Deborah and Barak

There are only a few instances in the Bible where women are placed in a position of authority. Nevertheless, when a story of a woman’s leadership develops it is usually a fascinating tale that we should spend time investigating. So it is with Deborah, a woman prophetess in Israel during a time when the Lord was disciplining the nation because of its sin. In the Old Testament the Lord’s discipline usually meant that a foreign army occupied Israel. That was a bad thing, of course, because it meant that the people would be taxed out the yahoo and the occupying army would abuse them. The story of Deborah is found in Judges chapter four. I will tell the story in my own words.

Once upon a time there was this dame named Deborah who lived in Israel near Bethel and she was a prophetess. She would sit under a palm tree and hear cases that were brought to her by the people of Israel. She was like the Supreme Court. Her judgments were final and absolute. Men usually held these positions, but the people didn’t care because they knew that Deborah was fair and impartial and had the Lord on her side.

Lo and behold Deborah sends a message to a five star general named Barak to come and see her because she has a message from God. So Barak jumps in his five star Hummer and heads for Bethel. When he arrives there is the usual greetings and salutations and all that before Deborah tells him to sit down and get ready for the most important message of his life. So Barak looks around and notices that under this palm tree there aren’t any recliners, or anything for him to sit on. So he says to Deborah, “What, don’t you even have a stool here for me to sit on?” Deborah says, “I am a prophetess, I work under a palm tree, who do you think I am Donald Trump?

One of his soldiers grabs a mat from the Hummer and sets it down for General Barak who then notices that there are no chips or pretzels or anything for him to chomp on. The general says to Deborah, “Don’t you have any goodies for me to snack on because I got a case of the munchies right now. Deborah says, “I sent for you so you could hear the instruction of the Lord personally. “I did not send for you so we could have tea and biscuits.”

So Barak sits back on the mat and tells Deborah to start prophesying. So Deborah tells Barak that God wants him to take an army of ten thousand men and march against the general of the occupying army who’s name was Sisera. Deborah tells Barak that God will take care of the details and all he has to do is march. Then Barak, who was not known for his bravery, says to Deborah “If you will go with me then I will go; but if you do not go with me I will not go.” Deborah looks at him and says, “You little scardy cat. “No wonder you don’t have any medals on you.

Then Barak gets steamed and tells Deborah, “You will never be as good a prophet as Joshua.” Deborah counters by mocking Barak, “Waaaaa, Waaaaa I want my mommy. I’m afraid to fight Sisera.” Finally some of the other leaders step forward and calm them both down. Then Deborah says, “I will go with you, but because you are such a weasel the Lord will see to it that Sisera will be delivered into the hands of a woman.” Barak thinks to himself, “That’s OK with me as long as I don’t get all shot up with arrows.”

So Deborah goes with Barak into battle and the Lord routs the occupying army and Sisera flees for his life. His entire army is laid waste and Sisera finds himself wondering around looking for a place to hide from the advancing Israeli troops. Eventually Sisera ends up at the tent of someone who he thought he could trust. The wife of this man tells him to come into the tent and seek shelter there and she will watch out for him. Sisera is exhausted and falls asleep in the tent. Then the woman takes a tent peg and drives it into the head of Sisera. So Sisera was delivered into the hands of a woman just like Deborah prophesied.

Little is known of Deborah and her role as a judge over Israel. Barak, for reasons that are not clear, is mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews 11 is called the “faith chapter” by students of the New Testament and mentions a number of people of great faith. Barak is mentioned as a person of great faith. Some have raised questions about why Barak would be mentioned here. One possible answer is that Barak was not a strong leader and he knew it, so it took a great effort on his part to believe what Deborah had prophesied to him.

