The Road to the Good Life

Being a person who is living their Christian walk in humility doesn’t seem very rewarding.  It seems like giving in to other people’s wants and desires would leave us short of the good things in life.  Yet, God’s Word tell us to the contrary.   Proverbs 22:4 –

“Humility and the fear of the LORD bring wealth and honor and life.”

When we lead a life that honors God through humility towards others, God will honor us in return.  He will bless us.  What an encouragement to know that God will honor us when we honor others.  We need to remember that the road to the good life or the successful life is based on humility that honors God.

Country Strong or Not?

I am an eclectic person when it comes to music.  I grew up listening to country and the oldies.  I learned to play and enjoy some classical, as well.  Over the years I have incorporated Christian, Rock n Roll, Pop, etc.  I’ve listened to a little rap, but so far that hasn’t been my cup of tea.  Many of the country songs, especially from years ago, tended to be fairly clean, family orientated and even mentioned God.  Many of the country singers were even Christian.  As I grew older I began to pay more attention to lyrics and the singer’s lifestyles.  I realized that there was almost a split in the music offered to country listeners.  There were the good clean family god-fearing songs, but there were also the “I’m Cheating on You” variety as well.  Then I also took note of the singers, especially the Christian artists, and the lifestyles they were living.  Unfortunately, I have seen many not portray Christ in their personal lives or song choices.  I have heard Christian Country Artists sing a Christian song on the same album as an “I’m Cheating on You Song” or “It is ok to sleep with you because I love you” song.  Then I have seen several Christian Country Artists actually break up their marriages to have an affair with another artist.  I know Country music is a secular industry, but I think any person that proclaims to be a Christian should live up to that statement no matter what career they have chosen. 

I have learned that what I listen to is important.  Music does affect our emotions and our thoughts.  When we go back to Genesis we find that everything God created was “good”.  That includes music.  Unfortunately, sin corrupts everything it gets a hold of.  There is a great piece of wisdom found in Exodus 15:2.  It is a part of the song sang by Moses and the Israelites after escaping the Egyptians through the Red Sea.

² The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

Many Country Music listeners are as the song title says Country Strong.  They believe in their country heritage and lifestyle.  Yet as Christians, whether we are Country Music fans or singers, we need to realize that our heritage or lifestyle is not where our strength comes from.  Even our music shouldn’t come from that source.  It may influence our music style, but it should not be what drives it.  We need to realize that our strength comes from the Lord.  He alone is our salvation.  What He has done for us should have put a new song in our mouths that praises Him.  We should not be praising our beer or the pretty girl we want to sleep with.  One song that is popular currently talks about a man who knows the devil is tempting him and that Hell is full of flame and smoke, but he is still willing to be with a certain girl because of love.  He is willing to look at her through the smoke of Hell.  The singer would appear to have some Biblical knowledge, but doesn’t care about what he is really saying. Don’t get me wrong.  There are good singers and songs in the Country Music Industry.  The key is to be aware of what we are listening to and focusing on.  Our music should praise the Father and exalt him as the verse says.  Think about how music was probably originally created.  What was it for and meant to do?  Thinking about it that way might help us to think more wisely about our music choices.

Country Strong or Not?

I am an eclectic person when it comes to music.  I grew up listening to country and the oldies.  I learned to play and enjoy some classical, as well.  Over the years I have incorporated Christian, Rock n Roll, Pop, etc.  I’ve listened to a little rap, but so far that hasn’t been my cup of tea.  Many of the country songs, especially from years ago, tended to be fairly clean, family orientated and even mentioned God.  Many of the country singers were even Christian.  As I grew older I began to pay more attention to lyrics and the singer’s lifestyles.  I realized that there was almost a split in the music offered to country listeners.  There were the good clean family god-fearing songs, but there were also the “I’m Cheating on You” variety as well.  Then I also took note of the singers, especially the Christian artists, and the lifestyles they were living.  Unfortunately, I have seen many not portray Christ in their personal lives or song choices.  I have heard Christian Country Artists sing a Christian song on the same album as an “I’m Cheating on You Song” or “It is ok to sleep with you because I love you” song.  Then I have seen several Christian Country Artists actually break up their marriages to have an affair with another artist.  I know Country music is a secular industry, but I think any person that proclaims to be a Christian should live up to that statement no matter what career they have chosen. 

