The Recipe for a Balanced Life

 I have written on this before but today as I looked at the options for books in Audible I was reminded of the number of people out there promising the key to finding balance. I have read a number of them and found them helpful. Here is the problem we are trying to balance our lives like we balance things on a scale which is fine if you have only two things to balance. I don't know about your life but I have more like two dozen things I need to balance. So what is the solution?

There is one thing we all know but seldom want to admit, we can NOT do it all. We can't have everything. We can't have our cake and eat it too. Some things in our lives have to go if we are going to live the best life we can. One example from my life was when I quit watching television and movies for two years as I was working on my Masters program. As far as failures, well? I don't want to admit to any but since it would be wrong to put myself out as a person who always did it correctly, here goes. In my late twenties, I was working at a factory 55-65 hours a week, studying for ministry, and doing a complete remodel of a home. I was lucky to get 4-5 good hours of sleep a night. After a year, my body began to fall apart. To be honest, I don't think I have ever fully recovered. So you know I have done it right and I have to use an aviation term, crashed and burned.  

So what have I discovered? 

Balance in life isn't about balance. A great life is more like a recipe. If you are making a savory dish you avoid sugar. If you are making a sweet dish you don't add a lot of salt. The question we have to ask ourselves is what do we want to make for our lives and what are the correct ingredients and amount to make it correctly. This isn't simple and it takes wisdom, advice (from informed sources not just the ones that you like), and humility. 

Like a recipe, life has stages. If you're making a banana cream pie you don't mix the ingredients for the filling with the crust. You make the crust and the filling separately and then you join them. In life, there are times and places for certain things and not others. Later you will see how they join together. Trying to do everything will often result in failure or a finished product that is less than successful. I love cooking and I have at times tried to do too much and ended up burning the cookies, over-mixing the batter, and boiling the pot dry because I couldn't do it all. The coffee was good though, but well you might not want to try the rest. Here is where we have to be humble enough to realize our limits. Knowing them you can work out a system where you may be able to have it all come together without doing it all at the same time. This last year I managed to pull off everything for Thanksgiving coming together and ready to be served when I wanted. It required planning and effort but it worked. It also meant that a couple of things that might have been nice to have on the menu had to go. In the end, no one missed them and it was great.  

So to sum it up. the recipe for a balanced life is to remember life is a recipe. The key is to make sure you follow the right one and then to follow it correctly. Finally, you're human so try and give yourself grace when you mess up. If you're going to mess up do it by giving too much time to God, family, and friends because spending too much time there is rarely, if ever, detrimental to a a good life.

Photo by Taylor Kiser on Unsplash

Bible Reflections 3

 

The next section of writing I will be doing to go along with my churches' reading and journaling in Bible Reflections 3 will begin on January 5, 2025. 

However, I might be posting some other fun stuff like short stories and little insights until then. In the meantime have a wonderful holiday season. 

Christmas and Gifts

 Christmas and Gifts

by Azi Areson

Christmas is about gifts, right? I mean that seems to be what pop culture has boiled it down to, even some of us as Christians seem to believe it when we put shopping and wrapping gifts above acts of service to our church and community and taking time to thank God for everything he’s done for us. Gifts are central to the way modern people celebrate Christmas, even the Amish often give small gifts to family members at Christmas. “But isn’t it scriptural?” Some might ask, well not exactly, we get the tradition of gift giving as a reminder both of the gift of Jesus’ birth and the wise men’s gifts to baby Jesus.

          But what if I were to suggest something unheard of, for the most part, what if Christmas isn’t about gifts? I believe Christmas is about the promise of Easter. Now I’m mixing holidays up, got to be off my rocker right? Well, maybe but I still think I have a point if you hear me out.

In Genesis 3:15 NIV, it says, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” According to BibleRef.com, “Many Bible scholars see this as a reference to Christ, the Son of God, and also the ultimate member of Eve's offspring. Satan would damage Christ, but He would have the ultimate victory on behalf of humanity.” That’s right folks, as early as Genesis God was making a promise, the promise of Easter.

