I Met the Strangest Man

He said he believes in the Bible as the Word of God -- but he never reads it.

 

He said the church would be more effective in its ministries if more of its members were really dedicated -- but he never becomes involved in any ministry.

 

He said he feels the church assemblies are times for edification and praise to God -- but he seldom attends.

 

He said he believes the younger generation needs stronger spiritual values -- but doesn’t exemplify strong spirituality in his life before his children.

 

He said the church is not doing the work the Lord intends it to do -- but he is not working.

 

He said he believes that God hears and answers prayers -- but he seldom prays.

 

He said he knows the Lord is coming again -- but lives as though the Lord will never come.

 

Great changes come to the world through small decisions by ordinary people. Be the change God wants to see in our world!

 

“Making a difference”

ARE YOU CONTENT?

Philippians 4:11

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

Learning Contentment

Paul surely endured some great hardships like hunger, thirst, cold, nakedness, beatings, imprisonment, dangers in rivers, stonings, beatings, being shipwrecked, going without food, storms at sea, flogging, dangers from robbers, sleeplessness, attacks from the Jews, laboring day and night for the Gospel, daily pressure from the churches, being hard-pressed on every side, feeling crushed, and being exposed to death time and time again (2 Cor. 4:8, 11:23-28). He knew how it felt to be crushed, going far beyond his ability to endure it, even to the point of his despairing of life (2 Cor. 1:8), yet Paul never complained. He spoke the truth about all these sufferings. But what did he do about it? He learned to be content (Phil. 4:11), even though more than once he was beaten and presumed dead or dying, yet not killed (2 Cor. 6:9). That’s right … he had to learn how to be content because contentment is not naturally acquired, a gift of God, or a fruit of the Spirit. It is something that Paul learned and we have to learn, and like anything else, learning never seems to come easily.

Without Contentment

We don’t need to look far to find a biblical example of discontentment. The children of Israel grumbled time and time again, and for many it cost them their lives (Ex. 16:2; Num. 14:2). If someone’s not content, they are basically telling God that He hasn’t provided them with enough, but a quick glance around the world should put our life into perspective. Many have no running water or indoor toilets; no refrigerator or even food to put in one; no heating or air-conditioning; no food beyond what they have for the day, if that; no job; no car; no freedom to vote or worship; and perhaps even no shelter.

Content in Hardships

How Paul was able to learn how to be contented amidst such suffering is hard for me to even imagine (2 Cor. 1:8, 11:23-28). Paul said that there is great gain in having godliness and contentment (1 Tim. 6:6), and if he had food and clothing, he would be content with that (1 Tim. 6:8). The author of Hebrews tells us to avoid having a love of money and to just be content with what we have (Heb. 13:5); otherwise, discontentment can rear its ugly head. Discontentment tells God that you are not happy with your lot in life, so my question to you and to myself is this: Are you content with what you have? Am I? Sometimes it just takes a little perspective, and it takes learning to be content.

A Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, You are so generous to me, I cannot even count all the blessings I have in my life because there are so many. I can never fully express my thanks to You, for You have been more generous to me and to so many others than we truly deserve. For this I thank You, and in the precious name of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, I pray.

Amen

Does telling a small lie or half-truth bother you?

Ephesians 4:15

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.

A Half-Truth Is a Whole Lie

Do you remember in the Garden of Eden where Satan deceived Eve by trying to make her believe God said one thing when He actually said another? He asked Eve whether God told her that she couldn’t eat from any tree in the garden (Gen 3:1). Eve corrected him and said that they could eat of any tree in the garden except the one that was in the midst of the garden and that if they did they’d die (Gen 3:2-3). But then Eve added something to what God had originally said. She said you can’t even touch it or you’ll die, so she ended up telling a half-truth to the father of lies (John 8:44), Satan (Gen 3:3). Satan tried to tell Eve that she wouldn’t die, but, of course, you can’t ever trust anything the Devil says. Satan has had his conscience seared so much that it doesn’t bother him to tell lies. If we tell half the truth, we have really told a whole lie because anything less than the whole truth is a whole lie. Does it bother you to tell a half-truth?

Sins of Omission

When I was a young child, I was babysitting my brother and sister. They ended up breaking something in the living room, and I was watching TV while they were playing. I should have been watching them because they were playing with a ball in the house, which I was told was forbidden, but I didn’t do anything about it. Sure enough, the ball bounced off the floor and into a ceramic fruit dish and shattered it. When my parents got home, I said, “I had no idea they had a ball in the house, and I didn’t even see the ceramic fruit dish get broken.” I had just told one lie (I had seen them with the ball in the house) and then a half-lie (I didn’t really see the broken dish), but it was really two lies. In fact, I didn’t see the ceramic fruit dish get broken; that was part of the truth. But the whole truth was I knew that what they were doing was wrong and I didn’t stop them from playing ball in the house, so I was responsible. I had committed a sin of omission. By omitting part of the truth, I had told a whole lie.

