more thirsty than hungry. No, I do not have diabetes; I have been tested and cleared on that account.

I have been tested for MS, Lupus, ALS and Parkinson's: all cleared. I do have FM )Fibromyalgia, OsteoArthritis and an un-named polymyositis illness, which is causing the tremors, muscle spasms, speech and motor skills to deteriorate. This link at the Mayo Clinic will help you to understand what I go through and why I cannot push myself to get better. I have faith and I live a life of integrity the best I can. I am reliable to a point. When I just cannot do it, I will tell you so. And when I get angry, it will be because The Spirit is grieved and come against in me. So, while this may seem to be an unusual Bible Study, God's Word will be accomplished in it. For He is working on me even as we speak. 

 

I have severe Osteoporosis and now have been placed on Boniva indefinitely. The infusion which may have helped me has been denied by our insurance company. It costs a couple thousand $$, so I can see why they would turn it down. Maybe after I been on this new one and there is no change, maybe they will pay for it. No faith in the insurance company either.

And, while my knees wobble, my faith in God does not. God knows my heart and God knows your heart. So, I am sorry for questioning your integrity. You can work it out with God. You're okay in my book.

 

 I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me. Though this verse is found in Philippians 4:13, I encourage you to read the whole chapter. It is not lengthy, but it does apply here. :)

I am overcoming the attack on my body by the illness and by well-meaning individuals. Don't wonder if you are one of them. It doesn't matter any more. What does matter is: are you right with Christ in your heart? Do you want to live a life of integrity and know that God is pleased with you? You could start here, by repeating this simple prayer and reading it aloud, as I did while I wrote it. Why did I read it aloud as I wrote it? To reaffirm my faith in Christ and to bless you:

 

"Oh Lord, although I feel unworthy of Your love for me, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I repent and turn away from those things which dishonor and displease You. Come, live in my heart; I give You control of my life. Help me to be more like You. Help me to grow in Your Word and in Your Way for I know that I need You now more than ever before. Make me to know Your wills for my life. Teach me, Lord, for I am hungry for You and thirsty for

Your Love. Thank You Lord Jesus, for saving me; for dying for me; for rising from the dead and showing me that, I too, can overcome death through You.

Lord God, be my God. Be my glory. Be my Strength. Be my Hope. Direct my steps in Your paths of Righteousness for Your Name's sake. Guide me in Your Word that I may become the person You see in me. Father, thank You for calling me, for calling my name. In Jesus' Name. Amen. "

It is that easy to become a child of God. And if you meant it when you said it, now you, too, are a part of God's family. Welcome Home.

 

 

Good Measure

Good Measure

Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you give everyone it shall be measured to you again.

A couple things pop into mind: “what goes around comes around” and “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. But, we don’t always remember this verse do we when we are trying to behave well among others. The Old Testament was an eye for eye, but the New Testament, the New Covenant is Love one another as I have loved you. It is not revenge which motivates us, but grace.

1. God measures us, too. He measures our heart. Not how big it is, though, but how full it is and what it is full of. When our heart contains the love of God in Christ Jesus, our heart breaks apart. A broken heart is a perfect heart. It is only when we are broken before God, that God can use us best.

2.God measures our tongue. A calloused tongue speaks from a calloused heart. It shows wear and tear. Wearing away our self-righteousness and tearing down other people.

3. God measures our thoughts. An empty mind is not really empty when it is not focused on the things of God. Foolishness resides there and reveals itself whenever the tongue is loosed and the heart is hard.

4. God measures our steps. He knows when our feet lead us closer to Him and when our feet lead us farther away. But it is not our feet He measures: it is the steps we take with our feet.

5. God measures our works. It is His Kingdom we are working in and our labors are for His benefit. Have I done my best for Jesus? Or have I done my best for me?

And knowing God measures us should give us the impetus not to measure others against ourselves or against His Word. It is God’s place to judge, it is God’s place to deliver judgment. It is not our place to pass judgment on anyone, even God’s people.

How we treat the people in our lives has a direct and immediate impact on us, too. Pride breeds anger. Anger breeds resentment. Resentment breeds distrust, unforgiveness, gossip, envy, jealousy, greed, death. Our actions may not always take a life in the physical sense, but the spirit dies, the soul retreats and a heart breaks.

Be careful little eyes, little hands, little feet, and little tongue. God is watching and waiting and measuring us to see if we measure up.