Minute Meditations

[Resource Manager]

Bible Reading

 

“Read this Book (The Bible) for what, on reason, you can accept and take the rest on faith, and you will live and die a better man.” Abraham Lincoln We know that not only will we die a better person for having read the Bible but if we are wise enough to obey its commands after reading them we shall also rise to live forever. Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

 

As we begin a new year we start again to read from Genesis, Psalms and Matthew. It is a great pity that so few read the Bible every day. How can we think godly if we don’t read God’s thoughts? In the natural we sometimes feel we get to know a certain author by being thoroughly familiar with his writings. Certainly those who have made a study of Shakespeare feel they are acquainted with him and his thought processes; so it is with any other writer who has left his works behind. It may be nice to know a human author this way but it in no way compares with getting to know God through His Word. In fact, it is completely impossible to obey the first command to love the Lord with all our heart. soul and mind if we do not constantly read His Book, pray and meditate upon His goodness and mercy to us. Remember John ‘s point about hating or loving our brethren? The last part of his question is, “How can he love God whom he hath not seen?” How can we? It is impossible to love the unknown. We cannot love someone we have never seen, never heard from, never heard of. Only by becoming familiar with a person can we love them. In the natural this usually comes as a result of personal contact but it has occurred by correspondence. Many lovers first met by mail and the love grew even before they saw one another. Since we have never seen God it is only possible to love Him as a result of our familiarity with His Word. It goes without saying that if we are not faithful in our daily readings in His Book, we will not love Him. How can we expect Him to save us if we break His first and most important command? Paul asks the question “How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?” His answer is, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

 

It is this word of God that must fill our minds and hearts if we are to love Him, obey Him and receive from Him the crown of righteousness. To ignore the Bible readings is to ignore God. It won’t make much use what else we do if we don’t do them. That’s the trouble with the world today. Every man is doing that which is right in his own eyes. The world expresses it as “doing your own thing.” “Our own thing” will be of no value in the day of judgment.

 

By the time you read this, one twelfth of 1970 will already be gone. If you did not read your Bible every day in January, don’t let February and the rest of the year take the same course. Making and breaking New Year’s resolutions is the butt of many jokes but not reading God’s Word is no joke whether it was a New Year’s resolution or not. If we cannot find time to read God’s book every day, just how much do we really love Him? Our actions are speaking louder than words.

 

The Bible Companion is not the only way to read the Bible but it is a very good way. Whatever way you use to read the Bible, use it and do it every day. Do it as a family, if possible. May the words Paul addressed to Timothy apply to us as well. “Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

[Resource Manager]

Blind Spots

 

The human eye is a wonderful thing. Blind people think a lot more about eyes and sight than those with normal vision because it is common to take for granted the many blessings we enjoy and only think about the things we want and do not have.  

 

Although most of us are blessed with vision of some degree, yet we all possess what is commonly called blind spots. These are two areas located on the right and left side. An eye doctor can draw the exact size and shape of our blind spot by use of a curved black flannel board and a little pointer with a white dot on it. We can see above and below, in front and behind, but within these blind spots we cannot see a thing.

 

Now most natural things have a spiritual counterpart and this is true of our blind spots. A blind person cannot see at all. A normal person can see clearly in most areas but is also completely blind in two specific areas. 

 

We all know extremely intelligent people who have a wonderful knowledge of mathematics or physics, who can explain the workings of intricate machinery, who are diligent in business and skillful in some sport but who know nothing, absolutely nothing about the Bible and what’s more, they don’t want to. Religion is their blind spot.

 

When we turn our hearts to God, we do not lose our blind spot, we just become blind to different things. If we can only learn to become blind to the evil that is around us instead of focusing our eyes upon it, how wise we shall be. The lust of the eye is one of the three causes of sin and if we can only learn to have eyes for the things of the Lord and not look upon evil, we shall avoid many of the pitfalls that make others fall. 

 

Unfortunately our blind spots are not limited to evil things. Our blind spots are usually those faults which we possess and others can see so clearly and we can’t see them at all. We all have them, and if only we can learn to see them, then they won’t be blind spots any more. 

In the natural we can change the position of our blind spot by turning our head or backing away to get a different slant on things. If only we will train our spiritual vision to compensate for these weaknesses we can avoid stumbling.

 

Peter and Paul are outstanding examples of faithful followers of Christ who at one time had a serious blind spot. Peter’s trouble was he acted first and thought later. One minute he refuses to let Christ wash his feet and the next he wants him to wash also his hands and his head. One minute he pulls out his sword to defend Christ and the next he denies that he even knows him. Paul, on the other hand, was so wrapped up in what he thought was right that he wouldn’t listen to reason. When confronted with the wisdom of Stephen he became violent and consented to Stephen’s death.

 

Both of these men were rescued from their blind spots by the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus will also rescue us from ours if we will but turn to him for help. Jesus prayed especially for Peter that his faith fail not, and Peter was able to strengthen his brethren as well. In the case of Paul, Christ personally appeared to him to convert him and it is interesting to notice that Paul was struck blind for a time. It seemed to take natural blindness to make Paul see spiritual things. 

 

We all have blind spots. Let us get busy pulling the beam out of our own eye so that we may see clearly. Jesus plainly teaches us that it is the beam in our eye that causes us trouble, not the mote in our brother’s eye. The trouble is we can see his fault and we can’t see our own. Let us busy ourselves looking for the beams in our eyes so that we can remove the blind spots that cause us to stumble.

[Resource Manager]

Bumps on the Path

 

The little boy was helping his younger sister up a steep mountain path when she complained, “This isn’t a path at all, it’s all rocky and bumpy.” The older brother smiled and said, “Sure it’s a path, the bumps are to climb over.”

 

On our journey to the kingdom, we too, can sometimes think that the path is nothing but rocks and bumps. We need to remember that “the bumps are to climb over.”

 

It was Jesus who told us that “narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” From the viewpoint of the little girl and the world around us, it isn’t a path at all for most are looking for the broad way “that leadeth to destruction.”

 

Jesus reminded us concerning the broad way that “many there be which go in thereat.” The broad way always has a traffic jam on it while the way up to the Kingdom is narrow and uncrowded.

 

Which way are we going? How crowded is the way we are traveling? If we find that we are moving along with the world, we need to check our road map to make sure we haven’t made a wrong turn somewhere. This can happen so easily. One can get turned around and suddenly find themselves going in the exact opposite direction to their desired destination.

 

In our way of life, do we find that we are going and doing pretty much like our worldly neighbors and associates? If we discover that we are going and doing, playing and eating with those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ something could be wrong. If we find that our talk is mostly about our work, our gardens, our homes, our automobiles and our sports and not about our hope and the promises of God, then it could be we have made a wrong turn. We had better pull off the road and check our bearings. Our road map is our Bible and we need te ask ourselves how often we refer to our guidebook of life. It is no use thinking we can find our own way for “Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.”

 

Don’t worry about the bumps. We need them to climb up and over. They are essential to our development. Again it was our Lord who told us, “He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.” He reminds us that “in the world, ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

 

There has to be something to overcome or it is impossible to overcome. Be thankful that God, in His loving mercy, has promised us, through His son, that in the world we shall have tribulation; but in spite of this, we are to be of good cheer. Why? Because Jesus overcame and we can, too. Yes, our trials and troubles which might have been seen as problems are not really problems at all. They are simply opportunities for us to show God that we are climbers and these light afflictions are simply there for us to overcome and climb over on our way to the Kingdom.

