(You might recognize this as an article written early in the CouchPotatoRedux ministry. I thought it would be good to publish it again because the message is so important. Besides, there are many new readers since it was first published.)
“Where no wood is, there the fire goes out: so where there is no talebearer (gossip) the strife ceases.” Gossip has been preached about since preaching began, but all of the preaching hasn’t stopped it. (This is probably one of those things what will end when the world does. J) There is just something about we human beings that makes us want to spread tales about each other. All of us have our horror stories about the damage that gossip has done. Perhaps all of us know someone who has been a victim of gossip. Perhaps we have all been victims of gossip at some time or other. Proverbs 26:20 describes the nature of gossip as being like wood added to a fire. (I think Solomon intended a little humor here.) The first thing I want to do is to deal with the principle given in the text. How does one keep a fire going? By adding wood and the more wood that is added, the bigger the fire gets. If we stop adding wood, the fire goes out. Gossip is like that. It usually begins small, like a small campfire. More gossip is added and it becomes a bonfire. As more gossip is added it becomes a forest fire. James might have had this proverb in mind when he wrote: “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell.” (James 3:5-6) As I read this, I could imagine the wood being added to the fire. I could almost smell the fire burning. In Psalm 15, David describes a righteous person: “He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor.” In others word, he does not gossip. The second thing I want to do is give an imaginary example of the harm that gossip can do. If I give a real example, it might be a little bit like spreading gossip. J (See a little humor in this story as well.) This is a story about Deacon Brown, who was a stalwart member of the local Baptist Church. One day Deacon Brown was seen walking unsteadily down the street. Someone from the aforementioned church saw him and called a friend to report what he/she had seen. He/she said, “I saw Deacon Brown walking unsteadily down the street. He appeared to be drunk.” The person that he/she called, called someone else and said: “Deacon Brown was seen staggering down the street as ‘drunk as a skunk.’” The person that he/she called also told someone else: “Deacon Brown got drunk and was seen staggering down the street drunk, with a woman on each arm.” On and on it went. Now, what really happened? Deacon Brown had a terrible bursitis pain in his left shoulder. He walked down the street from his office to the doctor’s office. The doctor gave him a prescription, and, to give him immediate relief gave him a powerful pain pill. The doctor told Deacon Brown that he would have to call his wife to pick him up because the pill would make a little “woozy.” (Is that a word?) His wife picked him up down the street in front of his office. When Deacon Brown unsteadily reached the car, his wife got out and helped him into the car. That’s what really happened. It took Deacon Brown and his wife a few weeks to straighten the matter out, but they eventually did and the local Baptists were happy and forever gave up gossip. J Bro. Joe
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“I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.” NKJV My annual trek through the Bible has led me once again into the Psalms. This morning I was reading in Psalm 17, when my attention was caught by verse 8. I read on, but then I kept returning to verse 8. Sometimes God speaks to us through whole books in the Bible, sometimes through chapters, and then as He did to me this morning, He speaks to us through one verse. Out of all the chapters and verses that I read this morning from Luke, Exodus and Isaiah, the 8th verse of Psalm 16 captured my attention. I want to share with you what I found in this loaded verse. David wrote, “I have set the Lord always before me…” What David meant was that he had turned the leadership of his life over to the Lord. The words “before me” are reminiscent of the exodus of Israel from Egypt. The Lord did not allow them to march out of Egypt without His divine leadership. He sent before them "a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day” to lead them through their long journey to the Promised Land. God wants us to set His leadership before us each day. This is how we can stay out of trouble, because if we go our own way without God’s leadership, we will make a mess of our lives. In fact, before Jesus was crucified, resurrected and ascended to the Father, He promised His disciples that He would give them the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth, and to guide them throughout their lives. The Lord has done everything that is possible to give us His leadership, we just need to follow His leadership. We need to “set the Lord always before (us)” in our own lives and we need to do the same as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only by setting Him before us that we can be assured that we are going in the right direction. David wrote, “because He is at my right hand…” What David meant was that God was always near him. David had an acute awareness of the presence of God in his life. This is a promise that the Lord has made to all of His people. In John 4, Jesus told the sinful woman that He met at the well that “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.” Because God is Spirit, He can be everywhere all at one time. That is difficult for us to understand, but that does not make it impossible to be true. God is never far away from us. Like in David’s life, He is at our right hand, and if we do not realize, or feel, his nearness, it is because we have moved away from Him. In Matthew 28, before Jesus ascended, He gave the disciples their marching orders, then He made this promise: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the ages.” This was not just a promise that Jesus made to His disciples, but to all of us as well. It is an open-ended promise that will last throughout the ages until the end of the ages. David wrote, “because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” Notice that David did not write, “I will not move;” rather, he wrote, “I shall not be moved.” In this way, David is telling us that he is not keeping God, but that God is keeping him. It is God who is holding us close. It doesn’t hurt if we squeeze back, but it is important to understand that it is because of the strong hand of God that we will not be moved. Read what Jesus said in John 10:27-30: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. 29. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30. I and my Father are one.” God is leading you, He is near you and He is holding you. Praise Him! Take the promise of this text as your own. Bro. Joe “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near: 7. Let the wicked forsake His way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon Him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." While reading my Bible I never know when a passage is going to make an impression on me. This morning I was reading in Isaiah 55 and verses 6 and 7 definitely impressed me. For people who spend a lot of time in the Bible these are familiar words, and if I had not been careful I would have passed right by them, but the Lord would not let me do that. I have called this “Good News for Anxious People.” The Jews were about to go into Babylonian Captivity, and God led Isaiah to give them hope for the present moment and for the future. It is a good message for us as well. We are reminded here that no matter what is going on in our lives, good or bad, we can seek the Lord. There are things that we have to deal with that are too big and too complicated for us, so we need to seek the Lord. Beyond this, we need to remember that with even those things we think we can handle on our own, we still need to seek the Lord. You can stop reading right here for a moment and seek the Lord to enter with you into whatever it is you need today. Isn’t that good news? We need to seek the Lord “while He may be found, while He is near.” If we aren’t careful, we will interpret this to mean that God has moved away from us. If we are His people, we have a promise that He will never move, that He will be with us until the end of the ages. What this means is that we need to take the opportunity to seek God now. We do not know what the future holds, so every moment of our lives is the time when God may be found. I think that the message here is that we need to be aware of our need to seek God at all times in our lives. When things are going good for us, we have a tendency to move away from God, and think that we can handle our lives by ourselves. This is a temptation that Satan throws our way to rob us of the victory that God gives us. There is never a time that we do not need the knowledge of the nearness of God. We need to be reminded that we stand in total need of His presence and His help. Israel and Judah moved away from the Lord, and they had to pay a price for it. They did not cease being God’s people, but when they moved away from Him, they moved away from the good life that God had in store for them. Keep in mind that no matter what you are facing today, this is the time that He may be found and this is the time that He is near- reach out to Him. Verse 7 gives us the result of what should take place when we seek God: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” When we seek God and we receive His help, we need to live a life that reflects His nearness. We need to watch what we do and what we think. We are not free to do whatever we want to do or think whatever we want to think. God will have mercy on us and He will “abundantly pardon” us, but we need to reciprocate by living a life that reflects His presence. Jesus said that we need to “let (our) light so shine before men, that they may see (our) good works, and glorify (our) Father which is in heaven.” When we seek God, we are not just seeking Him for ourselves, but for those with whom we come in contact on a daily basis who also need to seek Him. Seek the Lord, for He is near and wants to minister to your life and make you a blessing to the people you encounter. Bro. Joe . “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather silver or gold.”
I was reading the daily devotional in Our Daily Bread this evening and read this scripture. I read the article, but my mind kept asking the question, “What is a good name?” If it is “rather to be chosen than great riches,” it certainly needs definition. It is certainly true that it is good to have a good name. Our reputations are very important when we want to do almost anything in our society. This is true from borrowing money to getting a job. But my question is not about the broader society, but what does it mean for a Christian? In order for a Christian to have a good name, he or she must be in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. This does not mean that one has to say that he or she has a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, one’s life should prove that he or she has a good relationship with Jesus Christ. A good relationship with Jesus will show in daily life. For example, if one is in a good relationship with Jesus Christ, he or she will be trustworthy. One of the greatest compliments that I can give a fellow Christian is that I would buy a used car from him. This would mean that any mechanical problems had been resolved before he sold it to me. How we live as Christians has everything to do with our witness. We cannot claim to be Christians and cut moral corners in business, or personal life, and have a good name. To have a good name for a Christian, one should be in good fellowship with other Christians. There has always been an argument about whether or not one can be a Christian and not attend church. When I was out visiting in a community in which I was holding a revival, a man said to me, “Preacher, you know that I can be a Christian without going to church.” My answer to him was that I guess that he could, but why would he want to? After the gospels and Acts, the New Testament is written to churches or in the context of churches. For example, the letter to Timothy was all about the church of which he was the elder, or as we would say, the pastor. I pointed out to him that the Revelation of Jesus Christ was written to seven local churches. Surely, the church should have some importance in the life of a Christian. But putting “church” aside, there is no such thing as “me and Jesus got our own thing going.” Jesus saves us individually, but he saves us to be in fellowship with other Christians. No matter how you define “church,” you need to be in good relationship with your fellow Christians. Too many people say they love Jesus, but they do not love people. That is impossible. Some people are harder to love than others, but if we have the love of Jesus in our hearts, we will have good relationship with fellow Christian, or as the saying goes, “we will do it, or we will die trying.” If you want a good name, be in good fellowship with your fellow Christians. To have a good name as Christians, we should not just love our fellow Christians, but we should attempt to love all people. I personally know that this is not easy. For example, there some atheists who are very difficult to love. They say ugly things about God, about the Bible, about Christ’s church, and about everything that has to do with decency. But Jesus pointed told us that we are to love our enemies. Here is specifically what Jesus said in Matthew 5:43-44: “You have heard that it has been said, “Thou shalt love they neighbor and hate thine enemy. 44. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” Jesus certainly didn’t make having a good name easy. Perhaps what I have written about here is not normally what we think of as having a good name, but I think that what I have written is important. It is true that “a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.” A good name is as important now as it was in Bible days. Bro. Joe “Be afflicted and mourn, and weep, let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.” Notice that in the title I put a question mark after “mourn.”
On the surface this is a woeful text, in the light of all that Jesus said about joy and rejoicing, and all that is written in the Bible about joy and rejoicing. This is especially true of Paul’s epistle to the church at Philippi. Remembering that all scripture was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, James has a message for us from Him that we need to heed, as well as the messages about joy and rejoicing. We need to delve into why James told his readers, including us, why they should “be afflicted and mourn.” This is not a message about our lifestyles. As written above, Jesus spoke a lot about Joy and rejoicing in His earthly ministry. There are many other passages in the Bible that tell us to be joyful and to rejoice. This is not a call to long-faced religion. That was the kind of religion that the Pharisees practiced. Being joyful is part of our witness and ministry to the world. It reminds me of the little girl who was visiting her straight-laced Grandma’s farm, whose lifestyle was sort of akin to the Pharisees. Every time the little girl turned around her Grandma would say “no.” Everything was “no,” and seemingly everything was forbidden. The little girl saw the old mule standing at the fence with its nose hanging over the fence, looking sad and forlorn as mules will do. She said to the mule: “You look so sad, but I think I know what’s wrong with you. You’ve got religion, but don’t feel too bad, Grandma has religion too.” This is not what James means. The book of James was written to Christians who were not being good witnesses for Jesus. Their lifestyles were such that they gossiped, shunned poor people, and generally ignored living like Jesus. What James meant here was that until they got straightened out and made their lives right with Jesus, they were to “be afflicted and mourn.” Sin in our lives does not bring out the joy of Jesus, and as long as sin is reigning in our lives, we should mourn and our joy should turn into heaviness. James was telling these recalcitrant people that they needed to repent, turn their lives over to the Lord and get their lives in order. James was telling them that they should not be happy in their sins, and he is telling us the same thing. The two verses preceding our text verses, explain what I mean: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners; and purify your hearts you double minded.” Then he told them to “be afflicted and mourn.” Verse 10 gives us a clue as to how to solve the sin problem and recover the joy of Jesus in our lives: “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.” The people to whom James wrote were vain, proud and haughty. What they needed was a good dose of humility. This is true of us as well. Pride and haughtiness are rampant today, even among the fellowship of God’s people. Our pride gets in the way of our service to people for the Lord, and it robs us of the joy that Jesus wants us to have. In fact, it is the joy that He has given us. Joy is mentioned in Galatians 5:22 as part of the “fruit of the Spirit.” If we heeded the remedy given in this text, we would be better witnesses for Jesus, and a lot of problems in our churches would be solved. The promise here is that when we humble ourselves, the Lord “shall lift (us) up.” In the process, He will restore the joy of our salvation. The whole point of this is that we need to get right with God. Bro. Joe “I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth more fruit: for without me you can do nothing.”
These are very strong words: “I am the vine, you are the branches” and “without me you can do nothing.” This doesn’t look like Jesus wants to be on the periphery of our lives, but at the very center of our lives. In fact, Jesus wants to be the real ruler of our lives. This doesn’t mean that He would be mean about ruling our lives, but He indeed wants to rule in our hearts and minds. Jesus wants to really make a difference in our lives. The question in this article is: “Is Jesus making a difference in your life.” Is He making a difference in the direction of your life? There is something in the Bible called “the will of God.” When Paul was on his second missionary journey in Acts, he wanted to go into Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit said "no." Then He had a vision of a man from Macedonia who said, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.” Paul went to Macedonia in obedience to the will of God. Following God’s will is what it means for Jesus to make a difference in the direction of your life. Throughout the Bible, it was important for people to do what God told them to do, such as, Moses and Joshua. Furthermore, Jesus made a difference in the lives of His disciples (except for Judas, of course) because all of them had to give up their professions to follow Jesus. I have discovered in my own life that it does not take anything away from me to do what Jesus wants me to do. What I have discovered is that if I don’t follow His direction, I end up making a mess. Needless to say I have made a few messes in my life. I will probably make more, though I am bound to run out of time after awhile, but I really try to stay close to Him and follow His directions for my life. Is He making a difference in the time that you spend with Him in prayer and in His word? This is a recurring theme in my writing, and that is because these two disciplines are of utmost importance. Actually, it took me a while in my ministry to effectively develop these disciplines in my life, but when I did, I found that it made a big difference in my life and certainly in my ministry. Another thing that I have discovered is that prayer is talking to Jesus about my life, and listening with my heart for what He wants of me. It is a joy to know that I can be perfectly honest with Him about my life. Like me, you need to know that you can talk to Him about anything. I have also discovered that it makes a difference when I pray for other people. It usually makes as much a difference in my life as it does in theirs. For example, when I really have a problem with a person, I put them at the top of my prayer list. Without fail, the Lord works in both of our lives. I am being personal here to show you what difference prayer can make in your life. As for the Bible, you need to find the time to read it through. If you have never done that, read through the New Testament first. All of it will not be exciting, and all of it will not be boring, but all of it will be important to your life. