Steward of the Kingdom of God

You've probably heard the parable of the talents.

If not, Matthew 25:14-30 tells a story of a traveling master and his servants who remain in his home. They are expected to be stewards of his household while he's absent, and he gives one servant five talents (a type of currency), one servant two talents, and one servant a single talent. When the master returns, he asks about his money. The one with five talents invested and ended up with ten talents. The one with two talents did the same and ended up with four talents. However, the servant with one talent was afraid that he would lose the only money his master gave him, and he buried it so no one could steal it. The master was overjoyed with the first two, giving them even more ("Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’"). Yet he was angered with the last for "playing it safe" and not investing his money.

Honestly, this was always a very confusing parable to me until a friend of mine described one interpretation. The word "talent" in Greek means a measurement, which could be used to weigh a sum of precious metal. Basically, a talent was a certain amount of money. The parable in Matthew is the origin of the use of the word "talent" to mean "gift or skill."

I have a passion (and hopefully skill) for writing. I have a vivid memory of sitting on the front porch as a child, making up stories with pictures and creating a book. I stapled printer paper with sloppy drawings and declared it a success. At about eleven, I wrote family newspapers, with the very first created on an old typewriter. At about twelve or thirteen, I received my very own computer. That was when poems and short stories started pouring from my fingertips.

God gives us all gifts and talents to steward in His name. This world and our lives (the master's home) are not ours but His, and our talents are not our own but His given to us for a time. What does it mean to steward? One definition would be:

"One employed in a large household or estate to manage domestic concerns (as the supervision of servants, collection of rents, and keeping of accounts), a fiscal agent, one who actively directs affairs" (Merriam-Webster).

In another words, this parable points toward the responsibility we have all been given to steward God's things. What are God's things? That would be everything: time, talents, energy, emotion, material objects (including literal money), and anything else you can imagine. Although we can not see God in the flesh (at least that we are aware of), this is still His world and you merely live in it. So, what does he expect us to do with His things?

Invest it. When you invest in your talents and utilize them for God, He will make it "reap where you don't sow", doubling, tripling the effect of your efforts in the world and in your life (like multiplying the fishes and loaves). You utilize the gifts and talents He gives when you:

1) Give credit for their presence to God. Praise and gratefulness will bring not only a healthier, happier attitude, but will bring joy into others' lives, spreading the blessings of God beyond you. It keeps your eyes pointing to the One responsible for it all.

2) Grow in your skills, but understand you don't need to be perfect to invest. The third servant only had one skill given to him. Don't become lazy, static, or fearful. Be always moving, sometimes stretching to the point of discomfort. Ask for God to guide you. As they say, "God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called." You may not be the best but all the better so that your successes will give God the glory, which folds into the next on the list.

3) Use your gifts and talents for God's glory. This can mean many things. If you are good at cooking, you could volunteer at a soup kitchen or bring hot meals to the infirm or elderly. You could also serve homey dinners to your family and bring chicken soup to your friend when they're ill. If you are good at compassion, talking, telling jokes, you could be a volunteer at the local hospital, visit nursing homes and hospitals where there are many lonely or in need of entertainment. You could also visit your own grandparents or babysit a child to allow your friend a date night with her husband. If you are good at singing, you could sing Godly songs to the world, whether that's on stage or in your child's ear as a lulluby. Basically, whatever you do, let it point to God and his ways of light (truth) and love (compassion and charity).

4) Let them be part of your discipleship. This actually spins off of the last suggestion. When you use your gifts and talents for His glory, you also bring people into a better knowledge of what it means to be a child of God. It spreads His good news of being our savior, and it points to hope in a broken world.

Let me be clear, your skills and talents may exist outside of your paid work. Other times, they're part of your 9-5. Your talents may exist in your kindness with those going through a tough time, patience with angry customers, and lifting spirits of grieving hearts. Your gifts may include children, spouse, parents, friends, and you are expected to lead, guide toward the truth, love them unconditionally, and raise (children) to be good stewards and disciples themselves.

There's a song by Steven Curtis Chapman called "Do Everything," which I believe encapsulates this idea. Whether you're "picking up toys on the living room floor for the fifteenth time today," "you may be hooking up mergers, cooking up burgers," but it all matters equally in the eyes of God. Do not waste this moment by burying your talent in fear of rejection or using up all of God's gifts for only your own personal gain.

I've felt from a young age that writing is my calling. For this reason, I have started this very blog to use my joy in writing to spread my love of God. What is your talent, and what gifts could you invest today?

Every moment is a gift. Whether sweeping up the school halls or running for president, may you forever remember that God gave you this moment to be a steward of His mansion, and He gave you the talents to invest in spreading the Kingdom of God to the world.

