We all want to be model citizens (at least we should!). Model human beings. We are supposed to love one another, care for one another, help those who may be in need. We are not supposed to bring harm upon one another. It is our duty as children of God, if we see someone struggling to come together and support them whether it be providing resources, emotional support, prayers, or whatever it is that may be required. Regardless of our beliefs, it is our responsibility as a community to pull together and lend a helping hand. However, while it is our duty to be helpers to one another, there comes a time when we must recognize the difference between Good Deeds and GOD DEEDS!

 

First let's talk about Good Deeds with Bad Intentions:

There are many people that jump on board to donate, volunteer or engage in whatever helps to bring spotlight and recognition upon themselves. There are many people who become a part of causes, for nothing more than self-gratification. I am quite sure whether it be in church, at work, or maybe in your academic or social settings that you can recall that one person that volunteers to do everything and behind closed doors complains about everything that they volunteer to do. They relentlessly grumble about the fact that no one else helps do anything. You know those people that you want to remind that no one asked for their help. Those people that you want to tell to stop volunteering if they're going to complain about it. Yet, you learn to choose your battles and simply smile and tune them out. These are the people that thrive off recognition and accolades and meanwhile, could care less about the mission of the causes that they are involved in. They see it as network opportunities and resume builders. They see it as a way to become "known".  Better yet, if they realize that recognition won't come along with the cause, they'll unregretfully back out of it and flock toward the next thing that's going to help them to build their name. They use good deeds for selfish intentions.

 

Good Deeds with Hypocritical Actions:

And then there are the "high and mighty, holier than though, hypocritical, good deeders". I know that was a long name, but it comes with explanation. Now before we expound, this is absolutely not a judgement call because none of us are without sin. But let's discuss the people who do good, pretend to be good, but act oh so bad. There are people who may be in the choir, on the usher board, on the Sunday School Department board and are constantly judging everybody else for not getting involved. They constantly go around telling people that "ministry comes first", and that people need to honor God by being active in the church. Yet, when they leave the walls of the church their "real lives" reflect a network reality show, and they are the character to watch. You name it, they do it. These are the people that are under the assumption that doing good deeds pleases God regardless of the intent behind them and regardless of how they live their personal lives.

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Now does this mean that people who are not considered "righteous" should not do good deeds. No, it does not mean that. The point is don't use your good deeds in a way to condemn others and make yourself superior by boasting about the good that you do when your life is sketchy. Don't go around asking others "What Would Jesus Do?" when you should be asking yourself. Don't make others feel like they are "sinful" just because they are not active in church activities. Most importantly, don't mislead people by making them believe that "good deeds" alone get you into heaven.

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In Matthew 23, Jesus was speaking to the crowd which included his disciples. He began to highlight the way in which the teachers of the law and the Pharisees contradicted themselves. Jesus stated,     

" Everything they do is done for people to see; They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;". He then goes on to state in verse 12 of this same chapter, "For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

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Jesus was speaking of the individuals who talk the talk but don't walk the walk.  He expressed that we must be careful of who we follow because there are many who wear their "phylacteries" (these were boxes that contained verses of scripture that were worn on the arm) in a way that makes them visible to others but they themselves are far from what they are preaching. Jesus said, " for they say, and do not".  We too see those who love to carry the bible and their good deeds on their sleeve and are the first to condemn sin, the same sins that they practice behind closed doors.

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When we do good it should not be for self-gratification or exaltation of ourselves, but we should do it from our hearts. We should be genuine in our intent. Most importantly, we should do it for the glorification of God. Matthew 5:16 reminds us to" let [our] light shine before others, that they may see [our] good deeds and glorify [our] Father in heaven."

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When we do things for the right reason, for the glory of God, we won't have to boast about them. If God desires for our acts to be known, He will make them known. We can't go around using good deeds as a means of condemning others, as a means of trying to right our wrongs, or as a means of trying to appear holy.

