By John Stallings
I must admit this isn’t original with me. Juda saw a minister interviewed recently on a Christian T. V show who’s written a book called “When God Winks.” His thesis is; every now & then God throws little surprises at us & even small miracles we weren’t expecting. He calls them “God-Winks.” Juda, who’s currently looking over my shoulder, just informed me that you can go—www. God winks. Com & pull up his website. I haven’t bothered to do that as yet because that’s not the purpose of this blog.
We just returned (and I mean just waked in the door) from a weekend trip. We stopped for lunch at a Cracker Barrel in Ocala & while I sat in a rocking- chair out front waiting for Juda to powder her nose, I noticed a man in my peripheral vision looking at me and about to ask me a question. As I turned toward him he asked—“Arent you John-------? I finished his question by telling him my last name. Long story short-- his wife, daughter & Juda walked out of the restaurant about the same time & we had “old home week.” Turns out they remembered us from a church we’ve ministered at many times. He & has wife & small daughter are no longer there & had moved to a distant city & been wondering for some time how to get in touch with us. God had winked for all of us. He had been trying to locate us but in all candidness we’d forgotten we even had a website & it had inadvertently lapsed from the Internet. Juda had just put it back up a few nights ago so it was no wonder these old friends hadn’t been able to contact us. Our bad!!!
We used the front porch of Cracker Barrel to visit for a while then he asked if we could join hands & pray for his father who had recently been hospitalized after experiencing an aortal aneurysm. Of course we all joined hands & prayed.
I expect to be receiving an email from this wonderful family real soon. As we parted at the restaurant Juda reminded me that we’d given them all our information but had forgotten to ask their name, their email address or much of anything else for that matter.I have a good memory but it's short. Doesn’t that just beat “Johnny-jump-up?” as my grandma used to say?
Who knows how it all will end up but at least our paths crossed with some old friends & wonderful people of God & we were able to unite our hearts in prayer. Maybe, just maybe in God’s long scheme of things, that’s what the whole thing was about. Maybe an old friendship will be reignited or maybe, it was just---one of “God’s winks.”
Monday, July 16, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
Changes are coming
By John Stallings
Several years ago there was a television show called Wide World of Sports. The opening sequence showed a young man on skies wiping out in the most atrocious tumble I’d ever seen. It was so terrible that many people wondered why they would chose to play the clip over and over for several years. The man looked like a helicopter as he flailed & catapulted, head over heels, arms & legs twisting through the air.
I recently read an explanation of why this incident happened. The man explained that as he was jumping, the surface had become too fast & if he’d completed the jump he would have landed in a bad place beyond the safe landing area. Had he not literally changed in mid-air, the jump could have been fatal. As it happened, although he was captured on film in an awfully awkward fall that seemed to never end, all he got out of what looked like a fatal mishap was a headache.
This point’s up one of the realities of life &that is, sometimes we are called upon to make changes, & do it, as this young man did, “on the fly.”
At the turn of the twentieth century the railroad industry was faced with a dilemma. Automobiles & airplanes had come on the scene & were starting to siphon off their business. They weren’t very wise & kept doing business as usual, & at one time almost died out. Evidently, someone had wrongly told the railroad folk they were in the railroad business. In reality, they were in the people business & didn’t know it. When people started to choose other methods of transportation, the railroads were in trouble. Finally the government had to step in & form Amtrak to keep passenger trains in business. Today, the only passenger train ticket a person can buy is a government ticket.
Do you remember the Old Oaken Bucket? Well that bucket was a staple for many years, giving people something to carry water in, when the old water wells were all they had. The sad thing about the Old Oaken Bucket people was that someone obviously also told them they were in the bucket business. In truth, they were in the people business; or the business to help people transport water comfortably. When running water became available, I suppose the only ones in the bucket business who came out of it O.K were the ones who were visionary enough to buy water utility stocks. The bottom line was; people no longer needed buckets. What has happened, pure and simple is change.
If you’ve raised a child you’ll know what one of a child’s favorite questions especially on a car trip is, are we there yet?
The answer to that question, in life is; no, we aren’t there yet and probably will never “arrive”, but we keep changing.
My own experience has made me aware of the need for change. In the last few years Juda & I have I lost both our parents. If you’ve experienced this you’ll know that everything shifts when a parent dies. Changes like death are changes that are universal, imposed on us by life.
On the other hand, sometimes we get so hungry for change that we will go to great lengths to make it happen.
For instance, intentional body changes, like losing weight. I’ve often thought how funny it is that I could get a song on the world-wide Gospel charts, but it wouldn’t impress my friends like losing a few pounds would. The obvious reason for this is that we all know the discipline involved in losing even a little weight.
Many, perhaps a majority of us, don’t like change or accept it readily because change often means loss. We can be talking about death as well as birth. Being human, we don’t make adjustments easily, however, since life is a journey, how could we not expect to constantly be making changes? A journey is, almost by definition, constant change. We are traveling & moving from one point to another on our trip through life. There will be hills &valleys, deserts & oceans as we advance on our journey. Change is happening from the time we are born to the day of our death, and never to change would put us in an unhealthy state. I don’t know if it’s still done in China but at one time tiny feet were so worshipped that in order to keep females feet small they’d tightly wrap them with winding cloths. I have read that though their feet would indeed remain little and dainty, when unwrapped they would look ugly and deformed. Growth and change are normal, while stunted growth is generally extremely unattractive.
When I was a child my father was a Pastor/Evangelist which meant that even under the best of conditions, we moved a lot. If we stayed 2 or 3 years in one place we were surprised but happy. As my dad grew older he would stay longer in Pastorates but that didn’t happen until I was almost grown. What this meant was that my Mom, sister & I had to get used to often changing homes, schools, churches, cities & communities. When I grew older, I’d joke with my father that he would move across the street if he thought he would be a step ahead of the devil.
When I started in evangelism in my early twenties, I began my own travels all over the country & in many foreign countries. When you live like that for awhile, though you may enjoy it, you develop a deep yearning for a home and roots. When it’s your calling, you thrive on the travel but still there’s that constant change of congregations, towns and living conditions. Most people can’t live like that for more than a ten year period and then they just start to wear down because something within them yearns to put down roots. Though it’s very possible for some to get hooked on that kind of constant change & never truly be happy in one place; very few are Nomadic & at some point settle down.
LOOKING BACK AT YESTERDAY STUNTS OUR GROWTH AND PROGRESS.
Though life imposes change, still it’s always a little sad to move on because in order to do so, old patterns and ways must be left behind. However, if we refuse to change, we’ll lose ground anyway, because rebelling against change has its own set of unfortunate circumstances. If we don’t remain open to change, we will be haunted by the same old conditions, problems and frustrations.
LIFE CALLS ON US TO REVISE OURSELVES CONSTANTLY.
In order to have a healthy life, we must be on a lifelong quest for self-improvement & hardest of all, self-discipline, & sometimes life will hand us special motivation to go forward.
Genesis 19:26 tells the story of how Lot’s wife. Abraham & family had been warned to leave Sodom for it would be destroyed, & not to look back as they left. Lots wife looked back, & turned into a pillar of salt. Of course she actually turned to salt, but there’s another application here. Being a salt statue, she was suspended & stuck in a state of frozen development. Looking back will freeze us in time so that we can’t move forward to the next chapter in our lives. It is like trying to drive a car always looking in the rear view mirror. It’s fine to occasionally glance at the mirror but doing it constantly would soon result in our running into a ditch or colliding with something.
In Isaiah 43:18-19 God tells his people, “Remember not the former things neither consider the things of old. Behold I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
In this passage God is actually warning the people about looking back. He tells them not to remember the former things; to wash them from their minds, & not to even consider them anymore.
In Luke 9:62, Jesus said, “No man having put his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Again, rather a strong warning.
In Philippians 3:13 Paul says, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and reaching forth unto the things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
IF ALL THE IMPORTANT THINGS LIE IN OUR PAST, WHY NOT JUST DIE?
After all, what good is going forward if the really good things are all behind us? If everything of any consequence or to be desired is already over, what’s the point of living? The answer of course is that since we’re still here, we know that God has a purpose for our lives. With Gods help every one of us can make powerful changes and move toward better things in life.
The power of choice and free will are awesome tools that we possess. For example, a person who is released from prison after serving their time has a choice. The person can make some changes in attitude, readjust to life on the outside & move on or refuse to change, continue with same mind -set & end up back in prison. Sadly, a great percentage of people who are released go right back to jail proving that prison isn’t necessarily remedial unless an individual will put forth the effort to change.
THE FIRST CHANGE CAME WHEN WE GAVE OURSELVES TO CHRIST.
The KJV version of Romans 12:1 says, “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” In this passage, Paul didn’t say give God an hour or a day but give him your whole life.
Listen to this translation. “So here’s what I want you to do, take your whole body and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God has for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit in without even thinking .Readily recognize what he wants from you and respond to it. Unlike the culture that always dragging you to its level, God brings out the best in you and develops well formed maturity.”—Message Bible
In the book of Jeremiah, we have a most beautiful picture of change. God brings the crusty prophet down to the potter’s house to teach him some things about His work, His will, and His ways of bringing them to pass. In Jeremiah 2:13, God had told his people, “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the foundation of living waters, and have hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” When he sees the potter’s wheel, in chapter 20, Jeremiah instantly understands that this is a picture of stubborn, sinful man in the hands of God being changed and transformed. He sees God taking the clay, spoiling it & reforming it the way He wants it to be.
Once you really see what this story implies, you realize it’s one of the most encouraging stories in the Bible. God is showing us that in his hands the worst person or situation we could imagine can be made useable.
There is a wonderful old song we used to sing when I was a boy and it went like this; Have thine on way Lord, have thine own way, thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will, while I am waiting, yielded and still.”This is the spirit of the potter’s house experience. To be changed by the potter into a vessel of honor. In Genesis 2:7, we see God reaching down and forming man out of the dust of the earth and breathing into him the breath of life. Certainly the God who formed man in the beginning can take him in his hands and mold him as clay into whatever he chooses him to be.
When it comes to man, God has a plan, God has the power to execute the plan, and He has the patience to complete the work He starts.
Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
Romans 8:28 says, “For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”Lamentations 4:2 says, “The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine Gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter.”
In John 3 we read about Nicodemus. He was a leader of the Jews & obviously a man of high standing & he came to Jesus by night. It’s possible that he didn’t want to be seen visiting this controversial man in daylight hours but at least he came. At least he was curios to see if this man had answers for a life that was obviously not very fulfilling. But Jesus immediately speaks to Nicodemus about changing. He talks to him about a change so radical that it even has a special name, The New Birth. It truly hit Nicodemus as earth shaking because he likened it to going back into the womb and being born again. There’s no doubt that the new Birth is a transforming experience.
Perhaps the most outstanding examples of this in the Bible is the experience of Saul of Tarsus who was changed on the road to Damascus. His change was so dramatic that it’s what we call a phenomenal conversion. One minute he was going about his life work of oppressing Christians & the very next he was crying out to God to tell him what was His assignment for him. It would be somewhat like Ted Kennedy, the embodiment of a liberal political animal waking up one morning and being a conservative who would be more extreme than Rush Limbaugh. We’re talking change now.
OUR WORLD IS IN A CONSTANT STATE OF CHANGE.
I read that in 1943, a man by the name of Thomas Watson was the president of the IBM Corporation. He actually said, “I could never see a worldwide need for more than five computers.” Can you imagine a smart business man saying that? The only thing I could see that would have made him say that would be that he didn’t see how much in the state of flux the world really is in.
I read an article about new city bus program that will soon be used in my town, Altamonte Springs, Fl. In a city famous for traffic jams, our city officials hope to create a better way to move people around. Here’s how it will work. Using a computer at home, at work or at special places around the town, a rider would order a bus trip. The request would be dispatched by computer to a bus driver who would then pick up the rider at a particular stop within 12 minutes and go to the stop closest to the destination. Sounds good doesn’t it? Obviously the on-demand service has already been tried successfully in other cities.
My point is that we are living in a time of diverse change & all of us will have to adapt to it or live in the past, [if that will even be possible.] When you think about it, change is one of most uncomfortable things we do but life is constantly demanding it of us.
The network news media is now wrestling with the reality of the changing world where people no longer have to wait until six o’clock at night to find out what’s happening in the world. We now have 24 hour cable news not to mention the internet, or information highway that we all have access to.
Churches have also been faced with the necessity of change. Because of changes in the work place & lifestyles, old traditional ways have been supplanted with new ideas & concepts. Certainly the Gospel hasn’t changed but the way it’s piped to people has. Nowadays, a person can turn on satellite television & get preaching & teaching 24 hours a day. Many churches are going to Sunday morning only with cell groups meeting in different parts of their cities through the week. It’s not intrinsically bad or good it just is.
Change is just inevitable. At this moment your body is going through all sorts of changes. Your brain is changing. The Universe, including the earth, is changing. How the world does business & everything about our economies is changing. I remember when I traveled on the west coast in the early sixties; we didn’t telephone home to Florida but once a month because it was too expensive. Now we call with a cell phone from airplane, ships and trains, half way around the world, without hesitation. It’s hard for me to believe as I look back that things have changed so much in so short a time.
We all now have a choice. We can embrace the change that’s coming anyway, or we can hide from it. But unlike the poor people in the Indian Ocean when the Tsunami struck, we have been advised. We’ve been given a heads-up to what the future will be like. Either we prepare and cooperate with change by adapting and benefiting from it, or sadly, we’ll just be swept away.
We have learned that many changes are coming regardless of what we think or do or how we feel. We have seen that many changes happen fast but most, slowly. If we do something toward the things we want to change every day, we can change most anything we’d like to change, in time.
Markets change from bull to bear; weather changes, sometimes on a dime. The seasons change several times a year. Of course that’s cyclical in nature. Technology changes & when it does things never go back the way they were. Jobs change, management changes, people change, everything in life changes. If we look back, we’ll see that we’ve weathered many changes already in our lives. We may have resisted some change but you can probably look back & say, “thank God that changed & look at the great things that came of it.”
THE GREATEST CHANGES OF ALL ARE JUST AHEAD.
Jesus is coming back to the earth soon to take his church away & not long afterward we’ll all come back to earth with him & He’ll rule & reign forever.
