By John Stallings
Someone recently said,
“I see Americans cheering the unnatural death of someone whom God loves. I see my nation glorying in our own vengeance, even though God says: “Vengeance is mine.” Christians believe that all humanity was created in God’s image including the worst of us. We believe that Christ came to offer salvation to even the worst of sinners. Christians believe that God loves even a murderer such as Osama bin Laden.
The celebrations look familiar. I have been frightened before by news broadcasts where hateful Iranians burn our flag, yell hate, or celebrate our mourning. Our celebration of death matches the hatred that we condemned elsewhere. When humanity glories in the killing, we do not honor God. We also do not end violence, but we add to violence. Because of my faith — I am offended.
I know that some will point out that Osama killed and deserves to die — perhaps this is true, but God can redeem even the worst of sinners. God values even the life of murderers. Even Saul the persecutor who sought to kill all Christians met Jesus on the road to Damascus. After meeting Jesus, Paul later became a chief spokesman for Christianity. Who are we to make this judgment for God?”
WHAT’S A CHRISTIAN TO DO?
OBL’s death was the news the world has been waiting to hear for a decade now. Finally it has come, and celebrations have erupted around the globe, especially in America. With the leader of al-Qaida now finally killed, one small – but significant – step in the war against terror has been completed.
Of course he has been leading the terrorist organization for more than twenty years now, but the West only came to learn about him big time after 9/11. The attack on America was only one of his many acts of terror. But with his death, one chapter in this ugly terrorist assault is now closed.
There will certainly be many who will seek to take his place, and reprisals may well be forthcoming. So how all this exactly pans out in the days ahead remains to be seen. But I for one rejoice at this news. It is a case of justice being meted out to a very evil person.
However already in all the early discussion about this, a lot of different Christian thought is emerging. Lefties and pacifists of course will think this is bad news. They trot out all the usual tired arguments about how all killing is wrong, and how violence never solves anything.
Indeed, so much silly thinking on this has appeared in such a short period of time that I am quite amazed to be honest. We expect non-believers to come up with such vapid thinking but for believers who should know something about their Bible to do so as well is simply sad.
For example, some have said that the use of violence only leads to more violence, and we should have nothing to do with the use of force. The answer to this is simple: try telling that to the prisoners at Auschwitz. Try convincing them that the use of force never achieves anything.
Try telling them that all killing is always evil, and that the Allies were so very wrong to try to stop Hitler and liberate the concentration camps. Only someone who has never experienced such horrors could make such ludicrous statements.
Then some believers rather foolishly try to make the case that all killing is murder, and that God condemns all killing. Never mind that God in fact has condoned at least three types of killing: capital punishment, self-defense and just war. But some believers just don’t get it – or don’t want to get it. No female would be safe behind any door or wall were it not for our strong laws against rape and the fact that we put rapists to death.
The fact that many people can’t make the most basic of mental and moral distinctions baffles me. The Bible is quite clear on this: not all killing is morally wrong. Yet some of these believers think they know better than God, and are more moral than God. They actually sit in judgment on God, insisting that he conform to their morality.
Some people would use Matthew 5:44 for example, with its call to love our enemies. Briefly stated, this was a personal ethic mentioned by Jesus, which must be seen in the light of the social ethics elsewhere defined in Scripture.
Paul for example examines the use of force – even killing – by divinely-ordained government, as he writes in Romans 13:1-7.
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Some good folk will raise the objection of Matthew 28:19-20 which speaks about the Great Commission – our responsibility to preach the gospel to all people. These people obviously think that we should never kill anyone because that takes away their chance to hear the preaching of the gospel.
But that is not a very thoughtful objection. Just take it to its logical conclusion: if we want everyone to have as many chances to hear the gospel, and for the longest possible amount of time, then we should be doing everything we can to ensure that people live as long as possible.
Any scientific discovery to extend our lifespan should be welcomed unconditionally, and anything which might reduce it should be resisted at all costs. And by this reasoning, all killing whatsoever should be resisted, since it lessens the time a person has to hear the gospel.
Thus we were quite wrong to kill Hitler, or Saddam, or bin Laden. If an armed rapist breaks into our home, it would be wrong to try to resist him – at least by killing him – because that would shorten his time to hear the good news and repent.
But this is rather silly. God has appointed a time for each person on earth to leave this world. Many people die in infancy. If God has allowed this, then he is wrong, according to this kind of reasoning, because the person did not have a proper opportunity to encounter the gospel.
The truth is, we do have an imperative to tell everyone the gospel. But when it is time for people to go, they will go. And if God has ordained for example the state to punish evildoers, and that includes the death penalty, then God is not unjust to send them to an early grave.
Others will cite Proverbs 24:17-18:
“Don’t rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, lest the LORD see it and be displeased.”
Yes that is a biblical principle, but it is not the last word on the subject. Indeed, any one verse alone can be used to say anything. But we must let Scripture interpret Scripture. Another Proverb that can equally be used here is Prov. 11:10:
“When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.”
There are many such passages. When we look at the issues of evil, justice, and judgment on wrongdoing – both divine and human judgment – we see lots of passages which actually speak of rejoicing over the destruction of the wicked, of seeing justice triumph, and so on.
We certainly find this in the Wisdom literature, of which Proverbs is a part. Many psalms for example speak to this as well, such as Ps 44:7-8; Ps 60:12; Ps 118:6-7; etc. As but one example, consider a passage like Psalm 139:21-2:
“Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.”
Of course we need to take care with such passages. But there are plenty of them. Read the Song of Moses in Exodus 15, wherein God’s people rejoice and exalt in the destruction of their enemies. After Moses and the Israelites sing this song as an act of worship, we read these words in vv. 19-21:
“When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing. Miriam sang to them:
‘Sing to the LORD,
for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
he has hurled into the sea’.”
Then there is the climax of history when a heavenly praise meeting erupts because of God’s judgment on the wicked. The people are finally vindicated and they celebrate God’s judgment of the enemies of God and his people. Read Rev. 18:20; 19:1-3 for example.
But all such discussions are not in fact new. Should Christians be pacifists, or is there a case for just war? Is there a proper and moral use of force? How should Christians think about international relations – and more recently – the war on terror? There will always be disagreements on these sorts of issues.
Some Christians will never shake their pacifism, and there is little anyone can do to convince them otherwise. So we will just have to learn to agree to disagree here. But one thing we all can do is sharpen up our intellectual skills and our moral reasoning. There is far too much wishy-washy and mushy moralizing out there in some Christian circles.
Confused and muddled thinking does not really bring clarity to the debate. We all at least need to be willing to trade in any preconceived ideas and agendas for what the Word of God actually teaches. But nonetheless we can expect that these sorts of debates will keep percolating.
In my last blog I acknowledged that any human being spending eternity in Hell is absolutely awful. It’s so awful in fact we continue to see “theologians” attempt to "massage Christian revelation " so that they can believe no human actually ends up in hell.
Nonetheless Hell is a creation of God and like everything else He created it’s morally good. As we all know Hell serves God’s just nature – His rebellious creations, be they angels or humans, meet their just end in this place.
Where Osama is concerned it’s clear to me that he’s solely responsible for his eternity because of his actions. In new information coming out we see even more clearly that he was vigorously committed to his bloody agenda, and was planning to use trains to kill as many American’s as possible on the upcoming anniversary of 9/11. I have a hard time being sympathetic when this is clearly the intentionally chosen course of his life and life’s work and I for one feel comfortable as one who loves life, peace, and justice saying it was a good thing that OBL was taken out.
Yes, it would have been far better for him to convert but his stubborn refusal to do so leave this the best available alternative.
As a result, my Biblically informed Christian conscience is free to see Osama’s death as God’s good gift of justice in a morally warped world.
Blessings,
John
Friday, May 6, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
What Happens When We Die?
By John Stallings
How great was it to get the news that Osama Bin Laden, one of history’s most repugnant butchers had tasted of American justice and that his body has already been buried at sea so that no shrine or memorial could ever be built by his followers in his “honor?”
This Sunday past was a bad day for Bin Laden but a great day for America.
I wept with joy while watching Fox News as spontaneous victory celebrations broke out all over the country. I watched the video, available on You Tube, of the people on New York subways late Sunday night rejoicing and singing patriotic songs.
We’ve seen so many rallies lately with people from all political persuasions carrying placards and shouting hate-filled rhetoric, it does our national soul good to finally get some news that would bring us together acting like we did in the days following 9/11.
Speaking of Bin Laden and the war he spawned, If Jesus tarries His coming, death will come-eventually for all of us, sooner than we think for some of us. Death is extremely democratic; all of us will get a shot at it. I’m told that every second that ticks 24/7, someone in the world dies.
I’m sure Bin Laden wasn’t expecting to split hell wide open so soon but I can assure you in less than a minute after he was shot by a crack team of U.S Navy Seals he was in hell along with other inhabitants of darkness such as Hitler, Pol pot, Judas Iscariot and Mussolini.
Our Navy Seals are trained not to shot an individuals’ face off, but to put one bullet in their forehead. Identification will probably be no problem.
THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS IN OUR LIVES
The most important moments in a person’s life are the first two minutes after death. It’s during these crucial moments that every person who ever lived will know whether what they believed was true or not.
There are very few people, if any, who can honestly say they are not interested in what awaits them just before and after death. Some are extremely uncomfortable with the topic and avoid talking about it at all costs.
A lot of people struggle with the loss of a loved one and need comfort and answers. To say there’s a lot of misinformation going around about death would be a classic understatement. Pop psychology abounds with stories of “bright tunnels” and lights and numerous books have been written by people telling of their own “near death” experiences.
Earnest Hemmingway, author of “Death in the afternoon” wrote, “Life is so full of problems, the only remedy for them is death.” Sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy for a man who would blow his brains out not long afterward.
A few years ago Raymond Moody wrote a best-seller called Life After Life, which purported to detail the near-death experiences of men and women who “died” and then came back to tell remarkably similar stories of weightlessness, with bright lights and reunions with loved ones.
• Hundreds of so-called “channelers” claim to be able to contact the spirits of the dead.
• The New Age Movement has popularized such Eastern concepts as the transmigration of souls, reincarnation (thanks especially to Shirley McClain), spiritualism, and communication with the dead.
• The Ouija Board remains a perpetual fascination for youngsters.
• Today, via the Internet, anyone with a computer and modem can connect with online psychics, spirit guides, and experts in reincarnation. I’m told that there are 16,000 Internet sites about witchcraft, 13,000 about reincarnation, 12,000 about psychics, 10,000 about sorcery, 5,000 about clairvoyance, and 1000 about necromancy. Nearly all these sites are free and easily accessible.
WHY THIS FASCINATION WITH THE WORLD BEYOND THE GRAVE?
Is it not because death is so final? Whatever one thinks about the reports of “near-death” visions, death -when it finally comes is irreversible. When you finally cross the line, there is no coming back from the other side. Death wins the battle every time. After the doctors have tried the latest wonder drug, after the best minds have pooled their wisdom, after the philosophers have done their best to explain that death is only a natural part of life, we come face to face with the ugly reality that some day we will all die. And that death-whether planned or accidental, whether comfortable or painful-will be the end of life as we have known it.
Three Questions
Nothing is certain-except death and taxes. But death is more certain than taxes. A clever man can find ways to evade taxes but no one evades the Grim Reaper. When your time is up, it’s up.
Death can be postponed, but never eliminated. Someday I will die, and those I love the most will die, and nothing can change this solemn fact. There’s a parting at the end of the way. We all have a rendezvous with death.
No wonder the human mind is drawn to the question, -“What happens when we die?” In many ways it’s the one remaining unanswered question. We know so much about so many things, but about life after death, we know so very little.
There are three great questions every person must answer:
1. Where did I come from?
2. Why am I here?
3. Where am I going?
It’s the third question that most grips the heart of man, for in one sense, the question “Where did I come from?” is yesterday’s news and the question “Why am I here?” is one that we answer every day. But the third question takes us into the unseen future-into the unfolding years and decades. What happens when we die? Is death the end of everything? Does man live for a few years and then simply vanish from the screen? Do we simply play our part and then shuffle off the stage into the misty obscurity of nothingness? Or is there something more, something beyond the great divide? Thousands of years ago Job spoke for the rest of us when he asked, “If a man dies, will he live again?” Job 14:14.
THE BIBLE IS FULL OF INFORMATION ABOUT DEATH.
In answering questions about life after death, we’re left with only two sources to consult. Either we turn to human experience or we turn to the Word of God. If we turn to human experience, we find many guesses, many ideas, many theories-but no sure answers. That’s because no human has a sure answer. The only people who have the answer are dead! That leaves us with the Word of God. In God’s Word we find ample, abundant answers. God who knows the future knows what happens when we die … and he hasn’t left us to wonder about it. The Bible is filled with information on this subject, so much in fact that I could never hope to cover it all here.
If you want the answer in one sentence, - what happens after you die depends on what you do before you die. Consider what the Bible says in Hebrews 9:27 (KJV),
“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
This is an appointment no one will miss. The statistics on death are appalling. One hundred out of 100 people will eventually die. We are terminally ill with a disease called death; we just don’t know when the end will come.
Last week while watching the wedding of Prince William and his bride Kate, we were reminded of Princess Diana who died unexpectedly in 1997 in a tragic car accident in Paris. We were also stunned this week by the unexpected home going of one of God’s generals David Wilkerson in a tragic car accident in Texas.
A couple of years back I was shocked when Dottie Rambo was killed on her bus when spring storms collided with the path she and her entourage were traveling. She was knocked out of bed and killed in a situation where I’m sure she couldn’t have felt safer.
IS THERE A SECOND CHANCE AFTER DEATH?
This is the popular view of many people who hope that those who did not accept Christ in this life will somehow have a second chance after death-either in the afterlife or perhaps through reincarnation. The answer is quite simple. There is no biblical support whatsoever for the notion of a “second chance.”
Here’s the truth; the only opportunity you and I will ever have to get right with God is the opportunity God affords right now. If you dream of coming to God after you die, you are nursing an empty dream -a vain hope.
WHAT ABOUT NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES?
Such experiences are very popular today. Betty Eadie wrote a bestselling book called "Embraced by the Light" which purports to tell of her “death” and her visit to heaven. Unfortunately, the book embraces unbiblical heresy and is in fact closer to Mormon theology than to the New Testament.
In thinking about this question, we need biblical balance. On one hand it’s undeniably true that some Bible characters did see the Lord before they died. Stephen saw Jesus just before he died in Acts 7. Paul was evidently given a vision of heaven-perhaps during his stoning at Lystra in Acts 14. He alludes to the event in 2 Corinthians 12. However, it’s important to say that such revelations did not often happen even in Bible times. Not every believer had or will have a revelation of heaven.
Could such a thing happen today? Yes, but we shouldn’t expect it or base our hope of heaven upon a last-second experience. Let’s also remember that Satan, the great deceiver, is at work. He can create scenes that seem to be scenes of heaven but are actually creations born in hell. Many near-death experiences are demonic in nature.
We should never base our hope of heaven-or the hope of seeing a loved one in heaven-on a supposed vision or revelation. The only reliable ground given to us is the eternal, unchanging Word of God.
WHAT HAPPENS TO CHILDREN WHO DIE?
This is obviously a very tender subject to many people. Parents want to know: Will I see my child again? The place to begin in answering this question is with the observation that the Bible doesn’t specifically address this question. However, we do know two things are true. First, children are not born innocent, but sinful. If children who die do go to heaven-and I believe they do-it’s not because they are morally innocent in the sight of God. No, all of us are born with an inclination to sin that leads us away from God. Ephesians 2:1 says that we are spiritually dead by nature. That applies as much to young children as it does to full-grown adults. Second, we know that God’s grace is always greater than human sin. Romans 5:20 reminds us that where sin abounded, grace super-abounded. God’s grace always goes far beyond sin’s disgrace.
I believe that God’s grace credits children with the merits of Jesus’ blood and righteousness so that those children-who die before they are old enough to believe-are covered by his blood and their entrance into heaven made sure and certain. Thus they are saved by grace just as we are.
