Friday, August 29, 2008

Spiritual Osteoporisis

By John Stallings

……it is rottenness to the bones…..Proverbs 14:30


The whole California community choked in pain!

It had started as a friendly rivalry. Both the girls were ambitious, talented & well liked. Both thrived within the beating heart of a small community and were at center stage of school activities. They even came to cheer- leading tryouts together.

Nothing seemed that much out of kilter. They both tried out for the squad, one was selected & the other wasn’t. You move on.

But quickly that evening a vile beast came out of the shadows to bite the loser. She felt a jolt as the poison hit her system. Her eyes grew sinister & dark & her face drawn as it transformed her momentarily into a monster.

Her hand found a gun. She stalked the other girl. That night in the darkness the winner became a loser & the loser became a devil. The girl next door had killed the girl next door. The community couldn’t absorb the reality of this cold & heartless act because it didn’t happen far away in the big city, but in their little town. They had chatted with both girls on the bus & saw them regularly on the street.

The killer wasn’t like the slashers seen in B-movies. She was our daughter, our sister, our friend, ourselves. And that’s precisely why the story is so incredibly shocking.

What had happened was that someone had acted on the feelings that everyone has felt; raging envy & insane jealousy. You know the feeling. I know the feeling. It’s our problem too.

Among the subjects that I write on with some regularity is envy. Maybe it’s because I want to drive every vestige of it out of me & away from me because I so despise it. It is ugly. Have I beaten it? Does anyone ever totally beat it once & for all? The seeds of its defeat are embedded in our daily walk & communion with God…. I die daily….1 Cor.15:31

Envy is so common yet seldom mentioned in sermons or anywhere else. It’s the two- thousand pound elephant in the living room that we skate around all the time & never talk about.

Proverbs 14:30 says—it is rottenness to the bones. Spiritual Osteoporosis.

Rivalry & envy destroys much yet still we can’t discuss it. We will admit to practically anything & everything before we’d ever admit to being envious. Oh, we play with the word now & then like when we say with a smile on our face, “I really envy you…..

We don’t want anybody to be better than us at what we do. When we hear about their success we turn green with envy. We go…yes but…or…yes she/he may have made it to the top but I really don’t think….

Envy…so common…but so seldom called by name.

Even the worst sins have a payoff, even though they’re at odds with righteousness but someone tell me where’s the payoff in envy? It’s an awful road to walk down. Secretly hoping for bad fortune to strike someone we’re envious of, always looking for some way to tear them down, to find fault.

Envy doesn’t sound all that terrible but to be honest it isn’t a gentle emotion. It’s aggressive & says, “I want what you have. I want you not to have it. I want to take it away from you & if I can’t do it I’ll try to spoil it or destroy it. If nothing else I’ll see to it that you don’t really enjoy it.”

Envious people live in an anxious state of competitive comparison focusing on what others have & what they themselves lack. Envy lives on the path of the wounded spirit. Why should your marriage end in divorce while others survive? Why should your business falter during the recession while hers only grows? Why should your life be plagued with sickness while his is never troubled?

Remember the two women who came to Solomon with one baby between them? One baby died & now both women claimed the same child. How could Solomon judge such a case?

“Bring me the sword,” Solomon says. He pretends to mark a dotted line, halving the baby. One woman is heart sick. “No,” she says, “No, not that. Just give her the baby.” The other woman was perfectly willing to stand there & see the baby chopped in two. When this woman’s baby died, envy leaped into her wounded spirit & she’s saying, “If I can’t have my baby then she can’t have hers.”

Through the years one of my favorite fiction writers has been James Michener. He made his mark in the literary world with massive historical novels such as The Source, Hawaii, Texas, & Poland to name a few. One of his strengths was going into detail about people’s genealogies & cultural roots. What makes that so ironic was that Michener was himself a man without a birth certificate.

Abandoned as an infant, Michener was raised as a foster-son in the Michener family headed by a widowed woman, never knowing his biological parents.

Here’s the kicker; Michener’s success raised the ire of one of his adopted-clan kin. This milquetoast individual in a rage of envy, felt compelled to work anonymously behind his back writing poison-pen letters to him & anyone else who’d listen at every milestone of Michener’s career.

This mean-spirited relative wrote after he won the Pulitzer Prize telling him he’d besmirched the family name & had no real right to even use the family name. But the phrase the hate-monger used most often was, “Who in the ----do you think you are, trying to be better than you are?”

The final letter Michener received from his disgruntled relative came in 1976 after President Ford had presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The caustic note said; “Still using a name that isn’t yours. Still a fraud. Still trying to be better than you are.”

Michener said those words were burned into his soul but he turned the accusation into a life challenge. Michener admitted later that he missed the letters after his relative presumably died. He confessed, “I have spent all of my life trying to be better than I was and am brother to all who have the same aspiration. [James A. Michener, The World Is MY Home: A Memoir]

I suppose the truth that comes shining through is we for the most part wish our friends & family well but not that well. That is, the carnal part of us.

When people become successful they wake up quickly to a sad & unexpected truth; it’s lonely at the top. Not that I’ve known much success in my life but in 1978, when I had several songs at the top of the national charts [someone else was singing them] I bought a slightly used Lincoln Continental. It was a dream car, light green with a dark green vinyl top. At the time we were living in a small community & most of our neighbors were Christian friends. Several of these folk never spoke again after we parked that car in our driveway.

Here’s the funny part; not funny ha ha, but nonetheless funny. That car turned out to be the biggest lemon we ever owned or ever even heard of. The engine never exploded but just about everything else on the car did. I would come out in the morning with my heart in my throat, wondering what nasty little surprise my Lincoln had for me that day.

Do you think I’m kidding? I’m not. How about walking up to your car & finding that all the door locks were somehow jammed as if someone had come in the night before & welded them closed? Try this; your key won’t unlock the trunk so a professional car lock guy had to be paid to fix it? How about having your car engine tuned-up by the dealership & then seeing your gas mileage drop from twenty miles a gallon to ten miles a gallon-highway? Folks, that’s dropping to half & we could never find out why.

After a couple of years, 1980, we tried to trade the car & car salesmen would actually stand in front of the dealership office & wave us on by. They didn’t even want us to stop with that big Lincoln/gas hog. If they only knew.

You’re probably way ahead of me on the application here. If the good folk who were jealous of that car we bought had stayed close enough to us, they’d have learned the truth; that big dream Lincoln was the biggest nightmare of our lives.

Isn’t it odd how we’ll ascribe such joy & happiness to the lives of others just assuming they’re living in a rose garden when if the truth were known, they’re hammering away at life each & every day just like we are.

Years ago I read this somewhere; -- “When all is known, all is forgiven.”