 

Viewing it this way, we can join Paul in cheerfully saying, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

[Resource Manager]

Big or Little Giants?

 

Jimmy Carter is credited with having said, “Any man who says at age 60 he can do everything he could do at age 20, wasn’t doing much at 20.”

 

The body slows down; physical strength wanes. Yet the change is so slow that it is not noticeable even a year at a time, but in four decades there are changes that are foolish to ignore.

 

Each age has its compensations, we are told. While the 60-year old may not be able to do all he could at 20, there is still much that can be done. The older person, in fact, may be able to work smarter, if not harder. There is usually a lot of excess effort expended by the young, but seniors tend to make what they do count.

 

Caleb was 85 when he said he was just as strong as he had been at 40. He said to Joshua, “Lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. Now therefore give me this mountain.”

 

Caleb is an inspiration to those nearing his age. We don’t have to give up just because we are seniors. We remember Caleb was one of the two faithful spies who came back with a positive report while the other ten brought back the evil report. “And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it, for we be well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” Age had nothing to do with the good and evil reports. It was the faith of Caleb and the lack of faith of the other 10 that made the difference.

 

Faith can make the difference in our lives, too, whatever age we may be. We can overcome if we put our faith and trust in God. If we look at the height of the giants of the land, however, we may wilt and give up as did the unfaithful spies. Do we believe in a “big God” and “little giants” as did Caleb, or do we believe in “big giants” and a “little God?”

 

We learn from the record in Joshua that Caleb was successful in taking the mountain that others feared because of his great faith, and the inheritance became his. “Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel.”

 

Caleb used his brain, as well as his brawn, for he was able to enlist a younger man, his nephew Othniel, to help him conquer the land. Can we inspire others to come and help us as we labor in the Lord’s work?

 

While we may not be able to do physically all that we did when we were younger, let us endeavor that as we age, we will stay as active in doing the Lord’s work as our strength will allow. We can also lead others to join in our common goal of following the Lord.

 

“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”

[Resource Manager]

Call It Like It Is

 

WE SOMETIMES CALL something other than what it is and hope that somehow it will become what we have called it. A small boy wants a horse. He finds a broomstick and straddles it and calls it a horse and, to him, it becomes a horse. We are wise if we confine this to childhood and with Paul say, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” Sometimes we permit this childish habit to carry over into adulthood.

 

In material things our laws have made some progress in properly labeling the products we buy. The manufacturer must state in clear understandable terms the ingredients of his product. If it is all wool, the label must tell us, but if it isn’t, the maker must list the various types of yarns used.

 

When it comes to worshipping God, we must be accurate and call things by their true name. So often we hear that every man has a right to worship God as he pleases. Saying this does not make it so. Man has a right to worship God only in the way God Himself has appointed. To say that we are free to worship God as we see fit is no more true than saying that the broomstick is a horse makes it one. Christ said, “In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

 

Doctor John Thomas, who rediscovered the truth, once said, “We dare our opponents to hear us, and to compare what they hear with the things written in the Word of God. ‘To the law and to the testimony’; it is here we would meet the reader. By this we stand or fall.”

 

While we may dare our opponents, we beseech you as our friends to “come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

 

Salvation lies in calling things by their true names, to read the Bible as it was written, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

 

We simply are not free to worship God as we see fit. We must worship Him as He has commanded and to find His commands, we must go to our Bibles with our minds ready to accept His teachings as they are written. To give the Scriptures of Truth our private interpretations or to allow someone else to read it and tell us what to believe is disastrous. The many churches of today are proof enough that many worship God in vain, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

 

When it comes to something as important as our eternal welfare, let us put away childish ideas and call things by their true names. Certainly we do not want to be found in the position of those who were condemned by Jesus when he said, “Why do ye transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? Ye have made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.”

 

Let us not worship God as we see fit but as He commanded us. May we search the Scriptures daily so that we will be numbered among those “That feared the Lord and spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon His name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.”

[Resource Manager]

Change

 

Winter is on the way. Summer is on the way. Both statements are correct. It all depends whether or not one lives above or below the equator. There is one thing we do know, for God has declared that “while the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

 

In one of our hymns we sing, “Change is our portion now.” Everything about us is changing, the seasons come and go, the sun rises every morning and sets every evening. We are used to these changes, yet changes come so slowly that we cannot observe them with the eye. We can stare at the hour hand of our watch and never see it move, yet it does. We may say that our children are growing like weeds, yet we cannot see them grow, nor can we sit in our garden and watch the weeds grow.

 

How do we measure changes that come so slowly that we cannot see them with our eyes? More importantly, how do we direct our lives so that the changes that take place, though they may take place so slowly that we cannot see them, are for better and not for worse. We are changing even if we can’t see it. It is happening and we need to make sure that we are changing in the right direction.

 

The way to measure change that comes slowly is to measure where we are now in comparison to where we were six months or a year ago. Some parents make a mark with the date along side of it on the back of a door to measure the growth. How can we be sure that we are growing in the truth? How do we know if our faith is stronger or weaker now then it was this time last year?

 

We can each give ourselves a little test. We can ask ourselves three questions to mark our progress, if any, during the last six months to a year. What do we know about living the truth today that we did not know just a year ago? What have we learned about understanding the truth that we did not know just a year ago? What have we learned about teaching the truth to others that we did not know just a year ago? If we have trouble answering these questions in a positive way, then that is telling us something. If there is no measurable change in these things in the last year, will there be in the next? If we cannot see any spiritual growth in these directions in the last year, what makes us think there will be some in the next year unless we consciously begin a program of positive change in the right direction?

 

In order to grow in the right direction, we need to consciously set ourselves goals that will lead us in the right direction. There are some things that we can do that will help us grow in those three ways all at once. For example, more faithful Bible reading will help us live the truth, will help us understand the truth and will help us know how to teach others. If we don’t understand something we certainly cannot teach it to others and it is very hard to teach the truth if we are not personally living it. So more concentrated Bible study will certainly be a way to help us grow. In addition to the daily Bible readings, why not pick a book of the Bible to study in depth? There are many teaching aids in the ecclesial libraries. Pick up a book, pick a virtue such as love or peace, hope or joy, pick a person such as Paul, Nehemiah, or Peter and really get to know them. It will affect our lives and our thinking, for the better.

 

If our right arm is no stronger this year than it was last year, it is because we have not gone on an exercise program to build up the muscles in our right arm. It will not get stronger until we decide to do something. The same is true of our spiritual strength. We are changing, like it or not. Let us make sure that we are growing stronger in the faith and closer to God.

 

Just recently in our daily readings we heard God say to King Asa, “The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.” Let’s hope we did not miss doing our readings that day for that is a powerful lesson we would not want to miss. It is true today as it was when the King first heard it. Let us each resolve that we will seek Him. If we do, we will find Him for that is His promise to us.

[Resource Manager]

Close, but not Close Enough

 

They say that closeness only counts in horseshoes. A miss is as good as a mile in most things of life. It is heartbreaking to almost win and yet lose, yet it happens every day in sports as well as in every day life. The horse that loses by a nose ran just as far and almost as fast yet the winner goes to the winner’s circle. The golfer that loses by one stroke still loses and that stroke could have been a ball that failed to drop as it reached the edge of the cup. In the business world a million dollar bid can be won or lost by as little as a dollar.