Listen to 1 CORINTHIANS 15: 51, “BEHOLD I SHOW YOU A MYSTERY; WE SHALL NOT ALL SLEEP BUT WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED, IN A MOMENT, IN A TWINKLING OF AN EYE, AT THE LAST TRUMP: FOR THE TRUMPET SHALL SOUND, AND THE DEAD SHALL BE RAISED INCORRUPTIBLE, AND WE SHALL BE CHANGED.
FOR THIS CORRUPTIBLE MUST PUT ON INCORRUPTION AND THIS MORTAL MUST OUT ON IMMORTALITY.”
SO WHEN THIS CORRUPTIBLE SHALL HAVE OUT ON INCORRUPTION, AND THIS MORTAL SHALL HAVE PUT ON IMMORTALITY, THEN SHALL BE BROUGHT TO PASS THE SAYING THAT IS WRITTEN, OH DEATH WHERE IS THY STING? OH GRAVE WHERE IS THY VICTORY?
Finally we’ll be in his presence for all of eternity.
Several years ago there was a television show called Wide World of Sports. The opening sequence showed a young man on skies wiping out in the most atrocious tumble I’d ever seen. It was so terrible that many people wondered why they would chose to play the clip over and over for several years. The man looked like a helicopter as he flailed & catapulted, head over heels, arms & legs twisting through the air.
I recently read an explanation of why this incident happened. The man explained that as he was jumping, the surface had become too fast & if he’d completed the jump he would have landed in a bad place beyond the safe landing area. Had he not literally changed in mid-air, the jump could have been fatal. As it happened, although he was captured on film in an awfully awkward fall that seemed to never end, all he got out of what looked like a fatal mishap was a headache.
This point’s up one of the realities of life &that is, sometimes we are called upon to make changes, & do it, as this young man did, “on the fly.”
At the turn of the twentieth century the railroad industry was faced with a dilemma. Automobiles & airplanes had come on the scene & were starting to siphon off their business. They weren’t very wise & kept doing business as usual, & at one time almost died out. Evidently, someone had wrongly told the railroad folk they were in the railroad business. In reality, they were in the people business & didn’t know it. When people started to choose other methods of transportation, the railroads were in trouble. Finally the government had to step in & form Amtrak to keep passenger trains in business. Today, the only passenger train ticket a person can buy is a government ticket.
Do you remember the Old Oaken Bucket? Well that bucket was a staple for many years, giving people something to carry water in, when the old water wells were all they had. The sad thing about the Old Oaken Bucket people was that someone obviously also told them they were in the bucket business. In truth, they were in the people business; or the business to help people transport water comfortably. When running water became available, I suppose the only ones in the bucket business who came out of it O.K were the ones who were visionary enough to buy water utility stocks. The bottom line was; people no longer needed buckets. What has happened, pure and simple is change.
If you’ve raised a child you’ll know what one of a child’s favorite questions especially on a car trip is, are we there yet?
The answer to that question, in life is; no, we aren’t there yet and probably will never “arrive”, but we keep changing.
My own experience has made me aware of the need for change. In the last few years Juda & I have I lost both our parents. If you’ve experienced this you’ll know that everything shifts when a parent dies. Changes like death are changes that are universal, imposed on us by life.
On the other hand, sometimes we get so hungry for change that we will go to great lengths to make it happen.
For instance, intentional body changes, like losing weight. I’ve often thought how funny it is that I could get a song on the world-wide Gospel charts, but it wouldn’t impress my friends like losing a few pounds would. The obvious reason for this is that we all know the discipline involved in losing even a little weight.
Many, perhaps a majority of us, don’t like change or accept it readily because change often means loss. We can be talking about death as well as birth. Being human, we don’t make adjustments easily, however, since life is a journey, how could we not expect to constantly be making changes? A journey is, almost by definition, constant change. We are traveling & moving from one point to another on our trip through life. There will be hills &valleys, deserts & oceans as we advance on our journey. Change is happening from the time we are born to the day of our death, and never to change would put us in an unhealthy state. I don’t know if it’s still done in China but at one time tiny feet were so worshipped that in order to keep females feet small they’d tightly wrap them with winding cloths. I have read that though their feet would indeed remain little and dainty, when unwrapped they would look ugly and deformed. Growth and change are normal, while stunted growth is generally extremely unattractive.
When I was a child my father was a Pastor/Evangelist which meant that even under the best of conditions, we moved a lot. If we stayed 2 or 3 years in one place we were surprised but happy. As my dad grew older he would stay longer in Pastorates but that didn’t happen until I was almost grown. What this meant was that my Mom, sister & I had to get used to often changing homes, schools, churches, cities & communities. When I grew older, I’d joke with my father that he would move across the street if he thought he would be a step ahead of the devil.
When I started in evangelism in my early twenties, I began my own travels all over the country & in many foreign countries. When you live like that for awhile, though you may enjoy it, you develop a deep yearning for a home and roots. When it’s your calling, you thrive on the travel but still there’s that constant change of congregations, towns and living conditions. Most people can’t live like that for more than a ten year period and then they just start to wear down because something within them yearns to put down roots. Though it’s very possible for some to get hooked on that kind of constant change & never truly be happy in one place; very few are Nomadic & at some point settle down.
LOOKING BACK AT YESTERDAY STUNTS OUR GROWTH AND PROGRESS.
Though life imposes change, still it’s always a little sad to move on because in order to do so, old patterns and ways must be left behind. However, if we refuse to change, we’ll lose ground anyway, because rebelling against change has its own set of unfortunate circumstances. If we don’t remain open to change, we will be haunted by the same old conditions, problems and frustrations.
LIFE CALLS ON US TO REVISE OURSELVES CONSTANTLY.
In order to have a healthy life, we must be on a lifelong quest for self-improvement & hardest of all, self-discipline, & sometimes life will hand us special motivation to go forward.
Genesis 19:26 tells the story of how Lot’s wife. Abraham & family had been warned to leave Sodom for it would be destroyed, & not to look back as they left. Lots wife looked back, & turned into a pillar of salt. Of course she actually turned to salt, but there’s another application here. Being a salt statue, she was suspended & stuck in a state of frozen development. Looking back will freeze us in time so that we can’t move forward to the next chapter in our lives. It is like trying to drive a car always looking in the rear view mirror. It’s fine to occasionally glance at the mirror but doing it constantly would soon result in our running into a ditch or colliding with something.
In Isaiah 43:18-19 God tells his people, “Remember not the former things neither consider the things of old. Behold I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
In this passage God is actually warning the people about looking back. He tells them not to remember the former things; to wash them from their minds, & not to even consider them anymore.
In Luke 9:62, Jesus said, “No man having put his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Again, rather a strong warning.
In Philippians 3:13 Paul says, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and reaching forth unto the things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
IF ALL THE IMPORTANT THINGS LIE IN OUR PAST, WHY NOT JUST DIE?
After all, what good is going forward if the really good things are all behind us? If everything of any consequence or to be desired is already over, what’s the point of living? The answer of course is that since we’re still here, we know that God has a purpose for our lives. With Gods help every one of us can make powerful changes and move toward better things in life.
The power of choice and free will are awesome tools that we possess. For example, a person who is released from prison after serving their time has a choice. The person can make some changes in attitude, readjust to life on the outside & move on or refuse to change, continue with same mind -set & end up back in prison. Sadly, a great percentage of people who are released go right back to jail proving that prison isn’t necessarily remedial unless an individual will put forth the effort to change.
THE FIRST CHANGE CAME WHEN WE GAVE OURSELVES TO CHRIST.
The KJV version of Romans 12:1 says, “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” In this passage, Paul didn’t say give God an hour or a day but give him your whole life.
Listen to this translation. “So here’s what I want you to do, take your whole body and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God has for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit in without even thinking .Readily recognize what he wants from you and respond to it. Unlike the culture that always dragging you to its level, God brings out the best in you and develops well formed maturity.”—Message Bible
In the book of Jeremiah, we have a most beautiful picture of change. God brings the crusty prophet down to the potter’s house to teach him some things about His work, His will, and His ways of bringing them to pass. In Jeremiah 2:13, God had told his people, “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the foundation of living waters, and have hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” When he sees the potter’s wheel, in chapter 20, Jeremiah instantly understands that this is a picture of stubborn, sinful man in the hands of God being changed and transformed. He sees God taking the clay, spoiling it & reforming it the way He wants it to be.
Once you really see what this story implies, you realize it’s one of the most encouraging stories in the Bible. God is showing us that in his hands the worst person or situation we could imagine can be made useable.
There is a wonderful old song we used to sing when I was a boy and it went like this; Have thine on way Lord, have thine own way, thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will, while I am waiting, yielded and still.”This is the spirit of the potter’s house experience. To be changed by the potter into a vessel of honor. In Genesis 2:7, we see God reaching down and forming man out of the dust of the earth and breathing into him the breath of life. Certainly the God who formed man in the beginning can take him in his hands and mold him as clay into whatever he chooses him to be.
When it comes to man, God has a plan, God has the power to execute the plan, and He has the patience to complete the work He starts.
Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
Romans 8:28 says, “For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”Lamentations 4:2 says, “The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine Gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter.”
In John 3 we read about Nicodemus. He was a leader of the Jews & obviously a man of high standing & he came to Jesus by night. It’s possible that he didn’t want to be seen visiting this controversial man in daylight hours but at least he came. At least he was curios to see if this man had answers for a life that was obviously not very fulfilling. But Jesus immediately speaks to Nicodemus about changing. He talks to him about a change so radical that it even has a special name, The New Birth. It truly hit Nicodemus as earth shaking because he likened it to going back into the womb and being born again. There’s no doubt that the new Birth is a transforming experience.
Perhaps the most outstanding examples of this in the Bible is the experience of Saul of Tarsus who was changed on the road to Damascus. His change was so dramatic that it’s what we call a phenomenal conversion. One minute he was going about his life work of oppressing Christians & the very next he was crying out to God to tell him what was His assignment for him. It would be somewhat like Ted Kennedy, the embodiment of a liberal political animal waking up one morning and being a conservative who would be more extreme than Rush Limbaugh. We’re talking change now.
OUR WORLD IS IN A CONSTANT STATE OF CHANGE.
I read that in 1943, a man by the name of Thomas Watson was the president of the IBM Corporation. He actually said, “I could never see a worldwide need for more than five computers.” Can you imagine a smart business man saying that? The only thing I could see that would have made him say that would be that he didn’t see how much in the state of flux the world really is in.
I read an article about new city bus program that will soon be used in my town, Altamonte Springs, Fl. In a city famous for traffic jams, our city officials hope to create a better way to move people around. Here’s how it will work. Using a computer at home, at work or at special places around the town, a rider would order a bus trip. The request would be dispatched by computer to a bus driver who would then pick up the rider at a particular stop within 12 minutes and go to the stop closest to the destination. Sounds good doesn’t it? Obviously the on-demand service has already been tried successfully in other cities.
My point is that we are living in a time of diverse change & all of us will have to adapt to it or live in the past, [if that will even be possible.] When you think about it, change is one of most uncomfortable things we do but life is constantly demanding it of us.
The network news media is now wrestling with the reality of the changing world where people no longer have to wait until six o’clock at night to find out what’s happening in the world. We now have 24 hour cable news not to mention the internet, or information highway that we all have access to.
Churches have also been faced with the necessity of change. Because of changes in the work place & lifestyles, old traditional ways have been supplanted with new ideas & concepts. Certainly the Gospel hasn’t changed but the way it’s piped to people has. Nowadays, a person can turn on satellite television & get preaching & teaching 24 hours a day. Many churches are going to Sunday morning only with cell groups meeting in different parts of their cities through the week. It’s not intrinsically bad or good it just is.
Change is just inevitable. At this moment your body is going through all sorts of changes. Your brain is changing. The Universe, including the earth, is changing. How the world does business & everything about our economies is changing. I remember when I traveled on the west coast in the early sixties; we didn’t telephone home to Florida but once a month because it was too expensive. Now we call with a cell phone from airplane, ships and trains, half way around the world, without hesitation. It’s hard for me to believe as I look back that things have changed so much in so short a time.
We all now have a choice. We can embrace the change that’s coming anyway, or we can hide from it. But unlike the poor people in the Indian Ocean when the Tsunami struck, we have been advised. We’ve been given a heads-up to what the future will be like. Either we prepare and cooperate with change by adapting and benefiting from it, or sadly, we’ll just be swept away.
We have learned that many changes are coming regardless of what we think or do or how we feel. We have seen that many changes happen fast but most, slowly. If we do something toward the things we want to change every day, we can change most anything we’d like to change, in time.
Markets change from bull to bear; weather changes, sometimes on a dime. The seasons change several times a year. Of course that’s cyclical in nature. Technology changes & when it does things never go back the way they were. Jobs change, management changes, people change, everything in life changes. If we look back, we’ll see that we’ve weathered many changes already in our lives. We may have resisted some change but you can probably look back & say, “thank God that changed & look at the great things that came of it.”
THE GREATEST CHANGES OF ALL ARE JUST AHEAD.
Jesus is coming back to the earth soon to take his church away & not long afterward we’ll all come back to earth with him & He’ll rule & reign forever.
Listen to 1 CORINTHIANS 15: 51, “BEHOLD I SHOW YOU A MYSTERY; WE SHALL NOT ALL SLEEP BUT WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED, IN A MOMENT, IN A TWINKLING OF AN EYE, AT THE LAST TRUMP: FOR THE TRUMPET SHALL SOUND, AND THE DEAD SHALL BE RAISED INCORRUPTIBLE, AND WE SHALL BE CHANGED.
FOR THIS CORRUPTIBLE MUST PUT ON INCORRUPTION AND THIS MORTAL MUST OUT ON IMMORTALITY.”
SO WHEN THIS CORRUPTIBLE SHALL HAVE OUT ON INCORRUPTION, AND THIS MORTAL SHALL HAVE PUT ON IMMORTALITY, THEN SHALL BE BROUGHT TO PASS THE SAYING THAT IS WRITTEN, OH DEATH WHERE IS THY STING? OH GRAVE WHERE IS THY VICTORY?
Finally we’ll be in his presence for all of eternity.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea….
Ugly, joyless, cloudy Christianity (isn’t that an oxymoron?) stalks the church of the twenty-first century like the plague. Has anyone noticed that spirit generated joy seems too often to be missing? Services are held, songs are sung, sermons are preached & prayers are prayed but the living Christ seems to be absent.
