PIECE #2 – Job Security

Note: For the first installment in this series, please click on “Thirty Pieces” post.

The second of thirty pieces we pull from the gift pouch that Jesus has given us is labeled JOB SECURITY. Times are tough. Unemployment has affected many and for others it lurks around the corner like a bully waiting for his next target. The second important piece reminds us that our real job is officially called Fisher of Men. In this role, we know that we will never get laid off and that our earnings are eternal. There are no stock market crashes or bad investments in Heaven.

Jesus said, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19) Telling people about Jesus is to reel their hearts close to Him. Telling people about Jesus and making them disciples is our simple but Earth-changing job description. (Matthew 28:19) The Bible is our employee handbook that emboldens us to pursue this new career path with the same zeal as a man who fished the same sea of souls over 400 years ago. Martin Luther, the man from Germany known for nailing his ninety-five theses to a Wittenberg chapel door, had a ‘performance review’ of sorts with a groups of judges who were trying to convict him of heresy.

Luther said, “What I read in the Scriptures is truth-for no church leader, council, king, or emperor, all of whom are fallible men, can tell me otherwise…my conscience is bound and held captive by these Scriptures and the Word of God….”  We need to follow Jesus. He alone will make us men and women who boldy share the gospel. Like Luther, we too will proclaim what our Savior did on the cross as the greatest story needed to be told.

The apostle Paul understood the gift of real job security as he went from  persecutor to full time evangelist. Paul made tents to pay the bills, but after following Jesus on the road to Damascus, the tent making wasn’t where he put his focus. Whether we are truck drivers, teachers, brain surgeons, or _______, our responsibilty has to be on telling other people about Jesus. Our current occupation is not our security. Jesus is!

“It has alwalys been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known.” Paul wrote these to the church in Rome and it is a perfect mission statement for us today. Remember, this doesn’t have to mean the unreached people groups in Ghana (although for some, it might!). The gospel might not be known in your employee lounge or, as in Luther’s case, your church. When we follow Jesus, He will make the opportunities to be a witness for His story plentiful. Our job is to obey.

Let us fight against the temptation that the world offers: ”You already have a job. It’s secure. Leave that evangelizing stuff for someone else.” Dear friend, God has you in your current job to be a light for someone who works alongside you. The gift of eternal job security will make your heart cry out in praise as you see the fruits of your labor.

Thirty Pieces

This begins a series of 30 inspirational posts based on the promises and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Future installments can be found under the Thirty Pieces tab on my author site. The title refers to the amount of money Judas Iscariot accepted to betray Jesus. Thirty pieces of silver was the Old Testament cost of a slave or the equivalent of four months’ wages. What on earth was Judas thinking? The chief priests wore their hearts on their sleeves as they plotted to kill the Son of Man. Judas, on the other hand, had been one of Jesus’s disciples and yet still decided to worship money rather than his Lord.

I thought about some of the awesome treasures that Jesus, our High Priest, offers us instead of the deceptive temptations of this world. He asks us to hand over this life to Himself. He who made true life possible by his death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave is waiting to show us incomprehensible riches! Here, then, are thirty pieces of the Lord’s heart that He offers for those who decide to be accomplices for His love.

PIECE #1-REST

The first coin we pull out of the pouch is labeled REST. What a valuable treasure this is in our modern day mayhem. Jesus said, “Come to me,all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) Go here. Go there. Soccer practice here. T-ball there. Laundry here. Finances there. The only real rest from this endless cycle of activity is found in Jesus. When we go to Him, we will find true rest. God rested after creating everything: for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.  -Hebrews 4:10  God wants us to do the same…through His only Son Jesus.

Knowing we are saved by the Son’s blood that was shed on Calvary’s cross, places us in an eternal place of rest. My soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. -Psalm 62:1  We have to be in His word. We have to be in His presence. We have to be in Him. When we actively do these things, our entire being experiences this supernatural rest that comes not from this world, but from Heaven.