Let’s be human for a moment. Don’t your friends need to be able to celebrate their successes without feeling they are intimidating you & to share their failures without your taking satisfaction from them?

Just say, “No one deserved it more than you.” You’ll probably be right. And you’ll certainly be a good friend.

Or you can choose to be envious. But know this; envy will possess you. It will rob you of the ability to enjoy the good things that God has given you. It will snatch away your ability to rejoice with a friend when blessings come his way.

Envy is always so inviting at first. How enjoying it promises to be to sit & brood over the unfairness of life. To sit & cry “foul.” Why should her marriage go so smoothly when mine is falling into shambles? Why should he be getting a raise every six months at that cush job he has, when I have to worry about being laid off?

Why should her children be so mature, bright, intelligent & well-adjusted, when my children are driving me insane?” Why is his hair as thick as southern gravy when mine falls out every time I comb it? How does she stay so trim & athletic when I have the middle-aged spread? Ask yourself if you’re envious of people you don’t even know or like.

Back in the mid-fifties when Elvis Presley exploded on the world’s music scene, overnight many styles of music were suddenly all but over. Many popular country music singers woke up one morning & found themselves demoted to the “salt-mines” of music. Their bookings were becoming few & far between & their records hit the discount bargain-bins.

Many who were firmly entrenched as Stars of Country Music let bitterness & envy eat them alive & a few drank themselves to death. It was hard to take & that’s understandable. Eddy Arnold, who recently died at the age of eighty never let himself become bitter & just kept on singing & performing even though his career took a dip just as others did.

In 1977 Elvis died evidently because of an overdose of drugs & a weak heart. Elvis had only stayed on the scene for approximately twenty-two years & the singers who survived his meteoric rise to fame & were wise enough to roll with the times, lived to perform again & many of them returned to their former popularity.

The same thing happened in the 1970s when singer John Denver rose to fame. But again, in the late 1990s Denver died in a crash of a prototype airplane because he didn’t know how to turn on the auxiliary gas tank. He had “Sunshine on his shoulder” but no gas in his tank. Some of his contemporaries became bitter & envious of his fame feeling he wasn’t really “Country.” Others who kept their eyes on their love for the music they performed & wouldn’t give in to jealousy & envy saw their careers become bigger than ever.

What are some of the off-shoots of envy?

1. ENVY CAUSES US TO HAVE SLANDEROUS HEARTS

Since we don’t trust the Holy Spirit to deal with the “wrong-doer,” we become “Holy Ghost juniors.”

We must take the job into our hands to deal with the individual we’re envious of.

Three churches struggled to survive. Then one of the churches called a pastor who was extraordinarily gifted. His sermons were relevant & gripping. He had a loving personality coupled with the charisma of Tom Cruise. He could teach in ways that made people hungry for more & began to migrate to his church on Sunday.

Houston, we have a problem. The other two pastors met together & decided that surely God wasn’t in such a flamboyant style of ministry. Obviously this man preached a gospel that was false. Then they remembered a rumor they’d heard. Was there some kind of indiscretion? Who knows? The pastors didn’t stop it. The rumors spread. People began to wonder. The pastor’s family was shamed & in a short time they left town. Envy had found its mark & turned two preachers of the truth into liars & gossips. Envy had made the cross of Christ Jesus hypocrisy.

Envy will turn a heart into a slanderous heart.

2. ENVY CAUSES US TO DEVALUE WHAT WE HAVE

Envious eyes rove the stock on other people’s shelves. If I am envious of another preacher, the next thing that happens is I start to think I’m not a very good preacher. Envy will cause me the trash the gifts I have. If God gives an envious person three they won’t be satisfied until they find someone with four. They’re happy in their house until their neighbor builds a better one across the street & the house that used to be their pride & joy now is undesirable.

3. ENVY GIVES US A NEGATIVE FOCUS

Envious people have negative dispositions.
We often talk about how dangerous the world is but look what happened when there was only one family on earth & a murder took place. In Genesis chapter four there are only Adam & Eve & their two sons Cain & Able on the earth.

Cain was envious of his brother because God had accepted Abel’s offering but had rejected his offering. God asked Cain why he had such a bad look on his face. People who’re full of envy always have a sour look on their face. Later Cain killed his brother Able & the first murder in the human family is chalked up to envy.

If you saw the movie or play Amadeus you’ll remember Salieri was the court musician in Vienna. He worked hard & he did well writing melodies, choral pieces & instrumental works. As a young man he prayed that God would use him & his music to glorify Him & bless people.

Then along came trouble in the person of child prodigy named Mozart. Music was second nature to young Mozart & complex melodies leaped from his dancing fingertips. Mozart’s music seemed to bring heaven right down to earth.

Here’s the catch though: Mozart was such an obvious sinner, immature, vulgar & obscene. He made off with the ladies every chance he got & Salieri grew green with envy. Why did he have to be born in the same century with this your genius? Salieri was a pious man & had spent his life in tedious work while Mozart dabbled around in a sensual lifestyle & everything came so easy to him.

Mozart dies a mysterious death & the story climaxes with Salieri sitting in an insane asylum where he curses God for not giving him the kind of talent he blessed young Mozart with. When envy plays itself out, death of some kind, be it physical mental or emotional will be the end result.

The Bible even says envy is more dangerous than wrath or anger. Listen to Proverbs 27:4;

Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous, but who is able to stand before envy?

HOW CAN WE OVERCOME ENVY?

1. We must seek to become more Christ like.

As we become more Christ like we’ll leave behind this & other sins that are deadly to our souls. Envy is born in hate & cured in love. 1 Cor.13:4. If we want to overcome envy we have to use the tools of the Holy Spirit as well as Bible reading, worship & the fellowship of other believers.

2. We must stop looking at others & instead look within ourselves.

We used to sing a little song called, “Count your blessings name them one by one, & it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

That’s what we have to do. Instead of looking at what God has given to other people we ought to look at what He’s done for us. WE must not forget the benefits we enjoy.


3. We must learn to be content with what God has given us.

We need to stay acutely aware of the fact that God has called us to serve joyfully in the place he has put us. Paul said---I have learned to be content…..which presupposes that he didn’t always possess contentment. If Paul learned contentment as he walked with God we can too.

4. We must re-examine our goals & priorities
.

If you find yourself generating envy, maybe the problem is wrong goals & priorities. The goal of our lives shouldn’t be to see how many things we can acquire but to do the work of God & lay up treasures in heaven. You & I aren’t called to constantly be examining the lives of others, comparing ourselves to them but to live lives of service.

5. We must remember we’re all a part of the same body. My right arm has never been envious of my left foot.

Paul says in Romans 12:15-16 that -----we should weep with those who weep & rejoice with those that rejoice. That leaves no room for envy to operate.