When you compare what we generally see today in religious circles with the early church there doesn’t seem to be much that is similar. No I haven’t gone negative but I was told that blogs were a place where you unburdened your heart & were totally candid so here I go. Or as Ronald Reagan would say; “There I go again.”
The early church was magnetic & appealing & I believe the ingredient they were working with was the heavenly dynamic of Spirit-generated, radiant joy.
Jesus was a man who glowed with joy. His Father said of Him in Hebrews 1:9—Thou hast loved righteousness & hated iniquity; there fore God even thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Christianities first martyr had this joy on his face when he was arrested for the people in attendance “saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” (Acts 6:15)
It takes more than a church membership card, a dip under the water & a Christian background to produce radiant, joyful Christians. They can sprinkle you, squirt you, spray you, spit on you, baptize you frontward, backwards or sideways but it takes the power of the risen Lord & His Holy Spirit to produce this “unspeakable joy.”
The worst advertisement for Christianity is joyless people & the most convincing & compelling advertisement any church can have to attract people into its fellowship are glowing, joyous, radiant Christians.
I know you understand that I’m not talking about giddy, showy religiosity or shallow pompous superficial gaiety. The kind of joy I’m describing isn’t a work of the flesh nor can it be manufactured by man. I think there are at least three things that can produce this kind of overcoming joy in our lives.
1. An appetite for God.
Jesus said, -- Blessed are those who hunger & thirst after righteousness for they will be filled. (Matt. 5:6)
Joyful Christians are people who are hungry to know Christ more intimately. They are eager to grow in grace & want to be used by God more effectively. They are Bible-totters & you can see the hunger in their eyes for the things of God.
2. A joyful Christian hates sin & loves righteousness.
We saw in the verse in Hebrews that Jesus was exalted by His father because of His abhorrence of evil & love for holiness. Joy departs when sin enters. But when sin is confessed & forsaken joy returns. Following his confession, King David prayed, “Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation. (Psalm 51:12.)
It doesn’t have to be the sin of adultery or drunkenness, it can be the more “respectable sins” like gossip, slander, greed, grumbling & unkindness.
3. A joyful Christian will consistently listen to & for the voice of God.
This is one of those “reaching scenarios” but if I had been away from my wife for an extended length of time & were given the option of seeing her standing on a distant hill, or hearing her voice speaking to me, expressing the things she wanted to say & I hungered to hear, I’d take the option of hearing her voice.
I’ve never particularly hungered for a vision of Jesus because my God-given imagination lets me know all I need to know about what his personal vestige is like, but I do have an abiding hunger to hear His voice.
John 3:29 says….but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth & heareth rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegrooms voice; this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
Are you daily listening for the voice of your bridegroom with His Word open before you in the place of prayer? Have you allowed the strange voices of the world to muffle the voice of your heavenly bridegroom?
Stay with him a while each day; be still, get quiet & open His word, don’t be in a hurry. Don’t leave until you’ve heard His voice & know that sweet communion has been yours.
Then you will leave the place of prayer with total joy. Practice this & you’ll be a radiant, joyful Christian.
John
By John Stallings
Ugly, joyless, cloudy Christianity (isn’t that an oxymoron?) stalks the church of the twenty-first century like the plague. Has anyone noticed that spirit generated joy seems too often to be missing? Services are held, songs are sung, sermons are preached & prayers are prayed but the living Christ seems to be absent.
When you compare what we generally see today in religious circles with the early church there doesn’t seem to be much that is similar. No I haven’t gone negative but I was told that blogs were a place where you unburdened your heart & were totally candid so here I go. Or as Ronald Reagan would say; “There I go again.”
The early church was magnetic & appealing & I believe the ingredient they were working with was the heavenly dynamic of Spirit-generated, radiant joy.
Jesus was a man who glowed with joy. His Father said of Him in Hebrews 1:9—Thou hast loved righteousness & hated iniquity; there fore God even thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Christianities first martyr had this joy on his face when he was arrested for the people in attendance “saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” (Acts 6:15)
It takes more than a church membership card, a dip under the water & a Christian background to produce radiant, joyful Christians. They can sprinkle you, squirt you, spray you, spit on you, baptize you frontward, backwards or sideways but it takes the power of the risen Lord & His Holy Spirit to produce this “unspeakable joy.”
The worst advertisement for Christianity is joyless people & the most convincing & compelling advertisement any church can have to attract people into its fellowship are glowing, joyous, radiant Christians.
I know you understand that I’m not talking about giddy, showy religiosity or shallow pompous superficial gaiety. The kind of joy I’m describing isn’t a work of the flesh nor can it be manufactured by man. I think there are at least three things that can produce this kind of overcoming joy in our lives.
1. An appetite for God.
Jesus said, -- Blessed are those who hunger & thirst after righteousness for they will be filled. (Matt. 5:6)
Joyful Christians are people who are hungry to know Christ more intimately. They are eager to grow in grace & want to be used by God more effectively. They are Bible-totters & you can see the hunger in their eyes for the things of God.
2. A joyful Christian hates sin & loves righteousness.
We saw in the verse in Hebrews that Jesus was exalted by His father because of His abhorrence of evil & love for holiness. Joy departs when sin enters. But when sin is confessed & forsaken joy returns. Following his confession, King David prayed, “Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation. (Psalm 51:12.)
It doesn’t have to be the sin of adultery or drunkenness, it can be the more “respectable sins” like gossip, slander, greed, grumbling & unkindness.
3. A joyful Christian will consistently listen to & for the voice of God.
This is one of those “reaching scenarios” but if I had been away from my wife for an extended length of time & were given the option of seeing her standing on a distant hill, or hearing her voice speaking to me, expressing the things she wanted to say & I hungered to hear, I’d take the option of hearing her voice.
I’ve never particularly hungered for a vision of Jesus because my God-given imagination lets me know all I need to know about what his personal vestige is like, but I do have an abiding hunger to hear His voice.
John 3:29 says….but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth & heareth rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegrooms voice; this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
Are you daily listening for the voice of your bridegroom with His Word open before you in the place of prayer? Have you allowed the strange voices of the world to muffle the voice of your heavenly bridegroom?
Stay with him a while each day; be still, get quiet & open His word, don’t be in a hurry. Don’t leave until you’ve heard His voice & know that sweet communion has been yours.
Then you will leave the place of prayer with total joy. Practice this & you’ll be a radiant, joyful Christian.
John
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
CHALLENGING OLD MIND-SETS
By John Stallings
No one puts new wine into old wineskins…. Luke 5:37
I recently read the story of a man who worked with refrigerated railroad box cars. His worst fear was that he’d someday accidentally get locked in one of the cars and freeze to death. His family, friends and working buddies all knew of his fear because he constantly talked about it. One night his worst fear came to pass and he inadvertently was locked in one of the cars.
When he was found the next morning, an autopsy showed he’d indeed frozen to death. He had found a piece of a paper sack and left a note saying, “It’s so very cold. It’s getting colder and colder, and I know I can’t last until morning.” The strange thing was that in that particular box car, the refrigeration wasn’t working and the temperature never got over 61 degrees all night. They found that the oxygen level in the car was plenty to keep a person alive. His mind and what it believed must have frozen him to death.
It’s amazing the power our minds have to create what we’re convinced of.
If you saw the movie, “Fiddler on the roof” you will remember the song, “Tradition.” I like the catchy tune but I especially was taken by the truth it teaches about the concept of different cultures and ways of speaking, thinking and doing things. So much of what we do is nothing more than ideas, concepts and traditions that were handed down to us from our ancestors and have little to do with sacredness. There’s nothing particularly wrong or right about them, they are just costumes.
There are few things as powerful as a fixed idea in the human mind.
Whether the idea is true or false, it can be almost equally as powerful when it gets lodged in our brain. In Romans 12 we read about the renewed mind and this renewal is imperative to be truly victorious in the Christian life.
In Ephesians 3:20 we read, Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.
What makes this verse so great is that we have the ability to do some rather large thinking and asking sometimes. But God is able to do much more than I could ever ask or think, and obviously, that’s a lot.
However, if we can’t ask or think it, how is God ever going to bring it to pass for us? If our minds are fixated or bogged down with small expectations, why do we even need God to be involved when He’s such a big God? His greatness only has a showcase in our lives when it’s something that is above what we can already conceptualize.
Have you ever considered some of the fixed, negative ideas you may be harboring in your mind? Thoughts that have established themselves and, though wrong, are actually setting the limits for what can happen for you?
Sometimes when thoughts get a foothold they can gradually become a stronghold in our minds. Then these thoughts can finally become strangleholds. Paul talks about strongholds in 2 Corinthians 10:4.
Romans 12:1-2 says, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind……
This tells us that to truly follow God, we must have renewed minds, and renewed thought patterns. Take for example,
OUR OWN SELF PORTRAIT
Most people would agree that a person will only go as far in life as their self-image will let them go. If our minds are filled with thoughts of inferiority we will act accordingly and never believe for the big and best things in life. What does your self-portrait look like? In reality, the ultimate victory of our lives won’t depend on how big and great God is. There’s no question about how big God is. There’s no question about how much power He has and what He’s able to do. The ultimate victory of our lives will depend on how much of God’s power and ability we will allow to work in us. Remember, as a man thinketh, so is he. Proverbs 23:7. When you think of yourself, do you see an image of a beaten down rumpled person trying to hang on, or do you see yourself as God sees you?
Let me give you a snap- shot of how God looks at us. In 2 Corinthians 2:14 we see God's portrait of us; “Now thanks be unto God who always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh the savior of his knowledge by us in every place, for we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ.” God sees us ALWAYS TRIUMPHING.
Many people wrongly think God’s going to do it all, but He wants to do it through us. Think of this like this;--“without God we can’t and without us He won’t.” If we think God by divine fiat, will do everything for us, we’ll be sorely disappointed. The truth is, God will do His part but He expects us to do our part.
I heard about a man (whether it’s true or not, it makes a good point) who went into a church and prayed one day, asking God to please let him win the lottery. Every day he’d go into the church get down on his knees and beg God to give him a break and let him win the lottery. He did this each day for a week and at the end of the week as he prayed he hear God say, “would you please give me a break and go buy a lottery ticket.”
We must put forth the effort through reading; studying, prayer and meditation, to daily cultivate a renewal of our mind, keeping out the wrong thought patterns. As an example, take a person with lung cancer. What good would it do if God healed the person and they kept right on being the Marlboro Man, and continued to smoke? Cancer would still have an inroad into that life through the tobacco. No change of any kind will work for us unless we make a decision to change our mind-set, actions and habits. Let’s say a person is depressed and God worked a miracle and lifted the mental depression. If that person refused to meditate on God’s word, didn’t guard their thought life and allowed themselves to get spiritually and physically run-down, more than likely they’d go right back into a depressed condition. That’s what Romans 12 is all about; a renewal of our thinking. It’s really surprising how practical God is isn’t it?
WRONG IDEAS ABOUT PRAYER
Maybe, without realizing it you’ve let a wrong fixed idea get established about prayer. Some people have the idea that prayer is “doing penance.” If they want God to hear them they must utter so many “Hail Mary’s.” Somehow, they feel, if they expect God to hear them they must spend enough time in prayer that God will see they really love him. Some religions ritualistically turn their faces toward a certain place and make sure they do it five or six times a day. The truth is; God isn’t looking for us to pray for long stretches to prove our love for him. A better & more scriptural way to prove we love God would be to love one another. Our prayers needn’t be long drawn out drudgery, thinking it will get God’s attention.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:7, When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
If you have that idea fixed in our heads, you need to reprogram your mind with Gods thoughts, revealed in His word, so you can move on to a deeper, fuller prayer life. You may even have allowed yourself to think that fasting and starving yourself will remove guilt and make you feel more accepted and loved by God. The Bible teaches us the only thing that will remove guilt is the blood of Jesus Christ. Fasting has its place, and some stubborn things will only respond to fasting and prayer but we can’t get God’s approval and absolve guilt in that way. True prayer springs out of our relationship with God. I don’t spend time with my wife each day to keep from feeling guilty or to show her and others I’m a good husband. I spend time with her because she’s my wife and we have a close relationship. The same would be true in our prayer time with God.
OLD MYTHS CAN STILL PLAGUE OUR THINKING.
I heard that one little boy said; “a myth is a female moth.” We can get all sorts of wrong ideas. I often hear folk say, “God helps those who help themselves.” That sounds good but it’s a myth, and not scriptural. What about people who can’t help themselves? There are millions of people like that in the world. God expects us to do all we can and then he’ll step in and do the rest as we believe him. God “helpeth our infirmities”, which means that often He asks us to pick up one end of the log and he’ll lift the other.
What good does it do us if we cram great spiritual ideas and truths into our minds on top of old wrong, mythical, fixed ideas? I’m not being critical, but rather encouraging us to truly think Biblical and constantly renew our minds with God’s Word.
SOME HAVE WRONG FIXED IDEA’S ABOUT MONEY.
Many people don’t like to think about money and consequently don’t plan ahead. Many people reach retirement with nothing but what the government gives them. They think that when they get older, something magical will happen to supply their financial needs. Some have even allowed the fact that Jesus is coming soon to keep them from properly preparing and planning for their later years. Jesus never told us to be preoccupied with his coming, but to occupy till He comes, there’s a big difference. These folk soon see they were wrong, but by that time it’s too late to do them much good.
Some men even harbor mythical ideas about how much money they should earn. Their fathers only earned so much so they should only earn about that much. I heard about a man who went to his dad and showed him his first pay check as an insurance agent and his dad broke down and started to cry because it was so much more than he’d ever made. The grown son determined to never again make more money than his dad made. I think you’ll agree this is a serious problem but there are people who think this way. They settle for mediocrity rather than think big because they have been so ridiculed for wanting bigger things than their parents had. Such is the power of fixed ideas. Some people only pray for their needs, never their wants. Others look at it differently; they need everything they want.