I’ve written more than once about how my mother, who nursed a bitter, backslidden spirit for a year after her first daughter died unexpectedly at seven, was brought back to God by the reality that her daughter was with the Lord and she could never hope to see her again unless she was reunited with her in heaven.
CAN WE CONTACT THE DEAD AFTER THEY’RE GONE?
No. Any attempt to dabble in spirit contact is strictly forbidden in the Bible. It is sometimes called necromancy or sorcery or dealing with familiar spirits. Remember, demons can masquerade as the dead. They can even mimic the voices of our loved ones and give information that only the dead person would have known. For more on this subject, see Leviticus 19:26, 28, 31; Deuteronomy 18:9-14; Galatians 5:19-21.
Don’t attempt to contact the dead through any means at all-séances, Ouija Boards, crystal balls, psychic readers, channelers or mediums. You are involving yourself in that which God forbids. Leave the dead alone.
WHAT DO YOU SAY TO SOMEONE WHO HAS A LOST LOVED ONE?
Over the years I have discovered that it really doesn’t matter what you say-in terms of the precise words. Those who are grieving will not remember the words you say, but they will never forget that you cared enough to be there when they needed you. If you go with the love of God in your heart, he will give you any words you need to say.
What happens at the moment of death?
Now we come to the question of the hour. What happens at the very moment of death? We’ve already given the general answer: What happens when you die depends on what happens before you die. The Bible classifies the whole human race into two broad categories-the saved and the lost. What happens to the saved is radically different from what happens to the lost.
FOR THE SAVED
The Bible is abundantly clear on this point. When the saved die, they go directly into the presence of the Lord. Remember the words of Jesus to the thief on the cross,
“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
This is a straightforward promise that at the moment of death the repentant thief would pass from his life of crime and his agonizing death into the realm called “paradise.” This contradicts the teaching called “soul-sleep” which implies that at death a believer “sleeps” in a kind of suspended animation until the day of the resurrection. How could the thief be that very day in paradise if his soul were to go to sleep when he died? At the moment of death the believer passes immediately into the presence of Jesus Christ. This is our hope and comfort as we stand at the graveside of a loved one. Paul said he had a desire to depart and to
…. “be with Christ, which is better by far” (Philippians 1:23).
He also said,
“We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body (that is, separated from the body by death) and at home with the Lord” II Corinthians 5:8. You’ll be blessed by re-reading the first ten verses of this chapter.
These are the words of a man who believed that heaven would begin at the moment of his death. Was Paul looking forward to an unconscious slumber after his death? No! He was looking forward to the presence of Jesus Christ.
But that’s not the whole story. The soul goes to be with the Lord in heaven and the body is buried until the day of resurrection when Jesus returns to the earth. I Thessalonians 4:14 says,
“We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”
Here you have both sides of the truth. Christians who die are said to be “with Jesus” -that’s the soul in the conscious presence of the Lord- and “have fallen asleep in him” -that’s the body which “sleeps” in the grave. Listen to Paul’s description of that great reunion of body and soul:
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first” (I Thessalonians 4:16).
Here is a clear promise of future bodily resurrection for the believer. First Corinthians 15:51-55 adds the magnificent fact that our bodies will be “raised imperishable"-that is, with a body that is perfect in every way, free from the vestiges of death and decay. In this life our bodies wear out, like a clock continually running down, but when we are raised, it will be with bodies that can never decay, never wear out, never suffer injury, never grow old, never get sick, and thank God, never die.
Many Christians have a wrong view of death. We think we’re going from the land of the living to the land of the dying-No! If you know Jesus, you are going from the land of the dying to the land of the living.
Here are some of the images the Bible uses for the death of a Christian: going to sleep and waking up in heaven … moving from a tent to a mansion … walking from the darkness into a well-lit room … coming home to see your family and friends … being set free from prison … taking a long journey to a new land … riding a chariot to the New Jerusalem … moving into a brand-new home … opening a gate to a brand-new world.
Christians have always faced death with confidence. Over the years many people have asked me how God can raise the dead if the body has been burned or lost or vaporized in some terrible explosion. I don’t think that’s a difficult question at all. If you can raise the dead, you can raise the dead. Resurrection is God’s problem, not ours. We don’t need to know the how of the resurrection as long as we know the who.
As he lay dying, D. L. Moody proclaimed, “Earth recedes, heaven opens before me.” Catherine Booth, wife of the founder of the Salvation Army, cried out, “The waters are rising, but I am not sinking.” And George MacDonald, the English novelist, said, “I came from God, and I’m going back to God, and I won’t have any gaps of death in the middle of my life.” John Wesley summed up the faith of the early Methodists with four simple words: “Our people die well.”
Once our bodies are raised, we will be with the Lord forever. Wherever he is, there we will be, rejoicing, praising, singing and celebrating throughout the ages of eternity. First Thessalonians 4:17 says, “We will be with the Lord forever.” Speaking of his own return, Jesus said,
In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2-3).
What is ahead for us when we die?
1. Our soul goes into the conscious presence of the Lord.
2. Our body is buried until the day of resurrection.
3. When Christ returns, we will be raised bodily from the grave.
4. Body and soul reunited, we will be with the Lord forever.
DEATH FOR THE LOST
Let's consider the fate of those who die without Jesus Christ. The lost fear death and with good reason. Job 18:14 calls death “the king of terrors.” Hebrews 2:14 reminds us that the devil holds people in bondage through the fear of death. And 1 Corinthians 15:26 calls death “the last enemy.”
Let’s note one similarity between the fate of the saved and the lost. At the moment of death, the soul enters a new realm while the body is buried in the grave. For the believer, the moment of death brings him into the personal presence of Christ. For the unbeliever, death begins an experience of unending conscious punishment.
We can summarize the fate of the lost in four short statements:
#- At the moment of death, the soul of the lost is sent to hell where it is in conscious torment. In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus told of a rich man, who upon his death, went to hell and suffered in the flames of torment. It matters not whether you think this passage is literal or figurative. If you say it is literal, then it must be a terrible punishment. If it is figurative, the figure itself is so awful to consider, that the reality must be much worse.
# -The punishment is eternal. Though this is debated in some circles today, Christians have united across the centuries in their belief that the Bible teaches an eternal punishment for those who do not know our Lord. Mark 9:43-48 speaks of the fire that is not quenched and the worm that does not die-a reference to the continuing existence of human personality in hell.
I noted-with chills up my spine-the words of the father of a 9/11 survivor when he assured people of a literal heaven and hell and spoke of his assurance that Bin Laden was in hell. Did that make hell more real to me? Not really, but I was blessed to hear a layman say something I haven’t heard a gospel preacher say in years.
# -The body is raised at the Great White Throne judgment. Revelation 20:11-15 describes the awesome scene as the unsaved dead are raised to stand before God and receive their final sentence of doom.
# -The unsaved are then cast into the lake of fire where they will reside forever, eternally separated from the presence of Almighty God. If this is unbearable to think about, if we shrink from such a thought, then let’s by all means do whatever is necessary to make sure that such a fate does not befall us or the ones we love the most.
This is the final destiny of those who do not know Jesus Christ. To make it more personal, it’s the final destiny of our friends, neighbors, loved ones, r parents, brothers, sisters, and children, if they die without Jesus Christ.
And, yes, it’s your destiny if you die without Jesus Christ. Let that thought linger in your mind. The reality of hell is more than just a theoretical doctrine. There is a place reserved for you in the lake of fire unless you, by a conscious choice, put your complete trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
IF YOU KNOW JESUS YOU HAVE NOTING TO FEAR WHEN DEATH CALLS.
Death comes to all of us-it will come for you one of these days. If we know Jesus we need not live in fear. Death may be quick or slow, painful or painless, but when the moment comes, you will find yourself ushered into heaven where you will see Jesus face to face.
Some people wonder if they will have enough faith when they die. When she was a young child in Holland Corrie Ten Boom worried about her own death and whether or not she would have enough courage when the moment finally came. Her father-Papa Ten Boom-knew of her fears and calmed her heart with these words. “Corrie, when I am going to take you on the train, when do I give you the ticket?” “Just before we get on board.” “That’s right. Dying is like taking a trip to see the Lord Jesus. He will give you whatever you need just when you need it. If you don’t have the courage now, it’s because you don’t need it now. When you need it, the Lord will give it to you, and you won’t be afraid.”
Jesus Has the Keys
Listen to the words of Jesus in Revelation 1:18, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore and have the keys of hell and of death.
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25, 26).
If you have put your trust in Jesus, you will never die. What an amazing promise. Believers die every day but for the believer, death is merely the passing from this life with all its sorrows into life eternal in the presence of our Lord.
The question is not: What happens when we die? But rather: What happened before we died?
DEATH ISN’T THE END OF THE ROAD -BUT RATHER A BEND IN THE ROAD.
For the believer, death is the doorway to heaven. For the unbeliever, it’s a passageway into unimaginable suffering. These things are true even if we do not fully understand. They are true even if we don’t believe them. While it gives me no personal gratification, let me quote what I heard an unbeliever say at the tire shop recently, and he said it several times; -“Sure as hell’” Even the devil’s crowd seems to be totally convinced.
Within a four day span one of God’s 5 Star Generals, David Wilkerson and Osama Bin Laden, one of Satan’s minions slipped through the phantom walls that separate us all from eternity. Both of them died which is what the Bible says will happen to us all.
One of these men had the blood of untold thousands of innocent people on his hands. The other man led millions to the foot of the blood soaked cross upon which the Prince of Glory died. While both men died violently, their eternal souls took different directions; one to heaven the other to hell.
What happens when you die depends on what happens before you die. Dear friend, make sure you’re ready so that when the time comes…
You won’t be surprised by what happens next.
Blessings,
John
How great was it to get the news that Osama Bin Laden, one of history’s most repugnant butchers had tasted of American justice and that his body has already been buried at sea so that no shrine or memorial could ever be built by his followers in his “honor?”
This Sunday past was a bad day for Bin Laden but a great day for America.
I wept with joy while watching Fox News as spontaneous victory celebrations broke out all over the country. I watched the video, available on You Tube, of the people on New York subways late Sunday night rejoicing and singing patriotic songs.
We’ve seen so many rallies lately with people from all political persuasions carrying placards and shouting hate-filled rhetoric, it does our national soul good to finally get some news that would bring us together acting like we did in the days following 9/11.
Speaking of Bin Laden and the war he spawned, If Jesus tarries His coming, death will come-eventually for all of us, sooner than we think for some of us. Death is extremely democratic; all of us will get a shot at it. I’m told that every second that ticks 24/7, someone in the world dies.
I’m sure Bin Laden wasn’t expecting to split hell wide open so soon but I can assure you in less than a minute after he was shot by a crack team of U.S Navy Seals he was in hell along with other inhabitants of darkness such as Hitler, Pol pot, Judas Iscariot and Mussolini.
Our Navy Seals are trained not to shot an individuals’ face off, but to put one bullet in their forehead. Identification will probably be no problem.
THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS IN OUR LIVES
The most important moments in a person’s life are the first two minutes after death. It’s during these crucial moments that every person who ever lived will know whether what they believed was true or not.
There are very few people, if any, who can honestly say they are not interested in what awaits them just before and after death. Some are extremely uncomfortable with the topic and avoid talking about it at all costs.
A lot of people struggle with the loss of a loved one and need comfort and answers. To say there’s a lot of misinformation going around about death would be a classic understatement. Pop psychology abounds with stories of “bright tunnels” and lights and numerous books have been written by people telling of their own “near death” experiences.
Earnest Hemmingway, author of “Death in the afternoon” wrote, “Life is so full of problems, the only remedy for them is death.” Sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy for a man who would blow his brains out not long afterward.
A few years ago Raymond Moody wrote a best-seller called Life After Life, which purported to detail the near-death experiences of men and women who “died” and then came back to tell remarkably similar stories of weightlessness, with bright lights and reunions with loved ones.
• Hundreds of so-called “channelers” claim to be able to contact the spirits of the dead.
• The New Age Movement has popularized such Eastern concepts as the transmigration of souls, reincarnation (thanks especially to Shirley McClain), spiritualism, and communication with the dead.
• The Ouija Board remains a perpetual fascination for youngsters.
• Today, via the Internet, anyone with a computer and modem can connect with online psychics, spirit guides, and experts in reincarnation. I’m told that there are 16,000 Internet sites about witchcraft, 13,000 about reincarnation, 12,000 about psychics, 10,000 about sorcery, 5,000 about clairvoyance, and 1000 about necromancy. Nearly all these sites are free and easily accessible.
WHY THIS FASCINATION WITH THE WORLD BEYOND THE GRAVE?
Is it not because death is so final? Whatever one thinks about the reports of “near-death” visions, death -when it finally comes is irreversible. When you finally cross the line, there is no coming back from the other side. Death wins the battle every time. After the doctors have tried the latest wonder drug, after the best minds have pooled their wisdom, after the philosophers have done their best to explain that death is only a natural part of life, we come face to face with the ugly reality that some day we will all die. And that death-whether planned or accidental, whether comfortable or painful-will be the end of life as we have known it.
Three Questions
Nothing is certain-except death and taxes. But death is more certain than taxes. A clever man can find ways to evade taxes but no one evades the Grim Reaper. When your time is up, it’s up.
Death can be postponed, but never eliminated. Someday I will die, and those I love the most will die, and nothing can change this solemn fact. There’s a parting at the end of the way. We all have a rendezvous with death.
No wonder the human mind is drawn to the question, -“What happens when we die?” In many ways it’s the one remaining unanswered question. We know so much about so many things, but about life after death, we know so very little.
There are three great questions every person must answer:
1. Where did I come from?
2. Why am I here?
3. Where am I going?
It’s the third question that most grips the heart of man, for in one sense, the question “Where did I come from?” is yesterday’s news and the question “Why am I here?” is one that we answer every day. But the third question takes us into the unseen future-into the unfolding years and decades. What happens when we die? Is death the end of everything? Does man live for a few years and then simply vanish from the screen? Do we simply play our part and then shuffle off the stage into the misty obscurity of nothingness? Or is there something more, something beyond the great divide? Thousands of years ago Job spoke for the rest of us when he asked, “If a man dies, will he live again?” Job 14:14.
THE BIBLE IS FULL OF INFORMATION ABOUT DEATH.
In answering questions about life after death, we’re left with only two sources to consult. Either we turn to human experience or we turn to the Word of God. If we turn to human experience, we find many guesses, many ideas, many theories-but no sure answers. That’s because no human has a sure answer. The only people who have the answer are dead! That leaves us with the Word of God. In God’s Word we find ample, abundant answers. God who knows the future knows what happens when we die … and he hasn’t left us to wonder about it. The Bible is filled with information on this subject, so much in fact that I could never hope to cover it all here.
If you want the answer in one sentence, - what happens after you die depends on what you do before you die. Consider what the Bible says in Hebrews 9:27 (KJV),
“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
This is an appointment no one will miss. The statistics on death are appalling. One hundred out of 100 people will eventually die. We are terminally ill with a disease called death; we just don’t know when the end will come.
Last week while watching the wedding of Prince William and his bride Kate, we were reminded of Princess Diana who died unexpectedly in 1997 in a tragic car accident in Paris. We were also stunned this week by the unexpected home going of one of God’s generals David Wilkerson in a tragic car accident in Texas.
A couple of years back I was shocked when Dottie Rambo was killed on her bus when spring storms collided with the path she and her entourage were traveling. She was knocked out of bed and killed in a situation where I’m sure she couldn’t have felt safer.
IS THERE A SECOND CHANCE AFTER DEATH?
This is the popular view of many people who hope that those who did not accept Christ in this life will somehow have a second chance after death-either in the afterlife or perhaps through reincarnation. The answer is quite simple. There is no biblical support whatsoever for the notion of a “second chance.”
Here’s the truth; the only opportunity you and I will ever have to get right with God is the opportunity God affords right now. If you dream of coming to God after you die, you are nursing an empty dream -a vain hope.
WHAT ABOUT NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES?
