*Note- We are a week away from Christmas, and I will be altering my schedule for the holidays. This will be the last Tuesdays with Tony post for 2023. I will pick back up on Tuesday, January 9th, 2024. That said, I still may drop a few observations from my daily Bible readings. There are some things we should never take a vacation from, and our daily Bible readings and prayers are two of them. For those who expected a cheery holiday message in the post before Christmas, my apologies. Instead, I am sharing some thoughts that have been weighing heavy on my mind.*
In Matthew 24, Jesus is rapidly approaching the cross and unleashes a series of teachings designed to cause us to go all-in for God. Many of these teachings warn of the danger of not being ready when the Master returns.
In verse 38, Jesus tells us that judgment comes as it did in the days of Noah. Whether you believe this judgment is the coming destruction of the temple and Jerusalem or the Second coming of Jesus, all judgments share similar characteristics. While God warns of judgment, when it comes, it usually comes as a thief in the night. Only those who are prepared will escape the wrath of God.
“For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,
and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:38-39 ESV).
To be a disciple of Jesus, we must live a life devoted to Him. That means we must prepare our hearts now for the day He comes to take us home. But with the distractions of the world, we often set aside our preparation with the genuine intent to straighten up soon. The problem, as we all know, is that soon often never comes. Before we know it, destruction is upon us, and we will find ourselves unprepared when we see the Lord, whether by death or on the Great Day when He returns with His angels.
“Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:44 ESV).
In the remainder of chapter 24, Jesus gives us a parable that illustrates this truth. But the subject of the parable seems so egregious to us that I fear we miss the warning. A careful reading of this parable with prayerful insights just might reveal how much we are like this wicked servant. And knowing this, we can have the wisdom to correct our actions before the Lord returns.
Let’s look at this short parable and then make a few observations of warning:
“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.
But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,'
and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards,
the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know
and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 24:45-51 ESV).
We say, certainly, we would not act so egregiously, nor would we act in violence toward others.
Would we, though?
This servant was left to feed the household, to take care of people until the Master came. Do we not have a similar stewardship from our God? Aren’t we charged with taking care of each other, feeding and clothing each other, visiting and praying for each other. Doesn’t this really go to the heart of the second greatest commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves?
Wasn’t it Jesus Who says in the very next chapter, as He sits on the Judgment Seat,
“For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'“ (Matthew 25:42-43 ESV).
Isn’t Jesus simply taking the parable of the wicked servant to its conclusion? Could many of those He charged with sin be the very ones who were caught as Jesus returned as a thief in the night? Perhaps these same people had good intentions but were eating and drinking, given in marriage, and never got around to carrying out their stewardship before judgment came.
But there is a more sinister action we must be willing to face, isn't there? In the parable found in chapter 24, the wicked servant wasn’t just neglectful, he was downright cruel.
“But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,'
and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards,” (Matthew 24:48-49 ESV).
And this is where we must be willing to take a long, introspective look into the mirror of God’s word. Before we dismiss this charge as something we could never be capable of doing, let’s ask a few questions.
Have we hated someone and refused to forgive them? Jesus says that if we hate our brothers, we are a murderer.
Have we coveted their possessions?
Have we let them suffer when we had the means to give aid in their hardship?
Have we said a word that devastated their soul?
Have we gossiped about them and perhaps engaged in spreading false witness?
Have we been guilty of excluding others rather than taking them in and making them feel part of something special?
Have we preferred some over others, displaying our partiality?
Do we look the other way, as the Levite and priest did to the man who fell victim to robbers?
Do we eat our fill, day after day, with little regard for sharing our bounty with those who hunger and thirst?
We may never raise our hands to those whom the Lord entrusts us to care for, but when we engage in these activities, our actions are just as damning as the wicked servant’s actions were. Are we ready to see this, or do we say, “My Master is delayed…”
And what about eating and drinking with drunkards? While we may not participate in drinking parties, are we spending time with the wrong people? Instead of eating and drinking with people of the world, shouldn’t we be eating and drinking with those whom the Lord has entrusted us to share our blessings with?
Jesus is not saying that we should never eat with sinners. We must go into the world to take the message to the world. But what He is warning us about is choosing to spend our time with people of the world over those whom we have been given the charge to care for.
