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John 12:3-5 - ”Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, *said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?”“
This was very costly perfume, it should have been sold and the money given to the poor, says Judas. I wonder about this perfume being sold. What were the chances of that money ever making it to the poor? According to John slim to none: John 12:4-6 - But Judas… said, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?" 6 Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it. That money was going to have a real difficult time making it into the hands of the poor.
Many times we just want to do the good deed and not have anyone notice. We certainly don't want someone bringing it to the attention of others. We know God has seen what we have done and that is all the reward we need. Well, that is the problem with expectations they don't always materialize. Many times we will get the exact opposite of what we expect.
Look what it says about Jesus in the book of Acts 10:38 - "You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Jesus went about "doing good" according to this passage. Can anyone remember what happened to Jesus while He was here on earth? Oh yeah, they crucified Him. Mk 15:10 -"For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy."
The best thing we can do is expect to be slandered for "doing good". So when the people of this world who are more accustom to being under the control of the evil one are envious of you it won't come as such a shock. Doing good deeds doesn't always mean you will be rewarded immediately here on earth. In fact, "doing good" just might have a way of causing you some grief. Maybe this passage will help you to see why Christians or people who go about doing good suffer: 1 John 3:11-12 - …that we should love one another; 12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous. You may suffer for doing good, but it is better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. Peter says that if we suffer for doing good we will find favor with God: 1 Pet 2:20 - For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. I can say this much we will never regret finding favor with God. How does this come about? It comes about by doing good or what is right and then suffering and enduring this suffering patiently. Think About This: Good deeds should be done with intention not for attention. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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Gen. 37:11- His brothers were jealous of him,… NASU
Acts 7:9-10 - "The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his household. NASU
The Hebrew word for "jealousy" is also translated in other passages of scripture as "envy or envious". As it is in the book of Proverbs 23:17 - Do not let your heart envy sinners, but live in the fear of the LORD always. Joseph's brothers were jealous of him according to Genesis 37. A few thousand years later when Stephen in Acts 7 is repeating the events of what happened in Joseph's life he likewise said it was because of the patriarch's (aka - Joseph's brothers) "jealousy".
This is the perfect case if you want to see why parents should never favor one child over another. Favoritism will only cause trouble for the favored one. Joseph was in reality having a target painted on his back because of his father's favoritism of Joseph. The second thing to happen to Joseph was God gave him dreams. These dreams will become a curse for Joseph. The dream of the 11 stars (his brothers), the moon (his mother), and the sun (his father) are all going to bow down to him according to his dream and this was just too much for the brothers to be able to handle. If God chooses to use you in a special way don't expect everyone to be happy with God decision. God chose Joseph and his brothers wanted him dead. So the moment they saw him coming they immediately began to plot his murder (Gen. 37:18f).
It will do us well to remember God was watching over Joseph and in the end blessed Joseph. Oh yeah, incase you're new to reading the Bible Joseph's 11 brothers did bow to him. Prophecy Fulfilled! WOW! God does know the future. My encouragement today is simply be in control of your mind and if someone gets ahead of you in life that is okay. If God has decided to use someone else instead of you to accomplish His will in a certain area that is okay. It is God's world not ours. It is God's vineyard and if He wants you to work the north 40 acres and me the south 20 acres it is fine. We are to do the best we can wherever God plants us. As Christians, we do not have the time to be jealous of someone. We are too busy allowing the Holy Spirit to guide our lives through this world. Here are some great instructions from the Holy Spirit: 1 Corin. 13:4 - Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous… I also thought I would share with you this verse from the Message translation: Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.) Think About These: Sin deceives, then defiles, then deadens. A good example has twice the value of good advice. It is the sin we try to excuse that finally gets us down. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Heb 5:7-9 - In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. NASU
They have this view of God that He is sitting up in Heaven watching every move that His creation is making down here on earth and when they commit a sin He deals out retribution or punishment upon them. If you really think about this view of suffering God would not be doing anything except punishing His creation because we all sin and fall short of His glory everyday. There are some who also judge your degree of suffering. If you have a little financial set back then your sin wasn't that great and God is trying to get you back on the straight and narrow. However, if you are suffering to a great degree or something has happened to one of your young children then your sin must have been a horrible one as can be seen in this next scripture text: John 9:1-3 - As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents;…" HELLO! Did you read what Jesus said, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents;…" But you can see the disciples believed that this man's blindness was caused by someone's sins. What they wanted to know was this man being punished with blindness because of his sins or his parent's sins. Jesus answers their question with these words, "It was neither…" If you have ever read the book of Job then you realize this was the exact view that Job's friends all believed. Job was suffering because of some sin he had committed and if he would confess it then his sufferings would go away. Although, this is a popular view by many I believe it to be incorrect many times. It was not correct in Job's situation and it certainly isn't correct in our scripture text this morning.
