THE JOURNAL

Hymns and "Him"

2012-01-27T10:03:00.000-08:00

Most Christians are aware that Psalms is the “hymnbook” of the Scriptures, but few seem to realize Hebrews is the “Him” book of the Bible. Some are so busy focusing on a few problem texts in this book that they lose sight of the Person of Christ.

This “Him” book is also a “better” book. It speaks of “better things,” a “better sanctuary,” a “better sacrifice,” “better promises,” and a “better covenant.” We are told that Jesus is “better” than the “angels,” “Moses,” “Joshua,” and “Aaron.” The book is all about “Him”. It stands as one of the greatest books in the entire Bible on assurance. In spite of some unlearned and ignorant souls trying to prove the opposite!

I asked my pastor a year or so ago to pray about preaching this “Him” book in the coming year. He smiled, and replied, “I don’t know if I could handle it.” This statement, in itself, proved that he can. Anyone who approaches the book of Hebrews with this kind of attitude and spirit of humility will find “Him” in Hebrews.

Hebrews is not about perplexing problems, but a precious Person. The problems fade in light of the Person. (R.D.S)

Splintered

2012-01-25T11:30:00.000-08:00

In a phone conversation with a black pastor friend, he reminded me of something I had mentioned to him some years ago. I had told him that the crowd we ran with (which I am no longer affiliated with), would end up fragmented because of their lack of charity and their exclusiveness. He informed me that they are now no more than splinter groups, attacking one another. I got to thinking about his statement, and how you cannot build anything out of splinters.

Paul warned the Galatians “…if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.” A modern-day shepherd told me once that when sheep are not fed properly, they start chewing the back of the others. I wonder if this is not the main cause of so much backbiting among us today.

I remember the sweet times we all had years ago when during revival meetings, as high as twenty-five churches in our community would visit with us. And we returned the courtesy during their special meetings. I’m fearful that many, under the guise of separation, are really practicing isolation. It has always amazed me how we can work with other believers, but we can’t worship with them.

Insecurity, I find, generally is derived from immaturity. And the former usually avoids surroundings and people they’re not familiar with. I personally believe it is time for us to stop building walls and begin building bridges. We stanch Bible Believers are not lacking for the one, but we sadly are for the second. Whenever the Church has suffered persecution it is amazing to find the various types of Christians sharing the same foxhole!

Psychological Jargon

2012-01-22T17:03:00.000-08:00

For the past twenty-five years or so, the Church has been turned into a world-like psychological clinic for the disturbed. We see this both in the preaching from its pulpits, and the counseling that comes from office calls to the church’s pseudo therapist. When will we learn Biblical principles outshine psychology as much as the sun does a lit match?

Martyn Lloyd-Jones comments, “Psychology, I believe, is one of the most subtle dangers in connection to our faith.” An area in which I find many Christians are taken up with is in the matter of self-image. The “doctors” tell us this is very important in facing life with its difficulties. But you need no PhD. to understand this. A simple saint with a sixth grade education, who loves God and lives in His Book, could grasp this truth.

Any Spirit-filled Believer, reading the story of the twelve spies in the Old Testament would be aware of this. The timid ten, in making their excuse for not wanting to face their giants said, “We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” Their problem was that they saw themselves the way others did. No soul can be a giant-slayer in his or her life by accepting another’s evaluation of himself or herself.

Both Saul and Goliath said of David, “Thou art but a youth.” But the shepherd boy brought down his giant in spite of what others thought of him. He would not allow others to define him. David knew who he was and was content with what God had made him. He refused to pass himself off as another, hiding in their armour. Little David would have never said, “Why hast thou made me thus?” But he did say, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Coming to Jesus at Sunset

2012-01-21T12:31:00.000-08:00

“Now when the sun was setting…” Jesus, as usual, had just finished a jam-packed day, and night was now setting in. We are told He would be up on the morrow, “in the morning, rising up a great while before day.” Nevertheless, people came to Him at this late hour seeking help both for themselves and loved ones. When one is in great need, he or she is apt to be less considerate of others than they naturally would be. But in spite of being, no doubt, weary from the long day, we are told that our Lord met the need of “every one of them.”

And so the case still is, though it be over two thousand years later. Be assured, when the sun is setting and others are closing up shop, the sign on our Lord’s door is always, “Open.” He is well-known for helping at “the eleventh hour.” Don’t be hesitant to come to Him “by night,” He will graciously receive you; ask Nicodemus! None of us, as Joshua of old, need ever ask the sun to stand still. He can and will give you calm in the midst of the storm, no matter if it is “the forth watch” of the night.

Whether the sun is setting on a long drawn out problem in your life and family; your age is coming to a close and you need more time to accomplish something special; or it is some lingering sin you feel will not be overcome, it’s never too late, even though darkness is rapidly approaching. No sincere soul ever came to Jesus for help, no matter the circumstances, place, or time, that supernatural assistance was not available. Is it any wonder then that God’s darling David penned, “From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised.”

Appreciation of Creation

2012-01-20T21:24:00.000-08:00

I believe few Christians have an appreciation for God's creation. A preacher friend in Canada took me outside one night to behold the Northern Lights. What an awesome sight it was! After seeing such a spectacular scene, I could only say with David, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him?”

On a visit to the Midwest some years ago, my wife and I ate at a Cracker Barrel restaurant. The decor is rustic, and all around there is memorabilia. As we stood in line to pay the cashier, I looked up and saw that the ceiling was full of the same. I mentioned to my wife, "Just think how many never enjoy the sight, simply because they don't take time to look up."

Maybe each of us should take the time to look up at Gods' wonderful creation one night soon. It is part of His works, and we should love to view The Carpenter's handiwork.

Jesus Christ is the Divine Architect for all of creation; don't neglect to view it. (RDS)

The Scarlet Sin

2012-01-19T16:35:00.000-08:00

“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” Is a spiritual sin less than a physical one? Is a sin against God of lesser importance than one against man? It may be well to remember that it is the spiritual sin of rejecting Christ, and not a physical one that sends a person to hell.

We Christians are prone to look down our pharisaical noses at an adulterer or adulteress. How upset we become if one of our own commits such a hideous sin. And are we not the first to demand church discipline in such cases? Certainly, these people are to be put out of the assembly, we say. Do I agree with this? Yes, but only if the person in question is not repentant.

On the other hand, what is to be done with the spiritual adulterer and adulteress? If we took the same action on them, many churches would drop drastically in membership. Not only that, a lot of them would lose their leading deacons, elders, and even their pastors. I do not profess to have the answer to this dilemma. I do know I need to be slower to condemn, and quicker to forgive, if for no other reason than for my own sake. For there’s been a few times; I have fallen into this latter category, that is, of having a secret love affair with this world. Haven’t you?

A Common Thread

2012-01-14T21:26:00.000-08:00

One definition of the little idiom we have chosen to entitle this article is, “an idea or theme that is similar to others.” For example, what main thought does the following list of words bring to mind: father, birth, brother, friend, daughter, son, lover, family? If your answer is relationship, you’re right. Whatever else one might associate with this list, the word relational would have to be at the top.

Being a Christian doesn’t have anything to do with knowing doctrine, the Pharisees were fundamental in the “letter,” but were void of the “Spirit.” Nor is it in being familiar with the scriptures. Satan can quote them all day long. Going to church doesn’t qualify one either. John tells us the devil had his own seat where he regularly sat. And even faithful service will not merit us anything; Jesus says to such people, “I never knew you.”

All the above mentioned are to be commended in a person’s life, if they are a result of and not in order to, become a child of God. If you’re doing the latter to be a member of the family, then you’re putting the cart before the ox. The “Fatherhood of God” only applies to those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. Paul makes it crystal clear in his Galatian epistle, “For ye are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” To all such, God has sent His Spirit into our hearts crying, “Abba, Father.” What a blessed, affectionate, and endearing term, “Papa!” Every true child of God should be both comfortable and confident in addressing Him as such. Jesus did!

God Is Not A Renter

2012-01-13T10:22:00.000-08:00

God, through the prophet Hosea says of His people, “Their heart is divided.” The true mother standing before Solomon would not have her child divided. And so it is with the Lord. He will not have His child with a divided heart. God is not a tenant that lives in one small room of our heart, while we rent out the other spaces to strangers.

Over and over again we read in the Scriptures how the Lord wants the “whole heart.” Anything less than this is unsatisfactory. Our love to God must be entire. He says, “…with all thy heart.” Our love is to be without measure. As the old Puritan put it, “The creature may have the milk of our love, but God must have the cream. Love to God must be above all things, as the oil swims above the water.”

In the Old Testament, the high priest could not marry a widow or a harlot. He could not marry the widow because He would not be her first love; He could not marry the harlot because He would not be her only love. “HE” is to be our first and only love!

Changing the Unchangeable

2012-01-12T08:14:00.000-08:00

Only God can change the unchangeable. And all our efforts to do so on our own will only prove futile. Although the Lord could change the color of an Ethiopian’s skin, as well as remove the spots from a leopard, in His wisdom He has chosen not to do so. And He can also, in a second, if He so desired, alter any and all circumstances in our lives. But again, many, if not most of the times, He doesn’t.

Paul prayed fourteen years for God to take the painful thorn in his flesh from him, only to have the Lord tell him, it was till “death do us part.” And what of Moses’ deep desire and request to enter the Promised Land, after God had told him he would not, was met with, “Speak no more unto me of this matter”?

Why is it we refuse to accept what we cannot change, while, at the same time refusing to change what we can? Like spoiled children, if we can’t have it our way, we don’t want it any way. I may not be able to drive a Rolls Royce across America and enjoy some of the great breathtaking sights of our Country, but I can still find the same pleasure in viewing them from the back seat of an old clunker.

Godly Doubters

2012-01-11T12:52:00.000-08:00

Does our title sound like a misnomer? Well it isn’t. Good and godly people can have doubts from time to time, for one reason or another. At the very start of John the Baptist’s ministry, he had affirmed who Jesus was with the words, “Behold the Lamb of God.” But later on, toward the end of his ministry, from a secluded prison cell, the prophet sends two of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Art thou He…or do we look for another?”

During this dark time in the life of one of our Lord’s choice servant’s lives, Jesus replies in the affirmative to the first part of his question, then adds, saying, to all present, “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.” This reminds me of the time I pastored in Florida years ago. There was a preacher in a neighboring town who taught that if a Christian ever doubted, he or she was lost. How un-Christ like! How un-scriptural!

My sweet and blessed mother-in law, whom I referred to simply as “Mamaw,” had Alzheimer’s before the Lord called her home. During those days when she looked through a glass darkly, she questioned whether or not her husband, “Hoppy,” was really her husband. My father-in-law lovingly took their marriage license, put it in a frame, and hung it on a wall where she could see it regularly. Need I apply this precious story to those times when we too, like Mamaw, have our times of confusion and doubt?

Those Old Friends

2012-01-10T07:23:00.000-08:00

“Pilate sought to release him.” Three times Pilate had said to the crowd concerning Jesus, “I find no fault in him.” Yet he gave in to their wishes to crucify Him, though it went against his conscience and better judgment. Why? God's Book tells us: “For the fear of man bringeth a snare.”

A man of convenience, full of self-love and self-interest, will always be intimidated by his peers to give up an intimate friend, whom he knows to be right, for an influential one. He chose to be a friend of Caesar rather than to be a friend to Christ.

Pilate’s breed has not died out; they live on today. For over fifty years, I have observed an appalling thing. Cowardly Christians have accepted and adapted to Pilate’s principles. A faithful friend who is suffering outside the camp is sacrificed, so they may be associated with false friends within the gate. The important and influential are more valuable to them than an old friend.

A puppet’s friends are decided by those who hold the strings; cut them, and you’re free to choose your own. (R.D.S.)

One Foot at a Time

2012-01-09T14:10:00.000-08:00

A friend, from years gone by, who is a regular reader of The Journal, e-mailed me a couple of months ago. In his correspondence he mentioned how difficult the Christian life could be at times. I get many such letters on a regular basis. Most of which are from dear saints who are just plain weary of the testings, temptations, and daily drudgery of it all. Each, consciously or unconsciously, is looking for some secret formula that will rid them of this agony of soul.