I could go on and on about all the times God reminds us in the Bible of His promise but I’ll cut this short. Christmas without Easter is meaningless. If Jesus came to earth, lived as we did, and then ascended to Heaven without dying for our sins it wouldn’t matter. Without the hope of Easter, that we can join God as His children free of the guilt from our sinful lives, there is no reason for Christianity.

Without the hope of Easter, the hope of Heaven and God’s forgiveness, then we may as well eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. Because it wouldn’t matter if you were as favored as Job, as faithful as Noah, because none of us can achieve salvation on our own. We need Jesus to take our place because on our own we will never be good enough, we aren’t perfect like He is, only He has the power to take our place and it be good enough for us to achieve salvation if we believe in Him.

So this Christmas, yes, celebrate the gift of Jesus’ birth, but also remember the promise of Easter, the promise of hope, and may you walk the path of righteousness not only this holiday but every day. Amen.

Photo by Mario Amaral on Unsplash

Isaiah 51

 God asks Jerusalem who can comfort them (verse 19). The answer is the same one who brought calamity, God is the one who can bring comfort and hope. Why? Because of the covenant that he made with Abraham. The first part of the chapter gives comfort to those who are living right but the amazing thing is God wants to give comfort to those he discomforts. The interesting thing is God is yes allowing discipline but it isn't discipline intending to bring Israel (and others) into the right relationship with him. God isn't like the gods man invented, God isn't petty or just getting even. God has a plan and wants to save. Eventually, it will come to fulfillment in Jesus where God gives himself to save those who didn't want Him.  

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Leviticus 15

 

This photo has nothing to do with the topic except maybe the look of the cat as if asking a question.

There has been a stigma at times especially in the past about woman and their menstrual cycle. When we understand that in times past it was harder to keep blood from getting to other places it can be understood. The two things, first, I will point out here is God said that a person (man or woman) with a discharge of any kind was unclean. They were not considered sinners or to be cut off from the nation of Israel. Second, God starts this discussion by speaking to the men and that there is no "special condemnation" for women. As far as the offering for women every month, an offering was required for anyone who had any type of bodily discharge and always when it involved blood. 

Side note: Since most women were part of a male-dominated family, guess who ultimately had to pay for the sacrifices, the guys. 

Photo by Mona Magnussen on Unsplash

1 Thessalonians 5

 

We don't have to worry about dates and times when it comes to Jesus' returns, as Christians, because we should be living lives that demonstrate alertness and self-control. Our lives should be consistently lived as Jesus would have us whether or not we know He is coming back soon. It is like what Paul advised servants about doing work faithfully even if they aren't being watched (Eph.6:6). Faithfulness to God is how we should live and if we do that it doesn't matter when Jesus is coming back because Christians should be doing the same stuff no matter what. 

Photo by Kat Damant on Unsplash

Psalm 41

 

Some of the deepest pains come not from "enemies," but from people who used to be friends. What can be worse is that they still claim to be your friend but their actions speak otherwise. In Psalm 41, David speaks of those who come by to visit but do so they may say evil against him. He also speaks of those with whom he shared bread or had close fellowship and who now have turned against him. Yet David says that even in this God will bring deliverance. God does and we can rest in that. 

As Christians, we don't let these people pull us down; we are called to forgive them and love them. Jesus taught us to love our enemies and forgiving those who treat us wrongly. It isn't always easy but knowing that God will make all things right can help. 

Photo by Francesco Alberti on Unsplash

Leviticus 13

 

Clothes in ancient days were not something that wasn't appreciated. The time and effort to make garments made clothes valuable commodities. Yet, God knew the best choice was to destroy a garment rather than let it spread disease through the people. God gave guidance so that the people would know for certain that everything was going to be okay. If something could be dangerous it was to be destroyed.

Leviticus 14

 

There is an interesting similarity in what was to happen to a person and a home. Two birds were to be brought to the priest. One was sacrificed and the other set free. This shows the two possible outcomes that could take place, death or life. By bringing these to God the person is recognising what could have happened if God had not allowed healing. This is what should have happened (the dead bird), but now I am free to go where I will (the bird released into the field). Even here in a chapter dedicated to teaching the people how to live with disease, God is teaching them about him.

