You Owe Me

"You owe me."  How often have you had the feeling toward someone that they owe you something?  Maybe you loaned them some money, and they have avoided paying you back.  The feeling of "You owe me" usually leads to anger.  We have an unmet expectation, and we are dealing with anger about the situation.  Jesus told the story of a man in Matt. 18 who owed a debt of about $10,000,000.  Unable to pay, he cried out to his master saying, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you all."  The master was moved with compassion, and forgave the debt.  However, that servant went out and found a man who owed him a small debt of about $20.  He took him by the throat and required the debt to be paid.  The man cried out and said, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you all."  But he would not forgive, nor have patience with the man.  His heart cry was, "You owe me", which produced great anger and impatience.  It may not be only money that makes us feel that someone owes us.  We may feel that someone owes us an apology, or an explanation.  We may feel hurt by someone's words, or actions, and feel they should make it right with us.  Eph. 4:26 says, "Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your wrath."  Anger is an emotion that we will all experience, however Paul says to deal with it quickly in a way that is not sinful.  We may never receive the apology, or the money may never be paid back.  Perhaps the person who owes us has passed away, or is indifferent to the situation.  What do we do with our anger?  How do we deal with the unmet expectations?  Malice will be the reoccurring attitude where there is unresolved anger.  Malice is ill will, spite, and a desire to inflict injury, harm or suffering on another.  1 Pet. 2:1 says, "Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking."  We must find God's grace to forgive, lest a root of bitterness rises up and causes trouble.  We must realize that an unpayable debt was forgiven in our lives, and therefore we can turn to our neighbour and forgive the small debts that occur in this life.  Col. 3:8 says, "But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth."  This is only possible as we let God fill our hearts with His mercy and love.  Then from a heart of mercy we can extend forgiveness to those who owe us.

Let Us Keep The Feast

"Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."  1 Cor. 5:8.  There were 7 feasts that Israel was to celebrate each year.  The first feast was Passover, the celebration of their deliverance from death in Egypt.  Because they applied the blood of the lamb to their doorposts, death passed over them.  The Passover pointed to the coming of Christ as 1 Cor. 5:7 says, "...For indeed Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us."  Following the Passover, they were to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread for 7 days.  For 7 days they were to have no leaven in their bread.  They would eat only flat unleavened bread.  Jesus also spoke of leaven when He warned His disciples of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  He said the leaven of the Pharisees was hypocrisy.  A hypocrite was one who acted in a play, and pretended to be someone else.  The Pharisees acted as though they were holy and without fault, but Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and knew the true motives of their heart.  Jesus also spoke of the leaven of Herod in Mark 8:15.  Herod bowed to peer pressure when he ordered the execution of John the Baptist.  He did not act out of sincerity of heart, but was swayed by the opinions of others.  He did what was wrong in order to gain the approval of others.  Paul tells us we should keep the feast, but not with the old leaven.  He doesn't want us to literally remove the yeast from our homes, but he wants us to remove the leaven from our hearts.  The leaven of malice and wickedness needs to be cleaned out of our hearts.  Malice is ill will and spite, the desire to inflict injury and harm on another.  It is mentioned in Eph. 4:31 along with bitterness, wrath, anger, quarreling, and evil speaking.  From the word malice we get the word malignant.  Something that is malignant has the ability to bring harm and damage, and malice will bring damage into our lives.  Paul says to clean out the old leaven, and don't leave any of it, because a little leaven leavens the whole lump.  Even a little bitterness and resentment can poison our life and keep us from bearing the fruit God desires for us.  "Therefore let us keep the feast....with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."  