Our jobs might be overwhelming. Our bodies may be broken. Our hearts might feel stung by the loss of someone we love. But, none of these are strong enough to diminish the power of God in our lives. Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. -Psalm 91:1 God is bigger than our problems. His shadow stretches farther than the scope of our problems. With our Creator, we find rest.

When we are walking this life with Jesus, our hearts are turned to look upon His will. His plans. We walk the path and ask Him to guide us by His mighty hand. God spoke to the prophet Jeremiah thousands of years ago and His words still hold true today: This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” -Jeremiah 6:16

Jesus offers us REST. Oh, what a precious gift. Unlike anything on earth, this first piece of the Lord’s treasure is a priceless gift worth betraying the world for. King David betrayed the emptiness of this life for the glorious riches of God and summarized this when he said, “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure…” -Psalm 16:9

Let’s decline the pieces of temptation this world is holding out and go to Jesus. He will give us rest and, friend, it will be good.

Plan A

Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him.  -1 Corinthians 7:17

My area pastor stopped me and asked how my job was going. My response was genuine: “I wish we were in Africa on the mission field.” His reply hit home: “Matt, today is not God’s Plan B.” A couple days ago, I came across 1 Corinthians 7:17 and reflected on its powerful truth. God has called me to today’s job which includes being a school teacher, husband, and father…and a disciple of Jesus Christ!

Psalm 16 reinforces this: Lord, you have assigned me my portion and cup. You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Surely I have a delightful inheritance. Our inheritance is secure, but our neighbors or coworkers who don’t know Jesus are in desperate need of the gospel. The Lord has opened every door for us to be right where we are…right now. Think about a neighbor or a family member who needs to hear the Good News. That person is part of God’s Plan A for your life.

There are no mistakes in God’s Plan A. I’m sure Joseph must have questioned God’s Plan when his brothers plotted to take his life and sold him into slavery. If not then, surely, when he was thrown in prison for two years for a crime he didn’t commit. But, through it all, God was with Joseph and showed him favor and kindness. Fast forward to the end of Genesis, where the confusing, unfair circumstances of Joseph’s past are explained as necessary for God’s Plan A. Years had passed and Joseph’s family had gone to Egypt to find food. His brothers threw themselves at Joseph’s feet and asked for mercy. Joseph replied, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

What is God’s Plan A for your life? If you’re questioning God about His will for your life, pause and think about your daily routine. He has you right where He wants you to carry out His perfect plans. People are so important to God. Your heart is His masterpiece that He’s using to show people a glimpse into the perfect loving heart of His Son.

Remember, there is no Plan B.

Unburdened

Dear Friend, the Lord has great news! His word is filled with countless blessings that He has ready to pour out over us. One in particular, will turn your daily grind in joyful worship. This truth will pull us out of uncertainty and remind us how important and loved we are by the One who made us.

Psalm 68 says, Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens! Our God is a God who saves.; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death. Did you catch that? The God of the universe carries all of our burdens. ALL of them. And not just when life gets really hard to comprehend, but every day! If God has all our stress, guilt, anxiety, etc…and we are left with only unburdened hearts, then we have been truly released to worship instead of worry.

Our God is that big! Back in the pages of Exodus, we find Him rescuing millions of His children who had been enslaved in Egypt. God stepped into their daily lives and revealed Himself in a miraculous way. Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings. I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians…” (Exodus 7:7-8) God sees us! God hears us! God knows us! God comes down to rescue us! Praise His holy name.

There are many other examples in the Bible that record how our Father walks the beaten path of life with us. The heaviest burden, however, was carried on the back of Jesus Christ up to Golgatha. On that somber moment, when day turned into night, our sweet Savior died with all our sins nailed to His cross.

For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath. (Romans 5:6-9)Please reread these words and let their glorious meanings be planted in your heart.