I have learned that what I listen to is important.  Music does affect our emotions and our thoughts.  When we go back to Genesis we find that everything God created was “good”.  That includes music.  Unfortunately, sin corrupts everything it gets a hold of.  There is a great piece of wisdom found in Exodus 15:2.  It is a part of the song sang by Moses and the Israelites after escaping the Egyptians through the Red Sea.

² The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

Many Country Music listeners are as the song title says Country Strong.  They believe in their country heritage and lifestyle.  Yet as Christians, whether we are Country Music fans or singers, we need to realize that our heritage or lifestyle is not where our strength comes from.  Even our music shouldn’t come from that source.  It may influence our music style, but it should not be what drives it.  We need to realize that our strength comes from the Lord.  He alone is our salvation.  What He has done for us should have put a new song in our mouths that praises Him.  We should not be praising our beer or the pretty girl we want to sleep with.  One song that is popular currently talks about a man who knows the devil is tempting him and that Hell is full of flame and smoke, but he is still willing to be with a certain girl because of love.  He is willing to look at her through the smoke of Hell.  The singer would appear to have some Biblical knowledge, but doesn’t care about what he is really saying. Don’t get me wrong.  There are good singers and songs in the Country Music Industry.  The key is to be aware of what we are listening to and focusing on.  Our music should praise the Father and exalt him as the verse says.  Think about how music was probably originally created.  What was it for and meant to do?  Thinking about it that way might help us to think more wisely about our music choices.

The Ultimate Speech Making Fear

This week we are focusing on the persecution of the church and Christians with some devotionals on this subject. We are doing this because this next Sunday, November 13, 2011 will be the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.  We encourage you to visit sites like Voice of the Martyrs or the International Day of Prayer to learn how to pray for the persecuted church.

Many people are afraid to speak in front of other people or large groups.  We all become shy when presented the opportunity to make a speech.  Teachers start trying to break us of this fear by teaching us speech making skills and forcing us to speak in front of class mates while we are in high school and college.  I, myself, have this problem.  I took several speech classes and I don’t think it has helped me much.  I get so nervous that I forget what I have said while I was standing up in front of everyone by the time I have sat back down.  The fear comes from the concept that those we are speaking to will reject us or not like us.  We place so much importance on everyone liking us.  When in reality, especially as Christians, that is not even something we should be worrying about.  We, as Christians, are not here to please man, but to please God.  Jesus warned his disciples and us, that there will be times when people don’t like us because of representing Him.  He warns us that we may even be taken in front of groups of people that want to harm us for our beliefs.  Read Matthew 10:16 -20.

¹⁶ “Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as harmless as doves. ¹⁷ Because people will hand you over to sanhedrins and flog you in their synagogues, beware of them. ¹⁸ You will even be brought before governors and kings because of Me, to bear witness to them and to the nations. ¹⁹ But when they hand you over, don’t worry about how or what you should speak. For you will be given what to say at that hour, ²⁰ because you are not speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you.

Can you imagine being in that situation.  How frightening.  That makes saying a speech in front of a class not so scary.  What would you say in that situation to protect yourself or calm the crowd?  The truth is you are there because of your faith.  So in reality you are not to be protecting yourself.  You are to stand firm and defend your faith, not yourself.  In no way should you say anything that would make you look like you are go back on your stand for your Lord.  We see examples of that from Stephen and Paul in the Bible.  They never defended themselves.  They spoke about God right up until the end. 

Jesus gives us some great encouragement in this scary passage.  He tells us that if we are in that situation we will be given what to speak.  The Holy Spirit that lives in us will speak through us.  That’s really the best thing that can happen.  I know if I were to prepare the speech I would just mess it up and end up looking like a fool.  What an encouragement to know that I don’t have to make the speech.