Listen to the Apostle Peter;

Wherefore laying aside all malice & all guile & all hypocrisies & envyings & all evil speakings,

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby,

If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. –1 Peter 2:1-3


Blessings,

John

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

How To Get Up When You're Down

By John Stallings


Peter said to Him, “even if I have to die with you, I won’t deny you.” [Matthew 26:35 NASB]


Three men were out hiking in rough terrain & came to a roaring, white- water river. The first man prayed, “Lord help me to have the strength to swim across this river.”

The Lord answered his prayer & gave him strength. The man struggled for over an hour but with the strength he prayed for, he finally swam to the other side.

The second man, seeing the problems the first man had, prayed; “Lord, give me strength like you gave my friend, but also give me the tools I need to safely get across this angry body of water.”

God answered the man’s prayer & he saw a boat nearby & used it to safely cross the river.

The third man, wanting to be wiser than his two friends prayed, “God make me wise & show me the absolute best way to do this thing.” His prayer was answered & he became a woman. He/she pulled out a map, saw there was a bridge a few hundred yards away, found the bridge & walked safely to the other side of the river.

Life presents us all with challenges & many times the answer will be one small missing piece of information. We’re wise when we as the three men did, search for fresh & innovative ways to solve the dilemmas we face. Obviously [hopefully] we can’t change genders like the man in the story.

THERE’S NO WAY TO LIVE LIFE WITHOUT FAILURES

Proverbs 24:17 says……For a righteous man falleth seven times and riseth up again…..

We all will disappoint ourselves & others at times. The secret is to do it as seldom as possible.

I heard a story of a young preacher who went to apply for the job of pastoring a church. One of the elderly ladies in the congregation let it be known she wasn’t voting for the young man & gave her reason. Right or wrong she said; “He’s too young, to have failed enough, to be humble enough, to be my pastor.”

In Matthew 26 we have the story of Christ & the last supper with His disciples. I’m sure it stunned them to hear Jesus say one of them would betray Him.

Peter, and by the way, Peter was the only disciple “smart” enough to give Jesus council, & tell Him He was wrong, said, -Lord, I’d never deny you. I’m ready to go the prison or even to death for you.” Peter had no problem correcting Jesus.

Jesus then explained to Peter that before the cock would crow in the morning he’d deny him three times.

So now Peter’s in the courtyard of the high priest & we should give him credit for that. IMHO, it wasn’t Peter’s bravery that brought him that close to the embattled Jesus, it was his male ego, & his pride. He was probably determined to not let the Lord down & was also determined to show Jesus He was wrong when He said Peter would deny Him.

Then as Peter stands warming himself by the fire, a servant girl questions him & he denies knowing Christ. This brings me to my first point;

1. NEVER OVERESTIMATE YOUR STRENGHTS & NEVER UNDERESTIMATE YOUR WEAKNESSES.

Peter said, “I’m ready to go to prison” & “I’m ready to die for you Lord,” but in reality Peter wasn’t ready. He would someday be ready but he wasn’t ready yet. We often hear people say;

“I’m ready for marriage” but are they? Or,
“I’m ready for ministry” but are they? Or
“I’m ready for testing” but are they? Or
“I’m ready for anything,” but are they?

We can relate to Peter because there’s something in his “all over the place” personality & character that makes us feel there’s hope for us. Or maybe I should just speak for myself here. Jesus’ mercy & love saw what Peter could become so He worked with him like a potter molding clay.

Peter’s flamboyancy allowed him to rise to the heights of language & speak the words upon which Christ would build His church & then before you could say “cat in a hat” he’d do or say something to earn Christ’s rebuke--“Get behind me Satan.” Peter could be walking on water one minute then be crying out “Lord save me” the very next minute. He could tell Jesus he wouldn’t allow Him to wash his feet one minute, & in three seconds ask Jesus to wash his head & hands also.

One minute Peter assured Jesus he’d never deny him & almost in the next breath he was assuring a young girl he’d never heard of Jesus. One minute he was ready to fight an army single-handedly, the next minute he ran like a scared puppy.

How quickly everything could change for Peter. One minute he’s this paragon of strength, the next minute his soul is honey-combed with doubts & fears. Does any of this sound familiar to you? It does to me! How many times have we through our own timidity failed to take a stand for Christ?

Or this; we are in a powerful service hearing the music & ministry of the Word, & we make a strong commitment to be better Christians & -presto- we leave that service & soon forget about the resolutions we made. We have times that we worry about our commitment to Christ & tell ourselves we should be doing much better but we never quiet get around to it.

We pay lip service to the fact that we ought to be forgiving & loving & the next day we’re just as mean, stubborn, irritable, uncharitable & unforgiving as ever.

Peter overestimated his strengths. You see, if he’d been the man he said he was, indeed the man he thought he was, he’d have been standing in court or anywhere else defending Jesus instead of running like a kindergarten kid. Do you overestimate your strengths?

1 Corinthians 10:12 says,--Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Roman 12:3 says,--for I say…to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think….

Jeremiah 17:9 says,--The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?

Peter doesn’t just deny Jesus once. He didn’t say; “Look, alright you got me. You’re right! I’m from Galilee & I’ve been following Jesus Christ for three years. [Anyway, Peter’s Galilean accent was like a person from New York City trying to hide in South Georgia] He’s the real deal; He’s the Christ. He’s the promised Messiah. He’s the most remarkable man I’ve ever met & He’s perfect in every way. What He speaks is absolute truth & I want you to know one thing here & now; I love Him & I’ll follow Him to death, period!

But noooooo. Peter doesn’t just deny Jesus once or twice, he does it three times. THREE TIMES! He takes his denial to the highest level possible & makes it clear he’ll not be put into a dangerous situation because of Jesus. Peter swore with an OATH. What does that mean? That means he brought God into the picture. Peter said, “I swear to God, if I’m lying I’m dying.”

And with the oath still on his lips, still uttering his adamant, pathetic denial, the rooster begins to crow. At that moment Jesus passes by & looks at him, looks him straight in the eye.

And he went out & wept bitterly. Luke 22:62

How much better it would have been if when Jesus told Peter he was capable of this thing he’d just done, he would have said,

“Oh Lord, please give me strength so that I won’t deny you. I couldn’t stand it. It would kill me.” But no. Peter let’s his pride dictate the terms to him & says, Jesus, no matter what you say or think you know, I will not deny you!

NOT ONLY DID PETER OVERESTIMATE HIS STRENGHTS, HE UNDERESTIMATED HIS WEAKNESSES

I probably wouldn’t agree with much that Clint Eastwood’s
Character Dirty Harry says, but I like one of his lines; “A mans got to know his limitations."