Ravens and Doves

     "Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth.  He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground.  But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth.  So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself."  Gen. 8:7-9. 
     The dove has been a symbol of the Holy Spirit since the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River.  When Jesus was baptized, He saw the Spirit of God descending upon Him like a dove, and a voice spoke out of heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  Matt. 3:16,17.  The dove is a symbol of rest, purity, innocence, fellowship and peace.  The dove with an olive branch in its beak has long been a symbol of peace.  The dove seeks a quiet place to rest, and is easily alarmed by sudden movements.  The diet of a dove is seeds, which he can store up in his crop.  Doves mate for a lifetime, and the mourning dove is known for its mournful cooing, when a mate is missing or has died.  Jesus said we were to be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves, Matt. 10:16.  Isa. 38:14 says, "...I mourned like a dove..."  The Holy Spirit also seeks a place to rest.  Jesus said, "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever."  John 14:16.  The Spirit of God wants to find a dwelling place in our hearts.  He wants to be our partner for life, and promised He would abide with us forever.  The Spirit brings purity into our lives, and seeks fellowship with us.  He brings the peace of God into our hearts, and guides us into His truth and peace.  Noah's dove was seeking a resting place.  Let our hearts be the resting place for the Spirit of God to dwell.  Let us feed on the seeds of God's Word.
     But what about the raven?  Ravens are common here at our home.  They are meat eating scavengers who will eat your garbage and anything else they can find.  They have often been seen flying away with groceries left in the back of trucks in the grocery store parking lot.  They are very smart birds that scavenge dead animals, or whatever they can find.  They are a symbol of our flesh nature.  Noah's raven kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up.  The flesh is never settled and never satisfied, but keeps going to and fro in search of something more.  The flesh appetite can never be satisfied for long, as it keeps lusting for more and more, and cares little about where it gets its meat.  It's nature is self seeking, and self centered, and always lusting.
     We have been called to walk in freedom from our flesh.  "For you brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."  Gal. 5:13. 
     Make this your prayer today:  "God, dwell in me by Your Holy Spirit, and give me freedom to walk above the lusts of the flesh."     

7 Steps To Fulfil Your Calling

"By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance.  And he went out, now knowing where he was going."  Heb. 11:8.
There are 7 parts to this verse that show us how to fulfil the calling on our lives.
1.  By faith -  We must watch over our faith so that it continues to grow.  Jesus spoke of those who had great faith, little faith, and no faith.  The parable of the sower and the seed shows how faith grows from a seed to bearing fruit.  The seed must overcome many challenges in order to bear fruit.  We face satanic attack, afflictions and persecutions, worries of life, deceitfulness of riches, and desires for other things entering in.  We must continually feed our faith with the Word so it can grow and overcome the challenges. We will need to live by faith to fulfil our call.
2.  Abraham obeyed - It is not enough to have faith, and to know the Word, we must put it into action.  We must have corresponding actions with our faith.  When we look into the mirror of God's Word, we need to adjust our lives according to the mirror.  Faith without works is dead.  Faith requires us to act out in obedience what God has said in our hearts. 
3.  When he was called - God called Abraham for a specific purpose, and God calls each of us for a specific purpose.  Jesus called the disciples, and they left their nets and their old life to follow Him.  The Spirit of God is now calling people to follow.  The Spirit and the bride say "Come".  There is a calling on every one of our lives.  We must acknowledge that call, and give attention to that call.
4.  To go out - Our calling will require us to go out - out of our comfort zone, out of the familiar and known.  Jesus said that we must lose our lives in order to find new life.  We must go out from our old lives and leave them behind in order to move into the new things God has for us.
5.  To the place - God has a new place for you to live - a new way of living, a new attitude, a new love, a new way of thinking.  Rom. 12:2 says we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.  To renew is to renovate.  Renovating means out with the old, and in with the new.  To be renewed we must let go of the past, and be filled with all the new things God wants to pour into our lives.
6.  Which he would receive as an inheritance - To this day we benefit from the inheritance that Abraham received.  When we move out into our calling, we will move into our inheritance that God has already planned for us.  This inheritance will bring great benefit to our lives and those around us.
7.  And he went out, not knowing where he was going - God will not show us everything about where we are going, but He will show us enough for today.  His Word is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path.  As we are obedient in what He wants us to do today, He will show us the way into the future.  The Amplified Version says, "he did not know or trouble his mind about where he was to go."  Don't trouble your mind about the future.  Rest in knowing that God will show you the next step.

You can fulfil your calling!