I can sympathize with such people. Personally I have searched the Mystics, Puritans, and the Deeper Life teachings for the same answer. I do not say that my experience should be emulated or even that it will work for others. All I know is it works for me. As I wrote my friend, “When all is said and done, I believe the Christian life is simply putting one foot in front of the other.” This is what Noah and Enoch did until they arrived home with their Lord. It worked for them!

I came across a portion of a little a song that I believe says it all concerning this matter I’ve been discussing.

You never will get where you’re going
If you never get up on your feet
Come on, there’s a good tail wind blowing
A fast walking man is hard to beat

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door

Leap Frog

2012-01-06T09:24:00.000-08:00

When we leap frog over the doctrinal for the practical, we leave something behind us that is necessary to our Christian life. For example, justification is first in order, then sanctification. One comes before two. You can always spot those who have reversed the sequence; invariably they emphasize their merits, rather than God’s use of means.

Justification is foundational; sanctification is structural. The former has to do with our standing, the latter with our state. The one is eternally settled, both now and forever; the second is settled in eternity, but is on going in this life. To understand and accept these twin truths is life and peace. Not to, is frustration and anxiety.

Paul said that he was, “…accepted in the beloved.” Yet in another place he wrote, “Wherefore we labour, that…we may be accepted of him.” The old war-horse didn’t live for God in order to be accepted, but because of his acceptance. A wife doesn’t try and please her husband so she may become his wife, but because she is his wife.

A.W. Tozer has an article in one of his books entitled, “God is Easy to Live With.” A dear preacher friend of mine tells of hearing an old pastor once say, “Never make your Christian life so difficult, that you can’t enjoy it.” The Old Testament priests when ministering to the Lord were told that, “…no wool shall come upon them…they shall not gird themselves with anything that causeth sweat.” God doesn’t want His people to “sweat it,” so to speak, in living for Him. And don’t forget, we are referred to as “priests” in the New Testament.

Holding Our Peace

2012-01-04T21:02:00.000-08:00

“And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron...died before the Lord...And Aaron held his peace.” When God corrects our own for their sin, it is our duty to be silent. We are not to quarrel with God or question His judgment, nor charge Him with folly, but accept his verdict. There is to be absolutely no complaint. Our Lord asked His disciples, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?”

Aaron patiently submitted to the holy will of God in this sad providence. He was dumb and opened not his mouth, because God did it. He wisely laid his hand upon his mouth and said nothing. Aaron refused to honor “his” over “Him.” Aaron’s loss of comforts was God’s gain in glory. Therefore, he has not a word to say against God or his dealings with his loved ones.

“The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this,
Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”
(Job 1:21-22)

The Blank Space

2012-01-02T07:46:00.000-08:00

“If the Lord be God…” As I was reading through the book of Kings awhile back this portion of a verse captured my attention. So much so, that I wrote an article on it. Allow me to polish this little nugget up once again.

Our pastor, along with his preaching, uses fill-in sheets. And, I might add, he does it very effectively. I, personally, don’t feel comfortable with this style, and am sure I would fail in attempting it. But, though I would not be successful following this method, I have had success using it when I pray.

Each morning, when I awaken now, I say to myself, “If the Lord be God,” then______; and I fill in the blank. For example, “If the Lord be God,” then…I have nothing to fear; I need not worry about my needs; my children are in safe hands; I can do what’s right with His help; etc.

Why don’t you try it right now? You fill in the blank space. “If the Lord be God,” then_______.

If He is “the God of the living,” then, let’s get on with it!

Appreciating the Past

2011-12-31T08:45:00.000-08:00

Recently, while waiting in the dentist’s office, I picked up a book entitled, If Dogs Could Talk. As I randomly leafed through its pages I came upon a picture of an old Labrador lying in a prone position, his face resting on his front paws. His eyes were still bright, but you could tell that aged body was worn out. Under the photo were these words, “I may not be able to run anymore, but I’m wise enough to appreciate the days when I could.”

When the aged David was fighting Ishbibenob (one of Goliath’s sons) he waxed faint and would have been slain by this giant had it not been for Abishai rescuing him. To his credit, the old warrior was still willing, but could no longer perform the doing of it. Because of this, “The men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle.” They, as well as David himself, realized he had ceased to function as he once had. But as someone has so aptly said, “We don’t lose our value by losing an ability.”

Though some of us can no longer fly as eagles, or run without weariness, yet, as Abraham of old, we can still walk with God in our sunset years. And as we do, we can think back and remember those blessed days when we did mount up with the wings of an eagle, and ran without tiredness. In this coming year, let us “old dogs” appreciate the days when we could do these things!

Departure/Desertion

2011-12-30T12:29:00.000-08:00

“I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”…”God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.” A father may temporarily depart from his children, for some reason, but this does not mean he has permanently deserted them.

God left Hezekiah for a season, but did not forsake him. The word “leave” carries with it the idea of both permanency and impermanency. Context is the interpreter.

What is one to do when God hides Himself from His child for a time? Oswald Chambers, I believe, has the best answer I’ve read. Although the super-saints will no doubt chafe under his admonition. In his book My Upmost for His Highest, he says “Sometimes we need to live as though there were no God.”

During those intervals in the child of God’s life when there is no inspiration, no touch of God, no answered prayer, and all is drudgery, what is a Christian to do? He’s to do right! It’s always right to do right.

Growing and Knowing

2011-12-28T10:27:00.000-08:00

“But grow...in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” The emphasis today seems to be on grace at the expense of knowledge. As essential as the grace of God is in our lives, the knowledge of God is just as important. They are Siamese twins; where you find one, you will find the other. If you are to experience “true grace,” you’ll have to know God.

Where we fail is in not discerning between the initial knowing and the intimate knowing of God. Paul illustrates this when he said, “I know whom I have believed”; the initial knowledge. But twenty-five years later his prayer was, “That I may know him...” This has to do with intimate knowledge. A man certainly knows his wife at the altar, but nothing like he does after having lived with her for forty years. This type of knowledge is acquired only by time.

The prophet of old promises, “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord.” This is not instantaneous, but continuous. It to this type of person Daniel refers when he records, “...but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.” The absence of the knowledge of God can be destructive to the Christian life. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...” If we want to know Him better, then we will need to “Search the scriptures” for they speak of Him.

Many know a lot about God, who know very little of God.

Vertical Not Horizontal

2011-12-25T07:56:00.000-08:00

It takes some of us a long time to learn, the direct approach to the issues of life is not the best route. A detour, by way of Deity may seem to take a little longer, but believe me, it’s the safest. And in the long run, the quickest.

For example Jacob found this to be true in dealing with his kin; it worked for David before meeting the giant that confronted him; Nehemiah used this method before asking for help; and even our blessed Lord spent a whole night before God before making some important choices.

It is not the horizontal method, but the vertical way that brings desired results. Always put God between you and your problems. If you do, they will take on the form of small molehills, where once a large mountain stood. Or as The Lord told his servant concerning his insurmountable difficulties, “Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbable thou shalt become a plain.”

Willing To Become

2011-12-23T23:00:00.000-08:00

“Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.”

He became nothing that we might become something! For our sakes He did this. I wonder; what are we willing to become for His sake? The King became a pauper that we paupers might become kings. He left His world where He had everything, to enter our world where He didn’t have anything.

He was born into an impoverished family; had only one suit of clothes; didn’t have a pillow of his own where to lay His blessed head; had to have someone lend Him a penny to give an illustration; and was buried in a borrowed tomb. Yet, no one ever came into this poor Man’s presence desiring His help that didn’t go away a rich man or woman.

Because Jesus “became,” the apostle Paul tells us as a result we have become, "heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.” The secret then of enriching others’ lives is found in what we’re willing to become. The poor souls of this world can only be lifted out of their spiritual and physical poverty at our expense! What are we willing to become for their sake?

The Weakest Link

2011-12-21T07:03:00.000-08:00

I think the little adage, “You’re only as strong as your weakest link,” to be a true saying. A fifty foot chain with a defective link is not one you would want to hold you while hanging over a thousand foot precipice.

I’m personally inclined to believe the weakest link in most Christians’ lives today is not Bible reading, but in their prayer life. I was shocked to hear my dear pastor years ago say from the pulpit that the greatest failing in his spiritual life was prayer. Now, after half a century of serving the Lord, I too must ashamedly add my own amen to this truthful confession.

When it comes to the subject of prayerlessness, I find I like to talk about it, preach about it, write about it, but do nothing about it! Jesus said, “When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” The context of this scripture is importune prayer.

A young preacher who lived briefly with us years ago used to sing the song, “Why Worry When You Can Pray?” But he reversed it to say, “Why Pray When You Can Worry?” Very humorous, but sadly to say, very true.

I often say my prayers,
But do I ever pray?
And do the wishes of my heart
Go with the words I say?

I may as well kneel down
And worship gods of stone,
As offer to the living God
A prayer of words alone.

The Must of Faith

2011-12-19T21:43:00.000-08:00

The writer of Hebrews tells us there is a twofold must to faith, the first being, we must believe God is; and the second, that He rewards them who diligently seek Him. This is the only kind of faith that pleases God. It is imperative then that one believe God exists, and that He answers prayer. Neither of these two musts is too difficult to swear to in health and prosperity but is very difficult in times of sickness or poverty.

God is the eternal “Is.” At any given time He “Is.” As David said, “God is…a very present help in trouble.” During tough times we are tempted so ask, “Where is God now?” The answer is, He is where He has always been; present. Therefore we can trust Him in the dark. He is still in the room with us when the lights go out. This has nothing to do with our feeling, but everything to do with our faith.

You don’t feel truth, you have faith in it. We mourn the loss of feeling, when we should be mourning the loss of faith. Frantic efforts are made to rouse up feeling during those times of eclipse in our lives. But what really is needed is faith that the Son is still there and will shine again upon us.

God is, no matter what our lot. He is here now, amidst all the confusion and questioning. But not so with the reward, it will show up a little further down the road of obedience. And you can be sure it will. Habakkuk puts it this way, “…though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”

God is Singular

2011-12-18T16:57:00.000-08:00

“Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” No, God said, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.” The issue was one tree, not every tree.

It is important to realize that Satan brings up many things, while God is working with us about just one thing. Whenever the Lord transacts business with us, it is always on a singular basis, not plural. You know; the one thing at a time philosophy.

God is definite in His dealings with His children. He only covers one area at a time. And it is there that we are to meet Him. Don’t be confused with the many things, but rather look for the one thing. Follow Mary’s example not Martha’s (Lk.10:41-42).

When we do God’s “one thing,” we take care of a lot of things. (RDS)

A Servant in the Shadows

2011-12-17T11:02:00.000-08:00

The Scottish theologian, Principal Cairns, had the habit of saying, “You first; I’ll follow.” Once, when approaching the platform, a great burst of applause greeted him. He stood aside and let the man behind him go first, and began, himself, to applaud. He never dreamed the applause could be for him.

What a display of divine humility. Was he not truly a personification of the text, “…in lowliness of mind, let each esteem the other better than themselves.” How hard it is to push others into the spotlight, while we remain obscure in the shadows. The book of Job puts it this way, “As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow.”

The Right Righteousness

2011-12-15T16:21:00.000-08:00

The Apostle tells us we are either going about attempting to establish our own righteousness, or we have submitted ourselves unto the righteousness of God. It must be one or the other; there cannot be any part of the one added to the other. It’s like Daniel’s iron and clay, they won’t mix! It’s the perfect righteousness of Christ we are clothed with or the filthy rags of our self-righteousness.

Self-righteousness only clothes the outward, the part man sees, but leaves the inner man naked before God. To cap the cesspool within us, with the white-wash of our own righteousness, will not satisfy a Holy God. For He alone sees the heart and smells the nauseating stench that ascends from this pit of corruption.