Such experiences are very popular today. Betty Eadie wrote a bestselling book called "Embraced by the Light" which purports to tell of her “death” and her visit to heaven. Unfortunately, the book embraces unbiblical heresy and is in fact closer to Mormon theology than to the New Testament.
In thinking about this question, we need biblical balance. On one hand it’s undeniably true that some Bible characters did see the Lord before they died. Stephen saw Jesus just before he died in Acts 7. Paul was evidently given a vision of heaven-perhaps during his stoning at Lystra in Acts 14. He alludes to the event in 2 Corinthians 12. However, it’s important to say that such revelations did not often happen even in Bible times. Not every believer had or will have a revelation of heaven.
Could such a thing happen today? Yes, but we shouldn’t expect it or base our hope of heaven upon a last-second experience. Let’s also remember that Satan, the great deceiver, is at work. He can create scenes that seem to be scenes of heaven but are actually creations born in hell. Many near-death experiences are demonic in nature.
We should never base our hope of heaven-or the hope of seeing a loved one in heaven-on a supposed vision or revelation. The only reliable ground given to us is the eternal, unchanging Word of God.
WHAT HAPPENS TO CHILDREN WHO DIE?
This is obviously a very tender subject to many people. Parents want to know: Will I see my child again? The place to begin in answering this question is with the observation that the Bible doesn’t specifically address this question. However, we do know two things are true. First, children are not born innocent, but sinful. If children who die do go to heaven-and I believe they do-it’s not because they are morally innocent in the sight of God. No, all of us are born with an inclination to sin that leads us away from God. Ephesians 2:1 says that we are spiritually dead by nature. That applies as much to young children as it does to full-grown adults. Second, we know that God’s grace is always greater than human sin. Romans 5:20 reminds us that where sin abounded, grace super-abounded. God’s grace always goes far beyond sin’s disgrace.
I believe that God’s grace credits children with the merits of Jesus’ blood and righteousness so that those children-who die before they are old enough to believe-are covered by his blood and their entrance into heaven made sure and certain. Thus they are saved by grace just as we are.
I’ve written more than once about how my mother, who nursed a bitter, backslidden spirit for a year after her first daughter died unexpectedly at seven, was brought back to God by the reality that her daughter was with the Lord and she could never hope to see her again unless she was reunited with her in heaven.
CAN WE CONTACT THE DEAD AFTER THEY’RE GONE?
No. Any attempt to dabble in spirit contact is strictly forbidden in the Bible. It is sometimes called necromancy or sorcery or dealing with familiar spirits. Remember, demons can masquerade as the dead. They can even mimic the voices of our loved ones and give information that only the dead person would have known. For more on this subject, see Leviticus 19:26, 28, 31; Deuteronomy 18:9-14; Galatians 5:19-21.
Don’t attempt to contact the dead through any means at all-séances, Ouija Boards, crystal balls, psychic readers, channelers or mediums. You are involving yourself in that which God forbids. Leave the dead alone.
WHAT DO YOU SAY TO SOMEONE WHO HAS A LOST LOVED ONE?
Over the years I have discovered that it really doesn’t matter what you say-in terms of the precise words. Those who are grieving will not remember the words you say, but they will never forget that you cared enough to be there when they needed you. If you go with the love of God in your heart, he will give you any words you need to say.
What happens at the moment of death?
Now we come to the question of the hour. What happens at the very moment of death? We’ve already given the general answer: What happens when you die depends on what happens before you die. The Bible classifies the whole human race into two broad categories-the saved and the lost. What happens to the saved is radically different from what happens to the lost.
FOR THE SAVED
The Bible is abundantly clear on this point. When the saved die, they go directly into the presence of the Lord. Remember the words of Jesus to the thief on the cross,
“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
This is a straightforward promise that at the moment of death the repentant thief would pass from his life of crime and his agonizing death into the realm called “paradise.” This contradicts the teaching called “soul-sleep” which implies that at death a believer “sleeps” in a kind of suspended animation until the day of the resurrection. How could the thief be that very day in paradise if his soul were to go to sleep when he died? At the moment of death the believer passes immediately into the presence of Jesus Christ. This is our hope and comfort as we stand at the graveside of a loved one. Paul said he had a desire to depart and to
…. “be with Christ, which is better by far” (Philippians 1:23).
He also said,
“We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body (that is, separated from the body by death) and at home with the Lord” II Corinthians 5:8. You’ll be blessed by re-reading the first ten verses of this chapter.
These are the words of a man who believed that heaven would begin at the moment of his death. Was Paul looking forward to an unconscious slumber after his death? No! He was looking forward to the presence of Jesus Christ.
But that’s not the whole story. The soul goes to be with the Lord in heaven and the body is buried until the day of resurrection when Jesus returns to the earth. I Thessalonians 4:14 says,
“We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”
Here you have both sides of the truth. Christians who die are said to be “with Jesus” -that’s the soul in the conscious presence of the Lord- and “have fallen asleep in him” -that’s the body which “sleeps” in the grave. Listen to Paul’s description of that great reunion of body and soul:
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first” (I Thessalonians 4:16).
Here is a clear promise of future bodily resurrection for the believer. First Corinthians 15:51-55 adds the magnificent fact that our bodies will be “raised imperishable"-that is, with a body that is perfect in every way, free from the vestiges of death and decay. In this life our bodies wear out, like a clock continually running down, but when we are raised, it will be with bodies that can never decay, never wear out, never suffer injury, never grow old, never get sick, and thank God, never die.
Many Christians have a wrong view of death. We think we’re going from the land of the living to the land of the dying-No! If you know Jesus, you are going from the land of the dying to the land of the living.
Here are some of the images the Bible uses for the death of a Christian: going to sleep and waking up in heaven … moving from a tent to a mansion … walking from the darkness into a well-lit room … coming home to see your family and friends … being set free from prison … taking a long journey to a new land … riding a chariot to the New Jerusalem … moving into a brand-new home … opening a gate to a brand-new world.
Christians have always faced death with confidence. Over the years many people have asked me how God can raise the dead if the body has been burned or lost or vaporized in some terrible explosion. I don’t think that’s a difficult question at all. If you can raise the dead, you can raise the dead. Resurrection is God’s problem, not ours. We don’t need to know the how of the resurrection as long as we know the who.
As he lay dying, D. L. Moody proclaimed, “Earth recedes, heaven opens before me.” Catherine Booth, wife of the founder of the Salvation Army, cried out, “The waters are rising, but I am not sinking.” And George MacDonald, the English novelist, said, “I came from God, and I’m going back to God, and I won’t have any gaps of death in the middle of my life.” John Wesley summed up the faith of the early Methodists with four simple words: “Our people die well.”
Once our bodies are raised, we will be with the Lord forever. Wherever he is, there we will be, rejoicing, praising, singing and celebrating throughout the ages of eternity. First Thessalonians 4:17 says, “We will be with the Lord forever.” Speaking of his own return, Jesus said,
In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2-3).
What is ahead for us when we die?
1. Our soul goes into the conscious presence of the Lord.
2. Our body is buried until the day of resurrection.
3. When Christ returns, we will be raised bodily from the grave.
4. Body and soul reunited, we will be with the Lord forever.
DEATH FOR THE LOST
Let's consider the fate of those who die without Jesus Christ. The lost fear death and with good reason. Job 18:14 calls death “the king of terrors.” Hebrews 2:14 reminds us that the devil holds people in bondage through the fear of death. And 1 Corinthians 15:26 calls death “the last enemy.”
Let’s note one similarity between the fate of the saved and the lost. At the moment of death, the soul enters a new realm while the body is buried in the grave. For the believer, the moment of death brings him into the personal presence of Christ. For the unbeliever, death begins an experience of unending conscious punishment.
We can summarize the fate of the lost in four short statements:
#- At the moment of death, the soul of the lost is sent to hell where it is in conscious torment. In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus told of a rich man, who upon his death, went to hell and suffered in the flames of torment. It matters not whether you think this passage is literal or figurative. If you say it is literal, then it must be a terrible punishment. If it is figurative, the figure itself is so awful to consider, that the reality must be much worse.
# -The punishment is eternal. Though this is debated in some circles today, Christians have united across the centuries in their belief that the Bible teaches an eternal punishment for those who do not know our Lord. Mark 9:43-48 speaks of the fire that is not quenched and the worm that does not die-a reference to the continuing existence of human personality in hell.
I noted-with chills up my spine-the words of the father of a 9/11 survivor when he assured people of a literal heaven and hell and spoke of his assurance that Bin Laden was in hell. Did that make hell more real to me? Not really, but I was blessed to hear a layman say something I haven’t heard a gospel preacher say in years.
# -The body is raised at the Great White Throne judgment. Revelation 20:11-15 describes the awesome scene as the unsaved dead are raised to stand before God and receive their final sentence of doom.
# -The unsaved are then cast into the lake of fire where they will reside forever, eternally separated from the presence of Almighty God. If this is unbearable to think about, if we shrink from such a thought, then let’s by all means do whatever is necessary to make sure that such a fate does not befall us or the ones we love the most.
This is the final destiny of those who do not know Jesus Christ. To make it more personal, it’s the final destiny of our friends, neighbors, loved ones, r parents, brothers, sisters, and children, if they die without Jesus Christ.
And, yes, it’s your destiny if you die without Jesus Christ. Let that thought linger in your mind. The reality of hell is more than just a theoretical doctrine. There is a place reserved for you in the lake of fire unless you, by a conscious choice, put your complete trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
IF YOU KNOW JESUS YOU HAVE NOTING TO FEAR WHEN DEATH CALLS.
Death comes to all of us-it will come for you one of these days. If we know Jesus we need not live in fear. Death may be quick or slow, painful or painless, but when the moment comes, you will find yourself ushered into heaven where you will see Jesus face to face.
Some people wonder if they will have enough faith when they die. When she was a young child in Holland Corrie Ten Boom worried about her own death and whether or not she would have enough courage when the moment finally came. Her father-Papa Ten Boom-knew of her fears and calmed her heart with these words. “Corrie, when I am going to take you on the train, when do I give you the ticket?” “Just before we get on board.” “That’s right. Dying is like taking a trip to see the Lord Jesus. He will give you whatever you need just when you need it. If you don’t have the courage now, it’s because you don’t need it now. When you need it, the Lord will give it to you, and you won’t be afraid.”
Jesus Has the Keys
Listen to the words of Jesus in Revelation 1:18, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore and have the keys of hell and of death.
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25, 26).
If you have put your trust in Jesus, you will never die. What an amazing promise. Believers die every day but for the believer, death is merely the passing from this life with all its sorrows into life eternal in the presence of our Lord.
The question is not: What happens when we die? But rather: What happened before we died?
DEATH ISN’T THE END OF THE ROAD -BUT RATHER A BEND IN THE ROAD.
For the believer, death is the doorway to heaven. For the unbeliever, it’s a passageway into unimaginable suffering. These things are true even if we do not fully understand. They are true even if we don’t believe them. While it gives me no personal gratification, let me quote what I heard an unbeliever say at the tire shop recently, and he said it several times; -“Sure as hell’” Even the devil’s crowd seems to be totally convinced.
Within a four day span one of God’s 5 Star Generals, David Wilkerson and Osama Bin Laden, one of Satan’s minions slipped through the phantom walls that separate us all from eternity. Both of them died which is what the Bible says will happen to us all.
One of these men had the blood of untold thousands of innocent people on his hands. The other man led millions to the foot of the blood soaked cross upon which the Prince of Glory died. While both men died violently, their eternal souls took different directions; one to heaven the other to hell.
What happens when you die depends on what happens before you die. Dear friend, make sure you’re ready so that when the time comes…
You won’t be surprised by what happens next.
Blessings,
John
Sunday, March 6, 2011
WHO AM I?
By John Stallings
“They say I’m so important that if you made a list of the Top 10 Most Important men in the Old Testament, my name would be near the top.
However, despite the fact that my life and times are so important, most folk know relatively little about me.
I don’t make a very good roll model and to be honest most people, by and large -ignore me. I can fully understand that. I accomplished quite a lot but was overshadowed by my Grandfather and one of my sons.
I’m one of four men who make up the backbone of the book of Genesis. I’m the Son of Isaac, Grandson of Abraham and the Father of Joseph.
I was named “Grabber” as I emerged from my mother’s womb because I was grabbing my twin brother’s foot trying to reposition myself to be born first. This would have given me an advantage. You might call me “the evil twin.”I spent the first part of my life cheating & conniving. Today I’d be like a Vegas card shark among other things. You wouldn’t have wanted to do business with me in my early days.
As time passed I lived up to my name. I grabbed my brother’s birthright in exchange for a bowl of stew. I was my mother’s favorite so she later helped me grab my brother’s blessing belonging to the firstborn. This could sometimes mean as much as two thirds of an estate.
The family I grew up in was dysfunctional; in short it was a mess. My parents set us up for devastating problems by engaging in favoritism. I was my mother’s favorite son.
Who am I?”-
I am…
JACOB
If you know Abraham, Joseph, Isaac and Jacob then you know Genesis chapters 12-50.
The interesting fact is that most of us know a great deal about two of those men and next to nothing about the other two. Abraham and Joseph stand like well-known bookends, while Isaac and Jacob are lost somewhere in the middle.
That’s understandable where Isaac is concerned since, unlike Jacob the Bible doesn’t describe his life in great detail. Esau doesn’t do many exploits because he was basically a passive individual. Can you imagine; he didn’t even have the motivation to go looking for a wife, his father had to send out a servant to find him a bride.
Jacob’s story begins in Genesis 25 and ends with his burial in Genesis 50—a life spanning fully one-half of the book.
Why Is Jacob Important?
1. Because so much is said about Jacob in the book of Genesis.
2. Because Jacob plays such a crucial role in the history of Israel.
3. Because Jacob is a Bible character whose story we can understand.
Beyond all question, he is one of the most “human” characters in all the Bible. As we trace his life, we will discover that he had as many defeats as victories. Unlike some other Bible characters who seem to march from victory to victory, Jacob’s life is a struggle from the very beginning. He comes out grabbing his brother’s heel and dies settling old scores with his children. In between he knows more than his share of sorrow and heartache. He cheats and is cheated, deceives and is deceived, angers and is made angry, shocks and is shocked. In short, here is man who lives life the way many of us do—two steps forward and one step back.
•He was a schemer and a dreamer.
•He had an eye for business and a heart for God.
•He was a businessman who was also a man of faith.
•He cheated his brother and he wrestled with an angel.
•He deceived his father and he heard the very voice of God.
Jacob’s life is a paradox, an enigma, a riddle wrapped in a mystery. He’s a man with warts, with scars, a man who has known the detours of life. We could rightly say that in matters of spirituality, Jacob was a “late bloomer.” He never had it easy, he never made it easy on himself, he made a thousand mistakes, and yet at the end he dies in the faith, which is why Hebrews 11 lists him as one of the heroes of the faith.
If you think about it in one way, to have Jacob’s name mentioned in this chapter of great faith exploits seems a bit incongruous. Why include a man who’s leaning on a staff & worshipping in the great Hall of Fame of believers? What Jacob is doing doesn’t look like a miracle of faith but that staff symbolized his helplessness & and dependence on God and reminds him of the night God broke him of his stubbornness & self-will.
Why was Jacob leaning? Well, the angel knocked his thigh out of joint in that wrestling match. They tell me a man has a problem walking or even standing if his thigh is out of its socket. God allowed that impediment to remain with Jacob for life. To put it bluntly, after Jacob’s encounter with the angel, he was a cripple. The story of Jacob’s life after the night he wrestled with the angel was- learning to lean on God.
There is both warning and encouragement in Jacob’s life—much to follow and much to avoid.
In the end we will discover that the real hero of the story is God. Not Jacob, but God. Jacob is merely the backdrop against which we see both the justice and mercy of God. In many ways he is the Peter of the Old Testament—the man whom God used in spite of himself. Over his life we should write in big letters—ROMANS 8:28—for if any man ever proved that “all things do work together for good"—it is Jacob. He’s the walking embodiment of that verse. Somehow God saw within him the potential for greatness.