I believe that the Lord will judge us according to what are abilities enable us to accomplish. There are those among us who have great talents and use those talents to make a name for themselves. Others have only a little talent and use that talent for the benefit of others. I believe on the judgment day the Lord will greatly bless the person who gave what little they had, so that others to be benefited. In the case of Barak, he may have been unskilled in battle so it took a great deal of faith to believe that God could do anything through him. If that is true then Barak is a man of great faith even though he depended on Deborah for assistance.

I believe that Deborah is a woman of great faith. No doubt she had to overcome great prejudices to become a woman judge in Israel at that time. While no mention is made of any resistance to her leadership there is little doubt that at first Deborah faced prejudices because of her gender. She may have had doubters of her calling as a judge up until the day she died. For a woman of that time to overcome her own fears and become a Judge in Israel demonstrates a high level of faith. I wonder why she wasn’t mentioned in Hebrews chapter eleven?

The Good Samaritan

The story of the Good Samaritan is probably one of the most well known stories in the Bible however, most people don’t know the full story as found in Luke 10:25-37. Jesus actually tells the story of the Good Samaritan after a lawyer tried to test him on the issue of salvation. The lawyers referred to in the New Testament (mostly by Luke) are scholars who were experts in the Jewish law as written by Moses. Jewish citizens of that day lived under two laws, the laws of God and the laws of the Roman government. The lawyer that Luke is referring too was a scribe, or sage called upon to give council on legal matters that fall outside the Roman courts. That is why Pilot had no interest in sentencing Jesus (Luke 23:4). Pilot’s concern was the Roman law, he had no interest in judging those accused of violating the Law of Moses.

I will tell the story of The Good Samaritan in my own words.

One day as Jesus and His disciple chums were strolling along a lawyer pulls up beside them, in his BMW, and tries to test Jesus with a question. “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus looked at the dude and said, “You are a lawyer, how do you interpret the law? The lawyer dude said, “You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your strength, and with all of your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said, “That pretty much sums it up. Do this and God will punch your ticket.

Then Jesus turns and starts to walk down the road, but the lawyer dude stops Him with another question. You see the lawyer was fine with the part about loving God and all that, but he didn’t care much for the part about loving his neighbor. Especially when the neighbor was a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys. So the lawyer dude tries to clarify this and says to Jesus, “Well just who is my neighbor?” Then Jesus tells everybody to sit down so He can tell them a story.

“One day this guy was going down the road on his way to Jericho when some robbers attacked him, took his money, beat him and left him for dead. As it happened a priest was going by that way and passed by on the other side of the road. Shortly after a Levite (they assist the priest) came upon the man and passed by the same way the priest did.”

“Next a Samaritan comes by he sees the wounded guy and feels compassion for him. The Samaritan bandages the man’s wounds and pours expensive oil on them to help them heal. Then he puts the guy on his own donkey and lets him ride while the Samaritan walks beside them both. The Samaritan takes the wounded man to an inn and pays for his care while he continues on his journey.” Then Jesus says to the lawyer, “Which one of the three acted neighborly to the man who was robbed?” The Lawyer dude said, “The one who showed mercy to him.” Then Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”

The story is interesting on several levels because it reveals God’s mind when it comes to the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Jesus asked the lawyer what the letter of the law stated and the lawyer answered correctly. Matthew 19:16-22 tells a similar story where a rich man comes to Jesus with the same question about entering eternal life. Jesus gives the rich man the same answer as he did the lawyer. Obey the law and love your neighbor. Jesus told the rich man to sell everything and give it to the poor (his neighbor) and come and follow Jesus.

Jesus is telling both men that God is requiring two tasks be completed while we are on this planet. One is to obey God’s law and the other is to show kindness to God’s children. Both men appeared to have no issue with the first requirement, but faltered when it came to the second requirement. The book of James points out the need for compassion and James goes so far as to say, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead so also faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26) The “works” that James is referring too is the action of each man that Jesus was referring to. For the lawyer, the action was showing compassion to the injured man on the road. For the rich man the action was giving his money to the poor.

