By John Stallings
Unless you've been away to another galaxy for the last fifteen years you are aware of comedian Jerry Seinfeld.
I always liked his stand-up comedy & even enjoyed watching his T.V shows which you probably remember he called “a show about nothing.”
I think I see more re-runs of the show than I ever saw the show on prime-time but some of them are so hilarious I can watch over & over. One of my favorites is “The big salad” which displays the emotional ineptness & immaturity of George Costanza.
I got the idea from The Seinfeld Show to try to write a blog about NOTHING so here goes.
This first point isn't very spiritual but indulge me for a moment while I tell you that some people see retired people as folk who do NOTHING. Now doing nothing is very tricky; to do absolutely NOTHING. I’ve tried it & I know. The reason you have to be so careful doing NOTHING is because ANYTHING can come along & if you do ANYTHING, you’re no longer doing NOTHING. If you do ANYTHING, now you’re doing SOMETHING & your NOTHING is ruined. So you basically have to stop EVERYTHING. If hope I made that clear, because I have NOTHING else on that subject. Moving right along.
The Bible makes it plain that in the beginning the earth was without form & void. Genesis 1:1. So God had NOTHING to work with. Out of chaos He created cosmos. This is awesome because man could never create something from NOTHING. Women make some things from scratch (I’m not sure what scratch is, unless it’s related to itch) but I’m sure scratch is SOMETHING.
God spoke everything into existence but man & to create man He stooped down & made him out of the dust of the earth.
Philippians 4:6 exhorts us to, - Be anxious for NOTHING. If depression was the big disease of the latter part of the 20th Century, then anxiety is the disease of the 21st century. Do you remember a few years back when we America was gripped by fear about what would happen when we entered the new Millennium? The concern was so great that it was even captioned, Y2K. I remember reading one article where an “expert” said, “Please know that I’m an optimist. But I am convinced that there is no reason to believe we wont see the collapse of civilization. Anyone who thinks differently hasn’t got a good sense of history or current events.” During this time I can’t remember hearing one clarion voice stating that everything was going to be just fine.
So I challenge you today especially if you’re worried & anxious about ANYTHING to put EVERYTHING in your life in God’s capable hands & know that NOTHING is going to harm you.
In John 15:5 Jesus told His disciples, -Without me you can do NOTHING.
NOTHING pleases & exalts the Lord more than to see our self-reliance collapse & hear us call out to Him. Apart from Him, all our scurrying about, frantic preparation & study amounts to nothing. It’s a revelation when finally realize how much NOTHING we spend time on.
Christ is the Vine & we are the branches. When we’re truly drawing our sustenance & strength from the Vine we’ll bring forth the fruit Paul talks about in Galatians 5. Trying to manifest that fruit without being connected to Christ would be like attempting to tie imitation fruit onto a vine.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 that all we try to accomplish in our own flesh without love amounts to NOTHING. One of the most difficult things for us to actualize is that there will be people at the Judgment seat of Christ who’ll stand representing a lifetime of work for God & when their works are tried by fire, they will burn. God will take His Holy Ghost blow-torch & hit our pile of works with it & if they weren’t done with the right motivation, if they were done to glorify self, they’ll be considered zero---NOTHING!
This is just imaginary but an angel might walk over to God & say, “Listen God, this man is a preacher. He built a number of churches & traveled worldwide preaching the gospel. Surely you aren’t going to give this man zero are you?” God will simply answer, “Yes he did all these things, but I see the heart & what he did was done for the applause of people. Now he got the applause & of men while on earth & he was handsomely paid for it but he gets a “thimble crown” because he didn’t do his work that my name might be glorified.” After the man’s works have been submitted to the fire & have been burned up, the man himself will be saved, “yet so as by fire.1 Cor.3:15. Sadly many will be “saved but singed.”
In Matthew 5:13 Jesus calls Christians “the salt of the earth…but if the salt has lost its savour, it’s good for NOTHING but to be cast out & trodden foot of men.
Exactly what was Jesus saying when he compared Christians to salt? A small boy was asked what is salt. He said, “Salt is what ruins potatoes if you don’t have it.” Salt is prevalent in most all our foods but it’s so subtle that we don’t really miss it until the doctor puts us on a salt-free diet. Let’s see some facts about salt;
1. Salt is useless until applied.
If the salt stays in the shaker it doesn’t change anything but when it’s added to a food it changes things dramatically. Christians can’t sit within the four walls of a church & expect to change our world, we must go where the people are & be applied to the needy areas.
2. Salt holds back decay.
Salt is a preservative. This world has no clue to the value of Christians in society but if the Christians were taken out they’d know. Though we don’t set or enforce laws, our preserving power is the only thing holding society together. If Christians were taken out of this world, then the very best of the world would be gone. This isn’t an overblown egotistical notion, it’s just a fact. The presence that’s difficult for the ungodly to perceive is just like the salt in food, it’s very subtle.
3. Salt adds flavor.
If you’ve ever tried to eat an egg or grits without salt, you know they’re not worth eating. Christians add flavor but Jesus said, if the salt has lost it savour, it’s “tastiness” it’s ability to make a difference in a bland tasteless world, it’s good for NOTHING but to be cast aside. If Christians no longer stand for anything, if they’re going to blend into a world system & have no distinction, their usefulness is nil.
4. Salt makes people thirsty.
What happens if you put something salty in your mouth? You reach for a drink, right? That’s another function of salty Christians. We should be living in such a way that when people are around us, they get thirsty for Christ. Sometimes all we need to do to be “salty” is to live consistent lives. To me it’s amazing that all you have to do in this world to stand out is just go out there & be consistent. Go out & live your day to day life & be steady, don’t waver, be the same all the time, & see how you stand out in an “up & down, wishy-washy” society. People will start asking what’s wrong with you & how you can be so stable. This kind of life will make others thirsty for something they don’t possess which of course is Jesus Christ.
In Colossians 4:6 Paul tell us our words should be -Seasoned with salt. This means our speech should be gentle & graceful & stand out from the kind of talk people are used to hearing.
If I were preaching this as a sermon on NOTHING, we’d need a song to go along with it. I can think of no more appropriate song for the occasion than the grand old hymn;
What can wash away my sin, NOTHING but the blood of Jesus?
What can make me whole again, NOTHING but the blood of Jesus?
O, precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow,
No other fount I know,
NOTHING but the blood of Jesus.
Blessings,
John
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Monday, November 25, 2013
Nine ways to say "No thanks"
By John Stallings
I once read the story of a young Canadian student in 1860 who was awakened one night by the sound of two ships colliding.
His name was Ed Spencer. He jumped out of bed, saw the situation and being a strong swimmer, jumped in and started swimming out to the rescue. Many passengers of those ships died that night but Ed’s willingness to risk his life saved seventeen of them.
Ed suffered from paralysis after that night and wasn’t able to complete his studies, basically becoming an invalid for the rest of his life. Years later, now an old man living in California, Ed was interviewed by a Los Angeles paper and asked what he recalled about the rescue. “Only this” replied Ed, “of the seventeen I saved, not one of them ever thanked me.”
Someone has said, “Of all the emotions we human beings experience, gratitude is the hardest for us to feel.”
A SIMPLE ENOUGH STORY, WITH A FAMILIAR RING
Luke 17:11-19 tells the story of ten men suffering from leprosy that Jesus healed and sent on their way. One turns back, happy and thankful to Jesus. But Jesus asks, “Were there not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?” Can none be found to return and give Glory to God except this outsider?” Message Bible.—
This sounds so eerily familiar that it reminds us of one of our first childhood lessons; “What do say when you’re given something? Thank you. Okay, good for you.
I often wonder when reading this story, was Jesus upset, surprised, amazed or disappointed; or maybe a combination of them all.
THERE ARE AT LEAST FIVE BOXES IN THIS STORY.
1. THE BOX OF LEPROSY.
We know enough about leprosy to know it’s a dirty disease, a horrible flesh eating sickness and no one can recover from it. In Bible days a person infected with the disease had to give up home and family and live outside the social matrix because of its contagious nature. The physical suffering was compounded by the fact that lepers were social exiles, they were forever unclean.
Lepers were boxed in, not only by the disease, but because of its contagious nature, they were considered ritually unclean. A leper was allowed no contact with non-lepers, and that’s why, in this story, the lepers “stood at a distance” when they called out to Jesus. They stood far off like wounded animals with rags wrapped around their hands. Others had their feet wrapped up with pieces of cloth. They could stay just close enough to society to allow them to beg, as long as they cried loudly, unclean, unclean, unclean.
Think what it would be like to have leprosy. It’s hard to think about. Imagine the waiting, the hoping, wondering how long it will take and how much suffering will be experienced before death.
There was a very famous leper in the Old Testament named Naaman. His story is in 2 Kings 5.Naaman was boxed in by pride and anger and almost lost his miracle because of it. He finally dipped seven times in a muddy little river, quiet beneath his dignity, but his obedience enabled him to escape the terrible box of leprosy.
2. THE RACIAL BOX.
We are not told specifically if the non-returning lepers were Jews, but the fact that Jesus makes much of the tenth and thankful leper being a “foreigner” or Samaritan, seems to imply it. Also the fact that the Jews and Samaritans fraternize in this story is in itself an “out-of-the-box” experience. It’s also out-of-the-box for a Samaritan to be willing to come back and thank a Jewish healer.
We remember that in Jesus’ day the Jews looked down on the Samaritans. Racial prejudice is something that is still alive and well in our world. However the gospel of Christ is fundamentally incompatible with racial prejudice.
THE ISSUE IS SIN-NOT SKIN
When God sees this world he doesn’t look at skin color. All people regardless of their race, background or skin color are significant, loved, fallen and redeemable. No race has any advantage over any other race and no group is better than any other group. God doesn’t play favorites and skin color doesn’t matter to Him. Race isn’t an issue with God. “Red and yellow black and white, they are precious in His sight.”
3. THERE WAS THE GEOGRAPHICAL BOX.
We know that Jews tried to avoid traveling through Samaria, yet here is Jesus, Luke tells us, in “the region between Samaria and Galilee.” Jesus was skirting the borderlands, the in-between area that doesn’t fit neatly in any geographical box.
4. JESUS STEPPED OUTSIDE THE HEALING BOX HERE.
Jesus usually healed with a touch, but in this case He didn’t. As a matter of fact, He didn’t pray, He didn’t pronounce their healing; He did very little except to tell the lepers to go show themselves to the priest. The priests controlled most everything in those days.
They even functioned as health inspectors. As the lepers started to go at Jesus’ instruction, they noticed that their sores and wounds were drying up, and their blemishes began to disappear. With every step they took they felt stronger, younger, and more energetic. When they rounded the final turn on the way to the village, they were completely healed. It must have been an incredible walk for them.
Think of it—after all their suffering, all of the sudden at the word of a stranger, their loneliness, pain and banishment began to evaporate. In a matter of moments they all had the clean, healthy, supple skin of a baby.
Friend if you’re sick or have a friend or relative who is, here are 101 reasons God will heal those who’ll trust Him for healing;
God said…
1) I am the Lord that healeth thee (Ex. 15:26).
2) Your days shall be one hundred and twenty years (Gen. 6:3).
3) You shall be buried in a good old age (Gen. 15:15).
4) You shall come to your grave in a full age like as a shock of corn cometh in his season (Job 5:26).
5) When I see the blood, I will pass over you and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you (Ex. 12:13).
6) I will take sickness away from the midst of you and the number of your days I will fulfill (Ex. 23: 25, 26).
7) I will not put any of the diseases you are afraid of on you, but I will take all sickness away from you (Deut. 7:15).
8) It will be well with you and your days shall be multiplied and prolonged as the days of heaven upon the earth (Deut. 11:9,21).
9) I turned the curse into a blessing unto you, because I loved you (Deut. 23:5 and Neh. 13:2).
10) I have redeemed you from every sickness and every plague (Deut. 28:61 and Gal. 3:13).
11) As your days, so shall your strength be (Deut. 33:25).
12) I have found a ransom for you, your flesh shall be fresher than a child’s and you shall return to the days of your youth (Job 33:24, 25).
13) I have healed you and brought up your soul from the grave; I have kept you alive from going down into the pit (Ps. 30:1, 2).
14) I will give you strength and bless you with peace (Ps. 29:11).
15) I will preserve you and keep you alive (Ps. 41:2).
16) I will strengthen you upon the bed of languishing; I will turn all your bed in your sickness (Ps. 41:3).
17) I am the health of your countenance and your God (Ps.43: 5).
18) No plague shall come near your dwelling (Ps. 91:10).
19) I will satisfy you with long life (Ps. 91:16).
20) I heal all your diseases (Ps. 103:3).
21) I sent My word and healed you and delivered you from your destructions (Ps.107:20).
22) You shall not die, but live, and declare My works (Ps. 118:17).
23) I heal your broken heart and bind up your wounds (Ps. 147:3).
24) The years of your life shall be many (Pr. 4:10).
25) Trusting Me brings health to your navel and marrow to your bones (Pr. 3:8).
26) My words are life to you, and health/medicine to all your flesh (Pr. 4:22).
27) (My) good report makes your bones fat (Pr. 15:30).
28) (My) pleasant words are sweet to your soul and health to your bones (Pr. 16:24).
29) My joy is your strength. A merry heart does good like a medicine (Neh. 8:10; Pr.17:22).
30) The eyes of the blind shall be opened. The eyes of them that see shall not be dim (Isa. 32:3; 35:5).
31) The ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. The ears of them that hear shall hearken (Isa. 32:3; 35:5).
32) The tongue of the dumb shall sing. The tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly (Isa. 35:6; 32:4).
33) The lame man shall leap as a hart (Isa. 35:6).
34) I will recover you and make you to live. I am ready to save you (Isa. 38:16, 20).
35) I give power to the faint. I increase strength to them that have no might (Isa. 40:29).
36) I will renew your strength. I will strengthen and help you (Isa. 40:31; 41:10).
37) To your old age and gray hairs I will carry you and I will deliver you (Isa. 46:4).
38) I bore your sickness (Isa. 53:4).
39) I carried your pains (Isa. 53:4).
40) I was put to sickness for you (Isa. 53:10).
41) With My stripes you are healed (Isa. 53:5).
42) I will heal you (Isa. 57:19).
43) Your light shall break forth as the morning and your health shall spring forth speedily (Isa. 58:8).
44) I will restore health unto you, and I will heal you of your wounds saith the Lord (Jer.30:17).
45) Behold I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure you, and will reveal unto you the abundance of peace and truth (Jer. 33:6).
46) I will bind up that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sick (Eze.34:16).
47) Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live. And I shall put My Spirit in you and you shall live (Eze. 37:5,14).
48) Whithersoever the rivers shall come shall live. They shall be healed and everything shall live where the river comes (Eze. 47:9).
49) Seek Me and you shall live (Amos 5:4, 6).
50) I have arisen with healing in My wings (beams) (Mal. 4:2).
New Testament
51) I will, be thou clean (Mt. 8:3).
52) I took your infirmities (Mt. 8:17).
53) I bore your sicknesses (Mt. 8:17).
54) If you’re sick you need a physician. (I am the Lord your physician) (Mt. 9:12 &
55) I am moved with compassion toward the sick and I heal them (Mt. 14:14).
56) I heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease (Mt. 4:23).
57) According to your faith, be it unto you (Mt. 9:29).
58) I give you power and authority over all unclean spirits to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease (Mt. 10:1 & Lk. 9:1).
59) I heal them all (Mt. 12:15 & Heb. 13:8).
60) As many as touch Me are made perfectly whole (Mt. 14:36).
61) Healing is the children’s bread (Mt. 15:26).
62) I do all things well. I make the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak (Mk. 7:37).
63) If you can believe, all things are possible to him that believeth (Mk. 9:23; 11:23,24).
64) When hands are laid on you, you shall recover (Mk. 16:18).
65) My anointing heals the brokenhearted, and delivers the captives, recovers sight to the blind, and sets at liberty those that are bruised (Lk. 4:18; Isa. 10:27; 61:1).
66) I heal all those who have need of healing (Lk. 9:11).
67) I am not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them (Lk. 9:56).
68) Behold, I give you authority over all the enemy’s power and nothing shall by any means hurt you (Lk. 10:19).
69) Sickness is satanic bondage and you ought to be loosed today (Lk. 13:16 & II Cor.6:2).
70) In Me is life (Jn. 1:4).
71) I am the bread of life. I give you life (Jn. 6:33, 35).
72) The words I speak unto you are spirit and life (Jn. 6:63).
73) I am come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly (Jn. 10:10).
74) I am the resurrection and the life (Jn. 11:25).
75) If you ask anything in My name, I will do it (Jn. 14:14).
76) Faith in My name makes you strong and gives you perfect soundness (Acts 3:16).
77) I stretch forth My hand to heal (Acts 4:30).
78) I, Jesus Christ, make you whole (Acts 9:34).
79) I do good and heal all that are oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38).
80) My power causes diseases to depart from you (Acts 19:12).
81) The law of the Spirit of life in Me has made you free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2).
82) The same Spirit that raised Me from the dead now lives in you and that Spirit will quicken your mortal body (Rom. 8:11).
83) Your body is a member of Me (I Cor. 6:15).
84) Your body is the temple of My Spirit and you’re to glorify Me in your body (I Cor.6:19, 20).
85) If you’ll rightly discern My body which was broken for you, and judge yourself, you’ll not be judged and you’ll not be weak, sickly or die prematurely (I Cor. 11:29-31).
86) I have set gifts of healing in My body (I Cor. 12:9).
87) My life may be made manifest in your mortal flesh (II Cor. 4:10, 11).
88) I have delivered you from death, I do deliver you, and if you trust Me I will yet deliver you (II Cor. 1:10).
89) I have given you My name and have put all things under your feet (Eph. 1:21, 22).
90) I want it to be well with you and I want you to live long on the earth. (Eph. 6:3).
91) I have delivered you from the authority of darkness (Col. 1:13).
92) I will deliver you from every evil work (II Tim. 4:18).
93) I tasted death for you. I destroyed the devil who had the power of death. I’ve delivered you from the fear of death and bondage (Heb. 2:9, 14, 15).
94) I wash your body with pure water (Heb. 10:22; Eph. 5:26).
95) Lift up the weak hands and the feeble knees. Don’t let that which is lame be turned aside but rather let Me heal it (Heb. 12:12, 13).
96) Let the elders anoint you and pray for you in My name and I will raise you up (Jas.5:14, 15).
97) Pray for one another and I will heal you (Jas. 5:16).
98) By My stripes you were healed (I Pet. 2:24).
99) My Divine power has given unto you all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Me (II Pet. 1:3).
100) Whosoever will let him come and take of the water of life freely (Rev. 22:17).
101) Beloved, I wish above all things that you may…be in health (III Jn. 2
NINE WAYS TO SAY “NO THANKS
What if a newspaper of that day had gone to do a story on these nine lepers who didn’t return to thank Jesus? Imagine them gathered in one room and the reporter asking for their side of this story. Let’s first talk to leper, Jim.
1. JIM, what happened to you after Jesus healed you of leprosy? Jim might reply, “Well, I guess I wanted to wait for just a little while longer to see if the cure was real and was going to last. After all, there’s a little thing called “remission” you know. And by the time I realized the healing was the real thing, Jesus was dead.
2. JACK. And how about you jack? “Well I started to wonder if I had ever had leprosy. Whatever I had was much improved so I really didn’t give it much more thought.
3. JASON. “And you Jason, why didn’t you return? “Well, I was grateful for the cure but I had to take my son to his baseball game that day. I have been so busy lately, you wouldn’t believe it. You know now-a-days, I don’t know where the time goes.” And another thing, I was very anxious to just get back to my old life, my old routine.
4. LYLE was next to speak; “I didn’t know we were supposed to return to thank Jesus. I was just following instructions. You know, Jesus told us to go and show ourselves to the priest and that’s what I did. As lepers, we’ve become so used to following orders that we really just do as we’re told. And another thing, when Jesus told us to go, our feet started to move before our minds could think about it. We lepers move, eat, sleep, and speak according to instructions with little choice in the matter.
5. TIM “Tim, can you tell us why you never returned to thank Jesus for your cure? Well, I once took a psychological behavioral test to show me what personality type I was, and would you believe, I’m a procrastinator? Yeah, that’s right, and also the test said that we procrastinators are indecisive, tentative, and I found I have a touch of ADD. Hey, look at that bird up in the sky.
6—8. THE LAST FOUR lepers were Deaf leper, who loved music, Leper-Con, he was Irish, Spotted leper; strange name I know, but his healing caused him to have an identity crisis. He’d been a leper so long he wasn’t prepared to change. He was so at home with lepers that he couldn’t readjust.
9. THE NINTH LEPER sent word that he highly resented being labeled an ingrate , simply because he conformed to the traditional way of expressing his thanks; in the Temple, before the priest, just like Jesus instructed. He also wanted to go on record that he felt a sense of “entitlement” to the better things in life, and added that it was about time God answered his prayers.
The leper who returned teaches us, by his actions, to be more spontaneous with our gratitude. Luke said that he was “praising God with a loud voice.” In fact, the ex-leper fell on his face before Jesus. He was completely carried away and beside himself with joy and happiness. He felt like dancing a jig and shouting from the housetops. He was so excited that he didn’t even take time to have his healing verified by the priest, he was so anxious to thank this stranger.
He didn’t show up at the interview because he was so busy telling people what Jesus had done, he didn’t feel he could spare the time. He said he was so ecstatic he wasn’t in any shape to answer questions, even a year later.
Sometimes it’s good to throw away the restraints and let yourself be carried away with gratitude and joy.
A SENSE OF URGENCY CHANGES US IN REGARDS TO PRAISE.
Most of us find it easy to stay inside the box, playing it safe and following directions until something earthshaking happens. At those times, we find it comfortable to throw off restraints. We seem more inclined to give gratitude free rein when we feel a sense of urgency. People stand up at funerals and weddings and shock others with their free-flowing expressions of love and praise.
If a person is diagnosed with cancer, they are quick to begin telling the people they love how much they love them. Now time is of the essence, so they do it, now. Most of us would agree that we shouldn’t operate like this, but being human we do.
Our lives would become almost heaven on earth if we would integrate appreciation and praise, not only to God but to one another into our everyday lives. If you think I’m wrong, ask yourself, have you ever grown tired of being loved, thanked and appreciated?
HERE ARE SOME THINGS THIS STORY TEACHES US.
# God reminds us that if we don’t cultivate thankfulness, it will take more and more to make us thankful.
Jesus would also remind us of some of the things for which HE gave thanks.
• He gave thanks for 5 loaves and 2 fishes, before He multiplied them to feed a multitude.
• He gave thanks for the bread and wine He ate with His disciples before His death, even though He said they were symbolic of His broken body and shed blood.
• He gave thanks to His father at the tomb of Lazarus, just for hearing His prayer.
One last thing in this story is found in Luke 17:19. Jesus told the returning leper, “Arise and go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole.”
The returning leper received a gift the other nine missed out on. He received “wholeness” for body, mind, soul and spirit.
Blessings, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING,
John
I once read the story of a young Canadian student in 1860 who was awakened one night by the sound of two ships colliding.
His name was Ed Spencer. He jumped out of bed, saw the situation and being a strong swimmer, jumped in and started swimming out to the rescue. Many passengers of those ships died that night but Ed’s willingness to risk his life saved seventeen of them.
Ed suffered from paralysis after that night and wasn’t able to complete his studies, basically becoming an invalid for the rest of his life. Years later, now an old man living in California, Ed was interviewed by a Los Angeles paper and asked what he recalled about the rescue. “Only this” replied Ed, “of the seventeen I saved, not one of them ever thanked me.”
Someone has said, “Of all the emotions we human beings experience, gratitude is the hardest for us to feel.”
A SIMPLE ENOUGH STORY, WITH A FAMILIAR RING
Luke 17:11-19 tells the story of ten men suffering from leprosy that Jesus healed and sent on their way. One turns back, happy and thankful to Jesus. But Jesus asks, “Were there not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?” Can none be found to return and give Glory to God except this outsider?” Message Bible.—
This sounds so eerily familiar that it reminds us of one of our first childhood lessons; “What do say when you’re given something? Thank you. Okay, good for you.
I often wonder when reading this story, was Jesus upset, surprised, amazed or disappointed; or maybe a combination of them all.
THERE ARE AT LEAST FIVE BOXES IN THIS STORY.
1. THE BOX OF LEPROSY.
We know enough about leprosy to know it’s a dirty disease, a horrible flesh eating sickness and no one can recover from it. In Bible days a person infected with the disease had to give up home and family and live outside the social matrix because of its contagious nature. The physical suffering was compounded by the fact that lepers were social exiles, they were forever unclean.
Lepers were boxed in, not only by the disease, but because of its contagious nature, they were considered ritually unclean. A leper was allowed no contact with non-lepers, and that’s why, in this story, the lepers “stood at a distance” when they called out to Jesus. They stood far off like wounded animals with rags wrapped around their hands. Others had their feet wrapped up with pieces of cloth. They could stay just close enough to society to allow them to beg, as long as they cried loudly, unclean, unclean, unclean.
Think what it would be like to have leprosy. It’s hard to think about. Imagine the waiting, the hoping, wondering how long it will take and how much suffering will be experienced before death.
There was a very famous leper in the Old Testament named Naaman. His story is in 2 Kings 5.Naaman was boxed in by pride and anger and almost lost his miracle because of it. He finally dipped seven times in a muddy little river, quiet beneath his dignity, but his obedience enabled him to escape the terrible box of leprosy.
2. THE RACIAL BOX.
We are not told specifically if the non-returning lepers were Jews, but the fact that Jesus makes much of the tenth and thankful leper being a “foreigner” or Samaritan, seems to imply it. Also the fact that the Jews and Samaritans fraternize in this story is in itself an “out-of-the-box” experience. It’s also out-of-the-box for a Samaritan to be willing to come back and thank a Jewish healer.
We remember that in Jesus’ day the Jews looked down on the Samaritans. Racial prejudice is something that is still alive and well in our world. However the gospel of Christ is fundamentally incompatible with racial prejudice.
THE ISSUE IS SIN-NOT SKIN
When God sees this world he doesn’t look at skin color. All people regardless of their race, background or skin color are significant, loved, fallen and redeemable. No race has any advantage over any other race and no group is better than any other group. God doesn’t play favorites and skin color doesn’t matter to Him. Race isn’t an issue with God. “Red and yellow black and white, they are precious in His sight.”
3. THERE WAS THE GEOGRAPHICAL BOX.
We know that Jews tried to avoid traveling through Samaria, yet here is Jesus, Luke tells us, in “the region between Samaria and Galilee.” Jesus was skirting the borderlands, the in-between area that doesn’t fit neatly in any geographical box.
4. JESUS STEPPED OUTSIDE THE HEALING BOX HERE.
Jesus usually healed with a touch, but in this case He didn’t. As a matter of fact, He didn’t pray, He didn’t pronounce their healing; He did very little except to tell the lepers to go show themselves to the priest. The priests controlled most everything in those days.
They even functioned as health inspectors. As the lepers started to go at Jesus’ instruction, they noticed that their sores and wounds were drying up, and their blemishes began to disappear. With every step they took they felt stronger, younger, and more energetic. When they rounded the final turn on the way to the village, they were completely healed. It must have been an incredible walk for them.
Think of it—after all their suffering, all of the sudden at the word of a stranger, their loneliness, pain and banishment began to evaporate. In a matter of moments they all had the clean, healthy, supple skin of a baby.
Friend if you’re sick or have a friend or relative who is, here are 101 reasons God will heal those who’ll trust Him for healing;
God said…
1) I am the Lord that healeth thee (Ex. 15:26).
2) Your days shall be one hundred and twenty years (Gen. 6:3).
3) You shall be buried in a good old age (Gen. 15:15).
4) You shall come to your grave in a full age like as a shock of corn cometh in his season (Job 5:26).
5) When I see the blood, I will pass over you and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you (Ex. 12:13).
6) I will take sickness away from the midst of you and the number of your days I will fulfill (Ex. 23: 25, 26).
7) I will not put any of the diseases you are afraid of on you, but I will take all sickness away from you (Deut. 7:15).
8) It will be well with you and your days shall be multiplied and prolonged as the days of heaven upon the earth (Deut. 11:9,21).
9) I turned the curse into a blessing unto you, because I loved you (Deut. 23:5 and Neh. 13:2).
10) I have redeemed you from every sickness and every plague (Deut. 28:61 and Gal. 3:13).
11) As your days, so shall your strength be (Deut. 33:25).
12) I have found a ransom for you, your flesh shall be fresher than a child’s and you shall return to the days of your youth (Job 33:24, 25).
13) I have healed you and brought up your soul from the grave; I have kept you alive from going down into the pit (Ps. 30:1, 2).
14) I will give you strength and bless you with peace (Ps. 29:11).
15) I will preserve you and keep you alive (Ps. 41:2).
16) I will strengthen you upon the bed of languishing; I will turn all your bed in your sickness (Ps. 41:3).
17) I am the health of your countenance and your God (Ps.43: 5).
18) No plague shall come near your dwelling (Ps. 91:10).
19) I will satisfy you with long life (Ps. 91:16).
20) I heal all your diseases (Ps. 103:3).
21) I sent My word and healed you and delivered you from your destructions (Ps.107:20).
22) You shall not die, but live, and declare My works (Ps. 118:17).
23) I heal your broken heart and bind up your wounds (Ps. 147:3).
24) The years of your life shall be many (Pr. 4:10).
25) Trusting Me brings health to your navel and marrow to your bones (Pr. 3:8).
26) My words are life to you, and health/medicine to all your flesh (Pr. 4:22).
27) (My) good report makes your bones fat (Pr. 15:30).
28) (My) pleasant words are sweet to your soul and health to your bones (Pr. 16:24).
29) My joy is your strength. A merry heart does good like a medicine (Neh. 8:10; Pr.17:22).
30) The eyes of the blind shall be opened. The eyes of them that see shall not be dim (Isa. 32:3; 35:5).
31) The ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. The ears of them that hear shall hearken (Isa. 32:3; 35:5).
32) The tongue of the dumb shall sing. The tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly (Isa. 35:6; 32:4).
33) The lame man shall leap as a hart (Isa. 35:6).
34) I will recover you and make you to live. I am ready to save you (Isa. 38:16, 20).
35) I give power to the faint. I increase strength to them that have no might (Isa. 40:29).
36) I will renew your strength. I will strengthen and help you (Isa. 40:31; 41:10).
37) To your old age and gray hairs I will carry you and I will deliver you (Isa. 46:4).
38) I bore your sickness (Isa. 53:4).
39) I carried your pains (Isa. 53:4).
40) I was put to sickness for you (Isa. 53:10).
41) With My stripes you are healed (Isa. 53:5).
42) I will heal you (Isa. 57:19).
43) Your light shall break forth as the morning and your health shall spring forth speedily (Isa. 58:8).
44) I will restore health unto you, and I will heal you of your wounds saith the Lord (Jer.30:17).
45) Behold I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure you, and will reveal unto you the abundance of peace and truth (Jer. 33:6).
46) I will bind up that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sick (Eze.34:16).
47) Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live. And I shall put My Spirit in you and you shall live (Eze. 37:5,14).
48) Whithersoever the rivers shall come shall live. They shall be healed and everything shall live where the river comes (Eze. 47:9).
49) Seek Me and you shall live (Amos 5:4, 6).
50) I have arisen with healing in My wings (beams) (Mal. 4:2).
New Testament
51) I will, be thou clean (Mt. 8:3).
52) I took your infirmities (Mt. 8:17).
53) I bore your sicknesses (Mt. 8:17).
54) If you’re sick you need a physician. (I am the Lord your physician) (Mt. 9:12 &
55) I am moved with compassion toward the sick and I heal them (Mt. 14:14).
56) I heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease (Mt. 4:23).
57) According to your faith, be it unto you (Mt. 9:29).
58) I give you power and authority over all unclean spirits to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease (Mt. 10:1 & Lk. 9:1).
59) I heal them all (Mt. 12:15 & Heb. 13:8).
60) As many as touch Me are made perfectly whole (Mt. 14:36).
61) Healing is the children’s bread (Mt. 15:26).
62) I do all things well. I make the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak (Mk. 7:37).
63) If you can believe, all things are possible to him that believeth (Mk. 9:23; 11:23,24).
64) When hands are laid on you, you shall recover (Mk. 16:18).
65) My anointing heals the brokenhearted, and delivers the captives, recovers sight to the blind, and sets at liberty those that are bruised (Lk. 4:18; Isa. 10:27; 61:1).
66) I heal all those who have need of healing (Lk. 9:11).
67) I am not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them (Lk. 9:56).
68) Behold, I give you authority over all the enemy’s power and nothing shall by any means hurt you (Lk. 10:19).
69) Sickness is satanic bondage and you ought to be loosed today (Lk. 13:16 & II Cor.6:2).
70) In Me is life (Jn. 1:4).
71) I am the bread of life. I give you life (Jn. 6:33, 35).
72) The words I speak unto you are spirit and life (Jn. 6:63).
73) I am come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly (Jn. 10:10).
74) I am the resurrection and the life (Jn. 11:25).
75) If you ask anything in My name, I will do it (Jn. 14:14).
76) Faith in My name makes you strong and gives you perfect soundness (Acts 3:16).
77) I stretch forth My hand to heal (Acts 4:30).
78) I, Jesus Christ, make you whole (Acts 9:34).
79) I do good and heal all that are oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38).
80) My power causes diseases to depart from you (Acts 19:12).
81) The law of the Spirit of life in Me has made you free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2).
82) The same Spirit that raised Me from the dead now lives in you and that Spirit will quicken your mortal body (Rom. 8:11).
83) Your body is a member of Me (I Cor. 6:15).
84) Your body is the temple of My Spirit and you’re to glorify Me in your body (I Cor.6:19, 20).
85) If you’ll rightly discern My body which was broken for you, and judge yourself, you’ll not be judged and you’ll not be weak, sickly or die prematurely (I Cor. 11:29-31).
86) I have set gifts of healing in My body (I Cor. 12:9).
87) My life may be made manifest in your mortal flesh (II Cor. 4:10, 11).
88) I have delivered you from death, I do deliver you, and if you trust Me I will yet deliver you (II Cor. 1:10).
89) I have given you My name and have put all things under your feet (Eph. 1:21, 22).
90) I want it to be well with you and I want you to live long on the earth. (Eph. 6:3).
91) I have delivered you from the authority of darkness (Col. 1:13).
92) I will deliver you from every evil work (II Tim. 4:18).
93) I tasted death for you. I destroyed the devil who had the power of death. I’ve delivered you from the fear of death and bondage (Heb. 2:9, 14, 15).
94) I wash your body with pure water (Heb. 10:22; Eph. 5:26).
95) Lift up the weak hands and the feeble knees. Don’t let that which is lame be turned aside but rather let Me heal it (Heb. 12:12, 13).
96) Let the elders anoint you and pray for you in My name and I will raise you up (Jas.5:14, 15).
97) Pray for one another and I will heal you (Jas. 5:16).
98) By My stripes you were healed (I Pet. 2:24).
99) My Divine power has given unto you all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Me (II Pet. 1:3).
100) Whosoever will let him come and take of the water of life freely (Rev. 22:17).
101) Beloved, I wish above all things that you may…be in health (III Jn. 2
NINE WAYS TO SAY “NO THANKS
What if a newspaper of that day had gone to do a story on these nine lepers who didn’t return to thank Jesus? Imagine them gathered in one room and the reporter asking for their side of this story. Let’s first talk to leper, Jim.
1. JIM, what happened to you after Jesus healed you of leprosy? Jim might reply, “Well, I guess I wanted to wait for just a little while longer to see if the cure was real and was going to last. After all, there’s a little thing called “remission” you know. And by the time I realized the healing was the real thing, Jesus was dead.
2. JACK. And how about you jack? “Well I started to wonder if I had ever had leprosy. Whatever I had was much improved so I really didn’t give it much more thought.
3. JASON. “And you Jason, why didn’t you return? “Well, I was grateful for the cure but I had to take my son to his baseball game that day. I have been so busy lately, you wouldn’t believe it. You know now-a-days, I don’t know where the time goes.” And another thing, I was very anxious to just get back to my old life, my old routine.
4. LYLE was next to speak; “I didn’t know we were supposed to return to thank Jesus. I was just following instructions. You know, Jesus told us to go and show ourselves to the priest and that’s what I did. As lepers, we’ve become so used to following orders that we really just do as we’re told. And another thing, when Jesus told us to go, our feet started to move before our minds could think about it. We lepers move, eat, sleep, and speak according to instructions with little choice in the matter.
5. TIM “Tim, can you tell us why you never returned to thank Jesus for your cure? Well, I once took a psychological behavioral test to show me what personality type I was, and would you believe, I’m a procrastinator? Yeah, that’s right, and also the test said that we procrastinators are indecisive, tentative, and I found I have a touch of ADD. Hey, look at that bird up in the sky.
6—8. THE LAST FOUR lepers were Deaf leper, who loved music, Leper-Con, he was Irish, Spotted leper; strange name I know, but his healing caused him to have an identity crisis. He’d been a leper so long he wasn’t prepared to change. He was so at home with lepers that he couldn’t readjust.
9. THE NINTH LEPER sent word that he highly resented being labeled an ingrate , simply because he conformed to the traditional way of expressing his thanks; in the Temple, before the priest, just like Jesus instructed. He also wanted to go on record that he felt a sense of “entitlement” to the better things in life, and added that it was about time God answered his prayers.