It is not difficult to determine which of the two types of righteousness one is robed in. In the story of the publican and the sinner, God gives us an acid test. Those who trust in their own righteousness, says Jesus, despise those who do not come up to their outward standards. But the righteousness which is of God always shows mercy to such people.

God’s imputed inward righteousness always works its way outward; man-made righteousness never gets past the first layer of skin. (R.D.S)

When God is a Stranger

2011-12-14T10:17:00.000-08:00

It’s possible to know the Word of God, without knowing the God of the Word. The scribes and Pharisees were a good example. They knew the Scriptures, but the Author was a stranger to them. They were familiar with the “letter,” on the surface, but foreigners to the underlying “Spirit.” They could expound texts, but never experience them. And, worse than all, the Bible, in the life of this type of person, hides the face of God, rather than revealing it.

God never intended for His people to stop short with knowledge of the Bible itself. His intention was that it would lead us on to a full and rich knowledge of HIM. “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord,” says the prophet, Hosea.

To stop with the Word, and not go to its Source, is to never really know the Person of God. “That I may know him...,” should be our motive when reading His Word. Don’t settle for knowing about God; you can know God Himself.

You may know about God without comprehending Him. (Puritan Saying)

Hoarded Grace

2011-12-13T13:11:00.000-08:00

Grace originates from God’s fathomless, infinite, eternal sea of kindness. God does not receive grace; God gives grace, for He is grace. On the other hand, we as believers are all the recipients, and (should be) the distributors of His grace. But I’m afraid many of us who are good at taking it in, do poorly when giving it out. We squirrel it away, as they say.

Paul tells us we should be, “…followers of God, as dear children.” Are not most of us poor examples when it comes to dispensing grace to an undeserving brother or sister in the family of God? We are so fearful someone may think we agree with the recipient’s life-style, or that we are letting up on our own convictions. What insecurity lies in our bosoms!

How we need to emulate David, who when speaking to wretched Mephibosheth said, “Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness…” Jesus said, “…freely ye have received, freely give." When Jesus took the loaves and gave them to His disciples, we’re told they distributed them to others who were also hungry.

If we’re lacking in grace in our own lives today, we might remember God’s way is, “…grace for grace.” If we gave more, we might just receive more (“Give, and it shall be given unto you…”). Far too many of us are like the Dead Sea; we take it in, but hold the riches for ourselves.

Where God Lives

2011-12-12T07:05:00.000-08:00

A mother asked her little girl why she liked to go to her grandparents’ house so much. Her reply was, “Because God lives there.” We hear much preaching about getting God back into our churches, but what is really needed is God in our homes. When God is in the home, you can be sure He will go to church with us.

You can’t hide God being in a home, anymore than if a king visited a humble dwelling place. People love a home where Jesus is. Mark tells us, “...and it was noised that he [Jesus] was in the house. And straightway many were gathered together.” It goes on to say there was no room for all who wanted to enter that home. There are some homes where you can literally sense the presence of God.

Jesus loves to go home with people. He went home with Zacchaeus, Matthew, Simon Peter, as well as Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. And He desires to enter our homes also.

As one comes into our home, there is a plaque on the wall that reads, Jesus Christ is permanent resident in our home. I hope he is in yours also. You may have a house you live in, but it will not be a home until God moves in with you.

Holidays: Worldly or Wonderful?

2011-12-10T22:19:00.000-08:00

The writer of Hebrews tells us the first tabernacle was “worldly.” That is, it was made by man and pitched by man. If you went by the reasoning of some, those who frequented this sanctuary would be, of necessity, worldly Christians. By this definition, all Christians are worldly. We basically wear the same apparel (not fashion), use their form of transportation, live in the same kind of houses, and eat and buy our food at the same places of business.

Worldliness has to do with affections. “Love not the world.” Scriptures teach we are permitted to richly enjoy the things of the world. Enjoy; Yes. Enamored (inflamed with love); No! One old theologian puts it this way, “You cannot find fault with the sharpness of the world’s saw. The problem lies in the fact that it cannot cut straight.”

It’s the world’s inward principles and priorities that we are warned against, not necessarily their outward manner. The wrong lies not in having their things, but their things having us. Paul plainly tells us that it is an accepted and expected fact for married couples to “careth for things of the world,” that they might please one another. We are to use the things of the world, just not abuse them. While our affections are set on things above, we can still enjoy things on the earth.

Holidays can be Holy-days. It all has to do with the affection of the heart.

Silence Is Not Always Golden

2011-12-09T23:06:00.000-08:00

“...dumb dogs, that cannot bark.” Some years ago I was in a meeting in Canada. The pastor (who is also a veterinarian) picked me up each evening at my motel. Upon entering the car one night I asked, “And how was your day?” His reply was, as always, “Fine.” But then he added, “I had to take the voice box out of two dogs today. Neighbors were complaining about their barking, so the owners brought them to me for the operation.”

A dog that can bark can warn of approaching danger, as well as scare away the menace, or at least, make him think twice. To take the voice box from a watch dog is to make those he guards easy prey for the enemy.

Isaiah is addressing those in places of leadership who are to be watchmen over God’s heritage. His indictment against them is that they cannot “bark.” No longer did they warn of oncoming danger but, rather, remained silent, allowing God’s innocent sheep to fall prey to ravenous wolves that would devour them without mercy. John the Baptist was a “voice.” His enemies were not satisfied till they had taken his voice box out, and neither will ours be.

Silence isn’t always golden; sometimes it’s just plain yellow!

When Grace Bleeds

2011-12-08T22:23:00.000-08:00

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy…” You will never find mercy by doing meritorious acts; it is only to be found at the throne of God’s grace. No matter where you cut it, grace always bleeds mercy. To work for mercy forfeits it. Mercy is getting less than we deserve, grace is getting more than we deserve.

God’s Mercy is described as: great, rich, manifold, plenteous, abundant, sure, everlasting, tender, high as the heaven, filling the earth, over all His works, and, is His delight. The most wonderful thing about it all is that His Mercies, “… are new every morning.” We have a Divine invitation to come each new day for new mercies.

Weighed in the Balances

2011-12-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

“...a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” In the immediate context (2Cor.4:16-18), Paul is weighing present burdens against future glory. Many of us, at present, are weighed down under a load of trials. But there is coming a day when we will be weighed down with “an eternal weight of glory.”

He goes on to tell us all the sufferings now cannot outbalance the glory that’s to come. In comparison, it makes our present tribulations look like a “light affliction,” says this old, seasoned, suffering saint.

We need to daily weigh the momentary and temporal against the eternal. It is important to keep before us eternal values. As A.W. Tozer used to say, “The unseen world is the only real world.” Both Old and New Testament saints looked and longed for it.

The Eskimo of old believed in a place where he would someday sit down and eat his whale blubber in peace, and to the full. The Indian believed in a “happy hunting ground.” But, in contrast, we Christians look for a city whose Builder and Maker is God. And I guarantee you from God’s Holy Writ, we will not be disappointed.

A godly man is a Heavenly man; Heaven is in him before he is in Heaven. (Thomas Watson, Puritan)

Short Memories

2011-12-06T23:19:00.000-08:00

How like God’s people of old we are. It says of them, on more than one occasion, “They soon forgat his works...”; “They forgat God their Saviour.” How short our memories are. Very little time passes after Him working miraculously on our behalf before we begin again to complain and murmur. We question His goodness; we doubt His promises; and our praise becomes mute.

Is there no cure for this detestable condition? Thank God, there is. I call it “divine arithmetic.” When we add up all our past blessings, the attitude is completely changed. Counting our blessings is an ongoing thing, since there is no end to them. David says, “If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand..” “How great is the sum of them..”

“Count your blessings; name them one by one
Count your blessings; see what God hath done.
Count your blessings; name them one by one.
And it will surprise you what God hath done.”

Counting our blessings is like counting the stars; they’re innumerable. (RDS)

The Family Reunion

2011-12-05T22:34:00.000-08:00

“I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." After Jesus rose, He said to His disciples, "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." How wonderful; we are of the same family. We have the same Father and God. And not only that, we also carry the same name—Christian.

God is distinctly a family Man. He instituted the family. God's family is a prototype of all the families on earth. And, like all families, someday we will have a great family reunion. Right now, our family is separated from one another. Some have already gone home to be with the Father; others of us are scattered throughout the earth. But in that coming, eventful day, "They shall come from the east and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the Kingdom of God."

And we are guaranteed at that Heavenly gathering, not one family member will be missing—not even the, so called, black sheep of the family.

At our Heavenly family reunion, what a joy it will be to see our Father sitting at the head of the table.

Use or Misuse

2011-12-05T09:15:00.000-08:00

"Then said Elijah…give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves…and I the other bullock.” Elijah gave the prophets of Baal first choice of which animal they would sacrifice. Originally, neither bullock was sinful in itself, only after it was used for the god of this world. It was then, like Jeroboam’s calf,
“…this thing became a sin.” On the other hand, Elijah used its very like for the glory of God.

Paul tells us, “…that there is nothing unclean of itself.” Peter needed to learn this, and so do we. What we do with a thing, or its effect upon us, determines its quality. A computer is a good example. In itself, it is neither good nor bad. We decide that by the way we use it. As for a thing’s effect upon us, two men can read the same book and its effect differs in each. One can be enlightened; the other may be enslaved.

The little tract says, “Others can, you may not.” The other side of that is, “You may, and others cannot.” You’re free. Don’t think like a slave.

Life's Adjustments

2011-11-25T20:17:00.000-08:00

Life is topsy-turvy at times. It can be a roller-coaster ride during certain intervals in our pilgrim journey. What is one to do during these up and down times? Adjust! If you don’t, then you can expect to be filled with anxiety and frustration during these, sure to be, parenthetical periods in your life. Therefore, having an adjustable wrench in your spiritual toolbox can be a real asset during these unexpected crisis times.

It seems, the Apostle Paul could adapt to any and all circumstances, regardless the nature. No matter what the situation, he would regulate, modify, or do whatever else it took to fit his life to the condition. He could, as they say, “roll with the punches.” He literally made his stumbling stones his stepping stones. His philosophy was that of the little boy climbing up a mountain with his sister. She complained that it was all rocky and bumpy, to which he replied, “Sure, the bumps are what you climb on.”

The old scarred warrior knew nothing could enter his life unless it came by way of “The Door.” And he was certain if Christ permitted it to enter, then it would, in time, most certainly work out for his good and God’s glory. And so it will for each of, us my friend. That is, for everyone who, as the old Kentucky preacher said, are “smack dab in the center of God’s will!”

On Being Human

2011-11-24T22:32:00.000-08:00

Jesus Christ was not only “The Son of God,” but “The Son of Man.” He was not only “God manifest in the flesh,” He was “the Man Christ Jesus.” The necessity for both is obvious. Had He not been God He could not have saved us; had He not been man He could not have sympathized with us. For this reason, we must not divorce His humanity from His Deity. His manhood links Him with the whole human race.

He was like us in every respect, but without sin. Paul puts it this way; He was made “in the likeness of sinful flesh.” By the virgin birth He bypassed the sinful nature, but not human nature. Being born of a woman, He had a body of flesh and bone, and a human ancestry. He possessed all of our frailties in the flesh (except sin). He got tired, hungry, thirsty, and needed sleep. He did not renounce His divine powers, but neither did He His human limitations. For example, while on earth He did not know the time of His second coming.

Our blessed Lord was born into humanity and was not ashamed of it. Some, consciously or unconsciously, try to deny theirs, by pretending to have a superior spirituality, thus being a notch above us other poor human beings. To deny a fact doesn’t delete it! Paul taught that because of our humanness we cannot always do that which we would like. This is not an excuse; it is a fact. Both Peter and Paul acknowledged their humanity, telling others that they were just men like they, still capable of losing their temper and using a slang word at times.

O child of God, you do not have to convince Him of what you would do, if you could do it, but for the weakness of your flesh. “He knoweth our frame.” Like the gospel song says, “I’m only human, I’m just a man.” Yes, be ashamed of your sins, but never apologize for being human.

“How thankful I am that when God became man, He did not choose to become a man of iron nerves; that would not have helped weaklings like you and me nearly so much.” - C.S. Lewis

Lost in the Crowd

2011-11-22T22:09:00.000-08:00

“Thus have they loved to wander.” The people of God did not go astray because of adversity; it was not necessitated by something outside themselves. They wandered because they loved it. They delighted in it. Their very disposition was to do so. The song-writer knew this when he penned, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it/Prone to leave the God I love.”

There is much concern today about the sheep who have wandered from the flock. My burden is for those who are wandering within the flock. They are always looking and longing—wanting something other than the Good Shepherd.

You can stake out a sheep with a hundred yards of rope, with green pastures all around him, yet he will go to the limit of his line, even to the point of choking himself in his attempt to go beyond his shepherd’s care and control. Only love for the Shepherd can cure our love for wandering.

Life’s Puzzle

2011-11-19T20:03:00.000-08:00

“Why…?” This little three-letter word is used numerous times throughout the Scriptures. So many I didn’t have the patience to count them in my concordance. I’m told that there are countless questions asked in the book of Job alone. Someone has said, “It’s all right to ask God a question, but it is wrong to question Him.”

I realize asking God, “Why?” does not seem the “Spiritual” thing to do, but it is hard for some of us poor souls to deny our humanity. And I, for one, am grateful our Lord understands this, even if the callused super-saints do not.

Many of our sincere and tearful questions, I have concluded, will remain unanswerable and unsolvable until we meet the “Answer Man” face to face. It is then, and only then, that we, like the Queen of Sheba, when asking Solomon her hard questions, was satisfactorily answered. Even so, “A Greater than Solomon,” will resolve all of ours. As the song says, “I’ll ask the reason; He’ll tell me why, when we talk it over in the bye-and-bye.” During the interval between now and then, we’ll just have to rest in the fact that He is a good and merciful God, and that “He doeth all things well.”

Life’s puzzle can only be finished in Heaven; He kept back the final pieces so that He could show us the completed and magnificent picture when we arrive Home!

With Him

2011-11-17T09:47:00.000-08:00

“For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” I recently turned seventy-eight years of age. The greater part of my life has been spent in living for Him; so according to our Scripture, I would think it appropriate for me to say “to die is gain.” To have lived for Him has been unspeakable joy; but to be with Him will be unending bliss.

My dear, dear, preacher friend, Marvin Clanton, has on his tombstone, “With Christ...far better.” Paul knew to live for Christ was a wonderful thing, but to be with Him surpasses anything this life has to offer, even in the way of Christian service. Will your death be gain? Fill in the blank to find out: “For me to live is______________.”

“Pray that thy last days, and last works may be the best; and that when thou comest to die, thou mayest have nothing else to do but die.”

(Puritan Saying)

Promiced Performance

2011-11-15T07:19:00.000-08:00

"And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform.” Those familiar with the background leading up to this statement know the old man, Abraham, was in an impossible situation. But God delights in impossibilities. Apparently, the aged patriarch believed this to be true and was entirely convinced, “He was able…”

When my children were small and I promised them something, I’d perform the doing of it. But there were times because of some unforeseen circumstance, I regretfully could not keep my pledge to them. But God is not under any such human limitations. And yet, as Oswald Chambers so aptly puts it, “We find it easier to trust to worms than to the God of truth.”

If you feel like a garment hanging from a clothesline, tossed to and fro by every wind, be assured it is your human reasoning causing you to be hurled about. Intellectual improbabilities will dissuade one from belief in God’s performance of His promise, every time! We need to follow our father Abraham’s example, “He considered not…but…being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform.”

The Fountainhead

2011-11-13T14:43:00.000-08:00

Anyone with an ounce of practical savvy knows that if you’re to take care of a problem, you must go to its source. For example, many well intentioned Christian counselors tell wayward believers the root of their problem is sin. But this is not so, God has taken care of the sin problem. The sinning saints’ problem is God! Until one returns to “The Fountainhead,” he or she will never find the solution to their dilemma. And so it is with any and all of our difficulties that we face in this life.

Because one adheres to and recites a creed, “I believe in the one true God,” is not sufficient to deliver them from these sticky situations. The devils hold to that creed (James 2:19). Only a personal relationship with a personal God will accomplish it. Mere intellectualism or even a show of moral piety will not suffice to get us out of our messes. A commercial faith calculates; scriptural faith counts on God.

Oswald Chambers says, “Keep right at the source and you will be blessed.” And dear Amy Carmichael writes, “Drink from the Well, not from the streams that flow from the Well.”

Stoke the Coals

2011-11-12T12:26:00.000-08:00

When I was a boy, we had an old coal stove in the front room that heated the rest of the house. My father, each morning, before going to work, would re-stoke the coals. Paul exhorted, “…stir up the gift of God which is in thee.” That is, “stoke” the coals. Get the fires going again. If you don’t, it will go out.

The Old Testament priest would go to the altar every morning, remove the ashes and rekindle the fire with a fresh sacrifice to fuel it. If the priest neglected this, the fire would go out. And so it is with our spiritual lives. The apostle warns, “…neglect not the gift that is in.”

An imitation fireplace in the heart can’t keep you warm. You will get cold without the real thing. Jeremiah says, “But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire.” Is that true of us?

It's Mutual

2011-11-11T10:44:00.000-08:00

"Helping together in prayer." There are a number of ways in which we can (and ought) to help each other. But, among them all, there is no greater than prayer. Prayer is to be mutual; it is to be reciprocal between us and our brethren.

The Apostle Paul felt the need of prayer from others. On more than one occasion in his letters you will find him requesting prayer. For example, when writing the saints at Colosse, he assured them that he prayed always for them. But, before closing his correspondence, he asked prayer for himself from them.

Many Christians would have considered these people spiritually inferior to the great apostle; but he didn't. He knew that the weakest saint upon his or her knees became a mighty warrior to help him in his battles.

Jesus told Peter, "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." Our Lord refused to abandon him to the devil.

Pick and Choose

2011-11-09T07:43:00.000-08:00

God has given to each of us, His blood bought ones, the option to choose whether to take up our cross or not. If we choose the former, it is important to realize He has not granted us the choice in picking what that cross will be made of. It is strictly God’s prerogative as to the material, whether it is to be crude bark or soft velvet. No matter, though they are not identical, they’re alike. Both are instruments of suffering.

Many have lived under a cloud of guilt feeling they have not suffered as others. This is mainly brought about by “comparing themselves among themselves,” which, says the Apostle Paul, “is not wise.” We must be careful in listening to testimonies and in reading biographies that we do not hold their experiences for a standard for our own lives. All who name the name of Christ will suffer in one form or another, but the form is of God’s own choosing.

The seemingly softer cross may be coveted by some over their rugged one, but if they were to carry the lighter for just one day, they might find it heavier than their own. Sometimes smaller things are much weightier than the larger. Let me illustrate: a missionary’s lot in life, along with his lovely wife and healthy children, may be to sleep on the hard cold ground, in a little hut, in some far off foreign land. As he was lying there, he might have desired to be like a wealthy supporter of his, who is tucked away in a nice warm bed in a beautiful home. But he may have second thoughts after entering the room adjacent his well-to-do friend, when he casts his eyes upon the man’s crippled, down-syndrome child.

Who’s to say? Which of the two is greater, physical anguish or mental torment? One thing is for sure, they both crucify their victims!

Devoted: To What or Who?

2011-11-06T23:11:00.000-08:00

I have seen dogs more devoted to their masters than some Christians are to Jesus Christ. I know devout people who are devoted, but to their devotions (prayer and Bible reading), not to Christ. Still others are devoted to some cause. They will go so far as to give their bodies to be burned at a stake, or give all their goods to feed the poor. But no matter how sincere or well-intentioned, if Jesus Christ receives not all the glory and praise from such sacrifices, they’re bogus. Such devotion is, “To The Unknown God.”

Oswald Chambers says, “The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus Christ is service for Him.” You’ll remember that before Jesus commissioned Peter to feed His sheep, He made plain his devotion was to be to Him, not service for Him.

The mainspring of our devotion is Jesus Christ and Him only. He is to have all our loyalty, faithfulness, allegiance, and undying love! The Apostle Paul had an adhesive attachment to his Lord; you might go so far as to say, he was glued to Him. Certainly this shows us his overmastering sense of devotion for his “Beloved.” His motto was, “Christ at any cost!” Or as that great manly missionary, C.T. Studd was purported to have said, “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.” AMEN and AMEN!

The Eternal Initiator

2011-11-05T22:32:00.000-07:00

A trio of simple meanings for the word initiate is: to start; to begin; to originate. Therefore we see our God is the Eternal Initiator. Every plant that He has not planted will be rooted up. All plans not originating from the head office will never see fruition. Any revelation that does not have Him for its source will lead into darkness. And any work done in or by man, without the preliminary ministry of the Holy Spirit, is doomed before it’s begun.

Had God not opened Lydia’s heart, she would still be in the dark. Elisha prayed God would open his servant’s eyes that he might see the spiritual. Paul told the Ephesians that he had asked the Lord to enlighten their spiritual understanding. All the preaching to the lost to get saved, and pleadings with Christians to live for God, is of no avail if the Holy Spirit does not make the first move.

It’s not that they won’t get it; it’s that they can’t get it! Humanism by-passes the ministry of the Spirit of God, and substitutes it with the abilities of the spirit of man. When you look to man, then you get what man can produce; when you look to God, you get what only God can perform. It is important to always remember, there are things that are impossible with man, but nothing is impossible with God.

Growing Pains

2011-11-04T20:57:00.000-07:00

“…when I became a man, I put away childish things.” To advance to Spiritual manhood or womanhood, it is necessary for us to leave certain things behind. Like the butterfly leaves its cocoon, never to return, so must mature Christians leave their treasured toys in their toy chests, for another generation of infants to play with.

To ripen into adulthood means relinquishing certain things. Progress and normal development into Spiritual maturity is characterized by a different disposition in every area of our lives. There can be no becoming without a putting away. It’s time for some of us to give up our security blankets. Many have overstayed their appointed time in the sand box. Why be confined to that small area when you have the vast seashore before you to enjoy.

Concrete Confidence

2011-11-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

“What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?” This question was posed by the powerful leader of the Assyrian army to Hezekiah, king of God’s feeble flock. Rabshakeh’s first and biggest mistake was thinking God’s elect was trusting in a “What,” rather than a Who. The world and carnal Christians put their confidence in things, whereas the Spiritual man or woman places his or hers in God alone.

If the enemy of our souls can shake our confidence in God, he needs no other tool in defeating us. He does this with subtlety by getting us to put our confidence in God’s attributes, rather than the Almighty Himself. Let me illustrate my point. Job did not put his confidence in the goodness of God; for everything happening to him was in stark contradiction to God’s goodness. His confidence was in God Himself, in spite of what He might do. It is this kind of confidence that can cry out in the darkest hour, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”

Those who have a firm, unbreakable confidence in God are the ones to whom God is a living reality in their lives. Everything and everyone else are in the shadows. They are easily recognized. Oswald Chambers describes them thus: They “bank their faith in God, do the duty that lies nearest and damn the consequences.”

MISSING: CHARACTER

2011-11-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

I am rapidly approaching the octogenarian age, which leaves one with quite a bit of hind-sight. From childhood I have been an avid observer of people and their habits. To say the general population is suffering from a severe lack of character would be an understatement. Surprising as it may seem to some, I distinctly remember the days when the unregenerate possessed admirable basic principles.

But now, sad to say, even professing Christians are in the same anemic condition into which the world has fallen. And I can personally see no hope of a transfusion anywhere in the near future that will restore such to a wholesome life. We are what we have been becoming! Contrary to what many believe, when Paul speaks of, “the last days,” and “latter times,” he is not referring to the condition of the world, but that in the Church.

Just because someone does good in spasmodic spots in his or her life does not prove character. God says to His people, “Your goodness is as a morning cloud.” Character is characterized by consistency and persistency. Nowhere is character brought to a head as in a crisis. A crisis doesn’t groom character, it shows it. As an old preacher used to say, “Reputation is who people think you are; character is who God knows you are.”

