Opportunity to Go and Do the Same

In the LA Times back in 2004 there was a story about a man who risked his life to protect someone else.  In the article it said, “The night Studio City resident Rene Navarro went to the aid of his neighbor, actress Anna Nicole Smith, he had hoped to persuade the man trying to enter her house to leave. Instead, Smith’s 6-foot-5, 230-pound former boyfriend turned stalker punched, kicked and threatened to kill Navarro. Though the assault left Navarro, 59, with broken fingers, head injuries and other wounds, his willingness to intervene convinced L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley to make him one of three recipients of the Courageous Citizen Awards in a ceremony Wednesday at the Pasadena Hilton.”  When Navarro went in to the situation he knew that he would be at risk for interfering.  It did not stop him.  He showed compassion and care for his neighbor.  However, later Navarro was recognized for his courageous act.  Although recognition for compassionate acts does not always occur, it is a great encouragement when they do.  Jesus told the parable of the good Samaritan to give recognition to the fact that God appreciates and recognizes self-sacrificing acts of compassion to others.  Read Luke 10: 30 – 37.

30 Jesus took up [the question] and said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw [the man], he had compassion. 34 He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 “The one who showed mercy to him,” he said. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”

Jesus told the expert in the law and the others who were listening that they needed to go and do the same.  Although the good Samaritan sacrificed time and money and was not publicly recognized for his good deed, Jesus shows us that God is pleased when we respond to opportunity to help others.  What an encouragement to know that God is watching and is pleased by our choice to respond to these type of opportunities to help others.

 

Never Pass Up God’s Opportunity

There are several shows on TV that deal with buying storage units and then going through them hoping to find something of value buried in them.  It’s a risky proposition.  You can spend money on something that just holds junk that you need to get rid of.  It’s also a lot of work.  You have to lift, dig, shove, move, re-pack, refinish, research, find buyers and sell it all.  So the question is, “Is it worth the effort and money?”  Or should you pass up the opportunity?  One time according to Trutv.com “In 2000, the actor Nicholas Cage filed a police report claiming that an extremely rare comic book, Action Comics #1, (valued at more than a million dollars) had been stolen from his Los Angeles home. More than 10 years later, a collectibles expert was contacted by an anonymous man who found the book after discovering it in a purchased storage locker. The collectibles expert contacted a comic book expert who happened to be the same man who had originally sold the book to Cage in 1994. Despite having received insurance money for the comic, the actor was eager to settle up with the insurance company and retrieve his property.”  This is just one of many examples where the work was worth the effort.  This was definitely an opportunity that shouldn’t have been passed up.  Jesus tells a parable that teaches this concept in Luke 10: 30 – 35.

30 Jesus took up [the question] and said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw [the man], he had compassion. 34 He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’

We don’t really know why the two religious men passed up the man who had been robbed.  Perhaps they didn’t want to be inconvenienced or they knew it would cost them time and money.  Whatever the case the Samaritan stopped and took care of the man.  He gave up time and money to help.  It may not seem like an opportunity to help someone in need, but God sees it as an opportunity to share Him with others.  He gives us everything we have.  He gives us health, time, and money.  He expects to give of what we have to serve Him and others.   Every time to serve God is a great opportunity.  It’s opportunity that should not be passed up for our own selfish reasons.  If God shows us the opportunity and we know it is from Him, then we need to respond to the opportunity.  It is just common sense to not pass up God’s opportunities.  He will bless us for honoring Him and representing Him to others.  What we might spend in time and money will not compare to what we gain from God.  It’s like the great reward these storage unit buyers find.  

Here are some great opportunity quotes by some successful men:

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Thomas Edison

“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” Charles Swindoll

“Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open.” Alexander Graham Bell

 

 

Seeing the Opportunity

Have you heard the expression, “If it had been a snake, it would have bit you.” or “It’s staring at you right in your face.”?  I laugh because I say these types of things to certain family members who can’t seem to find things they are looking for.  Sometimes we are so involved in what we are doing or have spent so much time looking we just don’t see clearly any more.  What is obvious becomes unobvious to us.  It’s the same with opportunities in our lives.  We may have been looking for work for a long time and as rejections pile up and time passes by we may not even see a job opportunity that someone has told us about as a job opportunity.  We see it as another rejection or as a hopeless cause to pursue.  We miss the opportunity that God may have opened up for us.  Look at the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10: 30 -35.

 30 Jesus took up [the question] and said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw [the man], he had compassion. 34 He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’

The first two men who came across the man who lay in the street wounded and robbed were supposed to be godly men.  One was a priest, the other a Levite.  Yet each one of them looked at the man and continued on their way.  Perhaps they figured he was going to die and it wasn’t their responsibility or their fault this had happened.  Perhaps they figured he deserved it.  Perhaps they figured he was just a robber lying in wait.  Perhaps they thought someone else would take care of him.  Perhaps they thought they had too much on their plate already serving God or meeting family needs.  Whatever the case they missed an opportunity to minister to someone in need.  They didn’t even stop to examine him to see what his needs were and see if they could help.  They missed an opportunity to be a witness for God.

We need to take instruction from these two men.  Take time to see things as opportunities.  Even a trial that comes upon us is an opportunity to serve God or witness for Him.  God always brings things in to our life for a reason.  We may think it will cost us too much time or money.  We may think it will over stress us.  We may think we don’t have the skill.  What we are forgetting is that God has placed many opportunities in to our life and expects us to respond.  He always provides the resources to respond appropriately.  If He is leading us, then we must respond.  We must not just walk on past the opportunity.  Follow God’s instruction to see the opportunities he lays in our path.

The Breath of Understanding

God is so amazing.  With a single breath He can do so much.  First in Genesis chapter 1, we see He started with breathing life in to every living creature.  Then in Genesis chapter 2, we see Him breathing life in to the first man, Adam.  Then in Exodus chapter 15, we see God breathing over the seas and taking care of Israel’s enemies.  In II Samuel chapter 22, we see David praising God for his rescue from his enemies by God’s breath.

God breathed spiritual life in to us, when we believed what His Son did for us on Calvary and through His resurrection.  To be made spiritually alive by the breath of God is the most wonderful thing that could ever happen to us.  Once that happens we have the opportunity for God’s breath to give us another spiritual gift from above.  Read Job 32:7 and 8 -

“7 I thought that age should speak and maturity should teach wisdom.8 But it is a spirit in man and the breath of the Almighty that give him understanding.”

Elihu, one of Job’s good friends, share’s with us a very important piece of information that will benefit us as we walk through this world.  It isn’t our education or our time of learning from wise men that gives us true wisdom.  It isn’t living to a ripe old age on this Earth and learning wisdom through experience during a long life that gives us true wisdom.  It is the spirit that lives in us and God breathing understanding in to us.  We will never be able to obtain true wisdom or understanding on our own.  It is only going to be obtained when God chooses to breathe it in to our lives.  We need to seek it from Him.  It is a gift only He can give once we have Christ in our heart.  So ask God to breathe common sense in to you.  Ask with a pure heart or for the right reasons for God to give you a breath of understanding.