The leper who returned teaches us, by his actions, to be more spontaneous with our gratitude. Luke said that he was “praising God with a loud voice.” In fact, the ex-leper fell on his face before Jesus. He was completely carried away and beside himself with joy and happiness. He felt like dancing a jig and shouting from the housetops. He was so excited that he didn’t even take time to have his healing verified by the priest, he was so anxious to thank this stranger.
He didn’t show up at the interview because he was so busy telling people what Jesus had done, he didn’t feel he could spare the time. He said he was so ecstatic he wasn’t in any shape to answer questions, even a year later.
Sometimes it’s good to throw away the restraints and let yourself be carried away with gratitude and joy.
A SENSE OF URGENCY CHANGES US IN REGARDS TO PRAISE.
Most of us find it easy to stay inside the box, playing it safe and following directions until something earthshaking happens. At those times, we find it comfortable to throw off restraints. We seem more inclined to give gratitude free rein when we feel a sense of urgency. People stand up at funerals and weddings and shock others with their free-flowing expressions of love and praise.
If a person is diagnosed with cancer, they are quick to begin telling the people they love how much they love them. Now time is of the essence, so they do it, now. Most of us would agree that we shouldn’t operate like this, but being human we do.
Our lives would become almost heaven on earth if we would integrate appreciation and praise, not only to God but to one another into our everyday lives. If you think I’m wrong, ask yourself, have you ever grown tired of being loved, thanked and appreciated?
HERE ARE SOME THINGS THIS STORY TEACHES US.
# God reminds us that if we don’t cultivate thankfulness, it will take more and more to make us thankful.
Jesus would also remind us of some of the things for which HE gave thanks.
• He gave thanks for 5 loaves and 2 fishes, before He multiplied them to feed a multitude.
• He gave thanks for the bread and wine He ate with His disciples before His death, even though He said they were symbolic of His broken body and shed blood.
• He gave thanks to His father at the tomb of Lazarus, just for hearing His prayer.
One last thing in this story is found in Luke 17:19. Jesus told the returning leper, “Arise and go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole.”
The returning leper received a gift the other nine missed out on. He received “wholeness” for body, mind, soul and spirit.
Blessings, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING,
John
Friday, November 1, 2013
Logs, Hogs, and Dogs
By John Stallings
Judge not that ye be not judged.—Matt. 7:1
Did you know that according to surveys, Matthew 7:1 is replacing John 3:16 as the most memorized, well-known & quoted verse in the Bible?
There are some other contenders you’ll often hear quoted, like-- Take a little wine for the stomach's sake-(people use this one who have no earthly clue what it means) The truth shall set you free, &-the hand-writing's on the wall. All of these are popular verses. Judge not that ye be not judged is often quoted ignorantly, taken out of context, added where it doesn’t belong & the passage is seldom quoted in its entirety. The result is that many Christians are troubled by this verse.
· Is judging permissible at all?
· How far should we go?
· How can we know?
Let’s clear up some of these questions because they can be understandably baffling.
In the Matthew 7:1-6, Jesus uses strong words for people who criticize others because they have “Logs” or beams in their own eyes when seeking to pull the small mote or spec out of their neighbor's eye. Then He tells us that we have the responsibility to appraise & evaluate people & teachings because some of them are “dogs & hogs.” So how do we explain the seeming contradiction when we are told on the one hand to “Judge not” & then we are told to “Judge?” One thing we can be sure of is that God’s word never contradicts itself so we can always take comfort in that.
Is it right or wrong to pass judgment on the actions of others? The answer is simple; it depends. Sometimes it’s right & sometimes it’s not. In Matthew 7:1-6 Jesus has some very important things to say about judging others. Whether we admit it or not, from time to time we all engage in judging. You name it, we judge it. Jesus speaks very clearly on this vital matter. The Greek word for judge is “Krino,” meaning;-----to separate, select, choose, to determine, to pronounce judgment; to express strong disapproval or harsh criticism- to act the part of a judge; or to pass judgment on the words or deeds of others. Jesus says—Judge not. But Jesus didn’t forbid any & all discerning, discriminating judgments on our part.
“TO JUDGE OR NOT JUDGE; --THAT IS THE QUESTION.”
Common sense tells us that if no one ever judged anyone, teachers could not give their students grades, & no citizen could ever sit on a jury. Furthermore, if we never judged, we’d never forgive, because we only forgive someone who we formally blamed for doing wrong, & the blaming followed a Judgment on our part. So judgment & forgiveness go hand in hand.
Here’s what we find when we look at the subject more closely. There are times when we’re called on to judge or evaluate others. In the truest sense, we don’t judge the person but rather their behavior. Only God can & will judge the person.
In 1 Cor. 5:3-5 Paul judges a man guilty of fornication with his father’s wife. He condemns his actions & calls on the church to do the same.
Matt. 7:6 we are called on to call some people dogs & swine & unworthy of the precious treasures of God & His word.
1 John 4:1 says,--Beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. We as believers are commanded to judge religions & statements of preachers & teachers to see if they measure up with the Word of God & the teachings of the Gospel.
· Matt. 7:15-20 tells us we are obligated to examine the fruit of those around us & base our fellowship with them according to what we see in their life.
In Matt.18:15-18 we are told to exercise discipline on a wayward member & this will require the judging of their fruits according to the Word of God. If the person doesn’t respond we then relate to them as heathens or publicans. Of course we keep on loving them because isn’t that what we do to the heathen? We send missionaries to them to try to reach them for God.
In Acts 13:42-46 Paul & Barnabas spoke to the Jews & told them-- You judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life.
SO WHAT IS JESUS TALKING ABOUT WHEN HE SAYS –JUDGE NOT?
Actually, Jesus never said, Judge not-period. He is actually forbidding a hypocrite engaging in fault-finding as a ploy to cover his own sin. Jesus is condemning an attitude that is critical of others & proposes to look at them & see what their motivations are. Jesus is telling us that we aren’t equipped to do this because only God can see the heart. The critic forgets that he himself must face judgment someday. Rom. 14: 12/ 2 Cor. 5:10. This is a scary thought is it not? In the same way we watch over someone & judge them there’s someone who’s watching our lives. Gal.6:7.
FAULT- FINDERS ARE NEVER GOOD FACT-FINDERS.
This is the reason doctors never treat their own selves or families. They have a problem being objective about themselves or those close to them. Human nature seems to feel “My dirt is clean, yours isn’t.” There are several reasons why we shouldn’t judge others.
1. DON’T JUDGE, BUT IF YOU DO JUDGE,-- KNOW ALL THE FACTS.
Jesus said in John 7:24,--Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
A man who owned a large business was walking through one of his factories one day & saw a young man leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. The owner got so mad he walked up to him & asked how much money he made. The young man answered that he made $300.00 a week. The owner took out that amount of money, handed it to the young man & told him he was fired. As the young man quickly left the building the boss walked up to one of the other workers & asked how long this young man had been working there. The worker told him that the young man didn’t work there he was just delivering a package.
How wrong can you be till you know?
I think the reality T.V shows are so popular because they give us the feeling we can know what it’s like to be other people. But can we truly know what it’s like to be someone else?
CAN WE KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE BORN HOOKED ON CRACK?
CAN WE KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE BORN A GOTTI?
CAN WE KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE BORN THE DAUGHTER OF ELVIS PRESLEY?
CAN WE KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE BORN THE SON OF A BILLIONAIRE?
CAN WE KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE PARALYZED FROM THE NECK DOWN?
Some time back actor Tom Cruise while being interviewed on T.V, took a stab at people on antidepressants. Not long afterwards actress Brooke Shields gave Mr. Cruise what I considered to be the perfect squelch. She’d had her own bouts with depression & I guess wasn’t prepared to let his statement slide. She said, “I’m going to guess that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression.”
Judgments are an important piece of work that we must all engage in especially in a world run amuck in moral relativism & rationalizations. But we must keep in mind that we can never be totally right in our judging & many times we will be dead wrong.
2. DON’T JUDGE, BUT IF YOU DO JUDGE-- DON’T BE BLIND TO YOUR OWN FAULTS.
In verse 4 Jesus uses oriental wit by saying,--Or how wilt thou say to thy brother let me pull the mote out of thine eye; & behold there’s a beam in thine own eye?
Isn’t it true that we usually criticize our own weaknesses we see in other people? If we didn’t have the weakness we wouldn’t be so quick to spot it. I learned in the 4th grade, “it takes one to know one.” In other words, we many times are unconsciously judging ourselves when we judge others. We all have “beams” so to speak, in our eyes which means we’ll all experience distorted perspectives. This in a way makes us blind & you know what happens when the blind try to lead the blind; they both fall in the ditch. You have no doubt observed that very often the most outwardly critical people have the most flaws in their own life. They are so mesmerized by the little specks in others peoples lives their own problems go unrecognized.
I heard about a man who was looking in the window of a taxidermy shop at an Owl perched on a fake limb. The man went on & on about the Owl telling people that the man had stuffed him wrong, the beak wasn’t right & the colors of the feathers on his tail were done all wrong. He continued to criticize what the taxidermist had done & as he turned to walk away the Owl winked at him.
I heard another story about a man who was looking at some paintings in a museum & criticizing them. He told his wife that the so-called works of art were junk. As he continued to criticize, he walked up to one painting & really began to point out the flaws. The colors were wrong, the face of the man in the painting didn’t have the proper shape & on he went. Finally his wife said, “Honey, stop it, that’s not a painting, it’s a mirror.”
We tend to judge ourselves lightly because we judge ourselves on the basis of our hearts & our intentions. When it comes to others, we can’t know their hearts & innermost motivations so we judge merely by what we see them do. The end result is that we’re biased in our judgments.
. You lose your temper----I have righteous indignation
· You are a jerk-------------I’m having a bad day
· You have a critical spirit------I’m just blunt
· You gossip------- I make prayer requests
· You curse---------I let off steam
· You are pushy-----I’m goal oriented
· You are greedy-----I’m taking care of business
· You’re a hypochondriac—I’m really sick
· You stink-----I just smell earthy
3. DON’T JUDGE, BUT IF YOU DO JUDGE, --REMEMBER YOU’LL BE JUDGED BY THE SAME STANDARD THAT YOU JUDGE.
Jesus is giving us a stern warning here in Matthew 7:1— “JUDGE NOT.”
Verse 2 says,-- For with what judgment ye shall judge, ye shall be judged…..
In Romans 2:1-5 Paul gives us some very valuable information about judging.
Therefore thou art inexcusable O man, whosoever thou art that judgest; for wherin thou judgest another, thou condemest thyself; for thou that judgest doeth the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinketh thou this O man thou that judgest them that doest such things and doest the same that thou should escape the judgment of God vr.5—But after thy hardness & impenitent heart treasureth up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath & revelation of the righteous judgment of God.
A. PAUL TELLS US THAT BY JUDGING WE CAUSE GOD TO BE HARDER ON US. V.1.
B. WE DO MANY OF THE THINGS WE CONDEMN IN OTHERS.v.1
C. GOD CAN ALWAYS BE COUNTED ON TO BE FAIR & RIGHTEOUS, WE CANNOT. V.5.
4. DON’T JUDGE, BUT WHEN YOU DO JUDGE, SHOW MERCY & LOVE.
When I look at your life & see your faults, I’m blind to the problems that dwell in my own heart. If my heart was as pure & holy as I would like to believe it is, I wouldn’t be focused on criticizing & condemning you for your failures. I would instead love you, pray for you & try to help you. I wouldn’t be in the business of tearing you down but I’d be seeking how I might build you up & restore you.
WHY DO PEOPLE TEND TO CRITICIZE & JUDGE OTHERS?
1. Criticism boosts our own self-image. Pointing out someone else’s failure & tearing him down makes us seem a little better, at least in our own eyes. It adds to our sense of pride, ego & self-image.
2. Criticism is often enjoyed. There’s a tendency in fallen human nature to take pleasure in hearing bad news & revel in the shortcomings of others.
3. Criticism makes us feel that our own lives are better than the person who failed. In other words, criticism builds our pride up.
4. Criticism helps us justify the decisions we’ve made & the things we have done in our lives. We rationalize our decisions & acts by pointing out the failure of others.
5. Criticism points out to our friends & relatives how strong we are. Criticism gives us good feelings because our rigid beliefs & strong lives are proven again by our brother’s failure.
6. Criticism is an outlet for hurt & revenge. We feel “they” deserve it. Subconsciously, if not consciously, we think, “they hurt me so they deserve to hurt too.” So we criticize the person who failed. Make no mistake; criticism is generally aimed at making us feel better about ourselves.
Jack Parr used to tell the story of a woman he knew as a child during the depression. To keep her family from starving she followed the oldest profession in the world. She was loved by all the neighborhood kids because she always gave them candy & took an interest in them. After the depression this lady got “religion” & by then Parr was a teenager. This woman’s change was both amazing & disturbing. She now became very judgmental, suspicious & haughty. Before conversion she’d been kind & loving now she became as mean as a snake. Parr said, “She always nosed around in our business & it was clear she suspected the worst of us, particularly what we did on our dates.” So Parr concluded, “Every time I meet someone who is judgmental & suspicious of other people, I wonder what they were doing during the depression.”
Sadly, if you were to ask people on the street what they think of when you say the word “Christian,” many would say, “Judgmental, suspicious, arrogant & haughty.”
I find it very disturbing that Paul had to deal with this very issue so early in the life of the church. Romans the 14th chapter starts off with those who were quarreling over opinions. They weren’t differing with weighty issues of the faith but over “opinions.” Things like what to eat, & how to celebrate holy days etc. Paul told them, in essence, “Who died & made you the judge of others?” I say potato, you say potato.’ I say tomato, you say tomato.’ It shouldn’t matter whether we open our Christmas presents on Christmas Eve or on Christmas morning. What’s the difference? My experience tells me that most of the problems Christians get bent out of shape over are petty things & “non-essentials.” Paul gives a clear Word—don’t do it!
If differences develop over ideas about true Christian issues then we should contend for the faith & stand against the things that could lead to our spiritual destruction. Certainly we should have convictions & be able & willing to defend them. We shouldn’t have an “anything goes” attitude but we should as someone has said, have this attitude; “In essentials unity, in non-essentials, liberty, in all things, charity.” Some people condemn all those who don’t row their spiritual boat like they do. They talk out of both sides of their mouth by on the one hand declaring Jesus Christ Lord of all & with the other hand condemning half the Christian world to hell.
I heard the story of a Bishop who was sailing for Europe on one of the great ocean liners. He found he had another man sharing a room with him & judging from his appearance decided he’d better take his valuables & lock them up in the ships safe. When he took them to the purser’s desk he told him he was doing it because of the way the other man looked. The purser accepted the valuables & told the Bishop, “I’ll be glad to take care of them sir, & don’t be embarrassed, your roommate just left here & left his valuables for the same reason.”
Through the years many people have been critical of the late Tammy Baker for being so “on the edge” emotionally & for using so much make-up. I remember reading in her book years ago about something that happened in her childhood. Her father abandoned his family & later divorced her mother. Her mother played the organ in the little church they attended. When the divorce was final, the pastor of the church fired Tammy’s mother & asked her & Tammy to sit on the back seat for awhile to show penitence for the divorce. Tammy was so traumatized by it all that she grew up riddled by guilt & shame as if the whole thing was her fault & of course it wasn’t. It was a miracle that Tammy Faye kept her faith & still had a heart for God after all that had happened in her childhood. What those experiences had to do with too much make-up or a silly little laugh I don’t know but one thing I do know, I have no right to criticize her until I’ve walked in her shoes.
Here are a few helpful hints about making judgments.
1. Give people the benefit of the doubt. After all, isn’t that what we’d want for ourselves?
2. Give people little “escape loopholes” to explain occasional strange or even bad behavior. Don’t put the worst construction on things you see & hear.
3. Be gentle with people. It won’t hurt a thing.
4. Be fair & gracious with people. Allow them to save face. Doesn’t Christian love demand this?
5. Look at a person’s “track record.” Do you have any real reason to assume the worst? If a loving rebuke is needed there’ll be plenty of time for that.
6. If people mess-up, why not give them a second chance? Go the second mile.
7. Don’t be too quick to jump to conclusions & impute evil to people’s motivations.
8. Remember that often the “gift of discernment” is only the “gift of suspicion.”
9. Remember harshness with people is a dead give-away to our own spiritual immaturity.
10. Don’t let your judgments be too “all-inclusive.” There’s hidden good in people & thankfully, God waits until the end of our lives to judge us. Heb.9:27
In closing, judgments are opinions that should be arrived at only after we have;
Gotten all the facts,
Consulted the moral teachings of the Word of God,
And sought spirit-led discernment.
IF WE HAVE BEEN GUILTY OF PASSING JUDGMENT ON OTHERS BECAUSE THEY DON’T LOOK OR ACT LIKE US, WE NEED TO PRAY & ASK GOD TO HELP US GET THE “LOG” OUT OF OUR EYE.
-IF WE'VE BEEN UNJUSTLY JUDGED BY OTHERS, WE NEED TO MAKE CERTAIN WE'VE FORGIVEN THEM, ALWAYS REMEMBERING;
FOR BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED, THROUGH FAITH, AND THIS IS NOT YOUR OWN DOING; IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD.-Eph.2:8---
JUDGE NOT THAT YE BE NOT JUDGED!—MATT.7:1
Blessings,
John
Judge not that ye be not judged.—Matt. 7:1
Did you know that according to surveys, Matthew 7:1 is replacing John 3:16 as the most memorized, well-known & quoted verse in the Bible?
There are some other contenders you’ll often hear quoted, like-- Take a little wine for the stomach's sake-(people use this one who have no earthly clue what it means) The truth shall set you free, &-the hand-writing's on the wall. All of these are popular verses. Judge not that ye be not judged is often quoted ignorantly, taken out of context, added where it doesn’t belong & the passage is seldom quoted in its entirety. The result is that many Christians are troubled by this verse.
· Is judging permissible at all?
· How far should we go?
· How can we know?
Let’s clear up some of these questions because they can be understandably baffling.
In the Matthew 7:1-6, Jesus uses strong words for people who criticize others because they have “Logs” or beams in their own eyes when seeking to pull the small mote or spec out of their neighbor's eye. Then He tells us that we have the responsibility to appraise & evaluate people & teachings because some of them are “dogs & hogs.” So how do we explain the seeming contradiction when we are told on the one hand to “Judge not” & then we are told to “Judge?” One thing we can be sure of is that God’s word never contradicts itself so we can always take comfort in that.
Is it right or wrong to pass judgment on the actions of others? The answer is simple; it depends. Sometimes it’s right & sometimes it’s not. In Matthew 7:1-6 Jesus has some very important things to say about judging others. Whether we admit it or not, from time to time we all engage in judging. You name it, we judge it. Jesus speaks very clearly on this vital matter. The Greek word for judge is “Krino,” meaning;-----to separate, select, choose, to determine, to pronounce judgment; to express strong disapproval or harsh criticism- to act the part of a judge; or to pass judgment on the words or deeds of others. Jesus says—Judge not. But Jesus didn’t forbid any & all discerning, discriminating judgments on our part.
