Modeling Christ

On May 27, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Titus 3: 2

… malign no one, to be uncontentious, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.

Malign no one – that means that we are not to say anything bad about anyone at anytime. That is a big bill to fill but that is what God wants us to aspire to. What about being contentious? A contentious person is one who tends to argue, tends to find himself in arguments, debates and disagreements. Merriam-Webster defines a contentious person as one likely to cause an argument even sometimes “exhibiting an often perverse and wearisome tendency to quarrels and disputes.” We all know or have known someone like that. Every time you talk with them they have another story about a conflict they have been involved in. God does not want us to live in conflict. He certainly does not want us to bring conflict into other people’s lives. As it says above Father God wants us to be gentle in our dealings with one another and to be considerate of every person with whom we come in contact. You cannot be contentious and kind. A contentious person will have a two-fold problem. First, people are not likely to enjoy being around them and secondly, one cannot fulfill the ambition of the Lord for one’s life while being quarrelsome. Let us endeavor, therefore, to live in peace. Let peace guide you.

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The Character of God

On April 3, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Galatians 5: 22

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

We saw yesterday from 1 John 4: 8 and 1 Corinthians 13: 4 – 8 that God’s essential nature is love. Today’s verse reveals the characteristics of God’s personality. As you look at them you can see that first is love but moreover that all the rest flow from love. The best way to get the full revelation of this verse is to put “God is” in front of each word i.e. God is love, God is joy….

These characteristics determine how God behaves and how He interacts with others just the same way as our personality traits predict how we will behave. So, God is always patient with us, always loving, kind and gentle. He exercises great self-control. Most of us can testify to the latter one.

Conversely, we can know what God is not by acknowledging His qualities. For example, we can deduce that God is not unkind or unfaithful. Can we not deduce a great deal more though? He is not cruel, vengeful, harsh, intolerant, hateful, spiteful or mean-spirited. He is all things which are good and none of those traits which are painful to us. He is ultimate goodness and kindness. He is neither over-bearing nor a punitive spirit. His intent, therefore, is not to punish us but rather to guide us with loving hands. And He is not scary. He is beautiful. He is warmth and sunshine.

We can know the Father of all personally, intimately and as we do we perceive greater and greater levels of His great kindness and affection. He is completely predictable in His goodness towards all creation. He loves us.

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Favor and Reputation

On March 26, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 3: 3 – 4

Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, so you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man.

The secret to attaining what we want in verse four is found in verse three. We can have favor with God and man and we are meant to. We also should enjoy a good reputation. You can work hard for a good reputation. You can apply all of the world’s wisdom on how to gain man’s favor, read all of the Positive Mental Attitude and Sales books, or you can take the shortcut. 

If we want to apply the Father’s shortcut the first thing that we must acknowledge and accept is that this is heart work again. You cannot just read the Bible like it is a self-help book and reap the benefits. The power of the Word is that it lives in you, in your heart. We are supposed to take the things that the Holy Spirit is teaching us and write them on the tablet of our hearts. Writing on our hearts is a purposeful act of our own. We choose what abides in our hearts and in this passage our Father is encouraging us to make it truth and kindness. 

Now if you really think about it, you would expect a person to have favor and a good reputation who has prioritized truth and kindness in their lives. No one likes a liar and a person who is unkind will have no friends. I think, though, that we can go even a little deeper with this. First of all, we are not talking about being unkind as much as being affirmatively kind. That is different. It means that kindness goes before you. Overt acts of kindness become one’s calling card. People ought to be able to rely on us responding with kindness. We ought to be predictably kind.

As for truth, there is truth with a little “t” and Truth with a capital “t”. The difference is Jesus. He is the truth. When THE truth is what we bind about our necks and write on the tablets of our hearts then we certainly will be favored among all people. Then telling “the truth” takes on a more profound meaning. Jesus becomes “the way” in our lives. His ways become our ways. Again we become reliable. People can count on us and that is really very important. How many people do you know that you can count on? Those people become precious to you.

God wants you to walk in favor with Him and to have favor with all people. That is why He is telling us how to get it. Favor means that things just go your way, people do things for you, give you things. Sometimes it is nothing more than a good parking place. Other times it is the impossible happening for you. In any event, you are supposed to have favor with God and man and it comes by letting God express His essential nature through you in love, kindness and truth.

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Overseeing in Christ

On February 23, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Titus 1: 7

Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless – not overbearing, not quick tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.

This is Paul’s message to Titus regarding the selection of elders for the church. We should all be pursuing spiritual maturity and this is a good measure of what it looks like. One might expect a spiritually mature person to have overcome any tendency toward drunkenness and we would expect that person not to attempt gain by deceitful or dishonest means. Certainly a spiritually mature person should not be a person of violence. Would we, though, have thought to include a quick temper and an overbearing manner to the list of characteristics that a spiritually mature person is not? 

Webster’s defines overbear as: to dominate, domineer over, overrule, or subdue; and overbearing as: acting in a dictatorial manner; arrogant; domineering, overriding. When we think we have the answers or God has shown us something that has helped us to mature we sometimes begin to shove those answers down other people’s throats. We sometimes try to overrule or subdue others thoughts or feelings. I doubt any of us wishes to be described using any of the terms above.

That is not God’s way. He was patient with us; let us, then be patient with others. Besides, our answers are not always their answers. If we are truly mature in Christ, then we can fully trust the Lord, even to helping others find their way.  