SOME PEOPLE FEAR FINANCIAL RESOURCES
My parents were wonderful people, and instilled in me some good spiritual as well as practical knowledge, but to be frank, they were funny about money. They really didn’t earn enough and save much for their old age. My dad was a Pastor and never had a large salary, but one of his problems was that he wouldn’t stand up for himself on money issues. I sometimes got the idea that my parents were afraid of money; for what reason I really don’t know. I remember when my dad pastored in Orlando, Florida in the 1950’s and I was just a teenager. He was being paid a percentage of the tithes and as the church grew, his income grew. Though it wasn’t that much, my mother would be so nervous about what they earned that on the day of the annual business meeting, when a report of the Pastors salary was read, she’d have to go to the doctor and get medication to calm her down. They really weren’t getting paid all that much, it was just a fixed idea she had that it was too much money.
Once they were given a raise by the church [their percentage was raised] and my mother refused to take it, and they stayed at the same percentage. Can you imagine that? A few months later, my father got sick and was put in the hospital. Their insurance didn’t pay the entire bill so my mother went to the church treasurer and asked if they could get a small loan from the church to help pay the hospital bill. The wonderful man who served that church for many years as treasurer, went to the church safe, and pulled out an envelope and handed it to my mother. He explained to her that when they had refused the raise the church offered them; he went ahead and put the money aside, knowing they’d probably need it someday. I can hardly imagine that as I look back, but it happened. I never really asked her about it but my mother must have been afraid of money. I’ve had to be very vigilant in my own life to make sure I wasn’t letting any of those old wrong ideas get fixed in my thinking. I’ve always believed in and preached tithing and giving in all sorts of ways, but I also believe that the best way to help the poor is to not become one of them. Some people, like my parents, seem to think that money is dangerous and evil and if you’re not careful it will corrupt you. There’s an element of truth to that but by the same token, the Bible doesn’t teach that money is evil, just the love of it.
Some fear that a lot of money will somehow get them into trouble. As Christians, that’s an uncalled for response. Though it may have been that way in the past, we are now King’s kids and we have the wisdom and integrity to be proper stewards over our resources. It’s true that if you gave some people one million dollars they’d soon be over their heads because of poor management. They’d fail to pay their taxes and soon would be in trouble with the I.R.S. Also, disagreement about how money is spent is the number one cause of divorce, so obviously it can cause problems, but again, it goes back to wrong concepts about money.
MONEY GIVES YOU A VOICE.
In Ecce. 9: 14-15 theres an interesting little story about a wise but poor man who saved a little city from its enemy but because he was poor the people didn’t respect or remember him. In other words, because he himself wasn’t prosperous, the people discounted him. What’s interesting is that the same principle holds true to this day. If a person is poor, they have no voice nor are they really considered very much. A modern day twist on that same idea is that people say nowadays, “If you’re so smart, why aren’t you financially successful.” To bring balance to the question, I think we could correctly say that while money doesn’t insure that a person is spiritual or upstanding, if we are to be viable in our society, the principles of Biblical prosperity should be visible and working in our lives. You can ask any of the minorities and they’ll tell you it’s true. No finances, no voice. The story isn’t saying that the poor are worthless in God’s eyes, but have a difficult time getting their story heard. Pastors and missionaries have lived with that reality for years; if there’s no money, the work will not be done nor the Gospel preached. God wants money to come into our hands and He also wants us to have the right attitude toward it.
Another wrong way of thinking about money would be hoarding it & ignoring the needs of others, and the work of God.
A SCARCITY MENTALITY IS WRONG THINKING.
Some people have developed the idea that there is only so much wealth and not enough for everybody. Have you ever wondered why some people are jealous of those who move up in life and get new things? Most of the time it’s not that they just don’t want the other person to have what they acquire; it’s that they see only one big pie and if somebody gets a big piece of it, there’s less for them. This is wrong thinking. We should realize we all have our own pie and what someone else gets in no way detracts or diminishes what we may have if we position ourselves rightly. Again, it’s the limited thinking that gets in the way. Psalm 78:41 says when speaking of Israel, Yea they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. Let’s be sure we don’t do the same in our thinking.
If you took a pig and cleaned him all up and let him live in your house, we know that it wouldn’t be long until his old pig-ways would necessitate that you put him back outside. You’d have to change his nature to be able to coexist with a pig.
Obviously, you and I aren’t pigs, but still, we can’t really go where God wants to take us with our old nature and set patterns of wrong thinking. Again remember, For as a man thinketh in his heart so is he.
If we try to put spiritual ideas into a mind that hasn’t been renewed, we’ve got a confused situation, for the Bible says “the carnal mind cancels out spiritual thoughts and ideas.”
Let’s say a man wants to become a doctor, so he goes to medical school to prepare. He studies to cram medical jargon into his head and truly is good at reading, absorbing the material, and passing the tests. Because he does all the work and makes the grades, he finally gets his degree and his license to practice medicine. The only thing is, the man doesn’t really want to be a doctor, has no interest in good health and helping people obtain good health. He doesn’t buy into the idea that he must scrub and clean his hands after visiting each patient and won’t use a single modicum of care to follow up on his patients to see them through to health. He really has never bought into the truth that there are certain medical principle’s we all must follow in order to have optimum health. All he’s doing, although his head is full of doctor knowledge, is going through the charade pretending to be a true doctor. Would you want a man like that to be your physician? A man who doesn’t even believe what he’s doing is important and is only in it for the prestige and the financial rewards? He’s got all the head knowledge but after medical school he refuses to stay abreast and up to date on new medical findings. Maybe he even doubts the things he’s learned are true, and when nobodies looking, bends and breaks all the rules of ethics and good medicine. Even though he knew all the things he was supposed to know, he really wouldn’t be much good, would he?
This man never had a mind-changing experience that truly made a life time doctor out of him.
It’s the same thing with us as Christians in the realm of spiritual truth. We must not be Christians in name only. It’s important that we have been transformed and are so full of Christ, and then His way of thinking, that there’s no room for faulty superfluous, harmful ideas.
I have read that in order for a crab to continue to grow, they must occasionally throw off their old shell and grow and new ones. But the old shell represents the crabs home, security, and comfort. It’s risky for him to get rid of the old shell but if he doesn’t do it, he’ll cease to grow and finally die. God wants us to be crabby. Not in the sense that we’re cantankerous and hard to live with but in the sense that we, as the crab, are constantly growing and throwing off the non-productive “shells” that become irrelevant as we grow up in God.
Take a close look at your life and ask yourself if you are suffering because of limiting ideas that have taken root and have kept you from God’s best. Ideas that are like the crabs too small shell that he must throw off in order to insure his continued growth. There is a battle going on for our minds and if Satan can get a foothold there, he will shrink us, keep us small and can rob us of total victorious living.
Make a commitment today to return to God’s word, open your heart and mind and watch God lead you to new vista’s that are,
“EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY MORE THAN YOU COULD ASK OR THINK, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN YOU.”
John
.
By John Stallings
No one puts new wine into old wineskins…. Luke 5:37
I recently read the story of a man who worked with refrigerated railroad box cars. His worst fear was that he’d someday accidentally get locked in one of the cars and freeze to death. His family, friends and working buddies all knew of his fear because he constantly talked about it. One night his worst fear came to pass and he inadvertently was locked in one of the cars.
When he was found the next morning, an autopsy showed he’d indeed frozen to death. He had found a piece of a paper sack and left a note saying, “It’s so very cold. It’s getting colder and colder, and I know I can’t last until morning.” The strange thing was that in that particular box car, the refrigeration wasn’t working and the temperature never got over 61 degrees all night. They found that the oxygen level in the car was plenty to keep a person alive. His mind and what it believed must have frozen him to death.
It’s amazing the power our minds have to create what we’re convinced of.
If you saw the movie, “Fiddler on the roof” you will remember the song, “Tradition.” I like the catchy tune but I especially was taken by the truth it teaches about the concept of different cultures and ways of speaking, thinking and doing things. So much of what we do is nothing more than ideas, concepts and traditions that were handed down to us from our ancestors and have little to do with sacredness. There’s nothing particularly wrong or right about them, they are just costumes.
There are few things as powerful as a fixed idea in the human mind.
Whether the idea is true or false, it can be almost equally as powerful when it gets lodged in our brain. In Romans 12 we read about the renewed mind and this renewal is imperative to be truly victorious in the Christian life.
In Ephesians 3:20 we read, Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.
What makes this verse so great is that we have the ability to do some rather large thinking and asking sometimes. But God is able to do much more than I could ever ask or think, and obviously, that’s a lot.
However, if we can’t ask or think it, how is God ever going to bring it to pass for us? If our minds are fixated or bogged down with small expectations, why do we even need God to be involved when He’s such a big God? His greatness only has a showcase in our lives when it’s something that is above what we can already conceptualize.
Have you ever considered some of the fixed, negative ideas you may be harboring in your mind? Thoughts that have established themselves and, though wrong, are actually setting the limits for what can happen for you?
Sometimes when thoughts get a foothold they can gradually become a stronghold in our minds. Then these thoughts can finally become strangleholds. Paul talks about strongholds in 2 Corinthians 10:4.
Romans 12:1-2 says, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind……
This tells us that to truly follow God, we must have renewed minds, and renewed thought patterns. Take for example,
OUR OWN SELF PORTRAIT
Most people would agree that a person will only go as far in life as their self-image will let them go. If our minds are filled with thoughts of inferiority we will act accordingly and never believe for the big and best things in life. What does your self-portrait look like? In reality, the ultimate victory of our lives won’t depend on how big and great God is. There’s no question about how big God is. There’s no question about how much power He has and what He’s able to do. The ultimate victory of our lives will depend on how much of God’s power and ability we will allow to work in us. Remember, as a man thinketh, so is he. Proverbs 23:7. When you think of yourself, do you see an image of a beaten down rumpled person trying to hang on, or do you see yourself as God sees you?
Let me give you a snap- shot of how God looks at us. In 2 Corinthians 2:14 we see God's portrait of us; “Now thanks be unto God who always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh the savior of his knowledge by us in every place, for we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ.” God sees us ALWAYS TRIUMPHING.
Many people wrongly think God’s going to do it all, but He wants to do it through us. Think of this like this;--“without God we can’t and without us He won’t.” If we think God by divine fiat, will do everything for us, we’ll be sorely disappointed. The truth is, God will do His part but He expects us to do our part.
I heard about a man (whether it’s true or not, it makes a good point) who went into a church and prayed one day, asking God to please let him win the lottery. Every day he’d go into the church get down on his knees and beg God to give him a break and let him win the lottery. He did this each day for a week and at the end of the week as he prayed he hear God say, “would you please give me a break and go buy a lottery ticket.”
We must put forth the effort through reading; studying, prayer and meditation, to daily cultivate a renewal of our mind, keeping out the wrong thought patterns. As an example, take a person with lung cancer. What good would it do if God healed the person and they kept right on being the Marlboro Man, and continued to smoke? Cancer would still have an inroad into that life through the tobacco. No change of any kind will work for us unless we make a decision to change our mind-set, actions and habits. Let’s say a person is depressed and God worked a miracle and lifted the mental depression. If that person refused to meditate on God’s word, didn’t guard their thought life and allowed themselves to get spiritually and physically run-down, more than likely they’d go right back into a depressed condition. That’s what Romans 12 is all about; a renewal of our thinking. It’s really surprising how practical God is isn’t it?
WRONG IDEAS ABOUT PRAYER
Maybe, without realizing it you’ve let a wrong fixed idea get established about prayer. Some people have the idea that prayer is “doing penance.” If they want God to hear them they must utter so many “Hail Mary’s.” Somehow, they feel, if they expect God to hear them they must spend enough time in prayer that God will see they really love him. Some religions ritualistically turn their faces toward a certain place and make sure they do it five or six times a day. The truth is; God isn’t looking for us to pray for long stretches to prove our love for him. A better & more scriptural way to prove we love God would be to love one another. Our prayers needn’t be long drawn out drudgery, thinking it will get God’s attention.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:7, When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
If you have that idea fixed in our heads, you need to reprogram your mind with Gods thoughts, revealed in His word, so you can move on to a deeper, fuller prayer life. You may even have allowed yourself to think that fasting and starving yourself will remove guilt and make you feel more accepted and loved by God. The Bible teaches us the only thing that will remove guilt is the blood of Jesus Christ. Fasting has its place, and some stubborn things will only respond to fasting and prayer but we can’t get God’s approval and absolve guilt in that way. True prayer springs out of our relationship with God. I don’t spend time with my wife each day to keep from feeling guilty or to show her and others I’m a good husband. I spend time with her because she’s my wife and we have a close relationship. The same would be true in our prayer time with God.
OLD MYTHS CAN STILL PLAGUE OUR THINKING.
I heard that one little boy said; “a myth is a female moth.” We can get all sorts of wrong ideas. I often hear folk say, “God helps those who help themselves.” That sounds good but it’s a myth, and not scriptural. What about people who can’t help themselves? There are millions of people like that in the world. God expects us to do all we can and then he’ll step in and do the rest as we believe him. God “helpeth our infirmities”, which means that often He asks us to pick up one end of the log and he’ll lift the other.
What good does it do us if we cram great spiritual ideas and truths into our minds on top of old wrong, mythical, fixed ideas? I’m not being critical, but rather encouraging us to truly think Biblical and constantly renew our minds with God’s Word.
SOME HAVE WRONG FIXED IDEA’S ABOUT MONEY.
Many people don’t like to think about money and consequently don’t plan ahead. Many people reach retirement with nothing but what the government gives them. They think that when they get older, something magical will happen to supply their financial needs. Some have even allowed the fact that Jesus is coming soon to keep them from properly preparing and planning for their later years. Jesus never told us to be preoccupied with his coming, but to occupy till He comes, there’s a big difference. These folk soon see they were wrong, but by that time it’s too late to do them much good.
Some men even harbor mythical ideas about how much money they should earn. Their fathers only earned so much so they should only earn about that much. I heard about a man who went to his dad and showed him his first pay check as an insurance agent and his dad broke down and started to cry because it was so much more than he’d ever made. The grown son determined to never again make more money than his dad made. I think you’ll agree this is a serious problem but there are people who think this way. They settle for mediocrity rather than think big because they have been so ridiculed for wanting bigger things than their parents had. Such is the power of fixed ideas. Some people only pray for their needs, never their wants. Others look at it differently; they need everything they want.
