Don’t Cry Over Spilled Perfume

By Allen White

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”

While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” Matthew 26:1-13

One year at youth camp as I was unpacking my bag, a full bottle of cologne dropped on the concrete floor. I think it was Halston Z-14 back then, or was that the car I wanted to drive…. After the initial nauseating fumes wore off, we had the best smelling cabin for the rest of the week. I think we won the “Cleanest Cabin” award every day that week.  It was a costly, though unfair advantage.

 But, this cologne wasn’t the equivalent of my life’s savings. It was easily replaced with 20 bucks at Walgreens. The woman gave a priceless treasure to Jesus. She couldn’t afford to own this bottle of perfume let alone pour it out.

Acting on impulse, she chose to honor Jesus with a costly gift. Though unaware of the impending events in the days ahead, she anointed Jesus with the best of what she had in preparation for His death.

The disciples rationalized the poor stewardship of such extravagance. “This should have been sold to help the poor.” Of course, the question is: what were they selling to help the poor? If the poor were so significant to them, what were they sacrificing?

Sacrificial giving isn’t so popular among us. God gives us extravagant grace and endless blessings, yet we tend to hold on to what we have. What we don’t realize is we’ve only experienced a taste of what God has for us.

When we hold ourselves back from God’s purposes, we limit who we can become. When we are reluctant with our resources, we don’t experience the depths of His riches. We cling to worthless things rather than plunging headlong into eternal blessings.

Years ago, Steve Green recorded a song about this event in Jesus’ life called “Broken and Spilled Out.” The chorus says:

Broken and spilled out

Just for love of you Jesus

My most precious treasure

Lavished on Thee

Broken and spilled out

And poured at Your feet

In sweet abandon

Let me be spilled out

And used up for Thee

What is God calling you to offer Him today? What is that part of yourself you hold so tightly? God can multiply everything you give Him hundreds of times over. What do you have to lose?

Hear the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pklUAB4E4nA&feature=related

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Bad Baby Names

By Allen White

Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. Matthew 26:14-16

I don’t know of anyone who has ever named their child “Judas.” Jerry Seinfeld used to joke that if people named their child “Jeeves,” that child would inevitably turn out to be someone’s butler. “To the theater, Jeeves.”

“Judas” really isn’t the name recognition any of us want. Judas was driven by greed. As the disciples treasurer, he tended to help himself (John 12:4-6).

Judas’ specific actions of betrayal were prophesied hundreds of years before they happened. Psalm 41:9 foretells that “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” We find the fulfillment in Luke 22:3-4. Zechariah predicted the exact price of 30 pieces of silver that would be paid (Zechariah 11:12; Matthew 26:14-15). Both Jeremiah and Zechariah revealed that the money would be returned and would be used to purchase a Potter’s field (Zechariah 11:12-13; Jeremiah 19:1-13; 32:6-9; Matthew 27:3-10).

Was Judas’ wickedness a part of God’s plan? Judas plays a unique, if undesirable, role in the days leading to Jesus’ death. It would be easy to turn Judas into some sort of detestable beast, a Hannibal Lecter-type disciple. Certainly he was something that we could never become. Yet Judas’ sin and ours drove Jesus to the cross of Calvary. We’re not so innocent. Fortunately, through Christ’s death and His forgiveness, we are redeemed.

Judas regretted his actions to the point of taking his own life (Matthew 27:5). If only he had known that even his actions were forgivable. No one is unredeemable.

There is no sin bigger than God’s ability to forgive. What is dragging you down these days? Wouldn’t you like to be free? Give what is binding you to God and seek His forgiveness. He’d love to forgive you.

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Jesus Loves Stubborn People (and Everybody Else Too)

By Allen White

You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation. Matthew 23:33-36

The Bible teaches that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). The Bible also teaches that Jesus is God (Matthew 1:23). The conclusion is that Jesus is also the loving God. This passage, however, doesn’t sound so loving.

Jesus loved the Pharisees, Sadducees and other religious leaders just as much as He loves you and me. The difference is that some of us were more fertile soil for Christ’s message (Matthew 13:1-23). The religious leaders were obviously hard ground – paved over, cemented shut, and covered in RoundUp. Nothing spiritual was growing there.

In gardening or lawn care, when we come to hard, rocky soil, we bust it up. If we want something to grow there we need to make the conditions right for growth. If we only planted grass in hospitable areas of our lawn, we would have little green islands surrounded by red clay and weeds in South Carolina. To have a nice yard, the rocks have to come out, the hard ground must be tilled, and the weeds must be eradicated.

Jesus’ message couldn’t penetrate the hardness of the religious leaders’ hearts. This called for drastic action. This called for a sledge or maybe even a jack hammer. Jesus wasn’t going to allow them to remain encased by the granite of legalism or paralyzed by the stubbornness of pride and tradition. Jesus loved them. They needed to hear the Truth.

What a way to get their attention. Could you imagine hearing Jesus say these words to you? You’d hope He would just bless your heart and move on.

