All Things?

Philippines 4:13

I can do all things through him who gives me strength.

This verse is perhaps one of the more well-known verses in Christian circles.  As a child, it was one of the first verses that I memorized.  I had a test in school?  The Sunday school teacher told me to believe I can do all things through him who gives me strength.  I had to try and catch or throw a ball in gym class without injuring someone or myself?  I needed to believe in the God who gives me strength.  I needed to finish a book report?  I can do it!

As a teenager, the meaning of the verse changed for me.  I needed to be more vocal about my faith and not be concerned about being shunned by my peers?  God would give me strength.  I needed to do ten papers and read fifty pages before the end of the week?  I could do it if I believed.  I needed to do well on the SAT and my college applications?  God would help me.

As an adult, the verse has taken on a whole ’nother meaning in situations like college and living on my own, working a full-time job and paying my own bills.  In college, it was more like ten papers and one hundred and fifty pages before the next class period.  God would, I hope, give me strength.  I need to pay bills I accumulated, sometimes with needless spending?  God would help me do all things.  I need to try to witness to an audience that is hardened, unwilling, and closed to the Gospel or travel around the Philippines non-stop for six months?  God would give me strength.

Throughout the years, this verse has encouraged me in hard situations, but in my older and wiser years, I have come to view this verse in a whole new light.

Something I have learned recently is placing well-known verses in context with their passages and with the particular book, and then with the whole Bible.  When I place this verse into context of the passage, I feel it takes on a whole different meaning than what we’re taught in Sunday school.

If you check out the preceding verse, the author, Paul says (Phillipians 4:12):

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want.

It is directly after this verse that Paul says he can do all things through God who gives him strength.  Directly after, he says (verse 14), “Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.”  If you read it without the verse breaks we’ve added, it reads like:

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want.  I can do all things through him who gives me strength.  Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.

Furthermore, if you read the section, you will find that this verse comes in a context of Paul thanking the Philippians for giving him gifts, which I assume to be financial support.  Within this context, then, I feel that there are a few more things to consider when understanding this verse than are necessarily taught in Sunday school.

1) Paul was referring to persevering despite circumstances.  Whether he was poor or financially blessed, Paul found out he could be content in Jesus.  Moreover, whether rich or poor, he found that he could work through all things God asked him to do, whether it was to preach to Jews near home or Gentiles (non-Jews) far away. 

I had a glimpse of perhaps what this might have been like to Paul as I traveled and lived with poor pastors in the Phillippines.  Each week, our team’s living arrangements became less and less what we were used to as Western Christians.  In the last living arrangement, I had to share a bed made for a single person shorter than me with another person taller than me, and neither of us could sleep on the floor because there was a horrendous red ant nest.  That was merely the highlight of the primitive accommodations.  And yet, our team managed to be happy every day in the small things and in our faith.

Now, I feel a particular connection to this notion as I am in a uncomfortable in-between phase which was much like returning to college as an adult and living in the dorms with teenagers and young twenty-somethings, since I received a grant for housing and it was significantly cheaper.  Now I am living in community until I am able to afford a place of my own, and having lived on my own for many years prior, it is definitely not my ideal.  But, like Paul, I can do all things.  And if you are in a less-than-idea living situation or place in your life, so can you!

2) Paul really did mean “all things”. While I feel that Paul was particularly talking about his living circumstances, I feel that there is a contextual basis in this passage and with other stories of the Bible that God can empower us to get through difficult situations or even do things that seem impossible.  I don’t know what life events happened prior to this verse, but I do know Paul was shipwrecked, stoned, imprisoned, to name a few uncomfortable circumstances.  And you know what, he lived through them all, and found his contentment in Jesus!  So yes, I think Paul was talking about more than just living situations in this passage, and a lot of the circumstances were probably a lot more severe than what many of us would face.