SOME PEOPLE FEAR FINANCIAL RESOURCES
My parents were wonderful people, and instilled in me some good spiritual as well as practical knowledge, but to be frank, they were funny about money. They really didn’t earn enough and save much for their old age. My dad was a Pastor and never had a large salary, but one of his problems was that he wouldn’t stand up for himself on money issues. I sometimes got the idea that my parents were afraid of money; for what reason I really don’t know. I remember when my dad pastored in Orlando, Florida in the 1950’s and I was just a teenager. He was being paid a percentage of the tithes and as the church grew, his income grew. Though it wasn’t that much, my mother would be so nervous about what they earned that on the day of the annual business meeting, when a report of the Pastors salary was read, she’d have to go to the doctor and get medication to calm her down. They really weren’t getting paid all that much, it was just a fixed idea she had that it was too much money.
Once they were given a raise by the church [their percentage was raised] and my mother refused to take it, and they stayed at the same percentage. Can you imagine that? A few months later, my father got sick and was put in the hospital. Their insurance didn’t pay the entire bill so my mother went to the church treasurer and asked if they could get a small loan from the church to help pay the hospital bill. The wonderful man who served that church for many years as treasurer, went to the church safe, and pulled out an envelope and handed it to my mother. He explained to her that when they had refused the raise the church offered them; he went ahead and put the money aside, knowing they’d probably need it someday. I can hardly imagine that as I look back, but it happened. I never really asked her about it but my mother must have been afraid of money. I’ve had to be very vigilant in my own life to make sure I wasn’t letting any of those old wrong ideas get fixed in my thinking. I’ve always believed in and preached tithing and giving in all sorts of ways, but I also believe that the best way to help the poor is to not become one of them. Some people, like my parents, seem to think that money is dangerous and evil and if you’re not careful it will corrupt you. There’s an element of truth to that but by the same token, the Bible doesn’t teach that money is evil, just the love of it.
Some fear that a lot of money will somehow get them into trouble. As Christians, that’s an uncalled for response. Though it may have been that way in the past, we are now King’s kids and we have the wisdom and integrity to be proper stewards over our resources. It’s true that if you gave some people one million dollars they’d soon be over their heads because of poor management. They’d fail to pay their taxes and soon would be in trouble with the I.R.S. Also, disagreement about how money is spent is the number one cause of divorce, so obviously it can cause problems, but again, it goes back to wrong concepts about money.
MONEY GIVES YOU A VOICE.
In Ecce. 9: 14-15 theres an interesting little story about a wise but poor man who saved a little city from its enemy but because he was poor the people didn’t respect or remember him. In other words, because he himself wasn’t prosperous, the people discounted him. What’s interesting is that the same principle holds true to this day. If a person is poor, they have no voice nor are they really considered very much. A modern day twist on that same idea is that people say nowadays, “If you’re so smart, why aren’t you financially successful.” To bring balance to the question, I think we could correctly say that while money doesn’t insure that a person is spiritual or upstanding, if we are to be viable in our society, the principles of Biblical prosperity should be visible and working in our lives. You can ask any of the minorities and they’ll tell you it’s true. No finances, no voice. The story isn’t saying that the poor are worthless in God’s eyes, but have a difficult time getting their story heard. Pastors and missionaries have lived with that reality for years; if there’s no money, the work will not be done nor the Gospel preached. God wants money to come into our hands and He also wants us to have the right attitude toward it.
Another wrong way of thinking about money would be hoarding it & ignoring the needs of others, and the work of God.
A SCARCITY MENTALITY IS WRONG THINKING.
Some people have developed the idea that there is only so much wealth and not enough for everybody. Have you ever wondered why some people are jealous of those who move up in life and get new things? Most of the time it’s not that they just don’t want the other person to have what they acquire; it’s that they see only one big pie and if somebody gets a big piece of it, there’s less for them. This is wrong thinking. We should realize we all have our own pie and what someone else gets in no way detracts or diminishes what we may have if we position ourselves rightly. Again, it’s the limited thinking that gets in the way. Psalm 78:41 says when speaking of Israel, Yea they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. Let’s be sure we don’t do the same in our thinking.
If you took a pig and cleaned him all up and let him live in your house, we know that it wouldn’t be long until his old pig-ways would necessitate that you put him back outside. You’d have to change his nature to be able to coexist with a pig.
Obviously, you and I aren’t pigs, but still, we can’t really go where God wants to take us with our old nature and set patterns of wrong thinking. Again remember, For as a man thinketh in his heart so is he.
If we try to put spiritual ideas into a mind that hasn’t been renewed, we’ve got a confused situation, for the Bible says “the carnal mind cancels out spiritual thoughts and ideas.”
Let’s say a man wants to become a doctor, so he goes to medical school to prepare. He studies to cram medical jargon into his head and truly is good at reading, absorbing the material, and passing the tests. Because he does all the work and makes the grades, he finally gets his degree and his license to practice medicine. The only thing is, the man doesn’t really want to be a doctor, has no interest in good health and helping people obtain good health. He doesn’t buy into the idea that he must scrub and clean his hands after visiting each patient and won’t use a single modicum of care to follow up on his patients to see them through to health. He really has never bought into the truth that there are certain medical principle’s we all must follow in order to have optimum health. All he’s doing, although his head is full of doctor knowledge, is going through the charade pretending to be a true doctor. Would you want a man like that to be your physician? A man who doesn’t even believe what he’s doing is important and is only in it for the prestige and the financial rewards? He’s got all the head knowledge but after medical school he refuses to stay abreast and up to date on new medical findings. Maybe he even doubts the things he’s learned are true, and when nobodies looking, bends and breaks all the rules of ethics and good medicine. Even though he knew all the things he was supposed to know, he really wouldn’t be much good, would he?
This man never had a mind-changing experience that truly made a life time doctor out of him.
It’s the same thing with us as Christians in the realm of spiritual truth. We must not be Christians in name only. It’s important that we have been transformed and are so full of Christ, and then His way of thinking, that there’s no room for faulty superfluous, harmful ideas.
I have read that in order for a crab to continue to grow, they must occasionally throw off their old shell and grow and new ones. But the old shell represents the crabs home, security, and comfort. It’s risky for him to get rid of the old shell but if he doesn’t do it, he’ll cease to grow and finally die. God wants us to be crabby. Not in the sense that we’re cantankerous and hard to live with but in the sense that we, as the crab, are constantly growing and throwing off the non-productive “shells” that become irrelevant as we grow up in God.
Take a close look at your life and ask yourself if you are suffering because of limiting ideas that have taken root and have kept you from God’s best. Ideas that are like the crabs too small shell that he must throw off in order to insure his continued growth. There is a battle going on for our minds and if Satan can get a foothold there, he will shrink us, keep us small and can rob us of total victorious living.
Make a commitment today to return to God’s word, open your heart and mind and watch God lead you to new vista’s that are,
“EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY MORE THAN YOU COULD ASK OR THINK, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN YOU.”
John
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Monday, July 9, 2007
Sweet Fellowship
Yesterday Juda & I had our last Sunday with the people of Vineland Road Christian Fellowship in Winter Garden. We started the first Sunday of March & told the people we'd be with them as long as they needed us. What started as a couple of weeks turned out to be four and one half months. So much happened in those months that it boggles my mind.
Last evening the people were encouraged by brother Keith Butts, leading church deacon & head of pastor-seeking committee, to stand and tell what our ministry among them had meant. Words fail me here but suffice it to say Juda and I were greatly humbled and blessed by the comments, (many of them made through tears,)made by the members of the little flock. After the Morning service a luncheon was held and the people presented us with cards that put their feelings in writing, as well as generous gifts.
Juda & I are still processing all that happen yesterday & we both agree that we don't remember in our combined experiences ever feeling the outpouring of love that we received from the people of Winter Garden. We will carry the glow from the services yesterday with us for as long as we live.
In the book of Acts we are given a picture of how those early Christian enjoyed fellowship.---They joined together with other believers & devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings & fellowship, sharing in the Lords' Supper & prayer....and the believers met together constantly & shared everything they had....they worshipped together at the temple each day, met in homes for the Lords supper & shared their meals with great joy & generosity---all the while praising God & enjoying the good-will of the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)
The people of Winter Garden are very much like these people in the book of Acts. They love God & each other & dearly love to fellowship. But they also have great hearts of love that can reach out to others, embracing them & enveloping them in the Christ's love. Again Juda & I would like to say to those wonderful people, Thank you Vineland Road Christian Fellowship. As you continue to love & enjoy the people of God, He'll do for you what He did for that primitive fellowship. He'll add to your group those who are bereft & in need of the love you have to share.
John & Juda
Yesterday Juda & I had our last Sunday with the people of Vineland Road Christian Fellowship in Winter Garden. We started the first Sunday of March & told the people we'd be with them as long as they needed us. What started as a couple of weeks turned out to be four and one half months. So much happened in those months that it boggles my mind.
Last evening the people were encouraged by brother Keith Butts, leading church deacon & head of pastor-seeking committee, to stand and tell what our ministry among them had meant. Words fail me here but suffice it to say Juda and I were greatly humbled and blessed by the comments, (many of them made through tears,)made by the members of the little flock. After the Morning service a luncheon was held and the people presented us with cards that put their feelings in writing, as well as generous gifts.
Juda & I are still processing all that happen yesterday & we both agree that we don't remember in our combined experiences ever feeling the outpouring of love that we received from the people of Winter Garden. We will carry the glow from the services yesterday with us for as long as we live.
In the book of Acts we are given a picture of how those early Christian enjoyed fellowship.---They joined together with other believers & devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings & fellowship, sharing in the Lords' Supper & prayer....and the believers met together constantly & shared everything they had....they worshipped together at the temple each day, met in homes for the Lords supper & shared their meals with great joy & generosity---all the while praising God & enjoying the good-will of the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)
The people of Winter Garden are very much like these people in the book of Acts. They love God & each other & dearly love to fellowship. But they also have great hearts of love that can reach out to others, embracing them & enveloping them in the Christ's love. Again Juda & I would like to say to those wonderful people, Thank you Vineland Road Christian Fellowship. As you continue to love & enjoy the people of God, He'll do for you what He did for that primitive fellowship. He'll add to your group those who are bereft & in need of the love you have to share.
John & Juda
Thursday, July 5, 2007
When Women Finally Caught A break!
By John Stallings
Numbers 27:1-11
Recently I read the top ten reasons God made woman.
10. Adam seemed to always be lost in the Garden.
9. Adam needed someone to hand him the T.V remote, not to see what was on but to see what else was on.
8. When Adam needed a new fig-leaf he’d never order one without a wife.
7. Adam would without question forget garbage night.
6. Adam would never make a doctor's appointment for himself.
5. Adam would have never gone through the pain of childbirth.
4. With Eve Adam would have someone to blame if things went wrong.
3. Men left alone get into all kinds of trouble.
2. Adam would never remember where he kept his garden tools.
1. After making Adam God said, “I can do better than that.”
In Numbers 27, after the forty years in the wilderness, & toward the end of Moses’ life, there is a fascinating story of five sisters, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah, the daughters of a man named Zelophehad. This man was of the tribe of Manasseh who died during the wilderness journey. He had five daughters but no sons. In order to perpetuate their fathers name by means of the allotted share of the Promised Land that would have gone to him, & then to his sons if he had any, Zelophehad’s daughters approached Moses & asked if the land might be given to them instead. Up to that time there was no provision made in the law for property or possessions to be passed down to women when there were no living male sons.
These daughters were facing the stark reality that the system & its policies were set up in such a way that some were going to be left out of the promise from the very start, & that included them. They came because Israelite customs threaten to erase their father’s memory. Their claim is both affectionate & courageous.
The story is interesting first of all because it wasn’t customary for women to approach Moses in this way. These women came to petition Moses to change things, indeed to if necessary make a new law that would do away with this injustice which in truth made second class citizens of women. These young women were women of faith & came to Moses in such humility & presented their case so convincingly, that Moses had to take the matter to God for directions on how to handle it. God told Moses the women were right & that a new law should be written to see to it that in such future cases, women would receive the same benefits that man received when it came to family inheritance.
Let’s consider five specific stand-out principles that could work for us all when it comes to seeing change effected in our lives & our world. The first thing about these daughters of Zelophehad was;
1.THEY KNEW THEIR IDENTITY.
They not only knew who they were from a human standpoint, they knew they were daughters of covenant. They knew who they were in God & they knew God is not a respecter of persons. They were daughters of the Most High God & approached Moses with Faith.
They knew before the verse was written the meaning of 1 Peter 2:9—But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an Holy nation a peculiar people that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
THEY WEREN'T CONFUSED ABOUT A GENDER GAP.
What an example they set for women & as a matter fact all people. It’s always been sad to me to see women who feel somehow they're second class citizens. To be frank, in the 21st century, women are in many quarters, underpaid, under valued & under appreciated. You see women almost everywhere wearing t-shirts that carry the message that they are sexual objects. They seem to feel that if they don’t pass the test of sensuality they need to have re-constructive surgery so that they can measure up to what men & society think they should be.
Sadly many young men also seem to be plagued with an identity crisis. Though I’m not an expert on the subject I’ve heard that the style of wearing their trousers hanging so low they seem in danger of falling off came from prisons where the men have to wear hand-me-downs. Another explanation for the style would be, God forbid, it transmits to other males their availability for sexual contact.
I doubt that the naive kids who style & profile through the Malls have the slightest clue of where the style they are wearing really comes from. But again it points to a confused generation of youth who haven’t a clue of who they are & were meant to be.
These five daughters of Zelophehad knew who they were and set a good example for all women to come by recognizing who they were as daughters of God, made in His image & commanding every bit as much respect as men .
They knew the meaning of Galatians 3:28……..For in Christ there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ.
Romans 8: 16-17 says,-The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children then heirs; and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.
They understood;
2 Corinthians 5:20 which says,--Now then we are Ambassadors for Christ……
They understood;
1 Peter 2:9,--But ye are a chosen generation a royal priesthood an holy nation a peculiar people……
2. THESE WOMEN TOOK THE INITIATIVE.
The five sisters saw a challenge when they realized that property rights were passed on through males of the same ethnic clan. They saw that whatever was about to be celebrated by the allotting of land to the people, it didn’t include them. When their father died, if they had been sons they would have inherited his portion of the land. If they had been brothers they’d have been able to share in their brothers’ land. If they had been married they’d have gone to live on their husband’s land. If they had been widowed their husbands family would have taken care of them. But being that they had no father, no brother, no husband & no in-laws, they had no rights to any land. They were coming into the land of promise but it was clear that they didn’t count for anything & they’d remain forever disconnected from the land & from sustainable life.