In the end the schemer becomes a prince and the manipulator becomes a man of faith. When God is through with Jacob, he is transformed into a patriarch—the father of an entire nation.
After his death, the nation eventually called itself “Israel” in his honor—looking to him as its Founding Father. Later in the Old Testament, God often referred to the nation Israel as “the house of Jacob.”
Consider his resume’…
He is born clutching his brother’s heel.
He cheats his brother out of the birthright.
He deceives his father in order to obtain the blessing.
He spends 20 years in Haran where his uncle Laban cheats him.
He tries to bargain his way back into Esau’s good graces.
His children are involved in rape and murder.
His oldest son sleeps with his maidservant Bilhah.
His favorite son Joseph is kidnapped by his other sons.His heart is broken by sorrow.
In his youth he was a schemer.
In his middle years he was a hireling to Laban.
In his old age he was depressed and discouraged.
And he died in Egypt—not in the Promised Land.
If you looked at his story from that perspective, it would appear that his life was a failure. But it wasn’t. It’s his name after all that ends up in Hebrews 11—not Esau’s. That’s the wonder and glory of his life. Jacob was a man of faith.
If you need any other proof, consider this: When God wanted to identify himself to his people, he said… “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” That encourages me. I’m so glad our God is the God of Jacob, too. Not just of Abraham and Isaac. He’s also the God of Jacob. He doesn’t just run with the winners. Our God is also the God of those who struggle and scrap their way through life, sometimes barely making it, and hanging on by their finger-tips. That’s the kind of God he is—He’s the “God of Jacob.”
TWENTY YEARS OF PRAYER
The story of Jacob’s life begins before he was born. Genesis 25:19-26 tells the story of his birth with two chronological details: Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah and 60 years old when Jacob and Esau were finally born. Married at 40, had children at 60. Verse 21 tells us…
“Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren.”
We don’t totally understand that today, but in Isaac’s day the worst thing that could happen to a woman was to be childless. It was taken as a sign that you were outside God’s favor. Furthermore, to be childless meant you had no one to take care of you in your old age.
So Isaac prayed for his wife. Not once, but again and again he begged God to open Rebekah’s womb. What is to us only a small notice in the biblical record was to Isaac a crucial point. He prayed for his wife. Incidentally, so far as I know, this is the only time in the Bible where a husband is specifically said to have prayed for his wife. I’m sure it must have happened often, but this is the only time it is directly mentioned.
Rebekah’s inability to give birth presented Isaac with a dilemma. After all, God had promised Abraham that his “seed” would become a great nation. In Genesis 22 that promise was repeated to Isaac. But how would it happen unless Rebekah becomes pregnant?
One year passes.
Two years pass.
Three years pass.
Four years pass.
No children. Where is God? What about his promise? So Isaac prays harder … and the years pass quickly. No children. Where is God? Has he forgotten what he said? Was it all a kind of cruel cosmic joke by the Almighty? Has God changed his mind?
So Isaac prayed. The word means “to entreat” or “to beg.” “O God, remove the shame, remove the stigma. O God, keep your promise. Give us a child.”
GOD AND GOD ALONE
Why did Isaac and Rebekah have to wait 20 years for an answer? I’ll answer that when I know why our prayers are not answered immediately. We pray and pray and sometimes we pray for years … and still the heavens seem as brass. Where is God when we need him? Why doesn’t He answer?
What was God doing during those 20 years of waiting? Let me suggest three answers:
1. He was developing Isaac’s faith.
2. He was teaching Isaac patience.
3. He was arranging the circumstances so that when the answer finally came, God alone would get the credit.
Those three points help us understand why God’s answers are often delayed. He wants to develop our faith, he wants to develop our patience, and he wants to make sure that he alone
gets the credit when the answer finally comes.
WHY ME?
Verse 22 gives us the other side of the story. When Rebekah finally gets pregnant, she has a very rough time. I’m sure that at first she and Isaac had a great celebration. Perhaps her friends gave her the equivalent of a baby shower. But as the weeks passed, the babies began to “jostle” inside her. The word is stronger than that; it means to “go to war.” Her babies fought each other inside the womb. That frightened Rebekah so she asked God, “Why is this happening to me?”
Isn’t it interesting that after praying for 20 years, when the answer finally comes, it brings more questions and more difficulty? Isn’t it true that answered prayer can be as difficult to handle as unanswered prayer? I’m sure you’ve heard it said, “Be careful what you pray for because God may give it to you.”
—We pray for children and when our children come, they are nothing but trouble.
—We pray for a new job and when we get one, our boss is a jerk.
—We pray for a new house and when we move in, we discover termites in the foundation.
—We pray to be married and then we pray to be divorced. [too often.]
Often we pray for some cherished dream, thinking that it will make us happy. When God finally answers, we discover his answer only means more problems. Why is that; because God is not in the business of making it easy for his people to travel from earth to heaven? Rather, he’s in the business of using the journey to teach us holiness, righteousness and godliness. If he makes it too easy, we’ll never develop the right kind of character.
GOD'S AMAZING ANSWER
So Rebekah—feeling the struggle within—says, “Why me?” Verse 23 gives us God’s amazing answer. I can sum it up in four phrases:
#Two Nations—"Two nations are in your womb.”
#Continual Conflict—"Two peoples within you will be separated.”
#Differing Strength—"One people will be stronger than the other.”
#Role Reversal—"The older will serve the younger.”
All of that may not mean much to us, but to Rebekah this was shocking news—especially the last point. In the ancient Near East the first-born was always given certain inheritance rights. He received a double portion of the inheritance and was considered the head of the family upon the death of the parents. But here God is saying that the roles would be reversed—the rights normally given to the first-born would in this case be given to the second-born.
In Romans 9:10-13, Paul develops this point to show that salvation is entirely by God’s grace. He chose Jacob over Esau before the boys were born, before either of them had done good or evil. It is purely a choice made in God’s heart and mind and was not dependent on anything good he saw in Jacob or anything bad he saw in Esau.
When the babies were finally born, Isaac and Rebekah received another shock. The first baby to come out was red, “and his whole body was like a red garment.” That is, his body was covered with red hair—almost like a wild animal. They named him “Esau,” which means “Red” and can also mean “Hairy.” But that wasn’t the only surprise. As Esau came out, a little white hand was clutching his heel. So they kept on pulling and out came the second boy. They named him “Jacob,” which means “Heel-grabber.” Years later the name comes to mean “Supplanter” and “Cheater.”
None of this happens by accident. The way these boys come into the world reveals something of their character and destiny. Esau will become a successful hunter; Jacob will become a cunning businessman. Esau will feel most at home in the outdoors; Jacob will spend his life trying to push and pull his way to the top. Esau will build a mighty kingdom; Jacob will live by his wits. Esau will have a fiery temper, but will quickly get over his rage; Jacob will have a long memory and his guilty conscience will plague him for years.
Isaac and Rebekah knew none of this in the beginning. But no matter, the two boys will take on their own personalities soon enough. Before too many years pass it will become clear that this unusual birth foretold their ultimate destinies in life.
Two boys: “Hairy Red” and “Heel-Grabber.” From them will eventually come two great nations. Their destinies were decided before they were born.
PERSONALITY PORTRAITS
It’s remarkable to follow these two boys as they grow up. Esau turns out to be a hunter, an outdoors man, a strong, good-looking fellow, a natural leader, an extrovert, a simple man who lived with his emotions right on the surface. Esau was a man without guile. What you see is what you get.
By contrast, Jacob is somewhat shy and retiring. He prefers to spend his days around the tents—thinking, dreaming, watching, analyzing. Jacob is a complex man—what you see is not necessarily what you get. With Jacob you’re never really sure. He’s one thing and then he’s another. I want to call him eccentric but somehow the word “Odd” keeps coming to mind.
Suppose you looked at both boys from a human point of view, which one would seem most successful? Which one would seem to have God’s favor? On whom does God’s blessing rest? I think most people would say Esau. If you asked in childhood, which boy will turn out better, the answer would be Esau. If you asked who will be the better leader, the answer would be Esau. If you asked which one will do more with his life, the answer would be Esau.
And who will have more problems? Jacob. More difficulties? Jacob? More heartache? Jacob. If you just look at the story on the surface, what you see is Esau growing up, getting married, having children and building a vast empire. On the other side you see Jacob, like I said earlier—at the beginning he’s a manipulator, in the middle he’s a hireling, at the end he is depressed and discouraged. Finally he dies in Egypt.
On whose life is God’s favor resting? From that standpoint, we might say Esau. And we would be dead wrong. But that’s typical, isn’t it? Oftentimes we look at the prosperous people around us and we think, “How blessed they are.” And when we see someone going through incredible suffering, we often think, “They must have done something wrong.” But prosperity is not always a sign of God’s blessing. That helps us understand why God gave Esau material prosperity. He never sought to have a close relationship with God, so God gave him second best. He just gave him money.
On the other hand, God gave Jacob sorrow, difficulty and heartache. Why- Because God was preparing Jacob for something great.
We would have chosen Esau, but God chose Jacob. He said, “No, not Esau. Jacob is my man.” We would have picked Esau to be our leader. God said, “No, I want that man who’s back there by the tents. That quiet fellow, the one you’ve written off. He’s my choice.”
In the end God will make Jacob a prince but it will take a lifetime to get the job done. The story of his life is the story of the continual struggle between the flesh and the spirit, between doing things man’s way and God’s way, between self-sufficiency and God-sufficiency. It’s the difference between trying to manipulate things and waiting on God.
FOUR LESSONS FOR LIFE
Have you have seen those buttons that say, “Please be patient, God is not finished with me yet.” That could be written over Jacob’s life because he is truly a work in progress.
1. Behind the seemingly insignificant details of life stands God himself.
We see that clearly in this story. Two babies jostle in the womb, and two nations are born. If we had been there we would have seen two babies coming out of the womb and nothing more. Who would have dreamed that the course of world history would be affected by “Hairy Red” and the “Heel-Grabber?” Who knew?
There are no accidents in God’s plan. Nothing has ever happened to you by chance or fate or luck. Even the mundane things of life that you take for granted all fit into a larger, unseen plan that is slowly unfolding in your life.
2. When God decides to raise up a man, nobody can thwart his plans.
We would have chosen Esau. But God said, “It’s going to be Jacob.” We would have made Jacob the first-born, but God said, “I can choose the second-born if I want to.” We would have given Jacob an easier road, but God knew the hard road makes a strong man.
The same is true for you and me. When God gets ready to work in your life, the result will be the same as Jacob—trouble, trouble, trouble. John Newton understood that truth when he wrote, “Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come. ’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”
3. When God decides to work in your life, He will not stop though it takes him a lifetime to finish the job.
It took him 80 years to get Moses in shape. It took him over a hundred years to get Jacob in shape. It takes him a lifetime with most of us because the clay is pretty lumpy—full of rocks and stones and useless material. When God starts shaping the clay of the human heart, He won’t stop until the job is done.
4. When you yield your natural weaknesses to God, they become the source of your greatest strength.
Look at Jacob’s life. His scheming became godly tenacity. His ambition for success became ambition for God. His unfocused desire became determination to do God’s will. His name was changed from Jacob "the cheater" to Israel "he who wrestles with God".
Isn't it wonderful that God condescends to be called the God of Jacob. Only God could see the princely qualities in a man like Jacob. God delights to begin where others have given up in despair. It’s a marvelous thing how God allows an imperfect man to leave the past behind, grow
in character & become an integral part of His plans & purposes.
Jacob’s story is all about the grace of God who never gives up. You may see yourself in Jacob. You are in the night of your struggle, feeling all alone, scared, and afraid. Are you tired of wrestling? Are you at the end of yourself? Are you ready to acknowledge your weakness, the futility of grabbing from behind? Can you see that when you wrestle with life you are indeed wrestling with God?
Maybe you feel inadequate, or guilty, or perhaps you feel your life is so tangled up that no one could ever straighten it out again.
If you feel unfit for God to use, congratulations! You're an excellent candidate for the grace of God.
Blessings,
John
“They say I’m so important that if you made a list of the Top 10 Most Important men in the Old Testament, my name would be near the top.
However, despite the fact that my life and times are so important, most folk know relatively little about me.
I don’t make a very good roll model and to be honest most people, by and large -ignore me. I can fully understand that. I accomplished quite a lot but was overshadowed by my Grandfather and one of my sons.
I’m one of four men who make up the backbone of the book of Genesis. I’m the Son of Isaac, Grandson of Abraham and the Father of Joseph.
I was named “Grabber” as I emerged from my mother’s womb because I was grabbing my twin brother’s foot trying to reposition myself to be born first. This would have given me an advantage. You might call me “the evil twin.”I spent the first part of my life cheating & conniving. Today I’d be like a Vegas card shark among other things. You wouldn’t have wanted to do business with me in my early days.
As time passed I lived up to my name. I grabbed my brother’s birthright in exchange for a bowl of stew. I was my mother’s favorite so she later helped me grab my brother’s blessing belonging to the firstborn. This could sometimes mean as much as two thirds of an estate.
The family I grew up in was dysfunctional; in short it was a mess. My parents set us up for devastating problems by engaging in favoritism. I was my mother’s favorite son.
Who am I?”-
I am…
JACOB
If you know Abraham, Joseph, Isaac and Jacob then you know Genesis chapters 12-50.
The interesting fact is that most of us know a great deal about two of those men and next to nothing about the other two. Abraham and Joseph stand like well-known bookends, while Isaac and Jacob are lost somewhere in the middle.
That’s understandable where Isaac is concerned since, unlike Jacob the Bible doesn’t describe his life in great detail. Esau doesn’t do many exploits because he was basically a passive individual. Can you imagine; he didn’t even have the motivation to go looking for a wife, his father had to send out a servant to find him a bride.
Jacob’s story begins in Genesis 25 and ends with his burial in Genesis 50—a life spanning fully one-half of the book.
Why Is Jacob Important?
1. Because so much is said about Jacob in the book of Genesis.
2. Because Jacob plays such a crucial role in the history of Israel.
3. Because Jacob is a Bible character whose story we can understand.
Beyond all question, he is one of the most “human” characters in all the Bible. As we trace his life, we will discover that he had as many defeats as victories. Unlike some other Bible characters who seem to march from victory to victory, Jacob’s life is a struggle from the very beginning. He comes out grabbing his brother’s heel and dies settling old scores with his children. In between he knows more than his share of sorrow and heartache. He cheats and is cheated, deceives and is deceived, angers and is made angry, shocks and is shocked. In short, here is man who lives life the way many of us do—two steps forward and one step back.
•He was a schemer and a dreamer.
•He had an eye for business and a heart for God.
•He was a businessman who was also a man of faith.
•He cheated his brother and he wrestled with an angel.
•He deceived his father and he heard the very voice of God.
Jacob’s life is a paradox, an enigma, a riddle wrapped in a mystery. He’s a man with warts, with scars, a man who has known the detours of life. We could rightly say that in matters of spirituality, Jacob was a “late bloomer.” He never had it easy, he never made it easy on himself, he made a thousand mistakes, and yet at the end he dies in the faith, which is why Hebrews 11 lists him as one of the heroes of the faith.
If you think about it in one way, to have Jacob’s name mentioned in this chapter of great faith exploits seems a bit incongruous. Why include a man who’s leaning on a staff & worshipping in the great Hall of Fame of believers? What Jacob is doing doesn’t look like a miracle of faith but that staff symbolized his helplessness & and dependence on God and reminds him of the night God broke him of his stubbornness & self-will.
Why was Jacob leaning? Well, the angel knocked his thigh out of joint in that wrestling match. They tell me a man has a problem walking or even standing if his thigh is out of its socket. God allowed that impediment to remain with Jacob for life. To put it bluntly, after Jacob’s encounter with the angel, he was a cripple. The story of Jacob’s life after the night he wrestled with the angel was- learning to lean on God.
There is both warning and encouragement in Jacob’s life—much to follow and much to avoid.