3) When he said “all things”, he was referring to all things that God would want him to do.  While I think Paul was referring to more than just his circumstances, I don’t that “all” includes evil things, such as self-serving acts or acts that harm others.  This is, after all, the same passage (Philippians 4) where Paul says in verse 8, “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” 

I think that perhaps if you thought God would give you strength to win lots of money gambling at a casino or that God would give you strength to use ministry as a route for personal glorification, or any lesser-obvious act of self-service, you are using this verse out of context and will be disappointed.  Not that God can’t use sinful people or sinful acts for His ultimate glory, God is big enough to use our messes.  But since Paul was living a life of holiness and service before the Lord, all the things that he was trying to do were true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, and commendable. 

Paul was also doing what he was called to do, and God gave him strength to do all of it.  While we are all called to make disciples, we aren’t all called to take the same route in fulfilling this God-ordained process.  I think, too, in the context of Paul’s life, if we try to use this verse to hope that God will empower us to do something we aren’t called to do, we will be also be disappointed.  

How do we know God’s will and God’s calling?  This is my favorite part: we spend time with God, letting God love on us, getting to know His voice, and we will know our calling since God will tell us, and we will have the strength to do all things.

Prayer for A "Search and Reveal" Operation

Psalm 10:17-18 NASB

O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;

You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear

To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,

So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.

In recent years, I have been made aware of the horrors of the human trafficking industries around the world.  Not being of a legal- or law-enforcement sort-of profession, I sometimes feel powerless to do anything to help those victims and to stop the perpetrators that make the victims.  One day, feeling especially powerless, I started to pray that God would "search and reveal" those perpetrators and that he would move on behalf of the victims, and I kept this up for some time.  I was highly encouraged, then, to read not too many days later of one of the largest busts of sex traffickers in history to take place in the Philippines, assisted by local law enforcement.  Having stayed in some of the heavier areas for these activities in the Philippines, this answer to prayer was very real to me.  

So what does a powerless non-legal, non-law enforcement person do if they want to do something?  Prayer is a good start.  From my experience, prayer for situations like this are effective when:

1) You pray the will/heart of God - God desires mercy for the oppressed and justice for the oppressors, for this is Love- 1 John 4:16 says "God is love".  And there's a whole lot of verses that talk about God having a heart for those oppressed.

2) You pray the Word of God- Hebrews 4:12 says the word is "alive and active".  I don't know if I could fully dissect the notion now (perhaps this will be a future topic), but not only is there power in speaking the words of the Bible, but God likes it when we remind Him of His character and His promises as stated in the Bible.

3) You have a heart that's right before God- James 5:16 says (NKJV), "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."  The Old Testament has examples of how people who were unworthy to come into God's presence (such as touching the ark or entering the Holy of Holies) and what happened (they died).  But those who came into God's presence ceremonially clean could experience God's presence.  With the New Covenant under Jesus, we are ceremonially clean by the blood.  But we still need to surrender current transgressions to God and claim that blood-covering just like the ceremony before entering God's presence.  A life-style of righteousness will get God's attention, as can be seen in many of the stories of heroes in the Bible.

4) You are persistent- Galatians 6:9 talks about not growing weary while doing good, as harvests come after a time a toil first.  James 5:16 mentions the "fervent" prayer of a righteous man.  And I always think of the hilarious story Jesus told of the "Persistent Widow" in Luke 18:1-8 which was Jesus's example to "show [his disciples] that they should always pray and not give up" (Luke 18:1 NIV).  After this widow harasses a wicked judge for her justice, he eventually gets so fed up that he grants it.  Jesus says in Luke 18:7-8:

"And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?  Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly...."

I praise God for quick justice in the Philippines.  Imagine what more can happen if tens, hundreds, and even thousands cry out to God on behalf of the oppressed?

I Wanted to Eat Beans: A Word on Tithing

Malachi 3:10 (NIV)

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."

Mark 12:17 (NIV)

Then Jesus said to them, "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."  ...