 

 Good Deeds vs. GOD DEEDS

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Now this part of our discussion is an interesting one because it is something that many of us have fallen victim to or maybe have not realized it to be a problem of sorts. There are many of us who are kind-hearted, compassionate, who are genuinely concerned about those around us and their well-being whether friend, family, or stranger. There are those of us who, if we see someone in need, won't hesitate to help. There are those of us who don't think twice about donating to charities and organizations that we are passionate about. There are those of us who no matter what it takes out of us or what we have to sacrifice, we will always come to the rescue of our loved ones. We will always help everyone out of their circumstances. While these are extremely good deeds, sometimes we must take a step back and reflect on, are they God Deeds. Are these things that we should be doing? Has God called us to do these things?

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Let's Explore:

When we find ourselves constantly playing Captain Save Em' for the ones that we love or even the ones that we may not know, we just know they have a need, is it possible that at times we are getting in God's way without realizing it?  

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I can recall situations where I was always "saving" certain individuals, getting them out of the rut that they were in and I didn't think twice about it. I'm real enough to admit that during this time, I did not necessarily ask God if I should help because I "assumed" that God would have wanted me to. I mean He wants us to help those in need, right?

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However, God started to open my eyes to certain people and things, and I realized that certain individuals had become dependent on me in a way that they started to credit me for helping them. I found myself explaining to people, "it was not me". I would tell people not to thank me but to thank God. I did not feel right about people crediting me for "bringing them through" certain situations, because in my eyes, I am only a vessel. I began to realize that many of us find ourselves in this same situation. I started to realize that God could have been trying to get the attention of these individuals, trying to make them depend on Him, but I was constantly playing "Super- Hero Rescue Squad". It was interesting because once God brought this to my attention, I had to change my reaction to those who had become dependent on me. While I believe in relentless prayer as this is the foundation of our 1st Thessalonians 5 Prayer Connect mission, I had to at times change my approach to how I went about praying for those who had become dependent on me. I remember telling a close acquaintance who asked for prayer, "I'll pray for you, but God also wants to hear from you."  There were people in my life that would not even pray for themselves because they thought that my prayers were more effective. I could not allow them to think this way and so I started to encourage them to pray on their own. I encouraged them to have conversations with God.

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A lot of people don't pray because they feel like they can't. They feel like they'll say the wrong things. And there are even some who don't pray because they don't feel worthy. But everyone must come to understand that if you go to God humbly and sincerely, if you seek Him, He'll hear your prayers. I tell people to simply talk to God just as they would to me. You don't have to use scripture or fancy jargon but just simply and honestly tell Him how you feel.

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Another revelation was that I was so used to "good deeds" although they were for the right reasons that I never took the time to question if through these good deeds I was doing what God wanted me to do. It got to a point where God tied my hands and would not allow me to come to the rescue of people whether familiar or stranger unless He instructed me to do so. In all honesty this was extremely difficult because I don't like to see people struggle. I don't like to see people being taken advantage of. I don't like to see people in need knowing that I can do something to help. However, I had to come to realize that maybe I was standing in the way of these people realizing that their "true source" was God. I was standing in the way of these individuals learning how to "Go to God" when in trouble, when in distress, when in lack, when in confusion, when in doubt. Most importantly, I realized, especially after having been there myself, that sometimes God will allow everyone who you depend on not to be available, not to be there for you, so that you can see that He's all you got and learn that "He is all that you need." I also had to realize that there are some people that no matter how bad I may want to help are not part of my appointment nor my assignment because God has already appointed someone else to be there for them. Someone who He specifically and unmistakenly has designed to be part of their journey. Now does this mean that God was not allowing me to be a blessing to those individuals during those particular moments. No, it doesn't but the problem that God showed me was that there were some things that I took on as a permanent role that were only supposed to be a temporary assignment.