In the end we will discover that the real hero of the story is God. Not Jacob, but God. Jacob is merely the backdrop against which we see both the justice and mercy of God. In many ways he is the Peter of the Old Testament—the man whom God used in spite of himself. Over his life we should write in big letters—ROMANS 8:28—for if any man ever proved that “all things do work together for good"—it is Jacob. He’s the walking embodiment of that verse. Somehow God saw within him the potential for greatness.
In the end the schemer becomes a prince and the manipulator becomes a man of faith. When God is through with Jacob, he is transformed into a patriarch—the father of an entire nation.
After his death, the nation eventually called itself “Israel” in his honor—looking to him as its Founding Father. Later in the Old Testament, God often referred to the nation Israel as “the house of Jacob.”
Consider his resume’…
He is born clutching his brother’s heel.
He cheats his brother out of the birthright.
He deceives his father in order to obtain the blessing.
He spends 20 years in Haran where his uncle Laban cheats him.
He tries to bargain his way back into Esau’s good graces.
His children are involved in rape and murder.
His oldest son sleeps with his maidservant Bilhah.
His favorite son Joseph is kidnapped by his other sons.His heart is broken by sorrow.
In his youth he was a schemer.
In his middle years he was a hireling to Laban.
In his old age he was depressed and discouraged.
And he died in Egypt—not in the Promised Land.
If you looked at his story from that perspective, it would appear that his life was a failure. But it wasn’t. It’s his name after all that ends up in Hebrews 11—not Esau’s. That’s the wonder and glory of his life. Jacob was a man of faith.
If you need any other proof, consider this: When God wanted to identify himself to his people, he said… “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” That encourages me. I’m so glad our God is the God of Jacob, too. Not just of Abraham and Isaac. He’s also the God of Jacob. He doesn’t just run with the winners. Our God is also the God of those who struggle and scrap their way through life, sometimes barely making it, and hanging on by their finger-tips. That’s the kind of God he is—He’s the “God of Jacob.”
TWENTY YEARS OF PRAYER
The story of Jacob’s life begins before he was born. Genesis 25:19-26 tells the story of his birth with two chronological details: Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah and 60 years old when Jacob and Esau were finally born. Married at 40, had children at 60. Verse 21 tells us…
“Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren.”
We don’t totally understand that today, but in Isaac’s day the worst thing that could happen to a woman was to be childless. It was taken as a sign that you were outside God’s favor. Furthermore, to be childless meant you had no one to take care of you in your old age.
So Isaac prayed for his wife. Not once, but again and again he begged God to open Rebekah’s womb. What is to us only a small notice in the biblical record was to Isaac a crucial point. He prayed for his wife. Incidentally, so far as I know, this is the only time in the Bible where a husband is specifically said to have prayed for his wife. I’m sure it must have happened often, but this is the only time it is directly mentioned.
Rebekah’s inability to give birth presented Isaac with a dilemma. After all, God had promised Abraham that his “seed” would become a great nation. In Genesis 22 that promise was repeated to Isaac. But how would it happen unless Rebekah becomes pregnant?
One year passes.
Two years pass.
Three years pass.
Four years pass.
No children. Where is God? What about his promise? So Isaac prays harder … and the years pass quickly. No children. Where is God? Has he forgotten what he said? Was it all a kind of cruel cosmic joke by the Almighty? Has God changed his mind?
So Isaac prayed. The word means “to entreat” or “to beg.” “O God, remove the shame, remove the stigma. O God, keep your promise. Give us a child.”
GOD AND GOD ALONE
Why did Isaac and Rebekah have to wait 20 years for an answer? I’ll answer that when I know why our prayers are not answered immediately. We pray and pray and sometimes we pray for years … and still the heavens seem as brass. Where is God when we need him? Why doesn’t He answer?
What was God doing during those 20 years of waiting? Let me suggest three answers:
1. He was developing Isaac’s faith.
2. He was teaching Isaac patience.
3. He was arranging the circumstances so that when the answer finally came, God alone would get the credit.
Those three points help us understand why God’s answers are often delayed. He wants to develop our faith, he wants to develop our patience, and he wants to make sure that he alone
gets the credit when the answer finally comes.
WHY ME?
Verse 22 gives us the other side of the story. When Rebekah finally gets pregnant, she has a very rough time. I’m sure that at first she and Isaac had a great celebration. Perhaps her friends gave her the equivalent of a baby shower. But as the weeks passed, the babies began to “jostle” inside her. The word is stronger than that; it means to “go to war.” Her babies fought each other inside the womb. That frightened Rebekah so she asked God, “Why is this happening to me?”
Isn’t it interesting that after praying for 20 years, when the answer finally comes, it brings more questions and more difficulty? Isn’t it true that answered prayer can be as difficult to handle as unanswered prayer? I’m sure you’ve heard it said, “Be careful what you pray for because God may give it to you.”
—We pray for children and when our children come, they are nothing but trouble.
—We pray for a new job and when we get one, our boss is a jerk.
—We pray for a new house and when we move in, we discover termites in the foundation.
—We pray to be married and then we pray to be divorced. [too often.]
Often we pray for some cherished dream, thinking that it will make us happy. When God finally answers, we discover his answer only means more problems. Why is that; because God is not in the business of making it easy for his people to travel from earth to heaven? Rather, he’s in the business of using the journey to teach us holiness, righteousness and godliness. If he makes it too easy, we’ll never develop the right kind of character.
GOD'S AMAZING ANSWER
So Rebekah—feeling the struggle within—says, “Why me?” Verse 23 gives us God’s amazing answer. I can sum it up in four phrases:
#Two Nations—"Two nations are in your womb.”
#Continual Conflict—"Two peoples within you will be separated.”
#Differing Strength—"One people will be stronger than the other.”
#Role Reversal—"The older will serve the younger.”
All of that may not mean much to us, but to Rebekah this was shocking news—especially the last point. In the ancient Near East the first-born was always given certain inheritance rights. He received a double portion of the inheritance and was considered the head of the family upon the death of the parents. But here God is saying that the roles would be reversed—the rights normally given to the first-born would in this case be given to the second-born.
In Romans 9:10-13, Paul develops this point to show that salvation is entirely by God’s grace. He chose Jacob over Esau before the boys were born, before either of them had done good or evil. It is purely a choice made in God’s heart and mind and was not dependent on anything good he saw in Jacob or anything bad he saw in Esau.
When the babies were finally born, Isaac and Rebekah received another shock. The first baby to come out was red, “and his whole body was like a red garment.” That is, his body was covered with red hair—almost like a wild animal. They named him “Esau,” which means “Red” and can also mean “Hairy.” But that wasn’t the only surprise. As Esau came out, a little white hand was clutching his heel. So they kept on pulling and out came the second boy. They named him “Jacob,” which means “Heel-grabber.” Years later the name comes to mean “Supplanter” and “Cheater.”
None of this happens by accident. The way these boys come into the world reveals something of their character and destiny. Esau will become a successful hunter; Jacob will become a cunning businessman. Esau will feel most at home in the outdoors; Jacob will spend his life trying to push and pull his way to the top. Esau will build a mighty kingdom; Jacob will live by his wits. Esau will have a fiery temper, but will quickly get over his rage; Jacob will have a long memory and his guilty conscience will plague him for years.
Isaac and Rebekah knew none of this in the beginning. But no matter, the two boys will take on their own personalities soon enough. Before too many years pass it will become clear that this unusual birth foretold their ultimate destinies in life.
Two boys: “Hairy Red” and “Heel-Grabber.” From them will eventually come two great nations. Their destinies were decided before they were born.
PERSONALITY PORTRAITS
It’s remarkable to follow these two boys as they grow up. Esau turns out to be a hunter, an outdoors man, a strong, good-looking fellow, a natural leader, an extrovert, a simple man who lived with his emotions right on the surface. Esau was a man without guile. What you see is what you get.
By contrast, Jacob is somewhat shy and retiring. He prefers to spend his days around the tents—thinking, dreaming, watching, analyzing. Jacob is a complex man—what you see is not necessarily what you get. With Jacob you’re never really sure. He’s one thing and then he’s another. I want to call him eccentric but somehow the word “Odd” keeps coming to mind.
Suppose you looked at both boys from a human point of view, which one would seem most successful? Which one would seem to have God’s favor? On whom does God’s blessing rest? I think most people would say Esau. If you asked in childhood, which boy will turn out better, the answer would be Esau. If you asked who will be the better leader, the answer would be Esau. If you asked which one will do more with his life, the answer would be Esau.
And who will have more problems? Jacob. More difficulties? Jacob? More heartache? Jacob. If you just look at the story on the surface, what you see is Esau growing up, getting married, having children and building a vast empire. On the other side you see Jacob, like I said earlier—at the beginning he’s a manipulator, in the middle he’s a hireling, at the end he is depressed and discouraged. Finally he dies in Egypt.
On whose life is God’s favor resting? From that standpoint, we might say Esau. And we would be dead wrong. But that’s typical, isn’t it? Oftentimes we look at the prosperous people around us and we think, “How blessed they are.” And when we see someone going through incredible suffering, we often think, “They must have done something wrong.” But prosperity is not always a sign of God’s blessing. That helps us understand why God gave Esau material prosperity. He never sought to have a close relationship with God, so God gave him second best. He just gave him money.
On the other hand, God gave Jacob sorrow, difficulty and heartache. Why- Because God was preparing Jacob for something great.
We would have chosen Esau, but God chose Jacob. He said, “No, not Esau. Jacob is my man.” We would have picked Esau to be our leader. God said, “No, I want that man who’s back there by the tents. That quiet fellow, the one you’ve written off. He’s my choice.”
In the end God will make Jacob a prince but it will take a lifetime to get the job done. The story of his life is the story of the continual struggle between the flesh and the spirit, between doing things man’s way and God’s way, between self-sufficiency and God-sufficiency. It’s the difference between trying to manipulate things and waiting on God.
FOUR LESSONS FOR LIFE
Have you have seen those buttons that say, “Please be patient, God is not finished with me yet.” That could be written over Jacob’s life because he is truly a work in progress.
1. Behind the seemingly insignificant details of life stands God himself.
We see that clearly in this story. Two babies jostle in the womb, and two nations are born. If we had been there we would have seen two babies coming out of the womb and nothing more. Who would have dreamed that the course of world history would be affected by “Hairy Red” and the “Heel-Grabber?” Who knew?
There are no accidents in God’s plan. Nothing has ever happened to you by chance or fate or luck. Even the mundane things of life that you take for granted all fit into a larger, unseen plan that is slowly unfolding in your life.
2. When God decides to raise up a man, nobody can thwart his plans.
We would have chosen Esau. But God said, “It’s going to be Jacob.” We would have made Jacob the first-born, but God said, “I can choose the second-born if I want to.” We would have given Jacob an easier road, but God knew the hard road makes a strong man.
The same is true for you and me. When God gets ready to work in your life, the result will be the same as Jacob—trouble, trouble, trouble. John Newton understood that truth when he wrote, “Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come. ’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”
3. When God decides to work in your life, He will not stop though it takes him a lifetime to finish the job.
It took him 80 years to get Moses in shape. It took him over a hundred years to get Jacob in shape. It takes him a lifetime with most of us because the clay is pretty lumpy—full of rocks and stones and useless material. When God starts shaping the clay of the human heart, He won’t stop until the job is done.
4. When you yield your natural weaknesses to God, they become the source of your greatest strength.
Look at Jacob’s life. His scheming became godly tenacity. His ambition for success became ambition for God. His unfocused desire became determination to do God’s will. His name was changed from Jacob "the cheater" to Israel "he who wrestles with God".
Isn't it wonderful that God condescends to be called the God of Jacob. Only God could see the princely qualities in a man like Jacob. God delights to begin where others have given up in despair. It’s a marvelous thing how God allows an imperfect man to leave the past behind, grow
in character & become an integral part of His plans & purposes.
Jacob’s story is all about the grace of God who never gives up. You may see yourself in Jacob. You are in the night of your struggle, feeling all alone, scared, and afraid. Are you tired of wrestling? Are you at the end of yourself? Are you ready to acknowledge your weakness, the futility of grabbing from behind? Can you see that when you wrestle with life you are indeed wrestling with God?
Maybe you feel inadequate, or guilty, or perhaps you feel your life is so tangled up that no one could ever straighten it out again.
If you feel unfit for God to use, congratulations! You're an excellent candidate for the grace of God.
Blessings,
John
Friday, February 18, 2011
Our Unkind Culture
By John Stallings
Two brothers had a dog that was a loyal, faithful member of the household for 13 years; but the pet’s health had deteriorated so much that the only kind thing to do was to put her down.
The family agonized over having to do that. They postponed the day repeatedly. Eventually one of the brothers decided to take the dog to the vet. As he drove to the vet’s office, the dog crawled up on the seat, and put her head on his lap. It was really difficult to take her into the office.
After the vet put her to sleep, he went back out to the parking lot and sat for a long while before he returned to work. He and his brother worked together. When he walked into the office, his brother asked where he’d been. After telling what had happened, his brother said, “You paid a vet to put the dog to sleep? You should have brought that dog to me. I would have knocked it over the head and taken care of it—no problem”
Two brothers with the same parents and similar upbringing, but one is tenderhearted and the other is callous and insensitive in spirit. Some might say this is all about temperament, but I believe it goes much deeper than that. I believe we’re in the realm of the spirit of a person and what they are at the heart/core of their being.
The heart is used in Scripture as the term for the authentic person. It is the part of our being where we desire, deliberate, and decide. It has been described as the place of conscious and decisive spiritual activity.
TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS
I believe that every gospel song [successful gospel song] if the words were read would qualify as a mini- sermon.
However, when we move from the realm of gospel music things can get dicey and sadly much music being written these days IMHO isn’t worth hearing.
Of course there are exceptions.
“Try a little tenderness” is a love song written by Irving King and Harry Woods way back in 1932. It was the 1966 version by the late Otis Redding that many of my generation came to know.
Though obviously not a religious song, it has some lines describing romantic love that can knock you off your feet.
People these days for the most part, are so unaccustomed to simple acts of kindness that they don’t know one when it bites their nose. Kindness and tenderness I’m afraid are not fashionable.
Millions never receive a kind or tender word through-out their lives and are never on the receiving end of kindness. Consequently, they never show kindness to anyone else.
THE UNKIND CULTURE IS EVERYWHERE.
It seems that the only criteria for hiring a person to serve the public is to able to fog a mirror. If they're alive they get the job. There's nothing in their training that requires more than working a scanner and the cash register.
I think one of the factors when it comes to the approaching “extinction” of kindness is the fact that our world is becoming much more impersonal.
Store employees will ignore us as we enter the store or restaurant and wait in line waiting to be served.Road rage drivers cut us off, co-workers are almost impossible to work with and never offer a kind word, and families are less than patient when we're late because we got caught in traffic. Children become violent on the playground at the drop of a hat, pro-athletes, not content to win-but must taunt the vanquished, politicians who trash-talk their opponents. We see this all the time.
And these difficult economic days aren't making this any better. If we thought kindness and tenderness were in short supply a few years ago-it's not exactly making a comeback in these challenging times. And yet now would be a really appropriate time for us to lighten up on one another.
When it comes to calling a utility company or a store—or even a church for that matter—more and more often we get these very impersonal phone trees. Computers answer and say, “If you want information about this push #1,” etc. Can you imagine what would happen if they did this to the 911 system? “If your emergency is a murder, push ‘1.’ If it is a burglary, push ‘2.’ If the burglar is still in the house, push ‘3.’ If he has a gun, push ‘4’ repeatedly...’”
The following, to me is the sweetest sentence in the Bible;
Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
IMHO if this little verse was properly understood and emulated, it would totally revolutionize most all our relationships.
Far too often, we are just not very kind to the people with whom we deal. I sometimes think that we show more common courtesy and kindness to the general public than we do with our own families. Too often the home is the place where we are loved the most, treated the best and act the worst. We give ourselves permission to be mean, hateful, rude, impatient, selfish, unsympathetic, hostile, oppressive and even cruel to those who love us the most.