We are helpless without Jesus. If today, by His grace, you are a child of God thank Him for your salvation in worship. If you’ve heard about this man Jesus, but still carry around the weight of life’s problems, please pray and ask Jesus to come into your heart. Surrender your life to Him. He is waiting to takeover and carry the weight of ALL your burdens. He didn’t just say that He could. He died in our place to prove it! When Jesus died and rose on the third day, He provided the way for our eternal burden to be lifted and carried away forever.

His Word

The LORD said to Moses, “Don’t be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, with his whole army and his land.” Numbers 21:34

Today God speaks to us through His word. How awesome a treasure the Bible is, filled with direction and promise for our daily life. King David noted, “your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”(Psalm 119:105). The author of Hebrews goes on to remind us that “the word of God is living and active (4:12).” Even the apostle Paul, a man truly in touch with the Father, wrote similar thoughts: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Wandering nearly forty years in an unforgiving desert has the potential to wear one’s heart thin. Scorching heat, unrelenting sun, and burning sand tempt a person’s mind into forgetting all the good that came before the hurt. “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?” (Numbers 14:2-3) Moses had every opportunity to quit. His own people wanted to go back to Egypt! However, obeying God allowed Moses to persevere.

We will walk through our own deserts in life, where the scorching stab of rejection, unrelenting ache of hardships, and burning pain of loss bring our very souls to a place where quitting seems to be the only option. Our Heavenly Father, however, commands us to go on because He is with us always. As we read His word and fill our souls with its life-changing power, all fear that was once in us will fast become unbridled faith! The same God that helped Moses and the Israelites defeat the king of Bashan (Numbers 21:33-35) is with us today!

Everything

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said:”Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.” Revelation 1:17

Jesus is all we need. What a relief to know that as we travel through life experiencing highs and lows, pleasures and pains, failures and successes our Savior is there. He’s been with His children from the beginning and will be with them at the end of time (Isaiah 41:4). Jesus is our everything. When you prepare for a long trip, you give specific attention to packing. An assortment of items makes up the required list: essentials and extras. The essentials are the ‘must haves’ while the extras are the ‘just in case.’ As we prepare to journey into the day, let’s remember that we have only one name on our list of what to take with us: Jesus. 

Our lives are wrapped in the loving arms of the One who died for us. He has gone before us and will continue on after us. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Revelation 22:13 NIV) He has everything we need to walk through our new journeys with faith. From the very first step we take, our Lord tells us not to worry.

As you drive to work, don’t be afraid, Jesus is there. When your child gets sick and your heart aches, Jesus is there. While you lose patience on the checkout line, Jesus is there. He’s there because He loves you and wants to be your everything. So picture today as vast as the heavens, waiting for you to go where the Father leads. What an awesome journey you will have! Live your dreams and wait for the desires of your heart to come true, remembering always that all things are possible for those who believe.

Trust Him Today

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” -Matthew 1:20

Joseph was confronted with a situation that appeared to have only one logical answer. Because of the circumstances, he “had in mind to divorce [Mary] quietly.” Times were hard enough—Joseph wanted to make a choice that would not bring “public disgrace” on Mary and yet still himself remain a “righteous man.” “But after he had considered this, an angel appeared…” (v.20) Logic was superseded by God’s different and perfect plan. The angel reminded Joseph to trust the Father. “When Joseph woke up….” (v.24) The carpenter obeyed. His heart accepted the divine announcement and Joseph trusted the Father. Logic was cast aside for a plan that couldn’t be comprehended at the moment.

What burdens are you confronting? Is there a situation making you feel God is absent in your life? Impossible odds stacked against you? You’re not alone. Elijah was pitted against 450 prophets. David faced Goliath. Job was the “greatest man among all the people of the East” (Job 1:3) and stripped of everything. Joshua had Jericho. Jesus, the tomb. In each of these trials, God worked amazing wonders, beating the impossible odds. Elijah, by faith, was victorious. David slew Goliath. With Job, Scripture tells us “the Lord gave him twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10) the trials. In Jericho the walls came down. And best of all, Jesus rose!

Friend, our Father is with you. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13) You are His awesome creation. His plan, alone, ends in victory. Trust Him today!