Good Advice

“…with the well advised is wisdom.” My wife did an excellent article recently on advice. I thought I'd emulate her example to my readers. Only ignorant pride keeps us from taking good advice. I know Christians whose lives are now in shambles, simply because they refused to ask advice and if they did, rejected it, when given. And, of course, there are those who boast of both listening to and taking counsel from others, but who, after investigation, took the advice only because it was in agreement with their plans.

Jeroboam was such a person. He asked the advice of the aged men; but forsook it for the younger men’s, who were in agreement with him. His problem was the same many have today. The elders had been where he was, but he had never been where they had been. What fool asks someone about a road they themselves have never traveled?

David, in spite of a set mind to do one thing, was changed by the godly advice of a weaker vessel. After hindsight consideration, he says to Abigail, “…blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from________.” I cannot tell you the good advice I have had through these long years that has kept me from_________. How about you? It’s not too late to ask, listen, and heed, good advice.

Fickle Friends

"Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" 

It will be of great benefit to the reader of the book of Galatians to know the inhabitants of this city descended from the Gauls, a people of unstable nature. They were quick to receive impressions and just as quick to give them up; impulsiveness and fickleness characterized them. Thus, one can better understand our text. You might refer to them as "fair weather friends." Great when the sun is shinning, but nowhere to be found when clouds arise. 

But Paul was accustomed to this sort of wishy-washyness; the type who receives one with enthusiastic joy, only to reject him or her after being told the truth about themselves. The old warhorse was used to experiencing situations in which one minute he could scarcely keep people from worshiping him and in the next, they were ready to stone him. It is a real paradox, writes this seasoned saint, he told the Corinthian Christians, "And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved." 

Evidently this sort of human being is not familiar with the wise man's teaching, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend." They're difficult to figure out. They have a real dislike for the doctor who is instrumental in their healing. They fit comfortably with the crowd that cries one day, "Hosanna in the highest," and the very next, "Crucify Him." It can truly be said of them what is said of Samson and his friend "Whom he had used as a friend." Friends are not to be used, but rather cherished and held dear to our hearts.

If you have been let down by someone you trusted, remember "There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."

HELD UP BY MERCY

"When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up." O, The wonderful mercies of God. We are told in scriptures that His mercy is: great, rich, manifold, plenteous, abundant, sure, everlasting, tender, new every morning, high as the heaven, fills the earth, and is God's delight. Is it any wonder then that darling David said, "I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities." Marvelous, marvelous, marvelous, is it not, to be one of God's, "vessels of mercy?"

How often in life have I have cried out to "The God of my mercy, "I'm slipping Lord, 'Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.'" And each time, in mercy, that invisible Hand has reached out and caught me, as Peter of old, just before I sank. When I could no longer stand, all strength was gone, and sinking was inevitable, I found the words of the old gospel song true, "Mercy there was great and grace was free." From that memorial day so many, many years ago, when I prayed, "God be merciful to me a sinner," until this present hour, mercy has followed me; and I'm sure it will all the days of my life. 

"Take notice not only of the mercies of God, but of God in the mercies. Mercies are never so savoury as when they savour of a Saviour."

(Puritan Saying)

Guilt and the Christian

I'm told a great majority of those in mental institutions are there because of guilt; something they've done in their past they cannot rid themselves of. No Christian should ever have what has come to be known as "a guilt complex." If a Believer had no other text to lean on, Hebrews 9:14 would be more than sufficient to hold him or her up, "How much more shall the blood of Christ...purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." 

Guilt in the saints' lives will be used against them in one of two ways: first, either the devil will constantly bring it up to keep one back from going forward; or, secondly, self-seeking loved ones or friends (intentionally or unintentionally) will regularly mention it in order to hold you down; that they may be in control of your life. One way or the other, you lose all your effective potential for God.

Peter denied the Lord but repented with tears. After that dark experience he never mentioned it again. Yet, after Pentecost, he accuses his brethren of denying the holy and just One. He did not fall for the sick idea he had no right to condemn others for what he himself had done. He lived by the scriptural philosophy, "What God hath cleansed let no man call unclean." He didn't accuse himself or allow anyone else to do so! He was cleansed and forgiven. THAT WAS IT! 

A.W. Tozer mentions that when God cleanses and forgives a man it is as if he had been newly created; like he had never sinned. It is true, as John tells us, the accuser of our souls accuses us to God night and day. But just as true, says old John, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Throne. And, by the way, He has never lost a case!

Specialized Ministries

The Bible does not discourage specialized ministries. On the contrary, it is the instituter of them. But there is a danger each specialty carries with it: thinking it is special in and of itself. I mean in the sense of being more important or necessary over others. All of them are to work together for the glory of God. It's important to remind oneself, he or she is not special because they may have a different type ministry from another dear brother or sister. We're all on the same team.

To mention just a few within this danger area are: evangelists, prophetic teachers, printing ministries, children's homes, deeper life, church builders, drug and drink rehabs, finance consultants, music seminars, defenders of the faith, family institutes, youth ministries, the elderly, skid-row missions, etc. etc. 

There is mainly a twofold risk which singular ministries carry with them: first, as mentioned, believing you're the main cheese. Paul put it this way: "And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you." The second being, you lose your balance. You're the only one on the teeter-totter. Over-emphasis leads to a "unbalanced" Christian life. You hone in on one subject in the Bible rather than the whole council. All you can see or look for in the scriptures is something that will under-gird and promote your particular kind of ministry.