 

Handed Over

This week we are focusing on the persecution of the church and Christians with some devotionals on this subject. We are doing this because this next Sunday, November 13, 2011 will be the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.  We encourage you to visit sites like Voice of the Martyrs or the International Day of Prayer to learn how to pray for the persecuted church.

Sometimes we think that as Christians that we probably represent niceness and goodness to those around us.  We think that they will naturally be drawn to us because we represent Heaven and God.  Kind of like a “Touched by an Angel” episode.  Monica the angel would suddenly have a job somewhere and be accepted automatically by those around her.  If there was someone with a tough shell that she had to deal with she would speak some soft and sweet words of love to them and their exterior shell of hardness would melt.  Unfortunately it does not happen that way too frequently in real life.  It would be wonderful if it did.  Reality is we will face difficult people and difficult situations.  Sometimes it will be to the point where those people will be threatening our life.  Read Matthew 10:16 -20.

16 “Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as harmless as doves. 17 Because people will hand you over to sanhedrins and flog you in their synagogues, beware of them. 18 You will even be brought before governors and kings because of Me, to bear witness to them and to the nations. 19 But when they hand you over, don’t worry about how or what you should speak. For you will be given what to say at that hour, 20 because you are not speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you.

Common sense is to know that you will not be liked and will face trials because of who you represent.  Jesus warned the disciples of this.  If we love the Lord and are walking in His ways and representing Him in the world as we witness to those we meet, they will not necessarily like us.  We remind them that they are not living the way they should.  We remind them that they are in sin or in rebellion to God.  We remind them that they have to make changes.  Changes are never easy.  Who wants to give up what they are comfortable with?  Pleasure usually comes with sin, and we lovers of pleasure and self-indulgence.  It is easier for those living the way of the world to get rid of you by being mean to you, or threatening you or even finding legal ways to get rid of you.  From Jesus time until now men have been making laws or twisting laws to fit their needs of the moment.  Even Jesus was drug through six illegal trials.  The leaders were so against him that they twisted what they could twist and broke what laws they could break.  The same thing goes on today.  The public passes a proposition that is on the side of God and a few men who want to live their lifestyle use another part of the system to stop the proposition from happening.

So don’t be surprised at what you might face as a Christian in your work place, neighborhood, town and government.  It’s just common sense that if they didn’t like God himself, they won’t like you.  Just keep plugging along doing what God wants, and He will take care of you the best way that is needed.

Act Like An Animal

This week we are focusing on the persecution of the church and Christians with some devotionals on this subject. We are doing this because this next Sunday, November 13, 2011 will be the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.  We encourage you to visit sites like Voice of the Martyrs or the International Day of Prayer to learn how to pray for the persecuted church.

Going to the zoo can be a fun experience.  The bigger the zoo the more animals there are to look at.  You can go to the zoo to study animal habits and see animals you have never seen in person before.  Visiting the zoo is one of the simple pleasures in life.  When you go to the zoo you tend to look for the pandas, bears, lions, giraffes, etc.  They seem like more interesting or exotic animals to watch and learn about.  Throughout history man has used animal characteristics they have learned about to describe characteristics in man.  This can be a very good visual effect.  You find it in artwork, stories, mythology and even the Bible.  Jesus many times tried to explain things to his disciples and the people with things from their everyday lives.  In Matthew 10:16 -20 Jesus uses 4 different animals (some of which you wouldn’t necessarily go to the zoo to learn from) to make some very important points to the disciples:

16 “Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as harmless as doves. 17 Because people will hand you over to sanhedrins and flog you in their synagogues, beware of them. 18 You will even be brought before governors and kings because of Me, to bear witness to them and to the nations. 19 But when they hand you over, don’t worry about how or what you should speak. For you will be given what to say at that hour, 20 because you are not speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you.

