Highland Lakes church of Christ

We just love getting gifts, don’t we? How wonderful it is having someone think of us and spend time and resources to get us something special. It lets us know that we are loved. And, of course, we should be most thankful for the love and gift God has given us in Christ Jesus (John 3:16; Eph. 4:7).

I remember attending a wedding where the minister conducting the service told the couple getting married that they were a gift to one another. That is true. There is nothing more wonderful than being in a healthy and happy relationship with another. In every human relationship we have with others (marital, family, friend, etc.), we need to do our part to be a true gift to them.

If we are going to be a “GIFT” to those we are in relationship with, then we need to be:

Generous. Indeed it is better to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). To be a gift and blessing to others, let us be sure to give plenty of compliments, kindness, love, selflessness, etc. Shower them with the gift of agape love. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

Interacting. How important it is to spend time with and communicate with those close to us (1 Pet. 3:7). The better we get to know the ones we are in relationship with, the better the relationship becomes. Too many neglect the all-important gift of human interaction.

Forgiving. Gifts make us feel better, and nothing feels better than forgiveness. Forgiveness is something that is vital for a great relationship (Col. 3:12-13). Sometimes the greatest gift we can give another is to forget the past and move ahead with a fresh slate. Forgiveness is a gift that benefits the giver and the receiver.

Trusting. True love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:7). Certainly the concept of trust is seen in this. Trust is a must for a satisfying relationship.

What a blessing God’s wonderful gifts to us are (Jas. 1:17; 2 Cor. 9:15)! And let us remember that part of God’s gift to others can be each of us. What a great gift to others we can be by being truly loving, sharing, caring, and involved in their lives.

 – Edd Sterchi Broadway church of Christ Campbellsville, KY

Adaptability, Attitude, and Always Abounding

For some people, when they encounter changes to their environment or routines, it is unsettling, unnerving, and can be a very traumatic experience. For others, when they encounter change, it can be exciting, thrilling, and a roller-coaster ride of new experiences (either good and/or bad). For all of us, whether we have positive reactions or negative reactions to change, it should be an experience to say, “I trust in God to keep me grounded.” Life changes, situations change, but God remains constant (Heb. 13:8; Jas. 1:17). Here are some ways we can trust Him more, no matter how we view change:

Appreciate the great things going on for the cause of Christ (Phil. 1:12-18). If things are changing for us, often they are changing for others as well. If that’s the case, look at how God is showing comfort and care for others through the work of His people (2 Cor. 1:3-5). Praise Him and thank Him for that. Focus on those things because they WILL change your perspective and your attitude. Trust Him.

Ask: what opportunities has God given me personally to further the cause of Christ (Phil. 1:12-13)? No matter how you view change, see that there are open doors before you to bear someone’s burden, ease someone’s load, or invite them to meet the Jesus we know and love (Phil. 1:17). If we only ever look at change and see ourselves, we miss changing life circumstances for others and realize that NOW they might be receptive to the gospel.

Ask: How have I used this change to draw nearer to God (Phil. 1:27-30)? How has this change affected my relationship with God? How does it have the potential to affect my relationship? Spend more time with God in prayer, in meditation, in service. The truth is, as time changes, so also what we emphasize in our devotion to God can also change. However, commit to growing nearer to Him and more in the likeness of His Son everyday regardless of change (Phil. 4:10-13; 2 Pet. 3:18).

Andy Baker, Graeber Road church of Christ Rosenberg, TX

How do nations die and why?

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9; 3:15). Solomon’s wisdom from God, declares this truth: occurrences and actions repeat themselves, over years and centuries, albeit in a “new dress”.

About the Disintegration of Nations:

God’s Chosen One of Old, and all the Others, Then, and Now, too.

All Belong to God. All belong to His history!

Proverbs 14:34 — “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”

Proverbs 11:11— “Through the blessings of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.”

Proverbs 11:14 — “For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many [good and righteous] advisers make victory sure.”

Isaiah 10:1 — “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees.” “To deprive the poor of their rights and rob my oppressed people of justice.” (v.2).

Isaiah 59:14 — “So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.”

Micah 7:2 — “The godly have been swept from the land; not one upright man remains. All men lie in wait to shed blood; each hunts his brother with a net.” (Also: Ezekiel 22:27.28)

Isaiah 1:23 — “Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless, the widow’s case does not come before them.”

Isaiah 5:20 — “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” In this chapter, from verse 8 on, (read it to the end!) God pronounces woes on the Israelites, their nation, because they have become unfaithful to God, they had become independent of Him, become self-sufficient because of their prosperity. They had no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of His hand (verse 12b). Therefore they were condemned to go into exile. So, this “woe” is not only pronounced on the individual, or a group of people, but also, and with it, on the whole nation.

David said earlier in Psalm 11:2 — “For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.” So his lament is: “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (v.3). They, we, can do many godly things! Befriend and teach our neighbors, possibly, even mainly? But in the end, all goes according to God’s will and plan:

Psalm 33:10 — “The Lord foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples.” (v.11) — “But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.” This is our confidence!

Psalm 145:13 — “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and Your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made.”

