By John Stallings
I read about a man who was aboard the Titanic when it sank after striking an iceberg in 1912.
He escaped this horrific tragedy in one the ship's lifeboats. In the Navy three years later he was aboard a ship when a German submarine fired a torpedo at it. He escaped death for a second time in the middle of the ocean.
He was a man who survived huge obstacles. One day however he slipped in the creek next to his house, hit his head & drowned in a foot of water.
A man by the name of James Berkley who hunted man eating tigers & lions didn’t die from the jaws or claws of one of these animals. He died after being scratched by his barnyard cat in his backyard. He developed blood poisoning from the incident & died one year later.
Charles Blondin who was famous for walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls; once he pushed a wheelbarrow filled with sand across, tripped on the doormat of his own home & fractured his leg. A year & a half later he died from complications that developed from the injury.
It’s amazing how people can overcome the largest problems & trip over minor tribulations. The truth is, minor things can & do shatter lives. How many relationships have been ruined because of a minor, often foolish problem? An untrue rumor, a misconception, & someone’s immaturity are minor problems that have the potential to destroy relationships. All too often people win the biggest battles & die climbing the smallest hill. It’s too bad that these minor cuts & bruises of life have such destructive power.
Sometimes the things that we get hurt over are unintentional, things said in a careless moment but you feel the pain & are hurt by the comment. This happens often in our relationships. At other times the hurt could be intentional, when someone wants to cut you. The most damaging thing about this kind of offense is when we get hurt intentionally; if we’re not careful, we’ll let someone else’s mistake rule our destiny.
It's amazing how an offhand comment like, “hey you need driving lessons,” can hit us at just the right time & really sting especially coming from a person who, when you ride with them your knuckles stay white the whole time.
An old acquaintance might say something that rubs you the wrong way & before you know it you’ve said, “Well- why did you say that; you must really despise me. You’ve been hating me for years haven’t you? As a matter of fact you’re just hateful period, aren’t you?”
“I’m sorry, look I’m sorry!”
No you aren’t.”
“Yes I am.”
“Oh, please!”
Sometimes we can take something someone said & suddenly we can add a mutated, perverted heart & intention to it. Now we create a straw-man & the problem takes on a life of its own. It was never intended to have these connotations but now we’ve become victims of the monster we’ve created. We’ve all had the experience of “jumping to conclusions” about something only to later find we were wrong. The mind can play tricks on us & it can happen with very little real evidence to go on.
One time I was talking to a preacher friend of mine & I mentioned to him how easy it was to imagine things that weren’t true. I was telling him that we could get it in our mind that someone didn’t like us or had it in for us & it all could just be imagination. I’ll never forget his reply; “Yeah, but what if that person really doesn’t like you?” There went my theory, but in truth, we both were right. Obviously this was one of my more pragmatic friends.
Think about it. What if it were impossible for you to never be offended again? Wouldn’t life be almost like heaven on earth? Well I can’t tell you how to wave a magic wand & make that happen. I can’t show you how to never be hurt again by the slings & arrows of outrageous fortune. (Pardon the Shakespeare.) Like I heard a comedian say, “I learned the secret to happiness back in the nineties but I forgot to write it down.” Well I haven’t learned any secrets other than things from the Word of God that can certainly be helpful. Ready?
1. Guard your heart.
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Proverbs 4:23--NLT
You heart is your internal dictionary where you hold your definitions. Those definitions determine how you define & interpret everything that happens to you. We are constantly building our internal dictionary & our perspective is based on the definitions in this “book.” These perceptions can & very often do tell an individual whether they’ve come to the end of the road or view their situation as nothing but a new beginning. If you’ve placed Godly principles & definitions into your heart, then you will see things from God’s perspective. As Christians this is what we are aiming at & it’s our job, not Gods, to guard & build our hearts & make sure the right attitudes & principles are placed there.
God is more concerned about our heart than anything else. The New Testament tells us to build good treasure in our hearts.
The good man out of the good treasure of his heart will bring forth what is good, and the evil man out of the treasure of his heart brings forth what is evil. For his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. Luke 6:45.
We get to choose what kind of treasure we’re going to build & what definitions we want in our dictionary. The choice is ours.
When God tells us to guard our hearts; that means there’s a lid or door to our hearts that we can open & close. We have to watch that lid like a Hawk because we’re responsible for what goes into our hearts. If it’s not right don’t let it in & if it’s good allow it in; it’s that simple.
Some people wrongly suppose that to show they are open & gracious; they should go around with the lid to their heart open. We sometimes call these people --folk who “wear their heart on their sleeve.” That’s not only wrong it’s dangerous because now you’re at the mercy of everybody’s dysfunction & character deficiency. The next thing you know you’re walking around all beat up & bruised because everything that’s said or done has direct entrance right in to your heart.
God is saying, “Don’t do that, guard your heart for out of it flow the issues of life.
2. Ask God for wisdom.
James tells us that God will give us His wisdom if we’ll just ask for it. But when we get God’s wisdom it won’t do us any good unless we apply it. When you ask for God’s wisdom, you may not like what you hear. As a matter of fact your flesh won’t like what God tells you. It will kick up a big fuss & tell you it won’t work.
God’s wisdom will probably run along the lines of (and I’ve had some experience here) telling you to stop dwelling on the problem & look to Him, forgive & put it behind you, try to work out the misunderstanding with the individual who you feel has hurt you, & consider the things you’ve done to others just as bad as what’s been done to you. You’ll surely be led to pray for the person who hurt you, & to closely inspect your own life. God usually turns natural wisdom on its head. We can be fairly certain that God’s wisdom will go against out human pride, but as you know pride is what turned angels into devils.