“We infect our surroundings with our own personal character.”

(Oswald Chambers)

Up Close and Personal

2011-11-01T21:17:00.000-07:00

God deals with His people both corporately and personally, both collectively and individually. There are general truths for all to follow, and there are specific ones for each of us according to our person and His plan. As in a large family, there are guidelines laid down for all to observe. But a good father also knows the particular and various needs of each of his children, as well as their potential.

And so it is in the family of God. He does not necessarily deal with one child like He does with another. This is why we should be cautious in reading biographies of great Christians. We must be careful not to emulate their lives in every detail, thinking God will give the same results to us He did to them.

God takes a personal interest in all of His children, like each were an only child. And the blessing of all of this is that He does not deal with us from a distance. It is always up close and personal. “And the Lord spake to Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.

The Real Enemy

2011-10-30T20:41:00.000-07:00

"The enemy…is the devil.” “…the devil, [the] enemy of all righteousness.” For the last few years, I have spent most of my days in “Lion Country,” as A.W. Tozer liked to call it. As with many of you, I have not only heard his roar, but felt his breath on the back of my neck. It seems at every turn I bump into him.

Far too many Christians are living in a fantasy world. They think Christianity is no more than waiting around for some imaginary “Tinker Bell” to scatter pixie dust on them. Some of us need to wake up to the fact that the Christian life is not a playground, but a battleground. Satan is not chained as yet, as some mistakenly suppose. If he is, it’s an awfully long chain, for it reaches to me! And for any duped soul that does not believe in a personal devil, I quote the old evangelist Billy Sunday, “Don’t tell me there is no devil, I’ve done business with him.”

True, much is blamed on the devil that he has had no hand in. But on the other hand, and just as true, he is not recognized as the perpetrator of many other things that transpire in our lives. Once we have discerned a thing to be of his making, by faith we need to say, “NO,” to the devil. God never intended for us to be kicked around like a football, like cowards cowering in a corner. With a humble spirit, using our God-given authority, we are to defy the devil. The question each of us needs to ask ourselves is, “Why go I mourning all the day?”

Someone has said, “Satan hates God, and the only way he has of attacking Him is by attacking the objects of His love.”

Born Unto Troubles

2011-10-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

The book of Job records, “Man is born unto trouble.” No one is exempt from these troubling troubles. Even the “man after God’s own heart,” testified, “My soul is full of troubles.”

Job was bragged on by God to Satan when He said of the old patriarch, “There is none like him in the earth.” But in spite of this, this good and godly man tells us, “Yet trouble came.”

The apostle Paul was “troubled on every side,” as he put it. Yet, he admonishes the Thessalonian believers (and us), “To you who are troubled rest with us.” The aged saint, as the song says, had “found a resting place.” That place first being used by John the Beloved “leaning on Jesus bosom.”

Again, going to the book of Job, we find a question each troubled soul is brought face to face with. A question that requires an honest answer, “Are the consolations of God small with thee?” What be your answer, child of the Living God?

When God Speaks

2011-10-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

“Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.” Oswald Chambers says, “Never ask advice of another about anything God makes you decide before Him. If you ask advice, you will nearly always side with the devil.”

I find God’s voice is distinctive among all the voices of the world. There is no mistaking it, unless I am “dull of hearing.” If I do not have a personal, intimate, relationship with the Lord, I’ll misinterpret it every time. Samuel did on three different occasions.

Mary knew that voice, though it was disguised behind the garb of a gardener. Elijah heard that still, small voice amid the boisterous wind, a deafening earthquake, and the loud roar of the fire. Paul’s ear was always tuned in on Heaven’s frequency.

When God speaks directly to our hearts, we need not ask the advice of friends and loved ones. We need not take our cases before men; we need only to abandon our own course, ambitions, and schemes, and to obey that “heavenly voice.”

When a father speaks directly to one of his children,

the choice to obey is not open for discussion with

the other brothers or sisters.

No, Never Alone

2011-10-27T17:06:00.000-07:00

“Every man…shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me”. Someone has said, “Loneliness is the result of the absence of personal intimacy.” No child of God should ever think of himself or herself as being alone. “For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Whether you are a widower, single, divorcee, shut-in, or aged, you have an unseen companion with you always. You may be by yourself, but you’re not alone. God is good company!

Jesus left us an example, when, in His darkest hour of loneliness; He confessed His unshakable confidence in His Father’s abiding presence. Some have difficulty appropriating Hebrews 13:5, feeling the promise is only for Jewish believers. They feel as though they are opening someone else’s mail, not addressed to them. But the Gentile believers at Galatia are reminded, “If you belong to Christ, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to promise.”

Therefore, our text in Hebrews becomes one of God’s greatest therapeutic agents for lonely saints everywhere, no matter what their ethnic background!

Say What You Mean/Mean What You Say

2011-10-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

I am not against couples renewing their marriage vows. But as for me, fifty years ago, when I spoke those words to that lovely young lady standing beside me, I said what I meant and meant what I said!

And so it was when I bowed the knee to my blessed Lord fifty and four years ago. It is for this reason I personally do not believe in so-called “rededication.” What I do believe in is “repentance,” after one has broken their sacred vow to the Lover of their souls.

Far too many are copping-out, doing the first of the above mentioned, over and over again during a so-called “altar call,” when they should be doing the latter, with strong crying and tears in the privacy of their prayer closet.

Consecration is a once-for-all thing; repentance is on-going as long as we are in this flesh.

The Last Days

2011-10-25T07:07:00.000-07:00

Regular readers of The Journal, even a casual one, would come to my defense, I believe, if I were accused of being a gloom and doom writer. I try to stay away from “novelty doctrines.” Nevertheless, anyone familiar with the history of the Christian Church is aware every age had devotees, who believed their age to be the last. The signs mania is as old as the Church itself.

The writer of Hebrews plainly pinpoints the “last days” as beginning with Jesus Christ. Therefore, we have lived in the last days for over 2000 years. But having said this, any logical, thinking person, would have to admit, there must to be a last for the last days someday. Believe what you will about the last day advocates, but it all has to come to an end, one day. One camp would have us believe that day is present; whereas the other would suggest it is sometime in the distant future.

My personal view is that although there have always been signs, they have been selective and local, rather than entire and world-wide in their appearance. I believe before our Lords returns the second time to earth, the many signs referred to in scriptures will be entire in their number, universal in scope, and simultaneous in their goings-on (such as earthquakes). I could be wrong in my assessment, but one way or the other, as my dear friend Dr. John R. Rice used to say, “Jesus is coming again, signs or no signs.” AMEN!

Loaded Down

2011-10-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

“[In]…our trouble…we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth up the dead.”

We’re not told exactly what this “trouble” was, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual. But we do know it was above and beyond the normalcy of everyday Christian trials. So much so that this suffering saint “despaired even of life.” This unknown and unique experience brought the apostle to the place of utter helplessness.

It’s well to remember that this human beast of burden had borne the heaviest of loads all his life. But this one weighed him down to the extent that it could be said, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

What are we to do at such a time of hopelessness? We can emulate Paul. He passed sentence on all fleshly confidence, letting it become history. And, in exchange, he put all his trust in the God who “…raiseth up all those that are bowed down.”

Weighted down with burdens now, weighted down with GLORY then! (2Cor.4:17) I’ll take that, won’t you?

What God Wants

2011-10-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

God, through the prophet Hosea says of His people, “Their heart is divided.” The true mother standing before Solomon would not have her child divided. And so it is with the Lord. He will not have His child with a divided heart.

Over and over again we read in the Scriptures how the Lord wants the “whole heart.” Anything less than this is unsatisfactory. Our love to God must be entire. He says, “With all thy heart.” Our love is to be without measure. As the old Puritan put it, “The creature may have the milk of our love, but God must have the cream. Love to God must be above all things, as the oil swims above the water.”

In the Old Testament, the high priest could not marry a widow or a harlot. He could not marry the widow because He would not be her first love; He could not marry the harlot because He would not be her only love.

Jesus, my Lord and Savior;
Thou hast giv'n all for me;
Thou didst leave Thy home above
To die on Calvary.
What shall I give Thee, Master?
Thou hast giv'n all for me;
Not just a part or half of my heart,
I will give all to Thee.

Taking God Seriously

2011-10-21T22:34:00.000-07:00

The most serious thing a person will ever do is to not take God seriously. Whenever we start taking God seriously, it is then, and then only, He will take us seriously!

We waste our time praying with “feigned lips.” That is, play acting. And a casual looking for Him will profit us nothing. It is when we seek for Him with “all [our] heart,” that the promise is fulfilled, and we will find Him.

It is not a convenient thing to rise at night and go through the dark streets, seeking at every turn and inquiring of every soul, “Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth? But it is this searching and longing soul, who alone can joyfully testify, “I found Him whom my soul loveth: I held Him, and would not let Him go.”

We need to be like the little boy who said in prayer, “I ain’t kiddin’ Lord, I mean it.” And by the way, God knows when we do!

Fighting God

2011-10-20T08:18:00.000-07:00

“Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!” Webster’s definition of “strive” is: 1) to make great effort; try very hard, and 2) to struggle. I heard an old camp meeting preacher say once, “Whenever you read the word, ‘Woe’ in the Bible, you’d better stop.” When will we learn to stop fighting God? Do we not realize, no man ever got into the ring with God and won the fight? Ask Jacob as he limps along.

There is no prospering as long as we try to resist Him. “…who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?” Mighty Pharaoh certainly didn’t. To fight God makes us look so foolish. Paul talks about one that “…beateth the air.” If we fought the world, the flesh, and the devil like we often fight God, what victorious Christians we would be.

If we want to be changed from what we are unto a prince with God, then we’ll need to stop fighting God and surrender, lying prostrate at His feet, simply clinging to Him. Why go through life with two black eyes?

“And now I say unto you, Refrain from these…if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.”

The God of Who?

2011-10-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

“The God of Jacob." It is amazing who God is willing to be matched-up with. To us, taking time with a character like Jacob would be a waste of time. Our modern day psychologists would agree that you can't change Jacob's. Not only Jacob's natural temperament was against him, but his heredity. His father had an undisciplined appetite, and his mother was undisciplined in her ambition for her favorite son. But how thankful we should be that God is not limited to the laws of psychology!

"Thou worm, Jacob." There was seemingly nothing in this weak, worthless worm that was attractive; yet God said, " Jacob have I loved." We are so quick to look for the worst in people. But God looks for (and sees) the best. Even when we despair of ourselves, God never despairs of us. The God of Jacob can still take a manipulator against God and transform him into a prince with God.

Satan’s Summit

2011-10-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

“Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together...But they thought to do me mischief.” Nehemiah was both a builder and battler. Anytime we attempt anything constructive for God, we are going to have a battle on our hands. Nehemiah played hard ball, but his adversaries wanted to change the game to softball. To accomplish this feat, they presented a courteous, sugar-coated proposition with the intent of neutralizing Nehemiah. They were even willing to meet him half way (“on one of the villages in the plain of Ono.”) They pretended to want to live together in peaceful co-habitation, but, mark you; when that lion and lamb lie down together, you can be sure when the former arises; he’ll be digesting the latter!

Nehemiah did not fall for this lie from the children of the Liar, nor should we. When the enemy of our souls suggests we hold a top-level meeting to discuss a compromise, our answer is to be, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot...come down to you.”

Satan wants a summit so that we will submit. His design is a “detente” (a French word meaning to slacken the bow strings that are set for attack). In the little book Born for Battle, the writer shows there are four choices in warfare: offence, defense, desertion, or detente. God’s way is the first. We are to invade Satan’s kingdom of darkness, having on the armor of light.

Cowardly Christians are jewels in Satan’s crown.

Right Theology Wrong Thinking

2011-10-16T20:57:00.000-07:00

I have believed in and preached the Lordship of Jesus Christ my entire ministry. It is for this reason I feel justified in taking a little lee-way in speaking of an inside problem among us. There seems to be a type of thinking among some of our strongest proponents that we are superior to the opponents of our position. But anytime a believer thinks of others as being beneath him, even if he has the right theology, he has the wrong thinking.