Faith and actions go hand in hand; one cannot exist without the other.

Adam and Eve, Satan and the Serpent

Have you ever heard the saying two’s company and three is a crowd? If you are like me then you heard the saying when you were the crowd the other two were talking about. In the Garden of Eden there were two that made the company, Adam and Eve. Satan’s presence turned the company into a crowd and the serpent turned the crowed into a mob. The story of the fall of Adam and Eve is found in Genesis 1 and 2. I will tell the story in my own words.

Once upon a time right after the creation of Adam and Eve everything was very good. Adam and Eve would hang out with God in the evening and the birds and squirrels, deer and gazelles would gather around as well. God would usually ask them how things were going and Adam and Eve would talk to God about the fun they had playing in the stream and eating sweet berries and tasty watermelon and things like that.

Then one day when Eve was walking through the woods by herself a serpent strolled up to her and started makin conversation. The serpent was a crafty and wily creature so he was the right choice for Satan to use in this situation. The serpent says to Eve, “Hey sweet thing what’s a nice girl like you doin in a place like this?” Eve says, “Hello Mr. Serpent how are you doing today?” “Not so bad pretty lady,” the serpent responded, “Hey I happen to notice that you and Adam dine out a lot around here. “Could you recommend any tree restaurants that I could take the Mrs. to on a Saturday night?” Eve points to several trees the she and Adam frequent and explains to the serpent what she likes most about each of them.

Then the serpent says, “Hey you guys get to eat everything in the forest don’t you?” Eve states that she and Adam are permitted to eat from every tree and fruit except the one tree in the middle of the garden. That tree is verboten. The serpent says, “What a jip. “Why can’t you chow down on that one?” Eve says, “God told us not to even touch that tree or, its fruit because if we do we will die? “We don’t know what it means to die, but we don’t think it’s a good thing. “Besides, there are so many things on the menu.”

The serpent says, “I think God is holdin out on you guys” “How so?” “If He really loves you like He said He does then He would let you go to town on that tree.” Yes if only He loved you as much as He loves the other creatures here. “Take the squirrels for example. “They get to eat as many nuts as they want and I don’t see God telling them to go to Weight Watchers.” “And just look at the deer they are chompin on every branch in sight. “God didn’t put up any ‘No chomping’ signs that I can see. “I guess you guys aren’t as special as you think.

“Besides, God knows something about that tree and He is afraid you will find out His secret if you eat its fruit.” Eve says, “What are you talking about, what is God’s secret?” The serpent says, “God knows that tree has magical powers and if you guys go there for brunch you will see things that you have never seen before. “In fact, I can safely say that you will see Adam for all he’s worth.” Then Satan starts chuckling to himself.

Eve began to think about what the serpent has said and wondered if God really did love Her and Adam. Maybe the serpent was right; maybe God was all talk. She began to look around the garden and realized that all the other animals were permitted to roam around and eat anything they wanted to eat. Eve began to feel sorry for herself and figured the serpent was correct in his observation. God did jip Adam and Eve.

Then Eve thought, “Yes it does look tasty, I’ll bet it would make a nice pie. “I could bake one for Adam and put on whip cream and his favorite blueberries.” So she did and after they gobbled up the fruit they both realized that from now on things were going to be very different.

The story of Adam and Eve is really the story of each of us. We are no different from either of them. In our minds if something looks good and it taste good then it must be good, even if it isn’t. We see the people who live near us and conclude that they have a lower mortgage, a bigger TV, their kids are healthier and their grass is greener, therefore God must love them more then us.

There is an old Indian proverb that says: Before you judge a man, you must first walk in his moccasins. Your neighbors have their own problems and are probably looking at you and thinking the same thing about you that you are thinking about them.

Eve had paradise, but thought God was cheating her out of something special. The tragedy is that in the end she and Adam lost everything while trying to gain the only thing they were not permitted to have. Let that be a lesson for all of us.