Powerful Connections

I'm going to let you in on something powerful and amazing.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

God is on your side. He knows more about you and your life than you do. He knows where all the smallest decisions will bring you and your loved ones. He knows your hopes, your dreams, your fears, your regrets, and your deepest darkest secrets.

"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." Matthew 10:26-31

The almighty God who has risen and tumbled nations, can awake the dead, and formed the massive universe with it's infinite beauty - loves YOU.

He loves you more than you could ever imagine. If you are a mere image of Him, think of how much more He is, how much more He loves. You think you know about all-consuming love, but you have no idea when it comes to Him. He loves you so much, He sacrificed His son for you and calls you (yes, YOU!) His child. The King of literally everything calls you His child.

"'I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,' says the Lord Almighty." 2 Corinthian 6:18

You have connections.

So, how you could ever worry about anything? You're worried about your finances? What is money to God? He owns everything you need and want. You're worried about relationships? God is all about love and connection. He's on it. I bet you've told your best friend, your co-worker, maybe even the stranger bagging your groceries about your worries. Have you told God? Have you asked for help from God? Have you truly believed that God is bigger than this world and your worries?

One morning, a few days ago, I was struck once again with petty worries about finances. It hit me that I'd never taken this specific issue to God. So, I poured my heart out to God for about five minutes and went about my day. That very afternoon, we had unexpected money show up in our account. To say I was surprised would be an understatement.

This was a need. However, what about something you want? I've always felt selfish whenever I ask for something I only want from God. It's like, He's providing all my needs, why should I want for more? Let me tell you something, child of God.

God is your heavenly dad, and as a parent He wants your joy and your smile. He wants to be the one who causes it. Bring your desires to God. Understand that sometimes you won't get what you want. You may not understand why right now, or ever, but some things you want aren't the best for you. Sometimes, He has something greater in store. Still talk with Him as a child would ask a parent.

A couple years ago, when I was struggling with anxiety issues, I really wanted a window by my work cubicle to see the sunshine and the rain. I felt peaceful anytime I reconnected with the outside world. At the time, there was really only two windows available to cubicles, and those were not possible for those with my job title. Lo and behold, it was a few months later when they started renovations. You won't believe me. They built windows, and I finally had my window cubicle. The impossible became reality. Such a small desire, and God made it happen. I'm convinced He rebuilt the building just for me.

God transcends time and space. He will provide for you. He's waiting, arms spread open, for you to run into his embrace. He's waiting for you to speak to Him exactly what's on your mind, including all the rage, the tears, and the pain. He wants to connect with you, one-on-one.

Would you talk with Him today, and give Him a piece of your heart? If you want or need something, why wouldn't you speak to One who owns all?

If you're interested, here are more verses about this subject:

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7


"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Matthew 21:22


"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Luke 11:9


"If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:13


"When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." James 4:3


"And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." James 14:13-14


"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6-7


"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." John 15:7


"At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, 'Ask for whatever you want me to give you.'" 1 Kings 3:5


"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..." Ephesians 3:20

Time to Rest

Rest. Be still. Peace. Be anxious for nothing.

Continually, the Bible calls for rest, but what does that mean to you?

At the start of Genesis, after the creation of the world, God set aside a specific day for rest. Let's look at the actual word used in Hebrew:

Shabath - to cease, desist, rest

"And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested (Shabath) from all his work which God created and made." Genesis 2:3

This is the word used when speaking of the seventh day of the week when God rested and created the, you guessed it, Sabbath. It doesn't indicate rest due to weariness. That word in Hebrew is:

Nuach- rest, settle, soothed
Naphash - to be refreshed, to breathe

"Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease [shabath] from labor in order that your ox and your donkey may rest [nuach], and the son of your female slave, as well as your stranger, may refresh [naphash] themselves." Exodus 23:12

In a way, Shabath is a day to remember more is to come. The Shabath or Sabbath is like a taste of heaven. There is no toil there. We truly rest from all our work.

Wait, but what about the work? What is work?

"Six days you shall work, and the seventh day is Shabbat to the Lord your God. [On that day] you shall not do any work (Melacha)." Exodus 20:9

The Hebrew word for work here is Melacha:

Melacha - workmanship or creation

Now, what exactly workmanship or creation is could be debatable, right? I mean, if we're getting down to the nitty-gritty, we need to know what we shouldn't be doing. Orthodox Jews have a propensity to detail, using a fine tooth comb to determine the ins and outs of God's laws and commands. There are about 39 activities one is forbidden to do during the Sabbath, according to that denomination.

I'm going to be honest. I personally feel that is putting words in God's mouth. Observe it as you will, but having so many stipulations defeats the purpose.

God is, well, God and doesn't need rest after strenuous activity as humans do. However:

"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27

He knew what humans would need, and he specified that they should rest, physically, mentally, and spiritually.