Photo by Hydra 4x on Unsplash

Who is giving you your name?

"They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:3-4

"The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing. 
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:1-3

I am reading Christopher Wilkin's book on biblical critical theory. In one of the chapters, he discusses the difference between man's attempts to make a name for himself and when God does. When man does it, there is much labor and a rejection of God's plan. When God does it, the key is to follow and be shown. In the Babel account, I can imagine the work turning into little more than a slave labor camp with the equality found in Orsen Well's Animal Farm. In God's economy, yes there is labor but the real price is being paid by God. 

As I considered this, I had to ask myself, "Are you more worried about making a name for yourself or trusting God to do it?" I believe there are things we should do to promote our labors at times, but the question of who am I trusting isn't far from my mind. I will be honest I have probably gone to both extremes from time to time. Either not doing what I should while trusting God and then doing things to promote myself rather than letting God do it. At the end of the day, I think that as long as I keep asking the question, "Whose building my house(name)?" then I will be less likely to get too far off the right path. 

Photo by Ainur Iman on Unsplash

Isaiah 50

The last chapter of Isaiah 50 speaks of Jesus and is referenced in the New Testament. What gives me an interesting insight is that the servant Isaiah speaks of having the ear of a disciple. Here as in other places, we see that though Jesus was special, he was still human. In John 8:28, "So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me." As Paul points out in what is called the Kenosis passage in Philippians 5:5-7, Jesus became like us. Even more than that Hebrews 5:8 said, "Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered." 

The chapter ends with a warning to those who are trying to light fires to light the way. What they need to do is to look to God's Servant. The one who will later say, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12).

1 Thessalonians 4

Why do we try and help people with addiction problems? Their brains have been rewired by their addictions. Even if they do "kick the habit," they will have to guard themselves for the rest of their lives.  Wouldn't it be better to just let them do what they want and not worry about them? The answer for most reasonable people is no. Addicted people can't contribute what they can to society. Their lives are never as happy as they sometimes put on. Usually, they are a negative to society as people with active addictions will do whatever they have to to feed that addiction even though it hurts others. Finally, as a person of faith, I have to say that someone who has surrendered completely to addictions has made that addiction their God and so can't make it to heaven. So we can agree that addictions hurt the person, those around them, and society in general, and can keep them from God. Therefore we should help people with addictions. 

The problem is do we believe that people with addictions can? Paul did. He said that we should learn to control our bodies, (1 Thessalonians 4:4). The section is mostly talking about sex so people want to dismiss it, but I don't want to. First because for most I would say sex is an addiction. For those who want to say that you are made that way when it comes to their form of sexual disobedience, I would point out that the addicted person's brain is also made that way but can change. It's never easy, it's always going to be a struggle but that doesn't make it unconquerable. I'm not just saying gays, lesbians, or porn addicts either, I'm talking about all versions of sex that don't fall into God's ideal, including marital sex where one person is only using the other. 

Since I have already stepped into it I will throw myself in on another popular addition, food. Scripture teaches that we cannot allow anything to be our master but God. My greatest struggle is food. This isn't because I'm overweight, no it's because I go to it sometimes rather than God for peace and comfort. Like the addict or I should say as an addict, I will probably have to be on guard for the rest of my life and because I can't go without food, It will be a daily struggle. 

I don't know what your issues are, maybe it's an addition to soap operas or SpungBob but whatever the sin is I believe God can help us. As Paul says, "You should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable."

PS We have to learn control, but we can help and should help each other.  

1 Thessalonians 3

Paul had warned the church at Thessalonica that persecution would come. This doesn't seem strange considering the repeated warning that Jesus gave to his disciples. Yet for many especially in the West, there is an idea that if you're doing right people will love you. The problem we are told is we aren't doing it right. Sometimes this is absolutely true, but other times there isn't growth in the church because the world is hostile to the message. In many places, this is a passive-aggressive hostility but it is still there and shouldn't be a surprise to Christians. The truth and I don't like it is rejection and persecution are part of the Christian life and if it's not there then maybe something is missing. At the end of the day we need to make sure as Peter said let's make sure we don't deserve persecution for doing wrong (1 Peter 4:15) but only for doing right.