Peter gave himself credit for having abilities that he didn’t as yet possess. He would face the crowd in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost & speak powerfully & fearlessly but he didn’t have that power yet.

There have been thousands of ministers who thought they’d be safe counseling women alone in their offices & found themselves facing temptation they couldn’t deal with. Multitudes of former preachers are selling cars or in some other line of work when they were called by God to preach the gospel & all because they foolishly subjected themselves to sexual temptation.

Years ago, one of my best minister friends allowed himself to be compromised in this way. The women he was counseling was having martial problems [I’ve never understood why a woman having trouble with one man would want to meet exclusively with another man to unburden her heart] & they bonded over the strangest issue.

This will show you how smart Satan is. The woman the minister was counseling had a discolored front tooth that she’d always had a complex about. It just so happened that the minister also had a discolored front tooth & they started “crying” on one another’s shoulders. Strange- but nonetheless true. They kept flitting around the flame & went on from there to finally commit adultery.

Satan is a roaring Lion going around seeking whom he may devour. We have to ask ourselves if we’re a “Whom.” [I realize this isn’t good English] Satan can only devour “Whoms.” And Whoms are people who underestimate their weaknesses.


Also important is;

2. KEEP YOURSELF STRONG SPIRITUALLY

In the last 25 years we’ve been introduced to AIDS, or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

But as far as I know, though ultimately everyone who gets full blown Aids dies, AIDS has never killed anyone. That’s right. No one has died having been killed by AIDS. Why is that you ask?

AIDS’ power is in its ability to attack the immune system of the body; consequently people contract all kinds of diseases like the common cold or maybe even what should be a harmless virus. Now however with no immune system to ward it off, heretofore harmless diseases become killers.

If you & I don’t keep our spiritual immune system strong, the smallest things can become spiritual killers. How do we accomplish this? We do it by ingesting the Word of God into our system. We stay strong by realizing that most of our daily problems are in reality spiritual problems.

Do we have a financial problem? It no doubt has its roots in a spiritual deficiency problem.

Do we have a marital problem? No doubt the roots of it are spiritual.

Do we have a thought process problem? No doubt the problem is spiritual.

The truth is we spend our time treating symptoms when the real problem is spiritual.

If you & I are to be strong & mighty in spirit, we need to daily recharge our spiritual batteries. I don’t know any other way to do that than to spend time daily in prayer & the reading of the Word.

The book of Psalms is a treasure trove of 150 chapters arranged in five books. Have you ever thought about the Psalm the Holy Spirit directed to be the first Psalm? Listen to it;

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the council of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doeth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Here’s a message we all should heed;

DON’T LET YOUR FAILURES BE THE LAST CHAPTER OF YOUR LIFE

Peter had failed just about every test he was given having to do with his faithfulness & courage. I really don’t think he felt he would ever pass a test unless it had something to do with fishing.
After Peter had seen Jesus’ miracle working power again in the garden, after he had seen the risen Christ he received one more instruction; go ahead to Galilee & wait for Jesus there.

Again we see Peter’s impetuosity. He didn’t want to wait for Jesus. When Christ hadn’t arrived at a certain time he said, “I go fishing….Jn.21:3. Peter said in essence, “I wasn’t cut out for the ministry. I’ve miserably failed at everything I’ve tried. The one thing I can do is fish & I’m going back to it.” So since Peter was the leader, the other disciples followed him & they all went fishing.

I think when Peter went back to Galilee, he was fully persuaded he was down & wasn’t going to ever get up again. In all probability he felt he could never be usable to God.

Have you ever failed? Have you ever been down? I mean really down so far you’ve had to look up through the bottom. Are you down now? Are you spiritually depressed, feeling like a failure? Well let’s look how Peter was rehabilitated by Jesus.

There was a slight problem that night with the fishing. Jesus, knowing of course what & who He was dealing with, had rerouted every fish in the Sea of Galilee to get His point across. They fished all night & didn’t catch a single fish.

Jesus appeared in the morning & asked Peter to take a walk down the beach. John went along & heard the conversation. Notice that Jesus never mentioned Peter’s denial of Him. People will keep running our failures by us but God never will. All Jesus wanted to talk about was Peter’s love for Him.

Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Peter had denied Jesus three times now he gets three opportunities to confess his love. When Peter exclaims his love for Christ three times Jesus gives him a new calling. He said, Peter, feed my sheep. Feed my lambs; feed the young & the old, the weak & the strong.

PETER, GET BUSY FOR ME, AND GET BACK INTO MY MINISTRY!

Peter didn’t realize it then but he was soon to reach a point in his life where he’d be a towering giant for this Jesus whom he loved but had so miserably failed. He would come to a point that he’d glorify Christ & pay any price to do it.

Peter wouldn’t have believed how he was going to be changed because in the past, every time he’d had a chance to speak up for Christ he’d revoked his testimony. But Jesus was still looking beyond Peter’s faults & weaknesses & seeing his great potential. Jesus knew a day was coming when this “failure,” this man who was so down was going to get up & when he did the corridors of hell would be shaken.

Come with me to Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Peter & the rest of the disciples had obeyed Jesus’ instructions to set aside the time to wait on God in an upper room until they received the fullness of His Spirit. After ten days Acts 2:4 records “They were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

NOW WE HAVE AN UNSTOPPABLE MAN

Peter got spiritually charged up under the power of the Holy Spirit & look what happened. He stands up & preaches a public sermon that drew 3,000 souls into God’s kingdom. After that Peter faced mockery, threats, jail, & finally gave up his life gladly. We see no more running & denying Jesus, but a transformed man who spoke the Word of God boldly.

The last chapters of Peter’s life were a success for God, not failure. Are you down today? If you are get up! Pray until you’re filled with the Spirit because none of has to power to do God’s work without that infilling.

Years later when Peter was an old man, he was writing to the Christians & giving them some valuable advice. Do you know the very last words Peter had for us? I’m going to paraphrase his words;

“I was once a weak, spineless man who followed Jesus afar off. I failed him so miserably that I came close to giving up any idea of standing up for Christ. But I can tell you this; there’s a power that can transform you as it did me. But hear me carefully. After you start your new walk with God, don’t take it for granted.

Never overestimate your strengths & never underestimate your weakness. Stay spiritually strong. And here’s my last words; my final advice for you all;

But grow in Grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. A-men! - 2 peter 3:18


Blessings,

John






Monday, August 18, 2008

The Tragedy Of Strong Faith And Weak Theology

By John Stallings


they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. Romans 10:2


A four year old boy was awakened one night by the sound of heavy thunder & lightening. He went into the bedroom where his parents were sleeping & woke up his mother.