This isn’t a parable that says to ignore the world, it’s a parable that says when we choose how to spend the blessing God has put into our hands, do we choose to spend them on those in need or on those who shamelessly reject and blaspheme our Lord and King?
The Master is away. How are we choosing to prepare for His eventual return? Are we treating those in need well? Are we crossing the way to help those in need? Are we feeding, clothing, and visiting them? Are we loving them as ourselves?
Or are we passing by the other side, leaving them in their pain and misery as we hurry on to our banquet with drunkards?
This has been a wake-up call to me. None of us see ourselves as the wicked servant. Perhaps that’s the problem. Until we can see ourselves as this wicked servant, is there any hope we can prepare to stand before our Lord to give account to Him?
Or will we be in the crowd who say,
“'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?'“ (Matthew 25:44b ESV).
As we prepare for this holiday season, is there anyone we can reach out to; any words of comfort we can give; any excluded person we can invite, any hungry person we can feed, any naked person we can clothe; any suffering person we can comfort?
Or is our mind solely focused on the festivities we intend to partake in?
This holiday season, I hope we all enjoy the time we spend with family and loved ones, but let’s not forget the mission that the Lord gives us to love our neighbor. Let’s not get so caught up with eating and drinking we forget to share and provide to the extent the Lord has put talents into our hands.
My prayer is that we don’t meet the return of the Master unprepared with a heart full of good intentions but with little actions to show for it.
One nice thing about working from home is that when you prepare for a Zoom meeting, you only have to dress up from the waist.
That means you can get comfortable wearing sweats or shorts because you are off-camera from the waist down.
Yesterday, I had to take Ryder's medicine to school at noon. Being in my WFH clothes, I forgot to change my sweats to jeans and didn't realize until I was there.
It made me think of a passage in Matthew about how we dress one way for show and another way in private. While it may be innocuous for WFH, it is more sinister when we do it to fool people about our religious commitment.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.
So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:27-28 ESV).
It may be okay to dress one way for the camera and another for comfort when we work from home, but let's ensure this attitude doesn't slip into our spiritual lives.
How many of us are like Lot's wife, looking back over our shoulders at our former life while trying to walk with Jesus?
I am in the book of Luke in my daily Bible reading. As the book begins, the angel Gabriel appears to Mary and Elizabeth and tells them what their children will be named:
“But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.” (Luke 1:13 ESV).
And
“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:31 ESV).
What a wonderful gift to be named by God Himself. Naming something is what someone who exerted power and sovereignty over others did. Nebuchadnezzar named Daniel and his friends because of his power over these exiled people. Parents name their children because of their authority over children.
But in the case of Jesus and John, God intervened and named these two men. It showed His relationship with them. It showed that He was exerting His sovereignty over them and claiming a special relationship with them. It was a wonderful and awesome gift to these two men.
In the book of Revelation, Jesus Himself tells the church at Pergamum,
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.'“ (Revelation 2:17 ESV).
To those who conquer, among other things, God will give us a new name. What a glorious and rich blessing! To be named by God Himself is such a personal sign of relationship. It shows His willingness to let us abide in His presence and His eagerness to claim us as His own.
I don't know much about this new name He will give me, except it will be a sign of what I mean to Him. It will be an honor that cements the eternal fact that I belong to Him.
I cannot wait to receive my new name from God. It's not the name itself I am eager to hear, it's the fact that my God will love me enough to name me Himself. It is a sign to all of creation that I belong to Him.
What I do like about Christmas:
Family gatherings.
Anticipation on children's faces.
Demonstration of goodness among men.
Jesus is on the minds of more people than normal.
There is good everywhere if we are open to seeing it, or we can choose to see the evil that's everywhere as well.
While ignoring evil will not make it go away, focusing on evil without being open to the good can cause us to miss the beauty around us.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
I wish we could bottle the Christmas spirit for the other 364 days in the year (plus one more day in the 2024 Leap Year).
As servants of the King, we are to live in peace among all men as much as possible, with goodwill toward all. Our lives are the only Gospel that many will ever read.
Let us live from December 26th until next Christmas with the same joy, peace, goodwill, and love that the world strove to show yesterday.