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Now does God use us as vessels? Absolutely, that's what we are here for. But we are used according to God's will and not our own. Even if it is the right thing to do, we must seek God and ask if it's something we should get involved in. Sometimes we are so busy saving everyone else that we don't realize that we are the ones that need saving. We are the ones that need to create boundaries. When we tire ourselves out because we are doing the work that God has called us to do, He restores us. But how many times have you found yourself completely worn out, tired, depleted, with no energy and you don't understand it? Everything that you're doing is a "good deed". The problem is many of us are taking on things that God did not call for us to take on. Yet, we do it because it seems like the right thing to do, but in essence we are exhausting ourselves due to things and situations that are not our call, that are not our appointment, that are not God's will for us to do. We are so busy coming to the rescue of others that we can't hear what God is trying to tell us. We can't recognize the "real work" that He is calling us to do because we're too busy being good to everybody. Donating our money, time, and energy into everything that seems like a good cause, a good deed. God is trying to get your attention to save a "specific" someone, but you can't hear Him because you are too busy speeding away in the Batmobile putting out fires that God did not call you to put out and by the time you get back to the Batcave you are too tired to do anything. God is trying to speak to you, but you can't hear over all the cries for help that surround you.

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I have had to learn not to react to the "Bat-Signal". When it flashes, I now have to ask God, "Is this a go or not? And if it is a GO, then how do you want me to approach it?" Even when it is whole-heartedly right, even if it is with good intention, we still need to ask God for His instruction and for His guidance. We cannot confuse "good deeds" with "God Deeds".

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In 1 Samuel 15 we read the story of Saul. God had made Saul, king of Israel. God had sent Saul to destroy the Amalekites due to what they had done to the children of Israel. Through Samuel, God gave Saul very specific instructions. God commanded Saul to destroy all the Amalekites and everything that belonged to them. He told Saul to not spare anything. He was to destroy all humans, cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys. However, Saul did not completely follow the instructions. Saul destroyed everything except for King Agag, king of the Amalekites and he kept all of the best sheep, cattle, fat calves and lambs. God was not pleased. God sent Samuel back to Saul to deliver the message to him that God was not happy that he disobeyed Him and that God was going to rip the throne from under him.

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Carefully observe this scenario. First, Saul told Samuel that he did follow God's instructions. He stated, “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal" (1 Samuel 15:20-21).

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But Samuel replied:

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“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king” (1 Samuel 15:22-23).

 

​1st Lesson: Saul thought that he was doing a "good deed". Instead of following God's instructions, he took it upon himself to spare Agag and bring him back with them perhaps to gloat. And he saved the best of the animals that he was supposed to destroy and sacrificed them to God. God did not honor the sacrifice because it was done in disobedience. Instead of Saul doing what God told him to do, he thought it better to spare what was good. On top of that he also set up a monument in his own honor after defeating the Amalekites. We often find ourselves making the same mistake as Saul. Taking it upon ourselves to do what we "think" is right in our eyes instead of doing what God told us to do. Now in Saul's case, God gave him very specific instructions, and he did the opposite thinking that his way would be more honorable to God. Now in many of our cases, it may not be that we are intentionally disobeying God when we partake in good deeds, we may be doing them because they seem like the right thing to do. This is why I'm stressing the importance of asking God before you act so that you can be sure that you are doing these things according to His will for you.

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There were quite a few errors in what Saul did. First, this was not Saul's battle nor his victory. If we read verse 2 of 1 Samuel 15, God had said in part, "I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt." God was the one who was going to defeat the Amalekites. While he ordered Saul and his army to go and destroy them, it was through God's authority, through God's power, and through God's hands that they were going to win this battle. God was the one giving them the victory over the Amalekites. Therefore, if anything, it was God in which the honor should have been given for their victory.

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Secondly, if God wanted Saul to spare the king or the animals God would have told Saul to do so but He did not. God wanted everything destroyed. Saul suggested that he did this to give God the best of what was plundered. But his attempt at a "good deed" was all wrong. His failure to destroy everything as God commanded brought destruction upon himself. Samuel told Saul that the Lord was more pleased by obedience than burnt offerings and sacrifices. He explained to Saul that obeying God and following His instructions was far more meaningful than the fat of a ram. God saw Saul's actions as rebellion. He saw Saul's honoring of himself as arrogance which God looked at just as He does idolatry. Saul's "good deed" was not a "God Deed".

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We can't think we "know what God meant" when God gives us exact instructions to do something. Let's use a hypothetical situation to emphasize this point. If God tells you to go to an event but not to volunteer to partake in any of the activities, He means just that.

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However, you get to the event, and you see not one familiar face. You see all the other people being recognized for volunteering and you think to yourself, "It's a shame, not one person from the church is here to represent. We can't let it be said that the church is not active in the community." So, you decide to volunteer because you want to make it known that the church does give back. So, against God's instructions, you volunteer. You feel proud. And people are thanking you and you feel like you did a good deed. You think," Now, this is how you draw people to Christ." As the event ends, you're on your way to your car and someone speeding out of the parking lot almost runs you over. Your temper flares and the next thing you know, you are in a "full frontal" altercation with this individual.

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Before you know it, you are surrounded by a crowd of people. People are recording and pointing. And the whispers start, "That's the person from the church." And just like that everyone is saying how appalled they are that "someone from the church" was so irate, so confrontational. Now that good deed of making yourself known has backfired and the church is side-eying you for making them all look bad. How pleased do you think God was? Now this was a completely hypothetical situation, but it just illustrates that when God gives us instructions, He has His reasons. We can't assume that "He got it wrong" and do what we think is best. God does not make mistakes but when we don't obey His commands, we most definitely do. Even if  it was for the sake of a good deed.

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2nd Lesson: If we continue to read further, we find that although Saul initially stated that he spared the king and kept the best of the animals to present as a sacrifice to God, we then discover the truth, in verse 24. Saul says to Samuel, " I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them." A-ha, and there it is. He was afraid of the men so he allowed what they would think about him to cause him to disobey God's command. He feared the men so he did what they thought he should do instead of what God told him to do.

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And this is when we must realize that at many times our coming to the rescue of everyone and everything is not always about us simply doing a "good deed", but often times we do these "good deeds" because we don't want to disappoint the ones that we love. We don’t want them to be upset if we are not there for them when they need us. We don't want them to think bad of us if we say "No, I can't help you this time."  We don't want them to think that we don't care for them. So, we jump to their rescue, skipping over the act of asking God, "Lord, should I step in this time?", "Lord, should I loan them the money?", or "Lord should I help them out of this rut?" Sometimes, we don't want God's answer because we fear that He may say "No.", which means we will have to say, "No." to that person that most definitely needs us. Don't confuse a "good deed" for a "guilt deed".

 

When Our Good Deeds are God Deeds

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Now God most definitely uses us as vessels. God most definitely uses us to be of love, strength, and support for individuals. But again, while "good deeds" are nice, is God the one leading you to partake in these things? There are times in which you may not even be thinking about a good deed and God may place upon your heart to do something for someone, to donate to a cause, to volunteer for or join a club, organization, outreach ministry, or project whether church, school, community, or work related. We never know what God's intentions are and in all honesty, it's not for us to figure out as much as it's about us being obedient.

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I recall always being a part of Breast Cancer Awareness fundraisers or events. God just always led me to end up taking part in these initiatives and I never questioned it although I felt like there was a distinct reason behind it besides it being something "good to do".  Fast-forward many years later, finding myself in college and becoming extremely close to an acquaintance who ended up becoming a part of our family. To sum it up, I discovered during the course of our friendship, that this individual was a breast cancer survivor. And it struck me in a way that I can clearly hear God say, "this is who you were fighting for."  Years before me and her crossed paths, I was already in her corner, and we did not even know each other's names. Now when I do support the cause, I do it in her honor. I knew that the "good deed" was a "God Deed".  I was not simply doing it just because it was the right thing to do but God kept putting me in situations where I was being put at the forefront of particular fundraisers in different settings fighting for a friend that I hadn't even met.