“All that glitters, ain’t gold,” so says the little quip. We have our shams as well as the other side. Jesus tells us at the coming judgment that many will stand before Him who believed in His Lordship, but that he will say to them, “…I never knew you: depart from me.” And so my brethren, I do not think we should go around too puffed up. Jesus may just put a pin to our inflated ego.

Adherents to Lordship do not have a license to “lord” it over those who differ on the subject.

Divisions Over Diversities

2011-10-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.” God never intended for diversities to cause divisions. They’re to compliment and balance out. It would be a sad picture indeed if, as my daughter Charity used to say when a child, “We’re same-alikes.”

The Body of Christ is one, but there are diversities within it. These diversities should not divide us; they were meant to unify us. Nowhere are our insecurities more evident than when we are confronted with a diversely gifted brother or sister. You’ll find the disciples had this problem also (Mk.9:38-40).

I think it would be beneficial for all of us to take a long hard look at First Corinthians chapter twelve again. I personally believe that one of the main reasons we no longer see spiritual gifts manifested in the Church today is because of the rigid regimentation of the saints. One dare not get out of step with the clone company, lest he or she be considered an oddity.

Your gift is not to be hidden under a bushel, nor is it to be suppressed by a totalitarian leader. It is given that others may, “…profit withal”. The gifts are not only for those who stand behind the pulpit preaching, and on the platform singing or playing an instrument, but also for the common folk in the pew. It is wise to remember, “…those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary.”

The Simple Life/Don’t Lose It!

2011-10-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."

The Believer’s life is not to be one of a simpleton, but it is to be one of simplicity. Simple, not as the word has come to mean in our day, “a brick short on top.” But rather its original intended meaning; without complication or confusion, plain, crystal clear. You know, like “plain vanilla,” nothing else in the mix, no other flavors.

Old Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. used to say, “Simplicity is life’s most becoming garb.” All great men and women of God have been characterized by a simple life, like that of a child. As they teach young actors, “Have the head of an adult, but the heart of a child.” It’s a rare thing to behold in those with great minds, an intellectual simplicity. But it’s very becoming in those who do display it.

Both Jesus’ life and teachings were the embodiment of simplicity. His speech was never shallow, but it was always simple and easy to understand. He was never above people’s heads. “Follow me,” is not difficult to grasp. As to His life, there was no connection between wealth and happiness. Martin Luther is purported to have said during the Reformation, “Let us get through to God. Give us a basic, dynamic, personal simplicity of faith in Jesus Christ.”

There is one thing that will destroy a simple relationship with Jesus Christ: any add-mixture will dilute the potency of the bond between us and Him. It is not Christ plus, it is Christ and Christ alone. He is to be always, distinctively separate from everyone and everything!

“Beware of posing as a profound person; God became a baby.” (O. Chambers)

Pay Up

2011-10-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

"The labourer is worthy of his hire." Being cheap is not Christ-like. Many churches and Christians need to realize this. Each laborer is to get what he or she is due, and sometimes double. Many a deserving worker would be legitimate in asking those who hold the purse strings to, “Pay me that thou owest.” But they have way too much character to do so!

James tells us of those who kept back part of the hire of the laborers and how it "entered into the ears of the Lord." We are told that stones cry out, and that Abel's blood cried out from the ground. Well, in this case, money talks! Stolen salaries will not remain silent, for, in the courtroom of God, wages kept back will be a witness.

I've seen many churches and Christian institutions "rob Peter to pay Paul." For instance, some boast of how much they give to missions, while there are those on their staff who seriously lack. I have known cases where the missionary lived in luxury and the staff member in poverty. Charity begins at home. How many will have to someday sadly confess before God that they kept other's vineyards while neglecting their own (Song of Sol. 1:6).

Don't give believer crumbs, when you have steaks in your freezer.

Addendum: I am well aware the above article can be reversed to fit the other foot. But I’m addressing only the one at this writing.

The Great Escape

2011-10-07T16:59:00.000-07:00

“Temptation...is common to man” (1Cor.10:13). No one escapes temptation in this life. It is one of the proofs of our humanity. Our Lord experienced it to prove His. To be tempted is not sin; to yield to it is. If Satan can get us to think that our particular situation is uncommon, and unique only to us, then we will take liberties, believing God would allow us some “wiggle-room” He doesn’t permit in others.

God tempts no man to do evil, but He will, however, permit us to be put into certain situations to prove our mettle (Job and Jesus). We cannot choose how severe or how long a temptation may last, but we can be assured the Lord will aid us in it. He does this by making a way of escape—a way of retreat, so to speak. Joseph of old used it. Blessed truth! Along “with” the temptation, there will always be a side road to take when you see the sign, “Danger Ahead.”

Satan gives Adam and Eve the fruit, and takes away Paradise.

Therefore, in all temptations let us consider not what he offers,

but what we shall lose.(Richard Sibbes, Puritan)

Around the Clock Care

2011-10-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

"I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." The song "Moment By Moment" should be a favorite of all believers who seek to live a victorious Christian life. There is not a moment, day or night, which God is not keeping us. Our God does not work shifts, but, rather, around the clock. David found great solace of soul in this truth. "He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth...shall neither slumber nor sleep."

Our heavenly Father, says Jesus, is the heavenly Vine-dresser who promises He will keep us moment by moment. Whether it is the scorching heat of the day, or the long lonely hours of the night, the Keeper of our souls has us under His watch care. No wonder Paul could say, "I...am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."

"Kept by the power of God" Who knew better than the one who penned these words...the Apostle Peter.

Understanding His Will

2011-10-04T22:02:00.000-07:00

“Good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” If it’s good, then we shouldn’t complain about it. If it’s acceptable, why would we reject it? And if it’s perfect, there is no improving on it. The will of God includes all of life, not a part of it.

Jesus said, “I delight to do thy will O God.” That included the Cross with its associated sufferings as well as enjoying a meal with His friend Lazarus and his two sisters. Our Lord went to the Cross with a song of acceptance upon His lips. He always accepted whatever God appointed.

The will of God has a companion that goes everywhere it goes...known by the name of Grace.

The Devil Deals to David

2011-10-03T22:46:00.000-07:00

“And Satan...provoked David.” David’s sin with Bathsheba was a sin of the flesh, but in numbering the people, a sin of the spirit. By this proud act (consciously or unconsciously), David was ascribing to himself might, power, strength and greatness. Attributes that belong to God alone. God promised Abraham the people would be so great they could not be numbered. So why bother?

Numbering the people was not the real issue; doing it without orders from God was. It was an independent act that caused Lucifer’s fall, and this is what he successfully tempted Eve to do. But when he came to the Lord Jesus, he failed miserably. For this blessed One refused to take a breath without God’s permission.

When we attempt to flex our spiritual muscle before those around us by showing our spiritual superiority, you can be sure Satan is in the shadows egging us on. When the devil deals the cards, it’s always from the bottom.

The Landlord

2011-10-02T21:23:00.000-07:00

I was reading a quote some time ago by Abraham Kuyper, a Dutch theologian of the past. He said, “There is not a square inch of territory in the whole universe over which Christ does not say, ‘This is mine.’”

The Bible says of us who are Christians that we are not our own. Jesus Christ bought and paid for us with His own life, from the slave market of sin. He has every right to say of one of His blood-bought lambs, “He or she is mine.”

I, for one, am exceedingly happy that He owns me for His own. Many need to own up to His ownership in their lives. This is not done by talk but by walk. “And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say.” It’s good to remember, we are only tenants. “For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” He is the “Landlord.” We are to pay Him on a regular basis what is due Him. For many, rent is way past due, and they need to “Pay…that thou owest.”

Snobbery

2011-10-01T22:35:00.000-07:00

One dictionary’s definition of a snob is, “one who distains supposed inferiors.” Sounds like the Pharisees of the Bible to me. They always looked down on less fortunate people (Lk.18:9), and those who didn’t adhere to their man-made standards (Ro.14:3). Shameful as it is to say, both of these are generally found inside the House of God, not without.

You can always spot these highbrow elitists; they are completely exclusive in nature. Their conceit extends to Heaven itself, they actually believe they will have a special place at God’s heavenly table, and others in the body of Christ will be excluded. Such stuffed shirt braggarts, with their egotistical spirits, are in for a big surprise. Our Carpenter went ahead so He could make chairs for all His children at the supper table.

Paul was “…all things to all men.” And our blessed Lord was a friend to all. There was not an exclusive bone in eithers body. Both would condescend to men of low estate. The best and truest preacher friend I ever had, who is now with his Lord, left a lasting imprint upon my life in this respect. No man was beneath him!

Unsatiable

2011-09-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

“And what shall I more say?” These words remind me of a line from the song, How Firm a Foundation. “What more can He say than to you He hath said/ To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?” Within the pages of God’s Holy Writ there is everything we need to know about how to live in this life and prepare for the next. Anything not recorded, God deems unnecessary for us at this time. It is futile to look for answers God hasn’t given.

Philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates spent a lifetime seeking for the hidden things of God, while neglecting those things that God did reveal for both us and our children. These wise men should have heeded the wisdom of the old man (Abraham). His words to one who sought something apart from God’s revelation were, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded…” And neither will you or me, my friend.

Be satisfied with what God has revealed, or spend your life seeking unanswerable questions.

Individual and Personal

2011-09-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

“...all things work together for good...” Some time ago, at a late hour, on my knees next to my bed, feeling the weight of a burden I thought would crush me; I received new light on this text. Previously, I held it as a precious promise to all God’s suffering saints who loved Him. But, though it may be true collectively, this is only so because individuals have experienced it personally. It is possible this text may include everyone and me, but it can also exclude everyone but me. This Scripture must be approached as though I were the only one involved.

Others may be part of the mix that is working together in my life, but I am not to concern myself with them. For I do not know their hearts; but I do know mine, that I love God and am assured that everything will work out for my ultimate good. My good; His glory—what more could I want?

Singing the Truth

2011-09-28T11:57:00.001-07:00

My wife often testifies before congregations that prior to singing a special, she asks the Lord to keep her from singing a lie. That is, she wants her life to come up to her singing. I wonder how many of us sing a falsehood when we sing the words to such old songs as; “It’s not my brother or my sister but me O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.” If we are singing unto the Lord as we are supposed to, then we are singing a lie if we do not believe prayer is the great need of our life.

We come into this world in a fetal position, and we go out in that same position. Surely the Lord is showing mankind his life should to be one of continuous prayer. The first thing we are told of Paul, the new born babe in Christ is, “Behold he prayeth.” And the last pose we should be found in is the fetal position of prayer. We are told that both Thomas Watson the Puritan, and David Livingston the great missionary, were both found kneeling in prayer at their deaths.

Let’s face it, most, if not all our problems, are prayer problems. Even the medical world now recognizes the solace that comes to those who pray. How true the words, “O what peace we often forfeit, O, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” We all have a Divine invitation to enter His throne room (Hebrews 4:16). Let’s take advantage of it.

A.W. Tozer had what he called his “prayer pants”. He would put them on when entering his office in the morning before he prayed. The purpose was to keep from wearing out the knees of his suit pants. I’m sorry to say not too many of us have that problem. I say this to our own shame!

The Bottom Line

2011-09-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

“But without faith it is impossible to please [God].” The bottom line in pleasing God is faith. Other things are good and right in their place, but faith is the starting point. We begin our spiritual journey with it, and we end with it. Having a variety of good things in one’s life does not necessarily mean you have the right thing.

Faith is as much at home with the impossible as it is with the possible, for faith’s reliance is upon God who knows no limitations. Real faith involves not an introspection of itself, but always its occupation upon God. When faith’s eye is looking to God, and not placed on itself, it makes the impossible, possible. But every true act of faith is followed by activity. As one has said, “A faith that does not walk may soon become too weak to stand.”

