But Jesus Promised!

And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No"; anything beyond this comes from the evil one - Matthew 5:36-37

Here’s the scene: You live in the time of Jesus and in His hometown of Nazareth. He is just one of the carpenters there. You are moving into new offices. You want furniture that reflects your new digs. You're on a deadline since you’ll be moving in on the 14th of next month. You agree on the price of $10,000 for the desks and chairs and the date of the 10th for completion. You put down a one-half deposit. You wait for delivery on the promised date. But, the day comes and goes and at the end of the workday you get a call from Jesus. “I am sorry but the furniture is not ready. I ran into complications. Also, I can no longer honor the price I gave you. It is now $12,500 instead of $10,000."

(End Scene: Verbal Explosion mildly unintelligible and perhaps unfit to be heard by your mother!)

The event creates a domino effect; a minor disaster occurs. An opinion is formed and sealed in your head.

Now, let us fast-forward a couple of years. You hear about this same Jesus guy who is now preaching all over the area. He’s amazing people. He’s changing lives. He’s healing and He’s prophesying. Let me ask you how are you going to respond to this seemingly new and improved Jesus? If I asked you that you would look at me like I was from the moon! He’s a jerk! He doesn’t honor His commitments! If you are like me it would be, “Sorry Mac but take it down the road; go sell that to someone else!”

Now, let me switch gear and let me ask you about you. How do people view your message and Christian conviction? Are they attentive? Are they responsive? Or, like in this scenario if they heard of a new phase of power and effectiveness in your life for God would they just laugh and mock the thought?

Our actions reinforce our personal convictions. That is how those who know us think as they relate to us. Those actions can violate our desire to please God and make us totally ineffective. The above scenario plays out everywhere on our globe doesn’t it? Broken promises can set back a life of faith and service.

Your life, like mine has people we depend on and it also has 50 percenters, 75 percenter’s and even 20 percenters. For some the words mean nothing. For others, their word is their bond. The only time they don't come through is when something falls outside their control and even then they forewarn us.

There are times when we are unable to perform or deliver what we promised due to outside influences. The key to turning these potentially negative circumstances into a witness for Christ is communication. If we are unable to pay a bill on time, we must communicate with those we owe and make a good faith effort to resolve it within our means. In these cases, God's purposes are being performed as well if we seek to do the right thing.

Over the last two weeks I have been living this scenario out. It has caused me to reflect on me. It has dropped me to my knees. I brought this to the attention of a Christian sister in Christ who indicated with a shrug that you do the best you can and if you disappoint another Christian it’s their job to forgive and forget.

Forgive? Yes. Forget? Are you out of your mind? Our homes, our friends, our life commitments and our work depend on one another. The one we cannot count on becomes just that.

Do your words mean anything to those who hear them? Do you make commitments and fail to follow through on them? What would others say about how you follow through? Ask the Lord today to show you how you are doing in this area. You might even want to ask three people who are the closest to you how you fare in this area. May our yes be a true yes and may our God get the Glory!

I remain…

InHISgrip,
~J~