 

In so many things in life there can be only one winner and of necessity everyone else is an “also ran,” but when it comes to things of God this isn’t so. Just because Abraham, Daniel and Moses will be in the Kingdom is no reason we can’t be there also. So far as God is concerned, there’s room enough for all who will obey His will, yet there are some who are going to be close, but not close enough.

 

We recall Jesus’ words to the young man when he said, “Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God.” Here was someone who had spoken discreetly. Let us hope that this particular scribe who was close made it the rest of the way to the Kingdom of God. We remember another who was close yet evidently not close enough. King Agrippa after listening to Paul preach declared, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” We wonder how many people have almost been persuaded to be baptized but never were. Paul brought several to the brink who evidently then turned back to the cares of this world. As Paul reasoned of righteousness, temperance and judgment to come, we are told that Felix trembled. He was close, but not close enough.

 

We who are in the Truth, who have renounced the world and given our life to Christ, how close are we to the Kingdom of God? In the parables Jesus told, we remember that not all the seed was in good ground, some was stony, among thorns and thistles. Close, but not close enough. The foolish virgins at one time had oil and they all had lamps; close, but not close enough.

 

Assuming we know the truth, have been baptized and attend the meetings regularly, how close are we to the kingdom of God? How tragic to be among those Jesus tells us about who will say, “We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.” These would be Christadelphians who were faithful in their attendance at the morning meetings, who attended the Bible lectures, perhaps even gave the lectures, yet cast out, for Jesus will say, “I know you not whence ye are; depart from me.” Close, but not close enough.

 

Why? Why will some brethren and sisters who spent a lifetime in the Truth be turned away by Jesus when he comes? The reasons may be as varied as the people to whom they apply. This we do know, the verdict will be just. Perhaps not enough love will be the main reason most who are close but not close enough will be turned away. Paul talks about giving our bodies to be burned and bestowing all our goods to feed the poor all in vain due to a lack of love. Surely people so dedicated as to do these things will be close, yet not close enough. It is certain that not everyone in the Kingdom of God will have the same rank, some will be over 5 cities and some 10. Some will have just barely made it and some will just barely miss. Are we giving our life in the Truth everything we have, trying with all our might, or are we just going along trying to just barely be accepted by Jesus since we would all be content with any place, so long as we are accepted? Perhaps with this attitude we may find ourselves, instead of just barely being accepted, among those who were just barely rejected. Peter tells us to “give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

[Resource Manager]

Communication with God

 

It is always a pleasure when we talk to a loved one far away. With the aid of the telephone we can feel very close to those we have not seen for a long time. A call from the right person can fill our hearts with joy. The amount of excitement generated by a telephone call is in direct proportion to the importance of the person calling. We take for granted and may talk in a very off hand way to those who may live nearby and call frequently but if the call is from some distance or from a very important person then our voice quivers with excitement as we talk to them.

 

Few of us ever have the opportunity to talk to someone considered world famous but when and if the person on the other end of the line turns out to be an important dignitary we become completely oblivious to our surroundings. We concentrate upon what we are saying and hearing as we converse with our esteemed friend.

 

When we consider how great God is, the very fact that He hears our prayers becomes difficult to comprehend and yet we are assured that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much and that “the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers.”

 

Truly when we pray to God we are talking to Him. If we would be careful what we said to an important dignitary how much more so when we are talking to the Creator of heaven and earth. Is it any wonder that Solomon tells us, “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.”

 

What a wonderful thing prayer is! Although God is in heaven and we upon earth, yet He wants us to talk to Him. “Ye shall call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, saith the Lord, and I will hearken unto you.” “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

 

Through prayer we can talk to God at any time of the day or night and be certain that He hears us. This is not so in calling another mortal. There our calls might be limited to business hours or perhaps they are in conference and unable to talk to us, but our Heavenly Father’s ear is always attentive to our cry if we approach Him acceptably.

 

We need to make prayer a very real part of our everyday life. Jesus often spent the night in prayer. If the Son of God needed the strength that communion with his Father gave him, how much more do we need the help and strength that alone comes from prayer.

 

Our prayers should be the outpouring of our hearts to our loving and merciful Heavenly Father. We want to “draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to us.” We should avoid the pitfalls that James warned about for some in his day asked and received not, because they asked amiss.

 

A child in trouble will want to call his father for help and feels much better after telling one who cares of his plight. Sometimes the parent can help and sometimes not, but all of us as children of God can approach our Father in time of need and know that He is able to help for “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.” Isaiah 59:1

[Resource Manager]

Considering the Alternative

 

“Growing old isn’t so bad when one considers the alternative.” This saying is credited to Maurice Chevalier who has since taken the alternative, not of his own free will, but due to the fact that death is the lot of all men in due time.

 

There are a lot of things that are easier to accept when we consider the alternative. We may not always like the food we eat but it is a lot better than starving. We may not like the old car we drive but it is a lot better than walking. We may feel that our living quarters leave something to be desired but they are a lot better than living in a tent.

 

We may complain about many things but if we would stop for a moment and consider the alternative, we may find that we should be thankful indeed for what we have. Things do not bring happiness. Happiness is a state of mind. We can be happy having little and we can be miserable with all the worldly luxuries that money can buy surrounding us.

 

As members of God’s royal family, we ought to be the happiest people on earth. Just think what we have. We have God as our Heavenly Father who knows our every need and will provide. We have Jesus Christ as our elder brother who died so that we could live forever. Growing old isn’t bad for us for we have that much more opportunity to serve the Lord we love so dearly. Death holds no fear for us, for “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” Therefore whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. “While I live I will praise the Lord,” exclaimed David.

 

There are happy brethren and sisters in poor health living in one little room in places like Panama and there are miserable brethren and sisters living in what could be relatively termed the lap of luxury in many places in the United States and Canada. Why? They are thinking differently. When we say miserable brethren and sisters we mean those who with their own lips admit that they are miserable. In fact, some seem to actually enjoy being miserable and evidently think that miserableness is next to godliness.

 

Paul said we should follow him even as he followed Christ and he declared that “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” He also told Timothy that “godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”

 

There are no people on earth today who have so much to rejoice about. Let us stop a minute and count our blessings. Consider the alternative. What if we were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise? what if we were without Christ and God in the world? Would we trade our exalted position with anyone that is without hope? No matter what else a person may have, they are truly miserable if they are without God. Others may have material possessions we think we would like to have but certainly we would not trade anything they have for the hope we have. Jesus did not even have a place to lay his head yet he will soon be king of the world. If we carefully consider the alternatives we will rejoice in the hope that soon we shall if faithful be kings and priests and reign on earth with him.

[Resource Manager]

Creeds

 

There is a patriotic creed that has recently been printed in several national magazines including the Reader’s Digest which states in part, “I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud, and unafraid, to think and act for myself, to enjoy the benefit of my creations and to face the world boldly and say, this I have done.”

 

These thoughts are accepted and endorsed by the nation as a whole despite the fact they are condemned by God and exposed in our Bibles as sin.

 

The creed states that “it is our heritage to stand erect and proud,” while God states that one of the seven things He hates is a “proud look” and Peter tells us that “God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble.” The prophet Isaiah declared, “For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty and upon every one that is lifted up and he shall be brought low.”