Faith has degrees; there is “no faith, little faith, and great faith.” Faith can be increased as we exercise it. The reason why our faith does not grow is because there is always a calculated risk connected to it. This makes us hesitant to put feet to our faith. But once we step out of the boat, our initial act becomes a habit; one step turns into a walk.

If we are to display “the prayer of faith,” then we must of necessity pray with faith. Prayer without faith reduces us to faith in ourselves. A real, honest to goodness faith only comes from the written Word of God. And it will never betray those who place their confidence in it!

Knowing When To Cease

2011-09-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

“And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.” Here we have good people attempting to keep a godly man from taking what they thought was the wrong course. Paul was strong in his resolution, and his friends were just as adamant the other way. What is the latter to do in such cases? Carry the issue as far as you can with decency. But it is not wise or good manners to over-press a godly person in such cases. There is a time when we are to “…cease saying.”

We are apt to judge and censure those who will not do things the way we think they should be done. But it is always good to remember that possibly they and God know something that they have not let the rest of us in on. It is not stubbornness that keeps some from heeding their earthly friends’ advice, but rather, a willingness to suffer anything for their heavenly FRIEND.

Make sure your well-intentioned help is not, in reality, a hindrance.

When Night is Past

2011-09-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

“But when the morning was now come...Jesus...” How often I have toiled throughout the night, fishing for the answer to my problems, only to find after a barren night that the answer was to be found only in Jesus. When will we ever learn He is the sum of all things?

“Weeping may endure for a night,” but, when Christ comes, so comes joy. How many times in the “womb of the morning” has He shown forth His “loving kindness”? Is it any wonder then that David would “sing aloud of [His] mercy in the morning”?

Oh, dear child of God, tossed to and fro through a long, dark night of trials, know for a surety that in His chosen season He will make Himself known to you. When we are most at a loss, and there is nothing left, then He will make known that we have the all sufficient Christ. And, as the song says, “Christ is all I need.”

For a Christian, the long night of suffering is not endless; but the joy that comes in morning is.

You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down

2011-09-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth again.” Falling down doesn’t make you a failure; but staying down does. It’s to be expected that we will be knocked down in the ring of life from time to time. Just make sure you’re back on your feet before the count of ten.

A quaint little saying by an old preacher, who is now with the Lord, has helped me from the inception of my Christian life until now. He reiterated this miniature truth over and again in his long ministry. Simply put, it was: “Keep gettin’ up!” Simple, but, oh, how profound.

We are apt to think bad people fall, but this is not what David observed. The Shepherd’s shepherd tells us, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and...though he fall...” This is the fall of a good man walking in the ways of the Lord.

Cast him down as many times as you will, but a true Christian has something in him that causes him to always bounce back. Micah knew this truth, for he tells us, “When I fall, I shall arise.” And so will you, dear saint of God!

A PRAYER OF MOTHER TERESA

2011-09-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

Although I radically disagree with this dear woman’s church, as well as their doctrine, I do agree with one of her prayers. And so does the Bible. In speaking of the poor and hungry she said, “Lord, give them through our hand this day their daily bread.

This was Jesus’ teaching to his followers. He knew He would be leaving this earth, therefore He was training them to give to others what He had given to them. This is seen in the feeding of the multitude. Matthew records, “He gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.” The principle is, “Freely ye have received, freely give.”

A little barefoot boy was sitting on a curbside singing, “Jesus loves me.” A passerby asked the little urchin, “If Jesus loves you so much, then why hasn’t He given you some shoes?” The small toe-head replied, “O, I’m sure He put it into someone’s heart to help me, I guess they just didn’t want to!”

“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these me brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

ENDURE or ENJOY?

2011-09-19T07:53:00.000-07:00

There is to be found among modern day Christians, those to whom I like to refer to as, “Happy Christian Campers,” or “Smiling Sanguine Saints.” They like to set their melancholy, doomsday brethren straight by saying, “The Christian life is not to be endured, but enjoyed.”

The truth of the matter is both are correct. One simple proof text settles the argument, “Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame…” Paul teaches in 2 Cor. 6:8-10, that the Christian life is a paradoxical one.

I just finished reading, Letters and Papers from Prison, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a young Lutheran pastor who joined the underground in hopes of overthrowing Hitler. The Gestapo hung him just days before the end of the W.W. 2.

I was impressed that in his letters to his parents, he showed both joy and endurance. Writing to his mother from his damp prison cell, very weak and sickly, with little to eat, he tells her that in spite of all the discomforts, he could hear in the early mornings the little birds singing. And that he could now look forward to spring, and seeing the flowers begin to bloom from his one small window.

For any who are imprisoned by circumstances beyond their control, remember, spring comes immediately after winter. It is something you can look forward to.

Truth Tops Everything

2011-09-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

“…for thou hast magnified thy word above thy all name.” This is a startling statement; nevertheless it stands like the Rock of Gibraltar in this topsy-turvy world. Without God’s final authority, every man will do that which is right in his own sight. When this occurs, the words “God says,” is replaced with “I think,” “I feel,” “I believe,” etc. For example, one can turn the Grace of God into lasciviousness (Jude 4), if he or she turns a deaf ear to what God has said about His Grace in Titus 2:11-12.

If we lift a text from Jeremiah, and transport it into our Twenty- first Century, we will see another example of putting God’s Word on the back burner. It is written, “Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love.” Applying this practically to the present is not a difficult thing to do. How many there are who, wanting to put on a good face before the brethren, trim truth under the guise of love. They do not want the stigma of being called judgmental and unloving. Such Christians are cowards copping out for the approval of today’s popular carnal society. They don’t want to take the heat that right principles bring.

In Paul’s great chapter on love (1Cor.13), he plainly tells us, Biblical love rejoices in truth. Tough love is always tougher on the one administering it than the recipient, especially when the former is sincere and really cares for the latter. You’ll remember that though Joseph was tough on his erring loved ones in attempting to bring them to repentance, behind closed doors, where only God saw, he showed his tenderness and compassion in weeping uncontrollably for them. And it was this kind of love that got the job done. The wise man said, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” If you’re not willing to hurt them, you can’t help them.

Saints in the Shadows

2011-09-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

It is both interesting and enlightening to contrast the ministries of Elijah and Elisha. Their service for the Lord was entirely different. The former was public, direct, and fiery; while Elisha’s was, for the most part, private, indirect, and commonplace. Young’s Concordance says, “Elijah was the grandest and most romantic character Israel ever produced. Elijah is quoted some thirty times in the New Testament; his prodigy, not once. Elijah was always the center of attraction. Elisha was more or less a wall-flower. Elijah was constantly seen; but Elisha, only occasionally.

Elisha’s life was much like most of ours. It was a behind-closed-door ministry. The mass was not aware of him, but the individuals he helped knew him. And, more importantly, so did God. Elijah, by today’s standards, would be considered the greater of the two, in spite of the fact that Elisha did twice the miracles as his master. True humility and a willingness to accept one’s place in life can result in phenomenal results. Elisha was never ashamed of being referred to as the servant who poured water on Elijah’s hands, like someone else who did not hesitate to take the place of servant and wash the feet of others.

Though Elisha has always been overshadowed by Elijah, he was no less a great saint of God. If you wanted to know the true worth of Elisha, you’d have to ask those who drank of the waters he healed, or the widow whose children were saved from slavery, or Naaman, who was healed of his leprosy, or the man whose borrowed axe-head Elisha found, or the one who was raised to life again simply by touching Elisha. Each of these would tell you who Elisha was.

And if you want to know about those today who are behind the scene and rarely come out of the shadows, ask those whom they have helped. Elijah’s ministry was basically one of repentance; Elisha’s was one of giving life to things and people. It was, you might say, a ministry of resurrection.

Shoved Out

2011-09-15T06:56:00.000-07:00

It says of the wicked, “God is not in all his thoughts.” It does not say that He is not in some of them, but in all of them. As Christians, we need to be careful not to follow the example of the ungodly. There should not be a thought that He cannot share in. But sad to say, many times I have shut Him out of the chamber of my imagery, simply because I harbored thoughts that I knew He would not approve, or be a part of. Embarrassing as it is to say, I chose the thought over my blessed God.

How we need to rise above the great mass of men and women who drift through life without ever taking God into their thoughts. Darling David said, “My meditation [thoughts] of Him shall be sweet.” And why not, the shepherd boy knew that God thought upon him and his woeful condition constantly (Psl.40:5,17). It’s awesome to think that we, His children, are in His every thought. Should we then shove Him out of ours?

JUST THE WAY YOU ARE

2011-09-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

I like little sayings, also referred to as aphorisms, maxims, or adages. They’re brief, but can say a lot. But Christians must be careful not to equate all of them with the Scriptures. Some are humanistic, and completely opposite from the Bible’s teachings. On the other hand, there are those with great Biblical principles, which can be incorporated into one’s daily Spiritual life.

Speaking of the former of the two afore mentioned, a good example of mistakenly associating a familiar saying with the Scripture is, “Honesty is the best policy.” But, as old Dr. Bob Jones Sr. used to say, “If you’re honest because it’s the best policy, you’re crooked.”

A popular Christian cliché among the feel-gooders of our day is, “I love you just the way you are.” Many times, this is made by someone who wants you in return to do the same with them. But, upon close inspection, you’ll often find someone whose life is in shambles, and who has no intention of ever changing. The effort would take character, and that would be just too much for anyone to ask of them. Such people do not realize, we love them in spite of, not because of. By desiring us to love them just the way they are, they’re seeking approval for their sorry life. If one loves them just the way they are, then, to them, we’re condoning their sinful life-style. Hence, no need for change.

God loves us in Christ; He did not love us for the way we were, but the way He could make us. He saw what we could become in Christ. To stay the way one is would be to accuse God of loving the sin as well as the sinner. And that, my friend, ain’t ever gonna happen!

“In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.” Michelangelo

The Ear of God

2011-09-12T21:43:00.000-07:00

O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.” God says both to Solomon and Hezekiah, “I have heard thy prayer.” David writes, “God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.” And Zacharias, also, was informed, along with Cornelius, “…thy prayer is heard.” God is a prayer-hearing God. How wonderful the thought that our great God takes the time to listen to our prayers!

To think that He would bend His ear to hear the likes of me is beyond my comprehension. Some think it a great thing that God answers our prayers, I think it remarkable that He would even listen! I feel like David, who, when in the presence of God, said, “Who am I, O Lord God…” What condescension, that Almighty God would bow His ear to hear earthlings such as ourselves. Is not our text one of the most beautiful and sublime that has ever been penned? Oh, how I love to repeat it again and again! “O thou that hearest prayer…”

SEIZE THE DAY

2011-09-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

"For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but [M]e you do not have always.”

Carpe diem is a phrase from a Latin poem by Horace that has become an aphorism. It is popularly translated as "seize the day". Carpe literally means "to pick, pluck, pluck off, cull, crop, gather." The story of the Alabaster Box and the anointing of Jesus' feet, apart from its clear doctrinal teaching, if it taught no other practical truth, teaches us to take advantage of those brief passing opportunities in life.

Our Lord’s words to His disciples seem to attest to this fact. Those everyday reoccurring things, says He, we can always give consideration to, whenever we choose. But there are limited opportune times that require our immediate attention and decision. Rarity always has priority over the regular! We see this in the case at hand, Christ was leaving them soon, but the poor would always be with them (Deut.15:11). He was to be preferred before the poor.

The woman with the alabaster box, I’m sure, had no regrets seizing the opportunity in anointing her Lord. Especially upon hearing of His resurrection; she had come, “aforetime.” I often wonder about the women who came early to His tomb that historic day to anoint His body? I guess they would have agreed with the adage, “Opportunity only knocks once.”

QUESTIONING GOD

2011-09-10T22:17:00.000-07:00

Someone has said, “It is alright to ask God a question, but wrong to question Him.” Jesus falls under the heading of the former, when on the cross He asks God, “Why hast thou forsaken me?” Israel in the wilderness fits into the category of latter, when they questioned God by saying, “Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?