Are We God's Poker Chips?

Have you ever asked, “Why is this happening to me?” People usually ask this question when they experience something bad happen in their lives. Naturally, we don’t ask this question when we get a promotion, or hit the lottery. There is no need to ask why good things happen to us. The answer is simple, because we deserve it. This blog will focus on why bad things happen to us and what role God plays in all of this.

There is only one book in the Bible that describes the events that take place in the metaphysical realm and explains how they relate to our daily troubles. The book of Job tells the story of a good man who faces major obstacles in his life and still continues to trust God. The book of Job is found in the center of the Bible right before Psalms. I will tell an abbreviated version of the story in my own words.

Once upon a time there was this super rich dude named Job that everybody liked. He loved his family and had a lot of camels and sheep and stuff. He even drove around in a Lamborghini. That was really cool. Everybody thought God liked Job because he was so well off. Job used to offer sacrifices to the Lord God as atonement for the sins of his children. He did this because he was not sure if they had steamed God by doing something wrong. Job figured better safe than sorry.

At that time, in the kingdom of heaven all the sons of God (angels) were summoned to headquarters for a corporate meeting. The sons of God were required to give an account of their works. Each one had to give a presentation on their accomplishments and use charts and graphs and everything. Satan was there also.

Then God says to Satan,” What are you doing here?” Satan said, “I was in the neighborhood and thought I might stop in a see how things were going in my old stomping ground.” God said, “So tell me what have you been doing with yourself?” Satan said, “I have been traversing to and fro and hangin out here and there. Ah such is my life.” Now God knew that Satan only comes to steal kill and destroy so He knew that Satan was not just roaming around doing nothing. Satan has only one objective and that is to turn the hearts of mankind away from God. It’s an ego thing. If he can’t get people to show him respect he sure doesn’t want them showing God respect.

Then God said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job who is blameless and upright and turns away from evil, unlike yourself.” Satan says, “Give me a break. “The dude only serves you because you keep his Lamborghini from breaking down, and all of his camels are healthy. Besides every time I try to make a bad example of him my key card won’t let me through the gate.” Then the Lord God Almighty said, “Here use my card it always works.” Then Satan said, “Indeed I shall, and you will regret handing him over to me.” “Really,” the Lord said, “What exactly will you get out of all of this?” “Bragging rights.” declared Satan. “I will tell everyone what a fool you were to bet on one of these wretched humans.” The Lord looked into the soul of Satan and said, “We will see who the fool is, indeed we shall.”

So Satan goes off and gives Job the trashing of his life. Satan kills everything Job loved and scattered his possessions to the wind. The one thing Satan did not take was Job’s wife. Satan figured she was nagging Job enough so he better keep her alive to add to his misery. Satan is lazy and if he can find someone else to do his work, that’s all the better.

Then Satan goes back to see God when the next corporate headquarters meeting takes place. God greets Satan with the same formalities and asks, “Have you considered my servant Job for there is no one like him he trusts me and turns away from evil and still he maintains his integrity even though you have tried to destroy him for no reason.” Satan says to God, “A deer skin for a buck skin. “Yes, Job would gladly give up his children and camels and even his Lamborghini if it means his own life and health will be spared.” Then God said, “Behold his health is yours, only do not take his life.”

So Satan goes out and nails Job to the wall with more health problems then Dr. Gott has ever heard of. But still Job maintains his integrity even though his friends try to tell him he must have done something wrong and God is steamed at him. Job is angry that this has happened to him, but his trust is in God. Then his friends are angry because they want Job to confess that he has done something wrong and that is why God smote him. But Job does not give in for he has not done anything wrong. You see Job’s friends are nervous because they know if they can’t find a good reason why this has happened to Job that means the same thing could happen to them.