 

The creed states “to enjoy the benefit of my creation ... and to say, this I have done.” Compare this to the utterance of the wicked king Nebuchadnezzar who said, “Is not this great Babylon that I have built ... by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?” God was displeased with this arrogant statement as He must be with all who make similar statements and while these words were still in the king’s mouth a voice from heaven declared, “the kingdom is departed from thee.” Immediately he became insane and ate grass as an ox until he came to realize and admit “Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.”

 

The creed states, “I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat,” yet Paul says “as I live saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue confess to God” and again “at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow.” Isaiah tells us “the lofty looks of man shall be humbled and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.” It seems incredible that a nation that claims to be Christian and God fearing can at the same time endorse a creed that exalts man and ignores God. True religion exalts God and humbles man. Jesus taught “for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” The day is coming when the meek shall inherit the earth and all who are proud and lofty shall be brought low.

 

Let us be wise and reject man’s creed and instead adopt David’s for he declared “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

[Resource Manager]

Check the Catalogue

 

William Randolph Hearst, the multimillionaire newspaperman was a great collector of art. One day Mr. Hearst found a description of some valuable items he wanted to own. He ordered his art agent abroad to find them. After months of searching, the agent reported that he had finally traced down these valuable pieces of ancient art. They were in Mr. Hearst’s warehouse. Hearst had been searching frantically for treasures he already owned. Had he read his own catalog he would have discovered he already had that for which he was looking.

 

Could we be guilty of this same mistake? Paul tells the Ephesians, “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” Paul is saying he is preaching to us about the unsearchable riches of Christ, riches we should now possess. Do we know what we already have, or are we like Hearst who was looking for what he already possessed?

 

What are these treasures? Are they tangible things like the art treasurers Mr. Hearst coveted? Paul told us to “Covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet show I unto you a more excellent way.”

 

The more excellent way Paul was referring to was love, the agape, self-sacrificing kind of love which we are to covet, according to Paul.

 

Paul, in writing to Timothy, gave him this advice, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” So the gifts and riches we should covet are those that lead to eternal life, not uncertain riches. Agape, self-sacrificing love, is one of those gifts – one we want to possess and also give. Do we already have these riches? If we check our catalogue, our Bible, we find that we already possess one of the best gifts, the complete self-sacrificing love of God. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son ...;” this kind of love is rich in the things that really count because God gave His beloved son so we can have the opportunity to escape our mortality and have eternal life.

 

What a wonderful gift, what true riches! Notice this gift required Jesus to give himself. “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” The method by which God provided salvation was through the sacrifice of His son.

 

We must respond by believing and living a faithful life. “That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” God has richly blessed us and we should show our love for Him by being rich in good works. Not that works will earn us a reward, but rather that a life of faithful service to our Lord is an example of the true riches that will stand us in good stead in the time to come so that we, at Christ’s coming, may lay hold on eternal life.

 

So as Christ had to give himself to accomplish the gift of God, we also must serve our Lord. Only by giving ourselves can we gain the true riches, eternal life. We must take up our cross and follow him.

 

Mr. Hearst died with his warehouses full of his treasures. Jesus reminded us of the rich man who died with his barns full. “But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

 

Let us make sure that we are rich toward God by storing up a good foundation for the time to come, that we may lay hold on eternal life.

[Resource Manager]

Can a Cherished Belief be Wrong?

 

Charles M. Schultz, author of the comic strip “Peanuts,” used to say, “In all this world, there is nothing more upsetting than the clobbering of a cherished belief.”

 

To prove the truth of this saying, try telling folks that their cherished religious beliefs are false. If they react politely, the response is often along the lines of, “Don’t confuse me with facts, my mind is already made up.”

 

Saul of Tarsus was such a man. He knew his Bible well. In his mind he was totally correct and sincere in his beliefs. Paul described his former self as “a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God ... and I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. And I punished them oft in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.”

 

Did Saul have a cherished belief? He surely did. He was “taught according to the perfect manner of the law and he was zealous toward God.” Yet he was completely wrong about Christ. Sincerity is not a test of truth. Saul was sincerely wrong, and no amount of sincerity will make a wrong belief right.

 

Using Charles Schultz’s language, Paul’s beliefs were clobbered, and it took a drastic form of clobbering to shake him from those cherished false beliefs. The Lord knew Saul was sincere and dedicated so He knew that, if converted, Paul would be a chosen vessel to take the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul later would tell young Timothy, “The Lord knoweth them that are His.”

 

The Lord knows whom he is calling, and we may think he calls some of the most unlikely people. Ananias certainly did not think Saul was a suitable candidate for the truth, but the Lord knew better. We need to be willing to share Bible truth with all others even if it means upsetting them. Since we can’t tell in advance who is the “good ground,” we must do our part scattering the seed knowing that God gives the increase.

 

But we also should not expect those with wrong cherished beliefs to immediately let go of their false belief just because we tell them how wrong they are. We need to be patient. Paul tells us how we should behave: “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”

 

It takes time to unlearn a cherished belief. We need to persist in our efforts to convince the gainsayers as we try to show them “a more excellent way.”

 

The “more excellent way” Paul tells the Corinthians is the way of love. In love we must try to help others see the errors of their way. An example of this is what Aquila and Priscilla did for Apollos. We read that when Apollos came to Corinth “he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.”

 

Let us follow the example of Paul as he describes his approach with the Thessalonians. “But we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”

[Resource Manager]

Caring

 

It has been said that “people do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

 

What good is knowledge if we are uncaring? “Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth.” There are a lot of smart people around that no one cares to be around. They flout their knowledge and enjoy showing it off. Jeremiah tells us that the wise man should not glory in his wisdom. But some would retort, “what good is it if I can’t glory in it?” A better question would be, what good is knowledge unless it is used to help improve the quality of some life? Knowledge just for knowledge’s sake is of little value.

 

Knowledge dies with the individual and he can no more take it with him than he can his money. When one rich man died, someone asked, “how much money did he leave?” and the answer was, “all of it.” So it is with whatever knowledge we may have accumulated along the way ... On our death bed, all our money and all our knowledge will be gone as we draw our last breath.

 

It behoves us to use our knowledge and our money, in caring for others. We can, if we choose, use our knowledge to teach and encourage others. We can use our money to help those less fortunate and then when it comes time to die, our caring attitude will be remembered by God when our money and knowledge are gone.

 

Peter tells us to “cast all our cares upon God; for He careth for us.” God who knows all, cares. “Not a sparrow shall fall on the ground without your Father” says Jesus, and he continues, “Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” The point is, He knows and He cares. Do we know and care? Remember “people do not care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

 

Jesus told us about the man who went down from “Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.” Three men passed by; a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan. All three looked at him, all had knowledge of the poor man’s needs but two “passed by on the other side.” The Samaritan “when he saw him, he had compassion on him.” He cared. Do we care? We are all blessed in knowing the exceeding great and precious promises which are able to make one wise unto salvation. Do we care enough to share this knowledge with others? Everyone we meet, in our everyday work-a-day life is perishing for lack of this knowledge. Do we care enough to share the good news of the coming kingdom with them? It’s not how much we know, it’s how much we care that matters. Some with a limited knowledge of the Word but with great enthusiasm and love will tell everyone they meet that Jesus is coming and encourage them to look into the Bible for the words of life. Others may have a great understanding of the deep things of the Truth but with all their knowledge they seem not to care for the plight of others, for they never share their hope with those they meet.