Several years ago a well known Charismatic preacher & equally well known Baptist preacher were seated together on a lengthy cross-country flight. They knew each other mostly by reputation. Things progressed rather nicely for a while & the two even found they had numerous things in common. However, something happened in the course of their conversation & their fellowship was suddenly thrown into the deep-freeze. The rest of the several- hour long flight was spent in silence between the two preachers. They left the plane some time later, dazed & confused & relating almost like rank strangers. Both men left puzzled not knowing how or when the wall went up between them & things “went sideways.”
Ten years later both these preachers were invited to speak at a large convention & they found themselves having breakfast together in a hotel coffee shop one morning. As they talked, one of them mentioned the last time they’d seen each other was the flight where they sat together ten years earlier. Since the men were now ten years older & hopefully wiser & more mature, the question came up of how distant they’d become on that flight after just a few minutes of fellowship. The upshot was that the Charismatic preacher had strongly felt the Baptist brother had said something of a snide nature & he’d taken it to mean the preacher felt he was theologically above him. The Baptist brother was shocked & said nothing could have been more wrong & that to the contrary, the Charismatic brother led him to feel he was spiritually superior to him. When these two preachers finally got real with one another they came to realized they’d been victims of a gigantic misunderstanding & because of it they’d lost the opportunity of ten years when they could have been friends.
If malfunctions like this can occur between two men who are full time ministers who pray daily & spend 24/7/365 doing God’s work, it can happen to any of us, & it does. That’s why we must pray for God’s wisdom.
3. Fix your eyes on things eternal.
Recently Juda & I were on a trip & as I drove I noticed two motorcyclists who were sharing our space on the road on that particular day. We’d pass them & a little while later I’d see them coming up behind us & they’d pass us. We played road tag most all day like that & I began to notice a blond wisp of hair waving outside one of the rider’s helmet. It caused me to wonder if the rider was a woman. When Juda awoke after a time I asked her to look at the two motorcyclists when we passed them next time & tell me if she thought the blond hair was a woman or man. As we swung around to get in front to them I asked Juda “what do you think?” She said, “I think you’re going to kill them if you don’t slow up.” I hadn’t realized that I was watching them so closely I was drifting toward them.
Here’s a good rule to follow, on the hi-way or in any area of life: You will ultimately become one with what you’re focusing on.”
2 Cor. 4:18 says, --So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary. But what is unseen is eternal.
When we get too caught up in our earthly cuts & bruises, it may be God’s way of reminding us that our eyes have become too focused on the temporal objects of life.
THAT WHICH IS SEEN IS PASSING. THAT WHICH IS UNSEEN IS YOUR DESTINY!
Blessings,
John
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Whining And Dining
By John Stallings
……And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, I have heard the murmurings of the Children of Israel…Exodus 16:11-12
Do all things without complaining & disputing…Phil.2:14
I’ll be happy when_______?
Welcome to the fine art of whining. Most of us, no matter what profession we’re in, constantly get our fill of whining. Pastors, teachers, restaurant owners, sales people, politicians, parents, you name it, all get more than their share of whining. At Malls, restaurants, book stores church and almost anywhere else you go, one of the hallmarks of the experience will be children whining and fussing. Its part of the package and we’ve pretty much learned to accept it. Pastors aren’t exempt but the one thing they can’t say is, “don’t come whining to me.” I have seen nice church folk sit down to a free meal & complain because the forks were placed on the wrong side of the plates.
People in most walks of life get thick-skinned and learn to ignore the carping and develop the philosophy, “The dogs keep barking but the caravan moves on.”
Most people think happiness is related to money or a relationship. Some think happiness is some sort of “physical shape” or a vacation destination. They truly believe they at all times are one shopping trip from happiness. What is it for you that you think will make you happy? If it’s money, what does that figure look like to you? Is it 10, 15, 50, 100,000 dollars in the bank? Is it when you can pay off all your bills or buy all the clothes, cars or houses you want?
Will it really make you stop grumbling & complaining & make you more delightful & content so that you no longer argue & dispute with others?
QUESTION—WHAT EXTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCE CAN CHANGE YOUR INTERNAL STATE?
Maybe you’ll blow these questions off & answer smugly, “Brother, I’m happy because I have Jesus.” O.K. Fine, after all I was just throwing some questions out there anyway. And here’s why;
81% of us want more than we earn.
94% of us know we’re too materialistic, yet…
89% of us expect to “have it all.”
Per capita we are the richest country in history yet we are also the most depressed people in the history of the world. We are also the most bored & discontent. We have the highest suicide rate, murder rate & committed insane in institutions than any nation. There are almost 100 nations in this world where the average person spends less on themselves per year than we spend on our garbage bags. We have over twice as many Malls as we do high schools. 75% of the people in Malls right now have no real idea why they are there & went for “retail therapy” trying to purchase happiness. That “buzz” will only last 15-20 minutes & then buyer’s remorse sets in.
The average American has over 8 thousand dollars worth of credit card debt. The average American will spend more on themselves for watches & jewelry & clothes than they will spend on education for themselves & their children. Over the last 20 years the number of items in supermarkets has grown by 200%. We work more than any other nation so we can buy more things but we have less time to enjoy the things we worked so hard to get. We are lucky if we get 2 weeks of paid vacation per year, while most Europeans take 1-3 months off for vacation.
The average American parent spends 6 hours of the week shopping & 40 minutes playing with their kids. Our suicide & divorce rate tripled from 1970-1999. Our nation comprises only 4.6% of the world’s population yet we use 40% of the world’s resources. American’s are born consumers & probably the greatest consumption is sex. America spends 32 billion dollars a year on pornography which is more than baseball, basketball & football combined.
Americans are 10 times more depressed & 40 times more violent than we were in the 1950s. We have bought the great lie that possessions & affluence means happiness & freedom. Our consumerism has given rise to horribly unhappy lives & we’ve become slaves to our possessions. In simple terms, we think the more stuff we have the happier we’ll be, & it hasn’t happened.