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Now there are times when God will say, "Nope, sit this one out." He had me to serve or fight for certain causes for a set time. There are some causes that He still leads me to be involved in and there are others that for His own reasons while I may have wanted to be of asset to, He did not give me the okay to do so.

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God may appoint you to a particular "good deed" and have it to become your passion and that thing that He uses as your platform and sometimes He'll have us to be a part of many different things not necessarily obligating ourselves to one or the other. I was most definitely that person that would donate to most causes just because it was the "nice thing" to do whether it was breast cancer, or some type of "medical awareness cause", feeding the homeless, donating to veterans, helping needy children, but God has had to help me realize that I'm not supposed to save the whole world. There are many of us who want to save everybody but that's God's job. If we think about Jesus, he was the son of God and he had disciples to help him to spread the word, to bring people into the knowledge of God. Yet, many of us think that we're obligated to save the world.  There are those of us who feel bad for telling people, "Sorry I don't want to volunteer" or "No, I don't want to donate."

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How many times have you found yourself in line at the store and you hear person after person turn the cashier down when he or she asks, "Would you like to donate to…..?" And you tell yourself that you're going to say "No." too, until you get to the front of the line and feel bad that everyone else said, 'No." So, you go from saying you're not going to donate, to responding to the cashier saying, "Okay, I'll donate $1."  Then after hearing yourself, you say, "You know what, I'll just donate $5." And upon walking out of the store you realize that if you keep it up, you're the one that's going to need donations.

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When our "good deeds" are "God Deeds" we don't have to worry about our supply being cut short, our resources running low, or our cupboard running out. God will always provide for us. But when we are doing things out of our own will, we must be careful.

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When doing "God Deeds" another thing we must realize is that we can't act based on what we see. There are times when God may tell us to bless someone that we don't think need our blessing. You can be in line at the store and notice a frail, older woman behind you scraping her change together and if God tells you to pay for her few items, it may be easy for you to do. However, if God tells you to pay for the person's items behind you and upon observing the individual, you notice a designer bag or designer shoes and maybe this person has on expensive jewelry or may be dressed in suit and tie, you'll probably hesitate and say, "God, are you sure?" because this person does not look like they need your help. The truth is the frail older woman behind you scraping her change could have been a multi-millionaire and the person behind you with all the designer clothing and the expensive jewelry could be a few cents short of broke. When God calls us to do deeds we can't judge whether we should do them based on what we see.

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There may even be people in our lives that we know to be stable whether financially or in other areas, but we must realize that no matter how close we are to someone or how much we may think we know about them, they may not always tell us everything.

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God may be telling you to bless someone close to you, but you are looking at their life thinking that they're fine and don't need anything. The point is you never know. If God is telling you to do it, He has His reasons whether you think they need it or not. He may have you to bless them not because they need the material thing that you're giving them but maybe they just need to know that someone cares. Or maybe your blessing them with this thing puts them in a place of vulnerability where they end up confiding in you about something that had been troubling them and had you not reached out, they would never have shared this thing that was troubling them. They would have instead suffered in silence. It is not our job to judge God's Deeds that He calls us to do. We are to simply do them.

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Blessed to Be a Blessing

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Now before we close out this week's topic, we can't close without mentioning another type of "Good Deeder", those that love to do "good deeds" but don't like to accept them.

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There are many of us who love to help everyone out. We love to come to the rescue of others but will completely deny everyone that we know from doing anything for us. We will give our last and we will tire ourselves out to help others but won't accept when someone tries to bless us.

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There are those of us who will literally give gifts back to people saying, "No, please don't pay me back for what I did." or "No, don't spend your money on me." There are those of us who will  take the same money that someone gives us and strategically try to figure out a way to give it back whether known or unbeknownst to that individual.