Mixing Truth with Error

Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, had just sold some of their property and pretended to say they gave it all to the church. Part of it they did give to the church, but part of it they withheld, so their lying cost them their life (Acts 5:1-1). Paul had to constantly deal with Judaizers who were trying to mix legalism with the gospel, and Paul was no doubt angry when he wrote the Galatians that he was amazed they had so quickly departed from the real gospel and believed another gospel, a perverted version of it (Gal 1:6). Parts of the gospel the Judaizers told were true–the part of Jesus’ death on the cross–but when they added legalistic requirements to it, it became perverted and not the real gospel at all (Gal 1:7). If I offered you some bottled water but told you that there was only one tiny drop of poison in it, not actually enough to kill you or even hurt you, you’d likely not want any of it. So we should all be troubled if we are telling a half-truth or omitting all the truth. Pride is almost always at the heart of it so that we’ll look better in other people’s eyes or we won’t hurt someone’s feelings, but we must always speak the truth, even if it’s painful, and do it in love (Eph 4:15).

A Closing Prayer

Great, righteous Father, please forgive me when I omit the full story and deceive people by telling them half-truths and when I mix error with truth. Help me to always speak the truth in love at all times, and in Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen

Children are the next generation. So, what are you teaching them?

Deuteronomy 4:9

Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children.

The Command to Teach Them

God commands parents and really grandparents, too, to teach their children and their grandchildren. It’s not an option. God will hold parents accountable for what they teach and what they don’t teach their children. God commanded Israel to gather together, including the children, so that they could hear His words, that they should learn to fear Him (Deut. 4:10a), but it was also for the purpose of having their children learn about God (Deut. 4:10b). This teaching was to be for them, for their children, and for their children’s children (Deut. 4:9), or their grandchildren. God taught His statutes and commands so that it would go well for the nation but also for their children who would come after them so that they might live a long life (Deut. 4:40). The very first commandment that was given to the people in relation to one another, the 5th Commandment, was for children to honor their father and their mother because the foundation of any society is the family. This is the only commandment with a promise: for the children to live a long life (Eph. 6:2).

Teaching Day and Night, Here and There

God once again instructs parents to teach their children when they sit down with them at home, when they are traveling with them, when they go to bed at night, and when they get up in the morning (Deut. 6:7; 11:19), but the Word of God should be made visible to them as well in the home (Deut. 11:20). If they did this, once again God promised them a long life and that they would spread throughout the entire land (Deut. 11:21). The Bible mentions the word “children” almost 460 times, and if you include the words “sons and daughters,” it’s close to 1000 times, signifying just how important teaching our children is to Him. Negligent parents are sinning parents as far as God is concerned. We know that if children are left to themselves, they’ll bring heartache and shame to their parents (Prov. 29:15), and parental neglect includes a lack of discipline (Prov. 13:24).

Teaching by Example

Sometimes children learn more from watching parents than from anything they might say. For example, if someone calls your home and you tell the children that you’re not home, they’ll learn to lie when they are placed in situations they don’t like. If you drive over the speed limit consistently, then your children will learn that it’s okay to break the law because their parents did. And if you talk behind someone’s back, your children learn that there’s nothing wrong with gossiping. What you do will not only be perceived as normal but also acceptable, no matter what you teach them. They will more likely do what you do than do what you say. They are watching you. Teach them and lead them by example. That’s perhaps the greatest teaching of all they will receive.

A Closing Prayer

God, You have given to me my children and my grandchildren, and they are truly a gift of Yours. So, please show me how I might better teach them by Your Word and by example so that they might learn to fear and obey You, and in Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen

Have I not fully provided for you in the past? Why would this crisis and the next be any different?

Luke 12:24

Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!

The Past

God is so faithful, isn’t He? Can you recall the number of times that He has come through for you? The psalmist wrote that the fathers of old cried out to God. They trusted Him, and God delivered them (Psalm 22:4). In their trust, they were not put to shame (Psalm 22:5). The psalmist never trusted in his own resources or strength but in God alone (Psalm 44:6). Jesus told the disciples that if the ravens of the air never had to sow or reap or had barns to store their provisions in, how could they not trust in God (Luke 12:24)? This verse looks backwards because the ravens were still around when Jesus spoke this, and they never perished because of any famine that would hit. God has provided for us in the past as He did for the ravens, and, oh, how much more of value we are to God than they. You see how God has been so faithful in your life in past crises. So, why not trust Him again if you’re in one today?

