Tag Archives: Jesus Christ

Due Season

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It’s only January, maybe too early for some of you to be discouraged about reaching your goals so let me give you a word of caution so you won’t go there:

God’s timing depends largely on our obedience.

I say God’s timing because what we are working toward may not be His will for our lives (1 John 5:14-15). And I say largely because God is sovereign; he can do what He wants when He wants (Psalm 115:3), but His word does promise certain outcomes based on our behavior. Galatians 6:9 speaks to our obedience and God’s timing: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” We are commanded not to get weary (“to be utterly spiritless”; “exhausted”) when we are doing something good because eventually we will see benefits from our work. But we will only see these benefits in due season: when God deems the right time to be.

Galatians 6:9 is something that we need to keep in mind as we plug away at a tough job, continually discipline hard-headed kids, seek to fulfill those New Year’s resolutions, or mend a relationship with an old friend. God’s timing largely depends on our obedience. If we are being obedient, we just have to wait on God. He will bring us good in due season.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

Freedom in Christ

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There has been a lot talk about freedom this week. From rescuing Haitians from the ravages of their country to examining the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., freedom rings in my ears. Even though this freedom talk has been on a global scale, I haven’t been able to keep from thinking about what freedom means to me personally.

On Sunday, I couldn’t go to church. Joshua was sick. He had a cold and a hacking cough so we were homebound, keeping the church free of his germs. I was disappointed. I love my children and would do whatever I can to give them proper care, but this morning I wondered if my mothering had taken its toll, yet again.

I remember the poem I wrote and can now see that my focus has been on my strength instead of God’s strength to mother, and I realize this is so much larger than my failure to mother God’s way, but it is a failure to follow the freedom of Christ.

This is real freedom, when you lose your will and way and follow that of Jesus Christ. I once thought I was free when I was a rebel, saying and doing what I wanted with little regard to how others felt. I had loosed the will and ways others, but found I was lonely with this behavior. With friends not as daring, I was often alone with my maverick ways. Then I got older, and I realized that my choices of freedom always impacted someone else’s choices of freedom, often limiting them. Freedom has its limits. But if freedom has its limits, is freedom what it is designed to mean? Can there truly be self-determination, lack of restrictions, autonomy, or sovereignty when what we do and say restrict others, even ourselves?

    It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1).

With the freedom of Christ, we are no longer obligated to develop processes and strategies but are free to follow in the path set before us. Walking outside of the freedom of Christ throws us back to the bondage of slavery—being a slave to ourselves and others, working hard against man’s intrinsic selfishness and rebellion that challenge our “freedom.” Freedom in Christ allows us the privilege of Jesus fighting for us when people come against our choice to serve Him (Romans 8:31).

Though I wonder if the definition of freedom needs to be altered the way we many times use it, I know that the freedom that Christ offers is unchanging. Our challenge—my challenge—is to give up our way to freedom and allow the freedom of Jesus Christ to have its way. Then and only then can we truly be free.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

Serve the KINGdom

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Today has been deemed a day of service, the third Monday in January celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This U.S. holiday is to honor the man who gave his life speaking truth to humanity to break the bonds of wickedness wherever he found them. It was his speaking out—from the pulpit or a podium or the pages of a letter, that challenged established ways and spurred us on for the betterment of us all. His speeches, leadership and organizing more than four decades ago still resonate to this day. Let’s move from reflection upon this great life to action to honor this great life. Serve someone today. Contribute to equity for all, whether you give money to a Haitian relief effort, serve food at a soup kitchen, speak against government injustice or change your mind to love. Serve someone today. But don’t just serve today.