They looked through the dark foreboding window of the future & realized that they were invisible, at least when it came to possessing any earthly goods.
They approached Moses & Eleazar the priest at the door of the Tabernacle in front of the congregation. What makes this so spectacular is that there was no forum for Mahlah, Noah, Milcah & Tirzah to voice their grievance. A woman’s place was in the home. For them to act outside the system was to take a great risk, the risk of being rejected by the rest of the community. Even Moses’ own sister was stricken with leprosy for daring to question her brother’s judgment as God’s spokesman.
Some might have seen this request as confrontational, out of order or disrespectful but God judged their motive. They were doing their part in preserving the inheritance of their father.
How did these girls know their rights as heirs to their father’s inheritance? I believe it was because they spent time at their father’s feet as he shared with them the promises of God to Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob. God had promised to preserve the legacy. They were assured of their birthright because of the time spent with their father. Zelophehad had built faith in his daughters that God would keep His word.
They understood Hebrews 4:16 before it was written,--Let us come boldly therefore the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
These five sisters with no precedent, no rights, no authority & no testosterone go ahead & take action & initiative. They had the right stuff to go before Moses & take on the legal system in the most public place possible with imagination & grace.
Everyone heard them plead their case to Moses. These women respected the Shekina Glory in the tabernacle but it didn’t cause them to be intimidated. They knew they were right in what they were requesting so they proceeded.
INITIATIVE MEANS SEEING A NEED & DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT WITHOUT WAITING TO BE PRESSURED.
They approached Moses with boldness not arrogance & with confidence not pride. They didn’t have the attitude of militant feminists nor were they presumptuous.
· A little boy had played in the mud until he was almost covered with it from head to toe. As he entered his house his mother playfully asked, “Who’s that little boy coming in my house?” The boy answered, “Well the lady next door was right. She said I was so dirty my mother wouldn’t recognize me.”
These five daughters didn’t have an identity crisis. They recognized exactly who they were & without being cocky about it, they took the initiative. They took action. And not only did they approach Moses with no fear, they were successful & actually got things changed. There was no anger in what they did. They weren’t all worked up & in a rage. Had they done that, nothing would have changed as a matter of fact they would have set their cause back.
James 1:21says –For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
1 Peter 3:4 says—But let it be the hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek & quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price.
These women weren’t pushy & brassy. They had courage but they also were in possession of their emotions & they showed humility. Have you noticed that we can’t get much done of any consequence if we’re angry? Anger just makes other people angry. If you & I aren’t being successful in getting our ideas implemented we should stop & ask ourselves if we’re going about it in the right way. We also should realize that not much will happen in our lives until we move on our ideas.
I heard the story of an immigrant who came to America years ago. He’d never seen a cafeteria before so he walked into one & sat down, waiting to be served. A man was watching him & figured he was confused so he walked up & told him how a cafeteria worked. He could just go up to the buffet & get anything he wanted & then go pay for it. The man later said he then understood what America was all about. He could have anything he was willing to pay for but no one was going to get it for him. He’d have to go get it himself.
That’s what initiative is all about. Just do it.
3. THESE WOMEN BROKE WITH TRADITION.
There can be no question that while their father was alive, they were going to have an inheritance & they had probably dreamed about what their share of land would look like. However when he died, all that evaporated & since no mention is made of a mother, they were now no doubt orphans. The girls had probably spent a lot of time talking about their plight; this seems to me to be a valid female approach to dealing with things of importance. In their discussions it probably came up that the land was being given to Israel by God so in truth no one was earning their share. Grace was involved here much more than law, & they had faith to believe that God was going to work for them in the matter. But they were smart enough to realize that a few "sacred cows" would have to be slaughtered if they were going to have any chance at all in an inheritance. The definition of a sacred cow is: Once a rule is in place it's very difficult to replace that rule even though the original reason for the rule has disappeared."
It wasn’t customary for women to go to Moses. There was nothing in the law to pass an inheritance down to women so in essence they were asking that another law be written. How nervy can you get? Obviously pretty nervy. But it worked. They got Moses so shook-up that he had to go & pray about it. Long before women actually had any rights at all these women were asking for equal dignity for women. Long before the phrase was coined, they were asking Moses to “think outside the box.”
I read about a young married woman who was cooking a ham for her family. As she proceeded to cut the ham in two, her little girl came by & asked her why she was doing it. The mom confessed that she didn’t know but she’d go call her mom & asked why she always cooked ham that way. Her mother said she didn’t really know either; her mom had always cut hams in two before cooking them. The mother called the grandmother who was quite old & asked her why she’d always prepared a ham by cutting it two pieces & she answered, “Oh, the reason I always cut hams in two was because I didn’t have a pot large enough to cook a ham in one piece.”
So a tradition was born in that family & people were going through the motions not recognizing there was no longer a valid reason to be doing it.
These daughters of Zelophehad knew nothing had been written about their need so everyone was just following a tradition; a tradition that needed changing.
Sometimes people will pray for supernatural discernment when all that is needed is a little common sense. The sisters knew that there was the written law but there was also such a thing as the spirit of the law & the spirit of the law said they should be treated as fairly as anyone else. We can get so hung-up in our traditions that we don’t realize how silly we look doing things just because that’s the way we’ve always done them.
In 2 Corinthians 3:7 Paul said, “Who has made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter but of the spirit: for the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life.
Legalists will write a rule for everything. When that happens, everything gets in bondage & boxed in to rule keeping, consequently all joy evaporates. The Bible doesn’t speak on every little issue we face, if it did it would be so big it would take a box-car to carry it. What God expects us to do in those cases is use our sanctified common sense & follow the spirit of the law. If a person accidentally shoots another person & it is very obvious that it was an accident, a judge isn’t going to treat it like a murder. If its demonstrable that it was an accident the judge will use the spirit of the law to judge the person. Intent & motivation are always carefully examined.
If you want to see a depressed group of people, go into a church that’s bound up by laws, rules & regulations & you’ll see the saddest sight you can imagine. Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty & joy in the Holy Ghost. There’s no need for God’s people to get all bound up with legalism when all we have to do in cases where there’s no written direction is read the intent of God’s law.
If you want to know what legalism really looks like read Matthew 23 & you’ll not only read the best description available anywhere about what makes legalists tick, you’ll also see Jesus excoriating the Pharisees until you can almost smell the hide burning. He scolded them because all they could think about was their traditions. If you haven’t read that chapter lately you should re-read it.
In the book of Revelation we hear Jesus speaking to the seven churches about hearing-- “what the spirit is saying to the church.” Yes God’s written word is true. Yes it’s all written under the Spirit’s directive. Yes it’s all profitable to living victorious lives. But Jesus is saying that God is still speaking to the churches in the 21st century & we need to have keen listening ears.
These women motivated Moses to think & to pray. You have probably observed that women have a talent for building fires under men.
4. THEY MOTIVATED LEADERSHIP
When these women got through presenting their petition, all Moses could do was go pray. When I think about these sisters I can’t help but think about Barak & Deborah. Mention is made of Barak in Hebrews eleven. When I think about them it also brings to mind Abigail & the way she confronted David when he was on his way to kill her weak husband & probably all the males in her family. Abigail confronted David & taught him mercy, saving him from untold regrets.
· In 1859 a woman by the name of Sarah J. Hale petitioned the Government to have a special day of Thanksgiving. She had to jump through a lot of hoops but the bottom line is that today we men have a full day of eating turkey & watching football because of this woman.
· My mother was, by any standards a very strong woman. When my sister & I were in junior high & high school the pressure was constantly put on us to learn to dance. My mothers answer to that was, “you teach my kids reading, writing & arithmetic & I’ll teach them the social graces.” Though she was called on to confront several school systems in several different states she always prevailed & her children never graced a dance floor.
My wife Juda has taken my mothers place & she stands as a sentry in my life calling me to do more than I think I can do. She often throws me out of the boat and says “walk.” When you look at my life don’t give me too much credit. The credit goes to great women who saw in me more than I ever saw in myself & pushed me to excel.
How often have I heard the admonition-“you’re thinking too small?”
5. THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD'S ACTION BENEFITED OTHERS.
It would have been risky to approach Moses in private. It would have looked like they were trying to get a better, maybe secret deal for themselves. By coming to him publicly their petition becomes an action to effect change on behalf of the whole community. These sisters were using their heads & being extraordinarily creative, & along the way, filing one of the earliest law suits on record.
Notice that Moses came out of his prayers & announced- “These women are right.” What they started has benefited women across the ages up to this day.
· I think of Rosa Parks. In 1955 she’d had it up to her neck with being treated like a poodle dog so she refused to move to the back of the city bus. History will show that by taking the stand she took, all women were blessed. Frankly the entire human race was blessed because she refused to be treated like a second class citizen that day in Montgomery Alabama. Likewise, the daughters of Zelophehad didn’t do what they did for strictly selfish reasons. They knew what they were doing would help women of many coming generations.
These daughters knew that they and all others were priests under God & because of their persistence a new law was written not only for them but to secure rights to property for generations to come.
Thank God for women & thank God for the differences that are woven into our lives by our creator. Without these differences life would be rather lack-luster. Thank God for the woman’s touch even though it historically has been somewhat underappreciated. As for me, I’ve appreciated women since I first found out they weren’t men.
I recently wrote an article in my blog called-“I hope you dance.” It was inspired by the country song of the same name. Dancing in the song was really synonymous with being engaged with life, not sitting on the sidelines letting life with all its opportunities pass us by.
Life isn’t meant to be feared, it’s meant to be lived with gusto. I’m always amazed when I read Christ’s parable about the talents that a business man gave his servants. When he returned he expected to see that they had invested his money & made it grow for him. The servant who was given one talent went & hid it while the others immediately went & put the money to work to see an increase. When the master returned he commended the ones who’d wisely invested his money & chastised the one who’d played it safe & put the money in a hole in the ground.
The reason it surprises me when I read this parable is that you just wouldn’t think Jesus, being so spiritually oriented would have financial investments on his mind. Of course the parable, like all of Christ’s parables has many shades of meaning. Not only was He stressing wise money management, He was reminding us that God expects a return on the talents & abilities He’s given us, whatever they may be. If we don’t use what we’ve been given we’ll have to face God someday & explain why we allowed His investment in us to stagnate.
The daughters of Zelophehad were shining examples of being engaged with the realities of life. They had the courage & initiative to take the bull by the horns as it were & effect change, not only for themselves but for future generations. Mahlah, Noah, Milcah & Tirzah didn’t change everything but they did make a significant difference in their rights as well as others that would be beneficiaries of this legal change.
The book of numbers doesn’t record the reaction of the sisters when they won their case but I think I know what it was. Of course, they danced.
What is it you believe that God has called you to do? Have you been sitting at your father’s feet daily? Are you waiting for your next assignment? Don’t let any man, women or world system intimidate you or victimize you into believing you are only a woman. You are a daughter of Zion. Arise & shine for your light has come. The glory of the Lord has risen upon you -Ish.60:1-2. Take your rightful place & claim your God given heritage. Your reward will be great because you’ll receive your inheritance & that will be time well spent.
In closing here’s a poem to mothers, wives, & all the loyal, loving hearted women who have graced our lives & made them richer; women who’ve indeed been- the wind beneath our wings. It’s called;
WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN’T LOOKING.
When you thought I wasn’t looking I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator & then I knew how proud you were of me.
When you thought I wasn’t looking I saw you feed a stray cat & I thought how wonderful it was to have such a kind heart.
When you thought I wasn’t looking I noticed you baked my favorite cake & I was so glad you were my mother.
When you thought I wasn’t looking I saw tears come from your eyes & I knew you had a soft heart & it made me love you more & I said I wanted to be just like you.
When you thought I wasn’t looking I saw how much you cared for me & all our family & I wanted to say thanks for all the things you did,
---when you thought I wasn’t looking.
Blessings,
John
Monday, July 2, 2007
SIX MYTHS ABOUT DEPRESSION
By John Stallings
….Whenever the evil spirit from God was upon Saul David took the Lyre & played
It; so Saul was refreshed. 1 Sam. 16:23
….For day & night thy hand was heavy upon me, my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to thee & did not hide my iniquity.
Psalm 32:5
To appoint unto them that mourn……the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness…..
Isaiah 61:3
I think it’s safe to say we’ve all experienced bad days from time to time. For some, these bad days can stretch into bad weeks, bad months or even bad years. Some people find themselves in a kind of funk sayings things like “Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, my life is worthless.”
I’m not a stranger to mild depression, neither am I an expert. However it’s important to know some of the basics about it, because though we may not experience depression directly, odds are someone in our family will.
The story is told of a husband who noticed that his wife had lost her joy & did nothing but mope around the house. This went on for weeks until one day he suggested that she see a doctor. She was in agreement so the husband made an appointment with a competent psychologist in their city.
During the first appointment the doctor realized that the woman was suffering from a mild case of depression that he felt didn’t need medication. He walked around his desk & asked the lady to stand up. He stepped over to her, took her in his arms & gave her a warm hug. The husband watched with interest as his wife’s face lit up & she started to look like the woman he used to know. The doctor said, “Now see, this is all your wife really needs sir, a nice big warm hug at least three times a week, are you willing to do your part? The man said, “Yes sir doc, & I think it’s wonderful. I can have her here any day but Friday, that’s my golf day.”
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if depression could be cured that easily?
A doctor from UCLA says that if you want to know what depression feels like, just imagine you have the worst case of jet-lag you’ve ever experienced, combined with the worst grief you’ve ever felt, then throw in a migraine headache. Months could pass before it lifts.
Another well known psychiatrist likened depression to a window in a house. Most windows are dressed with some sort of shades or blinds. Then usually drapes or curtains are added. This lessens the starkness of the light coming through & is adjustable by the people in the room. The person with depression has no such window dressing, thus he or she lives constantly in the glaring light of “reality.”
There are dozens of faces to depression. There is clinical depression where medical intervention is called for. There is acute depression, manic-depression & situation- induced depression. I have no credentials nor training that would equip me to advise in those areas. Perhaps a more common depression is “walking depression,” a chronic condition like walking pneumonia. It’s so prevalent it’s called the “common cold” of emotional disorders. The person feels terrible but has no acute signs.