The Present

Since God has been so faithful in providing for us in the past, we can trust Him with our present conditions, too (Psalm 4:5). The psalmist trusted in God first thing in the morning to know which way he should go during the day (Psalm 143:8). That daily trusts brings not only peace of mind but a blessing (Prov. 16:20), but it’s so foolish to trust our own minds (Prov. 28:26). This keeps us in perfect peace, not because of what our eyes see but because we believe in a God we can’t see (Isaiah 26:3). The only thing that’s not good to put our trust in during the present time is ourselves, especially if it’s in our own inherent righteousness (Luke 18:9) because our righteousness comes from Christ alone (2 Cor. 5:21). If you’re in a crisis right now, look to the past faithfulness of God and trust your present situation with Him.

The Future

If a person commits their way to the Lord, meaning that this is a forward thinking and trust, then God promises He will act on their behalf and that their trust in Him is not in vain (Psalm 37:5). Paul’s trust looked toward the future (Phil. 2:24). To trust God with our future, like the author of Hebrews did, is to look forward in faith and trust in God and for all who put their trust in Him (Heb. 2:13). To trust God for any future crisis that may come is to receive a blessing by God (Jer. 17:7) because it means you believe Him. I understand that God was speaking to ancient Israel about their having a hope for the future, but for those who are God’s children, would He say nothing less (Jer. 29:11)? We might think about what we’ll do in our own future, but it is truly God who will establish our steps (Prov. 16:9). Since God has been so faithful in the past, promises to take care of us today, and knows our future plans are for our best welfare, why should the next crisis be any different?

A Closing Prayer

Great God, I need Your help to trust You more today and tomorrow and to know that You have proven over time that You can be trusted. So, when the next crisis hits, please allow me to trust You even in the storms, for even in these, You can rebuke the winds and the waves (Mark 4:39). I thank You for all You have done, are doing, and will do. In Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen

Sometimes God will send others to help you see your wrong ways. Will you be OK with that?

Proverbs 27:6

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

A True Friend

Imagine you saw a blind man headed for the edge of a cliff. You likely wouldn’t hesitate to go up to him and warn, would you? You’d be uninhibited in going right up to him and trying to tell him that where he’s headed is going to lead to disaster. Why would it be any different than if a friend came up to you and told you that you were headed in the wrong direction and that if you didn’t change your direction, you were going to face something very serious that was going to hurt you? A friend will tell you the truth, but someone who is only pretending to be your friend will hide it from you. Isn’t it better to hear the truth and be somewhat hurt by it than to hear falsehoods and run into more serious trouble later? As painful as it is, I would rather my friend tell me the truth than tell me what I want to hear. Sometimes God sends others to help us see that we’re wrong. So, isn’t that a good thing?

Open Rebuke

In Proverbs 27:5 it says that it’s better to receive open rebuke than pretending they love you by hiding the truth. By open rebuke, I don’t mean that someone tells you your fault in front of a huge, public gathering. I think what Solomon is saying is that it’s better to be told openly, frankly, and honestly before your face than to have something hidden from you that you might not be aware of, walking right into something that does a lot of harm. The psalmist went so far as to say that he’d rather have a righteous person slap him in the face if he needs it because it’s really a kindness to him (Psalm 141:5). In the long run, the person who rebukes someone will gain their favor (Prov. 28:23) because even though the truth hurts, hiding the truth hurts even worse. Judas went up to Jesus and gave Him a kiss, but the kiss of an enemy can end up doing a lot more harm than good (Matt. 26:49), like it did to Jesus.

Does an Enemy Speak the Truth?

Paul asks the rhetorical question of whether he became the enemy of the Galatians because he spoke the truth (Gal. 4:16). The obvious answer is no, of course not, because even the Word of God cuts in order to heal, and the blows of a friend are in our best interest. I don’t mean actual physical blows, of course, but words that hurt can heal in the end. If we see a brother or sister living in serious, grievous sin, it is our Christian duty to try and restore them (Gal. 6:1). The truth can hurt, but silence is not golden; it can prove fatal in some cases. How will you or I react if God sends someone to help us see our wrong? Is that okay with us? Can we see that they only want to help us?

A Closing Prayer

Father, You chastise every son and daughter You love (Heb. 12:6; Rev. 3:19); so, help me to receive it as being done in love, whether it’s directly from Your Word, the Bible, or from someone You send. In the Savior’s precious name I pray.

Amen

JESUS CALLING

WHEN YOU SEEK MY FACE , put aside thoughts of everything else. I am above all, as well as in all; your communication with Me transcends both time and circumstances. Be prepared to be blessed bountifully by My Presence, for I am a God of unlimited abundance. Open wide your heart and mind to receive more and more of Me. When your Joy in Me meets My Joy in you, there are fireworks of heavenly ecstasy. This is eternal life here and now: a tiny foretaste of what awaits you in the life to come. Now you see only a poor reflection as in a mirror, but then you will see face-to-Face.

JOHN 15:11; 1 CORINTHIANS 13:12