The real you is not that person that comes to church on Sunday, dressed in their Sunday best. The real you [and me] is often wearing a disguise in public. The real you is the one your wife knows, or your children, or your parents. And, too often, the real you, is not a kind person.
An elderly woman is struggling with luggage or packages, and a steady stream of able-bodied people pass her by. Some even scowl and say, “Get a move on, Granny.” And then a tenderhearted person happens along and takes time to help her out.
I agree with the little girl who prayed, “O God, make all the bad people good, and make all the good people nice.”
As a boy, I used to admire intelligent and rich people. But I will tell you that the older I get the people that I admire are the kind people. They do much more for my spirit than the rich people. They do more for me than the geniuses. I like the kind people. And I have a feeling God does too.
MARRIAGE DESTROYED WITH WORDS
The Bible almost always describes romantic love from the male's perspective. We're told that Isaac loved Rebecca, Jacob loved Rachel, and Samson loved Delilah.
In the entire Bible, there is only one woman whose love for a man is recorded. And here it is;
I Samuel 18:20 - Now Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David...
Michal's father Saul, afraid that David would take the throne of Israel plotted to kill him. Michal helped David escape by lowering him from a window. She then confused Saul's hired assassins by placing a human image, topped with hair and dressed in clothes, in David's bed. You may remember the story from I Samuel, chapter 19. By the time the would-be killers realized Michal's ruse, her beloved was far away; and David escaped.
Although the Bible never reports that David reciprocated Michal's love, we do know that he risked his life in one-on-one battle with 200 Philistines for her hand in marriage.
That's in ISamuel 18:25-29.
Thus Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him...
Later, when David spent years hiding from King Saul, Saul married off Michal—still David's wife—to another man. Although many husbands would have left a wife who had agreed to such an arrangement, when David became King, he restored Michal as his queen.
They had a good relationship; and as already stated, the Bible records Michal loved David, and so we have that on record. To reiterate, it’s the only case recorded in the Bible of a woman's love toward a man. No doubt there were others, indeed probably all the wives loved their husbands but this is the only one we find recorded.
Yet, despite the intense love at the relationship's outset, David and Michal's marriage becomes one of the saddest in the Bible. And within a few years, this once-devoted couple became totally estranged.
SHARP TONGUES
David and Michal both suffered from the same character flaw—a sharp tongue, angry words which they refused to control when they got upset. Angry words can be extremely dangerous to a relationship. If you don’t think the tongue is a razor, follow this story.
The Bible describes the incident that triggered the end of their love. It was during a celebration when it took place. How ironic. David was supervising the return of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. The Philistines had captured the Ark many years earlier; now it was coming back to Jerusalem.
In an outburst of joy, David danced passionately, even wildly, in front of thousands of his subjects; and watching the whole scene from a palace window was the lovely and gracious queen, Michal. She was disgusted by the spectacle of a monarch carrying on with such reckless abandon. And so, when David returned to the palace, she had a couple of words for him.
II Samuel 6:14-15 says; - Then David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.
Verse 16 - Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.
Verses 17-19 - So they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. And when David had finished offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. Then he distributed among all the people, among the whole multitude of Israel, both the women and the men, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed, everyone to his house.
And now, here's verse 20 - Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, "How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!"
Now, were Michal's withering remarks justified? May be. Had David truly acted in a manner that diminished the dignity of his office? Perhaps! But whether or not Michal was right, her tactless criticism of her husband on this great day in his life turned the dispute into a gale force fury. But Michal's attack on the king was only the first factor in the tragedy that ensued. In the face of his wife's scorn, David didn't remain silent, didn't walk away and cool off, or wait till the tension eased, or even try to defend his behavior. Instead, he responded with something completely out of left field that had nothing to do with the situation at all. He mustered the cruelest counterattack he could think of.
Verse 21 - So David said to Michal, "It was before the Lord, who chose me instead of your Dad and all his house, to appoint ME ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore I will play music whenever I feel like it!"
David's words in no way addressed the substance of Michal's critique; and as many of us do when we're criticized, we go straight for blood. "What's the worst thing I can think of to say right now?" Attacking the most painful event in Michal's life, which was God's rejection of her father, and then, of course, his subsequent death along with three of her brothers who also died at the hands of the Philistines.
And now, notice verse 23, the Bible records:
therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.
Why is Michal's childlessness recorded at this point in the story? No doubt because after such a brutal exchange—and may be there were even others that are not recorded—Michal and David were never again intimate.
The Bible's point is as clear today as it was in 1,000 B.C; if a husband or a wife or two siblings or two friends do not restrain their words when they’re angry, love may not survive, no matter how deeply the two people cared for one another beforehand. The ability to control what we say when we're angry is a prerequisite for a lasting relationship. Oh, the danger of angry words.
Here's a rule that is good to keep in mind and maybe something that would have helped King David and his queen do better in this regard, and that is:
Limit the expression of your anger to the incident that provoked it. Don't come out of left field with something completely off the subject that you know will hurt. Limit the expression of your anger to the incident that's being discussed.
After many years of marriage, my wife and I know exactly where each others “buttons” are. Every spouse has this bit of info right at their fingertips. If you and I want our marriages to be “hell on a soda cracker,” that’s easy; all we have to do is get up in the morning and start pushing each other’s buttons. Are you a button pusher? We all can be, but we’d better take a lesson from David and Michael.
What David did wrong was to attack Michal at her point of greatest vulnerability. He went for her juggler. His words were designed and calculated to humiliate and devastate her. To bring another person's vulnerability into an argument is wrong. So limit your concerns to the incident that caused you to get upset.
Had David and Michal abided by this rule, they may have fought about the issue that provoked their anger, but maybe their relationship would have stayed intact. God Himself is slow to anger, something that we can all learn from.
BEING RELIGIOUS ISN’T THE ANSWER
In the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus pointed out that being religious is no guarantee of being tenderhearted. The priest and the Levite passed the injured traveler on the other side of the road because they didn’t want to get involved. But a Samaritan gave assistance because he had a tender heart.
If we want to be like Jesus, we need to learn to be kind and tenderhearted. To be frank, a rude Christian is a contradiction in terms. Please read that last line again.
Hard-hearted Christians can do a great deal of damage. We often kid people that we shouldn’t kid, and when they get hurt we say, “Can’t you take a joke?” We don’t listen to people very well. We’re quick to speak, to judge, to criticize. We’re short on sympathy, tears, and patience. We view tenderhearted folk as emotional weaklings. But deep down inside we know it’s not right. We’re too cold and calloused. If we’re honest we’ll admit there are times when we don’t like ourselves very much.
THE LAW OF KINDNESS
In speaking of the virtuous woman, Prov. 31:26 says –
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness.
The word for "law" is torah, the same word that’s used for "law" in the Bible. The torah of kindness. And the word for "kindness" is a word that’s generally used to mean "mercy." It’s translated over 240 times in the Old Testament as "mercy." But it’s also translated "kindness," and "loving kindness."
Is the law of kindness in our tongue? Is the law of kindness in our behavior? Is the law of kindness in our life? Because if God says it’s a law of kindness, then we need to be obeying that law. We need to be practicing that rule, that prescription, that instruction, that order from God. Are you? Am I?
So what is kindness? "Kindness," according to the dictionary, means "sympathetic." A person who is kind is "sympathetic, he’s "gentle, friendly, tender-hearted, and generous." Those are the expressions and definitions given. Kindness implies "the possession of a sympathetic or generous quality, either habitually or specifically, as applied to actions."
Kindness is a godly characteristic that needs to be growing on our trees. "Am I a kind person?" Is kindness demonstrated in our life? Is kindness demonstrated in how we speak? Is kindness demonstrated in how we conduct ourselves? Is kindness expressed in our general overall manner of life?
In Psalm 31 and verse 21, we read:
Blessed be the Lord, for He has shown me His marvelous kindness.
How can we be more tenderhearted? What practical steps can you and I take to relate to people in a more tender, kind fashion? As I see it, there are three steps we can take:
1. SEE WITH GOD’S EYES
How many of us view others in this manner: “Wow! There goes a custom-designed creation of Almighty God. He has God’s image stamped on him. He is the object of God’s greatest affection. Jesus shed His blood for him. The Holy Spirit is seeking him out night and day in order to bring him into a right relationship with God. He really matters to God.”For most of us, people are “like trees, walking.” We need to see them as God sees them.
Hard-hearted folk tend to divide the world into two classes: winners and losers, survivors and basket cases, sharp and dull, important and unimportant. But here is how God views humanity: potential saints, a treasure, and VIP’s. He sees all people that way. He loves prisoners and bag ladies as much as preachers and missionaries. There aren’t any “nobodies” in God’s sight. God’s treasures should be treated tenderly.
Look at the contrast in Mark three between Jesus and the Pharisees;
And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. - Mark 3:5-6
Psychologists tell us that we get our self worth from looking through the eyes of the person that we most love and most value. And if that person that we love and value highly loves us, then our worth begins to grow. And if he or she doesn’t, then our worth begins to diminish.
Look at yourself not from what your background is, not from who your parents are, not from the things you’ve done in your past, good or bad, look at yourself through the eyes of God, who loved us so much that he sent his only son Jesus Christ into the world to redeem us all.
2. FEEL WITH GOD’S HEART
Another way to put this is to say that we must make ourselves walk a mile in the other person’s moccasins. Tenderhearted people have a natural ability to empathize with others, to feel what they are feeling. But hard-hearted people by contrast, can look at people who are hurting and say, “I wonder what their problem is?”
A 15-year-old boy who lay bleeding from a head wound just steps away from a hospital could not be rescued -- because rules required that ambulances bring in patients. Frustrated police officers finally carried the fatally wounded boy into the Hospital, but he died a short time later.
Witnesses at the scene said hospital emergency workers refused to come to the boy despite pleas, quoting hospital rules. A hospital spokeswoman simply stated that emergency room personnel were barred from dispensing care outside the hospital. When rules and regulations get in the way of commonsense compassion, it’s a sign that hearts have become hardened.
Hard-hearted people need to ask some hard questions. They need to ask themselves, “How would it feel to be handicapped, unemployed, widowed, or terminally ill?” They need to mentally get into the skin of those who are in need.
3. TREATING PEOPLE AS CHRIST TREATS US
No believer should ever doubt God’s affection. Listen to Isaiah 43:4: “You are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you.”
Psalm 103:13 says: “As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.”
If God doesn’t want His children wondering whether or not they’re loved, should we not see to it that others know the same? Why not express your affection regularly so that your family, friends, and co-workers know how you feel about them?If you’re one of those individuals that find it difficult to be tender-hearted, ask God to help you change inwardly—to give you a heart of flesh that beats with loving concern for others. Stop blaming your parents and your temperament.
What would happen if hard-hearted people began to see people as they are in God’s eyes? Harry Hardguy would have to change his name to Tom Tender-heart.
Thank God for people who are naturally tender-hearted. Without them our lives would be miserable. Thank Him also that we can all grow in tenderness---even those of us who are naturally hard.
Try a little tenderness!
Blessings,
John
Two brothers had a dog that was a loyal, faithful member of the household for 13 years; but the pet’s health had deteriorated so much that the only kind thing to do was to put her down.
The family agonized over having to do that. They postponed the day repeatedly. Eventually one of the brothers decided to take the dog to the vet. As he drove to the vet’s office, the dog crawled up on the seat, and put her head on his lap. It was really difficult to take her into the office.
After the vet put her to sleep, he went back out to the parking lot and sat for a long while before he returned to work. He and his brother worked together. When he walked into the office, his brother asked where he’d been. After telling what had happened, his brother said, “You paid a vet to put the dog to sleep? You should have brought that dog to me. I would have knocked it over the head and taken care of it—no problem”
Two brothers with the same parents and similar upbringing, but one is tenderhearted and the other is callous and insensitive in spirit. Some might say this is all about temperament, but I believe it goes much deeper than that. I believe we’re in the realm of the spirit of a person and what they are at the heart/core of their being.
The heart is used in Scripture as the term for the authentic person. It is the part of our being where we desire, deliberate, and decide. It has been described as the place of conscious and decisive spiritual activity.
TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS
I believe that every gospel song [successful gospel song] if the words were read would qualify as a mini- sermon.
However, when we move from the realm of gospel music things can get dicey and sadly much music being written these days IMHO isn’t worth hearing.
Of course there are exceptions.
“Try a little tenderness” is a love song written by Irving King and Harry Woods way back in 1932. It was the 1966 version by the late Otis Redding that many of my generation came to know.
Though obviously not a religious song, it has some lines describing romantic love that can knock you off your feet.
People these days for the most part, are so unaccustomed to simple acts of kindness that they don’t know one when it bites their nose. Kindness and tenderness I’m afraid are not fashionable.
Millions never receive a kind or tender word through-out their lives and are never on the receiving end of kindness. Consequently, they never show kindness to anyone else.
THE UNKIND CULTURE IS EVERYWHERE.
It seems that the only criteria for hiring a person to serve the public is to able to fog a mirror. If they're alive they get the job. There's nothing in their training that requires more than working a scanner and the cash register.
I think one of the factors when it comes to the approaching “extinction” of kindness is the fact that our world is becoming much more impersonal.
Store employees will ignore us as we enter the store or restaurant and wait in line waiting to be served.Road rage drivers cut us off, co-workers are almost impossible to work with and never offer a kind word, and families are less than patient when we're late because we got caught in traffic. Children become violent on the playground at the drop of a hat, pro-athletes, not content to win-but must taunt the vanquished, politicians who trash-talk their opponents. We see this all the time.
And these difficult economic days aren't making this any better. If we thought kindness and tenderness were in short supply a few years ago-it's not exactly making a comeback in these challenging times. And yet now would be a really appropriate time for us to lighten up on one another.
When it comes to calling a utility company or a store—or even a church for that matter—more and more often we get these very impersonal phone trees. Computers answer and say, “If you want information about this push #1,” etc. Can you imagine what would happen if they did this to the 911 system? “If your emergency is a murder, push ‘1.’ If it is a burglary, push ‘2.’ If the burglar is still in the house, push ‘3.’ If he has a gun, push ‘4’ repeatedly...’”
The following, to me is the sweetest sentence in the Bible;
Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
IMHO if this little verse was properly understood and emulated, it would totally revolutionize most all our relationships.
Far too often, we are just not very kind to the people with whom we deal. I sometimes think that we show more common courtesy and kindness to the general public than we do with our own families. Too often the home is the place where we are loved the most, treated the best and act the worst. We give ourselves permission to be mean, hateful, rude, impatient, selfish, unsympathetic, hostile, oppressive and even cruel to those who love us the most.
The real you is not that person that comes to church on Sunday, dressed in their Sunday best. The real you [and me] is often wearing a disguise in public. The real you is the one your wife knows, or your children, or your parents. And, too often, the real you, is not a kind person.
An elderly woman is struggling with luggage or packages, and a steady stream of able-bodied people pass her by. Some even scowl and say, “Get a move on, Granny.” And then a tenderhearted person happens along and takes time to help her out.
I agree with the little girl who prayed, “O God, make all the bad people good, and make all the good people nice.”
As a boy, I used to admire intelligent and rich people. But I will tell you that the older I get the people that I admire are the kind people. They do much more for my spirit than the rich people. They do more for me than the geniuses. I like the kind people. And I have a feeling God does too.
MARRIAGE DESTROYED WITH WORDS
The Bible almost always describes romantic love from the male's perspective. We're told that Isaac loved Rebecca, Jacob loved Rachel, and Samson loved Delilah.
In the entire Bible, there is only one woman whose love for a man is recorded. And here it is;
I Samuel 18:20 - Now Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David...
Michal's father Saul, afraid that David would take the throne of Israel plotted to kill him. Michal helped David escape by lowering him from a window. She then confused Saul's hired assassins by placing a human image, topped with hair and dressed in clothes, in David's bed. You may remember the story from I Samuel, chapter 19. By the time the would-be killers realized Michal's ruse, her beloved was far away; and David escaped.
Although the Bible never reports that David reciprocated Michal's love, we do know that he risked his life in one-on-one battle with 200 Philistines for her hand in marriage.
That's in ISamuel 18:25-29.