Eventually, God says enough is enough. He kicks Satan out of Job’s life and then appears to Job and his friends. First He talks with Job. God says, “I see you are really steamed about all that has happened to you.” Job says, “Ya think?” Then God starts askin Job where he was when God was makin the crocodiles and Job doesn’t quite know what to say. God’s tryin to tell Job that this isn’t His first assignment; He’s been around awhile and knows a thing or two. Job repents and tells God that from now on he will keep his trap shut and not interfere with the matters of God. God tells Job that is good because He has enough critics and doesn’t need one more.

In the end God restores Job’s health and his possessions. Job even has more children and lives to be a real old geezer. But I can’t help but wonder if Job didn’t spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder half expecting to be ruined again. After all when God spoke to Job He didn’t make any promises that things were gonna be rosy from then on. So Job wasn’t sure if he was completely out of the woods, if you get my meanin. . The end.

The older I become the more I wonder about why God allowed all these things to happen to Job. Then, of course, I have to ask why to bad things happen to so many of us. Was this a bet with Satan that Job would still trust God even after nearly being destroyed? Was God saying to Satan that if the most righteous person on the planet could hold his integrity even after being wrongly ruined then Satan would lose the bet?

I am troubled by the story of Job. I am troubled because there is no obvious answer to the question, why. No obvious answer unless you consider the time that Jesus was in the desert (Luke 4:1-13). I wonder if that was another bet? Then we must consider Paul and the other apostles and the trials they went through. Come to think of it God seems to be placing a lot of bets on mankind. I wonder how often He bets on you and me. I wonder how often He loses?

The Lord's Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer is found in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. Matthew provides a deeper understanding of the prayer and I will focus on the Matthew writing to provide the reader with a better understanding of the meaning of this unique teaching of Jesus. The first part of Matthew chapter six has Jesus explaining to His disciples the need for humility in prayer and altruism. His point is that God does not honor anyone who prays or, gives charitably in such a way as to be noticed by others.

It is important to remember that in Jesus’ day prayer was considered a holy matter and anyone seen praying was seen as a righteous person. Some people made a public show of their long prayers in the synagogues so as to appear righteous before God. Jesus is making the point that God will not honor such a person because that person is not honoring God; they are actually trying to honor themselves. They are only interested in how they are perceived by others. Today in America, anyone seen praying is considered a Christian kook, so I am not sure where the Lord stands on this issue now.

Regarding the matter of altruism the Lord’s instructions are the same. Some people then, as now make public demonstrations of their donations. To be fair, sometimes this is done to bring attention to an organization that the donator strongly believes in and wants others to be aware of so as to increase donor contributions. However, there are other times when large contributions are made to present the donor in a favorable public light, as well as provide a tax break. Only God knows the heart of the giver and He will be the final judge on the matter.

After Jesus finished speaking about that He taught the disciples how to pray. The prayer is unique for several reasons so I will discuss it line by line.

Our Father who is in heaven… Never before in Judaism had a prayer addressed God in this manor. God was considered a sacred, holy being, not our pop. The mere notion of addressing God this way must have surprised the disciples.

Hallowed be your name… God’s name is given glory. Now that’s interesting. Why is His name given glory? Why don’t we just give God glory? I have a theory about that. Satan who rebelled against God also wants glory and there are some who worship Satan as God. This prayer is addressing God and giving His name special honor thereby removing Satan from any kudos. We know that the “Father” being addressed is the Lord God and not Satan because Satan no longer lives in heaven.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus is pointing out that this planet is not following God’s will. One day the Lord’s kingdom will come to earth and God’s authority will be manifested to us as it already being manifested to all the angels in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread…This verse reveals the intimacy of God in our lives. Many people would see mankind as responsible for taking care of itself, or as socialists see it the government taking care of everyone. However, Jesus is presenting God as being interested even in our basic food needs.

Forgive us of our sins as we forgive those who sinned against us. This is the foundation of Jesus’ ministry. Forgiveness. The very reason He would die on a cross after being beaten to a pulp is because of forgiveness. Nevertheless, forgiveness is a two way street. We have to forgive others the same way we expect God to forgive us. Easier said than done, I know.