As God’s “earthen vessels,” it is never acceptable to question Him as to why He made us the way we are. Or, as Paul so vividly illustrates this very thing in Romans, “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed [it], Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”

One of the secrets of being comfortable in your own skin is in realizing that God made your skin and put you in it! We are not all the same, but we all had the same Maker. There is a great line spoken in the movie Viva Zapata, “Though we are all from the same clay, a jug is not a vase.” When you come right down to it, it really doesn’t make that much difference. All of us, (Christians) have the same treasure within. Whether it is a crock-pot, or fine china, it is, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

The Christian's Critic

2011-09-10T06:59:00.000-07:00

In Bible times, names depicted a person’s nature. They were descriptive and significant. This is especially true of the devil. The many names given to him reveal his character and activities. I read that he has at least thirty different names that describe his person and work. But, of all these names, I do not believe there is one that causes more depression and depreciation for a Christian than the title, “the accuser of the brethren.” We are told that he does this before God, night and day.

What makes this so tragic is the fact that what he accuses us of is, mainly, all true and factual. What is one to do with this constant condemnation of conscience? Thank God, we have a Heavenly Advocate to deal with our hellish adversary. Our Lawyer reminds him of the cross, and how all of our faults, failures, and sins were paid for there—that our past, present, and even the future have been wiped clean in the blood of the Lamb.

Judicially, we have been justified freely from all things, and need not concern ourselves with his condemnation of us. “Who is he that condemneth?” “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.” “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus...the blood of Christ purge[d] your conscience...”

Volunteer Slavery

2011-09-04T20:38:00.000-07:00

“All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” Paul’s “all things” are not all-inclusive, but means all, within bounds. For example, it is still not lawful to have your brother’s wife. All vices are unlawful, but what about virtuous things?

It is well to remember, things that are not expedient or profitable are not necessarily necessary. If indulgence in a good thing becomes injurious to ourselves or others, we are to abandon it. If what we allow destroys our freedom of thought, peace of mind, and general happiness, it should be laid aside.

It is possible to become a voluntary slave. We can do this by creating our own craving for something. And, ultimately, this brings us under the power of what is considered legitimate, thus we become slaves to it, and it becomes our master. Remember, you’re either master, or mastered.

Sane Sanctification

2011-09-04T00:38:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading again an article by my older son, Andrew, on the subject of sanctification. Would to God I had read it years ago. It would have saved me from some insane teachings on the subject that I ignorantly adhered to and taught.

Sanctification, first and foremost, has to do with ownership, not virtue. Paul tells the new converts at Thessalonica to abstain from fornication, not because it’s virtuous, but because it is the Will of God. One can be the former, without doing the latter. God sanctifies “things” as well as people, and the first has nothing to do with moral character.

Obedience comes before personal virtue. If this were not true, neither Isaiah nor Hosea would have carried out God’s orders. But both of these men knew God had exclusive property rights to their lives (1Cor.6:19b), and thus they obeyed Him.

Whenever we equate virtue as the main objective of sanctification, rather than obedience, we end up with a man-made list of taboos. And each “no, no” that we give up makes us think we are holier than before. But there are untold numbers of virtuous Christians who are not obedient to God, who pass themselves off as “sanctified saints.”

When you move from “Spirit” sanctification to “Self” Sanctification there is nothing but continual frustration. You become the center, rather than Christ. It is then that we become obsessed with a kind of morbid introspection that leaves one self-conscious, rather than God-conscious. This is a form of humanism. Let each of us remember “…that to obey is better….”

JOY: With Sorrow

2011-09-02T21:24:00.000-07:00

“As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing”

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, lists nine clusters of contrasts; the above text being one of them. Though seemingly illogical, these paradoxes can be sensibly explained. Thinking people realize life is made up of opposites. One necessitates the other. The one proves the other, not by its absence, but by its very presence. Example: how would one know he or she had joy if sorrow was not present? To what would you compare your joy as evidence it was legitimate?

I am emphasizing “authentic joy.” Not the cosmetic, painted on kind, so many professing Christians display today. To me, a lot look like Jack Nickleson in the movie, Batman. They seem to be emulating the Joker with his perennial clown smile. Real Godly joy is more than skin-deep. As the children’s song goes, it’s “down in my heart.”

The only time the Bible records that Jesus rejoiced, it says it was, “in spirit.” He had an artesian well that sprung up from deep within. He offered it to the woman at the well. And in His prayer to the Father, in John seventeen, He asks “that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” And the joy He had was not without its sorrows. Remember, “He was a man of sorrows.” His method was to always look past the cross “to the joy set before Him.” Jesus gave an illustration of this when He told of a mother’s pain in childbirth, how she looks past it to the joy that awaits her.

Jesus’ promise to His elect is, “Your sorrow shall be turned into joy.”

Joy: Restored

2011-09-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

“Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation”

I like some of the dictionary’s definitions of restore, especially when applying it to our theme, “JOY.” Here are just a few of its meanings: “to bring back into existence or use… reestablish... to bring back to health, good spirits… return to life, get or give new life or energy.” This was David’s prayer after falling from Grace. Joy is Grace’s Siamese sister; whenever the latter is missing, so will be the former.

Although we cannot lose our salvation, we can lose something almost as dear, our JOY! Joy is the only thing on this earth that makes life worth living. Take joy away and all that’s left is a shell of a person, existing one day to the next. These forlorn folks’ testimonies are all the same. Though inaudible in many cases, nevertheless the cry of their hearts is, “I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

How does one get back his or her treasured joy? You remember in the Old Testament when the man lost his axe-head, he went to God’s man asking help in finding it. To which Elisha inquired, “Where fell it?” In other words, the practical prophet let him know it was a simple matter. Where he lost it was where he’d find it. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out. He didn’t ask when he lost it, but where. If you’ve lost your joy, it would be wise to head back to the place you lost it. I guarantee that’s where you’ll find it.

JOY: My Name is in His Book

2011-08-31T18:06:00.000-07:00

“Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”

You can count on one thing never changing, human nature. How like the Disciples we all are. We find more joy in the immediate and temporal, than the future and eternal. Paul, it seems, didn’t fall into this trap (2Cor.4:18). Do we not realize someday all our earthly ministering will be over? The devil and his demons, along with his angels, will be consigned to their own places of torment, and we will be everlastingly with our Father and God.

Our names are indelibly written in the Lambs Book of Life; there is a family record in Heaven. But with Judas and his like (Matt.7:22), their names are “written in the earth” (Jer.17:13). Many there be today who rejoice with God’s people over earthly blessings. They have their names written on the church books, but not in God’s Book!

I am told that He loved me and chose me before the foundation of the world. And that my name was recorded in the Book of Life, before time began. You can use all the theological arguments you want, BUT THAT IS WHAT IT SAY’S! Contrary to the old gospel song, there was not a new name written down in Glory when I was brought into His fold.

In Philippians, Paul mentions his fellowlabourers whose names are in the book of life. And in the very next verse says, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: [and] again I say, Rejoice.” Don’t you think we need to get with it?

JOY: Surrendered

2011-08-30T07:29:00.000-07:00

“Your joy no man taketh from you.”

No one, says our Lord, can take our joy from us. True, but for all practical purposes I believe it can be voluntarily surrendered! At least, on more than one occasion, I’m ashamed to say, I have relinquished my treasured gift. This must deeply pain the heart of God who gave us this precious endowment.

How many of us have given to a loved one something we held dear unto ourselves, only later to see another in possession of it. How prone we are in letting others, even loved ones take our joy. They don’t want it; they just don’t want you to have it. You know, “Misery loves company.”

My dear departed friend, Dr. Tom Malone, was raised by his grandparents. He said he remembered when he was just a boy, his grandfather sitting by the radio listening to President Franklin Roosevelt. On one occasion, F.D.R. was saying he was going to take away all poverty. Dr. Malone said, the old man looked at him and said, “Why son, if he takes that away we won’t have nothing left.” J

My friend, if we let this sad world take our joy from us, we’ll have nothing left!

JOY: In Dire Circumstance

2011-08-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

“Rejoice in the Lord alway: [and] again I say, Rejoice.”

This statement came from one of Paul’s prison epistles. Having been beaten, he was thrust into the inner prison, the doors locked, his feet placed in stocks, and a guard with him around the clock. It was midnight; he was tired, and hurting. He was literally drained of all physical strength.

And just what is this old seasoned saint’s advice to Christians when one is imprisoned by such circumstances? When one is shut-in and shut-out from all human aid and resources? He gives us a double-barreled answer, “Rejoice…[and] again I say Rejoice.” He shows us that joy is not something going on round about us, but something going on inside of us.

This seasoned saint always found solace in the sovereignty of God. He believed his Maker was Lord of every circumstance. He was absolutely convinced that nothing could enter the circle of God’s perfect will for his life wherein he lived unless by Divine approval. He may not have been sure everything happening would work for good to those around him, but he was 100% sure they would for him. This is also true of you, dear friend, you who …love God, and are called according to His purpose. What joy this should bring to our hearts!

JOY: Whence Cometh It?

2011-08-27T20:41:00.000-07:00

Paul writes to the brethren at Rome, “Now… God… fill you with all joy and peace… in believing.” And Peter tells the scattered saints in various areas, “yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” I read once that an artist should never paint a picture of a forest without showing a way out. It is not sufficient to tell God’s people that they should have joy; they must be shown the way to obtain it. It is not something we work-up, but rather something that God has worked-in. You don’t get joy, you already have it. One may not manifest joy in his or her life, but nonetheless, the seed still lies in the bosom, though dormant.

Joy comes in believing, that is, believing God’s precious promises. Belief is always prerequisite to true Biblical joy. As someone has said, “In seeking “unspeakable joy,” you must start at its fountainhead; “in believing.” Some of us do not realize the seriousness of a life void of joy. Andrew A Bonar says, “ ‘Rejoice!’ is as much a command as ‘Repent.”

I think if we were “filled with all joy” it would push out everything else that is troubling us. If we allow joy to fill every crevice of our fearful hearts, the peace we so long for in this troubled world promises to follow on joys heels.

“It is owing to the weakness of our faith that we are so much wanting in joy and peace.” (Matthew Henry)

JOY: The Missing Link

2011-08-26T23:00:00.000-07:00

Upon returning from our time in Ireland many years ago, my wife and I visited friends in several churches. One assembly in particular that had been spiritually alive in the past, seemed at that present time to be missing some important element. When I asked Salle for her opinion as to what it might be, there was not a moment’s hesitation. Her discerning answer was simply, but sadly, “JOY!

Today, I am beginning an extended series of articles on this very important subject. As D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes in his book, Spiritual Depression, “Unhappy Christians are, to say the least, a poor recommendation for the Christian Faith; and there can be little doubt that the exuberant joy of the early Christians was one of the most potent factors in the spread of Christianity.”

Joy and its derivatives are found at least two-hundred and one times in the Bible. Jesus was very explicit that He wanted His children to experience the maximum of joy in their Christian life, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and [that] your joy might be full." No Christian will ever be fully satisfied until he or she has found the real, true joy, which is found in Jesus Christ alone. Our spiritual trinkets and toys become stagnant with use over a period of time, unless a genuine joy fills our souls. I agree with C.S. Lewis when he said, “What does not satisfy when we first find it, was not the thing we were desiring.”

Emulation

2011-08-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

One of the meanings for the word emulate is: to imitate a person or thing admired. They say, “Imitation is the truest form of flattery.” This may be true of the one, but certainly not of the impersonator. Emulation is said to be one of the works of the flesh. Therefore, no matter how good the performance, you can never please God.

George MacDonald writes, “No work noble or lastingly good can come of emulation any more than greed: I think the motives are spiritually the same.” He goes on to say, “When a man spends his energy on appearing to have, he is all the time destroying what he has and therein the very means of becoming what he desires to seem. If he gains his end, his success is his punishment.” And so, those who are always trying to be someone else will never know the love and plans God has for them, for they are never home when He calls.

“God help me to live in a morally and honest way, without pretending either to be what I am not or not to be what I am.” (J.I. Packer)