You may or may not be familiar with the term “offering grace”, but many religious people use the term to describe offering thanks to God before a meal. This is not so much a study of the term “offering grace” as it is on the giving of thanks for one’s food. Is it really required of Christians? When one is in public or at work, should a child of God really bow their head and thank God for what they are about to eat?  Let’s see what the word of God teaches us about this.

Prayer is a vital part of the Christian life. As Paul put it, saints are to pray without ceasing (I Thess. 5:17). Interestingly the brethren were also admonished in this text that “in everything give thanks” (verse 18). Did followers of the Lord really pray before all their meals? Consider our Savior when He walked on this earth. When Jesus miraculously fed the five thousand with five loaves and two small fish, He had the people sit down. He then offered thanks before everyone ate (John 6:11). Jesus also offered thanks before He fed four thousand people with seven loaves of bread and a few fish (Mark 8:6-7).

Obviously, Jesus sets forth a wonderful pattern to follow. However, this was not unique to Jesus. In Acts 27, you can read where Paul and others were on a ship in the midst of a terrible storm while he was being transported as a prisoner to Rome (verse 13-20). The crew was so busy trying to save the ship that they had not taken time to eat for fourteen days. Paul urges the centurion and soldiers to eat (verse 34). Notice Paul’s activity in verse 35 though.

“And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat.”  Who takes time to pray after not eating for 14 days? Who takes time to publicly pray when surrounded by people who don’t follow the Lord? God’s people do.

Some people are rightly concerned with what Jesus said in Matthew 6 about not wanting people to pray for the purpose of drawing attention to themselves (verse 5). This is correct – it is one thing to be somewhere when you quietly bow your head and silently offer thanks for your meal. It is other matter altogether to stand up when you are at Wendy’s having lunch and announce to all in the restaurant, “Excuse me everyone, please be quiet, I am about to pray to my God for the food I am about to receive!”

When Christ taught about prayer, He mentioned that we ought to ask our Father for our daily bread (Matt. 6:11). If we are provided with the very thing we petitioned the Father for, why would we not thank Him for it? Those who are faithful followers of the Lord know that every perfect gift comes from above (James 1:17). We may have a job and we may have earned the money to buy the food we are eating. Yet we need to ask ourselves, who gave us life? Who gave us the ability to work? Who provided the materials for people to work for? As we can see, we are nothing without our Creator.

We should not be surprised that even on the night of His betrayal when He instituted the Lord’s Supper, Jesus first gave thanks before eating and drinking (Matt. 26:26-28). This clearly reveals people who pray before meals are not just “traditionalists” or mindlessly praying without purpose. To even suggest that praying for food is not necessary is wrong on many different levels. After all, what Christian would not want to express their gratitude for their physical blessings?

No, praying for our food is not a man-made tradition. It is that which saints are admonished to do with thanksgiving (I Tim. 4:3-5).

Chuck 

What MUST change in the new year

The first article discussed how God has consistently expected certain things from Christians since the faith began. If we remain constant in those matters, then we will see some positive changes in our spiritual lives. Here is a list of what should change from year to year:

1. Your faith will get stronger (II Thess. 1:3).

2. Your bond with brethren will get stronger (Rom. 12:10).

3. Your efforts to help the lost will increase (Acts 8:4).

4. Your relationship with the Lord will grow (Phil. 3:8).

5. Your joy in being a Christian will increase (I Pet. 4:13).

6. Your prayers will multiply (I Thess. 5:17).

7. Your abilities will grow as you do more in the church (Phil. 2:12).

8. Your selflessness will increase as you help others more (Gal. 6:10).

9. Your patience will grow as you continue to resist temptation (James 1:2-3).

10. Your knowledge will increase as you defend the truth more (I Pet. 3:15).

11. Your spiritual endurance will increase as you consistently live your faith (Heb. 12:28).

The more Christians positively change, the more the church remains the same. May we all seek to please the Lord by improving on these things in 2017!

                                                                                              Chuck                                                                                                                                                                    

Okay, how do we do that?