As for what rest means to me, I've been observing the Sabbath (with off and on success) since my childhood, and there's a few things you'll realize once you get into the groove of it:

1) Today, you're a kid again. Six days out of my week, I'm on the go, and when I'm not, I'm thinking about what else I need to do. On Friday night to Saturday night (which is the day I celebrate the Sabbath), I'm not supposed to do work, so what's the point of thinking about it? Freedom, fun, and play!

2) It's an excuse to say no. You want me to what? Nope. I have to what? Nope. Ahhh. I'll just sit here and read, thanks.

3) It's an entire day built around meditation or mindfulness. The whole point of the day is to stop, look around, and feel blessed. You don't always get the chance on other days to just take a deep breath and smell the roses.

4) It's an entire day built around connection: connection to God, to family, to friends, to yourself. In busyness, it's easy to disconnect from you and your loved ones. Now, you don't have the excuse of checking another to-do off your list.

5) It's a day for gratefulness. Six days out of the week was made for pushing forward, hustling, creating, and building up the world around you. On the seventh day, you look around at your success and your blessings.

6) Sometimes, you'll feel lost in the complete freedom, especially at first. Our brain and bodies are normally in gear for driving forward, but on the Sabbath you are allowed to put yourself in neutral. It can be disorienting to separate yourself from the worldly, daily grind.

7) You'll be healthier. Humans were not made to keep going 24/7 365 days a year. We were made for rest and peace. Your mind will thank you, your heart will thank you, your soul will thank you.

I hope you get a chance to observe the Sabbath and enjoy the pause and rest in your life God set aside just for you.

New Hope

To me, this verse means time is nothing to God. He exists in our past, present, future, and beyond the confines of time itself. Yet, here we are at the cusp of a new year, according to the Gregorian calendar. Not so for most calendar types, and there are hundreds of calendar types throughout the world with variants of each one going back into ancient history. They tell dates with different methods, including solar, lunar, lunisolar, and fixed length. Oh, but it's 2016? Yeah, that depends:

Gregorian calendar 2016
MMXVI
Ab urbe condita 2769
Armenian calendar 1465
ԹՎ ՌՆԿԵ
Assyrian calendar 6766
Bahá'í calendar 172–173
Bengali calendar 1423
Berber calendar 2966
British Regnal year 64 Eliz. 2 – 65 Eliz. 2
Buddhist calendar 2560
Burmese calendar 1378
Byzantine calendar 7524–7525
Chinese calendar 乙未年 (Wood Goat)
4712 or 4652
— to —
丙申年 (Fire Monkey)
4713 or 4653
Coptic calendar 1732–1733
Discordian calendar 3182
Ethiopian calendar 2008–2009
Hebrew calendar 5776–5777
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat 2072–2073
- Shaka Samvat 1937–1938
- Kali Yuga 5116–5117
Holocene calendar 12016
Igbo calendar 1016–1017
Iranian calendar 1394–1395
Islamic calendar 1437–1438
Japanese calendar Heisei 28
(平成２８年)
Javanese calendar 1949–1950
Juche calendar 105
Julian calendar Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar 4349
Minguo calendar ROC 105
民國105年
Nanakshahi calendar 548
Thai solar calendar 2559
Unix time
1451606400 – 1483228799

My personal favorite is the year of the Wood Goat.

So, if time doesn't matter, then what's the point of celebrating an arbitrary day?

Hope.

Humanity yearns for renewal of hope, to clean the slate, and to move onward to greater things than before. Yet, again and again, God tells us in his Book that every moment is a new beginning:

Lamentations 3:22-23 “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness”

Isaiah 43:19 "Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here!"

2016 hasn't been the easiest year for most of us, and many are looking ahead to 2017 with hope that the world and life will be better. It all begins with you.

So, this year, if you "fail" your New Year's resolution, remember this moment (and this one, aaaand this one too) is a good time to begin again - and celebrate the new beginnings God gives you every day. 

What Are You Celebrating?

I have a confession. I've been overwhelmed the past few days. Instead of sugarplums, there's been visions of chores, errands, and bills dancing in my head. I want our house to feel homey this season, there to be lots of good food on the table, and plenty of presents for my daughter to bring smiles and laughter.

There's something about nature that makes me feel closer to God. I was driving to my parents' house in the country during an awe-inspiring sunset spread out above a glowing field. That was when it hit me: what are you celebrating? I've learned to recognize God's voice, though I'm not always good at listening. This time, it felt like a gut-punch.

Are you celebrating cleanliness, materialism, or how others think of you? Then, why are you stressing about it? Christmas for me is about God's grace, love, and blessings. His son was born in a lowly manger, lived in a poor carpenters home, and never accumulated many material things as His purpose was to teach others of God's love while on the road. Are you much better than Him?

This Christmas, let's celebrate the true meaning of Jesus' birth. Let's experience joy over the things we have and not the things we want. Let's spend the holiday getting closer to each other and not showing each other up.