We’re driven to buy things to make us happy & are so in debt we live in fear of losing things we don’t even own. We can’t rest & enjoy the fruit of our labors because we don’t own the fruit. We can hardly walk through the mall without being stopped by an “opinion pollster” acting as our friend when all he/she wants us to do is tell them how to better sell things to us. I stopped co-operating with them years ago. Buying is bred into us from the first moment we were able to formulate thoughts using everything from cartoons to the backs of cereal boxes.
Discontentment with the way things are is hammered into us & our children. Materialism & thirst for things has led our children to never be happy with what they have. Instead of using our hands on the backsides of unruly kids like our parents did, we too often leave them undisciplined & just work harder to buy them more things.
Discontent has bred impatience which is another mark of our times, along with long lines, rude people, high prices, traffic jams, terrible drivers & crying babies. Road rage & abused & killed babies are byproducts of this kind of impatience. Then some people have a “mid-life crisis” when they realize there is less life ahead than behind & they haven’t gotten all the the “stuff” they’d dreamed of. Spurred by this, many of them then have “one last flaring up before fading out.” Many little red sports cars, & or, face & body work is then sold to them.
PEOPLE BRING THIS CONSUMERISM INTO THE CHURCH.
They want shorter, funnier sermons. They want less theology & they want catchy music. They want more convenient service times. They want to hear less about sin & more teaching on love. Do you get the point?
What we seem to have forgotten is that God doesn’t exist for us, we exist for Him. The church doesn’t exist for us; we exist to be the church. The pastor doesn’t exist to be our fishing buddy. I know it hurts to hear it but the world doesn’t revolve around us. What is needed in the church is for us to be turned away from being consumers to being true worshippers of the living God.
There’s one thing I’ve learned that I can share with you. The more I whine, the more negative and miserable I become. Whining and complaining will sooner or later cast you in a sea of negativity that will rob you of energy, enthusiasm, and life itself. It’s just a small step from whining to cynicism. I once heard a definition of a cynic. “A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past; they are prematurely disappointed in the future.” But really, that attitude isn’t too Christian is it?
When I get all whiny, I start to talk about how hopeless everything is and how useless it is to try. However, I always pull myself out of it for the one simple fact; I know that’s not who I am and that’s not where I want to be. I know that if I stay there with the moaning and the groaning, I’m going to hurt myself and everyone around me. Once you’re “ in the soup” of complaining negativity, it doesn’t really matter if you got there by whining about small, imaginary things or real issues, you’re still “In the soup” and are going to be cooked.
WHINING IS CONTAGIOUS
Ask Moses and Aaron. As you know the Israelites got out into the desert and went negative. They had faced down Pharaoh and escaped the Egyptian Armored Divisions. They had walked a super hi-way through the Red sea. Their enemies were in the land God had promised them and they were digging wells for them and building homes and roads for them. But what do they do? They start getting negative and asking, “Are we lost?” They don’t give Moses a plaque with the names of the twelve tribes on it. They don’t offer him a decorative quilt. They don’t even say thank you. They don’t have a thanksgiving service. They say, “The deserts too hot.” “How much further is it?” “I’m hungry”, and so on.
Isn’t it interesting that God hears their complaints. You might think that our great God would turn a deaf ear to their grumblings and whining. You might think that God would be so big that He’d say, “Well, they’re only human, what else is to be expected of them.” But no, God hears it and takes it serious. There are two sides to that. One is the side that God is attentive to his children and hears each cry. The other side, which isn’t such good news, is that God heard these bitter cries and took them serious; as a matter of fact he seems to take it personally.
Then God starts to give them Manna twice a day. I don’t know what manna is but I like to think of it as cinnamon-buns served with boiling hot coffee. But what do they do? Do they praise God from whom all blessings flow? No, they whine. They’re eating, they’re full, they’re feasting on the riches of Gods grace, but they’re whining and dining at the same time.
The problem now becomes, there’s only so much you can do with manna.
• Fried manna
• Boiled manna
• Baked manna
• Manna fritters
• Manna and banana
• Manna scampi
• Manna etouffe’
Then the Israelites starting wanting meat to eat; they whined so much that God finally said; O.K you want meat to eat? I’ll give you meat until it comes out your noses. Really! You can look it up. God puts them on the Adkins diet, all meat.
Do you want me to tell you what this looks like to me? It looks like God has His limits. He has a place He comes to where He says, “Get a grip & put your problems into perspective.”
IF SOMETHING IS BOTHERING YOU SO BAD YOU’VE STARTED GOING ON AND ON ABOUT IT, ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS.
• Ask yourself if the thing you’re bothered about really matters. If it really matters, you need to do something about it. If it doesn’t, let it go. Before you dump it on a friend, a co-worker or anyone else, ask yourself what’s really bothering you. What is it you’re really unhappy about? More often than not our whines are symptoms of what’s going on inside of us and sometimes it hard to face up to what it really is. Are you talking to the right person? If not, it’s triangulating or gossiping and that’s going to hurt everybody involved. There’s no use whining to someone who can’t do anything about it but get negative with you.
• Realize the effect that your complaint will have on the person you share it with. It takes 10 positive remarks to balance out a single negative one. Is your complaint going to be worth the damage it might do?
• Consider ways you may have contributed to the problem and ways you might help solve it. Consider also that others may have a completely different way of looking at the problem and don’t be offended if they don’t see it your way.
• Finally, be sure you express your problem if you do give voice to it, within a context of mutual respect and concern. Seek to find solutions not punish. Seek solutions that will build toward better relationships later on not leave people frustrated and discouraged. Unity is still the Christians goal and severed relationships are serious in Gods eyes.
• Don’t let a minor complaint become a major division.