If you really want to offend Western Christians, you should bring up the matter of their pocketbooks.  Sure we can live "holy" lives, we can take time to read the Bible, we can go to church and even not swear, but when it ultimately comes down to it, you will invest your money into what you really believe in, whether that be entertainment, housing, or other matters of your own comfort.  If you really want to offend me, you should serve me beans.  That is a matter of non-comfort for me-- they are bland, mushy, and while they are supposed to be good for you, I think they are just plain gross.  And yet many people in the world would be happy to eat them.

I cannot say that if you looked at my budget, bank account, or credit card statement, that you would 100% applaud my purchases, though you might applaud my culinary choices.  Being a spender/giver, I tend to like to purchase things for myself and others that we don't necessarily need, especially when food is involved.  I am often times convicted of how many people I could have helped in a foreign currency (for example, feeding them beans) if I had given that money away, though.  

But if you want to get technical, we aren't necessarily required to put all that extra spending money towards purchasing beans for people to eat in foreign countries.  The amount laid out by scripture that we should give to the local church is a mere 10%, leaving a plentiful 90% to live off of.  Yet, I do wonder with all that I've seen going on around me, why more people do not give this small amount to help the local body-- pastors and church congregations and all that they give toward-- survive and thrive.

Obedience is one mark of spiritual maturity that grows in the lives of those touched by the Holy Spirit like bean sprouts.  If you live in such a way that is pleasing to God, and you walk with Him, you will not only want to obey, but you will do so joyfully.  Having been taught at a young age by a godly father to tithe, I have generally always been glad to give to God a small portion when the other 90% has been so bountiful.

In fact, because of that monetary obedience, I believe that God has blessed me financially throughout the years, just as he promises in Malachi 3:10.  I have eaten well and never had to eat beans unless I wanted to.  Those times that I have "cheated" on my tithe, paying off the net instead of the gross (basically paying off what I receive after taxes and instead of what I actually earn), I have struggled financially and considered eating lots of bean chili.  When I have realized my disobedience, and have repented and corrected my actions, I have seen God's blessing upon my life again.

But, you, say, what happens if you are struggling to get by, and you are grateful to even afford beans for dinner?  What do you do then?  I ran into this question recently as I returned to college as an adult and lived off of my income as a dishwasher, having quit a career desk job, the income of which I had gotten quite comfortable on.  My last semester of college was exciting with the  prospect of graduation, but as I searched for a job after graduation and as I headed into spring break, I found that my bank account was rapidly depleting, my income was not enough to cover expenses, and there wasn't even enough money to purchase a week's worth of cheap groceries for me to survive off of in the dorms, since I couldn't afford to travel anywhere the entire time.

I received a $70.14 paycheck from my two weeks of student working and was grateful because I should most certainly be able to squeeze a week's worth of food out of that if that's all I bought.  But that weekend at the spirit-filled church I attended, the pastor spoke about tithing and I remembered, "Oh, yeah.  Not only do I need to tithe my $7.02 from this paycheck, but I also forgot to tithe on my last $100-some dollar paycheck."  $70.14 - $17.02 = $53.12, which doesn't get you very far on groceries.

"God," I said, "You have to understand that I can't tithe now or else I cannot eat."  Since I was not from the area and tend to not have a gift for being as connected as others, I didn't even know anyone from the church I could ask for help or if there might be a food bank where I could get beans.  You have to be pretty desperate to eat beans, as most people don't take them from food banks.  I know because I helped with one at my church, and I hate beans, too.  Nevertheless, I felt a strong conviction to be obedient.  Did I mention I'd been turned down for about 15 jobs at this point?  I was going to starve before college was out, and after...

