“Brethren, I count myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. 14. I press toward the mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Paul knew that he was a Christian. What he had not apprehended was the full Christian growth that he needed. As long as we are in this world, we will not reach that perfection of growth that we would like. Knowing this, we seek to live each day, growing toward what we can be in Christ. We do not need to get caught in life’s circumstances. We can live beyond ourselves. Paul gives us the key to living beyond ourselves in verses 13-14 We need to forget “those things which are behind.” In my personal experience it has been the failures of the past that have a tendency to pull me down. I think that you probably agree. The only way that past failures can defeat us is if we let their memory defeat us. Thomas Edison wrote that what he learned from past failures was “ninety eight things that won’t work.” In other words we need to learn from our past failures. Our past failures should not make us give up and suffer defeat. Move beyond them. You probably have some past failures that you need to move beyond if you want to live beyond yourself. I know that I have and still do…… We need to reach “forth unto those things which are before.” We begin to prepare for the future in taking care of the present. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” I remember Dr. Ted Adams telling us in seminary that we need to live each day to the fullest. We need to keep in mind that what we do each day will determine what will be in our future. Hebrews 3:15 gives us some good advice: “While it is said, today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.” What are you doing today that will enable you to forget the past and move victoriously to the future? You can trust this old statement:: “I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.” We need to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” We need to press forward toward what Christ wants in our lives. This means that each day we need to find out what it is that Christ wants with our lives and press toward His will. I have lived in His will and out of His will. I will tell you that it is far more rewarding to be in Christ’s will than out of His will. What are you “pressing toward” today? I think that this is a good outline of how to live beyond ourselves. Think about it! Bro. Joe
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(From the archives edited and shortened)
“Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? 2. You are our epistles written in our hearts, known and read of all men. 3. Forasmuch as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” Because of the problems that Paul had with the Corinthian Church, he asked them if he needed a letter of commendation as some had to do to have access to them. Then he reminded them that they were his letter of commendation. He referred to them as “epistles (or letters) of Christ. In other words the Corinthians were letters from Christ to the pagan world around them. The same thing could be said of us. Which leads me to the question: What kind of letter are you? Are you a business letter? These come across my desk all of the time. They are not bad letters, they are just impersonal. When I see “Dear Sir” I know that the person writing the letter doesn’t know me. This is not bad with letters, but it is with us. We can be “business as usual” Christians. You know, the kind that you see in church some Sundays. It might not be true but these “business” people seem to have no heart. It appears that they do not care about people, and that they cold and uncaring. Don’t be a business letter. Are you a form, or “junk” letter? I have received these types of letters that were written on computers with my name dubbed in. The letter had no interest in me. Their main interest was what I could do for them, or what I might be willing to purchase from them. If we aren’t careful, we can appear to be “junk” letters. We would appear to be interested only in what we can get out of people, instead of serving them. Are you a love letter? Do you remember when people actually wrote letters and sent them through “snail mail” that they would write SWAK on the envelope? That meant “sealed with a kiss.” I don’t mean to be maudlin here, but our lives should be “sealed with a kiss.” We are told throughout the Bible to love other people, and we should certainly love even those who are not easy to love. Anyway, what kind of letter are you? Think about it. Bro. Joe (Archive)