EVERY BATTLE ISN’T ARMAGEDDON.
In closing, if you are someone who needs a prayer partner to help you pray something through, that’s not whining.
If you are passionate about some issue, and need to vent, that’s not whining.
If someone has hurt your feelings and you want to talk, talk to them, that’s not whining.
Life is too precious to fritter away on negativity. Our missions are too important to be sacrificed to the nibbling of minnows. We all need positive people to help keep us from becoming negative. We should do that for one another, don’t you think? God is patient with us and we should be patient with one another.
May we never get so thick skinned that we fail to relate to others who may have a burr under their saddle.
May we put things into perspective and keep the carping down to a minimum. We have so much more to be grateful for that we do to complain about.
Paul speaks to the complainers in the Philippians 2 & tells them to;
Work out y our salvation (not work for our salvation) in fear & trembling. Vr.12
In other words we’re to work out our salvation with fear & trembling without complaining & disputing. The word complaining in the Greek is gongusmos which means guttural grumbling sound when you are disgruntled & frustrated. It’s like someone talking about someone behind your back & under their breath so you can’t quiet hear it. It’s the same kind of grumbling we read about in 1 Corinthians 10:10 that Paul used to describe the Israelites who grumbled & were “destroyed by the destroyer.” 14,700 grumblers were destroyed & not allowed to enter the promise land because Korah & his company murmured against Moses & Aaron & ultimately against God.
God is a loving father who gives us many good things & too often we start to worship these things instead of Him. That’s why we get miserable because when the excitement of these things wears off we want a better one, a bigger one & a faster one. Our goal is to be true worshippers of God. When we worship Him instead of the things He gives us our lives become a wellspring of true joy that ends in happiness instead of disillusion & death.
MAY GOD GIVE US A GRATEFUL SPIRIT SO THAT WE MIGHT SHARE WITH THE WORLD OUR REASON FOR HOPE, OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.
Blessings,
John
……And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, I have heard the murmurings of the Children of Israel…Exodus 16:11-12
Do all things without complaining & disputing…Phil.2:14
I’ll be happy when_______?
Welcome to the fine art of whining. Most of us, no matter what profession we’re in, constantly get our fill of whining. Pastors, teachers, restaurant owners, sales people, politicians, parents, you name it, all get more than their share of whining. At Malls, restaurants, book stores church and almost anywhere else you go, one of the hallmarks of the experience will be children whining and fussing. Its part of the package and we’ve pretty much learned to accept it. Pastors aren’t exempt but the one thing they can’t say is, “don’t come whining to me.” I have seen nice church folk sit down to a free meal & complain because the forks were placed on the wrong side of the plates.
People in most walks of life get thick-skinned and learn to ignore the carping and develop the philosophy, “The dogs keep barking but the caravan moves on.”
Most people think happiness is related to money or a relationship. Some think happiness is some sort of “physical shape” or a vacation destination. They truly believe they at all times are one shopping trip from happiness. What is it for you that you think will make you happy? If it’s money, what does that figure look like to you? Is it 10, 15, 50, 100,000 dollars in the bank? Is it when you can pay off all your bills or buy all the clothes, cars or houses you want?
Will it really make you stop grumbling & complaining & make you more delightful & content so that you no longer argue & dispute with others?
QUESTION—WHAT EXTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCE CAN CHANGE YOUR INTERNAL STATE?
Maybe you’ll blow these questions off & answer smugly, “Brother, I’m happy because I have Jesus.” O.K. Fine, after all I was just throwing some questions out there anyway. And here’s why;
81% of us want more than we earn.
94% of us know we’re too materialistic, yet…
89% of us expect to “have it all.”
Per capita we are the richest country in history yet we are also the most depressed people in the history of the world. We are also the most bored & discontent. We have the highest suicide rate, murder rate & committed insane in institutions than any nation. There are almost 100 nations in this world where the average person spends less on themselves per year than we spend on our garbage bags. We have over twice as many Malls as we do high schools. 75% of the people in Malls right now have no real idea why they are there & went for “retail therapy” trying to purchase happiness. That “buzz” will only last 15-20 minutes & then buyer’s remorse sets in.
The average American has over 8 thousand dollars worth of credit card debt. The average American will spend more on themselves for watches & jewelry & clothes than they will spend on education for themselves & their children. Over the last 20 years the number of items in supermarkets has grown by 200%. We work more than any other nation so we can buy more things but we have less time to enjoy the things we worked so hard to get. We are lucky if we get 2 weeks of paid vacation per year, while most Europeans take 1-3 months off for vacation.
The average American parent spends 6 hours of the week shopping & 40 minutes playing with their kids. Our suicide & divorce rate tripled from 1970-1999. Our nation comprises only 4.6% of the world’s population yet we use 40% of the world’s resources. American’s are born consumers & probably the greatest consumption is sex. America spends 32 billion dollars a year on pornography which is more than baseball, basketball & football combined.
Americans are 10 times more depressed & 40 times more violent than we were in the 1950s. We have bought the great lie that possessions & affluence means happiness & freedom. Our consumerism has given rise to horribly unhappy lives & we’ve become slaves to our possessions. In simple terms, we think the more stuff we have the happier we’ll be, & it hasn’t happened.
We’re driven to buy things to make us happy & are so in debt we live in fear of losing things we don’t even own. We can’t rest & enjoy the fruit of our labors because we don’t own the fruit. We can hardly walk through the mall without being stopped by an “opinion pollster” acting as our friend when all he/she wants us to do is tell them how to better sell things to us. I stopped co-operating with them years ago. Buying is bred into us from the first moment we were able to formulate thoughts using everything from cartoons to the backs of cereal boxes.
Discontentment with the way things are is hammered into us & our children. Materialism & thirst for things has led our children to never be happy with what they have. Instead of using our hands on the backsides of unruly kids like our parents did, we too often leave them undisciplined & just work harder to buy them more things.