We all know how easy it is to tell someone to do something. The hard part is the knowing how to give instructions. If a person does not know how to do something, then it is a waste of time to instruct them to do so. Though some might not recognize it, God’s people always have enough information when He commands them.

Consider this command that James writes: “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you,” (James 4:8). On the surface, it sounds great that God will draw near to us. How do we draw near to God though? Based on what James wrote, knowing how to draw near to God is critical! Without this, He will never draw near to us.  Fortunately, the Bible contains instructs us about many ways we can draw near to God. If we do the things found in this list, God WILL draw near to us!

Pray. This has to be one of the most obvious ways to draw closer to God. Christians are admonished to pray continually (I Thess. 5:17).  To get close to someone, you must communicate with them. This is as true of our earthly relationships as it is with our Heavenly Father. James stated that the prayers of a righteous man can avail much (5:16) – a close relationship with God is obviously one of those things.

Studying the word of God. Listening to what the Father has revealed will aid in developing that close bond.  When you have the word of God abiding in you, you are strong (I John 2:14). Those who do not take the time to listen to God are clearly not feeding on His word, and the word is what gives strength (Acts 20:28).

Staying away from sin.  Those who walk in the light have fellowship with the Father (I John 1:3-7). When one is in sin, they are going away from the Father, not drawing nearer. Pleasing our God and obeying Him will strengthen the relationship (Heb. 11:6).

Worshipping.  When saints gather to glorify their God, they are naturally strengthening their bond with the Creator (Acts 2:46-47). God recognizes genuine worship that uses both the lips and heart (Matt. 15:7-9).

Telling others about God.  When a person tells others how much they love their spouse, it strengthens the marriage. Similarly, Christians who tells others about their Heavenly Father are drawing near to Him (Acts 7). The Son of God indicated this as expressed in His prayer to the Father (John 17).

Developing one’s talents. When children of God use their talents, they are positive examples to those around them. The goal is let our own lights shine and inspire the lost (Matt. 5:13-16). By growing, we become more useful to our Father (II Pet. 3:18).

Being faithful to the end. Those who fight the good fight of faith know that they will be with the Father for eternity (II Tim. 4:6-8). After writing that God will draw near to us if we draw near to Him, James wrote the following instruction: “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8). Clearly, fostering a relationship with God requires deliberate action.

Being with other Christians. Spending time around others who are in fellowship with God will encourage us and help us grow even closer to the Father (I John 1:7). Remember, fellow saints are members of the same spiritual body (Gal. 3:27).

    We are told to draw near unto God because God will draw near unto us. Are you preventing God from drawing near to you? Let us do our part and trust that God WILL do His!

                                                                                            Chuck

Christians and resolutions

Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution? You might want to lose weight, kick a bad habit or even plan to read the Bible through in one year. Resolutions come in all sort of shapes and sizes. But is there anything wrong with making resolutions?

From a Biblical standpoint, there is nothing wrong with setting a goal to do something. We even sing a hymn containing the words, “I am resolved no longer to linger…”  Making up our mind to stop doing something bad or setting goals for self-improvement is actually commanded by our Lord. However, these activities are not limited to the start of a new year.

Christians have a duty to keep growing (I Pet. 2:2), so we know we should always look for opportunities for improvement. Obvious places to start include parenting (Eph. 6:4), being a better spouse (Eph. 5:22-28), helping our brothers and sisters in Christ (Gal. 6:2), becoming apt to teach (Heb. 5:12-14) and spreading the good news (Mark 16:15). Finding opportunities for improvement is one thing – actually accomplishing them will require planning and effort.

Resolutions often fall through because of a failure to prepare. Like someone once said, “people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.” It easy to say I am going to stop doing something bad or start doing something good. How can we prevent ourselves from coming up short with our goals?

There is no secret to success – the answer is to use a support system. For Christians, it starts with turning to the Lord. Praying and asking for help is essential (I Thess. 5:17; Phil. 4:13). We can also turn to brethren (James 5:16). Fellow saints can encourage and pray for you. It is easy to quit and admit defeat after a short period of time. Success comes with determination and deciding that failure is NOT an option. Victory is attainable if we stay the course and use our faith properly (I John 5:4).

                                                                                      Chuck