I have often stated, a pastor is possibly the most balanced of all the gifts. I liken him to the old-fashioned country doctor, a general practitioner. The original saying was, "A jack-of-all-trades, master of one." Being a master of one, let none of us be guilty of neglecting the others. Or thinking of them as obsolete!   

The One Thing Job Didn't Lose

Job, most certainly held his wife and children close to his heart. Without question, his health, like our own, was dear unto him. And though he did not seem to be such a man that clung to his possessions, still they were a great blessing and enjoyment to his life and that of his family. But in God's stripping of His servant there was one thing (other than his life) He left job, a thing the old saint clutched tightly to and refused to let go of: his moral integrity. "...till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me." 

The word integrity comes from the Latin and old French, meaning: 

innocence, blamelessness, chastity, purity. It carries the thought of wholesomeness and soundness  in moral and ethical principles. This was the one dominating characteristic in Job's life, and everyone knew it, both in heaven and in earth.

The whole issue between God and Satan concerning Job was his integrity. After Satan hit the old patriarch with his first wave of heartbreak, God throws in the adversary's face, "...still he [Job] holdeth fast his integrity." Even his wife knew her man to be a man of integrity, "Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Wonderful thought, is it not, you can take everything a man or woman holds precious, but you can't rob him or her of their integrity. One can only lose this (integrity) by willfully surrendering it. 

May our testimony be that of darling David, "And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever."

The Indelible Commandmernt

The written Ten Commandments were distinctively given to the nation Israel, under a theocratic form of government. God chose this people, not to be a pet, but a pattern for all nations and peoples to follow. Because of Israel’s habitual refusal to conform to God’s statutes, they were scattered among the very nations they were to influence with Jehovah’s moral laws.

After their dispersion, to their amazement, I’m sure (and ours), they found God had long before, written His laws on the internal, fleshly tables of man’s heart. Yes, way before He wrote them to Israel on external tables of stone. No matter where they went, they found hints of their own laws among the pagans.

Mankind can attempt to rid himself of the Ten Commandments, but he will never be able to erase them from his heart. They may be removed from the schoolroom, judicial system, and all of society; but you’ll never remove them from the ark of the heart. They are indelibly written there, from birth to death.

When Paul was shipwrecked on the island of Melita, because of the rains and the cold, he was gathering sticks for a fire. While doing so, a venomous viper bit him, which he shook off into the fire. Upon observing this, the heathen islanders said, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.” This certainly shows, “...the work of the law written in their hearts.” We must conclude, then, the only way to get rid of God’s commandments is to cut out one’s own heart.

The Law by which God rules us, is as dear to Him as the Gospel by which He saves us. (Puritan Saying)

Running Scared

Many of us, I think, spend much of our lives running scared, only to find when we do have courage enough to stop, turn, and face whatever it is, it was usually only a phantom. Isn't it amazing the hideous, manufactured monsters our imaginations can conjure up? A lot of us have a kindred testimony with that of Mark Twain, "I've lived through some terrible things in my life; some of which actually happened."

I believe a large number of us fit the description of people the Psalmist speaks of: "There were they in great fear, where no fear was." You know, we've all experienced them: "I think I heard something"; What if the doctor says..."; "But what will I do if this should happen?" The list is legion. President Franklin Roosevelt's quote comes to my mind, "The only thing to fear is fear itself."

We speak of the eternal torments of the damned, but what of the earthly torments of the fearful? John tells us, "...fear hath torment." O, the paralyzing effect fear has upon a soul! It holds like a vice, making it impossible to move either this way or that. As Paul says, "You cannot do those things ye would." How we need to realize whenever this unhealthy fear comes upon us, it is not of God, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear." Be bold, rebuke such satanic spirits in the name of Christ!

Either God is completely in charge or He isn't. If He is at the wheel, then there is nothing to fear. A little boy on board a ship was asked, in the midst of a ferocious storm, why he seemed to have no fear." His answer, "My father is captain of this ship, and he has brought me through worst storms than this."

"Be not afraid of sudden fear."

Throwing Out The Dog

From my observation post, I personally think it's time for many of God's dear people to throw out the dog, that is, as found in dogmatism. The root meaning being, "that which one thinks is true; to seem to be good or imagine to be so." Many dogmatists think, erroneously, that they should be accepted without questioning or asking any proof for their position. When one does challenge them, they're known for picking up their marbles and going home.

Being dogmatic can be acceptable. But to reach that place, the Bible says we're first to prove all things, then we can hold fast to that belief, principle or philosophy. If you don't put things to the test, trust me, you'll end up in the doghouse alone, every time. It's the weightier things in life we're to be absolute on, the real issues, not the curl on the pig's tail. It doesn't add any weight to the pig.

If you want to do away with some of the dogs in your kennel that are known only for their incessant barking, there is a way to do it. Read, listen, and learn from opposing views. That will cure you from yapping at everything that passes your way. You may not agree with all of them, but you will understand them much better. And in doing so, you may find a friend instead of a foe. It's good to remember there are many good and godly persons who do not hold our views, some of which excel a few of us in every area of our Christian life.

Dr. Bob Jones Sr. used to say, "Go as far as you can down the right road with every man." That's good wisdom and advice.