Discontent has bred impatience which is another mark of our times, along with long lines, rude people, high prices, traffic jams, terrible drivers & crying babies. Road rage & abused & killed babies are byproducts of this kind of impatience. Then some people have a “mid-life crisis” when they realize there is less life ahead than behind & they haven’t gotten all the the “stuff” they’d dreamed of. Spurred by this, many of them then have “one last flaring up before fading out.” Many little red sports cars, & or, face & body work is then sold to them.
PEOPLE BRING THIS CONSUMERISM INTO THE CHURCH.
They want shorter, funnier sermons. They want less theology & they want catchy music. They want more convenient service times. They want to hear less about sin & more teaching on love. Do you get the point?
What we seem to have forgotten is that God doesn’t exist for us, we exist for Him. The church doesn’t exist for us; we exist to be the church. The pastor doesn’t exist to be our fishing buddy. I know it hurts to hear it but the world doesn’t revolve around us. What is needed in the church is for us to be turned away from being consumers to being true worshippers of the living God.
There’s one thing I’ve learned that I can share with you. The more I whine, the more negative and miserable I become. Whining and complaining will sooner or later cast you in a sea of negativity that will rob you of energy, enthusiasm, and life itself. It’s just a small step from whining to cynicism. I once heard a definition of a cynic. “A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past; they are prematurely disappointed in the future.” But really, that attitude isn’t too Christian is it?
When I get all whiny, I start to talk about how hopeless everything is and how useless it is to try. However, I always pull myself out of it for the one simple fact; I know that’s not who I am and that’s not where I want to be. I know that if I stay there with the moaning and the groaning, I’m going to hurt myself and everyone around me. Once you’re “ in the soup” of complaining negativity, it doesn’t really matter if you got there by whining about small, imaginary things or real issues, you’re still “In the soup” and are going to be cooked.
WHINING IS CONTAGIOUS
Ask Moses and Aaron. As you know the Israelites got out into the desert and went negative. They had faced down Pharaoh and escaped the Egyptian Armored Divisions. They had walked a super hi-way through the Red sea. Their enemies were in the land God had promised them and they were digging wells for them and building homes and roads for them. But what do they do? They start getting negative and asking, “Are we lost?” They don’t give Moses a plaque with the names of the twelve tribes on it. They don’t offer him a decorative quilt. They don’t even say thank you. They don’t have a thanksgiving service. They say, “The deserts too hot.” “How much further is it?” “I’m hungry”, and so on.
Isn’t it interesting that God hears their complaints. You might think that our great God would turn a deaf ear to their grumblings and whining. You might think that God would be so big that He’d say, “Well, they’re only human, what else is to be expected of them.” But no, God hears it and takes it serious. There are two sides to that. One is the side that God is attentive to his children and hears each cry. The other side, which isn’t such good news, is that God heard these bitter cries and took them serious; as a matter of fact he seems to take it personally.
Then God starts to give them Manna twice a day. I don’t know what manna is but I like to think of it as cinnamon-buns served with boiling hot coffee. But what do they do? Do they praise God from whom all blessings flow? No, they whine. They’re eating, they’re full, they’re feasting on the riches of Gods grace, but they’re whining and dining at the same time.
The problem now becomes, there’s only so much you can do with manna.
• Fried manna
• Boiled manna
• Baked manna
• Manna fritters
• Manna and banana
• Manna scampi
• Manna etouffe’
Then the Israelites starting wanting meat to eat; they whined so much that God finally said; O.K you want meat to eat? I’ll give you meat until it comes out your noses. Really! You can look it up. God puts them on the Adkins diet, all meat.
Do you want me to tell you what this looks like to me? It looks like God has His limits. He has a place He comes to where He says, “Get a grip & put your problems into perspective.”
IF SOMETHING IS BOTHERING YOU SO BAD YOU’VE STARTED GOING ON AND ON ABOUT IT, ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS.
• Ask yourself if the thing you’re bothered about really matters. If it really matters, you need to do something about it. If it doesn’t, let it go. Before you dump it on a friend, a co-worker or anyone else, ask yourself what’s really bothering you. What is it you’re really unhappy about? More often than not our whines are symptoms of what’s going on inside of us and sometimes it hard to face up to what it really is. Are you talking to the right person? If not, it’s triangulating or gossiping and that’s going to hurt everybody involved. There’s no use whining to someone who can’t do anything about it but get negative with you.
• Realize the effect that your complaint will have on the person you share it with. It takes 10 positive remarks to balance out a single negative one. Is your complaint going to be worth the damage it might do?
• Consider ways you may have contributed to the problem and ways you might help solve it. Consider also that others may have a completely different way of looking at the problem and don’t be offended if they don’t see it your way.
• Finally, be sure you express your problem if you do give voice to it, within a context of mutual respect and concern. Seek to find solutions not punish. Seek solutions that will build toward better relationships later on not leave people frustrated and discouraged. Unity is still the Christians goal and severed relationships are serious in Gods eyes.
• Don’t let a minor complaint become a major division.
EVERY BATTLE ISN’T ARMAGEDDON.
In closing, if you are someone who needs a prayer partner to help you pray something through, that’s not whining.
If you are passionate about some issue, and need to vent, that’s not whining.
If someone has hurt your feelings and you want to talk, talk to them, that’s not whining.
Life is too precious to fritter away on negativity. Our missions are too important to be sacrificed to the nibbling of minnows. We all need positive people to help keep us from becoming negative. We should do that for one another, don’t you think? God is patient with us and we should be patient with one another.
May we never get so thick skinned that we fail to relate to others who may have a burr under their saddle.
May we put things into perspective and keep the carping down to a minimum. We have so much more to be grateful for that we do to complain about.
