Waist Deep 2018 - A Daily Dip in the Bible

I Timothy 5: 8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (NIV) It is possible to deny the faith by conduct as well as by words; and that a neglect of doing our duty is as real a denial of Christianity as it would be openly to renounce it.* You know people who have rearranged their lives for loved ones. (You may be one of those people!) I have friends who have cared for aging parents in their home, and friends who adopted their grandchild because the child’s mother – their own daughter – was unfit to care for him. Two different friends relocated to other states to care for an aging uncle. And see if you can follow this story: a few years after my friend’s mother died, her father, in his 70s, remarried. Then her father died and her stepmother remarried. After her stepmother died, my friend helped care for her stepmother’s widower until his children moved him out of st...

I Timothy 1: 5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (NIV) Impressive gifts, extensive knowledge, and great faith mean nothing without love.* Paul was very astute when it comes to human nature. He knew that we can get caught up in doing the right thing and forget why we are doing it, so he reminds us that we are to go further than just correcting false teachers (read verses 3 and 4). Knowledge and obedience are critical but they are not enough. You can “deprogram” someone who has been fed a diet of bad information; you can replace the false doctrine with the truth – but Paul says that God wants more. Our ultimate goal is not to generate debate and controversy; our purpose is to produce an environment where love is exhibited in daily living.* The English language is inadequate when it comes to love. We have abused this poor weary word until it is almost meaningless. “I love your new dress!” “Fo...

II Thessalonians 3: 13 Never tire of doing what is right. (NIV) [or "Be not weary in well-doing." (KJV)] The character of our Savior is compassion.* Not everyone in the church at Thessalonica was doing what he or she should be doing. And some were using the idleness of others as an excuse for their own lack of charity. And like them, sometimes we just get tired of doing what is right because it’s not appreciated as much as we think it should be. Our church used to have a small food pantry. When I worked in the church office, I was blessed to help distribute the food occasionally. Some of our “clients” took advantage of us (read: abused our generosity). I watched from the window as one man was leaving with the supplies we had just given him. He drank the whole, family-size bottle of juice; met up with another man and gave him a few of the items from his bags; then left everything else under a tree in the parking lot. Makes you weary of well-doing . . ...

II Thessalonians 3: 3 But the Lord is faithful. (NIV) A trustworthy God is more than a match for untrustworthy men.* We may have faith but we are often lacking in faithfulness . Unreliability is part of our human-ness!  People let us down; we let other people down. Most of us have good intentions but at times we misunderstand what is expected of us. Maybe the other person didn’t make his expectations clear. Sometimes people think we are capable of accomplishing more than we actually can. Paul reminds us of whom we should – and can – trust. God keeps his promises – he can’t not keep his promises! He never abandons us when things aren’t going well. He will never belittle us or remind us of all the times we have let him down. Best of all, we will never have to live in the fear that we might do something to make him stop loving us. He has too much invested in us to forsake us. Confidence in prayer comes from knowing the faithfulness of God.*

II Thessalonians 3: 1, 2 Pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored. . .  And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. (NIV) Prayer is the most essential part of all ministries.* How many times have you endured an agonizing prayer request time in a Sunday school class or other church-related gathering? I have heard requests for healing for celebrities (okay, sick and injured celebrities can benefit from prayer, too); that the hurricane not hit us (but it should hit someone else instead?); for lost and sick pets. And then there’s the very personal, too-much-information-for-this-setting sharing of real and serious needs. There’s nothing wrong with making our requests known – to God and to our fellow pray-ers. God is interested in the details of our lives. But Paul shows us here how our prayer life can reach a new level of maturity. He doesn’t ask for deliverance from hardships and dange...

I Thessalonians 5: 25 Brothers, pray for us. (NIV) We can do a great deal for people after we pray for them but little of lasting value until we pray for them.* I am guilty of thinking – and even saying – that prayer is the least I can do. Really? Is there something else I can do that is more powerful than praying? Paul doesn’t seem to think so – he ends his letter to the Thessalonians with this request for prayer and nothing more. There are reasons why we get a little judgmental when someone says, “I’ll pray for you.” One reason is we don’t believe he will actually do it. Sometimes it’s just something to say because we are socially awkward and don’t know what else to say. Often, offering to pray for someone is a way to avoid offering to do something for him. When my dad was dying, I had many friends who were praying for me. There was nothing that they could do . I don’t know what their exact requests were. Perhaps some prayed for my dad to get well (he w...

I Thessalonians 5: 11, 13, 15 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up. . . . Live in peace with each other . . . always try to be kind to each other. (NIV) We should seize every opportunity to give encouragement. It is oxygen to the soul.* Movies are often advertised as being based on actual events. Once that disclaimer is delivered, the movie-makers are free to take liberties with history. So picture with me a scenario between Paul and the Thessalonian Christians – based very loosely on actual events – in which Paul informs them that Jesus said that the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as you love yourself. And they reply, “Really? How do we do that?” And Paul says, “Well, you could start by encouraging one another . . .” Do you suppose Paul ever got frustrated with having to squander so much of his papyrus on telling Christians what loving each other looks like? Someone has said that the church is more than just a group of p...

I Thessalonians 4: 11, 12 Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. (NIV) Sloth and general demoralization are as invidious and debilitating as many a more open sin.* Some of the church members in Thessalonica were convinced that Christ’s return was imminent so they had quit going to work. With time on their hands, they were stirring up and getting into trouble. They weren’t wrong to be preparing for the Lord’s return, but Paul’s reprimand is as true for us as it was for them. We, too, should zealously seek a quiet life, tend to our own responsibilities, and work with our hands. Not all of us actually “work with our hands,” but we would be within the scope of Paul’s requirements if we work with what we have “at hand,” whether our work is mental or physical. Today, he might say to us, ...

I Thessalonians 4: 3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified; that you should avoid sexual immorality. (NIV) God’s moral will is that we reflect the character of Christ.* Sexual immorality is “especially heinous” (as the television show says) for several reasons, some of which are: 1) it involves us on such a personal level; 2) it is easy to rationalize (“It’s between two consenting adults.” “We’re not hurting anyone.” “God would want me to be happy.”); 3) sex has been hijacked by Satan and distorted from its intended function. While our society is becoming more jaded by the minute, we have no idea how foreign the idea of sexual purity was to the people of Thessalonica. Other forms of immorality – lying, cheating, stealing, murder – weren’t so acceptable in their culture, so Paul begins his lesson where they need it most. I am reminded of a friend, a “young” Christian, who confided in me that she was in love with a married man. She knew it was wrong t...

Colossians 4: 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (NIV) While we’re concerned about being fresh and creative in teaching, it’s wiser to make the Bible simple and clear because it’s so powerful in itself.* Knowing the answer is not the same as knowing how to answer. That conversation of ours that Paul says should be full of grace – that is the answer: the Good News. We make it even better by adding some salt so that people can stomach what we are telling them. Adding salt does not change the content of the dish, it merely serves to make it more palatable. Some people like more salt than others. We have to know how much salt to add to suit each person’s tastes – that is, we have to know how to answer them. While we should flavor the message with salt to suit the person’s taste and the occasion,* we must not compromise on the rest of the ingredients. We must remain true to the reci...