“And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (2 Corinthians 3:3 ESV).
GASP!
Jesus claimed to be the Son of Man who comes on the clouds of heaven when the High Priest asks Him point blank if He is the Son of the Blessed One:
“And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:62 ESV).
This is a reference to the One Daniel saw in Daniel 7 Who was presented before the Ancient of Days:
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.” (Daniel 7:13 ESV).
The Son of Man was given that which belongs to God only:
G- Glory
A- Authority
SP-Sovereign Power
GASP!
Yes, the religious leaders gasped when Jesus made His claim because glory, authority, and sovereign power belong to God alone. Daniel also says, concerning the Son of Man who comes in the clouds,
“All nations and peoples of every language worshiped him.”
When we follow Jesus, the only way to the Father, we follow God Himself, the Son of Man, seated at the Father's right hand. We see the fulfillment of Daniel's prophesy at the end of Mark's gospel when Mark says,
“So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” (Mark 16:19 ESV).
This is when Daniel says, “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.”
We worship Jesus, Creator and God, Who died for our sins.
Man, in his wisdom and dominion over this world, can make a lame man walk.
God, in His wisdom and sovereignty, can not only make the man lame from birth walk, but He can do it with no physical therapy required.
“Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked.
He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well,
said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking.” (Acts 14:8-10 ESV).
When we look at the great children of God who stand before thousands or even millions of people via social media and spread the good news of the Gospel, perhaps we think there is little we can do compared to them.
But sometimes, a simple share or like is the cup of cold water that Jesus places in our hands. That simple act may silently reach even more people we may never know about.
This is how God gets the glory through our work instead of us.
“And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42 ESV).
Don't get confused about what is great and what is small in the Kingdom of God. Things in His kingdom are not the same as they are in the kingdoms of men.
Today is the last day of 2023. On the last day of 2022, I said this:
“Live today as though at any moment, the Father will whisper in the Lord's ear, 'It's time... Go get your bride.'“
It still applies on this last day of 2023. One day will be the last day. One day, a world full of people will be shocked.
Good intentions will be of little comfort for those not prepared to meet King Jesus.
Live today as though at any moment, the Father will whisper in the Lord's ear, “It's time... Go get your bride.”
I wonder how many people would frame this verse and hang it on their wall if they really knew what Paul was saying:
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 ESV).
The previous two verses say this:
“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.” (Philippians 4:11-12 ESV).
Are we ready to tell the Lord, “I can be brought low for You, be hungry, live in need and still live in contentment as Your servant?”
Indeed, we can do all these things through Christ Who strengthens us. If we are ready to say this to our Lord and King, then let's frame this verse and hang it on our walls with all faith and contentment.
Paul was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians and bring them back to Jerusalem for trial. When he arrived, he ended up preaching the Gospel of Jesus alongside the ones he sought to persecute.
In 2024, how will the Gospel of Jesus alter what you intend to do?
I love the holidays, but I also love the routines that come back when they're over.
Paul is an interesting study. From the time he is converted to the day of his death, the Scriptures let you see a growth in him that continues throughout his life.
From the first letter he most likely wrote, Galatians, to his last letter to Timothy before his death, you see a harsh tone becoming tempered over time.
When He wrote to the brethren at Corinth, it was a pleading from the heart of a loving caregiver, urging the brethren to do the right thing, much less harsh than the tone of Galatians, written to the people of his own homeland.
By the time we read the second letter he wrote to Timothy, we see a man content in life and ready for death, speaking as a loving father to a young man in the faith.
While none of the temperament we read that Paul displayed constitutes sin, I take great comfort that the Spirit lets me see that this great man of faith spiritually grows in his temperament and expression of life over the decades of his service to King Jesus.
If Paul can grow in his Christian walk, as an apostle over the decades of his life as a follower of King Jesus, I am sure God has patience as I learn the temperament and expression of love over the decades of my walk with the King.
I believe it broke Paul's heart every time he preached to the Jews, only to watch most of them walk away as they rejected the Gospel of their Messiah.
“Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.” (Romans 10:1 ESV).
