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In ancient Rome, fine pottery was relatively thin and fragile and often would develop cracks after firing. Rather than remake the piece, unscrupulous shops would fill the cracks with hard, dark wax and then sell it as new.
So you would take your purchase home and put it outside, and in the blazing Mediterranean sun, parts of it would start to melt. Then you would take that pottery back to the shopkeeper and say, "What have you done? This isn't right. I want one without wax."
That is what Paul meant when he prayed that the believers in Philippi would be "sincere and without offense." Sincere is sometimes translated "without wax." So Paul was essentially saying, "Move forward in your life without moral failure." He wrote in 1 Corinthians 10, "Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. (verses 32–33). Another way to translate that is, "Don't give an unbeliever a reason to not believe."
Jesus saved his most scathing words not for struggling sinners but for hypocritical believers, those who appeared to be one thing but really were another.
So let's make sure we are not people who bring reproach to the name of Jesus Christ. Each of us has a sphere of influence. Each of us has a group of people who are watching us carefully. They are scrutinizing every word and hoping we will mess up. When you walk with God, live a godly life, and do what He wants you to do, it drives some of them crazy. And so it should. It is the power of a good testimony.
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Does the power of your testimony cause some people in your sphere of influence to notice?
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Today's Bible Reading:
Genesis 34: Dinah Is Raped
1 Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the women who lived there. 2 She was seen by Hamor’s son Shechem, the leader of the Hivites, and he grabbed her and raped her. 3 But Shechem was attracted to Dinah, so he told her how much he loved her. 4 He even asked his father to get her for his wife.
5 Meanwhile, Jacob heard what had happened. But his sons were out in the fields with the cattle, so he did not do anything at the time. 6 Hamor arrived at Jacob’s home 7 just as Jacob’s sons were coming in from work. When they learned that their sister had been raped, they became furiously angry. Nothing is more disgraceful than rape, and it should not be tolerated in Israel.
8 Hamor said to Jacob and his sons:
My son Shechem really loves Dinah. Please let him marry her. 9 Why don’t you start letting your families marry into our families and ours marry into yours? 10 You can share this land with us. Move freely about until you find the property you want; then buy it and settle down here.
11 Shechem added, “Do this favor for me, and I’ll give whatever you want. 12 Ask anything, no matter how expensive. I’ll do anything, just let me marry Dinah.”
13 Jacob’s sons wanted to get even with Shechem and his father because of what had happened to their sister. 14 So they tricked them by saying:
You’re not circumcised![a] It would be a disgrace for us to let you marry Dinah now. 15 But we will let you marry her, if you and the other men in your tribe get circumcised. 16 Then your families can marry into ours, and ours can marry into yours, and we can live together like one nation. 17 But if you don’t agree to get circumcised, we’ll take Dinah and leave this place.
18 Hamor and Shechem liked what was said. 19 Shechem was the most respected person in his family, and he was so in love with Dinah that he hurried off to get everything done. 20 The two men met with the other leaders of their city and told them:
21 These people really are friendly. Why not let them move freely about until they find the property they want? There’s enough land here for them and for us. Then our families can marry into theirs, and theirs can marry into ours.
22 We have to do only one thing before they will agree to stay here and become one nation with us. Our men will have to be circumcised like their men. 23 Just think! We’ll get their property, as well as their flocks and herds. All we have to do is to agree, and they will live here with us.
24 Every grown man followed this advice and got circumcised.
Dinah’s Brothers Take Revenge
25 Three days later the men who had been circumcised were still weak from pain. So Simeon and Levi,[b] two of Dinah’s brothers, attacked with their swords and killed every man in town, 26 including Hamor and Shechem. Then they took Dinah and left. 27 Jacob’s other sons came and took everything they wanted. All this was done because of the horrible thing that had happened to their sister. 28 They took sheep, goats, donkeys, and everything else that was in the town or the fields. 29 After taking everything of value from the houses, they dragged away the wives and children of their victims.
30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “Look what you’ve done! Now I’m in real trouble with the Canaanites and Perizzites who live around here. There aren’t many of us, and if they attack, they’ll kill everyone in my household.”
31 They answered, “Was it right to let our own sister be treated that way?”
Jacob Returns to Bethel
35:1 God told Jacob, “Return to Bethel, where I appeared to you when you were running from your brother Esau. Make your home there and build an altar for me.”
2 Jacob said to his family and to everyone else who was traveling with him:
Get rid of your foreign gods! Then make yourselves acceptable to worship God and put on clean clothes. 3 Afterwards, we’ll go to Bethel. I will build an altar there for God, who answered my prayers when I was in trouble and who has always been at my side.
