Some people always say, “If God would only do this or that, then I might believe in Him…If He would end all the evil and all the suffering on earth; if He would only do a miracle, then I would believe in Him …”

In the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, we see that God has given us all we need to know He is God. He has given us His word, His commandments, His creation, and our conscience. After the rich man dies, he realizes how real God is, and he wants Lazarus to come back to life and warn his brothers about this. But it is written then in verse 31:

…if they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.

I never noticed something about the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. It is a very familiar story to so many people. Familiarity is not always such a good thing. It seems in this story of the prodigal son, the older son was a bit too familiar with his living situation at his dad’s house.

After his younger brother returns, Luke 15:26 says that the older brother called a servant to himself to find out what all the commotion was about. Why didn’t he go straight to his dad to find out? Was he afraid? How much was he really concerned about the things his dad cared about? Everything his dad owned he could have at any time. Now, he gets angry because his dad seemed to care a lot about his son coming home. Why did the older brother get angry? I believe because he never really tried to understand his dad. He never really cared for the things his father cared about.

As I am writing this, I am sitting in an airplane flying to South Korea. We are a team of 19 people on our way to an almost seven-week long outreach in the nation of South Korea. Our work there is cut out for us, and we are very excited to minister to and with the people there.

I was reading through Matthew 5, and right in the beginning of this chapter we read in verse 2: “…He [Jesus] opened His mouth and began to teach them…”

And then, as we know, Jesus lists ways of how we can be blessed by developing a solid character. The very first thing He pronounces is not what stocks to buy, or what latest gadget is a must have, what movie to see, or 10 things not to do if you want to be happy. Instead, He utters the words in verse 3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…”

There is a huge difference between living a transparent life and living a life of complacency and/or excuses. It is one thing to be honest and open, but it is another to use phrases like “I’m just being real” or “Being spiritual is being real” as an excuse for certain behaviors, laziness, ignorance, and/or hurtful comments. For example: “I really don’t like you haircut.” “What?” “I’m just being real. God wants us to be real, right?”