I had to come to a realization then and there that even if all I had in the bank was a mere $70, that little bit was the Lord's.  I thought of the story of the loaves and fishes that God had multiplied to feed thousands.  While I believed that happened, at that moment in my life, it kind of felt like a story in a book that wasn't real.  My very real reality was the fact that I would be hungry.  But, I realized, if all I have is a little bit, and that is God's, I might as well give God what is his.  So I wrote my check, and tithed.  And you know what?  My tax refund, with which everything had gone wrong (I mean like everything), miraculously came through that week (and it was supposed to be another 10 weeks), I got hired for a job over Spring Break (back at my old office with the comfortable pay!), and the paperwork for some money I had applied for which had kept getting lost and not received was suddenly received and I became eligible and all my financial woes were turned into nothing as God provided in abundance.

So, regardless of how things look, a small act of obedience, such as giving $17.02, is the best way to approach the issue of tithing, because what little (even if it doesn't amount to a hill of beans) or lot (I guess this would be a hill of beans) you have is ultimately the Lord's.

Ezra, Part IV

Ezra is one of those books where the main character doesn’t come on scene until the story contained with its pages is half-way over.  For the longest time, I wondered why the book was even named after him because he doesn’t really show up much.  It’s only in Chapter 7 that the leader Ezra comes to Jerusalem.  

Ezra is a righteous man, one who has devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord.  It is, oddly enough, Ezra’s decisions in this book that offended me at first.  Ezra was completely sold out to the will of God and was willing to do whatever it took to make right his life and repent before God so that he and his followers could experience the full blessing.  While his actions might not exactly be those to emulate today, his heart of repentance is most certainly one to use as an example.  

With Ezra’s life, we ask ourselves the question: What are we willing to give up to be right with God?

In Ezra Chapters 8 and 9, Ezra and others make the journey to Jerusalem.  Upon arrival, he learns from the leaders that “the people… including the priests and Levites, had not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices” (Ezra 9:1).  The people who had planned to rebuild the temple— a presence of long-term worship in their lives— had ultimately lost sight of their goal.  In the lull of waiting for permission to go forward, they had prostituted their hearts with what had once been detestable to them.  Did they marry the very enemies who had threatened them in the first place?  Whatever the case may be, they had lost sight of the will of God and had settled for less than what was best.

It is so easy when pursuing God’s will to be like the people of Israel.  It is so easy to lose patience, to take your eyes off the prize— especially if your goal is temporarily deferred.  What will you do when you find yourself waiting?  Hopefully we can all learn from the lesson based off the seriousness with which Ezra handled the situation.

In Chapter 9, Ezra tears his clothes (verse 5) and falls on his face before God, crying out with repentance.  This was not the first time Israel had turned away from God, and it most certainly wasn’t the last.  Ezra’s repentance leads to the conviction of the hearts of the Israelites, as in Chapter 10:1, “ a large crowd of Israelites— men, women, and children— gathered around him.”  They too wept bitterly and declared their unfaithfulness (verse 2) and that they were willing to do what it took to be in relationship with God again.

I think the book of Ezra is often overlooked because of what Ezra decided should be done.  For our culture, it is extreme, and as can be seen by Jesus’ teachings, it would not be right to do today, under the New Covenant.  But, Ezra said in 10:10, “You have been unfaithful… Now honor the Lord… and do his will.  Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and your foreign wives.”  

Yes, by separation, he meant divorce.  He meant a complete end to the union that should have never been.  Is this an excuse for divorce today?  No— I believe this was one of those decisions unique to the Israelites who were rebuilding the temple.  But there is a spiritual lesson for us today— we should divorce that in our hearts which has been an illicit union taking the place of what God wants, and God wants what is ultimately the best for us.  Not only this, but I believe we should walk in such  way that we are separate from all those distractions, all those time-fillers, all those things that will not ultimately satisfy, and walk in such a way that we are single-minded about the Lord and pursing His will.  

We should be like Ezra himself— devoted to the study and observance of the ways of God (7:10).

