What do we do when we see such wreckage in people’s lives around us? How can we help to make things right? Where can we go to find the directions and person who is supposed to help with these things?
Let us look-In His Word!
Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg? I refuse to touch it, such food makes me ill! Job 6:6-7 (niv)
"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. Matt 5:13-16 (nkjv)
"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
"For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every
sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its
flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with
one another."
NKJV Mark 9:49-10:1
"Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" Luke 14:34-35 NKJV
God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, Selah . That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations on earth. Selah. Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him. Ps 67 1-7
Let's face it, we are
human, we get tired out sometimes, but we are also Christian.
I was watching the weather report
this morning to help me plan my days activities. I knew that the
Sacramento station had a ‘word for the day’. They usually have an inspiring
thought to think on and today’s word was “Believe in Your Strength”.
I thought on that a moment and voiced back to the television as well as to my daughter; “I don’t think I believe in my own strength, but then the joy of the Lord is my strength. I do believe in the Lord, and His joy being my strength so in that case… I do believe in my strength!”
She sat there listening and weighing what I said. “Uh-
Yeah!” She stated with a grin as if she were thinking ‘there goes mom again’! Or perhaps she was thinking more along the lines of "Of course doesn't everyone do that?" What is common sense for some of us, is not for others. We need to focus on what we know is truth.
We are the salt of the earth. Think
on that for a moment.
Okay, moments up! I loved the
scripture about the egg white! Job was wise, an egg white tastes blah without
the yoke, or salt added. Sometimes in recipes it calls for sugar to be added to
favor it. Basically it is boring without salt!
So, if salt can bring flavor to
boring stuff, how much more can it bring flavor to the world? We can think of
that scripture as saying that we are the flavor of the world!
But what does salt really do? It
brings out the flavor that is already in something, It causes our taste buds
to be alerted to flavors that we did not know were there.
Have you ever had to eat borderline
food? You were not sure if it was fresh enough to eat, but with a little salt
it passed your lips and kept you sustained for another day. The salt altered
the flavor in that case to make it good, where it may have been near to rotten.
Salt can also heal. When I was a
child and went to the dentist I often would end up with a canker sore from all
the poking and prodding, or at the spot of the needle in my mouth. My parents had me gargle with salt water. Sometimes, I would actually wrap salt in a paper towel and place that on the sore
spot and allow it to draw out the infection. It hurt but it would manage to
cleanse the wound and then it would heal faster. I do not recommend doing such
a thing, but spiritually speaking I can see how we as the salt, sometimes have
to deal in situations that cause pain.
The truth hurts! We all need the
Lord and sometimes we do not want to think about the fact that everyone else
does too! We as the salt are here to flavor the world, to cause it to sit up
and take notice.
But we forget that although we are to
add brightness and joy to the world, we also are here to cleanse it through
Jesus Christ. We are here to share the Gospel message however we can. Sometimes
we have to add some warm water to what we are sharing. Realizing of course that
the salt did not loose any of its saltiness even when in the warm water, but
that it was less harsh to my stomach if I swallowed it, it also was made easier for swishing around in my mouth and reach a much larger area.
I am not saying we need to water
down the Word! Please do not get that from that statement. What I am referring to is
the fact that we need to use our life in Christ, the fact that makes us the
salt, as a solution. Salt and water is a solution. They can separate, or they
can temporarily become one. If you heat the water to boiling the salt will once
again separate from the water and the water will fade away. So if I am teaching
an unbeliever about the Lord, I can become straight salt in the sore of their
lives or I can be warm salt water, soothing and comforting as well as bringing
that Godly healing.
How do I become salt water without
watering down the Gospel?
Warmth is a good place to start! If
I speak the truth in love, it will not hurt as much as if I speak it harshly.
The salt is still healing, but much slower and much more efficiently in the
form of saltwater. It is also much easier to stomach! Remember my stomach liked
the salt more when water was added to it, though the same amount of salt was
consumed, it worked its wonders in a more painless way.
If we live a life that is giving God the glory and allowing others to view the fact that when troubles come we wash them in the Word and cry out to God; then we are putting the salt into the warm water of life!
Okay, did I loose you there? We the salt, are the ingredient
in their lives that causes them to see the Lord Jesus. We can speak it plainly
or with the warm water of His love. We can throw out the Word of God in the
face of their wounds or we can splash some fresh warm love in their face
entwined in the Word!
Personally I would rather feel that
warm water than the harsh pain that it sometimes takes to get part of my life
healed up and ready to receive what God has for me. But I know that it is
necessary at times to wipe out the infection fast in order to aid in healing
from a sinful life and put it behind us.
Either way, we as the salt of the
earth need to be sure we are strong and fresh in our own relationship in order
to keep flavoring the world! I was thinking about the part of the scripture
that says if the salt has lost its flavor... if salt is kept a long time
unused, it changes its flavor.
I have a salt and pepper shaker
collection. I keep salt and pepper in some but not all of them. Once I was out
of salt in my usual shaker and reached for one I had not used in a long time.
It took twice as much salt at least to taste it! It was really flat. If we do
not use our flavor, refilling our selves in the Word and prayer we too will
loose our flavor. It was still salt, but what good is salt that is just sitting
in a shaker?
We need to allow God to shake us up
and send us out! We need to use what we learn while it is fresh! There are
people out there who need the strength of our saltiness to keep fresh as well!
If we add new salt to the world, new Christians then it will have more strength
to keep things fresh, to heal, to cleanse!
One more thought on salt. To get
blood out of a carpet you should pour a pile of salt on it. You will see the
blood rise up and the salt take on its color while it takes out the stain. We
as the salt of the earth are here to bring those who are dying in their sins
out of their sinful lives by pointing them to Jesus, and to help them to remove
the stains left behind by the sins they have committed. When we help a new
believer to get resettled in life to get into a Bible study group or even just
spend time encouraging them mentoring them; we are helping to remove the stains
their sins have left in their lives.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for
taking away my sins, Lord I ask that you help me to be a salt to this world.
Help me to share You with those around me and to bring those you give me to a
closer walk with you. In Jesus name, amen.
Suggested Readings for
this week;
Monday: Matthew 5-1-16
Tuesday: Psalm 68
Wednesday: 2
Corinthians 4:1-18
Thursday: Ecclesiastes
8:1-17
Friday: Psalm 80-all
Weekend readings: Isaiah 60-all
***If for any reason you choose ever not to receive this
devotion again please remember that all it takes is replying with a
"Please remove me from this list." I do ask that if there is a
problem with anything I write for you to feel free to write me back and let me
know what the problem was, that we might go over it together and seek the truth
in love.
In His love,
Teresa M. Wilson