Another scripture to help us understand this verse is found in Philippians 2:8 -Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. As a man Jesus was going to learn how to die on the cross. He was going to experience death as a man. He could never experience death as God because God can't die. God is life. We must always remember that Jesus was 100% man and 100% God, this is known as the "hypostatic union". One of the best things we can do when we are suffering in any way is ask ourselves this question: What can I learn from my sufferings? Do not allow yourself to get caught up into the negative cycle of asking yourself, "Why am I suffering?" How would you ever really know with 100% certainty if God didn't inform you? The purpose in my mind for suffering is to teach us some things we could never learn without them. I have spoken with many who have gone through some very severe trials. They would never wish them on anyone, but I have had them tell me that what they went through taught them some very valuable lessons that they could have never learned any other way. The best way to deal with sufferings of any kind in my mind is to ask yourself the question, "What can I learn from this situation?" The next time you find yourself in a suffering situation tell yourself over and over again "Let the learning begin." Think About These: We may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future. A person who looks up to God will not look down on people. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Acts 3:18 - "But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.
Acts 17:2-3 - And according to Paul's custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ." Acts 26:22-23 - "So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer…
This can be seen very clearly in John 9:1-2 - "As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" All you have to do to discover that teaching is false is read the first few chapters of the book of Job. If that doesn't convince you then reread the scriptures I used to start this Pump Up from the book of Acts. They all mention Jesus Christ would suffer, had to suffer and was to suffer and we know He was sinless. Therefore, suffering doesn't always come about because of some sin we have committed.
As a minister people have come to me for counseling and on numerous occasions they would say to me, I just can't figure out what sin I have committed that God is allowing me to suffer this way. I would ask them, "What makes you think you are suffering because of some sin you have committed?" They would generally give me some type of answer that equated to this "suffering is the result of some sin you have committed".
You can start to read from Luke 13:10 and you will discover Jesus healed this lady in the synagogue and the official was upset Jesus healed her on the Sabbath. You will notice Jesus says this woman had been suffering because Satan bound her for the last 18 years. Why does Satan want humans to suffer? He knows God is the one people are going to blame not him. When I look at all the suffering in the world I see the works of the evil one more than I see the Hand of God. The apostle Paul said it this way: 1 Corin.14:33 - "…for God is not a God of confusion but of peace,…" Suffering brings a lot of confusion with it. I say if you are a Christian the majority of your suffering has come upon you from the evil one. He wants you to blame God. The devil is the culprit and he knows it. Don't be fooled by the evil one. Think About This: We learn some things from prosperity, but we learn many things from adversity. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Matt. 25:20-21 - "The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, 'Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.' 21 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave…" NASU
Mt 25:15 -"To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability…"
Let's investigate a statement people have said to me.
Then you are the perfect person to teach others how to endure and overcome this type of suffering. You certainly don't want to miss this great opportunity to teach others. Isn't that what we are supposed to be doing in life? We are to be learning the hard and difficult lessons and then sharing what we've learned with others. Eph 4:28 - "…rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need." NASU In Ephesians Paul is talking about why we work so that we can share with the one who has a need. This same principal is valid with what we experience in life.
We see people attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings so that they can share some of their life stories to help the people who are in attendance. A person who has overcome cancer is better qualified to speak to someone who is presently in the battle on what they did to stay strong and keep moving forward. We have all experienced some difficulties in life and that qualifies us to share with others what worked for us and didn't work for us during those difficult times.
What have you survived, overcome, struggled with, or experienced that you need to start sharing to help others? You certainly didn't think that you were going to go through this learning experience and then not share your knowledge with anyone, did you? Think About These: The best advice you'll get is from someone who made the same mistake himself. Education is what you get from reading the small print in a contract. Experience is what you get from not reading it. A wise man learns by the experiences of others. An ordinary man learns by his own experiences. A fool learns by nobody's experiences. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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