Paul speaks to the complainers in the Philippians 2 & tells them to;
Work out y our salvation (not work for our salvation) in fear & trembling. Vr.12
In other words we’re to work out our salvation with fear & trembling without complaining & disputing. The word complaining in the Greek is gongusmos which means guttural grumbling sound when you are disgruntled & frustrated. It’s like someone talking about someone behind your back & under their breath so you can’t quiet hear it. It’s the same kind of grumbling we read about in 1 Corinthians 10:10 that Paul used to describe the Israelites who grumbled & were “destroyed by the destroyer.” 14,700 grumblers were destroyed & not allowed to enter the promise land because Korah & his company murmured against Moses & Aaron & ultimately against God.
God is a loving father who gives us many good things & too often we start to worship these things instead of Him. That’s why we get miserable because when the excitement of these things wears off we want a better one, a bigger one & a faster one. Our goal is to be true worshippers of God. When we worship Him instead of the things He gives us our lives become a wellspring of true joy that ends in happiness instead of disillusion & death.
MAY GOD GIVE US A GRATEFUL SPIRIT SO THAT WE MIGHT SHARE WITH THE WORLD OUR REASON FOR HOPE, OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.
Blessings,
John
Saturday, January 2, 2016
The Horse That Bucks You!
(What no one told Elvis)
By John Stallings
Once during a press conference, the late President Ronald Reagan was being asked some tough questions by reporters.
One reporter especially was being extremely rude insisting the president answer the same question over and over, obviously trying to pressure and corner him. One of Mr. Reagan’s assistants moved in to try to close out the session & allow the President to escape the situation. Later Mr. Reagan approached the aid and told him never to do that, that when he was asked the hard questions it stretched him and brought out his best. He gave the aid the analogy of a hitter in a baseball game. If they always threw soft pitches to him he could never hit a home- run. Blazing fastballs are the kind you need to hit home runs. Opposition, though it never feels good, has a tendency to sharpen us and help us to “check ourselves lest we wreck ourselves."
In Numbers 22, there’s of a man by the name of Balaam who was hired by Balak to curse the nation of Israel. On his journey to attempt this, the donkey he was riding saw an angel ahead of them blocking the way. This of course was God intervening to stop this prophet in his tracks. Balaam didn’t see the angel but the donkey did, so the animal kicked and bucked and finally fell down under Balaam and refused to go forward. Then the donkey actually spoke to the prophet asking him to be reasonable.
Strange story isn’t it? As many stories in the Bible, it’s to say the least, unusual, but filled with practical truth. The simple object of this story is clear: the donkey was trying to save Balaam’s life by restraining him from doing something God didn't want done. The animal could see the angel but Balaam couldn’t, consequently he threw the prophet off of him. Then Balaam started cursing, and the donkey asked why he was being so mean to him, reminding him that he had always been a faithful servant.
SOMETIMES THE HORSE THAT BUCKS US IS OUR BEST FRIEND
Hasn’t experience shown this to be true in your life? It certainly has in mine. In our humanness we want people to agree with us and by our very nature we don’t like to be opposed. But often that opposition is the very thing that stops us from making terrible mistakes. A friend who will accept less than our best from us or shower us with approval when we are wrong is a very dangerous friend. There is no more dangerous place for a person to be than in a situation where people are hesitant or afraid to tell them the truth.
A great example of this is of one of the most famous entertainers that ever lived, Elvis Presley. Elvis had many devoted friends around him but by their own admission, they just couldn’t tell him the truth. When they tried to talk to him, he wouldn’t listen so they finally quit trying. He was told many things but;
THERE WAS ONE THING NO ONE EVER TOLD ELVIS
He was from an Assemblies of God background where he got his religious training. They are a very fundamental church so Elvis was taught the Bible and knew well the Bible stories.
He was told that:
JESUS WAS GOD’S SON.
This was taught to Elvis from an early age and by all accounts he believed it. He loved and sang the old songs that spoke of Jesus’ love. He would go to the gospel quartet sings when he was so famous he had to sit in a private box.
He believed in the virgin birth of Christ and often told others he believed it. He knew that he was only a man like all other men but Jesus was divine. From his youth he was taught this and he believed strongly it.
Elvis also was told from an early age about:
SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST’S DEATH ON THE CROSS
Elvis knew he wasn’t his own savior but Christ died for all of mankind’s sins. He would even correct people sometimes when they referred to him as someone to revere and worship. He would tell them only Jesus deserves that worship. Elvis fully understood that man couldn’t save himself, and Christ came to the world to save us. He knew well that we are saved by Grace through faith in Christ. Elvis knew materialistic things couldn’t make him happy and he often said he’d give it all up to be free to walk down the streets and live a normal life.
Elvis and a friend of mine, a Quartet singer who’s now with the Lord were looking out the window one day of one of the tallest Hotels in Las Vegas. As they looked at the sights below Elvis told my friend that he could buy anything his eye could see but none of it could make him happy. Elvis very much understood that if he owned the world it couldn’t bring happiness.
Elvis also was told and believed that:
JESUS WOULD SOMEDAY RETURN TO THE EARTH!
Elvis spoke to REV. REX HUMBARD about this once in Las Vegas. He was told this as a child and he believed it. His exact question to the preacher was "Christ is coming soon isn’t he Rev. Humbard?" Of course the Minister assured Elvis that he was.
ELVIS WAS TOLD & BELIEVED THAT CHRIST COULD STILL HEAL THE SICK.
He would sometimes lay hands on people and pray for their healing. This was taught to him in his youth and he believed it, according to those who knew him best. He understood that Christ healed because he was compassionate. He knew that "By his stripes we are healed”. Elvis was taught this from his youth and firmly believed it.