“TO JUDGE OR NOT JUDGE; --THAT IS THE QUESTION.”
Common sense tells us that if no one ever judged anyone, teachers could not give their students grades, & no citizen could ever sit on a jury. Furthermore, if we never judged, we’d never forgive, because we only forgive someone who we formally blamed for doing wrong, & the blaming followed a Judgment on our part. So judgment & forgiveness go hand in hand.
Here’s what we find when we look at the subject more closely. There are times when we’re called on to judge or evaluate others. In the truest sense, we don’t judge the person but rather their behavior. Only God can & will judge the person.
In 1 Cor. 5:3-5 Paul judges a man guilty of fornication with his father’s wife. He condemns his actions & calls on the church to do the same.
Matt. 7:6 we are called on to call some people dogs & swine & unworthy of the precious treasures of God & His word.
1 John 4:1 says,--Beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. We as believers are commanded to judge religions & statements of preachers & teachers to see if they measure up with the Word of God & the teachings of the Gospel.
· Matt. 7:15-20 tells us we are obligated to examine the fruit of those around us & base our fellowship with them according to what we see in their life.
In Matt.18:15-18 we are told to exercise discipline on a wayward member & this will require the judging of their fruits according to the Word of God. If the person doesn’t respond we then relate to them as heathens or publicans. Of course we keep on loving them because isn’t that what we do to the heathen? We send missionaries to them to try to reach them for God.
In Acts 13:42-46 Paul & Barnabas spoke to the Jews & told them-- You judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life.
SO WHAT IS JESUS TALKING ABOUT WHEN HE SAYS –JUDGE NOT?
Actually, Jesus never said, Judge not-period. He is actually forbidding a hypocrite engaging in fault-finding as a ploy to cover his own sin. Jesus is condemning an attitude that is critical of others & proposes to look at them & see what their motivations are. Jesus is telling us that we aren’t equipped to do this because only God can see the heart. The critic forgets that he himself must face judgment someday. Rom. 14: 12/ 2 Cor. 5:10. This is a scary thought is it not? In the same way we watch over someone & judge them there’s someone who’s watching our lives. Gal.6:7.
FAULT- FINDERS ARE NEVER GOOD FACT-FINDERS.
This is the reason doctors never treat their own selves or families. They have a problem being objective about themselves or those close to them. Human nature seems to feel “My dirt is clean, yours isn’t.” There are several reasons why we shouldn’t judge others.
1. DON’T JUDGE, BUT IF YOU DO JUDGE,-- KNOW ALL THE FACTS.
Jesus said in John 7:24,--Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
A man who owned a large business was walking through one of his factories one day & saw a young man leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. The owner got so mad he walked up to him & asked how much money he made. The young man answered that he made $300.00 a week. The owner took out that amount of money, handed it to the young man & told him he was fired. As the young man quickly left the building the boss walked up to one of the other workers & asked how long this young man had been working there. The worker told him that the young man didn’t work there he was just delivering a package.
How wrong can you be till you know?
I think the reality T.V shows are so popular because they give us the feeling we can know what it’s like to be other people. But can we truly know what it’s like to be someone else?
CAN WE KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE BORN HOOKED ON CRACK?
CAN WE KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE BORN A GOTTI?
CAN WE KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE BORN THE DAUGHTER OF ELVIS PRESLEY?
CAN WE KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE BORN THE SON OF A BILLIONAIRE?
CAN WE KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE PARALYZED FROM THE NECK DOWN?
Some time back actor Tom Cruise while being interviewed on T.V, took a stab at people on antidepressants. Not long afterwards actress Brooke Shields gave Mr. Cruise what I considered to be the perfect squelch. She’d had her own bouts with depression & I guess wasn’t prepared to let his statement slide. She said, “I’m going to guess that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression.”
Judgments are an important piece of work that we must all engage in especially in a world run amuck in moral relativism & rationalizations. But we must keep in mind that we can never be totally right in our judging & many times we will be dead wrong.
2. DON’T JUDGE, BUT IF YOU DO JUDGE-- DON’T BE BLIND TO YOUR OWN FAULTS.
In verse 4 Jesus uses oriental wit by saying,--Or how wilt thou say to thy brother let me pull the mote out of thine eye; & behold there’s a beam in thine own eye?
Isn’t it true that we usually criticize our own weaknesses we see in other people? If we didn’t have the weakness we wouldn’t be so quick to spot it. I learned in the 4th grade, “it takes one to know one.” In other words, we many times are unconsciously judging ourselves when we judge others. We all have “beams” so to speak, in our eyes which means we’ll all experience distorted perspectives. This in a way makes us blind & you know what happens when the blind try to lead the blind; they both fall in the ditch. You have no doubt observed that very often the most outwardly critical people have the most flaws in their own life. They are so mesmerized by the little specks in others peoples lives their own problems go unrecognized.
I heard about a man who was looking in the window of a taxidermy shop at an Owl perched on a fake limb. The man went on & on about the Owl telling people that the man had stuffed him wrong, the beak wasn’t right & the colors of the feathers on his tail were done all wrong. He continued to criticize what the taxidermist had done & as he turned to walk away the Owl winked at him.
I heard another story about a man who was looking at some paintings in a museum & criticizing them. He told his wife that the so-called works of art were junk. As he continued to criticize, he walked up to one painting & really began to point out the flaws. The colors were wrong, the face of the man in the painting didn’t have the proper shape & on he went. Finally his wife said, “Honey, stop it, that’s not a painting, it’s a mirror.”
We tend to judge ourselves lightly because we judge ourselves on the basis of our hearts & our intentions. When it comes to others, we can’t know their hearts & innermost motivations so we judge merely by what we see them do. The end result is that we’re biased in our judgments.
. You lose your temper----I have righteous indignation
· You are a jerk-------------I’m having a bad day
· You have a critical spirit------I’m just blunt
· You gossip------- I make prayer requests
· You curse---------I let off steam
· You are pushy-----I’m goal oriented
· You are greedy-----I’m taking care of business
· You’re a hypochondriac—I’m really sick
· You stink-----I just smell earthy
3. DON’T JUDGE, BUT IF YOU DO JUDGE, --REMEMBER YOU’LL BE JUDGED BY THE SAME STANDARD THAT YOU JUDGE.
Jesus is giving us a stern warning here in Matthew 7:1— “JUDGE NOT.”
Verse 2 says,-- For with what judgment ye shall judge, ye shall be judged…..
In Romans 2:1-5 Paul gives us some very valuable information about judging.
Therefore thou art inexcusable O man, whosoever thou art that judgest; for wherin thou judgest another, thou condemest thyself; for thou that judgest doeth the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinketh thou this O man thou that judgest them that doest such things and doest the same that thou should escape the judgment of God vr.5—But after thy hardness & impenitent heart treasureth up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath & revelation of the righteous judgment of God.
A. PAUL TELLS US THAT BY JUDGING WE CAUSE GOD TO BE HARDER ON US. V.1.
B. WE DO MANY OF THE THINGS WE CONDEMN IN OTHERS.v.1
C. GOD CAN ALWAYS BE COUNTED ON TO BE FAIR & RIGHTEOUS, WE CANNOT. V.5.
4. DON’T JUDGE, BUT WHEN YOU DO JUDGE, SHOW MERCY & LOVE.
When I look at your life & see your faults, I’m blind to the problems that dwell in my own heart. If my heart was as pure & holy as I would like to believe it is, I wouldn’t be focused on criticizing & condemning you for your failures. I would instead love you, pray for you & try to help you. I wouldn’t be in the business of tearing you down but I’d be seeking how I might build you up & restore you.
WHY DO PEOPLE TEND TO CRITICIZE & JUDGE OTHERS?
1. Criticism boosts our own self-image. Pointing out someone else’s failure & tearing him down makes us seem a little better, at least in our own eyes. It adds to our sense of pride, ego & self-image.
2. Criticism is often enjoyed. There’s a tendency in fallen human nature to take pleasure in hearing bad news & revel in the shortcomings of others.
3. Criticism makes us feel that our own lives are better than the person who failed. In other words, criticism builds our pride up.
4. Criticism helps us justify the decisions we’ve made & the things we have done in our lives. We rationalize our decisions & acts by pointing out the failure of others.
5. Criticism points out to our friends & relatives how strong we are. Criticism gives us good feelings because our rigid beliefs & strong lives are proven again by our brother’s failure.
6. Criticism is an outlet for hurt & revenge. We feel “they” deserve it. Subconsciously, if not consciously, we think, “they hurt me so they deserve to hurt too.” So we criticize the person who failed. Make no mistake; criticism is generally aimed at making us feel better about ourselves.
Jack Parr used to tell the story of a woman he knew as a child during the depression. To keep her family from starving she followed the oldest profession in the world. She was loved by all the neighborhood kids because she always gave them candy & took an interest in them. After the depression this lady got “religion” & by then Parr was a teenager. This woman’s change was both amazing & disturbing. She now became very judgmental, suspicious & haughty. Before conversion she’d been kind & loving now she became as mean as a snake. Parr said, “She always nosed around in our business & it was clear she suspected the worst of us, particularly what we did on our dates.” So Parr concluded, “Every time I meet someone who is judgmental & suspicious of other people, I wonder what they were doing during the depression.”
Sadly, if you were to ask people on the street what they think of when you say the word “Christian,” many would say, “Judgmental, suspicious, arrogant & haughty.”
I find it very disturbing that Paul had to deal with this very issue so early in the life of the church. Romans the 14th chapter starts off with those who were quarreling over opinions. They weren’t differing with weighty issues of the faith but over “opinions.” Things like what to eat, & how to celebrate holy days etc. Paul told them, in essence, “Who died & made you the judge of others?” I say potato, you say potato.’ I say tomato, you say tomato.’ It shouldn’t matter whether we open our Christmas presents on Christmas Eve or on Christmas morning. What’s the difference? My experience tells me that most of the problems Christians get bent out of shape over are petty things & “non-essentials.” Paul gives a clear Word—don’t do it!
If differences develop over ideas about true Christian issues then we should contend for the faith & stand against the things that could lead to our spiritual destruction. Certainly we should have convictions & be able & willing to defend them. We shouldn’t have an “anything goes” attitude but we should as someone has said, have this attitude; “In essentials unity, in non-essentials, liberty, in all things, charity.” Some people condemn all those who don’t row their spiritual boat like they do. They talk out of both sides of their mouth by on the one hand declaring Jesus Christ Lord of all & with the other hand condemning half the Christian world to hell.
I heard the story of a Bishop who was sailing for Europe on one of the great ocean liners. He found he had another man sharing a room with him & judging from his appearance decided he’d better take his valuables & lock them up in the ships safe. When he took them to the purser’s desk he told him he was doing it because of the way the other man looked. The purser accepted the valuables & told the Bishop, “I’ll be glad to take care of them sir, & don’t be embarrassed, your roommate just left here & left his valuables for the same reason.”
Through the years many people have been critical of the late Tammy Baker for being so “on the edge” emotionally & for using so much make-up. I remember reading in her book years ago about something that happened in her childhood. Her father abandoned his family & later divorced her mother. Her mother played the organ in the little church they attended. When the divorce was final, the pastor of the church fired Tammy’s mother & asked her & Tammy to sit on the back seat for awhile to show penitence for the divorce. Tammy was so traumatized by it all that she grew up riddled by guilt & shame as if the whole thing was her fault & of course it wasn’t. It was a miracle that Tammy Faye kept her faith & still had a heart for God after all that had happened in her childhood. What those experiences had to do with too much make-up or a silly little laugh I don’t know but one thing I do know, I have no right to criticize her until I’ve walked in her shoes.
Here are a few helpful hints about making judgments.
1. Give people the benefit of the doubt. After all, isn’t that what we’d want for ourselves?
2. Give people little “escape loopholes” to explain occasional strange or even bad behavior. Don’t put the worst construction on things you see & hear.
3. Be gentle with people. It won’t hurt a thing.
4. Be fair & gracious with people. Allow them to save face. Doesn’t Christian love demand this?
5. Look at a person’s “track record.” Do you have any real reason to assume the worst? If a loving rebuke is needed there’ll be plenty of time for that.
6. If people mess-up, why not give them a second chance? Go the second mile.
7. Don’t be too quick to jump to conclusions & impute evil to people’s motivations.
8. Remember that often the “gift of discernment” is only the “gift of suspicion.”
9. Remember harshness with people is a dead give-away to our own spiritual immaturity.
10. Don’t let your judgments be too “all-inclusive.” There’s hidden good in people & thankfully, God waits until the end of our lives to judge us. Heb.9:27
In closing, judgments are opinions that should be arrived at only after we have;
Gotten all the facts,
Consulted the moral teachings of the Word of God,
And sought spirit-led discernment.
IF WE HAVE BEEN GUILTY OF PASSING JUDGMENT ON OTHERS BECAUSE THEY DON’T LOOK OR ACT LIKE US, WE NEED TO PRAY & ASK GOD TO HELP US GET THE “LOG” OUT OF OUR EYE.
-IF WE'VE BEEN UNJUSTLY JUDGED BY OTHERS, WE NEED TO MAKE CERTAIN WE'VE FORGIVEN THEM, ALWAYS REMEMBERING;
FOR BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED, THROUGH FAITH, AND THIS IS NOT YOUR OWN DOING; IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD.-Eph.2:8---
JUDGE NOT THAT YE BE NOT JUDGED!—MATT.7:1
Blessings,
John
Friday, October 18, 2013
A Message From Jesus To Oprah
By John Stallings
Dear Oprah,
It would be redundant to say I know everything about you- as I do everyone else alive on planet earth.
I know that you were born to Vernon Winfrey & Vernita Lee in 1954 in Kosciusko Mississippi & you didn’t have auspicious beginnings.
You were named after Oprah from the book of Ruth in the Old Testament but the midwife misspelled your name when she was filling out the birth certificate. [Obviously I was never surprised that your name was really Harpo spelled backwards.]
You’ve done well in the money department amassing a 1.5 billion net worth. I know money isn’t the only measure of success, it’s not even a very good measure, but it’s certainly one measure. Abraham, Jacob, David & Solomon were wealthy. As you know, I’ve always been more concerned with what people did with the money they had, than how much they had.
One day a rich & successful young man came running to me telling me of his desire for eternal life. When I told him to go sell all he had & give to the poor, he went away very sad because he had many possessions. I wasn’t trying to make a poor man out of a rich man that day. Proverbs 19:17 says, He that hath pity on the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
I realize that you’re the object of criticism because of the vast amounts of money you make, but I also see you’ve been very generous with your money. I have no problem with people making large sums of money. I’m looking at your heart & what interests me is whether you have the money or the money has you. Like any good parent, I take pleasure in seeing my kids be successful, & remember, we pave our streets with gold in heaven.
I don’t expect everyone to be Billy Graham or Mother Theresa; neither do I expect everyone to take a vow of poverty. Quite the contrary. I have great expectations for everyone & expect each individual to have great accomplishments even though they won’t all translate into great amounts of money. I’ve given everyone gifts but they are diverse gifts & certainly people should use their talents & abilities to the fullest extent.
I take joy in the fact that you’ve come so far from that pig farm in rural Mississippi, knowing you spent the first third of your childhood living in poverty, both rural in Mississippi & ghetto in Milwaukee. Don’t even imagine that I’ve forgotten you were raped at 9 & were by your own admission out of control in those years.
Your website says the Oprah Show is the highest rated talk show in T.V history, seen by 46 million viewers each day in the U.S in 205 markets & in 134 countries. In fact your show has been the number one talk show for 21 consecutive seasons. Since its beginning in 1986 it has received 32 Emmy awards.
I know that you’re one of the most influential women in the world. Vanity Fair Magazine made this statement “Oprah Winfrey arguably has more influence on the culture than any university president, politician, or religious leader except perhaps the Pope.”
When you put your seal on a book in your club it’s guaranteed to become a major best seller. When you smile & nod at a guest who is teaching on any spiritual subject, people take it as a personal endorsement from the lady whom they invite into their homes as a friend on a daily basis.
And because you offer such a mix of New Age, Eastern, contemplative & past life teachings, you have the potential to influence people’s spiritual life & consequentially their eternal life. Here’s where you walk on a slippery-slope!
Oprah, on the opening of your website is the statement: “Want to get in Touch with your Soul? Oprah sits down with leading spiritual thinkers & authors to talk about matters of the soul.”
But now comes a warning,
Oprah. Since you were raised in church, you may remember what I told the Church in Ephesus, in the book of Revelation the second chapter.
Just as I’ve congratulated you, I congratulated them on all their accomplishments. I told them I was proud of their good works, their labor, & their patience. I complimented them for not tolerating evil, even exposing & purging out hypocritical apostles because they were found to be liars.
I expressed to the church my deep appreciation for their unflagging patience for my names sake & their standing firm when things got hard. But if you recall, I then told them I had something against them,-they had forsaken their first love. In other words, in their haste to do so many good & noble things, they stopped loving me like they used to love me. Then I called on this church in Ephesus to repent & return & start loving me like they did in their early days.
Oprah, I have the identical message for you. I remember you way back at that Faith United Mississippi Baptist Church when you were just a girl where they used to call you “Miss Jesus” or “The preacher.” The kids did it mostly out of jealousy because they knew how much you loved me & longed to serve me.
I also remember later when you moved in with your father in Nashville & you would go faithfully to the Progressive Missionary Baptist Church. You spoke in church now & then & once you even traveled to Los Angeles to speak to a church youth group. You were quite the young preacher.
I was thrilled about the incident one night in 1986 when you were in church after you’d begun to get well known because of your T.V show. A man asked for your autograph, & you said, “I don’t do autographs in church. Jesus is the star here.”
But these days Oprah, things aren’t right between us. You’ve gotten so far away from your first love for me that you’ve actually said some hurtful things. You made the statement, “Jesus didn’t come to tell us how divine He was, but to teach that divinity was within us.” You also said, “One of the biggest mistakes we make is to believe there is only one way. There are many diverse ways to God.” Oprah, have you forgotten what I said?
—I am the Way, the truth & the life. No one can come to the father except through me. [John 14:6]
Then you even went further with it saying, “There couldn’t possibly be only one way…does God care about your heart or whether you called His Son Jesus?” Actually Oprah, He does & so do I.
Have you forgotten who I am? Have you forgotten when I was baptized by John, a Dove came & sat on my shoulder & my father spoke out of heaven & said,
this is my beloved Son in whom I’m well pleased?”
Have you forgotten these words? -
There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. [Acts 4:12.]
Don’t you remember my saying,
everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth I will also acknowledge before my heavenly Father, but everyone that denies me here on earth I will also deny before my father in heaven? [Matt.10:32-33.]
Oprah, I love you as I do everyone I’ve created but I must tell you you’ve put yourself in great danger by assuming the roll of teacher. My brother James made it clear that to take on the mantle of a teacher is a dangerous thing because teachers will be held accountable for what they tell people. [James 3:1]
Don’t forget, you have a congregation of many millions. Be careful what you teach & watch what you say! You’ll have to answer for every word of it at Judgment. You may say you’re not a teacher but the masses see you that way. You might not be preaching the gospel but you’re certainly preaching a gospel.