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The Winning Blow

On October 10, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ephesians 4: 32

And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Do you really want to put a cramp in the devil’s style? Take a hint from this message from the Apostle Paul. Be kind to each other. Do not speak to one another with harshness. Be forgiving and patient. You can really see the work of the devil these days in the lack of patience and kindness people show one another. Just get out on the roads for any amount of time and you will see the personality of the devil demonstrated rather than the attributes of the Father. We yell at old drivers rather than humbling ourselves and respecting our elders. We almost run over people rather than wait two seconds for our turn. You would think the whole of the world depended on our arriving at our destination in the next minute. One more minute might spell the doom of the world.

Let us, instead, endeavor to show a little human kindness; a little of our father in us. Let us try to be a little less self-oriented and self-important and see others and their journeys as significant and as important as ours. Let us speak kindly and go out of our way, if need be, to help someone else. If we start with the way we speak to others, the rest will naturally follow.

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My Kingdom For . . .

On September 9, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Chronicles 10: 7

And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be kind to this people and please them and speak good words to the, then they will be your servants forever.”

King Solomon has died and his son Rehoboam has succeeded him to the throne. He consulted with the elders regarding how to deal with the people. Today’s verse is the advice they gave. Unfortunately, he did not have his father’s wisdom and did not receive the elders counsel. Instead he turned to the young men, his friends and contemporaries, and asked their advice. The young men gave opposite advice to which Rehoboam acceded. Thus begins the fall of the lineage of David. In one generation the throne will be torn from David’s family although God’s intent was that an heir of David would sit on the throne of Israel forever. This great fall begins right here, with a young man not listening to the wisdom and advice of the elders.

Today’s passage is one of the best instructions on interpersonal relationships ever. Look at it closely. If we will be kind to people, endeavor to be pleasing to them and speak good words then they will turn to us favorably and be dedicated to us forever. You don’t need a weekend course on interpersonal relationships (though that is good). If we will dissect this one statement we will hold the keys to good relationships. And consider this, these elders, the ones that Rehoboam ignored, are the men that served with King Solomon, the wisest man ever. They learned under an administration that knew incredible success and wealth. They learned what worked and what didn’t. They had walked in the reign of wisdom and yet the new guy eschewed their advice. We, though, have our own choice of whose advice we will follow. Will we listen to these astute elders?

And gentlemen, I am going to help you out today. I have heard men say that they will never understand women. First of all, if that is you, change your confession. Secondly, it is easy, with the accent on easy. Ask the women in your life about today’s passage or better still run an experiment. Treat them with kindness, speak nice words to them and please them. Believe me; they will do everything for you. Women are natural servants in the model of Christ. They want to do for folks. But they have to withdraw within their shells when they feel threatened. Harsh words and criticism are the quickest ways to make them retreat. But show women kindness and compassion and they will treat you like a king.  

In today’s story Rehoboam chose to use force and power to make the people treat him like a king. The people reacted by withdrawing from him. They all went home to their own tents, to their own tribes and his kingdom immediately shrunk. That is the way people always react to harsh treatment. Had he listened to the elders he could have easily maintained the vast kingdom that his father and grandfather had carved out. Instead, he began the destruction of the kingdom. It was all so easy. All he had to do was to choose his words more carefully and be kind to folks. He would have reigned in glory.

We can learn a valuable lesson from Rehoboam’s foolishness. Apply kindness and win the world.

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The Greater Blessing

On September 8, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Acts 20: 35

“In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Do you really believe that? We have heard this expression all our lives and we have each experienced those moments when giving something to someone else really did bless us but, do we actually believe this statement in our hearts?

Sometimes I think the world is divided into two groups, the givers and the takers. It seems sometimes that people do not flow from function to function but rather remain fixed in their group. I have observed folks who are accomplished givers. They think of things the rest of us would never have considered. It isn’t that we wouldn’t do some of the same acts if we thought of them, we just never think of others that sincerely. We live in a society that tells us to “Get all you can for yourself” and “He who dies with the most toys wins.” This is not the Christian ethic so there are warring messages inside of us. To which of these voices will we surrender?

I want to send out encouragement today in the hopes that the result will be each of us looking around for someone to give to. Proverb 19: 17 reads, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done.” I would venture to say that anytime you give to others, whether or not they be poor, God is well pleased. The way I see it, that provides a number of motivators for giving. First, it pleases God. Second, it is like giving to the Lord. And third, self-interest is advanced. Don’t think the third one is “dirty”. God rewards his kids and it is His pleasure to do so. Besides, isn’t self-interest the reason most of us are not more generous in the first place? 

I honestly believe that this “giving thing” is a real big deal to our Father. We are supposed to be like Him and we all know that He is a giver. Additionally, we are told that kindness is one of the traits we are supposed to exhibit (Gal. 5: 22) and the verse from Proverbs makes me think that kindness leads to charity. Charity is part of a generous heart.

Here is what I would like to suggest. Let us all give something today. Let’s just all unite in a spirit of giving for this one day. Find some way to give something to someone. Now here is a thought. Make it personal. The easiest thing to do is to give to a national charity. Now, there is nothing wrong with that but it doesn’t require much of us personally. It would be really great if we could all do something for someone where we can look them in the eye or make some kind of personal contact. We should endeavor to give out of our hearts not our pocketbooks. The two can go together but the former cannot be overlooked. One other caveat . . . I learned this from Joyce Meyer; don’t just give away something that you don’t want or are done with anyway. Give something meaningful. It does not have to be expensive but it should come from that good place inside of you. Maybe it is nothing more than buying someone in the break room a drink. It doesn’t have to be big but you should extend yourself out of your comfort zone a little bit.  

Open your eyes and look at the world a little differently. Look for ways to bless folks. I am hoping that you will have a lot of fun. I am also hoping that you will write me this evening telling me how you were blessed.

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