The sleepy mother was trying her best to get her son to go back to bed. “Son you need to go to your room. The storm will soon pass.” The boy noticed his father in the bed next to his mom & said, “But mom, I want to stay here with you & daddy. I’m scared.”

The mother said, “Son, your daddy is in the bed with me & he’s sleeping.” To which to small boy replied, “Yeah, that big sissy.”

The child wanted to run the show that stormy night which isn’t that unusual for the immature.

A quick glance through the book of Judges witnessing the depth of human weakness & sin leaves us asking, “Who’s running the show here?” Frankly everyone was running their own show. We’re told— “there was no king in Israel & every man did what was right in his own eyes.”

LOOK BACK AT HURRICANE KATRINA

Do you remember New Orleans in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina? It seemed that everyone did as he/she saw fit. Even with the perspective of history, we still find it hard to know if the tragedy was a failure of local, state or national leadership. In some respects it was a failure of individuals who didn’t “get out of Dodge” when they could have. The bottom line is, there was plenty of blame to go around. In retrospect, Katrina is still seen from many different perspectives. There are many “Katrina stories” & “Katrina theories.”

Well, the history of Israel as recorded in the book of Judges was much like Katrina & other earth shattering tragedies. It was a dark day of unbridled passions & the children of Israel lived like no one was in charge—certainly not the Lord.

JEPHTHAH

According to Judges Chapter’s 11& 12, Jephthah judged Israel for 6 years. He was born of a harlot & was rejected by his father’s other children. Jephthah was ostracized from the family because they felt he shouldn’t have an inheritance due to the circumstances of his birth.

Many who’re reading this will know from first hand experience that to a great degree, if you can survive your family you can survive anything. I heard someone say that friends are people God gives us to apologize for our families. It’s sort of humorous but it seems to be consistently true that our families are a proving ground for us. Jephthah’s experience with his family is no exception.

When the Ammonites made war on Israel, Jephthah’s brethren, knowing they lacked a leader who could successfully lead them against their enemy, took a chance on asking Jephthah to return & consider the job.

Jephthah still had many wounds from the rejection of his kin & let them know about it when they came seeking his help. He agreed to help lead Israel into battle if they’d make him their true leader after victory was won. The leaders of Israel agreed so Jephthah returned with them to be their new commander.

Highlighting his leadership skills, Jephthah first tried to talk to the leader of the Ammonites & avoid a war. When it became clear it wasn’t going to happen, war was waged. In Judges 11:29-33 we find the report of great victory over the Ammonites & twenty of their cities. The power came from God & He stood by the Israelites as Jephthah led them. As a matter of fact we’re told “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah” & he was granted a marvelous victory over the enemy.

JEPHTHAH’S BIG MISTAKE!!

I’m taking nothing away from Jephthah’s faith & trust in God, but in his euphoria he did something extremely rash & unwise. He made a vow to the Lord that if victory was his over these enemies, he would offer as a sacrifice to God whatever came out of the doors of his house to meet him when he arrived home.

This was a public acknowledgement that he realized he couldn’t win the victory without the Lord’s help. Then we’re told the tragic outcome of this vow. Jephthah expected maybe a dog or a goat would be the first to run out to meet him upon his arrival home, but his eager young daughter was watching for him and she came out first.

I don’t know with absolute certainty what really happened then. Bible scholars are split on it; some thinking he didn’t actually kill his daughter but simply put her away in a convent-like setting where she never married. But the text leads in another direction & suggests a darker outcome. If you read the narrative it looks like Jephthah carried out his vow & offered his daughter as a sacrifice, after a two month period which she requested.

JEPTHAH HAD A BURNING FAITH AND ZEAL, BUT ZEAL WITH NO WISDOM WILL ALWAYS GO WRONG

Jepthah evidently had enough faith to get his name in Hebrews 11 but his knowledge of God came up short. All we can say is that the times of the Judges were a dark page in Israel’s history & it would only get worse as the book ends.

Jepthah’s misguided & ignorant actions were completely unnecessary & totally wrong. The Canaanites could do things like that but God never permitted His people to sacrifice human beings as offerings to Him. Yes, it’s wise to keep our vows to God but Jepthah’s vow was made in ignorance of who God really is & what He requires.

While we should be aflame with love for the Lord, there is a zeal that’s destructive, divisive & deadly. It divides homes, nations & churches. This misguided zeal many times will find a good teaching or principle & drive it to an extreme making a bad thing out of a good thing. The cause of Christ has been deeply hurt by extremists with misguided zeal. Some good causes have been lost because the people propagating them got a fighting spirit & veered off track.

HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF A ZEALOT

Jesus took Peter, James & John to the garden of Gethsemane & asked them to watch & pray. As Jesus prayed, the soldiers came to take Him away. Peter awoke, saw what was happening, pulled out his sword & cut off the ear of Malchus. Jesus rebuked Peter & put the ear back on; He healed him supernaturally & miraculously. Now you talk about zeal!! Peter was full of zeal!—misguided zeal. What did Peter do wrong?

PETER HAD THE WRONG ENEMY!

Malchus was a slave & servant of the high priest. Many times zealots fight the wrong enemy. We wrestle not against flesh & blood. Never let the devil tempt you to put on the boxing gloves with another Christian. There are far too many circular firing squads in families & in the church today.

PETER HAD THE WRONG WEAPON

2 Corinthians 10:4 says—For the weapons of our warfare a re not carnal but mighty through God…

However, Peter was using the right weapon on the Day of Pentecost when he took the two-edged sword of God’s Word & saw three-thousand people swept into the kingdom of God.


PETER HAD THE WRONG STRENGHT

James said,--For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.—James 1:20

I’m so glad Jesus healed Malcus. What kind of testimony would it have been for Jesus, for a hot-headed Christian to cut a man’s ear off? Only when we’re controlled by the Spirit can we bring Glory to God & His work.

WOULD GOOD THEOLOGY HAVE KEPT JEPTHAH’S UGLY ACTION FROM TAKING PLACE?

Most assuredly it would have. The Ten Commandments forbade murder while Leviticus 27 & Deuteronomy 18 disallows the offering of human sacrifice.

Also, all Jepthah had to do was talk to God & following through with his vow wouldn’t have been required. But he didn’t have the working knowledge to understand that fact. Acts 17:30 says;

And at the times of this ignorance God winked, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.

The fact that Jephthah received honorable mention as a man of great faith in Hebrews 11 shows us that God in some cases has overlooked ignorance, but He never overlooks unbelief.

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism was a man of many letters & a great orator. Once in a huge open air meeting a man yelled out, “John Wesley, God doesn’t need your education.” To which Wesley replied, “No, and He doesn’t need your ignorance either.”