Remember, my words in Mark 9:42—
But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck? Remember Oprah that according to survey expert George Barna—you have an 83% favorability among born-again Christians.
The teachings on your show run the gamut from New Age, Eastern religions, self-help & reincarnation. Shirley McClain has spoken on your show describing how to meditate-- going inside yourself, asking your own “intuitive Self” to seek answers to life’s questions.
Oprah, you said, “When you are connected to your higher Self, knowing you can do anything you want to do-is what other people describe as “born again.” Oprah, Oprah, this isn’t what I described as being born again. This has nothing to do with my words in John 3:3-6 when I spoke one night to Nicodemus. He asked how a man could go back into his mother’s womb & be born again & I replied-I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water & of the Spirit. --Humans can only reproduce human life but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.
I know you’ve done a lot of good & have achieved a lot personally & professionally. I also know that you believe the teachings you espouse on your programs & in the books you so wholeheartedly recommend. You feel they only complete & compliment the Gospel, but the Gospel doesn’t need completing, it’s already complete.
You can’t substitute “presence” for me & I’m not the “God presence” or “self’ as it’s called in Eastern religions. Neither can you make a mix of Buddhism & Islamic thought, & then sprinkle in a misapplied Bible verse or two.
Oprah, you’re doing what you’re doing in the name of tolerance, & Satan is having a field day. No one wants to be accused of intolerance. But you see, there’s no connection between light & darkness. Heaven asks you the same question Elijah asked the people on Mt. Carmel, how long will you waver between two opinions?
I give to you the same message I give to all nations & all people; turn from your sin & receive my forgiveness. My hands are extended toward you, just humble yourself & receive my mercy.
Satan is playing for keeps & desires to drag as many as possible into eternal hellfire with him.
The choice is yours. As I told the Church at Laodicea,
-- I stand at the door & knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me. [Rev.3:20]
Love,
Jesus of Nazareth
Dear Oprah,
It would be redundant to say I know everything about you- as I do everyone else alive on planet earth.
I know that you were born to Vernon Winfrey & Vernita Lee in 1954 in Kosciusko Mississippi & you didn’t have auspicious beginnings.
You were named after Oprah from the book of Ruth in the Old Testament but the midwife misspelled your name when she was filling out the birth certificate. [Obviously I was never surprised that your name was really Harpo spelled backwards.]
You’ve done well in the money department amassing a 1.5 billion net worth. I know money isn’t the only measure of success, it’s not even a very good measure, but it’s certainly one measure. Abraham, Jacob, David & Solomon were wealthy. As you know, I’ve always been more concerned with what people did with the money they had, than how much they had.
One day a rich & successful young man came running to me telling me of his desire for eternal life. When I told him to go sell all he had & give to the poor, he went away very sad because he had many possessions. I wasn’t trying to make a poor man out of a rich man that day. Proverbs 19:17 says, He that hath pity on the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
I realize that you’re the object of criticism because of the vast amounts of money you make, but I also see you’ve been very generous with your money. I have no problem with people making large sums of money. I’m looking at your heart & what interests me is whether you have the money or the money has you. Like any good parent, I take pleasure in seeing my kids be successful, & remember, we pave our streets with gold in heaven.
I don’t expect everyone to be Billy Graham or Mother Theresa; neither do I expect everyone to take a vow of poverty. Quite the contrary. I have great expectations for everyone & expect each individual to have great accomplishments even though they won’t all translate into great amounts of money. I’ve given everyone gifts but they are diverse gifts & certainly people should use their talents & abilities to the fullest extent.
I take joy in the fact that you’ve come so far from that pig farm in rural Mississippi, knowing you spent the first third of your childhood living in poverty, both rural in Mississippi & ghetto in Milwaukee. Don’t even imagine that I’ve forgotten you were raped at 9 & were by your own admission out of control in those years.
Your website says the Oprah Show is the highest rated talk show in T.V history, seen by 46 million viewers each day in the U.S in 205 markets & in 134 countries. In fact your show has been the number one talk show for 21 consecutive seasons. Since its beginning in 1986 it has received 32 Emmy awards.
I know that you’re one of the most influential women in the world. Vanity Fair Magazine made this statement “Oprah Winfrey arguably has more influence on the culture than any university president, politician, or religious leader except perhaps the Pope.”
When you put your seal on a book in your club it’s guaranteed to become a major best seller. When you smile & nod at a guest who is teaching on any spiritual subject, people take it as a personal endorsement from the lady whom they invite into their homes as a friend on a daily basis.
And because you offer such a mix of New Age, Eastern, contemplative & past life teachings, you have the potential to influence people’s spiritual life & consequentially their eternal life. Here’s where you walk on a slippery-slope!
Oprah, on the opening of your website is the statement: “Want to get in Touch with your Soul? Oprah sits down with leading spiritual thinkers & authors to talk about matters of the soul.”
But now comes a warning,
Oprah. Since you were raised in church, you may remember what I told the Church in Ephesus, in the book of Revelation the second chapter.
Just as I’ve congratulated you, I congratulated them on all their accomplishments. I told them I was proud of their good works, their labor, & their patience. I complimented them for not tolerating evil, even exposing & purging out hypocritical apostles because they were found to be liars.
I expressed to the church my deep appreciation for their unflagging patience for my names sake & their standing firm when things got hard. But if you recall, I then told them I had something against them,-they had forsaken their first love. In other words, in their haste to do so many good & noble things, they stopped loving me like they used to love me. Then I called on this church in Ephesus to repent & return & start loving me like they did in their early days.
Oprah, I have the identical message for you. I remember you way back at that Faith United Mississippi Baptist Church when you were just a girl where they used to call you “Miss Jesus” or “The preacher.” The kids did it mostly out of jealousy because they knew how much you loved me & longed to serve me.
I also remember later when you moved in with your father in Nashville & you would go faithfully to the Progressive Missionary Baptist Church. You spoke in church now & then & once you even traveled to Los Angeles to speak to a church youth group. You were quite the young preacher.
I was thrilled about the incident one night in 1986 when you were in church after you’d begun to get well known because of your T.V show. A man asked for your autograph, & you said, “I don’t do autographs in church. Jesus is the star here.”
But these days Oprah, things aren’t right between us. You’ve gotten so far away from your first love for me that you’ve actually said some hurtful things. You made the statement, “Jesus didn’t come to tell us how divine He was, but to teach that divinity was within us.” You also said, “One of the biggest mistakes we make is to believe there is only one way. There are many diverse ways to God.” Oprah, have you forgotten what I said?
—I am the Way, the truth & the life. No one can come to the father except through me. [John 14:6]
Then you even went further with it saying, “There couldn’t possibly be only one way…does God care about your heart or whether you called His Son Jesus?” Actually Oprah, He does & so do I.
Have you forgotten who I am? Have you forgotten when I was baptized by John, a Dove came & sat on my shoulder & my father spoke out of heaven & said,
this is my beloved Son in whom I’m well pleased?”
Have you forgotten these words? -
There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. [Acts 4:12.]
Don’t you remember my saying,
everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth I will also acknowledge before my heavenly Father, but everyone that denies me here on earth I will also deny before my father in heaven? [Matt.10:32-33.]
Oprah, I love you as I do everyone I’ve created but I must tell you you’ve put yourself in great danger by assuming the roll of teacher. My brother James made it clear that to take on the mantle of a teacher is a dangerous thing because teachers will be held accountable for what they tell people. [James 3:1]
Don’t forget, you have a congregation of many millions. Be careful what you teach & watch what you say! You’ll have to answer for every word of it at Judgment. You may say you’re not a teacher but the masses see you that way. You might not be preaching the gospel but you’re certainly preaching a gospel.
Remember, my words in Mark 9:42—
But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck? Remember Oprah that according to survey expert George Barna—you have an 83% favorability among born-again Christians.
The teachings on your show run the gamut from New Age, Eastern religions, self-help & reincarnation. Shirley McClain has spoken on your show describing how to meditate-- going inside yourself, asking your own “intuitive Self” to seek answers to life’s questions.
Oprah, you said, “When you are connected to your higher Self, knowing you can do anything you want to do-is what other people describe as “born again.” Oprah, Oprah, this isn’t what I described as being born again. This has nothing to do with my words in John 3:3-6 when I spoke one night to Nicodemus. He asked how a man could go back into his mother’s womb & be born again & I replied-I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water & of the Spirit. --Humans can only reproduce human life but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.
I know you’ve done a lot of good & have achieved a lot personally & professionally. I also know that you believe the teachings you espouse on your programs & in the books you so wholeheartedly recommend. You feel they only complete & compliment the Gospel, but the Gospel doesn’t need completing, it’s already complete.
You can’t substitute “presence” for me & I’m not the “God presence” or “self’ as it’s called in Eastern religions. Neither can you make a mix of Buddhism & Islamic thought, & then sprinkle in a misapplied Bible verse or two.
Oprah, you’re doing what you’re doing in the name of tolerance, & Satan is having a field day. No one wants to be accused of intolerance. But you see, there’s no connection between light & darkness. Heaven asks you the same question Elijah asked the people on Mt. Carmel, how long will you waver between two opinions?
I give to you the same message I give to all nations & all people; turn from your sin & receive my forgiveness. My hands are extended toward you, just humble yourself & receive my mercy.
Satan is playing for keeps & desires to drag as many as possible into eternal hellfire with him.
The choice is yours. As I told the Church at Laodicea,
-- I stand at the door & knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me. [Rev.3:20]
Love,
Jesus of Nazareth
Saturday, October 12, 2013
A leader With Class
By John Stallings
What is Class?
Class never runs scared. It is sure-footed and confident in the knowledge that you can meet life head on and handle whatever comes along.
Jacob had it. Esau didn't. Symbolically, we can look to Jacob's wrestling match with the angel. Those who have class have wrestled with their own personal angel and won a victory that marks them thereafter.
Class never makes excuses. It takes its lumps and learns from past mistakes.
Class is considerate of others. It knows that good manners are nothing more than a series of small sacrifices.
Class bespeaks an aristocracy that has nothing to do with ancestors or money. The most affluent blue-blood can be totally without class while the descendant of a Welsh miner may ooze class from every pore.
Class never tries to build itself up by tearing others down. Class is already up and need not strive to look better by making others look worse.
Class can "walk with kings and keep its virtue and talk with crowds and keep the common touch." Everyone is comfortable with the person who has class because he is comfortable with himself.
If you have class you don't need much of anything else. If you don't have it, no matter what else you have, it doesn't make much difference.--Ann Landers Encyclopedia
If you attend church regularly; you’ve probably heard Hannah preached on many times.
What a story it is. She was childless, & was chided by her husband’s other wife for being barren. Then because of her right attitude & prayerful spirit God broke that cycle of her life by giving her Samuel. Then other children came.
Hannah had promised her first son to the Lord so at the appointed time she took Samuel to Eli the priest & he grew up under the aging man’s tutelage. Samuel’s calling was spectacular for he was called as a child by the audible voice of God. One night he heard a voice calling him repeatedly & went to Eli who told him the next time he heard the voice to answer, Speak Lord for thy servant heareth.
Samuel was the last & best judge of Israel & had a transitional ministry. Under his watch the judges were ushered out & the kings were ushered in. However Samuel & his Godly advice weren’t always well received by Israel but he maintained a steadfast walk with God & has few equals.
SUDDENLY SAMUEL DISCOVERED THAT HE WASN’T WANTED ANYMORE.The last years of Samuel’s life however weren’t so pleasant. The transition from the old order of judges to the new order of the monarchy was a painful experience for him. He made a mistake when he appointed his two sons as judges. 1 Samuel 8:1-3. These boys were scoundrels. They weren’t as bad as Eli’s boys; Eli’s boys were immoral while Samuel’s boys were mostly unethical. Samuel was guilty of nepotism & ignorance but he wasn’t a money-grubbing deceiver. He never took a dime from the people (1Sam.12:3-4) but his sons used their father’s position to profit in a profligate manner.
We don’t know why Samuel appointed his sons; it may have been that there just wasn’t anyone else he felt could do the job. Or it may have just been a lapse of judgment.
A PIVOTAL POINT IN SAMUEL’S LEADERSHIP CAME WHEN HE WASN’T ABLE TO STEER STUBBORN ISRAEL AWAY FROM THEIR DEMAND FOR A KING.
Have you ever been in a situation where you felt your influence & leadership was failing to be effectual? You have a feeling that your record no longer counts for anything, all your former ties are strained, you used to be looked up to but now what you do or say doesn’t carry much weight. The sacrifices you made are no longer looked at as a big thing, people think, “you just did what anybody would have done, no big deal.” The question “what part of -it’s over- don’t you get” might well be asked of you.
Samuel’s sons made him look bad to the people & they flat-out faced him with it. They told him he was getting old (just under 60—big deal) & his sons weren’t cutting it so their answer was, appoint us a king.
The people might even have used the old saying;" Samuel, this isn't really personal. The last thing we'd ever want is to see you suffer.
Samuel wasn’t happy at all about the king idea. He was right to feel that his children had let him down, the Israelites had let him down, the elders had let him down and deep down in his heart of hearts he felt he’d let himself & the Lord down. How else could he explain how his kids had turned out to be such bad boys?”
LOOK HOW SAMUEL RESPONDS TO HIS LEADERSHIP PROBLEMS.
The elders were pressuring him to quit. They had it all figured out for him. Samuel was feeling hurt, backed into a corner & disrespected in the worst way he could imagine. He didn’t threaten to call it quits, take an early retirement or jump on the bus. He did what his mother did; he went to God in prayer. 1 Sam.8:6. Samuel was deeply troubled & probably hopping mad but he didn’t lose his composure. He prayed about it asking God for wisdom, direction & patience.
Sometimes the decline of a leader’s influence & abilities doesn’t mean that he or she is washed up. It may just mean that they can no longer lead in the same capacity. At some point a subtle line was crossed, a corner was turned. It doesn’t mean that they are over & done with it just means that their role as leader will be different. Such a time came in the life of Samuel the prophet as he grew older. Even though his role changed he still continued to be an important leader.
Samuel hadn’t put his head in the sand; he was the first to recognize things were changing that’s why he appointed his two sons to help. It wasn’t Samuel’s fault that his sons turned out to be a big disappointment. At least he was forward looking enough to think of his mortality. I’ve seen leaders who refused to think of the time they would no longer be around. They refused to mentor another person to fill their shoes or even consider training & depositing into the lives of others the things they’ve learned that would be invaluable to the individual who someday filled their shoes.
• A GOOD LEADER WILL HELP PEOPLE IDENTIFY THEIR PURPOSE & CAST A VISION FOR THE FUTURE.
• A GOOD LEADER WILL HELP THE PEOPLE ESTABLISH GOALS & IMPLEMENT PLANS TO HELP THEM SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVE THOSE GOALS.
• A GOOD LEADER WILL DEVELOP CONSENSUS, BUILD COHESIVENESS, CREATE HARMONY & FOSTER UNITY.
• A GOOD LEADER WILL INSPIRE PEOPLE TO GREATER EFFICIENCY & EFFECTIVENESS & WILL ENCOURAGE THEM TO REACH THEIR POTENTIAL & MAXIMIZE THEIR ABILITIES.
• IF A LEADER FINDS THAT HE/SHE CAN NO LONGER FULFILL THEIR RESPONSIBILITY, THEY SHOULD DELEGATE SOME OF THE RESPONSIBILITY OR ALLOW SOMEONE ELSE TO TAKE THEIR PLACE.
Samuel knew that what the people were asking for was wrong. They had no clue as to what was in store for them. The kings they were asking for were going to be worse than Samuel’s sons. God had run the kings & nations out the front door & Israel let them in the back door. Israel had been an exalted nation but alas, they just wanted to be like their neighbors. One of the problems was that their neighbors were idol worshippers.
Samuel’s maturity, humility & Godliness were manifest that day. After God had “loaded his gun” with truth he still didn’t scoff at the people. He didn’t squabble or scream at them or throw a conniption fit. He had within his power to let them have it with God’s words but he left out the choice words, the best parts that would have vindicated him before the people. He didn’t lecture them on their collective rejection of God, or their personal wrong against him, even though God said --What they’re doing to me, so they are doing to you. The people had made personal accusations but he didn’t take them personally. Neither did he gloat at their mistake, or their folly. As a matter of fact nowhere in all of this did Samuel mention himself.
What a class act!
He did tell them in no uncertain terms what having a king would be like for them, but describing it was as far as it went. There was no coercion on his part even though it displeased him greatly. To him it was all about the Lord & His people & their relationship to Him. Though Samuel wasn’t pleased he didn’t get his knickers in a knot over it & end up grievously disturbed & resentful. Samuel reminded himself what God had said:--It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.
Samuel's’ life wasn’t narcissistic; it wasn’t about him it was always about the Lord & others. He tells the people—far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. He knew that to refuse to pray for them was malicious & spiteful. If we want something to compare Samuel’s conduct with, all we have to do is look at Moses who when frustrated, called the people rebels. Num.20:10.
God had already foretold that someday this would happen; the people would demand a king. He also told the people exactly what would happen to them when they got their king. In his next & also his last speech to Israel, given immediately after King Saul’s public coronation, Samuel spoke from the heart to the people. He knew as well as he knew his name what heartache laid in store for them but still he didn’t cajole or arm-twist to get them to reconsider.
And reconsider they certainly didn’t, even after hearing what a king would be like. But Israel almost never changed. It’s always the same old song with them. They were headstrong, obstinate & rebellious & their prophets told them so. Generations later when the Apostle Paul preached to them he’d say things like-- Oh foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you….or…blindness in part has happened to Israel. Rom.11:25.
To the bitter end Samuel was optimistic in word & at heart. It’s almost as if he knew trouble was in the wings but still was just hoping it wouldn’t happen.
Have you been rejected & seen your dreams & plans crumble before your eyes. Have you been tempted to lash out & get vindication? Ask yourself as Samuel did; are you serving God or man? When you’re not appreciated as you should be do you have the right stuff to withstand it & do right when everybody is doing you wrong?
The people rejected Samuel’s advice but Samuel accepted God’s advice. When he saw what was happening he went to God & God told him—Listen to the voice of the people & appoint them a king. So Samuel said unto the men of Israel, go every man to his own city. 1 Sam.8:21-22.
GOD WAS GOING TO GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANTED—A KING.
It’s reminiscent of Psalm 106:15—And He gave them their request but sent leanness to their soul. God’s position was the same then as it is now & always has been. He simply refuses to make his creation a puppet-on-a-string. To Him love & devotion that’s coerced isn’t love at all & He’s not interested.
Samuel may not have understood God’s strategy but he obeyed & took the necessary steps to implement it. God doesn’t always do things the way we want & He doesn’t always do things the way we think they should be done. But we must always remember to submit our plans to Him.