Ezra, Part III

Through the first two parts of Ezra, we see God move kings and leaders and provide for those in His will, and we see how those who have come into the promise of God should respond upon arrival to that place— in both an initial posture of worship and the building of practices that will cultivate life-long worship.  In Part III of my insights on Ezra, we see how life inevitably brings opposition to those moving in God’s will, and how we should respond.

At the end of Ezra Chapter 3, we find the Israelites in a moving corporate demonstration of worship where (verse 13), “No one could distinguish the sounds of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise.”  This verse adds, “And the sound was heard far away.”

From my own personal experience, whenever I have achieved a great spiritual victory, there always seems to be some negative repercussions afterwards.  It’s as if a land mark event in your life makes a larger target in the enemy's sight, like the way the pyramids might better show up in a sniper scope, and that landmark becomes the next gathering point for the forces of darkness and destruction.  Ezra Chapter 4 seems to demonstrate this principle by showing the reaction of the people around the Israelites to the loud sound of corporate worship.

Ezra 4:1-4 (with a few parts left out for the sake of time) says:

When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord [Ace’s thoughts here: they must have literally heard them], the God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him…”  

But Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God.  We alone will build it…”  

Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.  They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.

This passage demonstrates how the enemies of Judah and Benjamin first tried to sneak in the back door and “offer to help” but probably secretly sabotage the Israelites’ efforts.  It might have been tempting to accept the additional help, since many hands make for lighter work, but the leaders said to them that comforting though the offer many be, they would have no part in something that would ultimately lead to their destruction.

It is harder to find a present-day analogy for this part of the story, but I would ask how many times we compromise in trying to do God’s will in a short-cut way— our own easy way— when ultimately that will lead to disobedience?  How many times do we reach for instant-gratification when patience or wisdom should mark our steps?

When the people of Judah said no to compromise and yes to doing things the Lord's way, their enemies attacked, “setting out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.”  I feel often times this is why a spiritual victory seems to always follow with a feeling of attack— when we are doing  what we’re supposed to do, the enemy tries to discourage us by making it feel daunting.  

Sometimes, we won't just be discouraged or afraid, though.  The opposition will be so hard that we will feel defeated.  The enemies of Judah actually managed to get the whole temple-rebuilding-operation shut down for quite some time.  Ezra 4:24 says "the work on the house of God… came to a stand still.”  How about that for a feeling of utter defeat!  But, did people of Judah give up?  No, eventually, Zerubbabel and Joshua started rebuilding the house (Ezra 5:2), continuing to be obedient to the will of God.  5:5 says that “the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews”, making me wonder if it was because of their obedience despite opposition.  Whatever the case may be, the government officials who had shut down the building because of the trouble-makers eventually investigated the whole situation, and ultimately (unknowingly), upheld the sovereign will of God.  God willed it, so it would take place, and the government officials then decreed in Ezra 6:7 “Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God.”

What we can take away from this passage of scripture is: If we are obedient to the will of God despite our circumstances, and press into the things of God despite opposition, God’s eye will watch over us— He will make a way, and we will succeed.

Ezra, Part II

The beginning of Ezra is full of promise— the promise of the Lord— and the steps He takes in His sovereignty to fulfill His will.  God basically moved the government, moved on the hearts of the leaders, and gave provision for that which He called His people to do.  Ezra Chapter 3 transitions as the people are resettling into their lands, demonstrating how a person should respond when their heart has been moved by God and they settle in to claim the fulfillment of His promise.

Ezra Chapter 3 starts out with the Israelites settling into their towns.  When they had done so, verse 1 says in the seventh month, “the people assembled together as one in Jerusalem.”  At the very beginning, they were unified, and not just for their own purpose.  Verse 2 says the first thing they did was begin “to build the altar to the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it.”  So they, who were in God’s will, were unified in purpose, and the first thing they did was worship God!  Verse 3 says they did this despite their fears of the circumstances— the peoples around them who were their enemies.