Listen to one young college woman describe her feelings;
“I’ve suffered from walking depression all my life. I think a lot of people do. Some people look at life as a glass half full & others see it as a glass half-empty. People like me who suffer from walking depression see life as a glass half empty. Without words it comes & suddenly, sharply, one is aware of being separated from every person in ones’ world. At one’s feet there are chasms that had been invisible until this moment & one knows their loved ones will always be across the chasms.
I never feel enthusiastic about anything. I have little faith in positive outcomes. I don’t believe in myself, I don’t trust anyone. I live my life in a fog. I stumble around unable to get motivated because I’m afraid of what I might run into. I feel too flat to do anything exciting.
Walking depression lives in your bones. It makes your bones feel like tubes of water-heavy & unstable. I’m always asking myself if it’s worth it to stand up. I’m never sure I have the internal structure to get me through a task. It takes so much effort.”
When it comes to the area of spiritual depression the word of God compels me to speak. This isn’t so much a clinical or deep depression, but rather a profound sorrow, sadness & gloom; a feeling of being “very down.” Some Christians try to deny its existence because it’s not necessarily a good advertisement for Christianity; but it does exist. Many people of my generation they don’t like the word depression & would never admit to it in their lives. Depression sounds too much like the devils work, & sometimes it is.
I’ve given the following advice to numerous people who wouldn’t admit to being depressed;
“If you have lost all of your joy, if the best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup (if that’s going to be the best part of waking up, you might be better off in bed) if you haven’t smiled in so long no one can remember it, if you no longer enjoy the things you used to love, if you feel like God has gone to Key West & lost your phone number, if your face carries the message that you’ve been Baptized in lemon juice & weaned on a pickle, you’d better swallow your spiritual pride & call it what it is (depression) before it becomes something exceedingly worse.”
When was the last time you had this kind of feeling; like you might do something drastic? Truthfully this happens & it happens to the best of Christians.
Paul tells us in Eph.6:12—for we wrestle not with flesh & blood but against principalities, against powers, against the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.
This doesn’t mean that we go looking for a devil behind every mood-swing but neither should we ignore this truth.
For most of us, if we get into an emotional fog, we know it’s just a temporary feeling brought on us by certain circumstances. Sometimes getting out of bed is hard & people have no energy & can’t concentrate. These feelings usually lift but if they start interfering with our daily life very long it might be clinical depression & then a person should seek professional help. The music David played for Saul lifted his spirits temporarily but the spirit came back over & over again. I think that’s one of the reasons so many billions are spent on music; people are seeking to ward-off depression.
I’m convinced that shopping sprees are another way many people try to lift their spirits. They live with the idea that they’re one shopping trip from happiness. What happens is, they fill their houses up with things they don’t need & as soon as they “lick the candy” off their latest acquisition, they are right back where they started.
Then there are those who use food, alcohol or some other substance to lift their spirits but it’s a lift that doesn’t last.
Here are six misconceptions about depression.
1. WEAK PEOPLE GET DEPRESSED.
The truth is that it takes a strong person to bear up under depression. Saul stood head & shoulders above any man in Israel. He had broad shoulders & a strong constitution but he was still depressed.
Periodically we read about sports figures, people who make their living being stronger than the average person, admitting to depression. Anyone who’s ever read the story of Elijah knows that weakness in no way describes this Prophet, but he got depressed & begged God to kill him. No wonder, he’d just run over 100 miles trying to put distance between himself & Jezebel who’d threatened to kill him.
David was a mighty warrior & leader of men but even a cursory reading of the Psalms he wrote reveal his bouts with depression. For a whole year he didn’t write a song or tune his harp.
Certainly Jeremiah wasn’t a weakling but he got so depressed he walked into God’s office, laid down his prophet-credentials, accused God of lying to Him & vowed never to say God’s name again as long as he lived. From now on God would be “old-what’s-his-name-in-the-sky.” You will remember that Elijah couldn’t stick to that vow when he discovered that God’s words were-“like fire shut-up in my bones.”
Another wrong attitude about depression is;
2. IT’S A SPECIAL HELL RESERVED FOR THE FEW.
If you have been reading the popular magazines & newspapers in the last few years, or for that matter listening to the media you’re aware that we are presently living in the “age of melancholy.” The World Health organization says that by the year 2020, if present trends continue, depression will rank second only to heart disease as the number one disabler of persons. On any given day depression affects 18 million Americans. 12 million will go untreated. Chances are 1 in 5 of us will experience an episode of depression in our lives. The question is, if it strikes, “Where will we go for help?”
3. SOME PEOPLE THINK DEPRESSION IS A MENTAL ILLNESS.
Depression can be a chemical imbalance in the brain, but in truth many illnesses, mental & physical are caused by some sort of chemical imbalance. i.e. Diabetes, etc.
Loss can trigger depression. I’ve known people who had a great loss in their life, went into depression & never snapped out of it. This can happen with the loss of a spouse. Loss of any kind can trigger depression. Some people get depressed when they start getting older & grieve over loss of youth. Most of us snap out of it by considering the alternative.
Pain can also trigger depression. I read an article recently that in America, back pain is a leading cause of depression.
We are in a culture that so idolizes youth that today many teenagers & pre-teens are suffering depression because of the prospects of aging.
The pace of our modern day life also causes some people to be depressed. In my forties I kept such a rigid travel schedule along with being a pastor that I often had mild spells of depression. In 1981 I went to China & several other Oriental countries for three weeks & when I came home I thought I’d never get back to normalcy. People who are depressed will often say the world seems “surreal” to them. I don’t think we realize how jet travel, computers, cell phones & fast cars (all of which I use) have robbed us of the normal human scale of life.
Researchers say that cortisol; a stress hormone can also cause depression. It’s harmless in small doses but when stress causes inordinate amounts to constantly be pumped into the body it can rob us of energy, mobility, our sex drives, & our basic ability to feel human emotions. I read about a man who experienced this to such a degree that he lost all ability to love his wife, parents & his children. He had pushed himself so long trying to be successful that he was, in the vernacular, burned-out; so burned out that he no longer had real feelings. I hope & pray it was temporary for him.
4. ANOTHER MISCONCEPTION ABOUT DEPRESSION IS THAT IT’S A RESULT OF SIN IN ONES LIFE--& THAT DEPRESSION ITSELF IS SIN.
This is not so. Charles Haddon Spurgeon the great 19th century preacher often called “The prince of preachers,” the man God used to light the fires of the 19th century revival movement suffered from depression most of his adult life. It wasn’t uncommon for him to be away from his pulpit two or three months a year because of depression. I don’t know whether this is true but many scholars think that Paul’s “Thorn in the flesh” may have been depression. I will say however that if Paul wasn’t depressed he missed several good chances. After all, his kin, his race, & his people largely rejected Jesus as the Messiah.
And what about some of those churches? Maybe he was depressed by the failure of the churches he planted to live out their life in Christ. They were a constant anxiety to him. (2nd Cor.11:28.)
Abraham Lincoln; at the height of the Civil War said, “If the misery I feel was equally divided among every member of the human race, there would not be a single smiling face among us.”
The Bible tells us that Moses, Jeremiah, Job, & Elijah all had bouts of depression. I have a feeling that some of the best people suffer from depression. The truth is life is not always a stroll through a rose garden. There are mountains & valleys. There are many downward slopes. I have known pastors who didn’t want to take Mondays off because they were still stressed out from Sunday & they didn’t want to feel that bad on their day off. They could enjoy a day off later in the week much more. We should learn to see these depressed times less like a pit to climb out of & more like a tunnel to pass through.
But we can’t blame all depression on things like the pace of life, stress & chemical imbalance. We mustn’t overlook the possibility that unrepentant & unconfessed sin is a major cause of depression.
Saul had every right to be depressed. God had anointed him to be king of Israel but he disobeyed God & gradually backslid. God ended up giving the kingdom to David. Saul, the man with all the potential in the world ended up committing suicide on Mount Gilboa.
When David’s baby died he was able to throw it off but when it came to his sin with Bathsheba & the murder of her husband, his writings show us it continued to depress him. I suspect that a lot of people would get rid of depression if only they got rid of their sin.
You could say it like this; ---when we grieve the Holy Spirit by our sin, He turns around & grieves us back.
Another myth about depression is that;
5. DEPRESSION IS ALWAYS BAD.
In Saul’s case, God was dealing with him causing him to be depressed because of his wrong doing. There is only one thing I can think of that is worse than depression & that’s for a person to become so dead to the stirrings of the Holy Spirit that they can totally ignore Him. When that happens we are beyond help because it’s impossible to repent. This is what Jesus meant when he said the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is the unforgivable sin. (Matt. 12:31)
According to Hebrews 12:6-- “God chastens whom He loves.” We are convicted of sin & righteousness & judgment. (John 16:8) We ought to take a measure of hope if we are in sin & its depressing us. There remains the possibility that we will humble ourselves before God & receive His aid & forgiveness.
If we’re experiencing depression we should ask ourselves questions like; am I harboring bitterness toward another person? Have I addressed the sin in my life? Am I feeling guilty about something? Have I turned away from God? Am I being a faithful Christian? And so on.
6. FINALLY, SOME DEPRESSED FOLK FEEL THERE’S NO HOPE FOR THEM.
This is a myth. If the depression is a chemical imbalance, there is prayer & there are also medications that can do wonders. Many other depressed people can be helped by a change of diet, rest or by taking up a hobby for physical activity. I read somewhere that it’s impossible to actually be depressed while exercising. I’ve known people who always had headaches & were so sick it kept them constantly depressed. A trip to the doctor revealed they were eating too much sugar or other bad foods & when this changed they were different people.
One of the best ways to fight a mild case of depression is to do something. We don’t feel our way to a different way of acting, rather we act our way to a different way of feeling. If you wake up one morning & feel depressed, talk to depression like you would a person.
· “O.K depression, I see you are here & that’s alright but you have to understand I’ve got a lot to do. I’m getting out of this bed depressed. I’m going to shower, if necessary depressed. I’m going to eat breakfast depressed. I’m going to work depressed & I’m going to work all day depressed if that’s the way it has to be. Then I’m coming home depressed. I’ll eat my supper depressed & I’m going to church depressed.”
It’s possible but not probable that depression will still be there when they sing the first worship song. It could possibly still be there after the second song. But if you’ll keep on singing & praising something will happen & depression will have to go for James said “Draw nigh to God & he’ll draw night unto you.”
In all the years I’ve been preaching, I’ve rarely felt like preaching when I first started. But after I’ve been preaching about 5 minutes, something happens & I start feeling different. Then I don’t feel like stopping. Many people over the years have been grateful that I don’t go by my feelings.
If a person’s depression is spiritual in nature, the result of sin, that person can find release by turning to the God who loves them.
Psalm 32 continues;
5. I acknowledge my sin to you, O, Lord. & I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgression to the Lord; then you forgave the guilt of my sin. 6. Therefore let every one who is Godly offer a prayer to you; at a time of distress, in the rush of great waters, they shall not be reached. 7. God, you art a hiding place…..
There isn’t a “twelve step program” for avoiding depression, but there are however some steps we can take if we’re facing it.
We should ask ourselves the questions; do we have trouble making decisions? Do we experience a lot of uncontrollable crying? If a person is living on the verge of tears all the time, though as I said I’m no expert, I think that should be recognized as serious & an individual should seek help either through personal prayer or through Christian counseling.
If a person is having trouble getting out of bed, can’t seem to make it to work or to school, or if thoughts of suicide are creeping into their head, in these cases immediate care is necessary & steps should be taken with a professional.
WHEN HOLIDAYS COME UP IT WOULD BE LUDICRUS NOT TO INCLUDE,
POST HOLIDAY DEPRESSION.
Have you ever noticed that depression can strike after a holiday, or for that matter, after any of the great celebrations of life? We feel the build-up of excitement & all of the sudden its over. The problem is that big days tend to magnify all our emotions. We suffer from an intense case of the “oughts” during the holidays. We believe we ought to be able to give our children all the things they want, & we ought to be able to satisfy all the time demands of our extended family. We ought to spend the holidays in the middle of a great big adoring family. Unfortunately the real holiday experience never quite lives up to our “oughts.”
Nurses report that the maternity ward of a hospital can be one of the saddest places in the world. The initial rush is gone. Now the baby is keeping you up all night; you are tired & discouraged & asking yourself—“why did I ever get myself into this situation?” They even have a medical name for it; Postpartum Depression. After any great success or triumph after any of the great accomplishments of life, there’s normally a reaction, a falling back. You can almost feel things slowing down, returning to the routine & the mundane.
WE SHOULD BE CERTAIN TO TALK TO GOD ABOUT OUR MOODS & REMEMBER PRAYER IS A POWERFUL TOOL AGAINST DEPRESSION.
When Jesus was having a difficult time He went to God & cried out, “Please God, deliver me from this.” We should make certain we’re getting enough rest & ask ourselves if some unresolved conflict or unconfessed sin is causing this. But no matter what, I encourage anyone battling depression to seek help from God & also from trained Christian professionals if necessary.
No one needs to be held captive to depression, there is a way out.
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.—Isaiah 61:3—
Blessings,
John
By John Stallings
….Whenever the evil spirit from God was upon Saul David took the Lyre & played
It; so Saul was refreshed. 1 Sam. 16:23
….For day & night thy hand was heavy upon me, my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to thee & did not hide my iniquity.
Psalm 32:5
To appoint unto them that mourn……the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness…..
Isaiah 61:3
I think it’s safe to say we’ve all experienced bad days from time to time. For some, these bad days can stretch into bad weeks, bad months or even bad years. Some people find themselves in a kind of funk sayings things like “Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, my life is worthless.”
I’m not a stranger to mild depression, neither am I an expert. However it’s important to know some of the basics about it, because though we may not experience depression directly, odds are someone in our family will.
The story is told of a husband who noticed that his wife had lost her joy & did nothing but mope around the house. This went on for weeks until one day he suggested that she see a doctor. She was in agreement so the husband made an appointment with a competent psychologist in their city.