If you’re on the missions committee, the deacon board, a Sunday school teacher, nursery worker, trustee, treasurer, musician, office worker, kitchen helper, publicity worker, or youth group worker, you must always bring your plans to God. Samuel went to God & sought His leadership.
Jesus is the head of His church & we are simply the servants. We serve not to gain prestige & power but simply to serve God & His people. When we do this we will have great significance in His kingdom.
The day came when Samuel’s ability to lead the people changed but even though his role changed, his superlative attitude made him useable to God until the day he died. Turning your power over to someone else is never easy. Admitting that things didn’t turn out as well as expected is never easy. Samuel experienced all of these things. He must have had many sleepless nights & many days of confusion & uneasiness. But under God & with Samuel’s steady hand Israel came through the transition. Samuel lived to a ripe old age & died in peace & honor among his people.
Is there something in front of you that you’d rather avoid? Maybe you’re on the threshold of change & things aren’t all that clear to you. Perhaps you’re beginning to realize that something you worked hard to accomplish isn’t going to work out. Follow the example of Samuel & stay connected with God & His people. You can’t see God but He can see you & He has you in His sights. He hasn’t forgotten you, though it may sometimes feel that He has. Your story & testimony can turn out as victoriously as Samuel’s did.
The answer is in Hebrews 12:2 …..Looking unto Jesus the author & finisher of our faith….
We must fix our eyes on Him because if we look hard at anything else we will doubtless lose hope.
Blessings,
John
What is Class?
Class never runs scared. It is sure-footed and confident in the knowledge that you can meet life head on and handle whatever comes along.
Jacob had it. Esau didn't. Symbolically, we can look to Jacob's wrestling match with the angel. Those who have class have wrestled with their own personal angel and won a victory that marks them thereafter.
Class never makes excuses. It takes its lumps and learns from past mistakes.
Class is considerate of others. It knows that good manners are nothing more than a series of small sacrifices.
Class bespeaks an aristocracy that has nothing to do with ancestors or money. The most affluent blue-blood can be totally without class while the descendant of a Welsh miner may ooze class from every pore.
Class never tries to build itself up by tearing others down. Class is already up and need not strive to look better by making others look worse.
Class can "walk with kings and keep its virtue and talk with crowds and keep the common touch." Everyone is comfortable with the person who has class because he is comfortable with himself.
If you have class you don't need much of anything else. If you don't have it, no matter what else you have, it doesn't make much difference.--Ann Landers Encyclopedia
If you attend church regularly; you’ve probably heard Hannah preached on many times.
What a story it is. She was childless, & was chided by her husband’s other wife for being barren. Then because of her right attitude & prayerful spirit God broke that cycle of her life by giving her Samuel. Then other children came.
Hannah had promised her first son to the Lord so at the appointed time she took Samuel to Eli the priest & he grew up under the aging man’s tutelage. Samuel’s calling was spectacular for he was called as a child by the audible voice of God. One night he heard a voice calling him repeatedly & went to Eli who told him the next time he heard the voice to answer, Speak Lord for thy servant heareth.
Samuel was the last & best judge of Israel & had a transitional ministry. Under his watch the judges were ushered out & the kings were ushered in. However Samuel & his Godly advice weren’t always well received by Israel but he maintained a steadfast walk with God & has few equals.
SUDDENLY SAMUEL DISCOVERED THAT HE WASN’T WANTED ANYMORE.The last years of Samuel’s life however weren’t so pleasant. The transition from the old order of judges to the new order of the monarchy was a painful experience for him. He made a mistake when he appointed his two sons as judges. 1 Samuel 8:1-3. These boys were scoundrels. They weren’t as bad as Eli’s boys; Eli’s boys were immoral while Samuel’s boys were mostly unethical. Samuel was guilty of nepotism & ignorance but he wasn’t a money-grubbing deceiver. He never took a dime from the people (1Sam.12:3-4) but his sons used their father’s position to profit in a profligate manner.
We don’t know why Samuel appointed his sons; it may have been that there just wasn’t anyone else he felt could do the job. Or it may have just been a lapse of judgment.
A PIVOTAL POINT IN SAMUEL’S LEADERSHIP CAME WHEN HE WASN’T ABLE TO STEER STUBBORN ISRAEL AWAY FROM THEIR DEMAND FOR A KING.
Have you ever been in a situation where you felt your influence & leadership was failing to be effectual? You have a feeling that your record no longer counts for anything, all your former ties are strained, you used to be looked up to but now what you do or say doesn’t carry much weight. The sacrifices you made are no longer looked at as a big thing, people think, “you just did what anybody would have done, no big deal.” The question “what part of -it’s over- don’t you get” might well be asked of you.
Samuel’s sons made him look bad to the people & they flat-out faced him with it. They told him he was getting old (just under 60—big deal) & his sons weren’t cutting it so their answer was, appoint us a king.
The people might even have used the old saying;" Samuel, this isn't really personal. The last thing we'd ever want is to see you suffer.
Samuel wasn’t happy at all about the king idea. He was right to feel that his children had let him down, the Israelites had let him down, the elders had let him down and deep down in his heart of hearts he felt he’d let himself & the Lord down. How else could he explain how his kids had turned out to be such bad boys?”
LOOK HOW SAMUEL RESPONDS TO HIS LEADERSHIP PROBLEMS.
The elders were pressuring him to quit. They had it all figured out for him. Samuel was feeling hurt, backed into a corner & disrespected in the worst way he could imagine. He didn’t threaten to call it quits, take an early retirement or jump on the bus. He did what his mother did; he went to God in prayer. 1 Sam.8:6. Samuel was deeply troubled & probably hopping mad but he didn’t lose his composure. He prayed about it asking God for wisdom, direction & patience.
Sometimes the decline of a leader’s influence & abilities doesn’t mean that he or she is washed up. It may just mean that they can no longer lead in the same capacity. At some point a subtle line was crossed, a corner was turned. It doesn’t mean that they are over & done with it just means that their role as leader will be different. Such a time came in the life of Samuel the prophet as he grew older. Even though his role changed he still continued to be an important leader.
Samuel hadn’t put his head in the sand; he was the first to recognize things were changing that’s why he appointed his two sons to help. It wasn’t Samuel’s fault that his sons turned out to be a big disappointment. At least he was forward looking enough to think of his mortality. I’ve seen leaders who refused to think of the time they would no longer be around. They refused to mentor another person to fill their shoes or even consider training & depositing into the lives of others the things they’ve learned that would be invaluable to the individual who someday filled their shoes.
• A GOOD LEADER WILL HELP PEOPLE IDENTIFY THEIR PURPOSE & CAST A VISION FOR THE FUTURE.
• A GOOD LEADER WILL HELP THE PEOPLE ESTABLISH GOALS & IMPLEMENT PLANS TO HELP THEM SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVE THOSE GOALS.
• A GOOD LEADER WILL DEVELOP CONSENSUS, BUILD COHESIVENESS, CREATE HARMONY & FOSTER UNITY.
• A GOOD LEADER WILL INSPIRE PEOPLE TO GREATER EFFICIENCY & EFFECTIVENESS & WILL ENCOURAGE THEM TO REACH THEIR POTENTIAL & MAXIMIZE THEIR ABILITIES.
• IF A LEADER FINDS THAT HE/SHE CAN NO LONGER FULFILL THEIR RESPONSIBILITY, THEY SHOULD DELEGATE SOME OF THE RESPONSIBILITY OR ALLOW SOMEONE ELSE TO TAKE THEIR PLACE.
Samuel knew that what the people were asking for was wrong. They had no clue as to what was in store for them. The kings they were asking for were going to be worse than Samuel’s sons. God had run the kings & nations out the front door & Israel let them in the back door. Israel had been an exalted nation but alas, they just wanted to be like their neighbors. One of the problems was that their neighbors were idol worshippers.
Samuel’s maturity, humility & Godliness were manifest that day. After God had “loaded his gun” with truth he still didn’t scoff at the people. He didn’t squabble or scream at them or throw a conniption fit. He had within his power to let them have it with God’s words but he left out the choice words, the best parts that would have vindicated him before the people. He didn’t lecture them on their collective rejection of God, or their personal wrong against him, even though God said --What they’re doing to me, so they are doing to you. The people had made personal accusations but he didn’t take them personally. Neither did he gloat at their mistake, or their folly. As a matter of fact nowhere in all of this did Samuel mention himself.
What a class act!
He did tell them in no uncertain terms what having a king would be like for them, but describing it was as far as it went. There was no coercion on his part even though it displeased him greatly. To him it was all about the Lord & His people & their relationship to Him. Though Samuel wasn’t pleased he didn’t get his knickers in a knot over it & end up grievously disturbed & resentful. Samuel reminded himself what God had said:--It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.
Samuel's’ life wasn’t narcissistic; it wasn’t about him it was always about the Lord & others. He tells the people—far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. He knew that to refuse to pray for them was malicious & spiteful. If we want something to compare Samuel’s conduct with, all we have to do is look at Moses who when frustrated, called the people rebels. Num.20:10.
God had already foretold that someday this would happen; the people would demand a king. He also told the people exactly what would happen to them when they got their king. In his next & also his last speech to Israel, given immediately after King Saul’s public coronation, Samuel spoke from the heart to the people. He knew as well as he knew his name what heartache laid in store for them but still he didn’t cajole or arm-twist to get them to reconsider.
And reconsider they certainly didn’t, even after hearing what a king would be like. But Israel almost never changed. It’s always the same old song with them. They were headstrong, obstinate & rebellious & their prophets told them so. Generations later when the Apostle Paul preached to them he’d say things like-- Oh foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you….or…blindness in part has happened to Israel. Rom.11:25.
To the bitter end Samuel was optimistic in word & at heart. It’s almost as if he knew trouble was in the wings but still was just hoping it wouldn’t happen.
Have you been rejected & seen your dreams & plans crumble before your eyes. Have you been tempted to lash out & get vindication? Ask yourself as Samuel did; are you serving God or man? When you’re not appreciated as you should be do you have the right stuff to withstand it & do right when everybody is doing you wrong?
The people rejected Samuel’s advice but Samuel accepted God’s advice. When he saw what was happening he went to God & God told him—Listen to the voice of the people & appoint them a king. So Samuel said unto the men of Israel, go every man to his own city. 1 Sam.8:21-22.
GOD WAS GOING TO GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANTED—A KING.
It’s reminiscent of Psalm 106:15—And He gave them their request but sent leanness to their soul. God’s position was the same then as it is now & always has been. He simply refuses to make his creation a puppet-on-a-string. To Him love & devotion that’s coerced isn’t love at all & He’s not interested.
Samuel may not have understood God’s strategy but he obeyed & took the necessary steps to implement it. God doesn’t always do things the way we want & He doesn’t always do things the way we think they should be done. But we must always remember to submit our plans to Him.
If you’re on the missions committee, the deacon board, a Sunday school teacher, nursery worker, trustee, treasurer, musician, office worker, kitchen helper, publicity worker, or youth group worker, you must always bring your plans to God. Samuel went to God & sought His leadership.
Jesus is the head of His church & we are simply the servants. We serve not to gain prestige & power but simply to serve God & His people. When we do this we will have great significance in His kingdom.
The day came when Samuel’s ability to lead the people changed but even though his role changed, his superlative attitude made him useable to God until the day he died. Turning your power over to someone else is never easy. Admitting that things didn’t turn out as well as expected is never easy. Samuel experienced all of these things. He must have had many sleepless nights & many days of confusion & uneasiness. But under God & with Samuel’s steady hand Israel came through the transition. Samuel lived to a ripe old age & died in peace & honor among his people.
Is there something in front of you that you’d rather avoid? Maybe you’re on the threshold of change & things aren’t all that clear to you. Perhaps you’re beginning to realize that something you worked hard to accomplish isn’t going to work out. Follow the example of Samuel & stay connected with God & His people. You can’t see God but He can see you & He has you in His sights. He hasn’t forgotten you, though it may sometimes feel that He has. Your story & testimony can turn out as victoriously as Samuel’s did.
The answer is in Hebrews 12:2 …..Looking unto Jesus the author & finisher of our faith….
We must fix our eyes on Him because if we look hard at anything else we will doubtless lose hope.
Blessings,
John
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Well, Shut My Mouth!
By John Stallings
…. And he charged him to tell no man. Luke 5:14
I openly confess that a chainsaw scares me.
One time I read a story about a man who cut off an arm and half a leg and a finger or two, and it just ruined me for chain saws. I didn’t see the movie “The Texas chainsaw massacre” but I heard about it, and it didn’t help me a bit. Everyone from my father to the best carpenters I know have told me that a chainsaw can back up on you and chew you up. That’s good enough for me. I have used a saw from time to time in my life under the tutelage of an expert, but can’t say I was ever comfortable doing it. If there is going to be one tool to hate, it seems to me that hating the chain saw makes the most sense.
THE TONGUE
A chainsaw is loud like a dentist drill; it’s hard to control, packing a lot of destructive power. I can’t think of a better description of the tongue. Noisy, hard to control and it cuts things into pieces. Some of us have already been at it today.
People even glorify the tongue's power. Shakespeare was good at the crafted insult and clever barb. In entertainment, we laugh at people with caustic and sardonic wit. People laugh and say, “Doesn’t he have a clever tongue?"The most successful comedians are the ones with the most cutting, sarcastic edge. Though I’m much older now, I can remember like it was yesterday many hurtful things that were said to me as a child. What hurts me much worse is the fact that there are people who remember hurtful things I’ve said to them. The damage we do with these tongues is terrible.
LET’S LOOK AT TEN PRINCIPLES ABOUT THE TONGUE AND THE WORDS WE USE.
1. WORDS ARE SYMPTOMS OF A DEEPER CONDITION.
Words reveal what’s inside us. The activity of my tongue reveals the state of my heart. None of us wants to believe this but it’s true. We often say “I didn’t really mean that, it just slipped out.” Right! The truth is; that’s exactly what I meant. Like a chainsaw, we massacre our friends with our tongues then, ashamed of the bloodshed, we say, “Wow, I guess my tongue got away from me didn’t it.” The reason we’re embarrassed is that our words have lifted the blinds on who we really are inside, and it’s not a pretty sight. When I gossip, it’s because I love gossip. When I lie, I display a deceptive heart. My words are windows into the state of my soul. Or to use an old saying, “What’s down in the well comes up in the bucket.”
I don’t hold Sigmund Freud in high esteem, but I think he had one thing right when he told us about the slips of the tongue we now call “Freudian Slips”. He believed that many of our slips of the tongue weren’t slips at all, but windows into what’s really going on inside.
In Matthew 12:34-37, Jesus really delivers the bad news to us;
….For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, that every idle word that men speak, they shall give account therof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
2. WE SHOULD USE WORDS SPARINGLY.
Proverbs 10:19 says,... In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.---James 5:12 says… But let your yea be yea, and your nay be nay.
In other words, the more words we use the more likely we are to get into trouble.
The positive value of words is magnified when we use words sparingly. Do you know what would happen if the government started printing and releasing huge quantities of dollars and handing them out? We wouldn’t be richer. The result would be inflation—dollars would lose their value. [sadly, this is happening now.] Words are also subject to inflation. When we talk incessantly, people stop listening.
THE CHAIRMAN OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE IS A GOOD MODEL
The chairman of America's Federal Reserve has to be extraordinarily careful what he says, because investors pay attention to every word. One careless word from him can send markets around the world up or down. In the early eighties, a Florida stock market analyst caused a panic on Wall Street by sending out one word to his mailing list; SELL. Our aim should be to make every word count for good. We should treat words as a precious resource and use then sparingly.
There are times when God has a message he wants delivered and he calls on men and women to be his mouthpiece. There are other times when God does things secretly for reasons we can really only surmise; but we should take a lesson.
3. WHEN YOU KNOW YOU HAVE GOD'S FAVOR, IT'S BEST TO KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT ABOUT IT.
The first 13 chapters of Genesis cover’s a period of two thousand years. The last 13 chapters of Genesis deal with one man’s life and that man is Joseph. His life spanned only one-hundred and ten years. First God uses 13 chapters to cover two thousand years; then he uses 13 chapters to cover one-hundred ten years. That tells me that God strongly suggests we take a careful look at Joseph and study his life.
When young Joseph, dressed in the snazzy sport coat that his dad had given him, started telling dreams of his future dominion and greatness to his brothers, he was on dangerous grounds, and it almost cost him his life.
Later in Joseph’s life, God illustrated how this principle works. When Joseph was in jail in Egypt for thirteen years, God was working on a plan that would affect much of the world. Had the leaders under Pharaoh known that one day Joseph would come out of the prison and control the whole treasury of the land, second only to Pharaoh himself, its almost certain that they would have had him killed. He would never have seen daylight again. Not even Pharaoh knew what he was going to do in promoting Joseph until he’d done it. God can be very secretive.
When you and I have God's favor, we won’t have to tell people anyway; it will be so obvious, everyone can see it.
4. WORDS SHOULD BE SPOKEN SOFTLY AND KINDLY.
Proverbs 15:1-2 says, A gentle answer turneth away wrath but harsh words stir up anger.
I’m going to give you three statements and ask you to tell me what they all have in common.
# One. A schoolteacher speaks out in class to one of her sleepy ten year old students and says, “Joey, wake up back there or you’re going to fail this course. I know your mother and Dad have been having drinking and quarrelling lately at night and you’ve not been able to get much rest, but you have to stay awake and start listening.”
# Two. A doctor is at a party and as he sips a glass of wine he blurts out for all to hear, “You people all know Mrs. Jones, right? Well she wouldn’t sleep so well tonight if she knew what I know. We just got her tests back and it looks like cancer to me.”
# Three. A Pastor who’s chairing his church annual business meeting speaks to his church folk, “Folks, brother Jones and his wife are having serious martial problems and it looks like they’re getting a divorce so he’s withdrawn his name to be voted on as Deacon this year.”
What do these statements have in common?
They may be {are} true but any person with any heart at all would agree that to say those things publicly would be terribly heartless. These words aren’t kind. The people who said these things could never excuse themselves by saying, “well, it’s true.” It may all be true, but any intelligent person would say, “yes, but your truth telling is totally out of place and inappropriate and what you’ve done is cruel and thoughtless.” We feel in our hearts that a person at least should be given some modicum of right to privacy. Or do we?
5. WE MUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO USE WORDS AS WEAPONS.
Words have a potential for much goodness but conversely they also can be like containers of poisonous gas, and though we often take what we say lightly, God never does.
Have you ever noticed when you were out in public that you can hear a person talking angrily to someone, that it makes you feel terrible, even though the words weren’t spoken to you? Angry words spoken within earshot of you can cause your food to lose its appeal.
A stinging word is like a bullet, it leaves an impact on everything it hits. I know I'm mixing metaphors here but it also feels like being bitten, only it's an emotional bite. I know I've mentioned it a lot in my blogs but I've been flabbergasted, especially over the last year or two at how many famous people; actors, politicians and others have actually shot themselves out of the saddle with their words. Its like - something they've said comes to light one day and the next day they're gone-"and are going to be spending more time with their family." We all make mistakes with our tongue but sometimes I think we should write our elected officials and remind them to brush-up on the book of James once in a while.