 

It’s not how much we know that is important, it’s how much we care. If we care, God will give us the wisdom to share what we know with others. If we don’t care, all the knowledge in the world will do us little good.

 

“For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s and of the holy angels.”

[Resource Manager]

Childish Things

 

We just celebrated our granddaughter’s second birthday, and three more of our grandchildren, ages 3, almost 2 and not quite one, all her cousins, were there for the gala celebration.

 

Watching the 2 year old open her presents while being watched by her 3 year old and almost 2 year old cousins, was an interesting lesson in human nature. At this tender age one has not yet learned to share and each could only view the event from her own viewpoint. The birthday girl had more presents than she knew what to do with while the other two looked on with longing eyes, desiring each gift for themselves as they came out of the box. Soon all three were gathered together on the floor, each appropriating a gift to hold and each looking to see what the other had that they could grab. A good time was had by all in spite of a few tears shed here and there.

 

As adults watching the festivities we could understand the wisdom of Paul when he said, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” These little girls could hardly have done any better than they did and of course, a doting grandfather would think this way, but we need to realize that we as adults, need to learn from their cute antics and for ourselves, put away childish things.

 

Sometimes we find that adults are really just bigger children and we haven’t yet fully accomplished the goal of putting away childish things. It is still natural for us to think, “What am I going to get?” From God’s viewpoint, we must all appear as little children squabbling over a few toys, and we need to learn patience from His example for He really is very patient with us. Jesus tells us that we should “do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again;... and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” It isn’t natural for us to lend to people who do not pay it back, to be kind to people who will not say “thank you” or be merciful to people who do not show us mercy. As children, we may feel justified in treating others as they treat us, but as adults in Christ, we need to treat others not as they treat us but as we wish that they would treat us. This is really putting away “childish things.”

 

This is something we must learn because it is just the opposite of what we want to do. The little children playing only do what their little minds tell them they want to do and they feel unhappy when they do not get “their way.” “Our way” is never the right way. As we sing in the hymn, “Thy way, not mine, O Lord, however dark it be! Lead me by Thine own hand, Choose out the path for me.” These are not just words to sing, this is a life to be lived, and it means putting away childish things and becoming mature in Christ.

 

This means putting God first in our lives and saying with Jesus, “not my will, but thine be done.” This is true maturity, this is something every child of God must learn and then do. A little child just naturally thinks of himself. “Am I warm, dry, full, comfortable?” It does not occur to the very young to inquire if you are. To put away childish things then means to think of the needs of others, to serve others instead of one’s self. As Paul put it, “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself.” Yes, we remember even at the young age of twelve, Jesus was about his Father’s business.

 

It’s time for each of us to be about our Father’s business by forgetting self. “Do good... and ye shall be the children of the Highest.”

[Resource Manager]

Cold Feet

 

They tell the story of the fellow trying to sleep with his feet hanging out the end of the bed, so cold that they have turned blue. Someone asked him why he didn’t draw them up under the covers and his reply was, “I’m not going to put those cold things in bed with me.” The story is funny because it is so ridiculous. Our feet are so much a part of our body that what happens to them happens to us. We recently had this demonstrated to us in a very real way. A heavy object was dropped on our big toe and the pain it caused was felt throughout the body. Later as we lay in bed trying to sleep we could feel each beat of our heart by the throb in our big toe. We were painfully aware of the truth of Paul’s statement concerning the body when he said “whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it.”

 

We had not given our big toe a second thought for years and suddenly it became difficult to think of anything else. Paul makes a beautiful comparison of the parts of our physical body to being parts of the body of Christ. Paul shows how each part of the body is necessary and how one part must not say it does not need another part. Even “those members of the body which seem to be more feeble, are necessary” says Paul.

 

Paul’s elaborate analogy is for the sole purpose of teaching us that there ought not to be any “schisms in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.” If we really love the body of Christ as we love our own body we ought to “nourish and cherish it, even as the Lord the church.” We know what Jesus did for us. We know what we each do for an ailing part of our body. This, says Paul, is the way we ought to care for those members of our body who are spiritually sick. He tells us that “we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”

 

This is exactly what we do when our big toe hurts. We don’t normally hop around on one foot holding the other with both hands, but when that toe has an infirmity that is exactly what we do. It doesn’t make much difference either how busy we think we are. We still take time out from whatever we are doing to do our little one foot dance.

 

Now the problem is we are not usually as sensitive to the infirmities of others as we are to our own. Those that were with us were not as concerned about our big toe as we were. After all it was our toe that was hurting.

 

We all need to cultivate a caring attitude for the infirmities of others. God has built into our body a nervous system so that we automatically care for the part of our body that is injured. Now we need to learn how to become sensitive to the hurts and feelings of others so that we can nourish and cherish them in their distresses.

 

James tells us “that this is pure religion, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and keep ourselves unspotted from the world.”

 

Sometimes what we do for the other is really a very small thing to us but very important to them. A visit, a kind word, just reaching out a steadying hand when one is hopping on one foot can prevent a fall. We need to learn to think of others and try to do for them as we would have them do for us if we were in their situation. It truly is the thought that counts but the thought will be demonstrated by a deed, for as faith without works is dead, so thoughts without actions are dead also. A cup of cold water isn’t much but if it is given in the name of a disciple, Jesus says the giver will not lose his reward.

 

Let us each learn to care for the body of Christ as we do for our physical body that there be no “schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. Now ye are the body of Christ.”

[Resource Manager]

Consider Your Ways

 

“THE HARVEST IS PAST, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” These words of Jeremiah, penned so long ago, apply to us living now.

 

It is possible to become weary as the days stretch into weeks, months and years and still our Lord remains away. Surely “now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”

 

We must always be on our guard that we do not lapse into the foolish thinking of those Peter tells us will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”

 

In the last few years we have witnessed so many startling developments it seems unbelievable that such thoughts should drift into our minds. We have seen the establishment of the state of Israel and the increase of knowledge to the point where men can orbit the earth in a matter of minutes and yet for most of us “all things continue as they were.” Our lives fall into a routine that soon becomes a rut and the startling headlines become commonplace to us as we go about our daily tasks.

 

Our lives should be filled with eager anticipation, anxiously awaiting the coming of the Lord. We should be looking for the Lord from day to day and season to season so that we can say almost with surprise, “The summer is ended and we are not saved!” This is the attitude we should have, but do we? Those in Jeremiah’s day were far too busy with their routines, too deeply entrenched in their ruts to heed the prophet’s warning. Is history repeating itself? Are we really as anxious for the Lord’s return as we should be? Perhaps we would just as soon have him wait until we finish college or get married. Would it be inconvenient for Christ to come now because we are busy building a new home or getting a business started? Have we been lulled into an apathetic state of mind due to television, sports and vacations?

 

God told Haggai to warn those of his day that they should consider their ways because they were busy living in their own ceiled (panelled) houses and had neglected the house of the Lord.

 

The harvest is past, but what did we sow? The summer is ended, but how did we spend it? The fall is upon us, what are we doing? Let us consider our ways. Are we busy building the Lord’s house or our own? Is our time taken up in His work or ours? Jesus warned us that we should not concern ourselves with thoughts as to “What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” And then Jesus tells us why we should not concern ourselves with these things for he says, “For after all these things do the Gentiles seek.” We know that he was right. These are the things that concern those around us and it takes up all their time, but we must be different. Therefore Jesus admonishes us to “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

 

If only we will be wise and seek first the kingdom of God, then we need not be concerned that the summer is ended, and we are not saved, because we soon shall be.