“As you would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise…” All of us are familiar with the “Golden Rule.” We have heard of it since we were children. Jesus did not call it “golden” but that is our name for it, and it is golden. The rule simply states that we are to treat other people the way we want to be treated. Some have turned it around and said: “Do unto others before they do unto you.” Sadly, this is probably how most really feel, and they are not all outside of the church. You have probably discovered, as I have, that this rule is easier to memorize than it is to keep. There is a treasure of wisdom in the Golden Rule. It expresses some things that we need to remember if we are to live productive Christian lives. Following are some reasons that we call it the Golden Rule: The Golden rule expresses the desire of people. “As you would…..” Everyone desires just and fair treatment. We have almost made a fetish of fair treatment in our society. There are multiple lawsuits because people think that they have been treated unfairly. We desire fair play and honest dealings for ourselves. There is no fun in being fleeced, and there is no good humor in being humiliated. When one buys an automobile, he or she wants to be sure that they are getting a fair deal. When cashiers count our change, we want to be sure that we get the right change back. When we are at a ball game, we pay close attention to whether or not our team is getting fair treatment by officials. What the Golden Rule tells us is that if we expect fair treatment for ourselves we should expect to treat others fairly. The Golden Rule expresses the deeds of people. “As you would that men should do to you…..” It is not as easy for us to do right by others as it is for us to desire right treatment from others. As we deal with people on a daily basis what do we actually do? Are we as careful to do right by them as we expect that they do right by us? Are we as concerned that we have treated people fairly as we are that they have treated us fairly? Christian people should take the initiative in doing good for others. Jesus certainly took this initiative. Many people came to Jesus, but He also went to them. We need to think about our deeds. Which treatment do you prefer? All of us should be busy doing for others what we desire that they do for us. The Golden expresses the duty of people. “As you would that men should do to you also to them likewise…..” I think that this text requires us to do the right thing for others before they think of it or demand it. We should even do good for others before they do good for us. The presence of the Spirit of God in our lives demands that we treat other people fairly. Right treatment should be expected of us. The presence of God’s Spirit in our lives should demand that we be selfless instead of selfish. Practicing the Golden Rule should be an imperative in our lives. I know that living by the Golden Rule is not easy. There is a part of us, even with Jesus in our lives, that wants to live for ourselves, but we cannot always do that and be authentically Christian in our daily lives. Think about the Golden Rule as you walk among people today. Bro. Joe “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”
This verse is part of Peter’s advice to wives, warning them that they needed to tend to their inner lives and live righteous lives. This is actually good advice for all of us, for we all have a “hidden person” which is what we really are. Think about your “hidden person.” Is your “hidden person” compassionate? When you respond to people from your heart, do you treat them with compassion? A few days ago I left an eating place where I live; a rough looking guy approached me. I have to admit that my first inclination was “I don’t need this.” But my “hidden person” said what if you were homeless and broke? Instead of worrying about whether the man really needed the help, I went into the eating place with him, gave them some money and told them to give him some food. (Notice I gave the eating place the money.) What little bit that I paid did not take anything from me or mine. Sometimes my “hidden person” is a real doofus, but better that than being stingy and mean-spirited. Keep a check on your “hidden person” and make sure that he or she is compassionate. Is your “hidden person” meek? Before you react negatively, remember that “meek” is not spelled “weak.” When we opt for meekness, we go into some good company. Moses was referred to as a meek man. He certainly wasn’t weak, but he surely gave a lot of his time, and his life, to getting the Jews to the border of Canaan. He had to put up with a lot of “junk” (so to speak) from the people for over forty years, but he stayed by the stuff. I’m sure that Moses sometimes asked himself, as we would, “Why me?” In the beatitudes, Jesus said: “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Meek people are willing to serve the Lord with caring and compassion. The “Good Samaritan” in Luke 10:29-37 is a good example of meekness. Is your “hidden person” easy to get along with? There are people that we really enjoy spending time with, and there are others that make it more difficult. This does not mean that you would have to be “hail fellow, well met” all of the time, but it does mean that you are pleasant in your dealings with people. For example, Jesus was a person that people loved to be with. Little children loved Him and would gather around Him. Jesus was God on earth, but He had time to be pleasant with people. He knew when to get tough and when to go easy. Christians really need to be easy to get along with if we are to be effective witnesses. You have a “hidden person,” that is, the person that you are within your heart that relates to God and people. Do a check-up on your “hidden person.” Bro. Joe “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning…”
The Lord, whom we know through Jesus Christ, and under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, is a giving God, of which James reminds us in James 1:17. I want to focus on three indispensable gifts of God. The first indispensable gift that God gives us is His love. The love that He gives us is selfless and sacrificial. This love is illustrated for us in 1 John 4:9-10: “In this was manifested (revealed) the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10. ¬Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” We cannot always say that God is pleased with us, but we can always know that He loves us. Whatever your view of God, it has to include the fact that He loves you. If that irritates you, get over it, and accept the love that He offers you through Jesus Christ. He also gives us the love that we can have for our fellow human beings. Look at 1 John 9:11: “Beloved if God also loved us, we ought also to love one another.” The love of Jesus should overflow from our lives to the world. The second indispensable gift that God gives us is His truth. The same person, who brought God’s love into the world, also brought God’s truth. In John 14:16, Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes unto the Father but through me.” John 8:31-32, sheds some light on this for us: “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. 32. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” The clear biblical teaching here is that if we want to live in truth, we will live in, and for, Jesus. The truth is that if we want to know the truth, and live the truth, we will give our lives to Jesus through faith and serve Him. I am leaving out a lot about God’s truth, but I think what I have shared is sufficient. The third indispensable gift that God gives us is His presence through The Holy Spirit. John 14:16-18: “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter (Holy Spirit), that He may abide with you forever: 17. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows Him: for you know Him; for He dwells with you, and shall be in you. 18. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” The Lord will be with you whatever challenges you my face in your life. Understand that in Christ, and in His Spirit, you are never alone. This was not intended to be an exhaustive study of all of God’s gifts. I chose love, truth and presence, because I think that these gifts are tantamount to our being Christians, and living effectively for Him. Bro. Joe “Judge not, and you shall not be judged: condemn not, and you shall not be condemned: forgive and you shall be forgiven. 38. Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down and shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom, For with the same measure that you mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”
The title above tells us what the text is all about. There are some things that we are not and there are some things we should be. We are not judges! We need to be careful here because we know right from wrong, and to call sin, sin is not judging. This is more fully explained in the counsel to “condemn not.” We cannot condemn anyone. Only God has the righteousness and authority to judge and condemn. To caution someone about bad behavior is neither judging nor condemning. I thank God for the people who have corrected and cautioned me, particularly in my early years. But we need to always remember when we are calling sin, sin; we still have to love the person that we are correcting. We can’t just condemn people and dump them by the wayside if we are to be like Jesus. Disagreeing with someone is not condemning and doesn’t cancel wise counsel, but we are mandated to do this in love and not in a condemning, and self-righteous, manner. We are to be forgivers. This is easy to say or write, but it is not always easy to do. I can think back over my life and think of something that someone said or did to me that really hurt, and I have to remember that I have to forgive. I reiterate: Not forgiving people is not a choice for the person who really wants to be a serious follower of Christ. I think that not forgiving people is the source of a lot enmity in families, circles of friends, and definitely in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to always remember that the first words of Jesus during His crucifixion were “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” That sets the example for us, and for the sake of our Christian witness, for the sake of our human relationships and for the sake of our well-being, we need to be forgivers. According to this text, if we want to be forgiven we need to forgive. It ain’t easy, but we need to do it! We are to be givers. In my opinion, this is the greatest text in the Bible about why we should be givers. We need to be generous with our material blessings, and we also need to be generous in our attitudes toward people. The text frankly reminds us that if we are stingy with other people, they will be stingy with us. If we withhold our love from other people they are not likely to love us back. Luke 6:38 is true in our stewardship in our churches, in our daily relationships with others and in all of life. Just read what this text says about the rewards of being a giver and realize that it really pays to be a giver. (No pun intended.) Wow! This is a hard lesson, but it is a lesson that we need to learn. And I remind myself of it often. Bro. Joe "Open thou my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”
References to the “law” in Psalm 119 are about the scripture, or the Bible, that the psalmist had at that time. When I read this I thought about my own experience in Bible reading and Bible study. I have been reading the Bible word for word every weekday for the last thirty years, and I am always discovering things that I did not see in other trips through the Bible. That actually excites me. I want the Lord to open my eyes to see the things in His word that will make a difference in my life. It’s not that I just want to know the Bible; I want to know enough about it to live it. Following are some examples of what I mean: I want my Bible to open my eyes to the importance of humility. Pharisees in the New Testament could probably have made a hundred on a test about knowledge of the law, but it did not make them better people. It made them self-righteous. If one becomes self-righteous about his or her Bible knowledge he or she has frankly missed the point. The Bible is about the greatness of God and the humbleness of people. Peter made a salient point about humility in 1Peter 5:6: “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He might exalt you in due time.” I want the Bible to open my eyes to make me more loving toward my fellow human beings. I want to love like God loves as best I can. This means that I want to love and accept people, but that doesn’t mean that I will agree with everything that they do, or that they believe.. (I actually do not love what I do at times. You might as well admit it too!) The Bible teaches us that we should love each other. 1 John 4:20 reminds us: “If a man say I love God, and hate his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen.” I want the Bible to open my eyes to the lesson in 2 Corinthians 12:9:”And (Jesus) said to me (Paul), My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” (This was Jesus’ answer to Paul when he asked to be healed of his “thorn in the flesh.”) I want to always depend on the sufficiency of Christ’s grace in every aspect of my life. I was saved by His grace, and I want to always be sustained by His grace. Of course this is not everything that I need to have “my eyes opened to” in Bible study, but I think they are three worthy goals. I hope you learned from my meanderings on reading the Bible. Bro. Joe “Do all things without murmurings/complaining and disputings/arguing.”
Let’s begin with “do all things.” This covers a lot territory and, frankly, it is a tall order. It means that no matter what is going on in our lives, we need to face it all without murmuring/complaining and disputing/arguing, (We are probably more at home with using “complaining and arguing.”) Frankly, some of the people we have to deal with make it difficult for us to stop complaining and arguing. But those people do not give us the permission to complain and argue. Dealing as Christians with difficult people is part of our spiritual growth. We might also think about the times that we might have been one of those difficult people. (just saying) “Do all things without murmurings/complaining…” Some things come to mind when I read this prohibition to stop complaining. One is that we stop complaining about what is going on in our churche. There are some things that happen to us about which we really feel a need to complain. ( As you might guess, I am writing about this from experience.) I used to complain about traffic, etc. My late wife, Mary, would tell me that the complaining was not doing any good. I would tell her that it makes me feel better to complain to get it off of my mind. She told me, “You might be getting rid of it, but you are giving it to me.” Another thing that comes to mind is self-pity. It can cause us to crawl inside of ourselves and complain instead of dealing with life’s frustrations by asking the Lord to help us deal with them. I must confess that it is awfully difficult not to complain at times, but the Bible tells us to “do all things without complaining.” I think that you get the point that I am making, i.e., instead of complaining we need to pray. “Do all things without…disputing/arguing…” There are some people who make it difficult not to argue. (I am confident that I have been one of those people at times.) This is a difficult order to follow. There are just some things that make us want to argue. What I try to do now is to stop and think whether or not an argument would solve the issue. You know as well as I, that an argument will only make the issue more difficult. I have never solved anything by arguing. This does not mean that we should never disagree, but that we should disagree like Christians without complaining and arguing. I have made a resolution not to argue about anything unless arguing might serve some good purpose. I have discovered that most of the time, arguing will not serve any good purpose. In verse 15 Paul gives us the reason not to complain and argue: “That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” This brings to mind what Jesus said about us being the lights of the world: “Let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” This is not an easy order, but we do need to give serious thought to it. Bro. Joe (This articles is from the archives. This is about the third time that I have shared it. It is worth rereading. It has been edited and mainly shortened.)