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Here's the thing, cut it out! While we may do it to be modest or because we don't want people feeling like they owe us anything just because we have done "good deeds" for them, we must also remember that we never know why God may have had them to bless us. Just like He causes us to be a blessing to others God might also see fit for someone to be a blessing to us as well. You never know if God led someone to bless you or if they're doing it out of their own will. Sometimes when we are anti-don't gift me or anti-don't thank me, and if God is leading individuals to bless us, we make it extremely difficult for them to be obedient. Now is God going to be angry at them if He leads them to bless us and we don't accept it?  Absolutely not! As long as they were obedient and did what God told them to do, their job is done.  Some of us are so stubborn that we will literally refuse to accept the token, resulting in the person's hands becoming tied. Now if God leads us to say "No" to the individual trying to bless us, that's a different case. Maybe God just wanted to see if they would follow through but if God is not telling you to not accept the gift, sometimes we just need to stop being difficult, say "Thank you" and keep it moving. We never know if maybe this thing that you were blessed with may be something that God may lead you to bless someone else with whether immediately or later down the line. Better yet, just because you may not need it now does not mean that the time won't come when you will need this very gift that you tried to deny being given to you.

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Sometimes there are people that God may want us to bless that are not within our reach. God may cause you to bless someone just so they can take what you gave them and be a blessing to someone you don't even know, but God knew what they stood in the need of.

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Maybe that person behind you in line may not have needed your help. But it could be someone close to them who needed help but they told the person "No.", because they knew that the money that they did have available was for groceries but because you paid for their groceries they then took the money that they was going to use and gave it to the person that they originally could not help. Now, because you blessed them it turned that other person's "No." into a "Yes!"

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In the same sense that thing that you may be denying being given to you may not be for you but maybe there is someone close to you that God knows needs this very thing that you turned down. It may be a gift card to a restaurant that you hate but you then realize after swallowing your stubbornness and your pride and accepting it that there is someone close to you that loves this restaurant and recently lost their job so it would be a blessing for you to give it to them. Now whether we should "re-gift" things or not can always be a debate, but we won't debate that here because if it's what God calls you to do, then you do it and do it happily.

 

Deeds, Deeds, and More Deeds

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So "good deeds" are always there. Now while some do them for the wrong reasons there are some who do them with good intention. However, our good intention is not more important than God's will and instructions for us. Even when it "seems" like the right thing to do we still need to seek God and ask Him to guide us. When you live life, being compassionate and when you live a life of love and kindness it is easy for us to think that it is our job to save everybody and to rescue every single person that needs rescuing. There may be some of us who God does call to rescue, help, and come to the aid of others as it relates to various causes or in consistent ways. And then there are some of us who God may appoint to be passionate about, support, aid and volunteer as it concerns a particular person, a particular group, a particular situation or a particular cause. And sometimes God may have us spreading a little bit of help here and a little bit of help there. Whatever the case is, always seek God as sometimes people can prey on the good will and the good deeds of others although we did not discuss that it in this particular discussion.

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Here's the thing, the next time you find yourself in the Batcave and the Bat-Signal flashes before you jump in the Batmobile, take a step back and ask God what His desire for you is. Ask Him does He want you to come to the rescue of this person, or to aid in this cause. There are times when God may want us to go and save the day. But then there are times when God does not want us to be the one to make the difference. Maybe this particular person or cause is something He prefers for Robin to handle. And then sometimes just like in the case of Job, God may be letting the Joker lose on this particular individual to see if they will trust Him while they endure. And there are the times when God may not give the assignment to you, Robin, or allow the Joker to run havoc. There are times when God wants this person one-on-one because He wants them to come to a point in which they learn to fully lean and depend on Him and Him alone. There are times when God is trying to develop and bring the Super-Hero out of that particular person who you're always trying to rescue so that they can see the capabilities that lie within themselves. So that they can discover the power of God that also works through them.

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So, If God tells you to respond to the Bat- Signal, then you ride. But if He tells you that this is not your assignment, that this is not your call, as difficult as it may be, you step away from the Batmobile, stay in the Batcave and get some rest because even if this one was not your assignment know that we all have one and the next signal might be yours for the taking. So, find time away from all the noise and cries for help so that you can hear from God and He can train and prepare you for the next call.