Jesus uses these animals to give us some very important instructions.  In this passage he tells us to “be shrewd as serpents and harmless as doves”.  You can find many places throughout history where serpents have been used to symbolize wisdom or evil.  Serpents are known for being sneaky.  You sometimes don’t even know they are there.  They are known for their slow and deliberate preparation for attack.  They are known for the speed of their attack.  They are known for the deadliness of their attack.  You can’t see their fangs until they attack.  We need to understand that those who are of the world and not a part of the Christian family will not go out of their way to make life easy for us.  They will most likely seek ways to attack.  We need to understand that they can be dangerous and can quickly and successfully attack us.  We need to know they will find ways to sneak up on us and strike when they are ready.  We need to use our knowledge about how serpents work to protect ourselves and our testimony.  Be aware that you might have a serpent sneaking up on you and waiting to attack.  Don’t let yourself walk in to traps.  Be wise.  Don’t let your testimony slip for one moment or it might be used against you.  We are also instructed to be gentle or righteous as a dove.  When you think of the two animals, you tend to think that most people would kill a serpent first and would leave the dove unharmed.  After all they are just a gentle bird and a serpent can kill you.  So if we are righteous in our actions or gentle in our actions people will be more likely to listen to us or leave us unharmed.  They will have less ammunition to attack us with.  The soft cooing of a dove will get us further than the hiss of the snake when it comes to our words.

Take time to study the four animals Jesus used in this passage to see what Jesus was trying to teach you about your walk with Him through this world.  Take His instructions serious.

It Wasn’t A Waste of Time After All!

How many times have you done something over and over again thinking, “I just did this same thing the other day.  Why is it like this again?”  Maybe you dusted your furniture and within a day it is completely dusty again.  Maybe you just finished mopping your floor and not 10 minutes later some dog or kid comes running through leaving tracks.  Maybe you finished that pile of paperwork that was on your desk at work and within a few days a whole new pile of paperwork to do is back on your desk.  It really makes you think, “Now wasn’t that a waste of time!”  Sometimes even when we are raising our children we teach them the same things over and over again.  “Don’t touch that hot stove!”  “Do your homework, so you will learn what you need to know to have a job when you grow up!”  “Clean your room!”  Especially as our kids become teenagers we really begin to wonder if they are even listening.  By the time they are ready to move out you wonder if it wasn’t all a big waste of time giving them instruction after instruction, piece of advice after piece of advice.  Even when the kids were at church they would sometimes seem to drift or not be listening to the Sunday School teacher or the Preacher.  At home you would read them the Bible Stories or teach them little moral lessons out of the Bible and yet they would still seem to test the waters or challenge what you believed. 

Thankfully, the majority of the time, when we raise our kids with good sound Biblical doctrine, Christian morals and Biblical concepts they will come back to the spiritual foundations we have laid.  Read Proverbs 22:6:

Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

We did what we were supposed to.  We made the efforts.  We taught the scriptures.  We took them to church.  We encouraged them in their faith.  However, as they turn in to adults we can control them.  We have to accept that they will make their own decisions.  It is an encouragement to know from this Bible verse that once we have done our part it won’t be a waste of time after all.  Most youth will return to what we have taught them.  We just need to pray and be patient.  We need to be there for them when they need some spiritual wisdom.  Never stop being their loving and supportive parent.

The Wisdom of Discipline

Raising up children can be a difficult thing.  I remember as a kid I said that I would never do some of the things my parents did.  Well, I did end up doing some of the things my parents did.  It isn’t until you have children of your own that you see why your parents did the things they do.  The Bible has a lot of great wisdom contained in it for bringing up your children.  The Holy Spirit can also help you raise your children.  Other Christian parents are also a great resource for wisdom on dealing with your children.  In other words, you are not alone.  Both of my children were very different.  We sometimes had to use different approaches when it came to disciplining them.  All children need disciplined at one time or another.  No child is perfect.  Some will test you until you have reached your last straw of control.  Even if you don’t have children yet, or just help baby sit others kids, some good planning and training ahead of time can be of benefit.  For example, knowing what the Bible says will be a good place to start.  Here are three great verses that teach us some wisdom about disciplining children:

Proverbs 13:24 - The one who will not use the rod hates his son, but the one who loves him disciplines him diligently.

Proverbs 19:18 - Discipline your son while there is hope; don’t be intent on killing him.