4 So everyone gave Jacob their idols and their earrings,[c] and he buried them under the oak tree near Shechem.
5 While Jacob and his family were traveling through Canaan, God terrified the people in the towns so much that no one dared bother them. 6 Finally, they reached Bethel, also known as Luz. 7 Jacob built an altar there and called it “God of Bethel,” because that was the place where God had appeared to him when he was running from Esau. 8 While they were there, Rebekah’s personal servant Deborah[d] died. They buried her under an oak tree and called it “Weeping Oak.”
God Blesses Jacob at Bethel
9-11 After Jacob came back to the land of Canaan, God appeared to him again. This time he gave Jacob a new name and blessed him by saying:
I am God All-Powerful, and from now on your name will be Israel[e] instead of Jacob. You will have many children. Your descendants will become nations, and some of the men in your family will even be kings. 12 I will give you the land that I promised Abraham and Isaac, and it will belong to your family forever.
13 After God had gone, 14 Jacob set up a large rock, so that he would remember what had happened there. Then he poured wine and olive oil on the rock to show that it was dedicated to God, 15 and he named the place Bethel.[f]
Benjamin Is Born
16 Jacob and his family had left Bethel and were still a long way from Ephrath, when the time came for Rachel’s baby to be born. 17 She was having a rough time, but the woman who was helping her said, “Don’t worry! It’s a boy.” 18 Rachel was at the point of death, and right before dying, she said, “I’ll name him Benoni.”[g] But Jacob called him Benjamin.[h]
19 Rachel was buried beside the road to Ephrath, which is also called Bethlehem. 20 Jacob set up a tombstone over her grave, and it is still there. 21 Jacob, also known as Israel, traveled to the south of Eder Tower, where he set up camp.
22 During their time there, Jacob’s oldest son Reuben slept with Bilhah, who was one of Jacob’s other wives.[i] And Jacob found out about it.
Jacob’s Twelve Sons
23-26 Jacob had twelve sons while living in northern Syria.[j] His first-born Reuben was the son of Leah, who later gave birth to Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Leah’s servant Zilpah had two sons: Gad and Asher.
Jacob and his wife Rachel had Joseph and Benjamin. Rachel’s servant woman Bilhah had two more sons: Dan and Naphtali.
Isaac Dies
27 Jacob went to his father Isaac at Hebron, also called Mamre or Kiriath-Arba, where Isaac’s father Abraham had lived as a foreigner. 28-29 Isaac died at the ripe old age of one hundred eighty, then his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Esau’s Family
36:1 Esau, also known as Edom, had many descendants. 2 He married three Canaanite women: The first was Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite; the second was Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite; 3 the third was Basemath, who was Ishmael’s daughter and Nebaioth’s sister.
4-5 Esau and his three wives had five sons while in Canaan. Adah’s son was Eliphaz; Basemath’s son was Reuel; Oholibamah’s three sons were Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
6 Esau took his children and wives, his relatives and servants, his animals and possessions he had gotten while in Canaan, and moved far from Jacob. 7 He did this because the land was too crowded and could not support him and his brother with their flocks and herds. 8 That’s why Esau made his home in the hill country of Seir.
9-14 Esau lived in the hill country of Seir and was the ancestor of the Edomites. Esau had three wives: Adah, Basemath, and Oholibamah. Here is a list of his descendants: Esau and Adah had a son named Eliphaz, whose sons were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. Timna was the other wife[k] of Esau’s son Eliphaz, and she had a son named Amalek.
Esau and Basemath had a son named Reuel, whose sons were Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
Esau and Oholibamah had three sons: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
Chiefs and Leaders in Edom
15 Esau and Adah’s oldest son was Eliphaz, and the clans that descended from him were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, 16 Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. These and Esau’s other descendants lived in the land of Edom.
17 The clans that descended from Esau and Basemath’s son Reuel were Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
18 The clans that descended from Esau and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah were Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. 19 All of these clans descended from Esau, who was known as Edom.
20 Seir was from the Horite tribe that had lived in Edom before the time of Esau. The clans that had descended from him were Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.
22 Lotan’s sons were Hori and Heman; his sister was Timna.
23 Shobal’s sons were Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
24 Zibeon’s sons were Aiah and Anah—the same Anah who found an oasis[l] in the desert while taking the donkeys of his father out to pasture.
25 Anah’s children were Dishon and Oholibamah.
26 Dishon’s sons were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
27 Ezer’s sons were Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
28 Dishan’s sons were Uz and Aran.
29 The clans of the Horites were Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 30 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan, and they lived in the land of Seir.
31-39 Before there were kings in Israel, the following kings ruled Edom one after another:
Bela son of Beor from Dinhabah;
Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah;
Husham from the land of Teman;
Hadad son of Bedad from Avith (Bedad had defeated the Midianites in Moab);
Samlah from Masrekah;
Shaul from the city of Rehoboth on the Euphrates River;
Baalhanan son of Achbor;
Hadar from the city of Pau (his wife Mehetabel was the daughter of Matred and the granddaughter of Mezahab).