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. This is an interesting verse as God is not in the business of tempting people (James 1:13). The translation may be more aptly stated, “Lead us away from all the temptations of the world.” This last verse completes the prayer. The first part of which gives honor to God and the second part addresses our human needs and responsibilities.

One final part of this prayer is not found in the original manuscripts. It states, “For yours is the kingdom power and glory forever. Amen.”

Then, as now, we are pressed on all sides with the burdens of life. This prayer offers us an understanding into the mind of God and how He desires us to come to Him with our daily burdens. When we pray we are instructed first to give God glory because of His majesty. We should also see God as our provider even to the basis needs of daily food. We are also expected to forgive those who have wronged us. If you are not sure of who you should be forgiving the answer is simple, everyone who has ever made you angry. That should keep you busy praying for a while.

The Death of Lazarus

The death and resurrection of Lazarus is found in John chapter 11. The story is remarkable on many fronts and there are many lessons to learn from it so I will retell the story in my own words and let the reader learn all they can.

Jesus and His disciple chums had left the region of Judea because of the frosty reception He received there. By frosty I mean the religious leaders wanted Him dead. They went to the region around Judea that was not so populated so the Lord could get a break from everything.

Meanwhile, back in Judea a dear friend of His had fallen ill. The man’s name was Lazarus. Lazarus’ sisters, Martha and Mary, sent word to Jesus that He better high tail it back to Bethany soon, or the next time He sees Lazarus’ name it would be in the obituary column. Jesus used to hang out at their house and pork out with His disciple chums, so the news of Lazarus’ illness affected Him deeply. Even so, He stayed put in the remote area outside of Judea for two more days. His disciples figured He was doing this because He was afraid to go back to Judea. They remembered seeing all the wanted posters of Jesus and knew the religious sheriffs there did not want Him back.

Then after the two days Jesus says, “Ok guys were headin back to Judea.” One of his disciple chums says, “Is you mad?” “Last week the religious leaders there wanted to give you cement sandals and take you water skiing. “Maybe we should go someplace else, like Madagascar for example.” Then Jesus said to them, “Our friend Lazarus is sleeping, but I will go and wake him up.” One of the disciples said, “What’s the big deal? “If the dude is snoring he’ll get up when he feels like it.” Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus kicked the bucket.” So they all headed back to Judea to the town of Bethany.

At Martha’s house everybody was crying and wailing because Lazarus was dead and everything. Then somebody told Martha that Jesus was headin back into town with the boys. Martha says to Mary that she is gonna meet Jesus and asks her to come along. Mary, still steamed about Jesus’ tardiness, stays in the house. Martha meets Jesus on the road and says, “Better late then never. “Ya know we were hopin you would get here sooner and heal your so called friend so he would still be around.”

Jesus said to her, ”Lazarus will rise again.” Martha says to Him, “Yea I know on the resurrection day, a lot of good that does me now.” Jesus looks at her and says, “I am the resurrection and the life, anyone who believes in me shall live even if he dies. And anyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Martha, not quite getting it says, “Yes, I believe you are the Messiah.” Then Martha turns and goes back to the house to see Mary. Martha tells Mary that the teacher wants to see her. So Mary gets up and all the people in the house go with her thinking she is going to the grave to morn there.

Mary walks straights up to Jesus and in a huff says to Him, “Lord, if you were here Lazarus would still be here.” Then she starts crying and I mean a real cry of anguish. Jesus looks at her crying and sees everybody with her crying and He is deeply concerned and troubled in His spirit. So He says to them, “Where have you laid him?” So they all go over to the grave and stand there. Then Jesus weeps. I am going to cut the story off here to make my point about what Jesus was crying about. If you are not familiar with the story the punch line is Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead and they all live happily ever after.