I wonder what it will be like when schedules will be worthless,
When I will live in a place where time has no meaning,
When I begin the day and never see night,
I wonder if, like my God, 1000 years will be like a day, and a day like 1000 years.
I wonder what it will be like to exist only to worship God and live the existence He has planned for me,
To have no worry, no anxiety, no disappointment,
No sadness, no hurt, no regret,
I wonder what it will be like never to worry about tomorrow, never to be without purpose, never to fret over making the right choice.
One day, the last grain of sand will fall. When it does, I will wonder no more.
Because of this, in this fleeting existence, I will plan for a tomorrow that may never come,
I will sleep when the night comes,
I will worry over choices to make and regret for wrong ones made,
I will suffer anxieties and disappointments, sadness and pain.
But in this existence where time has me captive, I will accept the gift of Jesus that lets me find contentment and joy found in Him,
And when the last grain falls, trade it in for an eternal existence I can scarcely imagine.
My greatest fear is that one day, I may stop fearing God.
I am in John in my daily Bible reading. On occasion, I am asked what my favorite verse is. I used to waffle, depending on what I was studying at the moment, but over the last couple of years, I have consistently come to this verse as my favorite:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14 ESV).
In this verse, we see:
Hopelessness finds hope,
Grace given to man,
Love displayed without limits,
Power channeled beyond comprehension,
The impossible becomes possible,
The ultimate Hero vanquishing evil,
The path paved leading to the Father,
And salvation secured.
Jesus is everything, and it all began with Him becoming flesh and dwelling among us.
“God's grace changes everything.” -Wes McAdams
I am in the book of John in my daily Bible reading. In chapter 7, John gives us insights into the relationship between Jesus and his family.
“For not even his brothers believed in him.” (John 7:5 ESV).
What do I learn from this verse, and later ones about His family? Never give up on the people we love. We have hope for our loved ones as long as we have breath.
Acts tells us that his brothers gathered with the disciples after His resurrection. At least two of Jesus' brothers go on to be strong leaders of The Way:
James became a pillar of the church in Jerusalem and wrote the book of James. Jude also wrote one of the 27 inspired books of the New Testament. Both brothers identified themselves as servants of Jesus in their letters, and both gave their lives as martyrs for Jesus.
As painful as it might be to have loved ones who do not believe in Him, never underestimate the power of the Spirit to convict even the most obstinant nonbeliever.
God the Father is the one who sits on His celestial throne and waits for us to step out of line so He can strike us with His judgments. Jesus, however, is the loving one who embraces us in His arms, showers us with grace and forgiveness, and loves us with a love so deep that it hurts Him.
This is the image of the Father and the Son many people have. For many, it's hard to describe exactly how the Spirit fits into this. But is this the image of the Father that the Bible tells us about?
No, the Father is the Being who has a love for His image bearers that defies all logic. We are His special creation, so special that He worked through Jesus to make us His adopted sons.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,” (John 3:16a ESV).
And
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God;” (1 John 3:1a ESV).
We also see from Scripture that the Father knows us so intimately that He is always aware of what we need. There is never a moment where the Father is unaware or unconcerned. He is wrapped up in our very existence and need.
“Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:8 ESV).
And because He knows us so perfectly, the Father is able to act on our behalf like no other:
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11 ESV).
Not only does the Father know what we need before we ask, but He is able and willing to give us far more than we can anticipate.
So many other passages show us just how much the Father loves us. He is not the cold, vengeful tyrant waiting to strike us with judgment only to be held in check by the Son's gracious love and protection for us. No, His love flows to us in a way that should make us fall at His feet for the great love He has and will continue to show us.
But let me leave you with this one last verse.
“For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,” (John 5:22 ESV).
I love this verse. Because of His justice, judgment is required for each of us. Yet, in His love, The Father does the one thing that shows His great love for each of us. He entrusts the Son, and only the Son, for our judgment.
Why does this show the Father's matchless love for us? Because He knows that only the Son can judge in the way we need. He is the only Being who knows what it is like to be a perfect God who requires justice and a tempted man who needs grace.
It is out of selfless and matchless love the Father ensures that only the Son sits in judgment over His most precious possessions. There is no other being He can entrust with this awesome responsibility.
Our heavenly Father loves us far more than we will ever know or comprehend.