 

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

[Resource Manager]

Consistency

 

THE VERY FIRST time we went bowling, the first ball we rolled was a strike! Much to the amazement of those with us, the second ball was also a strike. At this point we had as high a score as any professional bowler. Of course our game deteriorated rapidly from there, and we ended up with a low score.

 

Anyone can bowl a strike sometimes. The difference between the amateur and the professional is consistency. This is also true in almost all other sports. On a given hole many duffers can beat Arnold Palmer but not in 18 or 36 holes. Sometimes the landlubber accidentally lands the biggest fish of all, but he can’t keep up with the experienced fisherman day after day.

 

Our profession is following Christ. Anyone can do a good deed once in awhile. Even hardened criminals do kind things sometimes. The difference between us, Christ’s brethren, and the rest is consistency. Let us not point to the exception and make out that it is the rule. The fact that we did this or that last year means nothing now. Tomorrow is a brand new day to serve the Lord. What we did today will not fill tomorrow’s need. How many times have we observed the scores of a double header in baseball where in the first game one team won by a lopsided score of something like twelve to nothing only to lose the next one by a score of three to two. All those excess runs in the first game could not be used again.

 

Our life is like this. We cannot rest on our laurels and think that yesterday’s good deeds are sufficient to carry us through today. We have a brand new day before us, brand new God-given strength, and brand new opportunities to serve the Lord. The thing that should cause us to stand out from the rest, like a champion over an amateur, is the fact we consistently read our Bibles, we pray continually, we always attend every meeting and class, and we can always be counted on to help the weak and visit the sick. Everyone does some of these things sometimes. On a sinking ship, many people are praying, but when had they previously sought God this way?

 

Jesus tells us that only a few will be saved. The difference between those few and the rest will be the fact that the few served God every single day. They always tried to do what was right. They did not run in spurts like the hare but patiently continued in well doing, and at last when Christ returns he will give them the crown of life that fadeth not away.

 

It is difficult to be consistent. In sports it separates the champions from the crowd. In the Truth it separates the sheep from the goats. We need to decide upon the goal we want to reach. No champion ever got there by accident. It requires hours and hours of practice day after day to reach the top. Fritz Kreisler once said that if he missed practicing his violin one day, he knew it; if he missed two days, his friends knew it; and if he missed three days, the whole world knew it.

 

God knows if we miss just one day. Our godly life of reading, praying, and serving must be a daily life. Let us then “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

[Resource Manager]

Choices, Choices, Choices

 

There is a choice you have to make,

In everything you do.

And you must always keep in mind,

The choice you make, makes you.

 

Our entire life is made up of choices. Often the difference between happiness and misery or living and just existing is making the right choice. Abraham Lincoln once said that most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. He was right. It is amazing how many people evidently wake up in the morning and say to themselves, “I choose to be miserable today.” Just by looking into the faces of those people you can tell that was their choice.

 

Making the right choice is more important than just choosing to be happy; it can make the difference between life and death. The way to life was clear when Moses laid down a challenge to the children of Israel; he said, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.”

 

Choosing life would seem to be an easy decision to make, but, in fact, the children of Israel made the wrong choice. They actually said, “Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt!” or “Would God we had died in this wilderness!” when they murmured against Moses and Aaron. Sadly they got their wish. Be careful what you ask for, because the Lord may very well give it to you.

 

Joshua, at the end of his life, gave the people a choice. He made the right choice himself and wanted the people to follow suit, but he could not make them. God will not make us choose the good either. Joshua appealed to the people, saying, “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” In response, “The people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.” That was the right choice for them and it is the right choice for us.

 

As the little ditty says, “The choice you make, makes you.” We are a sum of all the choices we have made in our lives, whether they are good ones or not. God does give us free will, and we can choose which way we want to go. For example, every morning when we wake up we can choose to get up, or stay in bed. Getting up is obviously the right choice.

 

There is an old Hebrew proverb which says, “The reason most people fail instead of succeed is that they trade what they want most for what they want at the moment.” King Solomon describes the sleepyhead this way, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, so shall thy poverty come,” and “As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed.” So the lazy one who turns over and refuses to jump out of bed to face life is choosing what he wants at the moment, a little more sleep, rather than what he should want most in life, to rise to serve the Lord. We need to begin each day by making right choices every morning – getting up, thinking that this is the day which the Lord hath made, and then rejoicing and deciding to make it a good day.

 

If the daily choices we make are based upon our faith and love for God, then we will make sure we have time to read the Bible, to pray for guidance, to do kind deeds for others, as well as the mundane tasks required in our life.

 

David once asked, “Teach me thy way, O Lord.” We would like God to teach us, also. Not everyone is given this privilege. “What man is he that feareth the LORD?” David asks and then continues, “him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.” If we want God to teach us, we need to show our fear of Him by making choices that reflect our desire to serve and obey Him.

 

There is a choice you have to make in everything you do, so you must always keep in mind that the choice you make, makes you.

[Resource Manager]

Commitment Without Involvement is Dead

 

Without involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it. No involvement, no commitment – Stephen Covey.

 

Just how involved are we in the Lord’s work? Remember that at the age of twelve the Lord Jesus asked his mother: “Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?”

 

Are we committed to our heavenly Father’s business? Can we be committed if we are not involved? If we are not involved in our Father’s business, in whose business are we involved? What takes our time and gets our attention? Just how do we spend our time each day – taking care of our business or our Father’s business?

 

People who have invested their life savings in a business are committed to making it a success. They don’t just put in their time at work, they work. They don’t come late and leave early if they are committed. It is not difficult in the world to see the difference between a committed employee and one who is just putting in time. The employee who takes a personal interest in the business spends more time on the job and persists until he achieves results.

 

Do we think that the Lord can tell if we are really committed to our Father’s business? If we are sporadic in our attendance at the meetings, are we committed? If we seldom seem to find the time to do our daily Bible readings, are we committed? Remember, without involvement there is no commitment. Are we interested in the lives of our brethren and sisters or do we arrive just in time for service and leave immediately after? Do we help make ecclesial functions successful or do we criticize the efforts of those who organize them?

 

Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

 

What fruit do we have to show our commitment? If we were a tree, would we have fruit, would it be good fruit, or would we be cut down? There is a time soon coming when we will have to answer to the Lord, who will examine our fruit or the lack of it. The time to be committed is now. If we have commitment now, we are focused and active in the Lord’s service, but if there is no commitment, there is no fruit, no works. James said, “Faith without works is dead.”

 

The message to the ecclesia in Sardis was, “I know your works; you have the name of being alive, and you are dead.” Are we dead? The exhortation to Sardis and to us is: “Awake, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard; keep that, and repent. If you will not awake, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.”

 

Let us resolve in our hearts to be fully committed to the Lord by being involved in his business. The extent of our involvement demonstrates our commitment just as our works demonstrate our faith. At the dedication of the temple, King Solomon exhorted the people saying, “But your hearts must be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands.” Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it and underline it and then do it.

[Resource Manager]

D and Four B’s

 

When George Gershwin was a young struggling musician he applied for a job at the office of the famous and well-established composer, Irving Berlin.