Being in the will of God can be a scary place because you’re not in your comfort zone, and you might feel like you’re in enemy territory.  But regardless of this, our first response, as seen in Ezra, should be to worship God in all the many ways that one can— festivals, sacrifices, and free-will offerings, and the modern equivalent of these today.

While the altars were small acts of worship, the people set into motion the rebuilding of the temple— a more permanent place of worship— a place where the spirit of the Lord could dwell.  This took much more effort than the small altars the people initially built— planning, giving, and time.  They did this, accompanied by musical worship.  Verse 10 speaks about trumpets and cymbals, and verse 11 says they sang to the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.

My favorite verse is the worshipful response of those who waited such a long time for the promise to be fulfilled.  Verse 12 says these people wept aloud, while others shouted for joy.  Verse 13 says, “No one could distinguish the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise.  And the sound was heard far away.”  It makes me wonder what those people, whom the Israelites were so afraid of, were thinking.  If I were them [the enemies], I would be afraid.

While the situation of the Israelites and their culture is so different from ours, I feel there is an applicable spiritual lesson that we can carry away from this and use today.  For those walking in the will of God, our first response to the reception of His promise should be worship, praise and thanksgiving.  There, of course, should be the initial altar in our hearts, but it shouldn’t stop there.  When we have moved into the will of God, we need to take the steps necessary to establish a more permanent “house of worship”.  Whether this is joining in unity with the local church or putting into practice spiritual disciplines in your own life so that your own life can be a temple for God to dwell in, it is clear the correct process is intentionally putting the stones in place for a foundation of a lifestyle of worship.

Ezra, Part I

Ezra is a small book in the Old Testament that’s often overlooked.  I’ve never heard a sermon preached on Ezra, and personally, the first time I read through the book, I hated it because I thought it promoted divorce.  I could not see through the surface to understand the lessons that can be learned from this priest’s writings, lessons that are applicable today.

Ezra, Part I

The first thing that strikes me about the book of Ezra is the fact that a non-Hebraic king, Cyrus, is the instrument of God’s will— for His temple to be built, Jerusalem to be repopulated, for His promises to His people to be fulfilled and His presence to be given to both the Jews and eventually through them, the Gentiles.  Cyrus, a non-Hebraic king declares that God has “appointed me to build a temple for him” (Ezra 1:2).

How crazy is that?!  A heathen king is used by God— “the Lord moved his heart,” 2 Chronicles 36:22 says, and Cyrus was no small player in the kingdom arena— he felt as if he had been given “all the kingdoms of the earth” (Ezra 1:2).

I am further impressed in the first part of Ezra by God’s sovereignty in selecting leaders— family heads and priests and Levites (1:5)— to help accomplish His plan.  Someone had to direct and oversee the repopulating and rebuilding, and this would take a move away from the known life in captivity into the unknown, unfamiliar Promised Land.  The verse says God moved their hearts as well, setting into motion a grand scheme that eventually made salvation possible.

Not only had God prepared the powerful king Cyrus & the leaders to accomplish His plan, but He also made provision for the leaders to move in His calling.  Ezra 1:6 says their neighbors were moved with generosity and assisted them with extravagant and practical gifts— making it possible for those leaders to move and accomplish God’s will.  They didn’t have to worry about how they were going to resettle Jerusalem because God provided them with gold and cattle in advance.

The over-arching lesson that can be carried away from this grand-scale maneuvering, then is:

If God has willed for something to happen, He will make sure all the details are in place so that it will happen.  God is sovereign, all-powerful, and reliable.

For a person following Christ, this is amazing because if you know God’s will, and you are acting within it, then you can expect to see everything work out— permission from the King, the right leaders, and provisions, and all the metaphorical things these might stand for.  You don’t have to fear when you are walking in God’s will because if God wants it to happen, it will happen.  You just need to be wiling to have your heart moved by God like all those involved in the first part of Ezra, and then step out.