Psalm 40

In verse 6 and in other parts of Scripture, it says that God doesn't want offerings. Yet God commanded them so what is going on? Works alone Paul taught is worthless (Ephesians 2:8-10: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast"  Titus 3:5-8: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us"). However, James teaches that we need both faith without works is dead. So which is it? 

Here is my simple answer. God doesn't want people offering sacrifice or in modern reference coming to an altar but there is no change on the inside. God wants our actions to be a result of what is on the inside which can be seen in verse 8, "I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart."

Leviticus 12

 So the question is put forth why does the woman have to bring a sin offering after giving birth. For some in the past and a few still today, they see this as proof that since birth had to come by sex and sex is the ultimate sin. This is not scriptural; it is an interpretation made from an assumption. It is like the thief seeing the generosity of others as proof they are up to something. It is the same way we often interpret other people's actions based on our motives. Scripture teaches that sex was created by God and he commanded that the man and woman procreate as he did for the rest of creation. In my mind, it can't be assumed that sex is the reason for the sin offering.

So why? There are several reasonable answers. Some are symbolic like the loss of blood or the separation from the Tabernacle as a picture of how sin keeps us from God. Another was that the offering was not for a particular sin of the woman but for mankind and that this child will continue original sin. Some are practical, one that I read in several commentaries (or I wouldn't have listed it as I disagree) is to cover things a woman might have said or done during the middle of the pains of childbirth. The real answer for why God would have this might be a combination of reasons including some we might never guess. Ultimately, the final answer will be given in heaven, and as long as your view doesn't degrade women, I won't spend a lot of time on this.  

Leviticus 11

 I was listening to J. Vernon McGee's on this chapter and agreed with a point he sees in this chapter. Chapter 11 begins a section on who the people of Israel were to live in their day-to-day lives. This isn't what we saw a the beginning, God's commands on worship and service to him but what we may call the sacred things. However, in chapter 11 God moves into t what we may call secular affairs, but God's tone doesn't change. The commands here are just as serious as the ones concerning worship. For McGee, this is evidence that God doesn't see a sacred/secular divide. Every part of our life should belong to God not just the "churchy" parts (my words not McGee's). I agree and believe it is a good reminder that every area of our life, as Christians, belongs to God and should be under his instructions. 

In Christianity, there are no dietary restrictions but we should eat what we do for God's glory. I have to agree with J. Vernon McGee that this doesn't mean I want to eat some of the things that might be available. 

Photo by Nikolett Emmert on Unsplash

Three Men and Four Soils

 The three men looked around in amazement. They stood at the back of a small church filled with beautiful wood pews and floors and stained glass windows on each side. There was no apparent way in or out except for two doors to the right and left of the stage area. Two steps across the front of the stage meant that from anywhere at the front of the church one could step onto the stage. There was no podium on the stage but from where they stood it looked like four patches of ground.

“Weren’t we just in a car?” Steve asked, breaking the silence of the room.

“Ya” replied Joe and Karl whose eyes were still taking in the room.

Karl took a step forward and turned back to face his two friends. “I don’t think this bodes well for us making it to Indy before 4.”

None of them said anything but they all wondered if this meant they would make it back home at all.

The three turned their attention to the front and began moving in that direction with full but measured steps. Karl in front with the other two behind. Once they were in front of the pews they spread out and took the final two steps toward the stage. Sure, enough, there were four different meter-long squares of ground on the stage. Each man looked at the other and then at the ground. The square furthest to the left was very clearly hard-packed ground, then came one with rocks filling the soil and a few stunted plants, the third was filled with knee-high weeds so think Karl wondered if you could even step in it. The final plot of ground looked rich, and the tops of perfectly cultivated wheat were just high enough to give the ground a smooth carpet of green from the sight angle.

“Mark 4, the parable of the Sower” Joe stated.

“Ya” the other two agreed familiar with the parable.