Thus Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him...
Later, when David spent years hiding from King Saul, Saul married off Michal—still David's wife—to another man. Although many husbands would have left a wife who had agreed to such an arrangement, when David became King, he restored Michal as his queen.
They had a good relationship; and as already stated, the Bible records Michal loved David, and so we have that on record. To reiterate, it’s the only case recorded in the Bible of a woman's love toward a man. No doubt there were others, indeed probably all the wives loved their husbands but this is the only one we find recorded.
Yet, despite the intense love at the relationship's outset, David and Michal's marriage becomes one of the saddest in the Bible. And within a few years, this once-devoted couple became totally estranged.
SHARP TONGUES
David and Michal both suffered from the same character flaw—a sharp tongue, angry words which they refused to control when they got upset. Angry words can be extremely dangerous to a relationship. If you don’t think the tongue is a razor, follow this story.
The Bible describes the incident that triggered the end of their love. It was during a celebration when it took place. How ironic. David was supervising the return of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. The Philistines had captured the Ark many years earlier; now it was coming back to Jerusalem.
In an outburst of joy, David danced passionately, even wildly, in front of thousands of his subjects; and watching the whole scene from a palace window was the lovely and gracious queen, Michal. She was disgusted by the spectacle of a monarch carrying on with such reckless abandon. And so, when David returned to the palace, she had a couple of words for him.
II Samuel 6:14-15 says; - Then David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.
Verse 16 - Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.
Verses 17-19 - So they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. And when David had finished offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. Then he distributed among all the people, among the whole multitude of Israel, both the women and the men, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed, everyone to his house.
And now, here's verse 20 - Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, "How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!"
Now, were Michal's withering remarks justified? May be. Had David truly acted in a manner that diminished the dignity of his office? Perhaps! But whether or not Michal was right, her tactless criticism of her husband on this great day in his life turned the dispute into a gale force fury. But Michal's attack on the king was only the first factor in the tragedy that ensued. In the face of his wife's scorn, David didn't remain silent, didn't walk away and cool off, or wait till the tension eased, or even try to defend his behavior. Instead, he responded with something completely out of left field that had nothing to do with the situation at all. He mustered the cruelest counterattack he could think of.
Verse 21 - So David said to Michal, "It was before the Lord, who chose me instead of your Dad and all his house, to appoint ME ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore I will play music whenever I feel like it!"
David's words in no way addressed the substance of Michal's critique; and as many of us do when we're criticized, we go straight for blood. "What's the worst thing I can think of to say right now?" Attacking the most painful event in Michal's life, which was God's rejection of her father, and then, of course, his subsequent death along with three of her brothers who also died at the hands of the Philistines.
And now, notice verse 23, the Bible records:
therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.
Why is Michal's childlessness recorded at this point in the story? No doubt because after such a brutal exchange—and may be there were even others that are not recorded—Michal and David were never again intimate.
The Bible's point is as clear today as it was in 1,000 B.C; if a husband or a wife or two siblings or two friends do not restrain their words when they’re angry, love may not survive, no matter how deeply the two people cared for one another beforehand. The ability to control what we say when we're angry is a prerequisite for a lasting relationship. Oh, the danger of angry words.
Here's a rule that is good to keep in mind and maybe something that would have helped King David and his queen do better in this regard, and that is:
Limit the expression of your anger to the incident that provoked it. Don't come out of left field with something completely off the subject that you know will hurt. Limit the expression of your anger to the incident that's being discussed.
After many years of marriage, my wife and I know exactly where each others “buttons” are. Every spouse has this bit of info right at their fingertips. If you and I want our marriages to be “hell on a soda cracker,” that’s easy; all we have to do is get up in the morning and start pushing each other’s buttons. Are you a button pusher? We all can be, but we’d better take a lesson from David and Michael.
What David did wrong was to attack Michal at her point of greatest vulnerability. He went for her juggler. His words were designed and calculated to humiliate and devastate her. To bring another person's vulnerability into an argument is wrong. So limit your concerns to the incident that caused you to get upset.
Had David and Michal abided by this rule, they may have fought about the issue that provoked their anger, but maybe their relationship would have stayed intact. God Himself is slow to anger, something that we can all learn from.
BEING RELIGIOUS ISN’T THE ANSWER
In the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus pointed out that being religious is no guarantee of being tenderhearted. The priest and the Levite passed the injured traveler on the other side of the road because they didn’t want to get involved. But a Samaritan gave assistance because he had a tender heart.
If we want to be like Jesus, we need to learn to be kind and tenderhearted. To be frank, a rude Christian is a contradiction in terms. Please read that last line again.
Hard-hearted Christians can do a great deal of damage. We often kid people that we shouldn’t kid, and when they get hurt we say, “Can’t you take a joke?” We don’t listen to people very well. We’re quick to speak, to judge, to criticize. We’re short on sympathy, tears, and patience. We view tenderhearted folk as emotional weaklings. But deep down inside we know it’s not right. We’re too cold and calloused. If we’re honest we’ll admit there are times when we don’t like ourselves very much.
THE LAW OF KINDNESS
In speaking of the virtuous woman, Prov. 31:26 says –
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness.
The word for "law" is torah, the same word that’s used for "law" in the Bible. The torah of kindness. And the word for "kindness" is a word that’s generally used to mean "mercy." It’s translated over 240 times in the Old Testament as "mercy." But it’s also translated "kindness," and "loving kindness."
Is the law of kindness in our tongue? Is the law of kindness in our behavior? Is the law of kindness in our life? Because if God says it’s a law of kindness, then we need to be obeying that law. We need to be practicing that rule, that prescription, that instruction, that order from God. Are you? Am I?
So what is kindness? "Kindness," according to the dictionary, means "sympathetic." A person who is kind is "sympathetic, he’s "gentle, friendly, tender-hearted, and generous." Those are the expressions and definitions given. Kindness implies "the possession of a sympathetic or generous quality, either habitually or specifically, as applied to actions."
Kindness is a godly characteristic that needs to be growing on our trees. "Am I a kind person?" Is kindness demonstrated in our life? Is kindness demonstrated in how we speak? Is kindness demonstrated in how we conduct ourselves? Is kindness expressed in our general overall manner of life?
In Psalm 31 and verse 21, we read:
Blessed be the Lord, for He has shown me His marvelous kindness.
How can we be more tenderhearted? What practical steps can you and I take to relate to people in a more tender, kind fashion? As I see it, there are three steps we can take:
1. SEE WITH GOD’S EYES
How many of us view others in this manner: “Wow! There goes a custom-designed creation of Almighty God. He has God’s image stamped on him. He is the object of God’s greatest affection. Jesus shed His blood for him. The Holy Spirit is seeking him out night and day in order to bring him into a right relationship with God. He really matters to God.”For most of us, people are “like trees, walking.” We need to see them as God sees them.
Hard-hearted folk tend to divide the world into two classes: winners and losers, survivors and basket cases, sharp and dull, important and unimportant. But here is how God views humanity: potential saints, a treasure, and VIP’s. He sees all people that way. He loves prisoners and bag ladies as much as preachers and missionaries. There aren’t any “nobodies” in God’s sight. God’s treasures should be treated tenderly.
Look at the contrast in Mark three between Jesus and the Pharisees;
And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. - Mark 3:5-6
Psychologists tell us that we get our self worth from looking through the eyes of the person that we most love and most value. And if that person that we love and value highly loves us, then our worth begins to grow. And if he or she doesn’t, then our worth begins to diminish.
Look at yourself not from what your background is, not from who your parents are, not from the things you’ve done in your past, good or bad, look at yourself through the eyes of God, who loved us so much that he sent his only son Jesus Christ into the world to redeem us all.
2. FEEL WITH GOD’S HEART
Another way to put this is to say that we must make ourselves walk a mile in the other person’s moccasins. Tenderhearted people have a natural ability to empathize with others, to feel what they are feeling. But hard-hearted people by contrast, can look at people who are hurting and say, “I wonder what their problem is?”
A 15-year-old boy who lay bleeding from a head wound just steps away from a hospital could not be rescued -- because rules required that ambulances bring in patients. Frustrated police officers finally carried the fatally wounded boy into the Hospital, but he died a short time later.
Witnesses at the scene said hospital emergency workers refused to come to the boy despite pleas, quoting hospital rules. A hospital spokeswoman simply stated that emergency room personnel were barred from dispensing care outside the hospital. When rules and regulations get in the way of commonsense compassion, it’s a sign that hearts have become hardened.
Hard-hearted people need to ask some hard questions. They need to ask themselves, “How would it feel to be handicapped, unemployed, widowed, or terminally ill?” They need to mentally get into the skin of those who are in need.
3. TREATING PEOPLE AS CHRIST TREATS US
No believer should ever doubt God’s affection. Listen to Isaiah 43:4: “You are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you.”
Psalm 103:13 says: “As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.”
If God doesn’t want His children wondering whether or not they’re loved, should we not see to it that others know the same? Why not express your affection regularly so that your family, friends, and co-workers know how you feel about them?If you’re one of those individuals that find it difficult to be tender-hearted, ask God to help you change inwardly—to give you a heart of flesh that beats with loving concern for others. Stop blaming your parents and your temperament.
What would happen if hard-hearted people began to see people as they are in God’s eyes? Harry Hardguy would have to change his name to Tom Tender-heart.
Thank God for people who are naturally tender-hearted. Without them our lives would be miserable. Thank Him also that we can all grow in tenderness---even those of us who are naturally hard.
Try a little tenderness!
Blessings,
John
Monday, January 3, 2011
Getting Unstuck For A New Year
By John Stallings
In the movie, “Forest Gump” you may remember the part of the movie where Forest decides to go for a run.
He first runs to the end of the driveway. Then he runs into town. Then he runs to the county line & then he runs to the state line. Then he runs across half the United States to Santa Monica California.Then Forest decides to turn around & run some more. This time he runs across the country to a lighthouse in Maine. He keeps running until people notice. He’s in the media, on magazine covers & starts to build a following. People start to run with him & follow him wherever he goes.With a full beard & dirty, grungy clothes, Forest finds himself with a large number of followers who will go wherever he goes.
One day, Forest stops running. Standing in the middle of a road he speaks to his followers. They wait with bated breath for his words of wisdom. They lean toward him waiting for the words to fall from his lips.Forest speaks like no man ever spoke before, sharing these words of unprecedented wisdom, I hope you’re sitting because this is big; Forest says, “I’m kind of tired. I think I’m gonna go home now.” He walks through his followers who part like the Red Sea.
Though the movie was first & foremost a comedy, I think, & certainly it was just a movie, there’s something here that rings a serious bell. You can’t help but feel sorry for these people following Forest, mostly because they have nothing better to do. They have no direction in their lives. These folk put their faith & hope in Forest & he has nothing to offer them.
WE HAVE A GUIDE
As we embark on the year 2011, we aren’t like the people in the movie Forest Gump, - so empty, - so lost -that we would follow someone who’s going nowhere in particular. Forest had a good heart, but really had no clue where he was going & why.We’re told in scripture & we know experientially that the Holy Spirit who resides within us will Guide us into all truth. We have God, His Son Jesus & The Holy Spirit to fill our lives with meaning & give us guidance.
STUCK
The greatest challenge of the coming New Year will be letting go of the past in order to grasp a new future. It’s not as easy as it sounds because we as human beings have a way of getting stuck. Many people find that though they want passionately to believe things can be different, a new beginning always seems to move just out of reach. They find themselves slipping back into the bondage of the past.In Philippians 3:13-14 Paul said….
but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind & reaching forth for those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
If you saw the movie Groundhog Day; you have a perfect example of a man who’s stuck, living the same day over & over. I don’t think there is anyone who isn’t, or hasn’t been stuck. Maybe our “stuckness” centers on a tangible such as buying, eating, drinking, drugging, worrying, fretting, gambling, risks, sex, love, books, movies, television, ideas, work, or power. Or maybe what we’re experiencing is a general malaise or vertigo that we can’t put our finger on.
Being stuck is sort of a twilight zone of sameness with no seeming ability to affect any kind of change. We yearn for new vistas but seem to be fresh out of ideas as to how and where to find them. We look down the road and see no chance of anything but more of the same.
We all know what it’s like to be in a car that’s stuck, either in snow, sand or mud. My heart bled these past few weeks as I watched the folk in the northeastern states being victimized by the white stuff.Though we love white Christmases, too much of a good thing can be devastating.
But being emotionally and spiritually stuck is worse. It’s the realization that we’re not moving forward, and we feel paralyzed. There are projects we know we need to start or finish, but we’re seemingly trapped and frozen in place.
Few of us will grow in our Christian lives in a steady, gradual, upward slope from birth to death. Granted there will be seasons of seemingly effortless growth but there will also be seasons where we somehow get “stuck” at one level and can’t “break out” to the next level.Something’s getting in the way!It's my contention that part of what impedes our personal and spiritual growth are the "stuck" places in our life.
There are varieties of reasons we get stuck but whatever they might be, our personal growth diminishes the longer we remain stuck. We can get stuck in our past, in our pain, in our problems, in our perspectives or in our life patterns.I get stuck sometimes, don’t you? It is not usually an absence of options, but a plethora of them. One gets stuck in the process of choosing & then shuts down.We can sometimes get stymied. That implies being thwarted by some outside force.
Certainly outside forces influence us negatively or positively, but the reality is that most of the stymieing comes from within. We are afraid. We are afraid of the shame, embarrassment, & disappointment that failure will bring & the increased responsibility of success. Therefore, we are timid, tenuous, and terrorized by fear of the decisions we might make or actions we might take. After all, we might make a mistake. We might produce mediocre work. We might open a can of worms. Our "mights take away our might.”
Maybe a large challenge comes up, -we get discouraged & we freeze. We put our plans on hold & break our pattern of discipline.Sometimes “being stuck” is a signal that something has gone wrong; somehow we’ve missed it, and we’re terribly off course. This is not always the case; as a matter of fact, feeling stuck is a condition that can be good for us. For one thing, a prime prerequisite for getting unstuck is to be stuck. When we’re stuck, we’ve lost our momentum and are forced, at least temporarily, to stop and assess our lives.
Feeling stuck acts as an inward summons or call. We face the fact that we are dissatisfied with where we are. We see the utter futility of our situation, and, if we are wise, we reach for another level to satisfy the desire for change. At that point, we are reaching for that which really satisfies, and, in so doing, we are calling out for God. So that’s why I say that being stuck isn’t really a bad thing. What has happened is, because of the stuck feelings, we have begun to readjust our lives, looking for a clearer perspective. In a way we are calling out, “What’s next for me, God?
PEOPLE GET STUCK IN THE PAST
Some people live in the past and seem to revel in the hurts of yesterday. They won’t shake loose from their past failures or calamities because, to them, the past is more important than the present. When you talk to them, you quickly see they are totally caught up with & committed to keeping the past more real than the present. They are stuck. What decade was it that Ronnie Millsap was lost in? Was it the sixties? I liked the song but always forget the decade. Oh well, it matters not; the important things is he was stuck.
In John 5, Jesus saw a man sitting beside the pool of Bethesda. He had been sitting there for thirty-eight years, trying to be first into the water after it was troubled by the angel. Jesus came along and heard the man’s story and immediately saw that he was stuck. I would say that thirty-eight years of sitting in the same spot, whining about the same problem is really being stuck. It didn’t cross the man’s mind that there was another way. When Jesus was able to get him to quit worrying about his past defeats and disappointments & look to Him, the man was healed, & he carried his bed away.
WE CAN GET STUCK IN OLD PATTERNS AND HABITS.
It’s not hard to develop bad habits (sometimes sinful), but more often people are just bogged in ruts. Some give up, figuring they can’t change, so why try? Perhaps because of resentment or a negative thought pattern they’ve been in so long, they think their situation could never change. Perhaps they’ve come to believe their lot in life is already static, & nothing can ever be different.
MAYBE YOU’RE STUCK FINANCIALLY OR WITH SOME OTHER PHYSICAL NEED.