The Lord is not crying because Lazarus was dead. Why would He cry over a man He is going to raise from the dead in two minutes? He is crying because no one believes He is able to raise Lazarus from the dead. Jesus already asked Martha if she believed Jesus could raise Lazarus from the dead. Martha skirted the question by saying she believed He was the Messiah. That was not the correct answer to the question Jesus asked. Now He is standing with Mary and all the friends of Lazarus who are crying and obviously believe they will never see Lazarus again.

That is why Jesus was troubled in His spirit; no one there believed He could raise Lazarus from the dead. They believed He could have healed Lazarus, but now that Lazarus is dead there is nothing Jesus can do. Clearly, their understanding of the Messiah was one of limited power.

The real issue here is one of faith. Jesus may have wept for more then one reason, but His real concern was their lack of faith. If His followers could not believe He was able to raise Lazarus from the dead, how would they ever believe that one day He would rise from the dead?

The Prosperous Christian

Walk into any Christian bookstore (or any secular bookstore with a religious section) and you will find myriads of books on prosperity. There are books on how to improve your financial status, books on how to improve your health (through faith, not diet), books on how to live a joy filled life by merely acknowledging certain scripture verses exist and making them part of your spiritual life. A simple stroll down the aisle and you will be convinced that with only a little faith you too can live like Donald Trump today and reap the riches of heaven in the afterlife. Sign me up for that program. In fact some books go so far as to say that if you are not prosperous it is your lack of faith that is the problem. But is this true?

Books aren’t the only source of prosperity teaching as there are a number of television programs that preach prosperity from faith. The television programs are often referred to as ministries, but the on air personalities are only ministering to their own wallets. Aside from the obvious fact that Jesus was born, raised, and died in utter poverty we need to determine if any of his disciples lived a more faithful life than He did and if they reaped the rewards of their faith.

Lets consider Acts 5 when Peter and John are called before the religious leaders of their day to account for their speaking about the resurrection of Jesus. The religious leaders who had Jesus crucified were not going to tolerate any of His disciples talking about His resurrection. The leaders listened to Peter and John and wanted to kill them, but a man named Gamaliel suggested they back away from that idea, as it seemed to rash to him. I will continue with verses 40,41. “40 They took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them.
41 So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. “

They went on their way rejoicing because they had been flogged. Flog means to beat severely with a whip or a rod. Know any Christians in this country who would rejoice at being flogged? Either do I. There really aren’t too many ways of looking at this. One either Peter and John did not have very much faith, or two they had a very different understanding of what walking with the Lord meant. Come to think of it they probably did have a different understanding of what walking with the Lord meant because they did walk with the Lord for three years.

But that was Peter and John so maybe there are other Christian views on this subject. Lets consider Paul for example. Paul was not a follower of Jesus when Jesus walked the earth, as were the other apostles. Paul became a follower some time later. He may have a different perspective on this prosperity thing. He may have more faith then the other apostles.

During Paul’s journeys he wrote to many of the churches that he had planted in an effort to encourage them in their daily walk. While writing to the believers at Corinth, an ancient Greece city, he informs the believers what being a Christian has cost him. I am quoting from the New American Standard Bible.

2 Corinthians 11:23 “Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.
24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,
26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.
27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.
28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?”

Wow, maybe Paul needed to find a way to increase his faith because he sure wasn’t having a very prosperous life. Peter, John and Paul are just a few of the stories that are found in the bible that illustrate the hardships the early Christian church faced. Their hardships had nothing to do with faith, or trusting God. Truth be know their hardships were the result of their faith.

The mind of God is often complex and confusing to those of us who try to understand His reasoning. Some Christians are very prosperous while others struggle to make ends meet. This is also true of non-believers. Nevertheless, we know from what the bible tells us that Jesus did not live a prosperous life. If Jesus did not live a prosperous life, and the disciples did not live prosperously either then why would we conclude that His desire for us is to be prosperous?