“What does it have to do with us?” Steve started to ask but from behind them came a blazing light.

The three started to turn around but the light was so bright they had to turn away causing them to fall to one knee and use their hands to keep from falling over. In the turmoil, Karl’s hand fell on the edge of the weed-covered ground. Though overwhelming the light gave off a sense of life and peace, the weed-covered ground filled Karl’s hand with the exact opposite. He couldn’t pull his hand away fast enough as it seemed to him though he knew it couldn’t have been on the ground for more than a second. He focused on the hand for a moment, knowing he would see it diseased and frail but to his relief it was normal.

Karl began to look back toward the light and saw in the eye of Joe a figure coming out of the light and the light dimmed quickly.

“Stand up, don’t be afraid. I’m your guide for this moment.” said a full deep voice from the figure they still couldn’t completely make out with their eyes still adjusting.

The three stood and faced what appeared to be a priest in a white robe and stole.

Karl thought the guy may have been dressed like a priest but looked like he could have been more like the huge African-American Sergeant he was trained under in the Marines. The one difference was this one would have won if the two had fought, the other major difference was that the Sargent would have never been called angelic.

“Behind you are the four soils from the parable you correctly identified. Consider carefully which one is right and step on it and you will return to your earthly bodies.”

The three turned and looked at the patches of ground and then at each other. Each could see the other was thinking, what happens if we choose incorrectly?

They weren’t sure how long but after a few seconds or an hour Steve couldn’t be sure the angel behind them said, “Steve, why don’t you lead the way.”

Steve turned to the angel, and then to his friends. “I know what the right choice should be, but when I look at myself, I know which is more honest.” Before anyone could do anything, Steve took a step onto hard-backed ground on which nothing would grow and disappear.

“And you Joe?”

Joe nodded and without saying anything stepped onto the ground covered with stones and disappeared.

Karl stared. He knew these men as well as anyone. Steve may have been a hard-hearted person long ago, but he was the most tender-hearted one of the three. Joe was the last person Karl would have called shallow. The roots of his faith and his knowledge of the Bible was also the greatest of the three. He was confused but as he looked at the soil, he knew which represented his heart. He had filled his life with everything, and though he had tried to change he didn’t feel as if he had done enough.

He started to move toward the weeds but paused and looked back at the angel a thought filling his mind. “I really was hoping to see, you know this being,” he pauses unable to say a death experience. “What it is.”

“Your wife?”

Karl’s wife had passed a year earlier but Karl shook his head, “No” But then Karl paused thinking that it felt wrong to say he didn’t want to see his wife, but it wasn’t who he had been thinking. He knew she was alright.

The angel nodded and said, “Oh, Jesus. I should have known. I can tell.”

Karl nodded.

“Step onto the ground you were heading for, and you will.”

Karl turned toward the ground and began to step forward but turned and faced the angel with concern etched across his face. “I’ll die on earth if I step there won’t I?”

“Yes, but you will see Him.”

Karl looked toward the grass and then back. “I want it but if God has something more for me to do, I don’t want to make the wrong choice, like I have in the past. If me going back is better than I’m willing.”

The angel could see the look on Karl’s face and shook his head. “I have been assured it’s not the wrong choice and your friends will be okay.”

“I know, God will take care of them.” And with that, he turned and stepped onto the ground filled with weeds. Everything changed around Karl and now instead of standing on weed he stood on a gorgeous hillside and then he saw the smiling face of Jesus.

The angel saw what he had with the other two. The soil changed when each placed their foot upon it. The soil became rich. the ground filled with growing grain. Except for Karl’s grain on Karl’s patch, it was full and ready for harvest.

The angel shook his head, “A hundred-fold that one." The angel looked up and said, "They never do judge their hearts right, but the humble never do."     