All you need do is read a few of the many books written about Elvis and you’ll know all of this and more is true of him. Whether or not, at the end Elvis ever placed his complete trust in Christ as his personal Savior is not my place to say for only God knows that. But Elvis knew the truth.
ELVIS KNEW AND LOVED GOSPEL MUSIC
Those who knew him best testify that what he loved most was to gather around a piano with friends and sing gospel music until the wee hours of the morning. The only Grammy awards Elvis ever received were for gospel albums. There’s no doubt about it, Elvis Presley was a man well versed in all things Christian. He had been taught it and he knew it well. In one way you could look at the life of Elvis Presley, with all he knew about God, the Bible, Gospel music and spiritual things, & say he could, with a few adjustments, have been an international evangelist. Some close to him say he even spoke of the possibilities of that happening someday. But there were problems and the biggest one was,
NO ONE EVER TOLD ELVIS ---NO !!!
If someone had told him NO and made it stick Elvis may be alive today! If doctors had BUCKED Elvis, and told him no, he may have straightened up his life and gotten off the drugs, but it just never happened. From what I’ve heard, the doctors had a vested financial interested in keeping him on drugs. If those around him would have stuck their heels in the ground and said NO, we won’t bring you drugs, we won’t work for you or with you until you get off these poisonous substances, things would have been different for Elvis. You may say,-- Elvis wouldn’t listen to them and that may be true but the fact still remains that NO, taken seriously by Elvis, could have saved his life.
MOST OF US DON'T LIKE TO HEAR NO EITHER
God told Ezekiel in Ezekiel 3:18 that if he didn’t warn the wicked of their ways, their blood will be on his hands. Once he did warn them it was all on them. Think about it: Most of us don’t like to hear no either. If we are dead set on a course of action and a friend speaks his mind and says he doesn’t think it’s the correct thing to do, that can be a bitter pill to swallow. Some people push everyone from their lives who don’t always agree with them but many people have been saved a lot of heartache because a friend was willing to enter their displeasure zone in order to speak something into their lives that went against what they wanted to hear.
I read a story about a miner who spent most of his time looking for gold in desolate areas. One night when he was trying to sleep, his dog started barking. He told the dog over and over to stop barking but still the dog barked. Finally in A fit of rage the old man got up and shot his dog. When he lay his head down and went to sleep, men who had been waiting outside his camp came in and beat and robbed him and left him for dead. That dog knew the men were there and tried to warn the old man but to no avail. The old miner probably killed his best friend that night.
If a red light comes on the dashboard of your car, and you get out and disconnect it, unless the light is malfunctioning, you have only doomed yourself to an ultimate problem, because now you will have nothing to warn you of impending danger. It’s never a pleasant experience to be bucked either by a horse or another human being. In Balaam’s case, the mule that threw him off was the best friend he had because he saved him from certain death. The angel posted by God on his path was there to see he proceeded no further. We often view opposition as negative but it’s a negative that can result in positive results.
Televangelist Jim Bakker has written an excellent book entitled “I was wrong”. In the book he tells of a letter received from Pat Roberson warning him of some of the pitfalls of the television ministry and admonishing him to be careful in his fundraising. In retrospect Jim sees that he should have had more of a listening ear to what his fellow Minister was saying but he was so busy building a ministry that he failed to be watchful. That oversight resulted in several years in jail. Hebrews 12:11 says;
“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yeildeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby”.
There’s an old saying that most people would rather be ruined by praise than saved by correction. It behooves us all to be willing to listen to the voice of those whom God has placed in and around our lives.
As with Balaam, sometimes the HORSE THAT BUCKS US will be the best friend we have.
Blessings,
John
By John Stallings
Once during a press conference, the late President Ronald Reagan was being asked some tough questions by reporters.
One reporter especially was being extremely rude insisting the president answer the same question over and over, obviously trying to pressure and corner him. One of Mr. Reagan’s assistants moved in to try to close out the session & allow the President to escape the situation. Later Mr. Reagan approached the aid and told him never to do that, that when he was asked the hard questions it stretched him and brought out his best. He gave the aid the analogy of a hitter in a baseball game. If they always threw soft pitches to him he could never hit a home- run. Blazing fastballs are the kind you need to hit home runs. Opposition, though it never feels good, has a tendency to sharpen us and help us to “check ourselves lest we wreck ourselves."
In Numbers 22, there’s of a man by the name of Balaam who was hired by Balak to curse the nation of Israel. On his journey to attempt this, the donkey he was riding saw an angel ahead of them blocking the way. This of course was God intervening to stop this prophet in his tracks. Balaam didn’t see the angel but the donkey did, so the animal kicked and bucked and finally fell down under Balaam and refused to go forward. Then the donkey actually spoke to the prophet asking him to be reasonable.
Strange story isn’t it? As many stories in the Bible, it’s to say the least, unusual, but filled with practical truth. The simple object of this story is clear: the donkey was trying to save Balaam’s life by restraining him from doing something God didn't want done. The animal could see the angel but Balaam couldn’t, consequently he threw the prophet off of him. Then Balaam started cursing, and the donkey asked why he was being so mean to him, reminding him that he had always been a faithful servant.
SOMETIMES THE HORSE THAT BUCKS US IS OUR BEST FRIEND
Hasn’t experience shown this to be true in your life? It certainly has in mine. In our humanness we want people to agree with us and by our very nature we don’t like to be opposed. But often that opposition is the very thing that stops us from making terrible mistakes. A friend who will accept less than our best from us or shower us with approval when we are wrong is a very dangerous friend. There is no more dangerous place for a person to be than in a situation where people are hesitant or afraid to tell them the truth.
A great example of this is of one of the most famous entertainers that ever lived, Elvis Presley. Elvis had many devoted friends around him but by their own admission, they just couldn’t tell him the truth. When they tried to talk to him, he wouldn’t listen so they finally quit trying. He was told many things but;
THERE WAS ONE THING NO ONE EVER TOLD ELVIS
He was from an Assemblies of God background where he got his religious training. They are a very fundamental church so Elvis was taught the Bible and knew well the Bible stories.