“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." There is a story that I have told many times over the years about a thread mill in Georgia. There was a sign on the wall of the mill that read, “When your thread gets tangled, call the foreman.” There was a twenty-something young lady working in the mill. One day her thread got tangled and she proceeded to try to untangle it herself. The more she tried to untangle the thread, the worse the tangle got. The foreman watched her for a little while, then walked over to her and said, “I see that your thread is tangled.” The young lady replied,“Yes, but I’m doing the best I can to untangle it.” The foreman answered her: “Look at the sign. It says that if your thread gets tangled you are supposed to call the foreman. Young lady the best thing that you can do when your thread gets tangled is to call me, and I will untangle it for you.” Which he proceeded to do. I think that you already see the point that this story makes. We get all tangled up in our lives and we try to untangle the mess on our own, but to no avail. I think that God would say to us that when our lives get tangled, we should call on Him. He knows more about the situation than we do, and He knows the solution. We just need to trust Him. I think that the text printed above tells us that David understood this. Nobody’s life ever got more tangled than David’s. David is an important Biblical figure, but, like us, he could really make a mess of things. I think that David came out of it being called “a man after God’s own heart” because of what he wrote in Psalm 5:3. He had decided that he would start each day with prayer. The HCSB translation says that David prayed at daybreak. It is a good idea to start each day with prayer. Instead of saying, “Good lord, its morning,” we should say,“Good morning Lord.” It is very important to start each day with prayer. I learned this many years ago. I was pastoring my first church, and a crisis came up. I had never been driven to prayer that I could remember, like I was at that time. The crisis was probably not as dire as I thought it was at the time, but it drove me to my knees. The Lord helped me to see in that experience that I needed to spend more time in prayer in order to meet the crises of life. That is when I started praying each morning when I got up. It became a necessity to go to my “prayer closet” and pray and read my Bible every morning. Whenever I have gotten away from the schedule, if that’s the right word, I can tell a difference in my life. I guess that I’m saying that we need to pray before the “thread gets tangled.” But there will be times when even at that we will get entangled in some mess in life. That is when we need to learn to go to the Lord immediately and give the mess to Him. The more we try to untangle life’s messes on our own, the more tangled the messes will get. Jesus wants to be invited into our messes. He pleads with us to come to Him and avoid needless anxiety and suffering. Remember:"When your thread gets tangled. call the foreman." (Surely you get the point.) This is not just my advice to you, but it is the Bible’s advice. Heed it! Bro. Joe "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into to the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.”
The question that our title asks came to me the other day and I thought about what the Bible reveals to us to answer the question. There are three things that stand out in scripture that answers what God wants for you. First, He wants to save you from sin. Sin is the big problem in the world that began with Adam and Eve. Romans 3:23 tells us that “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Our text tells us that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…” Christ Jesus has either saved you from sin, or He desires to save you from sin. The big decision that people need to make is what have they done about Jesus? What is their answer to God’s act of love of sending His Son into the world, to die on the cross and rise from the grave to save them from sin? What is your answer? The main thing that the Lord wants for you is that you accept His Son, Jesus Christ, into your life to save you for all eternity. Second, the Lord wants to sustain you. This means that He wants to send the Holy Spirit into your life to sustain you daily. Jesus did not just come into your life to take you to heaven; He comes into your life to make your life better. He wants to give you His love and His leadership that will give you what Jesus called “abundant life.” The Lord doesn’t want to take anything from you; rather, He wants to give all of the blessings that He has in store for you through His Holy Spirit. He gave you His church to give you the joy of sharing the abundant life with others who have received, or need to receive, the “abundant life.” He inspired His word, the Bible, to offer leadership and guidance in your life. The Lord wants to give you the quality of life that only He can give. Third, the Lord wants you to serve Him. In John 20:21 Jesus said to His disciples, “Peace be unto you: as My Father has sent Me, even so send I you.” The Lord saves and sustains you in order for you share what He has given you through His love. Someone wrote: “The fruit of a Christian is another Christian.” This means that you take the “abundant life” that the Lord has given you into your daily. If Jesus has saved you, you are His servant and He wants to use you in His church and in the world to be His witness to the world. There are many other things that the Lord wants of you, but these are three of the most important things that He wants for you. Has He saved you? Is He sustaining you? Are you serving Him? The answer to these questions has eternal significance in your life. Bro. Joe |
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