In John 2, Jesus attended a wedding in Cana of Galilee, & they had run out of wine. The people were stuck with no libation, & obviously it put the wedding planners in a bit of an embarrassing spot. They were stuck with no wine. Though Jesus’ time had not yet come to do miracles, He responded to the need & performed His first miracle by turning water into wine. When we are stuck financially, emotionally, or in any other way, we should immediately turn to Jesus, knowing He’ll always be responsive to our needs.
YOU MAY BE STUCK WITH A FALSE ASSUMPTION
In Joel 2:23-32, the prophet speaks to a people who are stuck in despair, feeling things will never get better. He tells them to look up and be glad for God is going to do great things for them. They have a great future if they’ll rise up and take hold of it by faith.He says in verse 25,-
-And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. 26And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. 27And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.28And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.
In I Kings 17 we read the story of Elijah being sent to the home of the widow of Zarephath. A famine was in progress, & the only thing she had was just enough meal to make a cake for herself & her son, then die of slow starvation. This poor little widow woman was indeed stuck. Elijah asked her to make him a little cake first, and at that point she had a choice. She could believe the word of the man of God or do it her way, & no doubt die. When she opted to obey, she was given a miracle supply of oil & meal that lasted for many days.
When things are going bad & we are stuck in some situation or other, we should always listen for Gods voice. He’ll have a plan to get us unstuck. [He has a fleet of spiritual tow-trucks that can be on your case before you can say “Gesundheit”.] The only thing the widow had to do was exercise obedience, & her need was met. To get unstuck, you & I will often have to make that same choice--to obey God.
SOMETIMES BEING STUCK IS JUST PURE PROCRASTINATION.
We develop a habit of putting things off until it finally turns into resistance to tasks that are unpleasant to us. Though we don’t enjoy thinking about it, sometimes we can become stubborn, which started as a childhood-survival technique we may have developed to ward off controlling people. We learned early that we can resist certain things, & people can do nothing but accept our resistance. Perhaps we even enjoyed seeing how it frustrated others when we used those powers of resistance. This may have worked as a child, but it isn’t necessary now, and if we don’t recognize what’s happening, it can be a tool of the devil to sabotage our motivation. Now it translates to pure, old, mule-headed stubbornness, keeping us from the changes we should make.
MAYBE WE ARE STUCK BECAUSE WE ARE RESISTING CHANGE.
Are you stuck at the beginning of the great New Year, 2011?
HERE ARE A FEW HELPFUL HINTS FOR GETTING UNSTUCK.
1. Look at your situation realistically. Does anything in the aforementioned apply? Ask God to help you see what’s really stopping your progress.
2. Look for the bottlenecks in your situation & address them.
3. Develop a “what’s next” mentality. God will show you His will if you seek Him.
4. Don’t hesitate to go to people you respect & enlist their prayers & advice. Don’t forget to seek God.
5. When you get temporarily stuck on a project, walk away for a while, & you’ll come back to it with a new perspective. But do come back.
6. Home run king, Henry Aaron, had this advice: In a slump, keep swinging.
7. Help others with their problems, & yours will seem smaller.
8. Take care of yourself spiritually, emotionally, & physically.
9. Start each day with God’s Word & a prayer for guidance.
LET ME GIVE YOU A LIST OF IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR THE NEW YEAR
1. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you’ll ask God to do for you this coming year?
2. What’s the single most important thing you need to happen to improve the spiritual quality of your family?
3. What spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress in & what will you do about it?
4. What’s the biggest time-waster in your life & what will you do about it in the coming year?
5. For whose salvation will you most fervently pray in the coming year?
6. How could you improve your prayer life in 2011?
7. What will you do in 2011 that will matter most in 10 years? In eternity?
8. What will you do differently by God’s grace this coming year?
9. What’s the most important decision you need to make in 2011?
10. What area of your life needs simplifying & how will you do it?
11. What important need do you feel burdened to meet in 2011?
12. What habit would you like to establish in 2011?
13. Who do you most want to encourage this year?
14. What’s the most important financial goal you need to meet & how will you go about doing it?
15. How can you improve the quality of your work life?
16. What will you endeavor to do to bless your pastor or others who minister to you?
17. What book in addition to the bible do you want to read?
18. What’s your biggest regret of 2010 & what will you do about it in 2011?
19. What important trip would you want to take this year?
20. What skill do you want to learn or improve?
21. To what need or ministry will you give to in an unprecedented way in 2011?
22. What biblical doctrine do you want to better understand?
23. If those who know you best gave you advice, what advice would that be?
24. Would they be right?
25. What will you do about it?You are looking for ways to make progress in your life. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have read these little tips by such a non-expert as I.
If we keep reaching, the best is yet to come.
In Saskatchewan there’s a sign by the side of a muddy road which reads:
CHOOSE YOUR RUT CAREFULLY, YOU’LL BE IN IT A LONG TIME.
Happy New Year,
Blessings,
John
In the movie, “Forest Gump” you may remember the part of the movie where Forest decides to go for a run.
He first runs to the end of the driveway. Then he runs into town. Then he runs to the county line & then he runs to the state line. Then he runs across half the United States to Santa Monica California.Then Forest decides to turn around & run some more. This time he runs across the country to a lighthouse in Maine. He keeps running until people notice. He’s in the media, on magazine covers & starts to build a following. People start to run with him & follow him wherever he goes.With a full beard & dirty, grungy clothes, Forest finds himself with a large number of followers who will go wherever he goes.
One day, Forest stops running. Standing in the middle of a road he speaks to his followers. They wait with bated breath for his words of wisdom. They lean toward him waiting for the words to fall from his lips.Forest speaks like no man ever spoke before, sharing these words of unprecedented wisdom, I hope you’re sitting because this is big; Forest says, “I’m kind of tired. I think I’m gonna go home now.” He walks through his followers who part like the Red Sea.
Though the movie was first & foremost a comedy, I think, & certainly it was just a movie, there’s something here that rings a serious bell. You can’t help but feel sorry for these people following Forest, mostly because they have nothing better to do. They have no direction in their lives. These folk put their faith & hope in Forest & he has nothing to offer them.
WE HAVE A GUIDE
As we embark on the year 2011, we aren’t like the people in the movie Forest Gump, - so empty, - so lost -that we would follow someone who’s going nowhere in particular. Forest had a good heart, but really had no clue where he was going & why.We’re told in scripture & we know experientially that the Holy Spirit who resides within us will Guide us into all truth. We have God, His Son Jesus & The Holy Spirit to fill our lives with meaning & give us guidance.
STUCK
The greatest challenge of the coming New Year will be letting go of the past in order to grasp a new future. It’s not as easy as it sounds because we as human beings have a way of getting stuck. Many people find that though they want passionately to believe things can be different, a new beginning always seems to move just out of reach. They find themselves slipping back into the bondage of the past.In Philippians 3:13-14 Paul said….
but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind & reaching forth for those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
If you saw the movie Groundhog Day; you have a perfect example of a man who’s stuck, living the same day over & over. I don’t think there is anyone who isn’t, or hasn’t been stuck. Maybe our “stuckness” centers on a tangible such as buying, eating, drinking, drugging, worrying, fretting, gambling, risks, sex, love, books, movies, television, ideas, work, or power. Or maybe what we’re experiencing is a general malaise or vertigo that we can’t put our finger on.
Being stuck is sort of a twilight zone of sameness with no seeming ability to affect any kind of change. We yearn for new vistas but seem to be fresh out of ideas as to how and where to find them. We look down the road and see no chance of anything but more of the same.
We all know what it’s like to be in a car that’s stuck, either in snow, sand or mud. My heart bled these past few weeks as I watched the folk in the northeastern states being victimized by the white stuff.Though we love white Christmases, too much of a good thing can be devastating.
But being emotionally and spiritually stuck is worse. It’s the realization that we’re not moving forward, and we feel paralyzed. There are projects we know we need to start or finish, but we’re seemingly trapped and frozen in place.
Few of us will grow in our Christian lives in a steady, gradual, upward slope from birth to death. Granted there will be seasons of seemingly effortless growth but there will also be seasons where we somehow get “stuck” at one level and can’t “break out” to the next level.Something’s getting in the way!It's my contention that part of what impedes our personal and spiritual growth are the "stuck" places in our life.
There are varieties of reasons we get stuck but whatever they might be, our personal growth diminishes the longer we remain stuck. We can get stuck in our past, in our pain, in our problems, in our perspectives or in our life patterns.I get stuck sometimes, don’t you? It is not usually an absence of options, but a plethora of them. One gets stuck in the process of choosing & then shuts down.We can sometimes get stymied. That implies being thwarted by some outside force.
Certainly outside forces influence us negatively or positively, but the reality is that most of the stymieing comes from within. We are afraid. We are afraid of the shame, embarrassment, & disappointment that failure will bring & the increased responsibility of success. Therefore, we are timid, tenuous, and terrorized by fear of the decisions we might make or actions we might take. After all, we might make a mistake. We might produce mediocre work. We might open a can of worms. Our "mights take away our might.”
Maybe a large challenge comes up, -we get discouraged & we freeze. We put our plans on hold & break our pattern of discipline.Sometimes “being stuck” is a signal that something has gone wrong; somehow we’ve missed it, and we’re terribly off course. This is not always the case; as a matter of fact, feeling stuck is a condition that can be good for us. For one thing, a prime prerequisite for getting unstuck is to be stuck. When we’re stuck, we’ve lost our momentum and are forced, at least temporarily, to stop and assess our lives.
Feeling stuck acts as an inward summons or call. We face the fact that we are dissatisfied with where we are. We see the utter futility of our situation, and, if we are wise, we reach for another level to satisfy the desire for change. At that point, we are reaching for that which really satisfies, and, in so doing, we are calling out for God. So that’s why I say that being stuck isn’t really a bad thing. What has happened is, because of the stuck feelings, we have begun to readjust our lives, looking for a clearer perspective. In a way we are calling out, “What’s next for me, God?
PEOPLE GET STUCK IN THE PAST
Some people live in the past and seem to revel in the hurts of yesterday. They won’t shake loose from their past failures or calamities because, to them, the past is more important than the present. When you talk to them, you quickly see they are totally caught up with & committed to keeping the past more real than the present. They are stuck. What decade was it that Ronnie Millsap was lost in? Was it the sixties? I liked the song but always forget the decade. Oh well, it matters not; the important things is he was stuck.
In John 5, Jesus saw a man sitting beside the pool of Bethesda. He had been sitting there for thirty-eight years, trying to be first into the water after it was troubled by the angel. Jesus came along and heard the man’s story and immediately saw that he was stuck. I would say that thirty-eight years of sitting in the same spot, whining about the same problem is really being stuck. It didn’t cross the man’s mind that there was another way. When Jesus was able to get him to quit worrying about his past defeats and disappointments & look to Him, the man was healed, & he carried his bed away.
WE CAN GET STUCK IN OLD PATTERNS AND HABITS.
It’s not hard to develop bad habits (sometimes sinful), but more often people are just bogged in ruts. Some give up, figuring they can’t change, so why try? Perhaps because of resentment or a negative thought pattern they’ve been in so long, they think their situation could never change. Perhaps they’ve come to believe their lot in life is already static, & nothing can ever be different.
MAYBE YOU’RE STUCK FINANCIALLY OR WITH SOME OTHER PHYSICAL NEED.
In John 2, Jesus attended a wedding in Cana of Galilee, & they had run out of wine. The people were stuck with no libation, & obviously it put the wedding planners in a bit of an embarrassing spot. They were stuck with no wine. Though Jesus’ time had not yet come to do miracles, He responded to the need & performed His first miracle by turning water into wine. When we are stuck financially, emotionally, or in any other way, we should immediately turn to Jesus, knowing He’ll always be responsive to our needs.
YOU MAY BE STUCK WITH A FALSE ASSUMPTION
In Joel 2:23-32, the prophet speaks to a people who are stuck in despair, feeling things will never get better. He tells them to look up and be glad for God is going to do great things for them. They have a great future if they’ll rise up and take hold of it by faith.He says in verse 25,-
-And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. 26And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. 27And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.28And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.
In I Kings 17 we read the story of Elijah being sent to the home of the widow of Zarephath. A famine was in progress, & the only thing she had was just enough meal to make a cake for herself & her son, then die of slow starvation. This poor little widow woman was indeed stuck. Elijah asked her to make him a little cake first, and at that point she had a choice. She could believe the word of the man of God or do it her way, & no doubt die. When she opted to obey, she was given a miracle supply of oil & meal that lasted for many days.
When things are going bad & we are stuck in some situation or other, we should always listen for Gods voice. He’ll have a plan to get us unstuck. [He has a fleet of spiritual tow-trucks that can be on your case before you can say “Gesundheit”.] The only thing the widow had to do was exercise obedience, & her need was met. To get unstuck, you & I will often have to make that same choice--to obey God.
SOMETIMES BEING STUCK IS JUST PURE PROCRASTINATION.
We develop a habit of putting things off until it finally turns into resistance to tasks that are unpleasant to us. Though we don’t enjoy thinking about it, sometimes we can become stubborn, which started as a childhood-survival technique we may have developed to ward off controlling people. We learned early that we can resist certain things, & people can do nothing but accept our resistance. Perhaps we even enjoyed seeing how it frustrated others when we used those powers of resistance. This may have worked as a child, but it isn’t necessary now, and if we don’t recognize what’s happening, it can be a tool of the devil to sabotage our motivation. Now it translates to pure, old, mule-headed stubbornness, keeping us from the changes we should make.
MAYBE WE ARE STUCK BECAUSE WE ARE RESISTING CHANGE.
Are you stuck at the beginning of the great New Year, 2011?
HERE ARE A FEW HELPFUL HINTS FOR GETTING UNSTUCK.
1. Look at your situation realistically. Does anything in the aforementioned apply? Ask God to help you see what’s really stopping your progress.
2. Look for the bottlenecks in your situation & address them.
3. Develop a “what’s next” mentality. God will show you His will if you seek Him.
4. Don’t hesitate to go to people you respect & enlist their prayers & advice. Don’t forget to seek God.
5. When you get temporarily stuck on a project, walk away for a while, & you’ll come back to it with a new perspective. But do come back.
6. Home run king, Henry Aaron, had this advice: In a slump, keep swinging.
7. Help others with their problems, & yours will seem smaller.
8. Take care of yourself spiritually, emotionally, & physically.
9. Start each day with God’s Word & a prayer for guidance.
LET ME GIVE YOU A LIST OF IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR THE NEW YEAR
1. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you’ll ask God to do for you this coming year?
2. What’s the single most important thing you need to happen to improve the spiritual quality of your family?
3. What spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress in & what will you do about it?
4. What’s the biggest time-waster in your life & what will you do about it in the coming year?
5. For whose salvation will you most fervently pray in the coming year?
6. How could you improve your prayer life in 2011?
7. What will you do in 2011 that will matter most in 10 years? In eternity?
8. What will you do differently by God’s grace this coming year?
9. What’s the most important decision you need to make in 2011?
10. What area of your life needs simplifying & how will you do it?
11. What important need do you feel burdened to meet in 2011?
12. What habit would you like to establish in 2011?
13. Who do you most want to encourage this year?
14. What’s the most important financial goal you need to meet & how will you go about doing it?
15. How can you improve the quality of your work life?
16. What will you endeavor to do to bless your pastor or others who minister to you?
17. What book in addition to the bible do you want to read?
18. What’s your biggest regret of 2010 & what will you do about it in 2011?
19. What important trip would you want to take this year?
20. What skill do you want to learn or improve?
21. To what need or ministry will you give to in an unprecedented way in 2011?
22. What biblical doctrine do you want to better understand?
23. If those who know you best gave you advice, what advice would that be?
24. Would they be right?
25. What will you do about it?You are looking for ways to make progress in your life. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have read these little tips by such a non-expert as I.
If we keep reaching, the best is yet to come.
In Saskatchewan there’s a sign by the side of a muddy road which reads:
CHOOSE YOUR RUT CAREFULLY, YOU’LL BE IN IT A LONG TIME.
Happy New Year,
Blessings,
John
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