The prophet Hosea wrote;

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.

In Luke 7:28 Jesus said…..among those that are born of woman there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.

How could the least of the Kingdom be greater than John Baptist? John lived before Christ died on the cross. Once Jesus died, there was a spirit of revelation released & even a five year old now could understand more about God’s ultimate intention than any of the patriarchs. To put it bluntly, Jephthah & those who existed during his lifetime get some wiggle room because of the dark days they lived in. However, you & I live in the blazing noon-day of prophetic knowledge.

Here’s a little food for thought; both Simon Peter & Judas acted in such a way as to be called “hitting bottom” spiritually. Peter hit bottom by denying any knowledge of Christ, & Judas hit bottom by actually selling Jesus out for money.

To me, the basic reason the two men reacted to their failures differently was that somehow Peter was able to grab hold of what the cross meant & Judas never saw it. Peter lived to fight another day but Judas committed suicide.

What the two men did was equally despicable. Of course Judas sold Jesus out for money, but we shouldn’t forget, he took the money back & threw it at the feet of the people he got it from.

WHAT IS THEOLOGY?

The very mention of the word theology makes some people’s eyes roll back in their heads & scares the living daylights out of them. Their eyes glaze over & they envision old white-haired men speaking in polysyllables. They conjure up lists of genealogies & categories & dry barren wastelands without a drop of water.

Simply put, theology is –the study of God. This might surprise you, but I’m a theologian. What may surprise you more is that you’re a theologian too. Does that surprise you? Why do I call you a theologian? Look at it this way. If someone were to ask you about the origin of the earth, the creation of man, the prophecies about Christ’s coming, His ultimate death on the cross & His resurrection, what would you do?

I feel certain you’d proceed to the best of your abilities to explain it all to them, would you not? That’s what a theologian does. Everyone who reads the Bible has built up some sort of theology. If a person never goes to church or reads the Bible they’ll still have a set of ideas about the way the world works & some working thoughts & attitudes about God.
Or even the lack of a real, living God. Still, this is their personal theology. So the real question isn’t whether or not we all have a theology, but whether the theology we have is good theology. By that I mean is it accurate, biblical, coherent & consistent?

WAS JESUS A THEOLOGIAN?

Jesus indeed was a theologian. He told the Samaritan woman; - those who worship God must worship Him in spirit & in truth. [John4:23]

Luke records a significant event to underscore this. After Jesus rose from the dead He fell into a conversation with two disciples who were traveling on the road to Emmaus. He found them talking about the events surrounding His crucifixion. Failing to recognize Him, they unburdened their hearts about His crucifixion.

Jesus’ response was instructive. He didn’t go into His emotions & how it felt to go through all He’d been through. Exactly what did Jesus do? He started giving these two men an exegetical Bible lesson. He said;

O foolish men and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?

And beginning with Moses and all the prophets He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the scriptures. And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.

And they said one to another, were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the scriptures to us?
[Luke 24:13-32]

The significance here is that the miracle working Lord who’d just been raised from the dead explained the Law & Prophets to these men. He was unfolding some great theology in their hearing.

When Jesus was in the wilderness during His days of testing, Satan came to Him trying to get Him to show His power. But Jesus refused, hitting Satan time after time with “It is written.”

IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN MIRACLES, YOU’RE NOT A REALIST

A man once told me he didn’t believe in miracles & didn’t believe God healed the sick. I said, “Don’t worry about it brother, miracles aren’t for you anyway.” He shot back, “Why aren’t they for me?” I answered, “Miracles are for believers & since you don’t believe in them you won’t be bothered by them.”

Some people have the faith to be healed, however they don’t have any wisdom, consequently they lose the healing God gave them. Let me explain.

When I was a teenager my father pastored a church in Daytona Beach. God used him in those years in the area of divine healing. Dad preached faith & healing & always prayed for the sick on Sunday nights. One night a boy about ten years old was healed of a muscle-wasting disease of some kind in his legs. He wore braces & after the prayer his parents took the braces off & the boy walked normally.

The healing was so outstanding people all over town were talking about it. The boy was taken to a doctor & the doctor validated the healing & released him from wearing the braces.

The family didn’t live far from the parsonage we lived in next to the church & soon after this boy was healed we’d see him ride by the church on his bicycle sometimes when it was almost dark.

I remember hearing my father comment that if the parents didn’t use some wisdom, the boy would have a relapse & be back in braces again. He was making up for lost time in riding his bicycle & I could understand the kid’s excitement about being able to ride again. But my father saw it was obvious that no wisdom was being used.

The parents of that boy had great faith & no doubt a great love for God, but they weren’t exercising wisdom. When God healed the boy, He didn’t put him in a body with bionic legs but because of his new-found healing & the joy that it brought to him, the kid was using those legs harder than he would normally use them.

Sure enough in a few weeks the boy was back in his braces. In retrospect, I fully believe he’d have kept his healing if a modicum of wisdom had been used. Folks, God thought enough of our brain to wrap a skull around it & He expects us to use it.

You’ve probably read about people who are such fanatics they pray for a child or an adult & then withhold their medication from them. If they should go into a coma, they refuse to call a doctor or take the person to get help. Does the word ignoramus come to mind? Some of these good but misguided folk are unnecessarily in jail for manslaughter for the simple reason they had strong faith but their theology was weak.

It would seem obvious to me that if God has healed a person, it wouldn’t hurt for them to stay on their medication at least until a doctor has been consulted. It’s a mistake to think we can put God in a corner & manipulate Him into doing our biding by taking these extreme actions.

There are other misguided folk who tempt God by playing with poisonous snakes. I’ll tell you this much, as scared [respectful] as I am of snakes, one of them might bite where I used to be standing but if I can help it they won’t bite where I’m standing presently.

Oh well. As I’ve said, I don’t really know if Jephthah did sacrifice his daughter but I guess I’m in good company. The bottom line is, he was pleasing enough to God to be mentioned among the eminent believers who did great things by faith.—Heb.11:32

If Jephthah did it, he did it after two months of serious consideration & consultation. It certainly wouldn’t justify an act of that kind by anyone else. We can say what we will about Jephthah, he was an extraordinary person.

If we’re in a quandary about this story, let’s not lose any sleep over it. Let’s spend that time & energy in praising God & taking double comfort in the fact that the things necessary to our salvation aren’t lost in the misty moonlight, but are plain enough.

Praise His Name!!


Blessings,

John

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Surviving The Detours

By John Stallings




…..I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am….Philippians 4:13---The Message



The other night I saw actor Kevin Costner on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Costner told about being on the verge of quitting acting many years ago. Circumstances placed him & his new wife on a flight with actor Richard Burton returning from Mexico. Burton didn’t really know Costner but agreed to talk to him after he finished some reading.