40 The clans that descended from Esau took their names from their families and the places where they lived. They are Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 43 Magdiel, and Iram. These clans descended from Esau, who was known as Edom, the father of the Edomites. They took their names from the places where they settled.[Footnotes:
34.14 You’re not circumcised: Israelite boys were circumcised when they were eight days old, and no uncircumcised man could be part of the people of Israel.
34.25 Simeon and Levi: Dinah’s full brothers.
35.4 earrings: These would have had symbols of foreign gods on them.
35.8 Deborah: See 24.59 and the note there.
35.9-11 Israel: See the note at 32.28.
35.15 Bethel: See the note at 28.19.
35.18 Benoni: In Hebrew “Benoni” means “Son of my Sorrow.”
35.18 Benjamin: In Hebrew “Benjamin” can mean “Son at my Right Side” (the place of power).
35.22 other wives: See the note at 22.24. Bilhah had been Rachel’s servant woman (see 29.28-30).
35.23-26 northern Syria: See the note at 24.10.
36.9-14 other wife: See the note at 22.24.
36.24 an oasis: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.]
Luke 14: Jesus Heals a Sick Man
1 One Sabbath, Jesus was having dinner in the home of an important Pharisee, and everyone was carefully watching Jesus. 2 All of a sudden a man with swollen legs stood up in front of him. 3 Jesus turned and asked the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses, “Is it right to heal on the Sabbath?” 4 But they did not say a word.
Jesus took hold of the man. Then he healed him and sent him away. 5 Afterwards, Jesus asked the people, “If your son or ox falls into a well, wouldn’t you pull him out right away, even on the Sabbath?” 6 There was nothing they could say.
How To Be a Guest
7 Jesus saw how the guests had tried to take the best seats. So he told them:
8 When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the best place. Someone more important may have been invited. 9 Then the one who invited you will come and say, “Give your place to this other guest!” You will be embarrassed and will have to sit in the worst place.
10 When you are invited to be a guest, go and sit in the worst place. Then the one who invited you may come and say, “My friend, take a better seat!” You will then be honored in front of all the other guests. 11 If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.
12 Then Jesus said to the man who had invited him:
When you give a dinner or a banquet, don’t invite your friends and family and relatives and rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in return, and you will be paid back. 13 When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 They cannot pay you back. But God will bless you and reward you when his people rise from death.
The Great Banquet
15 After Jesus had finished speaking, one of the guests said, “The greatest blessing of all is to be at the banquet in God’s kingdom!”
16 Jesus told him:
A man once gave a great banquet and invited a lot of guests. 17 When the banquet was ready, he sent a servant to tell the guests, “Everything is ready! Please come.”
18 One guest after another started making excuses. The first one said, “I bought some land, and I’ve got to look it over. Please excuse me.”
19 Another guest said, “I bought five teams of oxen, and I need to try them out. Please excuse me.”
20 Still another guest said, “I have just gotten married, and I can’t be there.”
21 The servant told his master what happened, and the master became so angry that he said, “Go as fast as you can to every street and alley in town! Bring in everyone who is poor or crippled or blind or lame.”
22 When the servant returned, he said, “Master, I’ve done what you told me, and there is still plenty of room for more people.”
23 His master then told him, “Go out along the back roads and fence rows and make people come in, so that my house will be full. 24 Not one of the guests I first invited will get even a bite of my food!”
Being a Disciple
25 Large crowds were walking along with Jesus, when he turned and said:
26 You cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot come with me unless you love me more than you love your own life.
27 You cannot be my disciple unless you carry your own cross and come with me.
28 Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. What is the first thing you will do? Won’t you sit down and figure out how much it will cost and if you have enough money to pay for it? 29 Otherwise, you will start building the tower, but not be able to finish. Then everyone who sees what is happening will laugh at you. 30 They will say, “You started building, but could not finish the job.”
31 What will a king do if he has only ten thousand soldiers to defend himself against a king who is about to attack him with twenty thousand soldiers? Before he goes out to battle, won’t he first sit down and decide if he can win? 32 If he thinks he won’t be able to defend himself, he will send messengers and ask for peace while the other king is still a long way off. 33 So then, you cannot be my disciple unless you give away everything you own.
Salt and Light
34 Salt is good, but if it no longer tastes like salt, how can it be made to taste salty again? 35 It is no longer good for the soil or even for the manure pile. People simply throw it out. If you have ears, pay attention!
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Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie
P.O. Box 4000
Riverside, California 92514-4000 United States
Phone: 1(800)821-3300
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