Jeremiah 27:5 — “With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please.” (Context: God hands over several countries to His servant, Nebuchadnezzar, His tool for the punishment of wicked nations.) (God the Creator: Psalm 24:1,2; Haggai 2:8).

Psalm 115:2,3 — “Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?‟ Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.”

Psalm 75:6,7 — “No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God Who judges; He brings one down, He exalts another.”

Daniel 2:21 — “He changes times and seasons; He sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to discerning.”

And some day, there will be an end to the history of mankind:

2 Peter 3:10 — “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare”.

1 Timothy 1:17 — “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

A long time ago some children said, ―Let’s put on a play! They had done this quite often and so, after a lengthy debate, they decided to reenact Mary and Josef’s plight in Bethlehem, the time when there was no room in the inn.

The scenario was rather strict, it had to follow the biblical story exactly, and the young actors and actresses were well rehearsed and knew their lines correctly. And then the day of the performance came:

Mary and Josef knocked at the door of the inn. The tousled-haired innkeeper in his checkered apron opened the door. He glared at the couple, and in quite an angry and impolite tone told them, ―There is no room in the inn. But when tender and kind Mary breathlessly whispered, ―We are so very exhausted and so close to the time for our baby to be born, the young innkeeper’s tender soul and loving heart became so deeply stirred that it rendered him very quiet; he could not say a word for a while.

The prompter whispered the next line, ―all the rooms are rented out, none is left, there is no room in the inn! Still no sound from the young actor. Twice more the prompter urged: ―all the rooms are rented out, none is left . . . But now, although knowing his rehearsed lines well, the little innkeeper stepped resolutely forward and said in a loud voice for everybody to hear, ― “I know exactly what I am supposed to say, but could those two not sleep in my bedroom?”

“But Jesus called the children to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” ~~ Luke 18:16-17

~~ Translated from the German by Helga

“Which one?” That’s what a typical Jew in Jesus’ time would have asked about this title. To many Jewish people, all Samaritans were bad. There was no such thing as a good Samaritan. The truth, of course, is that Samaritans were like other people. Some were good and some were bad.

Although the Bible does not specifically call him “the good Samaritan,” most Christians know the story about him. But what about the bad Samaritan? Who is this person? What did this individual do to deserve such a label?

When Jesus sat down to rest at Jacob’s well, a woman of Samaria came to draw water. When Jesus asked her for a drink of water, she was surprised and said, “The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:9). Thus began an interesting conversation between the Lord and the Samaritan woman.

What kind of woman was she? When He told her to go and get her husband, she said she had no husband. Jesus then revealed her checkered past. “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband, what you have just said is quite true” (John 4:17-18). We are not told whether her five marriages ended in divorce or death of a spouse or a combination of both. We do know her situation when Jesus met her. She was living with a man. Even by the moral standards of the Samaritans, her life had gone bad. Yet ironically we see good points about her, and the Lord brought out the good that was in her to the fullest.

Though she was living in sin, this woman was not brazen and boastful about her situation. Had she been like some women today, she would have told Jesus, “Oh, I’m, not married. I live with my boyfriend.” That response is common. Women and men talk about living in fornication as if it is normal and acceptable; They “are proud and open” about the way they live when they ought to be ashamed. At least the Samaritan women did not try to shove her sin in Jesus’ face like some today do.

This woman was guilty, but she did not resent the Lord when He corrected her. She took His correction well. When He brought to light the sin in her life, she did not get mad and storm away. That is what many today do when you expose their sins. Although she evidently did and change the subject to worship, she was willing to keep listening to Jesus. When the Lord told her that the place where Samaritans worshiped was wrong, she again listened to His reproof instead of getting angry and refusing to listen (John 4:20-24). Instead, this woman who had been living a bad life did the best thing she had ever done. She went into the city and told the men, “Is not this the Christ?” (John 4:29). Because of her, many believed in Jesus (John 4:29).

We do not know what became of this woman. What we do learn is that we should do our best to reach bad Samaritans as well as good ones.

Kerry Duke, West End church of Christ, Livingston, TN

God has always told His people to be humble. It has always been necessary that God’s people be humble, otherwise, He would not listen to their cries (2 Chronicles 7:14; 34:27). But when Christ came to the earth, what did He find? He found people boasting and bragging that they were God’s elect. We must be careful not to do that. Rather, we should follow that perfect example given to us, which is Christ.

What was the mindset of Christ? It was that of a servant…”Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on the cross (Philippians 2:5-8). Christ is the perfect example of humility.

When Christ’s disciples argued about who would be the greatest in the kingdom (as though it were an earthly kingdom!), Christ taught them a powerful lesson in just a few words. “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35). At another time, He taught them again, saying, “…and whoever wants to be first must be your servant — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:27-28). Christ taught us that, if we desire to be great in the kingdom of God, we must humble ourselves. And since He is the King of the kingdom, it was only right that He take the lowest, most humble position on earth.

Humility is a rarity. But of all the people in the world, we — Christians — should be the most humble. That means that we have to serve others. The great example of service is Christ. Remember when Christ washed the feet of His disciples? Now this was the great King! How often do we hear of kings, presidents, or world leaders humbly serving their people? The same great humility and servant-hood that was shown by Christ should be abundant in our lives as well. – Sean Carratt