As Christians, serving should be a regular part of our lives. We serve the greatest man to have ever walked this earth, and He is the King we honor above all: Jesus Christ. Our King told us to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. These commandments should be the driving force of our lives and make it our obligation to serve others just as Dr. King and our King gave their lives to do. Give yourself and make life better for us all. Serve always for Christ and His Kingdom.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

The Favor of Humility

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Many of us want to be blessed and highly favored, but just saying those words doesn’t mean that we are. God chose Mary, but the only way she was able to receive her blessing was because she submitted to God. And the only way she submitted to God was because she was humble. God has many blessings in store for us, but sometimes we forfeit them because we lack humility. I believe God wants to use us for singularly spectacular missions so that we can truly say we are blessed and highly favored beyond our position in Jesus Christ. But the only way God can use us is if we are humble like Mary:

We must 1) acknowledge God’s greatness and 2) understand His process like Mary did. In Luke 1:46-55, Mary acknowledged that God
1. is mighty
2. is holy
3. keeps his promises; and
she understood something about how he chooses people to bless beyond his daily mercies. In Mary’s own case, she said God regarded her low estate. She observed that he
4. debases the mighty;
5. exalts those of low degree;
6. is merciful to those that fear him;
7. helps those who serve him;
8. gives good things to the needy; and
9. denies those who are not in need.

I think seeing what Mary saw about God will guide us so we don’t expect God to bless us because we think we deserve it. The two main requirements for blessings from God that I see in this passage are humility and fear of the Lord. When we are humble, we will exalt God. When we fear God, we want to please him so we exalt Him. If we are truly humble and have fear of God, we can expect blessings because that’s what God promises (James 4:10). But doing what looks like humility and fear of God (to try to receive blessings) will only get us called out (Acts 8:9-23). As we know, we look at the outward appearance of things, but God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). So let’s take a lesson from Mary that we might humble ourselves, fear God and allow God to perform the details of giving us blessings. I believe there will be a lot more of us who will truly be able to say they are blessed and highly favored.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

Blessed and Highly Favored, Part 2

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In this day of social media, so many have begun to attract friends, fans and followers to promote themselves and their messages. In a more traditional way, telling people that you’re “blessed and highly favored” is about self promotion. We want people to look at us or to ask us questions to understand why we’ve used that phrase. But the term is almost exclusive and makes me wonder if we should use it at all.

In Scripture, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the only person who is called this because of the special grace shown to her to give birth to the Savior. And the only group of people who is called this is referring to Christians (Ephesians 1:6). So I believe to say this word about yourself because of how well things are going in your life is misplaced because the type of grace given to Mary to do what she did won’t happen to anyone else. I also think this phrase is empty because it applies to all Christians, conveying our position in Christ and not how we are doing (i.e., how we feel).

Whether or not we use the term “blessed and highly favored,” I still want us to consider the conditions surrounding Mary’s blessing that I believe we need to ponder when we receive “blessings.”

• God selected Mary (Luke 1:30).
• God chose the type of blessing she would receive (giving birth to Jesus, the Savior of mankind; Luke 1:31-32).
• God chose the method to administer the blessing (through the Holy Ghost; Luke 1:35).
• God decided when Mary should broadcast the blessing (after three months; Luke 1:56).
• God told her what her blessing was for (Luke 1:32-33).
• God did the work (Luke 1:37).

If we believe that God has selected us to receive a blessing, I think we ought to be clear that God indeed did select the type of blessing; that we allow Him to give it to us the way He wants to give it to us; that we should allow Him to tell us when and with whom to share it; that we make sure we handle the blessing the way God intends; and that we allow Him to bring our blessing to pass without interfering.

Many times we claim something we believe will make us “blessed and highly favored” that God has not chosen us to receive. But once we recognize the blessing that will come from Him, let’s not dictate to God how we want to receive the blessing (i.e., specifying the “perfect” time for it or how it—or he—should look) let alone start to pursue the blessing when He didn’t tell us to. Once we get the blessing, let’s make sure we share it with those that He tells us to, particularly those who can rejoice with us (Romans 12:15). And, finally, we need to make sure we handle the blessing the way He wants us to. Just because He gives us money doesn’t give us license to spend it how we want. We must seek God and not simply rest on being “blessed and highly favored.”

Remember, the material gain and positions you have or see others with may not be blessings from God but enticements from Satan to do his bidding (Luke 4:1-12). Everybody claiming to be “blessed and highly favored” is not “blessed and highly favored.” Just because fruit is born doesn’t mean that the fruit has come from the right tree (Matthew 7:17, 12:33). “Blessed and highly favored” was the mantle given to Mary because of her humility, and humility always brings exaltation (1 Peter 5:6).

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith