Is Tithing relevant in the New testament? Hold your breaths,  this may shock some of you………. Yes it is; but why and what is attitude behind the why you tithe is different from the Old to the New Covenant!
Now opponents to tithing always argue, In the New Testament, there is no mention of tithing? So why do we have to tithe? Its not entirely true there is no mention of tithing in the NT. In fact in Hebrews 7 Apostle Paul( I believe he wrote the book) mentioned Abram tithed to Malchizedek(typology/ earthly representation of Jesus) and thus all the Levite priests indirectly tithed to Jesus. Even though Apostle Paul was making a point about a better priesthood in Jesus than that under the old covenant, the fact that he used tithing as an example implies that to people at that time, it wasn’t a big issue they just tithe. It was just so ingrained and accepted that Apostle Paul didn’t have to deal with whether you had to or not.

Now lets look at what he actually had to deal with in regards to the issue of tithing:

Under the New covenant the requirement of the Law to tithe is gone. The principle of you having to give God and then only He will bless you is reversed. Under Grace, God gives you ‘ all sufficiency in all things” so in turn you can give! This “all sufficiency”, the bible talks about, doesn’t just mean barely enough, it means much more that you will ever need. Isn’t that amazing that because of God’s Grace, He has given us and overt abundance in ALL things! For what reason you may ask, well…God blesses you first so you can bless others. God blesses you with abundance so you can have the resources for “every good work” Doesn’t this remind you of Abrahams encounter with King Malchizedek? (See Tithing Part 1)

Looking at V7, God wants a cheerful giver, you cannot out give God. There is no point giving tithes begrudgingly. In fact it is useless to give begrudgingly because you have missed the point of resting on Gods provision for your life.  God doesn’t want you to sit there and calculate to the very cent how much you need to tithe. It just shows that you are giving out of fear that you may miss out in the blessings, or that God may curse you for not giving enough! See the kind of picture that paints of God, it is completely incongruous with the New covenant.
God really wants that personal revelation of His LOVE in your life. He wants you to know that He loves you so much and will take care of you in all your situations. This is the attitude He wants you to have when you give. This is an attitude of no matter what I give I know that my God has given me more and will take care of me despite how much I give.
Please don’t misunderstand me I am not one of those who preach, you must give till it HURTS then God will reward you! Nay! never, what I am saying you must give from your overflow, from you joy, from what you are happy with. But understand something, Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law (Gal 3:13), He did not redeem us from the blessings. So the Old Testament principles of God releasing blessings more and more abundantly still applies, but that He will not hold back his blessings in your life. You can try and see it as a matter of degrees. God has released all Spiritual blessings to us (Eph 1:3), and that includes abundant  material provision. Now it is up to us to REST in that provision of LOVE, and to see Him good, and not worry or try to do by our own strength. The more you REST in Him, the more you flow in His blessings!
Comprehend that it is not that God is holding back but He has already given all to us, so that the more we see Him good and know in our heart of hearts that He will abundantly provide to us from the riches of His glory; that heart knowledge will free us up to give because we are so thankful that he has given and the more I rest in Him the more I walk in the full measure of blessings  that God has already given!

Look at v11 It says you are ENRICHED IN EVERYTHING not “barely supplied”/ “ just enough to get by”. Thats how our God gives, He gives abundantly!
This next 2 verses also give us the reason why we give: to supply the needs of the saints, thus to extend His Kingdom and also it is part of our thanksgiving and praise to God.  Note the word Thanksgiving implies He has given thus we thank Him. Not we give to receive then thank Him. This reinforces that God gives us liberally first under the new covenant.
In summary, tithing under new covenant:
1)    Still relevant
2)    We still live in a fallen world and giving the 10th to God purifies the whole
3)    We need to give from our overflow, thus cheerfully as if we treat it as a law or requirement it puts us back under a curse
4)    The more we give the more we walk in the full measure of His blessings that He has promised, not because God once more but because we see Him good and we cannot outgive God; but understand this is balanced by point 3. If you start resenting the amount than give a cheerful amount! I believe this will release you to a larger measure of His blessings that will empower you to give more without feeling upset about it.
5)    We are blessed to be a blessing. Gods Kingdom needs resources
6)    When we see more of God’s blessings in our lives the more praise and thanksgiving we will have in our hearts!

I hope this helps to understand tithing, under the new covenant, and most of all take one thing away that God wants a cheerful giver, who gives out of the abundance that He has already supplied to us!

God Bless

Ed

A)     Principles of Tithing under the Old Covenant in the light of Grace:
Well lets deal with why 10% in the old treatment. Besides the fact that God said so in the bible ( Lev 27:30-32). There is an underlying idea here that in biblical times, a tenth represents the whole. So in giving a 10th of what you have, is giving all to God.

Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, for all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. (NKJ Genesis 24:10)
This verse illustrates this that when Abrahams servant went out to get a wife for Issac, it says he went out with 10 camels and all his masters goods were in his hands. Now Abraham was a rich man there was NO way 10 camels could have carried all his belongings. It just shows the Jewish idea of the 10th representing the whole. Thus understand this principle that by giving a 10th, you are actually giving God ALL! Isn’t God generous, he makes it that when we give 10% of what we earn and keep 90% He actually treats it like you have given you all to Him. Let that sink in.

Next lets deal with the old covenant idea of curse and blessings linked with the the tithe:
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the LORD of hosts; 12 “And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,” Says the LORD of hosts.. (Malachi 3:10-12 NKJ)
Now these verses with the preceding verses have been used to put the fear of God into people to tithe. I will show you the principles here and explain it under the New covenant.
1)    V10 says bring ALL the tithes into the storehouse. This verse makes it very clear that your tithes is for the storehouse. Now what is the ‘storehouse’? the continuing part of the verse … “ that there may be food in My house. Gods house is where you are fed. This maybe your local church, supporting a preacher/ pastors ministry you have been blessed, and in general God’s Kingdom to fund work to enlarge His kingdom. I know everyone may have differing ideas here but be led by the Holy Spirit.
2)    “And try Me now in this” Wow this is one of the few times I know that God challenges us to test Him! Normally we are told not to test God, but this time he has given us full permission to try Him. So go ahead try Him and see what  He promises. He promises to open the windows of heaven and pour out a overabundant blessing. Amen its there in His word, DO YOU BELIEVE God keeps His promises? If you do then go ahead TRY Him
3)    Now v11 brings out a very interesting point. “ ..I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so he will not destroy the fruit of your ground….” There is so much here but I will only touch on it. Feel free to ask if it interest you. The idea behind this is that we live in a fallen world. When Adam fell God cursed the ground. The ground is tainted, so satan has control over the earth. Now all we earn, money, possessions etc. Comes from the ground. It is still tainted, so the enemy still retains some control over it. Now, when you give your 10th to the Lord, understand what we learnt earlier that 10% represents the whole, you are actually giving the whole to God! Thus He makes it Holy/ purified etc for you, thus the enemy cannot effect it anymore! Want a biblical example? When the Israelites entered the promise land, there were 10 cities to conquer, the first being Jericho.  The Lord demanded Jericho for Himself( see Joshua). Think does God really need the material possessions? No what God needed the Israelites to do, was to give Him the tithe(10%) so He could make Holy the rest. He loves us, He does things to protect us. Start seeing God as a loving Father and Not as a Judge then this will start making lots of sense.
Lets now deal with the concept of Tithe is an Old Testament thing under the new testament we do not have to.
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; NKJ Genesis 14:18

And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all

.NKJ Genesis 14:18
Now the obvious thing here is that the principle of the tithe existed way before the Law( Old Covenant) existed. Abram who lived a life under Gods Grace, tithe to Him.Understand that Malchizedek is picture of Christ because Malchizedek means “King of Righteousness”, and He was described as the King of Salem ( Peace),  which is a typology/ earthly representation of Christ. Before I leave this topic, capture something here, look at the sequence of events, The King blessed Abram FIRST, and then Abram gave Him the tithe. Contrast this to what we see in Malachi. Understand that under the New covenant God doesn’t wait for you to do, before He gives, understand He Now gives and we tithe because of thanksgiving! There is so much here. Ask the Holy Spirit to let you catch this because once this realization hits, you will go from Blessing to Blessing, Glory to glory, and all you do is seek Jesus!

In the next post I will look at the principles of tithing in the New Testament

God Bless

Ed

Finding God is a bit like the men in the above two parables discovering treasure or finding a pearl of great price.  God’s told us to ‘seek first his kingdom and his righteousness’ (Mt 6:33, NIV), and that we will find him when we seek him will all our heart (Jer 29:13, NIV).

But nowhere are we told to keep God a secret, like the first man hiding the treasure again after finding it.  Nor can we buy the kingdom of God, like the man who bought the field or the other that bought the pearl, even if we were to sell everything we have.  I’ve always thought these two aspects of the above parables were a little odd.  Of course, it wasn’t that Jesus gave a couple of sketchy, imprecise parables.  It was my understanding of the parables that was the problem – I got things the wrong way around.

We are the treasure; we are the pearl of great price.