Does this routine sound familiar?
HE- Hi honey, I’m home.
SHE- Did you remember to buy milk?
HE- I didn’t know we needed milk.
SHE- But I asked you to get milk.
HE- You never said a thing about milk.
SHE- Well you weren’t listening then. You knew we were out.
I can’t do everything you know.
HE- You don’t have to yell at me.
SHE- I’m not yelling.
HE- You are too yelling. Listen to yourself.
SHE- Well if I’m yelling it’s because you’re yelling.
HE- I never once yelled.
Now you’ve got a fight going. Right about this time, if either of these two people has a relative who’s been to jail, it’s coming out. All the living members of their respective families are fair game now and maybe a few people will even be brought back from the grave to be used as exhibits. Satellites start hooking up in space and begin to hum as the memory banks of both these people are ransacked, looking for material to use on each other. Incidentally, they will both lose.
I have used words on people that were carefully crafted to go straight to their heart and sting. I am ashamed to say it, but there is no one that will read this that doesn’t know exactly what I’m talking about. We do it all too often and we do it most to the ones we love best. Every one of us has been on the giving and the receiving end of this kind of cruelty.
So how do we stop the bloodletting? We must be spirit controlled and constantly be guarding the chain saw inside our mouths, and in case of any doubt, keep the thing turned off. God set it behind two rows of teeth and between two powerful jaws for a reason. James said the tongue is a force that can be set on fire of hell. The tongue may be small, but like the little kindling used to start a fire, it has power to destroy. As a matter of fact, it’s almost impossible to start a fire with large pieces of wood.
Proverbs 25:15 says, Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle word can break bones.
6. OUR WORDS MUST ALWAYS BE THE TRUTH.
The truth is a precious commodity. Our CIA knows this and will spend vast amounts of money to get truthful information about the world so we can make decisions on a solid foundation. But our CIA also spends much money and energy spreading inaccurate information about our country. Why; because lies are a deadly weapon.
One of the worst uses of the tongue is to lie. When I lie to you, I’m robbing you of information you need to live wisely. Proverbs 6:17 says that a lying tongue is disgusting to God. He hates lies. I haven’t heard it lately but when I was a kid they used to say, “you can lock up from a thief but you can’t lock up from a liar.”
Paul says in Ephesians 4; 29, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister Grace unto the hearers.”
Paul is saying here that a thing has to be more than merely true, it has to be edifying. And then Paul goes on to say something else that is somewhat shocking. He says our words must be “ministers of grace.” With an ocean of ink and a thousand word processors and four lifetimes, we might start to scratch the surface on that subject.
7. WE SOMETIMES TELL LIES USING THE TRUTH.
I once pastored a lady who would never tell a lie. She was a wonderful lady. I never heard her say an unkind word to anyone. She loved and encouraged people. But she had one weakness—prayer requests. In her prayer requests she told on her husband who was a drinking man. We in the church knew all about his foibles. We got a running update every service. She loved to pass on her prayer requests and she did so often and in great quantity. This lady constantly spilled the beans on everyone in her life; friends, neighbors and relatives, and it was all done under the guise of prayer requests.
She didn’t really intend to harm anyone-and she certainly didn’t think of herself as a gossip. All her talking was in her sharing all of her prayer requests. Also, she loved details about other people’s prayer requests. I often heard her say, “Give me the details so I’ll know how to pray.” Once I can remember telling her how to formulate a prayer without having all the gory details. I never made a dent on her. She was God's prayer request Doberman and she "wasn’t going to let the devil stop her."
Gossip and slander often disguise themselves as concern, seeking advice, asking for prayer and unloading, but the big Elephant in the living room is just talking too much.
A simple rule; when you know someone is facing difficulties, talk with the person, and talk to God. There is almost never a need to talk to anyone else.
8. WE GOSSIP IN THE NAME OF PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH.
Many people are being encouraged to “Be completely honest and truthful about their feelings.” They are told by numb skull advisers that if you don’t spill out all the things inside you, you’ll be warped. Many times I’ve cringed when I heard the words, “I’m just going to be honest.” I can never remember those words being followed by anything good. They use words like “I don’t want to hurt you; I just have to be honest about my feelings.” Under the cowardly cloak of “pseudo-honesty” they slander their parents their spouses and friends. This isn’t what it means to speak truthfully. This is just an excuse to even scores with people, and to dump all of the trash and wickedness of our hearts out onto others. It’s a two-edged sword that at one and the same time appears spiritual, sharing their hurt, while slapping someone else in the face that was the real target anyway. And most tragic; often the people they dump it on aren’t strong enough emotionally to carry it and end up weaker.
Incidently, while on the subject, I'm sure we've all had someone tell us "The last thing I ever want to do is hurt you. You know that's the last thing in the world I'd ever do is hurt you!" Stop and think what they're saying. First , they've told you they have a list for dealing with you and the very last thing on that list is to hurt you. But they're not going to do it now because they have a few more things they plan to do first. Then the last thing will be to really hurt you. Sorry if I sound a little cynical here folks.
## Don’t let “truth telling” become an excuse to dishonor parents or hurt other people by unloading your feelings.
Could it be that we are so vindictive that we want to hurt someone without being held accountable for the assault? After all, if we walked up to the person we wish to hurt and punched them in the face, we’d be jailed for it. So how can we do it without having to account for it? Oh yes, here’s a way to get-em; we can go public by being “painfully honest” and enlisting “ prayer- support.”
9. LETS DON’T FORGET! --A CHAINSAW CAN BE A USEFUL TOOL.
The tongue has awesome power for good. If I were trapped under a fallen tree, the sound of a chain- saw, as much as I fear them, would be music to my ears. Proverbs 18:21 says …The tongue has the power of life or death.
Kind words are among the most loving things human beings can give one another. Words can build up a person’s confidence and make them winners in life. It was said of Napoleon that half of what he accomplished was done with words.
If we allow our tongues to go on automatic pilot, they can simply revert to the old habits of gossip and lies. The antidote is to keep the tongue busy with words of blessing, praise, appreciation, forgiveness and apology. In I Corinthians 13:11 Paul tells us that one of the earmarks of a child is the way they speak. Children have no filter and will say just about anything that comes to mind. You can also identify spiritual babies that way. There are some things that a grown-up will never say in a million years, if it takes biting their tongues 24/7.
If we’re honest, most of us will admit we’ve been hurt with words in the last 24 hours. The wounds may still be fresh. The people we live with and work around aren’t always nice and polite to us. They yell at us, curse and insult us.
But it’s our calling as Christians to return blessings for curses—to return kind words for harsh ones. You can be an enormous influence for healing in your world if you simply accept it as your calling to exchange blessings for curses.
10. OUR TONGUE PROBLEMS MUST BE DEALT WITH AT THE CROSS.
I first need a change of heart. I can’t do that on my own. We must come to the foot of the cross and experience God’s grace and get a new nature. God gives us a new nature and a new heart and he also gives us the Holy Spirit. It then becomes our lifelong challenge to daily put the old nature to death and live according to our new nature. We all have an evil twin who likes to rattle on and on. The apostle Paul had his, and you can read about it in Romans 7.The tongue problem is just like a substance abuse problem, and when you catch yourself falling into old patterns, don’t feel alone. Just deal with it and keep on dealing with it but never "do a deal" with it.
#May God deliver us from cowardice, that dare not face the truth,
#Laziness, content with knowing half the truth,
#And arrogance that thinks it has all the truth.
May He deliver us from rudeness, cynicism about each other, intolerance and cruel indifference.
And may we all pray with David,
SET A WATCH O LORD, BEFORE MY MOUTH, KEEP THE DOOR OF MY LIPS. PSALM 141:3.
Here's the "Stallings translation"...Shut my mouth!
Blessings,
John
…. And he charged him to tell no man. Luke 5:14
I openly confess that a chainsaw scares me.
One time I read a story about a man who cut off an arm and half a leg and a finger or two, and it just ruined me for chain saws. I didn’t see the movie “The Texas chainsaw massacre” but I heard about it, and it didn’t help me a bit. Everyone from my father to the best carpenters I know have told me that a chainsaw can back up on you and chew you up. That’s good enough for me. I have used a saw from time to time in my life under the tutelage of an expert, but can’t say I was ever comfortable doing it. If there is going to be one tool to hate, it seems to me that hating the chain saw makes the most sense.
THE TONGUE
A chainsaw is loud like a dentist drill; it’s hard to control, packing a lot of destructive power. I can’t think of a better description of the tongue. Noisy, hard to control and it cuts things into pieces. Some of us have already been at it today.
People even glorify the tongue's power. Shakespeare was good at the crafted insult and clever barb. In entertainment, we laugh at people with caustic and sardonic wit. People laugh and say, “Doesn’t he have a clever tongue?"The most successful comedians are the ones with the most cutting, sarcastic edge. Though I’m much older now, I can remember like it was yesterday many hurtful things that were said to me as a child. What hurts me much worse is the fact that there are people who remember hurtful things I’ve said to them. The damage we do with these tongues is terrible.
LET’S LOOK AT TEN PRINCIPLES ABOUT THE TONGUE AND THE WORDS WE USE.
1. WORDS ARE SYMPTOMS OF A DEEPER CONDITION.
Words reveal what’s inside us. The activity of my tongue reveals the state of my heart. None of us wants to believe this but it’s true. We often say “I didn’t really mean that, it just slipped out.” Right! The truth is; that’s exactly what I meant. Like a chainsaw, we massacre our friends with our tongues then, ashamed of the bloodshed, we say, “Wow, I guess my tongue got away from me didn’t it.” The reason we’re embarrassed is that our words have lifted the blinds on who we really are inside, and it’s not a pretty sight. When I gossip, it’s because I love gossip. When I lie, I display a deceptive heart. My words are windows into the state of my soul. Or to use an old saying, “What’s down in the well comes up in the bucket.”
I don’t hold Sigmund Freud in high esteem, but I think he had one thing right when he told us about the slips of the tongue we now call “Freudian Slips”. He believed that many of our slips of the tongue weren’t slips at all, but windows into what’s really going on inside.
In Matthew 12:34-37, Jesus really delivers the bad news to us;
….For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, that every idle word that men speak, they shall give account therof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
2. WE SHOULD USE WORDS SPARINGLY.
Proverbs 10:19 says,... In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.---James 5:12 says… But let your yea be yea, and your nay be nay.
In other words, the more words we use the more likely we are to get into trouble.
The positive value of words is magnified when we use words sparingly. Do you know what would happen if the government started printing and releasing huge quantities of dollars and handing them out? We wouldn’t be richer. The result would be inflation—dollars would lose their value. [sadly, this is happening now.] Words are also subject to inflation. When we talk incessantly, people stop listening.
THE CHAIRMAN OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE IS A GOOD MODEL
The chairman of America's Federal Reserve has to be extraordinarily careful what he says, because investors pay attention to every word. One careless word from him can send markets around the world up or down. In the early eighties, a Florida stock market analyst caused a panic on Wall Street by sending out one word to his mailing list; SELL. Our aim should be to make every word count for good. We should treat words as a precious resource and use then sparingly.
There are times when God has a message he wants delivered and he calls on men and women to be his mouthpiece. There are other times when God does things secretly for reasons we can really only surmise; but we should take a lesson.
3. WHEN YOU KNOW YOU HAVE GOD'S FAVOR, IT'S BEST TO KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT ABOUT IT.
The first 13 chapters of Genesis cover’s a period of two thousand years. The last 13 chapters of Genesis deal with one man’s life and that man is Joseph. His life spanned only one-hundred and ten years. First God uses 13 chapters to cover two thousand years; then he uses 13 chapters to cover one-hundred ten years. That tells me that God strongly suggests we take a careful look at Joseph and study his life.
When young Joseph, dressed in the snazzy sport coat that his dad had given him, started telling dreams of his future dominion and greatness to his brothers, he was on dangerous grounds, and it almost cost him his life.
Later in Joseph’s life, God illustrated how this principle works. When Joseph was in jail in Egypt for thirteen years, God was working on a plan that would affect much of the world. Had the leaders under Pharaoh known that one day Joseph would come out of the prison and control the whole treasury of the land, second only to Pharaoh himself, its almost certain that they would have had him killed. He would never have seen daylight again. Not even Pharaoh knew what he was going to do in promoting Joseph until he’d done it. God can be very secretive.
When you and I have God's favor, we won’t have to tell people anyway; it will be so obvious, everyone can see it.
4. WORDS SHOULD BE SPOKEN SOFTLY AND KINDLY.
Proverbs 15:1-2 says, A gentle answer turneth away wrath but harsh words stir up anger.
I’m going to give you three statements and ask you to tell me what they all have in common.
# One. A schoolteacher speaks out in class to one of her sleepy ten year old students and says, “Joey, wake up back there or you’re going to fail this course. I know your mother and Dad have been having drinking and quarrelling lately at night and you’ve not been able to get much rest, but you have to stay awake and start listening.”
# Two. A doctor is at a party and as he sips a glass of wine he blurts out for all to hear, “You people all know Mrs. Jones, right? Well she wouldn’t sleep so well tonight if she knew what I know. We just got her tests back and it looks like cancer to me.”
# Three. A Pastor who’s chairing his church annual business meeting speaks to his church folk, “Folks, brother Jones and his wife are having serious martial problems and it looks like they’re getting a divorce so he’s withdrawn his name to be voted on as Deacon this year.”
What do these statements have in common?
They may be {are} true but any person with any heart at all would agree that to say those things publicly would be terribly heartless. These words aren’t kind. The people who said these things could never excuse themselves by saying, “well, it’s true.” It may all be true, but any intelligent person would say, “yes, but your truth telling is totally out of place and inappropriate and what you’ve done is cruel and thoughtless.” We feel in our hearts that a person at least should be given some modicum of right to privacy. Or do we?
5. WE MUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO USE WORDS AS WEAPONS.
Words have a potential for much goodness but conversely they also can be like containers of poisonous gas, and though we often take what we say lightly, God never does.
Have you ever noticed when you were out in public that you can hear a person talking angrily to someone, that it makes you feel terrible, even though the words weren’t spoken to you? Angry words spoken within earshot of you can cause your food to lose its appeal.
A stinging word is like a bullet, it leaves an impact on everything it hits. I know I'm mixing metaphors here but it also feels like being bitten, only it's an emotional bite. I know I've mentioned it a lot in my blogs but I've been flabbergasted, especially over the last year or two at how many famous people; actors, politicians and others have actually shot themselves out of the saddle with their words. Its like - something they've said comes to light one day and the next day they're gone-"and are going to be spending more time with their family." We all make mistakes with our tongue but sometimes I think we should write our elected officials and remind them to brush-up on the book of James once in a while.
Does this routine sound familiar?
HE- Hi honey, I’m home.
SHE- Did you remember to buy milk?
HE- I didn’t know we needed milk.
SHE- But I asked you to get milk.
HE- You never said a thing about milk.
SHE- Well you weren’t listening then. You knew we were out.
I can’t do everything you know.
HE- You don’t have to yell at me.
SHE- I’m not yelling.
HE- You are too yelling. Listen to yourself.
SHE- Well if I’m yelling it’s because you’re yelling.
HE- I never once yelled.
Now you’ve got a fight going. Right about this time, if either of these two people has a relative who’s been to jail, it’s coming out. All the living members of their respective families are fair game now and maybe a few people will even be brought back from the grave to be used as exhibits. Satellites start hooking up in space and begin to hum as the memory banks of both these people are ransacked, looking for material to use on each other. Incidentally, they will both lose.
I have used words on people that were carefully crafted to go straight to their heart and sting. I am ashamed to say it, but there is no one that will read this that doesn’t know exactly what I’m talking about. We do it all too often and we do it most to the ones we love best. Every one of us has been on the giving and the receiving end of this kind of cruelty.
So how do we stop the bloodletting? We must be spirit controlled and constantly be guarding the chain saw inside our mouths, and in case of any doubt, keep the thing turned off. God set it behind two rows of teeth and between two powerful jaws for a reason. James said the tongue is a force that can be set on fire of hell. The tongue may be small, but like the little kindling used to start a fire, it has power to destroy. As a matter of fact, it’s almost impossible to start a fire with large pieces of wood.
Proverbs 25:15 says, Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle word can break bones.
6. OUR WORDS MUST ALWAYS BE THE TRUTH.
The truth is a precious commodity. Our CIA knows this and will spend vast amounts of money to get truthful information about the world so we can make decisions on a solid foundation. But our CIA also spends much money and energy spreading inaccurate information about our country. Why; because lies are a deadly weapon.
One of the worst uses of the tongue is to lie. When I lie to you, I’m robbing you of information you need to live wisely. Proverbs 6:17 says that a lying tongue is disgusting to God. He hates lies. I haven’t heard it lately but when I was a kid they used to say, “you can lock up from a thief but you can’t lock up from a liar.”
Paul says in Ephesians 4; 29, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister Grace unto the hearers.”
Paul is saying here that a thing has to be more than merely true, it has to be edifying. And then Paul goes on to say something else that is somewhat shocking. He says our words must be “ministers of grace.” With an ocean of ink and a thousand word processors and four lifetimes, we might start to scratch the surface on that subject.
7. WE SOMETIMES TELL LIES USING THE TRUTH.
I once pastored a lady who would never tell a lie. She was a wonderful lady. I never heard her say an unkind word to anyone. She loved and encouraged people. But she had one weakness—prayer requests. In her prayer requests she told on her husband who was a drinking man. We in the church knew all about his foibles. We got a running update every service. She loved to pass on her prayer requests and she did so often and in great quantity. This lady constantly spilled the beans on everyone in her life; friends, neighbors and relatives, and it was all done under the guise of prayer requests.
She didn’t really intend to harm anyone-and she certainly didn’t think of herself as a gossip. All her talking was in her sharing all of her prayer requests. Also, she loved details about other people’s prayer requests. I often heard her say, “Give me the details so I’ll know how to pray.” Once I can remember telling her how to formulate a prayer without having all the gory details. I never made a dent on her. She was God's prayer request Doberman and she "wasn’t going to let the devil stop her."
Gossip and slander often disguise themselves as concern, seeking advice, asking for prayer and unloading, but the big Elephant in the living room is just talking too much.
A simple rule; when you know someone is facing difficulties, talk with the person, and talk to God. There is almost never a need to talk to anyone else.
8. WE GOSSIP IN THE NAME OF PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH.
Many people are being encouraged to “Be completely honest and truthful about their feelings.” They are told by numb skull advisers that if you don’t spill out all the things inside you, you’ll be warped. Many times I’ve cringed when I heard the words, “I’m just going to be honest.” I can never remember those words being followed by anything good. They use words like “I don’t want to hurt you; I just have to be honest about my feelings.” Under the cowardly cloak of “pseudo-honesty” they slander their parents their spouses and friends. This isn’t what it means to speak truthfully. This is just an excuse to even scores with people, and to dump all of the trash and wickedness of our hearts out onto others. It’s a two-edged sword that at one and the same time appears spiritual, sharing their hurt, while slapping someone else in the face that was the real target anyway. And most tragic; often the people they dump it on aren’t strong enough emotionally to carry it and end up weaker.