When Burton got around to allowing ‘peon” Costner to sit by him for a few minutes, Costner got inspiration that reinvigorated his life & career. He went on to great things in the field of acting while Burton continued seeking his answers in the bottom of a bottle.

Who’d have thunk it? Who’d have guessed that such a small moment would reap such rich rewards for Costner? Yet I’ve heard story after story of people who through chance meetings learned the things that would, unbeknownst to them later define their lives. Maybe it can be explained with the word “serendipity” or stumbling over something wonderful.

We also call these experiences destiny, or providence, but it seems to be an experience fairly common to most everyone. Of course when your life is lived in pursuit of God you have a guarantee that He’s ordering your steps with a divine pattern in mind.

ANCIENT ISRAEL WAS NO EXCEPTION


Jeremiah had warned God’s people time & again that they would be taken into captivity. God was going to have to break them down in order to build them up again.

Jeremiah was one of those left behind when the people of God had been taken captive so he wrote to those in exile. Here was one of his most potent messages paraphrased from Jeremiah chapter 29;

“Don’t just sit there longing for home. You’ll be kept in captivity for seventy years but in the meantime, get on with your lives. Don’t live & die in exile waiting for a more perfect day. Instead engage life, live, build, plant, marry, pray for things & bloom where you’re planted. It’s the only thing you can do. You are still God’s people & you have a purpose & a destiny. Don’t worry about timing, let God worry about that. If you’re not busy living, then you’re busy dying”

We would probably expect a prophet to say, “be faithful by being pure & don’t mix & mingle. Keep to yourself & do only what you have to do. Pray that your captors are put into confusion & disarray & be overthrown. Certainly don’t pray for them to be blessed.”

However, Jeremiah was telling these exilic folk not to wait. “Don’t put your life on hold. Don’t get lost in what is no longer & don’t get lost in what is not yet. Stop waiting & get on with your life, right now, right where you are, even if you are on enemy territory.”

I submit that these were somewhat strange instructions to give God’s people. Instructions to be a blessing to the ones who’d conquered God’s city, destroyed God’s temple & carried God’s people off into captivity.

There’s an attitude here that’s not to be overlooked. A mind-set that at least for now, the welfare of their enemy would be their own welfare & what they did for their enemy they’d be doing in the final analysis for themselves.

THE “MEANTIME” MIGHT BE ALL THE TIME WE HAVE

What we do during “the meantime” or our “Detours” makes all the difference.

Someone has said, “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” Jeremiah is telling God’s people, “God still has your phone number. God hasn’t gone to Key West & forgotten you. You aren’t anonymous, your life isn’t irrelevant & you aren’t lost in space. Come on now; don’t get life & death confused.”

JOSEPH

I’ve ransacked the story of Old Testament Joseph through the years but there still remains so much treasure to be mined there.

Joseph’s was a “rags to riches” story. He’s in a dungeon but not for long. Soon he’s discovered when Pharaoh hears about his gifts & takes Joseph to the very top of Egyptian power—from the filthy prison to the top of the world. Don’t we all love it when a life-plan comes together?

Here’s what seemed to jump out at me as I reread Joseph’s story. Things go so bad for Joseph for so long that the writer has to keep reminding us that God is with him or we just might forget that fact. We read “The Lord was with Joseph” four times in Genesis chapter 39 [V.2, 3, 22, 23]. If we looked at it in strictly human terms, not one thing good happened to Joseph from the time he was seventeen until he was thirty years old. That's quite a long detour don't you think?

Have you ever been hurt by people you love? Have you ever been set-up, falsely accused & unjustly punished? Have you ever done your best, been promised a reward & then seemingly been forgotten? Have you ever been tempted to use your abilities & whatever power you had to get even with those who hurt you & make them really suffer? If so the story of Joseph has something to say to you.

Through everything that happened to Joseph, he did exactly what any other person would have done given his circumstances….that is…..any person who was convinced as Joseph was that God was with him…..anyone who didn’t take God’s silence for God’s absence.

Joseph’s break finally comes with this call from Pharaoh to interpret his dreams when others don’t dare. Joseph not only makes sense of the dream, he goes further & offers a plan to save Egypt in a coming famine. Genesis 41:35---They should collect food from the good years & store it up for the bad years to come. Pharaoh liked the plan so much he hires Joseph for the job.

In a flash Joseph leaves the smelly dungeon to wear royal clothing while riding in Pharaoh’s chariot with people bowing down to him.

JOSEPH IS A MODEL FOR US ON OUR DETOURS

Joseph can inspire us when we’re going through dark & puzzling days when we can’t seem to track God. When we look through the thick fog & all we can see are more gloomy days, when we wake up each morning seemingly to nothing.

Joseph’s life shows us how to relate to people who are treating us with disdain, shows us how to keep our interior life healthy & models for us what a winner’s attitude really looks like. Joseph could very easily have become an emotional cripple because of what he was put through. He could have just collapsed inside & thought, “Well, life as I’ve known it is over. My life has come off the rails & become a living nightmare. I haven’t seen the sun for years now & will probably never see it again. Death would be preferable to this so that’s it for me, I give up.”

Joseph could also have taken another tack. Remember the plan to save much of world from starvation was Joseph’s “brain child.” When it came to grey matter, Joseph had it going on. He could, as some people do that are locked up, have spent his time plotting his escape & revenge. Think of what an intelligent young man like Joseph could have done in the way of carnage & destruction if he’d had a bent in that direction. This young man had been unjustly put through hard times that would have broken lesser men but he refused to give in to bitterness & resentment. He just felt he had to live his life as best he could possibly live it despite the disparaging circumstances.

Again, the thing that made Joseph different & gave him the strength to survive all he endured was that he really believed his life wasn’t over & that God hadn’t abandoned him. He didn’t blame God for the injustices of human beings. He believed that even in a dungeon he could still be a servant of God & this attitude sustained him. Living with this mind-set was what allowed him to respond the way he did to all the disappointments he experienced. He was confident that God was with him & was at work in his life no matter what the circumstances.

You & I can learn a lot from Joseph especially when bad times come, the times when life is unfair, the times when we’re tempted to become bitter, to hunger for revenge, or to wallow in self-pity.

We shouldn't think that the life of Joseph & the perspective he had is too idealistic to be relevant in our lives. If you’re experiencing an “in the meantime” patch in your life, never underestimate the importance of how you live through those days, months or years. Bad times don’t limit the meaning or the significance of what we do in the sight of God.