 

Berlin looked over the qualifications of his young applicant and said to him, “I’ll pay you double the salary that you are now making to come and work for me. My advice to you would be for you to turn it down. If you accept, and become my employee, you will become a second-rate Berlin but if you will persevere and continue to struggle on your own, you will become a first rate Gershwin.” Needless to say, George Gershwin did turn down the offer and went on to become a famous composer in his own name.

 

There is a temptation to all young people to admire the characteristics of someone older, and attempt to copy their style, their delivery as a speaker, their mannerisms, perhaps even their material. By doing this they become a second-rate copy of the one they admire when they should have realized that no two people have ever been made alike, not even identical twins.

 

God does not want us to compare ourselves to one another. We can always find someone to compare ourselves to, that makes us feel superior. We can also find someone to compare ourselves to that makes us feel inferior. When we look at the one, we think, “Well, I am not so bad after all.” or “I can never play the piano like him or sing like her or speak as he does, so why try.” Paul tells us that “we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”

 

God only expects each of us to do our best for Him. He does not expect us to do someone else’s best, for we are not someone else. We are different. God made us each different and He knows that there is someone who can do anything we do better and someone who can not do as well. All He asks of us is, that we do the best we can do for Him.

 

The question we need to ask ourselves is this. Are we doing our best? If not, why not? We cannot justify our poor job by saying “well, we just cannot do this as well as so and so.” That is not the question that is being asked. Are we doing the best that we can do? God will not be pleased with an half-hearted effort when He knows we could have done better.

 

We live in an age of mediocrity where it is uncommon to find people doing their best. “Do just enough to get by,” seems to be the motto of our age and this attitude can become our way of life in our service to our God.

 

We might deceive others into thinking that we are doing our best, we may even fool ourselves, but we will never deceive God. He is watching everything we say, think, and do, and He knows if our efforts in His behalf are half-hearted or our very best.

 

Let us resolve to give God the best we have to give. We want to be the best person we can possibly be in the service of our King.

 

By adopting this attitude towards God, we will discover that not only our life in the truth will improve, but it will even affect our relationships with all those with whom we come in contact in our everyday life.

 

Solomon instructed us saying, “whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” When we obey his wise advice we find that the joy of doing our best will help us become as good a person as we can be. If we can remember that letter D and then four B’s, it will serve to help us remember that doing our best is better than being the best. God will be well pleased with us if we have done our best. Doing your best is all that God asks of you, and that is better than being the best.

[Resource Manager]

Depression Strikes Again

 

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why are thou disquieted in me? ... O my God, my soul is cast down within me:”

 

Depression is one of the major problems in society today. Millions upon millions of people are depressed, some so much that suicide is one of the major causes of death, Among the young people in particular, suicide is one of the leading causes of death and this among those who should have so much to live for.

 

Depression is not new. It is as old as Cain. God asked Cain, “Why is thy countenance fallen? “Jonah was so depressed that he said, “O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.”

 

Elijah expressed similar words when he was depressed. He said, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.” King Ahab we are told. “came into his house heavy and displeased ... and he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.”

 

We see that depression strikes almost all of us, from the king to the servant, both the righteous and the wicked.

 

Now the causes for depression are as many as there are people who are depressed. Some kinds of depression are caused by wrong living and a conscience that lets us know that we are not doing what we ought. This was certainly the case with Cain for God pleaded with him to change his ways and God would accept his sacrifice. Unfortunately he chose to compound his problem by killing his brother and this is one of the outworkings of depression. It often leads to violence. There are angry people today who are willing to take out their frustrations on others by senseless killings. We all realize that this is not the answer. If depression is caused by wrong doing, then repentance is the cure. A complete surrender of self to God will bring amazing results. Even the wicked king Ahab when confronted with his sins, “rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.”

 

Perhaps more of us can identify with the depression of Elijah. He felt so alone. He was trying to do right but he felt he was fighting a losing battle. In the rat race of life all the rats were winning. Things looked hopeless to Elijah but not to God. It is the same today. How thrilled we would be to learn that there are 7000 who believe and are living the truth that we don’t even know about! God told Elijah this encouraging statistic but God did not tell him where they were.

 

We preach and no one comes. We mail out correspondence courses but they do not answer. We teach Sunday School but there are no visible results and we get depressed. This is how Elijah must have felt. It was the way David felt. They said to David, “Where is thy God?” This caused David to weep for he says, “My tears have been my meat day and night.”

 

The way to get over our depression is to throw ourselves into the Lord’s work, to get busy and let God do the rest. This is what God told Elijah to do. Get up and get going, he had work to do. Jonah’s depression came after he had completed his preaching effort. It is only those who endure to the end that will be saved. Take a deep breath and get to work doing something positive for the Lord. He will be pleased with our efforts even if it doesn’t seem that we are making any progress. Read Psalms 42 and 43 and we will get the answer to our depression. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”

[Resource Manager]

Discouraging Words

 

HAVE YOU HEARD about the cowboy who was fired because he said a discouraging word? According to the song, “Home on the Range”, it was seldom done. Unfortunately discouraging words are uttered rather frequently instead of just seldom heard. They are said almost everywhere human beings congregate, including our own ecclesial meetings. Instead of the encouragement which we all need, some of our own group sometimes weaken the hands of the workers with a discouraging word.

 

We have an example of this with Judah’s remarks in Nehemiah 4:10: “The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.” Nehemiah was doing his best to keep everyone working at the rebuilding of the wall and these negative remarks were about as welcome as measles on a vacation. Already Nehemiah had his hands full with bitter enemies from without who were poking fun at his labors saying, “What do these feeble Jews, even that which they build if a fox go up he shall even break down their stone wall.” The ridicule would have been easier to take if only those with Nehemiah could put up a united front, but discouraging words like Judah uttered often tend to take the heart out of the rest of the workers.

 

Let us make sure that we are not guilty of saying discouraging words when a worthwhile effort for the Truth is proposed. It is always easier to say “It can’t be done” than to try, and this negative thinking is apt to discourage the hands of those preparing to do it.

 

It certainly worked this way when the ten spies came back with their report to Moses. “The land flows with milk and honey nevertheless the people be strong, we be not able to go up against the people for they are stronger than we.” The effect of these discouraging words was disastrous. The same thing can happen in our day.

 

The children of Israel had God on their side and still discouraging words prevailed. We are assured, as was Joshua, that if we observe to do according to all that God has commanded, then He will make our way prosperous and we shall have good success. Do any of us dare to be negative when God is so positive? “If God be for us, who can be against us?” No wonder Paul cried out “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

 

We have nothing to fear if we have God. Peter walked on water as long as he looked toward his Lord. It was only when he looked away at the wind and waves that he became discouraged and began to sink.

 

Discouragement, thought or spoken, can rob us of opportunities to rise up and build. It is important to be sure that we are doing what God has commanded but this being true, let us neither say or listen to discouraging words. “Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.”

[Resource Manager]

Do you have the right map?

 

Here is a ridiculous story that teaches us a lesson we would all do well to remember: A man from Los Angeles is invited to fly to Chicago to call on an important business contact. The man in Chicago mails him a street map, as he will be renting a car at the airport and traveling into downtown Chicago to make the call.

 

Unfortunately, the map company made a mistake and some maps of the City of Detroit were mistakenly labeled City of Chicago. It was one of these maps that the man in Los Angeles received.

 

The traveler picks up his rented car and proceeds to travel toward the city with his map on the seat beside him. As he nears the heart of downtown, he pulls over to consult the map. He is totally confused and cannot tell where he is or where he is supposed to go. Since he is parked near an outside pay telephone, he quickly dials the man he is trying to find and informs him that he is lost and cannot find his way.

 

The man in Chicago proceeds to give him a lecture on self-determination, on persistence, and the attitude of never giving up. The bewildered man gets back into his rented car and begins to drive twice as fast and proceeds to get lost twice as fast.

 

Finally, in desperation, he makes another phone call. He is a little agitated as he speaks once again to his Chicago contact. This time he gets a lecture on having a negative attitude. He is asked what he can see from his vantage point at the phone booth. He describes the four corners explaining that there is a bank on one corner, two gas stations on opposite corners and a bookstore on the other. He is told to go into the bookstore and buy a book on positive mental attitude and see if that won’t change his negative and frustrated feelings. He is more than a little upset, but he proceeds to read some of the power-of-positive-thinking from the book that he was told to buy.

 

Now he is so charged up, he jumps in the car and takes off at break-neck speed. He is still lost but now he is so full of positive thinking that he doesn’t even care.

 

Obviously the lesson we learn from this silly story is that all the positive thinking in the world will not help if we do not have the right road map.

 

Think how many people go through life reading the wrong road map or ignoring the only road map that will lead them to a place in the kingdom of God. They may be filled with positive thoughts but they are still lost. The faster they go, the further they get from the goal of the kingdom.

 

It is good to have a positive mental attitude but it must be coupled with a proper understanding of where we are going and how to get there.

 

Solomon tells us that there is “a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

 

Let’s begin our journey by consulting the correct road map, the Bible, and then let us follow it step by step as we journey on the path of life to the kingdom.

 

David says, “Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust ... Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

 

[Resource Manager]

Do You Want Justice?

 

An aging, once beautiful movie actress decided that she wanted a series of portraits taken by the same photographer who had shot some wonderful pictures of her some 30 years earlier. After a considerable search, he was located and commissioned to take the pictures. When he delivered the proofs to her she went into a rage and screamed out in dismay, “These pictures don’t do me justice.” The patient photographer explained that she had been 30 years younger when he took those beautiful portraits that she remembered. Then he suggested to her that she didn’t want justice, she needed mercy.

 

We, too, had better not demand justice, for we are in need of mercy. “If thou, Lord shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” asked the Psalmist. Strangely enough, we seem to have a double standard, for we want others to receive justice while we hope for mercy.

 

We’ve all seen another driver go right through a stop sign without even slowing down and wished that there had been an officer there to apprehend the offender. Yet which of us has not, at some time, absent mindedly driven right through one before we realized we had failed to stop. On that occasion, we hoped that no one saw what we did.

 

Our Lord has told us to “do to others as you would have them do to you. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. For with what measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

 

If there is one great lesson that Jesus has tried to drive home to us it is this one: He wants us to be merciful. His parable about the king who called his servants before him to settle accounts and found a man who owed him millions but was unable to pay illustrates this point very well. Remember that when he begged, the huge debt was forgiven, yet he went out and confronted his fellow servant and demanded payment of a small debt. He even grabbed the man by the throat and choked him. Because he showed no mercy, he was re-arrested and brought before the king who said, “You wicked servant, I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” In anger, his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This, said Jesus, “Is how my Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

 

The parable of the beam and the mote underlines this same important lesson. Jesus’ conclusion was, “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” In some of the newer translations, the mote is called a speck and the beam a plank. Our sins so obscure our vision we cannot clearly see to correct our brother. Yet how human to focus on other’s shortcomings instead of our own.

 

We really are going to be judged by the same standard that we have used toward others. Based on this, we have to acknowledge that the mercy of God may be extremely limited when it comes time for us to stand before our Lord. God has told us that He has unlimited mercy, for David says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” We, ourselves, are the ones who limit the amount of mercy He will show toward us by how merciful we have been to our fellows.

 

We need not only to know this, but we need to live what we know in our daily dealings with others. “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”

[Resource Manager]

Doest thou well to be Angry?

 

Human nature has not changed since the fall of Adam and Eve. No one likes to be wrong. When someone shows us we are wrong, the natural reaction is to become angry at our teacher. It has ever been thus. It happened even when God was directly involved.

 

When Cain’s sacrifice was rejected by God we are told that “Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” In this case the LORD held a conversation with Cain and asked him, “Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?” Of course God knew the answer, but He was giving Cain an opportunity to answer for himself. Either Cain refused to answer God or else his answer is not recorded. The LORD continued speaking kindly to Cain and said, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.” God was giving Cain an opportunity to change. But we do not like to change. Cain did not want to change. We would think that if the LORD spoke to us that surely we would change, but Cain did not.

 

One of the characteristics of being wrong is being angry. Cain did not want to change. His defense was to be angry. Jonah was angry. God asked Jonah “Doest thou well to be angry? Jonah replied quite boldly to God, “I do well to be angry, even unto death.” We might add that Jonah’s anger was more deep seated than merely the loss of shade from the gourd. Paul was angry. He was “not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which Stephen spake.” Rather than follow the wise teachings of Stephen, Paul was so angry that he cast his vote to kill Stephen, and by his own admission, later said concerning the Christians, that “he was exceedingly mad against them.”

 

Human nature has not changed. These examples were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. When we find that we disagree with someone and we feel anger welling up within us, it should tell us to stop and examine ourselves. Do we do well to be angry? We usually can canvince ourselves like Jonah did that “we do well to be angry” but we might be surprised to find that we are wrong to be so angry. If we are in the right, there is no need to be angry. Instead of being angry, we should feel pity and compassion for our opponent who is wrong. Since we are in the right and they are wrong, they need our help, not our anger. If it should turn out that we are in the wrong, how foolish to have been both angry and wrong!

 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people really listened and changed? Wouldn’t it be grand if all followed the request of the Lord when he said, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Here God is asking us to sit down and to be reasonable when we are wrong, and certainly we should be this way when we are correct. This is why Paul exhorts us saying, “The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves.”

 

We need to remember this when we are trying to teach the truth to those who have held wrong doctrine all their lives. People do not change easily or quickly. Some never change. Whether they change or not, we must be gentle, patient and meek. When we are trying to teach someone that their soul is mortal, we need to be patient for they have always believed otherwise and do not unlearn wrong things quickly or easily. We need to keep on trying to teach them even though they oppose themselves We keep hoping “Peradventure God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.”

 

If we adopt this principle with those who are outside the household of faith, then certainly we should be this way with those that are inside. We need to be extra loving, extra patient with those for whom Christ died. There is no room for anger here. If they are wrong we pray that God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. If they refuse to change then we pray that God will be merciful to them and forgive them. It is certain that we also are going to need the mercy of God or we are lost. Who is to say that their wrong is worse than some sin we have committed. We are not without sin.

 

Have we ever thought that there is a limit to God’s mercy? We sometimes talk about how unlimited His mercy is. We often quote the Psalm “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.” While this is true, nevertheless the mercy of God is definitely limited. What is the limit of God’s mercy? Jesus tells us. He says, “Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.” This means we are going to receive mercy only if we have been merciful; we are going to be forgiven only if we have forgiven, so each one of us is placing a limit on the mercy God is going to give us by the mercy we give to others.

 

“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”