What are you focusing on this Christmas? Whatever it is, I pray it is on God and the Prince of Peace.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”"Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42

In Hebrew, one would say Shalom, peace be unto you this season.

To Christmas or Not to Christmas

That is the question.

For much of my childhood, my family celebrated Christmas. We did the whole Santa, reindeer, lights, cookies and milk, gifts, tree thing. My parents even wrote a letter to me in calligraphy as if it were from Santa (cute!).

Then, around when I was seven, they decided to move away from that celebration. There are, as most people know, roots of the holiday in paganism, and they felt it didn't honor God. So, I was enlightened as to the nature of Santa (which I had already suspected by then), and eventually we stopped observing that holiday completely.

Now, with a child and husband of my own, my little family celebrates Christmas. There is no tree, and I don't encourage the whole Santa & reindeer idea. Instead, I try to focus on Jesus as well as I can. We have a figurine set of the manger scene, and the Jesus baby is the only part that isn't stuck to it. Jesus is in the 25th tin of our Advent calendar, and my daughter gets to open it up and put the baby in His manger on Christmas. We read stories about God around that day. Our church has a Christmas Eve program, which reiterates the focus on the birth of Christ for even children with song, dance, and fake snow for the children run around in as it falls.

Our Christmas isn't very traditional, but it is perfect for us.

I honestly don't think either way is incorrect, and as Christians, we must make many decisions about life that may not conform to the ways of the world. As a friend of mine once said, there are closed-handed issues for Christians: those ideas which are essential for being a follower such as believing in God, His grace and salvation, and loving God and others. Then, there are open-handed issues for Christians: those ideas which must be made by each individual and are personal to the way he or she feels called by God. I personally feel Christmas is one of those open-handed issues. As long as you honor God, your Christmas (or lack thereof) is blessed.

Rom. 14:4-9 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

What do you think? Do you celebrate? Why or why not? Also, if you do, how do you keep Christ in Christmas?

My Crazy Testimony

I didn't grow up "in the church," so churchy terminology feels strange and archaic to me. For the longest time, I honestly didn't know I had a testimony.

So, for those, like me, who didn't know, this is the definition of testimony according to Google:

tes·ti·mo·ny


/ˈtestəˌmōnē/


noun

noun: testimony; plural noun: testimonies

•a formal written or spoken statement, especially one given in a court of law.

•evidence or proof provided by the existence or appearance of something.

•a public recounting of a religious conversion or experience.

What's interesting is the Bible and Torah has ideas that formed the backbone of many legal systems around the world. One of these ideas is the testimony. If you were pulled as a witness in a court of law and questioned as to the existence or the character of God, what would you say?

When I was 11, just about to turn 12, my aunt's boyfriend (who was Muslim) told me that Islam has something called "the age of accountability." Basically, this is the age people are old enough to be held accountable for their own actions. I may not have grown up in the church, but I grew up with very religious/spiritual parents, and I was very determined to be perfect for God.

I could envision a forest, each tree a person. In order to be noticed by God (whom I'd already fallen in love with), I needed to be the tallest one, and I figured the way to stand out for God was to be sinless. So, I'd been reading the Bible (understanding it in my limited way as a child), and in the old testament there are a heck of a lot of rules, laws, and ordinances. It was overwhelming for me at the time.

One night, I lie in bed and prayed to God. I needed something simpler I could remember, so no matter what I faced in life, I'd know I was doing the right thing.

Now, I was 11, remember, so I still believed in a magical God, in which many adults have probably lost faith. So, I expected to be answered, but not directly of course. Perhaps, He would communicate by way of a TV program or a song that would hit the right message.

I was hoping for a paragraph or something I could memorize. Surely, it would take at least a page to summarize the Bible's laws.

In the dark of my bedroom, I heard a single solitary word:

Love.

It was like a thought, but it also felt separate from me.

So, of course, I immediately started arguing with it. No way that was it. That was too easy to remember, too simplistic, idealistic, rainbow, unicorns ...

My mother once told me if I ever heard anything pertaining to God, to check the Bible before absorbing the message. If anything conflicted with what was said in the Bible, it wasn't of God. So, I turned on the light and went to my bookshelf. Picking up my Bible, I flipped randomly through. It fell open to a page in the new testament - Matthew 22:36-40:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

I can't even explain how dumbfounded I was that night. I still argued with the word "love" for the rest of the night, tossing the idea to and fro in my mind until I fell asleep.

I have since realized this event was too coincidental to be anything but God answering my prayer, and nothing has conflicted with the idea that "love" summarizes all of God's laws. In fact, Love is the meaning of life, and as the Bible will also say, God is Love.

This is one of the reasons behind this blog. No one but God can be perfect, but we will always be loved. We are also called to love.

That moment has shaped the rest of my life, and I hope my testimony will shape yours.