PAUL

I love Paul’s letter to the Philippians because it’s so warm & friendly & full of Joy. Paul is at his absolute best in this letter. Jail or no jail this man triumphs, always. Imprisonment doesn’t seem to touch his spirit except to strengthen it.

Can you imagine what a sports team could do with a man like Paul? Even though they were behind on the scoreboard, Paul would keep saying, “Look, the victory is already yours. Just keep your eyes on the prize.”

As a matter of fact the theme of the book is joy despite the fact that it’s written from jail. Paul tells the Philippians, “I thank God every time I think about you.”

Sometime shortly after Paul left Philippi he was arrested & thrown in jail. When the Philippians heard that their former pastor was in prison they were understandably alarmed. How was he doing? Had he done something illegal or untoward? What’s going on with our beloved Paul?

Paul wastes no time telling his beloved Philippian congregation he’s fine. He lets them know he’s in jail for preaching the gospel. He assures them that far from hurting his ministry this jail time was going to enhance the ministry. When you start to lose steam & your perspective falters, go to Philippians & let Paul inject you with new assurance.

In some people’s minds within the Roman Empire, Jesus had been a minor player from a two-bit town on the edge of nowhere. The authorities had rubbed him out along with several other dissidents & that should have been all there was to the “Jesus matter.”

But here comes Paul, a well-known orator & he’s so in love with this Jesus he gets thrown in jail because he just won’t shut-up about Him. A lot of eyebrows were raised around the country about his zeal & willingness to risk all to keep talking about the Nazarene. What all this accomplished was to give Paul lot’s of “Meantime” & opportunities to “explain” himself, which to Paul as we know was the same thing as preaching the gospel.

IN PHILIPPIANS PAUL LETS THE GOOD NEWS ROLL

“Things haven’t turned out nearly as bad as you’d feared.” In a nutshell Paul has this attitude about his imprisonment & the causes of that imprisonment; ---he leans back against a dank dark cell wall & scratches his chin & says, “You know, the only thing that matters in all this is that it furthers the gospel.” I find that amazing!

Paul goes on; “The main thing about my story is that more & more people are hearing the gospel. This entire thing means I get to exalt Jesus. You know, I’ve always had a desire to know more about Jesus & the power of His resurrection & the fellowship of His suffering. You also know that since I met Him I’ve been doing one thing, forgetting everything in my past & stretching myself out & reaching for the things which are in my future. I’m pressing for the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Paul continues, --“don’t you good people forget to allow the peace of God which can’t even be explained to keep your hearts & minds through Christ Jesus. Think on the good things of God & don’t you spend one moment worrying about me. I can do everything I need to do through the power of Christ. And remember,

My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus!!”

For most of my life I’ve been a traveling man & life on the road taught me a lot. There are some lessons we learn from this business of traveling.

OCCASIONAL DETOURS APPEAR SUDDENLY WITHOUT MUCH WARNING

The highway of life can’t always be smooth. There will be hills; there will be rough spots & detours. We don’t always have enough information to fortify us against the coming detour. In life, one day you may be well & the next day you’re lying in the hospital. One day your home is intact & the next day death has taken a loved one from you. We know we’ll have sorrow & trouble but we don’t know the moment or day they will appear.

SELDOM DO WE KNOW THE LENGTH OF THE DETOUR

Neither Joseph nor Paul knew how long they’d be detained; they just had to put it in God’s hands. When the highway sign says detour, you take it without knowing how long it’s going to be. When life’s detours appear, we don’t know how long we will have to endure, but we’re hopeful at any minute to come back to the main highway.

MOST DETOURS ARE ROUGH & WINDING

In all my travels I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a really good detour road. They always take you out of your way, delay your arrival at your destination & must always be traveled slowly & with patience.

A DETOUR CAN HAVE ITS GOOD POINTS

I’ve found that sometimes the most beautiful scenery is found on the detour road. Over hills & through valleys we see the beauties of nature unmarred by billboards telling us to eat at a certain wayside restaurant. It could very well be that your detour experience will bring you more spiritual blessings & opportunities to be a blessing than you ever thought possible.

A DETOUR ALWAYS LEADS TO AN APPRECIATION OF THE GOOD HIGHWAY

I can remember so many times being bounced around on a rugged detour road & once I was back on the smooth highway I thought,--Now this is more like it. That detour sure was a horrible experience.

Dark days help us to appreciate the bright ones, don’t you agree? People who live in Florida, including yours truly don’t really appreciate sunshine like the folk in Michigan. Sometimes I’m tempted to believe we have our own sun here in Florida.

Trouble & heartache are never enjoyable but what they do is cause us to appreciate & take full advantage of the good days the Lord gives us.

ON A DETOUR YOU MORE OR LESS DRIVE BY FAITH

A detour road is one you probably haven’t been on before so you just follow the signs which promise to bring you back to the regular road. It's here that we learn to appreciate the verse,

--And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. Roman 8:28

SOME PEOPLE TAKE THE COWARDS WAY OUT WHEN THEY SEE A DETOUR SIGN & TURN AROUND & GO BACK

You will read every now & then about someone who committed suicide because of ill health or some rough experience they were having & didn’t have the fortitude to see it through.

SOME PEOPLE GRUMBLE & COMPLAIN EVERY MILE OF THE DETOUR

When we go through things complaining & moaning the blues our situation is made worse, our troubles are intensified & we often lose the friendship, fellowship & sympathy of others.

Some folk actually think that they grumble & complain because things are bad but the truth is; things will start going bad because we grumble & complain. Witness; the Israelites in the Wilderness.

Ladies & gentlemen, we can accept our “meantime” experiences with good cheer if we do as Paul did & keep our eyes on the Lord.

Maybe your detour is one of sorrow because of the death of a loved one. Maybe you’re on the detour of ill-health & all you do lately is cry because you feel the sun has gone down for you.

Listen to the Man of Sorrows;

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also.

Listen to the words of Paul;

And lest I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of the revelation, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might be taken away.

And He said, my grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
---2 Cor.12:7-9

No one is exempt from the detours & disappointments of this life. I have been disappointed many times in others & I’m sure others have been disappointed in me. I have been disappointed in the failure of my plans & I’ve been disappointed in myself.

There will be meantime & detours as long as we’re in this world. My life & yours will never be all that we’d like it to be but I can assure you this; through all our detours & side-trips we never planned on, we can be even more keenly aware of God’s mercy & grace.

Joseph learned he couldn’t rule Egypt until he first served as Potiphar’s slave but through his trials he was being trained for dominion.

For Joseph, for ancient Israel, for Paul as well as you & me, our disappointments have a redeeming feature if through them we lean more heavily on an absolutely trustworthy God whose grace & love is without boundaries, who will walk every step with us on our journey to wholeness.



Blessings,



John