God wouldn’t allow the Pharisees or even us to remain in a stubborn, sinful state. God loves us too much to leave us that way. But, when God begins to knock off our rough edges, it doesn’t feel very good. If we’re wrong, but think we are right, that’s when it hurts the most.

Where is God chiseling away at you these days? How is that pain or problem in your life poking at some area of stubborn disobedience? Isn’t it time to give that thing over to God? Isn’t it time to learn to trust Him? God loves you too much to leave you the way you are.

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[Weekly Digest] Galatians419 Devotionals for week of 3/4/2012

Just in case you missed something this week:

Pretend Christians

By Allen White

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Matthew 23:25-26

Pretending. We all pretend to one degree or another, especially on Sunday mornings. While we may not put on our “Sunday best” these days, we still put on. Read more...

Rick Warren: Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?

This is not a devotional today, but I believe this question around Rick Warren deserves your attention. 


A recent article in the Orange County Register left the impression that Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and author of The Purpose Driven Life believes that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.


Read Rick Warren's response in his own words: http://allenwhite.org/2012/03/04/rick-warren-and-chrislam-do-christians-and-muslims-worship-the-same-god/

Put Up or Shut Up

By Allen White

When I was first starting in ministry, the denomination I was a part of required us to take tests on what we believed in order to receive ministerial credentials. I would meticulously study the statement of faith along with the supporting Scripture references. After all, if you failed a denominational ministry test, where would that leave you with God? Read more...

You Are Your History, or Are You?

By Allen White

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

Matthew 23:29-32

It’s human nature to remember things as better than they really were. Maybe that’s how we survive. Maybe that’s how we reconcile past horrors in our minds. As my friends in recovery say, “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.” Read more...

You Are Your History, or Are You?

By Allen White

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

Matthew 23:29-32

It’s human nature to remember things as better than they really were. Maybe that’s how we survive. Maybe that’s how we reconcile past horrors in our minds. As my friends in recovery say, “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.”

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day sought to honor the prophets that their ancestors actually martyred. Jesus recognized that these religious folks were cut from the same cloth. After all, the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree.  While they honored the slain prophets, they would soon crucify the Savior.

There are many things we’d like to forget about. In fact, scientific research is advancing toward removing bad memories from our minds.  But, if we forget the horrors of war or the evils of slavery or the terror of holocaust, what will keep human beings from repeating these acts?

For many of us, there are things in our family history that we’re not especially proud of. While we can’t choose our family, we can choose to live our lives differently. This doesn’t happen by pretending that everything is okay. This happens by hard work.

Each of us has a choice. Will we pass on the suffering, prejudice, abuse, attitudes or disobedience to the next generation or will we choose to stop these things in our generation? Do we want the next generation to carry the burden we carry? Or should these things die with us?

Your family history is not your fault. You didn’t choose it. You didn’t create it. You had no control over it. Yet, you have a choice to continue what you were taught by word and example or to make a difference. It’s up to you.

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Put Up or Shut Up

By Allen White

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Matthew 23:27-28

When I was first starting in ministry, the denomination I was a part of required us to take tests on what we believed in order to receive ministerial credentials. I would meticulously study the statement of faith along with the supporting Scripture references. After all, if you failed a denominational ministry test, where would that leave you with God?

I would rapidly memorize all of the doctrinal points and the companion verses, spit them out on the test, and breathe a sigh of relief. But, looking back, if I had to work that hard on researching and memorizing my beliefs, did I actually believe them?

The reality is we don’t actually believe just what we say we believe. We only believe the things we actually do.

Have you noticed people’s reactions when a fire alarm sounds? Does everyone jump up and run out of the building? Probably not. Some people don’t even pause to notice. We wait for someone to verify whether the alarm really indicated a problem or just a malfunction.

If we believed there was a fire, we’d grab what couldn’t be replaced and then dream about what our new computer will look like. We’d run out of there. But, we don’t always believe alarms are accurate.

If we believe God answers prayer, yet we choose to worry rather than pray, we don’t actually believe in prayer. If we believe God will meet our needs, yet we continue to fret and kill ourselves to make a buck, we might not believe that either.

Don’t get me wrong. God values hard work. But, God doesn’t value anxiety and worry over things He’s already taken care of.

If we trust Jesus for salvation, yet work hard in order to feel more secure, do we trust Jesus? If we worry more about what other people think of us, have we truly put Jesus at the center of our lives.

I know, today’s devotional is ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch. I’m not writing these things to make you feel bad. If you believe in the power of prayer, then pray. If you believe in the truth of God’s Word, then read it and live it. If you’d rather fake it ‘til you make it, then fake it. It’s exhausting. It doesn’t work. But, go ahead.

Integrity demands that who we are on the outside is the same as who we are on the inside. It’s time for us to either live what we say we believe or just shut up.

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Rick Warren: Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?

This is not a devotional today, but I believe this question around Rick Warren deserves your attention.


A recent article in the Orange County Register left the impression that Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and author of The Purpose Driven Life believes that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.


Read Rick Warren's response in his own words: http://allenwhite.org/2012/03/04/rick-warren-and-chrislam-do-christians-and-muslims-worship-the-same-god/