Because it was Jesus who first sought us out, like a shepherd after lost sheep.  He came  ‘…to seek and to save what was lost’ (Lk 19:10, NIV), which is us.

And Jesus redeemed us, bought us, by giving all he had: himself.  It is sung of him in Revelations,  ‘… You [Jesus, the Lamb of God] are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”’ (Rev 5:9, NIV)

And finally, like buried treasure, God’s plan for our salvation was a mystery hidden from the beginning, only fully revealed when the purchase of our souls was completed.  Otherwise, as the apostle Paul notes, Satan and his forces would not have crucified Christ, inadvertently selling us back to God.  It was all part of God’s grand design, his ‘…secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.  None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.’ (1 Cor 2:7-8, NIV)

We love God because he first loved us; because he sought us and found us, and gave all he had to redeem us.  We are the treasure, the pearl of great price.  And more than that, we are his.

– Joey

We all as Christians know that the Holy Communion has 2 elements, the wine and the bread. The wine representing Jesus’ blood and the bread His body. So if we ask any Christian, “What Jesus’ blood has done for us?” Most if not all of us would answer, “His blood has cleanse us from our sins, washed us white as snow!” ( or words to that effect). Now my question is, what has His body done for us?

NKJ 1 Corinthians11:30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.

This is the only verse I know in the new testament that gives a reason for why Christians are weak, sick and sleep ( die prematurely). So it behooves us to discover the reason why. The way this verse is written the reason lies in the previous verse, so lets look at it.

NKJ 1 Corinthians 11:29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgement to himself, not discerning the Lords body.

Isn’t it interesting that Apostle Paul mentioned the reason for sickness and premature death, was NOT discerning the Lords body. He didn’t say body and blood, all he said was body. Isaiah tells us by His stripes we are healed! His body was broken for us and He carried our pains and diseases. (Read healing 1 for more details) Jesus work on the cross, not only bought our entry into heaven, but it also bought us healing!!!!! (The cross bought us much much more, but we are concentrating on healing for now)

When we take Holy Communion, we know to be reverent and remember in our hearts, minds and lips and we thank HIM for his blood, but Holy Communion has two components, each as important as the other. We need to remember ALL that Jesus has done on the cross for us. To partake truly worthily we cant just concentrate on one aspect of Holy Communion, but on both what His blood and His body has done for us!!!

Understand that I am not suggesting that the elements have any self imbued power, but it is when you partake and proclaim and remember for yourself, ALL that Christ has done for you, which includes healing, it builds faith, it allows Christ healing power to flow in you, and it enables you to walk in your blood bought right of healing!

Finally I leave you with this verse

NKJ Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge….

Jesus has paid for our healing with His striped body. So dont let a lack of knowledge deprive you of His healing.

God Bless

Ed

Let me first get out there that I do not presume to claim to know all of God’s will; but what He has revealed in His Word, we should really know! As an example is it God’s will that all should be saved? John 3:16 clearly says that Jesus has paid the price for the world’s sins…”that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”

So what about healing? First look at Jesus ministry on earth, He healed ALL that was brought to Him. He never turned away anyone and said HE couldn’t/ wouldn’t heal the person. Why do we then think of Him not wanting to heal?

NKJ Matthew 8:16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,

NKJ Matthew 12:15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.

NKJ Luke 4:40 When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.

This is just a small selection of verses from the gospel that reveals Jesus’ heart, His desire to heal all that have need, physical, emotional or spiritual. He went about healing ALL that came to Him, not some, no ifs or buts, He healed ALL!

Finally lets look at if Jesus is willing.

NKJ Matthew 8:2-3

And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever more. When He was here on earth, His ministry was full of miraculous healings, and HE was willing to heal us. Things haven’t changed, He  still loves us and is WILLING to heal us. Our Jesus who was willing to lay His life down for us, why wouldn’t He be willing to heal us?

All we need to do is realize/ believe that He loves us and is willing to heal us and start walking by faith in the supernatural healing that He has bought for us on the cross.

Stay tuned for healing 3: Holy Communion.

God Bless

Ed

Isaiah 53:4-5  (NKJV)

v4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. v5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised  for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

These two verses spell out in detail what Christs’ work on the cross has done for us. As we read this we know He died on the cross for us, pierced striped and crucified to reconcile us to Abba Father, and so we have eternal life with Him. But do we also know that in that act He bought for us healing, not just spiritual but physical and emotional!

Lets look at v4 in detail ” Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows..”. Looking at the Hebrew words for griefs and sorrows in particular:

“griefs”: choliy (khol-ee’) Strongs 02483

Meaning: sickness.

Usage: sickness, disease, grief

“sorrows”: mak’ob (mak-obe)

meaning: 1) pain, sorrow 1a) pain (physical) 1b) pain mental

usage: sorrow, pain, grief

Its abundantly clear that if we look at the Hebrew, Christ not only bore our grief and carried our sorrow, but He if accurately translated He bore our sickness and disease and carried our sorrow and pain both physical and mental/ emotional. Wow, let that sink in, if Christ carried your pains, sickness and diseases, you don’t have to! Healing is ours because of Jesus!

Okay people out there might be saying, “hey, are you reading too much, and taking things out of context?” Well the best solution is to let the bible translate the bible. Lets now look at Matt 8:16-17 (NKJV)

v16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out thew spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, v17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ” He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses”

Matthew in his gospel also translates the verse to mean sickness and infirmities (pains, weaknesses, disease). It becomes quite clear that besides paying for our sins upon the cross, He has bought for us healing too. Let me present it in another way, before Adam and Eve sinned there was no sickness, pains or disease in this world. That sin brought along all the curses and suffering. Now that Jesus has come and paid the price for our sins, sickness and disease no longer has a right to be upon us, who are His, as He has redeemed us from it all!

In the same way we accepted Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour by faith, accept ALL the blessings that He was given us by faith, don’t rationalize it away by saying so and so didn’t get healed, but just thank Him for His work and dwell in His love and you will get the breakthrough of healing that you require in your life! Praise Him!

Stay tuned for Healing 2: Is it God’s will?…..

Ed

Tamar’s story is set out in Genesis 38, Rahab’s in Joshua 2 & 6, and Ruth’s – well, in the book of Ruth.

One could see how Ruth might fit the bill of ‘exceptional woman deserving honourable mention’ – she was loyal to her mother-in-law, hard working, faithful.  And even though Rahab betrayed her city and lied, she did show kindness to the ‘good guys’ (the Israelite spies) and feared God.  The case for Tamar, however, is somewhat more problematic.

Tamar had been greatly wronged by Judah, her father-in-law; he had not carried out his promise to give her his third son in marriage, after his first two sons had died on her and left her as a widow without any children.  But Tamar proceeded to trick Judah into sleeping with her by disguising herself as a prostitute.  And from that immoral act, she gets pregnant with twins – one of whom becomes an earthly forefather of Jesus.

So good deeds is not a common factor in these women.

Instead, the one notable thing about all three women is the hopelessness of their situations.  Tamar was a widow (twice over) without any children, who couldn’t marry again because of a broken promise by her father-in-law.  And while Tamar pretended to be a prostitute, Rahab actually was one, in a city (Jericho) God had marked for utter destruction by the invading Israelite army and from which there was to be no escape.  Ruth the Moabitess was also a widow without children, and would have faced great prejudice living in an Israelite community which outlawed Moabites assembling before God with everyone else.  (Deut 23:3)

Each woman’s circumstance should have meant a rather unfortunate life.  In the Old Testament, when strict laws and harsh punishments abounded, it was difficult enough for an Israelite man to reach God, let alone for these foreign women to see God’s goodness.  But that makes God’s grace all the more apparent in their stories, and the happy endings all the more amazing.  Like Jesus turning water into the finest wine, just when all the wine’s run out, God turns despair into triumph just when all hope seems lost.

For their part, there’s something of an incredible boldness in these women, who didn’t accept their circumstances as limitations on their destinies.  They sought for more – and found God’s grace.

– Joey

I know that each church has its own role to play in God’s Kingdom, but shouldn’t there be a guiding principle that exists, so pastors can check themselves and the sheep can have a baseline so that they know, their pastor is preaching and doing what Jesus has entrusted Him to do. So I decided to look up the word “steward” in the bible.

The first time the word steward( in the New King James version)appears is in Genesis 43. It referred to the steward of Josephs house. The Hebrew words translated to “steward” is “iysh bayith”, which literally translates to man of the house. The idea here being Joseph is the master and this steward deals with the day to day running of the household, with the authority given to him by the master. This is the same as Jesus being our Lord and the pastors are his stewards, serving and running his household on earth(the church).

Lets set the background of where we are in Genesis 43. Joseph’s brothers had already met Joseph for the first time and he had given them the grain/ bread and returned their money to them, but demanded that they bring Benjamin, the next time they came. They were now returning to buy more grain with Benjamin, but had not met Joseph for the second time. This parallels the period of between Jesus first appearance on earth and us now awaiting His second coming.

The steward now meets the brothers and its important to study what he says and does for them as this is the first time in the bible the role of the steward is described in any detail.

But he said, “Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. So the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed. Then they made the present ready for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they would eat bread there.( Genesis 43:23-25 NKJ)

The first thing he says to them is “Peace be with you, do not be afraid”.
This foreshadows and parallels what Jesus said(John 14:27), where He gives us His peace and tells us not to be afraid. If you look throughout the gospels, Jesus keeps reiterating to us “Do not be afraid”, even in Revelations, when Jesus appeared to John, He said “Do not be afraid”(Rev 1:17).Thus I believe that underlying message of whatever a pastor/ steward is preaching, there should always be Jesus preached and glorified; proclaiming His shalom peace and for us NOT to be afraid, because He is our Lord and Saviour!

The next thing the steward said was “Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks;” There are many levels to this but The important treasure that Abba Father has given us , is His Son Jesus Christ. In Him are all treasures and blessings.

Now look at what the steward did after he said all those things, he took them into Joseph’s house, gave them water, washed their feet and fed their donkeys. This is what pastors should be doing, bringing the sheep into the house, quenching their thirst with everlasting water, meeting their needs both spiritually and physically.

Finally the last verse, shows us the long term goal/role of all pastors/stewards: “Then they made the present ready for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they would eat bread there.”

It is clear that the role is to guide, prepare and mature us, for the second coming of Christ. As stewards of God’s house, their purpose is to serve the master of the house, who is Jesus, to build His kingdom and His glory, by tending and growing the people and to prepare them for the coming of the Lord!

There is more to this passage but I have tried to condense it. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

God Bless

Ed

It sounds odd that Jesus would tell his disciples they failed because they had so little faith, and then go on to say they only needed a mustard seed’s worth to move mountains.  But it’s more the quality of their faith that he was referring to, rather than the quantity.  The thing about seeds is that they have great potential, but need to grow – much like faith.  As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:

“We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more…” (2 Thes 1:3, NIV)

Growing from mustard seed to mustard tree requires time and patience – and perseverance during the tougher times:

“Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming.  See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is…  Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.  As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered.  You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about…”  (Jas 5:7-11, NIV)

Mature faith is tenacious, firm, resolute – it has to be, in order to survive the many tests that are thrown at it.  But the end result is spectacular.  We can see this in the story of a Canaanite woman, whom Jesus commended as having great faith:

“A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!  My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.’  Jesus did not answer a word…”  (Mt 15:22-23, NIV)

How strange, and how rude!  A woman pleads for mercy, yet Jesus doesn’t reply.  But then again, sometimes it seems like that when we pray to God.  That doesn’t stop this woman, though – too much is at stake.  So she kneels before Jesus and pleads again.  Jesus insults her, but that didn’t stop her either:

Woman: Lord, help me!
Jesus:  It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.
Woman: Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.
Jesus: Woman, you have great faith!  Your request is granted.
(Mt 15:26-27, NIV)

She refused to be offended by God, and Jesus finally grants her her request.  But not before drawing out her great faith for all to see – a faith that was relentless.

– Joey

Later on, Jesus tells the parable of a widow who, through persistence, finally received justice from an unjust judge despite his initial refusal and indifference to both God and men (Lk 18:1-5).  This parable was told to the disciples “to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” (Lk 18:1, NIV)

The idea of persistent prayer can seem odd – as if children of God need to pester, plead with and hound a heavenly father to get something good.  After all, most earthly fathers seem happy to give their children good things the first time they ask – sometimes before – and don’t need to be worn down by constant harassment.

But on closer examination, God’s nature is only partly represented in the two parables.  He indeed gives us our daily bread (Lk 11:3) and is the bread of life (Jn 6:35), and he is the judge of us all (2Tim 4:1).  But unlike the friend in the first parable, God will neither slumber nor sleep (Ps 121:4), and unlike the judge in the second parable, God is a just, righteous judge (Acts 17:31).

The main point of the two parables is not to do with God’s nature – and to make sure we don’t get the wrong idea, immediately after the parables Jesus assures us that God willingly gives good gifts (Mt 7:11) and that he will ensure justice, quickly (Lk 18:7-8).  Instead, the parables concern us – and more specifically, our faith.  At the end of the parable of the persistent widow, Jesus said:

“‘And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones…?  I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.  However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?’” (Lk 18:7-8, NIV)

That’s what Jesus was on about – faith, and the perseverance thereof.  The two are actually inextricably linked:

“By faith he [Moses] left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.” (Heb 11:27, NIV)

“…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Heb 12:1, NIV) /
“…I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (says Paul in 2 Tim 4:7, NIV)

“…the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete…”  (Jas 1:3-4, NIV)

God doesn’t withhold anything good from us.  He wants to give us the best – and that includes perseverance.

– Joey