He was told that:
JESUS WAS GOD’S SON.
This was taught to Elvis from an early age and by all accounts he believed it. He loved and sang the old songs that spoke of Jesus’ love. He would go to the gospel quartet sings when he was so famous he had to sit in a private box.
He believed in the virgin birth of Christ and often told others he believed it. He knew that he was only a man like all other men but Jesus was divine. From his youth he was taught this and he believed strongly it.
Elvis also was told from an early age about:
SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST’S DEATH ON THE CROSS
Elvis knew he wasn’t his own savior but Christ died for all of mankind’s sins. He would even correct people sometimes when they referred to him as someone to revere and worship. He would tell them only Jesus deserves that worship. Elvis fully understood that man couldn’t save himself, and Christ came to the world to save us. He knew well that we are saved by Grace through faith in Christ. Elvis knew materialistic things couldn’t make him happy and he often said he’d give it all up to be free to walk down the streets and live a normal life.
Elvis and a friend of mine, a Quartet singer who’s now with the Lord were looking out the window one day of one of the tallest Hotels in Las Vegas. As they looked at the sights below Elvis told my friend that he could buy anything his eye could see but none of it could make him happy. Elvis very much understood that if he owned the world it couldn’t bring happiness.
Elvis also was told and believed that:
JESUS WOULD SOMEDAY RETURN TO THE EARTH!
Elvis spoke to REV. REX HUMBARD about this once in Las Vegas. He was told this as a child and he believed it. His exact question to the preacher was "Christ is coming soon isn’t he Rev. Humbard?" Of course the Minister assured Elvis that he was.
ELVIS WAS TOLD & BELIEVED THAT CHRIST COULD STILL HEAL THE SICK.
He would sometimes lay hands on people and pray for their healing. This was taught to him in his youth and he believed it, according to those who knew him best. He understood that Christ healed because he was compassionate. He knew that "By his stripes we are healed”. Elvis was taught this from his youth and firmly believed it.
All you need do is read a few of the many books written about Elvis and you’ll know all of this and more is true of him. Whether or not, at the end Elvis ever placed his complete trust in Christ as his personal Savior is not my place to say for only God knows that. But Elvis knew the truth.
ELVIS KNEW AND LOVED GOSPEL MUSIC
Those who knew him best testify that what he loved most was to gather around a piano with friends and sing gospel music until the wee hours of the morning. The only Grammy awards Elvis ever received were for gospel albums. There’s no doubt about it, Elvis Presley was a man well versed in all things Christian. He had been taught it and he knew it well. In one way you could look at the life of Elvis Presley, with all he knew about God, the Bible, Gospel music and spiritual things, & say he could, with a few adjustments, have been an international evangelist. Some close to him say he even spoke of the possibilities of that happening someday. But there were problems and the biggest one was,
NO ONE EVER TOLD ELVIS ---NO !!!
If someone had told him NO and made it stick Elvis may be alive today! If doctors had BUCKED Elvis, and told him no, he may have straightened up his life and gotten off the drugs, but it just never happened. From what I’ve heard, the doctors had a vested financial interested in keeping him on drugs. If those around him would have stuck their heels in the ground and said NO, we won’t bring you drugs, we won’t work for you or with you until you get off these poisonous substances, things would have been different for Elvis. You may say,-- Elvis wouldn’t listen to them and that may be true but the fact still remains that NO, taken seriously by Elvis, could have saved his life.
MOST OF US DON'T LIKE TO HEAR NO EITHER
God told Ezekiel in Ezekiel 3:18 that if he didn’t warn the wicked of their ways, their blood will be on his hands. Once he did warn them it was all on them. Think about it: Most of us don’t like to hear no either. If we are dead set on a course of action and a friend speaks his mind and says he doesn’t think it’s the correct thing to do, that can be a bitter pill to swallow. Some people push everyone from their lives who don’t always agree with them but many people have been saved a lot of heartache because a friend was willing to enter their displeasure zone in order to speak something into their lives that went against what they wanted to hear.
I read a story about a miner who spent most of his time looking for gold in desolate areas. One night when he was trying to sleep, his dog started barking. He told the dog over and over to stop barking but still the dog barked. Finally in A fit of rage the old man got up and shot his dog. When he lay his head down and went to sleep, men who had been waiting outside his camp came in and beat and robbed him and left him for dead. That dog knew the men were there and tried to warn the old man but to no avail. The old miner probably killed his best friend that night.
If a red light comes on the dashboard of your car, and you get out and disconnect it, unless the light is malfunctioning, you have only doomed yourself to an ultimate problem, because now you will have nothing to warn you of impending danger. It’s never a pleasant experience to be bucked either by a horse or another human being. In Balaam’s case, the mule that threw him off was the best friend he had because he saved him from certain death. The angel posted by God on his path was there to see he proceeded no further. We often view opposition as negative but it’s a negative that can result in positive results.
Televangelist Jim Bakker has written an excellent book entitled “I was wrong”. In the book he tells of a letter received from Pat Roberson warning him of some of the pitfalls of the television ministry and admonishing him to be careful in his fundraising. In retrospect Jim sees that he should have had more of a listening ear to what his fellow Minister was saying but he was so busy building a ministry that he failed to be watchful. That oversight resulted in several years in jail. Hebrews 12:11 says;
“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yeildeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby”.
There’s an old saying that most people would rather be ruined by praise than saved by correction. It behooves us all to be willing to listen to the voice of those whom God has placed in and around our lives.
As with Balaam, sometimes the HORSE THAT BUCKS US will be the best friend we have.
Blessings,
John
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