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

Isaiah 49

 

Israel was supposed to be the servant of God, but they failed. Jesus came and would be the servant of God coming from their midst who would not fail. By Jesus' faithfulness, God's call of Israel did not fail. The amazing thing is that this servant of God was despised and rejected, and yet is prophecies to see kings stand up and princes bow down. We see even now that, God used what seemed to be the defeat of Jesus on the cross to become the victory of Jesus over all. God's plan all along was to do this and we will see it repeated in Isaiah the promise of not only the victorious Messiah but also the suffering servant who gains victory by suffering. What if great is that God doesn't stand far off and have humanity try and suffer enough to pay the price but God will take on the suffering himself for us. 

1 Thessalonians 2

 

Paul wrote, "Nor did we seek praise from you or from anyone else, although as apostles of Christ we had authority to demand it." Paul didn't demand what he could have from the people at Thessalonica since he was an apostle of Christ. This shows me that certain honors or expectations should be given to those in certain ministries. In 1 Timothy 5:7, Paul speaks of elders who work expounding the Word as worthy of double honor. In 1 Corinthians 9, He speaks of those receiving wages who work in ministry. Paul wasn't against people in ministry receiving their livelihood from ministry (though he did warn that one in ministry shouldn't be covetous, 1 Timothy 3). Here however and in several other places, Paul felt it was important not to ask for help from those he was ministering to even if it was his right. This didn't mean his ministry was better than another but if we assume that God was directing him this was just the right thing to do. 

I have wished that I had wealth so that I wouldn't have to take a salary but most recently I saw that a church showing generosity to the pastor was actually a sign of their maturity and a blessing to them. Had I been financially well-off they would have missed a blessing and I would have not seen the heart of these people. Would it be nice to have all my bills paid off and have an income where I didn't have to depend on the church? I think so and maybe someday it will be, but for now, I am willing to receive the honor/wages due to the work I am called to do in the Word.  

Photo by Vitaly Taranov on Unsplash

1 Thessalonians 1

 

"Now abides faith, hope, and love", Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13. Here Paul speaks of what these produce in the church of Thessalonica. Work was produced by faith, labor produced by love, and endurance inspired by hope. These three attributes of the Spirit-filled life are part of the foundation for everything. If our lives are missing these we will fail. I would actually say if they are missing you might want to see if you are connected with Jesus. Yes, I understand there are times our faith is tested, our love is tried and our hope feels long gone but these would only be moments. However, when they are in our lives we will be a witness to the work of God like this church. 

Photo by Emily Park on Unsplash

Psalms 39

 

The last verse of this Psalm could sound as if the Psalmist is asking God not to pay any attention to him so that he could have a little enjoyment before death. However, what the Psalmist is saying isn't that he wants God to ignore him but that God would not look at him in judgment in what time he has left. Looking at the whole of this Psalm the Psalmist wants God's help and not the judgment that he deserves. What the Psalmist is asking for is mercy but just in a different way. The Benson Commentary indicated that the Psalmist wants time to make things better before the end. The phrasing at the end is a quote from Job 10:21, which is interesting considering the turmoil the Psalmist seems to be going through. 

Photo by Artur Nasyrov on Unsplash

Leviticus 10

After the death of Nabab and Abihu, a command that the priests were not to come into the Tabernacle if they had drank fermented drinks. It seemed to me and upon referring to several commentaries that this command was given as a result of these two men's actions. It seems that it seems reasonable that they gave the wrong incense because they were not sober. Some may think this is harsh, but God had made it clear that those coming before Him needed to be holy, and being drunk definitely could keep you from being fully concentrated to God. In the New Testament, the command seems to be repeated in 1 Timothy 3 where an overseer and deacons are not to be addicted to wine. 

It is my conclusion that though Liqueur may not be entirely forbidden, it seems to be at least as dangerous as wealth. For those who have addictive tendencies, as I do, it would be wise to let it go.  

Photo by joel herzog on Unsplash

Leviticus 9

 Moses had seen God's glory, and now he says that if they do the things that God commanded, they will see God's glory. After it was all done the people not only saw the fire come down but they saw the glory of God. There isn't a great description of what they saw here but there was no doubt that God was in their presence. However, as I noted before this great sign wasn't enough to permanently change the hearts. However, it couldn't be said that God didn't make himself obvious to them, and with great signs comes great responsibilities and greater judgment (but that's later).