During the first appointment the doctor realized that the woman was suffering from a mild case of depression that he felt didn’t need medication. He walked around his desk & asked the lady to stand up. He stepped over to her, took her in his arms & gave her a warm hug. The husband watched with interest as his wife’s face lit up & she started to look like the woman he used to know. The doctor said, “Now see, this is all your wife really needs sir, a nice big warm hug at least three times a week, are you willing to do your part? The man said, “Yes sir doc, & I think it’s wonderful. I can have her here any day but Friday, that’s my golf day.”
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if depression could be cured that easily?
A doctor from UCLA says that if you want to know what depression feels like, just imagine you have the worst case of jet-lag you’ve ever experienced, combined with the worst grief you’ve ever felt, then throw in a migraine headache. Months could pass before it lifts.
Another well known psychiatrist likened depression to a window in a house. Most windows are dressed with some sort of shades or blinds. Then usually drapes or curtains are added. This lessens the starkness of the light coming through & is adjustable by the people in the room. The person with depression has no such window dressing, thus he or she lives constantly in the glaring light of “reality.”
There are dozens of faces to depression. There is clinical depression where medical intervention is called for. There is acute depression, manic-depression & situation- induced depression. I have no credentials nor training that would equip me to advise in those areas. Perhaps a more common depression is “walking depression,” a chronic condition like walking pneumonia. It’s so prevalent it’s called the “common cold” of emotional disorders. The person feels terrible but has no acute signs.
Listen to one young college woman describe her feelings;
“I’ve suffered from walking depression all my life. I think a lot of people do. Some people look at life as a glass half full & others see it as a glass half-empty. People like me who suffer from walking depression see life as a glass half empty. Without words it comes & suddenly, sharply, one is aware of being separated from every person in ones’ world. At one’s feet there are chasms that had been invisible until this moment & one knows their loved ones will always be across the chasms.
I never feel enthusiastic about anything. I have little faith in positive outcomes. I don’t believe in myself, I don’t trust anyone. I live my life in a fog. I stumble around unable to get motivated because I’m afraid of what I might run into. I feel too flat to do anything exciting.
Walking depression lives in your bones. It makes your bones feel like tubes of water-heavy & unstable. I’m always asking myself if it’s worth it to stand up. I’m never sure I have the internal structure to get me through a task. It takes so much effort.”
When it comes to the area of spiritual depression the word of God compels me to speak. This isn’t so much a clinical or deep depression, but rather a profound sorrow, sadness & gloom; a feeling of being “very down.” Some Christians try to deny its existence because it’s not necessarily a good advertisement for Christianity; but it does exist. Many people of my generation they don’t like the word depression & would never admit to it in their lives. Depression sounds too much like the devils work, & sometimes it is.
I’ve given the following advice to numerous people who wouldn’t admit to being depressed;
“If you have lost all of your joy, if the best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup (if that’s going to be the best part of waking up, you might be better off in bed) if you haven’t smiled in so long no one can remember it, if you no longer enjoy the things you used to love, if you feel like God has gone to Key West & lost your phone number, if your face carries the message that you’ve been Baptized in lemon juice & weaned on a pickle, you’d better swallow your spiritual pride & call it what it is (depression) before it becomes something exceedingly worse.”
When was the last time you had this kind of feeling; like you might do something drastic? Truthfully this happens & it happens to the best of Christians.
Paul tells us in Eph.6:12—for we wrestle not with flesh & blood but against principalities, against powers, against the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.
This doesn’t mean that we go looking for a devil behind every mood-swing but neither should we ignore this truth.
For most of us, if we get into an emotional fog, we know it’s just a temporary feeling brought on us by certain circumstances. Sometimes getting out of bed is hard & people have no energy & can’t concentrate. These feelings usually lift but if they start interfering with our daily life very long it might be clinical depression & then a person should seek professional help. The music David played for Saul lifted his spirits temporarily but the spirit came back over & over again. I think that’s one of the reasons so many billions are spent on music; people are seeking to ward-off depression.
I’m convinced that shopping sprees are another way many people try to lift their spirits. They live with the idea that they’re one shopping trip from happiness. What happens is, they fill their houses up with things they don’t need & as soon as they “lick the candy” off their latest acquisition, they are right back where they started.
Then there are those who use food, alcohol or some other substance to lift their spirits but it’s a lift that doesn’t last.
Here are six misconceptions about depression.
1. WEAK PEOPLE GET DEPRESSED.
The truth is that it takes a strong person to bear up under depression. Saul stood head & shoulders above any man in Israel. He had broad shoulders & a strong constitution but he was still depressed.
Periodically we read about sports figures, people who make their living being stronger than the average person, admitting to depression. Anyone who’s ever read the story of Elijah knows that weakness in no way describes this Prophet, but he got depressed & begged God to kill him. No wonder, he’d just run over 100 miles trying to put distance between himself & Jezebel who’d threatened to kill him.
David was a mighty warrior & leader of men but even a cursory reading of the Psalms he wrote reveal his bouts with depression. For a whole year he didn’t write a song or tune his harp.
Certainly Jeremiah wasn’t a weakling but he got so depressed he walked into God’s office, laid down his prophet-credentials, accused God of lying to Him & vowed never to say God’s name again as long as he lived. From now on God would be “old-what’s-his-name-in-the-sky.” You will remember that Elijah couldn’t stick to that vow when he discovered that God’s words were-“like fire shut-up in my bones.”
Another wrong attitude about depression is;
2. IT’S A SPECIAL HELL RESERVED FOR THE FEW.
If you have been reading the popular magazines & newspapers in the last few years, or for that matter listening to the media you’re aware that we are presently living in the “age of melancholy.” The World Health organization says that by the year 2020, if present trends continue, depression will rank second only to heart disease as the number one disabler of persons. On any given day depression affects 18 million Americans. 12 million will go untreated. Chances are 1 in 5 of us will experience an episode of depression in our lives. The question is, if it strikes, “Where will we go for help?”
3. SOME PEOPLE THINK DEPRESSION IS A MENTAL ILLNESS.
Depression can be a chemical imbalance in the brain, but in truth many illnesses, mental & physical are caused by some sort of chemical imbalance. i.e. Diabetes, etc.
Loss can trigger depression. I’ve known people who had a great loss in their life, went into depression & never snapped out of it. This can happen with the loss of a spouse. Loss of any kind can trigger depression. Some people get depressed when they start getting older & grieve over loss of youth. Most of us snap out of it by considering the alternative.
Pain can also trigger depression. I read an article recently that in America, back pain is a leading cause of depression.
We are in a culture that so idolizes youth that today many teenagers & pre-teens are suffering depression because of the prospects of aging.
The pace of our modern day life also causes some people to be depressed. In my forties I kept such a rigid travel schedule along with being a pastor that I often had mild spells of depression. In 1981 I went to China & several other Oriental countries for three weeks & when I came home I thought I’d never get back to normalcy. People who are depressed will often say the world seems “surreal” to them. I don’t think we realize how jet travel, computers, cell phones & fast cars (all of which I use) have robbed us of the normal human scale of life.
Researchers say that cortisol; a stress hormone can also cause depression. It’s harmless in small doses but when stress causes inordinate amounts to constantly be pumped into the body it can rob us of energy, mobility, our sex drives, & our basic ability to feel human emotions. I read about a man who experienced this to such a degree that he lost all ability to love his wife, parents & his children. He had pushed himself so long trying to be successful that he was, in the vernacular, burned-out; so burned out that he no longer had real feelings. I hope & pray it was temporary for him.
4. ANOTHER MISCONCEPTION ABOUT DEPRESSION IS THAT IT’S A RESULT OF SIN IN ONES LIFE--& THAT DEPRESSION ITSELF IS SIN.
This is not so. Charles Haddon Spurgeon the great 19th century preacher often called “The prince of preachers,” the man God used to light the fires of the 19th century revival movement suffered from depression most of his adult life. It wasn’t uncommon for him to be away from his pulpit two or three months a year because of depression. I don’t know whether this is true but many scholars think that Paul’s “Thorn in the flesh” may have been depression. I will say however that if Paul wasn’t depressed he missed several good chances. After all, his kin, his race, & his people largely rejected Jesus as the Messiah.
And what about some of those churches? Maybe he was depressed by the failure of the churches he planted to live out their life in Christ. They were a constant anxiety to him. (2nd Cor.11:28.)
Abraham Lincoln; at the height of the Civil War said, “If the misery I feel was equally divided among every member of the human race, there would not be a single smiling face among us.”
The Bible tells us that Moses, Jeremiah, Job, & Elijah all had bouts of depression. I have a feeling that some of the best people suffer from depression. The truth is life is not always a stroll through a rose garden. There are mountains & valleys. There are many downward slopes. I have known pastors who didn’t want to take Mondays off because they were still stressed out from Sunday & they didn’t want to feel that bad on their day off. They could enjoy a day off later in the week much more. We should learn to see these depressed times less like a pit to climb out of & more like a tunnel to pass through.
But we can’t blame all depression on things like the pace of life, stress & chemical imbalance. We mustn’t overlook the possibility that unrepentant & unconfessed sin is a major cause of depression.
Saul had every right to be depressed. God had anointed him to be king of Israel but he disobeyed God & gradually backslid. God ended up giving the kingdom to David. Saul, the man with all the potential in the world ended up committing suicide on Mount Gilboa.
When David’s baby died he was able to throw it off but when it came to his sin with Bathsheba & the murder of her husband, his writings show us it continued to depress him. I suspect that a lot of people would get rid of depression if only they got rid of their sin.
You could say it like this; ---when we grieve the Holy Spirit by our sin, He turns around & grieves us back.
Another myth about depression is that;
5. DEPRESSION IS ALWAYS BAD.
In Saul’s case, God was dealing with him causing him to be depressed because of his wrong doing. There is only one thing I can think of that is worse than depression & that’s for a person to become so dead to the stirrings of the Holy Spirit that they can totally ignore Him. When that happens we are beyond help because it’s impossible to repent. This is what Jesus meant when he said the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is the unforgivable sin. (Matt. 12:31)
According to Hebrews 12:6-- “God chastens whom He loves.” We are convicted of sin & righteousness & judgment. (John 16:8) We ought to take a measure of hope if we are in sin & its depressing us. There remains the possibility that we will humble ourselves before God & receive His aid & forgiveness.
If we’re experiencing depression we should ask ourselves questions like; am I harboring bitterness toward another person? Have I addressed the sin in my life? Am I feeling guilty about something? Have I turned away from God? Am I being a faithful Christian? And so on.
6. FINALLY, SOME DEPRESSED FOLK FEEL THERE’S NO HOPE FOR THEM.
This is a myth. If the depression is a chemical imbalance, there is prayer & there are also medications that can do wonders. Many other depressed people can be helped by a change of diet, rest or by taking up a hobby for physical activity. I read somewhere that it’s impossible to actually be depressed while exercising. I’ve known people who always had headaches & were so sick it kept them constantly depressed. A trip to the doctor revealed they were eating too much sugar or other bad foods & when this changed they were different people.
One of the best ways to fight a mild case of depression is to do something. We don’t feel our way to a different way of acting, rather we act our way to a different way of feeling. If you wake up one morning & feel depressed, talk to depression like you would a person.
· “O.K depression, I see you are here & that’s alright but you have to understand I’ve got a lot to do. I’m getting out of this bed depressed. I’m going to shower, if necessary depressed. I’m going to eat breakfast depressed. I’m going to work depressed & I’m going to work all day depressed if that’s the way it has to be. Then I’m coming home depressed. I’ll eat my supper depressed & I’m going to church depressed.”
It’s possible but not probable that depression will still be there when they sing the first worship song. It could possibly still be there after the second song. But if you’ll keep on singing & praising something will happen & depression will have to go for James said “Draw nigh to God & he’ll draw night unto you.”
In all the years I’ve been preaching, I’ve rarely felt like preaching when I first started. But after I’ve been preaching about 5 minutes, something happens & I start feeling different. Then I don’t feel like stopping. Many people over the years have been grateful that I don’t go by my feelings.
If a person’s depression is spiritual in nature, the result of sin, that person can find release by turning to the God who loves them.
Psalm 32 continues;
5. I acknowledge my sin to you, O, Lord. & I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgression to the Lord; then you forgave the guilt of my sin. 6. Therefore let every one who is Godly offer a prayer to you; at a time of distress, in the rush of great waters, they shall not be reached. 7. God, you art a hiding place…..
There isn’t a “twelve step program” for avoiding depression, but there are however some steps we can take if we’re facing it.
We should ask ourselves the questions; do we have trouble making decisions? Do we experience a lot of uncontrollable crying? If a person is living on the verge of tears all the time, though as I said I’m no expert, I think that should be recognized as serious & an individual should seek help either through personal prayer or through Christian counseling.
If a person is having trouble getting out of bed, can’t seem to make it to work or to school, or if thoughts of suicide are creeping into their head, in these cases immediate care is necessary & steps should be taken with a professional.
WHEN HOLIDAYS COME UP IT WOULD BE LUDICRUS NOT TO INCLUDE,
POST HOLIDAY DEPRESSION.
Have you ever noticed that depression can strike after a holiday, or for that matter, after any of the great celebrations of life? We feel the build-up of excitement & all of the sudden its over. The problem is that big days tend to magnify all our emotions. We suffer from an intense case of the “oughts” during the holidays. We believe we ought to be able to give our children all the things they want, & we ought to be able to satisfy all the time demands of our extended family. We ought to spend the holidays in the middle of a great big adoring family. Unfortunately the real holiday experience never quite lives up to our “oughts.”
Nurses report that the maternity ward of a hospital can be one of the saddest places in the world. The initial rush is gone. Now the baby is keeping you up all night; you are tired & discouraged & asking yourself—“why did I ever get myself into this situation?” They even have a medical name for it; Postpartum Depression. After any great success or triumph after any of the great accomplishments of life, there’s normally a reaction, a falling back. You can almost feel things slowing down, returning to the routine & the mundane.
WE SHOULD BE CERTAIN TO TALK TO GOD ABOUT OUR MOODS & REMEMBER PRAYER IS A POWERFUL TOOL AGAINST DEPRESSION.
When Jesus was having a difficult time He went to God & cried out, “Please God, deliver me from this.” We should make certain we’re getting enough rest & ask ourselves if some unresolved conflict or unconfessed sin is causing this. But no matter what, I encourage anyone battling depression to seek help from God & also from trained Christian professionals if necessary.
No one needs to be held captive to depression, there is a way out.
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.—Isaiah 61:3—
Blessings,
John
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