Proverbs 22:15 - Foolishness is tangled up in the heart of a youth; the rod of discipline will drive it away from him.

Some parents and some parts of society/culture think that children should be allowed lots of choices and freedom.  That they will naturally do what is good for them or learn from their mistakes.  The first thing parents or caretakers for children need to remember is that we are all born with a sinful nature and none of us are ever going to naturally do what is good for us and many of us don’t learn from our mistakes.  The Bible teaches us that if we love our children we will discipline them, just like God disciplines us.  It is out of love that we show them what is right and wrong.  We want to protect them and show them the safer and better way to go.  In the next scripture we see that if we let a child go their own way, we may get so stressed that we get to the point we just want to shake them and wake them up.  I know my teenagers sometimes pushed me to the limit.  Not that I would want to kill them literally.  This verse is really making more the point that when someone keeps going down the wrong path in life it is like you are the one helping them to harm themselves.  It’s like intending to kill them when you don’t help them or getting them going in the direction that is safe.  In the last verse we see the age old concept that young people are fearless and may make foolish decisions based on their lack of experience or wisdom.  Sometimes kind words of wisdom are not enough and they need to be warned much more strongly.  Yes, even the rod of discipline might be needed with some personalities.  For different children that rod may look very different.  It might be grounding, no TV or an actual rod, etc. 

People are afraid to discipline thinking that their child won’t love them, but in reality discipline will keep them safer and they will still love you.  Sometimes we were strong with our kids, but they always knew where we stood and in the end still loved us.  They can look back on things now and understand why we did the things we did.  So use the wisdom of discipline to improve your child’s life and future.

Politician Speak

Politicians are pretty interesting people to watch when they speak.  Their goal is to win over their audience to whatever they are pushing for.  Whether they are running for office and want to win the vote or they are trying to get the public to accept their new bill or policy.  Unfortunately, some politicians pre-plan every word they speak and others don’t plan enough.  It only takes one wrong word to cause the speech maker’s goals to not be met.  As Christians we too, need to watch what words we speak.  Our words will protect us or destroy us.  They will keep us from trouble or throw us head first in to it.  We will glorify God with our words or we will cause people to question our faith and our God.  Here are two great Proverbs that remind us of these points:

Proverbs 12:13 – An evil man is trapped by [his] rebellious speech, but the righteous escapes from trouble.

Proverbs 13:3 – The one who guards his mouth protects his life; the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.

Like the Politicians, we as Christians, have a goal.  We are to glorify God in everything we do.  It just makes common sense therefore to guard our speech.  We need to resist temptation to speak instantly when asked a question, insulted, angered or hear an off-colored joke.  We need to stop and think.  We need to pray more often before we rashly speak out or up.  As Christians, we need to think more about our words as if they were to save our life, keep us from ruin or trouble.  We need to apply “Politician Speak” to our speech.  In other words, be concerned about what we say like a Politician is concerned about what they say.

 

Keep On Keeping On

It’s interesting to read different translations of the Bible.  Reading different translations can help you gain different perspectives or insights in to a verse.  However, you have to be careful there are translations that are inaccurate.  To really get an accurate translation and deeper insight in to the Word it is always better to go back to the Greek or Hebrew and do a word study.  Some translations are accurate, but they may only get across a concept or basic meaning.  Other translations may pull out more of the correct tense and definition of the words.  For example, take a look at the verse we looked at yesterday, Matthew 7: 7-8.

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (NIV 2011)

⁷ “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (New King James)

⁷ “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (NIV 1984)

 ⁷ “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

 All four versions are basically ok, but two, NIV 2011 and New King James, give us the concept and two, NIV 1984 and Holman, give us the original intended tense.  The original Greek wording and tense deepens the instruction being taught in this verse.  We aren’t just to ask, we are to keep asking.  We aren’t just to seek/search, we are to keep seeking/searching.  We aren’t just to knock once, we are to keep knocking.  As the old saying goes, we are to “Keep on keeping on”.  Be persistent.  Be like the persistent widow in the parable in Luke 18: 1-8.