Incidently, while on the subject, I'm sure we've all had someone tell us "The last thing I ever want to do is hurt you. You know that's the last thing in the world I'd ever do is hurt you!" Stop and think what they're saying. First , they've told you they have a list for dealing with you and the very last thing on that list is to hurt you. But they're not going to do it now because they have a few more things they plan to do first. Then the last thing will be to really hurt you. Sorry if I sound a little cynical here folks.
## Don’t let “truth telling” become an excuse to dishonor parents or hurt other people by unloading your feelings.
Could it be that we are so vindictive that we want to hurt someone without being held accountable for the assault? After all, if we walked up to the person we wish to hurt and punched them in the face, we’d be jailed for it. So how can we do it without having to account for it? Oh yes, here’s a way to get-em; we can go public by being “painfully honest” and enlisting “ prayer- support.”
9. LETS DON’T FORGET! --A CHAINSAW CAN BE A USEFUL TOOL.
The tongue has awesome power for good. If I were trapped under a fallen tree, the sound of a chain- saw, as much as I fear them, would be music to my ears. Proverbs 18:21 says …The tongue has the power of life or death.
Kind words are among the most loving things human beings can give one another. Words can build up a person’s confidence and make them winners in life. It was said of Napoleon that half of what he accomplished was done with words.
If we allow our tongues to go on automatic pilot, they can simply revert to the old habits of gossip and lies. The antidote is to keep the tongue busy with words of blessing, praise, appreciation, forgiveness and apology. In I Corinthians 13:11 Paul tells us that one of the earmarks of a child is the way they speak. Children have no filter and will say just about anything that comes to mind. You can also identify spiritual babies that way. There are some things that a grown-up will never say in a million years, if it takes biting their tongues 24/7.
If we’re honest, most of us will admit we’ve been hurt with words in the last 24 hours. The wounds may still be fresh. The people we live with and work around aren’t always nice and polite to us. They yell at us, curse and insult us.
But it’s our calling as Christians to return blessings for curses—to return kind words for harsh ones. You can be an enormous influence for healing in your world if you simply accept it as your calling to exchange blessings for curses.
10. OUR TONGUE PROBLEMS MUST BE DEALT WITH AT THE CROSS.
I first need a change of heart. I can’t do that on my own. We must come to the foot of the cross and experience God’s grace and get a new nature. God gives us a new nature and a new heart and he also gives us the Holy Spirit. It then becomes our lifelong challenge to daily put the old nature to death and live according to our new nature. We all have an evil twin who likes to rattle on and on. The apostle Paul had his, and you can read about it in Romans 7.The tongue problem is just like a substance abuse problem, and when you catch yourself falling into old patterns, don’t feel alone. Just deal with it and keep on dealing with it but never "do a deal" with it.
#May God deliver us from cowardice, that dare not face the truth,
#Laziness, content with knowing half the truth,
#And arrogance that thinks it has all the truth.
May He deliver us from rudeness, cynicism about each other, intolerance and cruel indifference.
And may we all pray with David,
SET A WATCH O LORD, BEFORE MY MOUTH, KEEP THE DOOR OF MY LIPS. PSALM 141:3.
Here's the "Stallings translation"...Shut my mouth!
Blessings,
John
Thursday, September 5, 2013
IS PRESIDENT OBAMA DITHERING??
By John Stallings
A few years ago former Vice President Cheney brought the word dithering to center stage describing our current President’s protracted agonizing over putting more troops in Afghanistan.
FAST FORWARD TO TODAY!
Unless you've been living in a cave you know that for the last several weeks Washington D.C has been in a dither concerning whether or not to intervene in the nation of Syria. It seems evidence is-- the government is using Gas on its own people with fatalities surpassing 100,000. Seems this is a perfect illustration of dithering.
The dictionary defines dithering as-“To act irresolutely; to act in fear and trembling.”
Maybe we’ve all been guilty of that from time to time, sometimes out of fear & worry & sometimes just not being able to come to a conclusion regarding a matter.
One man was asked if he had trouble making decisions. He hesitated for a few seconds & answered, “Well, yes & no.”
A dense fog that covers a seven-city- block area one-hundred feet deep is composed of less than one glass of water divided into sixty thousand million drops. Not much is there but it can cripple an entire city.
This is emblematic of worry & how something so vague & foggy can become so confusing to the mind.
I heard about a very good man who experienced a nervous breakdown. This man would work all day, come home & walk straight to his bedroom, then sit for hours & cry. Obviously he wasn’t available spiritually, physically or in any way to his wife & family. When his wife would come in to try to talk to him he’d express to her his worry about whether their son who had been killed was saved, & shed tears over the prospects of his being in hell.
He’d agonize & wonder if his mother & father made it to heaven or were they burning in hell. I think you’d probably agree that this sort of thing is abnormal, but in truth this is what can happen to any of us if we allow anxiety, fear & worry to crawl into the saddle & dig their spurs into our side. Worry & fear can turn us into obsessive /compulsive thinkers suffering from paralysis by analysis.
We weren’t created with the capacity to worry all the time & be mentally & spiritually well. Fear isn’t native to us, faith is. We just live better with confidence & faith than we do with fear & worry. I heard an eminent doctor say recently, “We don’t know why people who worry & fret die earlier than those who maintain good cheer, but they do.” Think about that. That isn’t a snake oil salesman trying to hype us up, but a medical man who lives in the trenches with the issues of life & death 24/7/365.
This is why Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7,
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer & thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts & your mind through Christ Jesus.
A worry- wart will spend as much as 30% of their time just worrying. Contrary to what some people think, worry is actually a form of action. It’s endless- “Dithering.” Worry is incessant mental rehearsal convincing a person they’re moving toward a solution. Energy is spent uselessly & vitality is drained.
A good way of describing worry is its like shoveling smoke. Energy is used up but nothing of value is accomplished. It’s like spending time wishing skunks didn’t stink. But a person can’t just tell themselves to quit worrying. I’ve had the experiencing of trying to quit worrying on my own & it’s much like telling yourself not to think about elephants. Every time I’ve tried that a whole group of elephants showed up wearing pink sunglasses. We must exchange our thoughts for God’s thoughts & fill our minds with God’s Word.
Recently several of our greatest television preachers & pastors have gone to heaven. None of them were as my grandmother used to say, “Dead with old age.” They were getting a little older but I would have expected them to live far longer than they did. Now I know that I’m not God & it isn’t my business to second guess their deaths, but I can’t help but wonder if they passed too soon.
Psalm 116:15 says, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.
I can’t tell you how many funerals I‘ve preached using this verse as a comfort to the families, that “God was standing at the portico of glory, beckoning for his child to finally be home with Him.” One day a minister friend of mine told me, “John, did you know that word precious actually means costly?” Well, that put it all in a different light. Now we see God presented with the high cost of losing great & effective people in His kingdom.
I’ve heard people talk about why God took their loved one, & they’ll say, “Well, you know heaven must be lonely & they needed another flower to bloom in God’s bouquet. I know God must have needed another tenor singer in heavens choir.” Dear friend, if there’s any place in the universe that isn't lonely it's heaven.
Let’s go back to the ministers who've died lately & apply something my dad used to believe & speak of often. He studied the lives of all the famous preachers of the last one-hundred years. D.L Moody, the famous evangelist died at age 62. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great London pastor who was called “the prince of preachers” died at 58. The last year or two of Spurgeon’s life he was so sickly he spent most of his time in the South of France & mailed his sermons back to be read in his church.
My dad’s theory & I think he was right, was that stress brought on by too much popularity killed these men. They were in such world- wide demand that they abused their bodies traveling too much & working too hard. Also these men knew little about how diet & exercise affect the body so they spent most of their lives sitting & studying, hence many of them died with what doctors used to call, “Fatty heart deterioration.” One thing for sure, our bodies can’t tell the difference if we’re stressing out over little mundane things or if we’re being crushed by the weight of hurting humanity. Helping people is a noble cause but if we let people’s problems, even their spiritual problems get inside us; it can prove deadly.
There are certain natural laws of good mental & physical health we can’t break & do well, just as we couldn't jump off a bridge on our way to church & expect the law of gravity to be suspended for us.
A few years ago I lost one of my best preacher friends & we were about the same age. I knew him from a boy and always considered him to be in much better physical shape than I ever was. He was never hardly a smidgen overweight through all the years I knew him. On a Sunday evening he was getting ready to go to church & had a heart attack & was dead before the paramedics could get him to the hospital. I 'm no expert but I've always believed that stress killed him. He was a prince of a man, super-conscientious, a perfectionist, & very “military” in his thinking.
Let’s look at some things that cause anxiety & also a few ways to fight it.
1. A need to control can cause anxiety.
This quality can morph into a malignant motivation if not watched. Sometimes we can get over- inflated ideas of our own importance & forget the world will go on quite nicely when we’re gone. This thought helps us stay in touch with reality.
2. Deal with facts not hobgoblins.
A very sharp, intelligent person can think of more things to worry about before he/she put their feet on the floor in the morning than a “duller-knife” can conjure up in a week. But statistics say the person with the not-so-high IQ may well be more successful & will probably live longer.
Philippians 4:8-9 says,---Finally brethren, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of a good report, if there be any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things. The things which you learned & received & heard & saw in me, these do, & the God of peace will be with you.
3. Humble yourself and pray.
1 Peter 5:6-7 says,--Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him for he cares for you.
Pride turned angels into devils. We need to let God search us & see what’s inside us. Pride will install itself in our hearts & cause us to be self-absorbed & unable to see our lives in proper perspective. When we become self-absorbed, we’ll see our problems in a warped light.
Cain told God when he was approached about killing Able that he feared “everyone was going to kill him.” Of course this sprang from his guilt, because how could everyone kill him? A person can only be killed once the last time I checked. This was paranoia in Cain, aggravated by his pride. The devil will try to make us think “everyone” is against us, when it just isn't true.
One man said, “Just because you’re paranoid doesn't mean they’re not out to get you.”
A young man went to his dad & told him he felt everyone hated him. The father answered him by saying, “Son, don’t say that, everyone hasn't met you yet.”
Other people have more to do than to go around thinking how to hurt & defeat us, don’t you think?
4. Release all your worries to God & rest in Him.
1 Peter 5:10 says, “But may the God of all grace who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while establish, strengthen & settle you.”
When I was five or six I remember asking my mother one day, “Mom am I saved?” Her answer stills reverberates in my mind. She answered, “Son, nobody can answer that question but you.” I had said the sinners prayer & been baptized but I still had that haunting question. What struck home with me was that it was actually my decision & no one but me could make it. My eternal destiny was in my own hands.
In 1 Kings 18:21 Elijah asked the people on Mount Carmel to make a decision. He told them if they wanted to serve Baal to go on & serve him, or if they decided to go with God, they should make a decision & stop halting between two opinions. He was saying in essence, stop dithering.
James said…For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind & tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1: 6-8.
There are many landmines in the path of the believer not the least of which is procrastination. What decision do you need to make today? Will you make it & get on with your life or will you succumb to...
DITHERING?
Blessings,
John
A few years ago former Vice President Cheney brought the word dithering to center stage describing our current President’s protracted agonizing over putting more troops in Afghanistan.
FAST FORWARD TO TODAY!
Unless you've been living in a cave you know that for the last several weeks Washington D.C has been in a dither concerning whether or not to intervene in the nation of Syria. It seems evidence is-- the government is using Gas on its own people with fatalities surpassing 100,000. Seems this is a perfect illustration of dithering.
The dictionary defines dithering as-“To act irresolutely; to act in fear and trembling.”
Maybe we’ve all been guilty of that from time to time, sometimes out of fear & worry & sometimes just not being able to come to a conclusion regarding a matter.
One man was asked if he had trouble making decisions. He hesitated for a few seconds & answered, “Well, yes & no.”
A dense fog that covers a seven-city- block area one-hundred feet deep is composed of less than one glass of water divided into sixty thousand million drops. Not much is there but it can cripple an entire city.
This is emblematic of worry & how something so vague & foggy can become so confusing to the mind.
I heard about a very good man who experienced a nervous breakdown. This man would work all day, come home & walk straight to his bedroom, then sit for hours & cry. Obviously he wasn’t available spiritually, physically or in any way to his wife & family. When his wife would come in to try to talk to him he’d express to her his worry about whether their son who had been killed was saved, & shed tears over the prospects of his being in hell.
He’d agonize & wonder if his mother & father made it to heaven or were they burning in hell. I think you’d probably agree that this sort of thing is abnormal, but in truth this is what can happen to any of us if we allow anxiety, fear & worry to crawl into the saddle & dig their spurs into our side. Worry & fear can turn us into obsessive /compulsive thinkers suffering from paralysis by analysis.
We weren’t created with the capacity to worry all the time & be mentally & spiritually well. Fear isn’t native to us, faith is. We just live better with confidence & faith than we do with fear & worry. I heard an eminent doctor say recently, “We don’t know why people who worry & fret die earlier than those who maintain good cheer, but they do.” Think about that. That isn’t a snake oil salesman trying to hype us up, but a medical man who lives in the trenches with the issues of life & death 24/7/365.
This is why Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7,
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer & thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts & your mind through Christ Jesus.
A worry- wart will spend as much as 30% of their time just worrying. Contrary to what some people think, worry is actually a form of action. It’s endless- “Dithering.” Worry is incessant mental rehearsal convincing a person they’re moving toward a solution. Energy is spent uselessly & vitality is drained.
A good way of describing worry is its like shoveling smoke. Energy is used up but nothing of value is accomplished. It’s like spending time wishing skunks didn’t stink. But a person can’t just tell themselves to quit worrying. I’ve had the experiencing of trying to quit worrying on my own & it’s much like telling yourself not to think about elephants. Every time I’ve tried that a whole group of elephants showed up wearing pink sunglasses. We must exchange our thoughts for God’s thoughts & fill our minds with God’s Word.
Recently several of our greatest television preachers & pastors have gone to heaven. None of them were as my grandmother used to say, “Dead with old age.” They were getting a little older but I would have expected them to live far longer than they did. Now I know that I’m not God & it isn’t my business to second guess their deaths, but I can’t help but wonder if they passed too soon.
Psalm 116:15 says, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.
I can’t tell you how many funerals I‘ve preached using this verse as a comfort to the families, that “God was standing at the portico of glory, beckoning for his child to finally be home with Him.” One day a minister friend of mine told me, “John, did you know that word precious actually means costly?” Well, that put it all in a different light. Now we see God presented with the high cost of losing great & effective people in His kingdom.
I’ve heard people talk about why God took their loved one, & they’ll say, “Well, you know heaven must be lonely & they needed another flower to bloom in God’s bouquet. I know God must have needed another tenor singer in heavens choir.” Dear friend, if there’s any place in the universe that isn't lonely it's heaven.
Let’s go back to the ministers who've died lately & apply something my dad used to believe & speak of often. He studied the lives of all the famous preachers of the last one-hundred years. D.L Moody, the famous evangelist died at age 62. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great London pastor who was called “the prince of preachers” died at 58. The last year or two of Spurgeon’s life he was so sickly he spent most of his time in the South of France & mailed his sermons back to be read in his church.
My dad’s theory & I think he was right, was that stress brought on by too much popularity killed these men. They were in such world- wide demand that they abused their bodies traveling too much & working too hard. Also these men knew little about how diet & exercise affect the body so they spent most of their lives sitting & studying, hence many of them died with what doctors used to call, “Fatty heart deterioration.” One thing for sure, our bodies can’t tell the difference if we’re stressing out over little mundane things or if we’re being crushed by the weight of hurting humanity. Helping people is a noble cause but if we let people’s problems, even their spiritual problems get inside us; it can prove deadly.
There are certain natural laws of good mental & physical health we can’t break & do well, just as we couldn't jump off a bridge on our way to church & expect the law of gravity to be suspended for us.
A few years ago I lost one of my best preacher friends & we were about the same age. I knew him from a boy and always considered him to be in much better physical shape than I ever was. He was never hardly a smidgen overweight through all the years I knew him. On a Sunday evening he was getting ready to go to church & had a heart attack & was dead before the paramedics could get him to the hospital. I 'm no expert but I've always believed that stress killed him. He was a prince of a man, super-conscientious, a perfectionist, & very “military” in his thinking.
Let’s look at some things that cause anxiety & also a few ways to fight it.
1. A need to control can cause anxiety.
This quality can morph into a malignant motivation if not watched. Sometimes we can get over- inflated ideas of our own importance & forget the world will go on quite nicely when we’re gone. This thought helps us stay in touch with reality.
2. Deal with facts not hobgoblins.
A very sharp, intelligent person can think of more things to worry about before he/she put their feet on the floor in the morning than a “duller-knife” can conjure up in a week. But statistics say the person with the not-so-high IQ may well be more successful & will probably live longer.
Philippians 4:8-9 says,---Finally brethren, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of a good report, if there be any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things. The things which you learned & received & heard & saw in me, these do, & the God of peace will be with you.
3. Humble yourself and pray.
1 Peter 5:6-7 says,--Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him for he cares for you.
Pride turned angels into devils. We need to let God search us & see what’s inside us. Pride will install itself in our hearts & cause us to be self-absorbed & unable to see our lives in proper perspective. When we become self-absorbed, we’ll see our problems in a warped light.
Cain told God when he was approached about killing Able that he feared “everyone was going to kill him.” Of course this sprang from his guilt, because how could everyone kill him? A person can only be killed once the last time I checked. This was paranoia in Cain, aggravated by his pride. The devil will try to make us think “everyone” is against us, when it just isn't true.
One man said, “Just because you’re paranoid doesn't mean they’re not out to get you.”
A young man went to his dad & told him he felt everyone hated him. The father answered him by saying, “Son, don’t say that, everyone hasn't met you yet.”
Other people have more to do than to go around thinking how to hurt & defeat us, don’t you think?
4. Release all your worries to God & rest in Him.
1 Peter 5:10 says, “But may the God of all grace who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while establish, strengthen & settle you.”
When I was five or six I remember asking my mother one day, “Mom am I saved?” Her answer stills reverberates in my mind. She answered, “Son, nobody can answer that question but you.” I had said the sinners prayer & been baptized but I still had that haunting question. What struck home with me was that it was actually my decision & no one but me could make it. My eternal destiny was in my own hands.
In 1 Kings 18:21 Elijah asked the people on Mount Carmel to make a decision. He told them if they wanted to serve Baal to go on & serve him, or if they decided to go with God, they should make a decision & stop halting between two opinions. He was saying in essence, stop dithering.
James said…For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind & tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1: 6-8.
There are many landmines in the path of the believer not the least of which is procrastination. What decision do you need to make today? Will you make it & get on with your life or will you succumb to...
DITHERING?
Blessings,
John
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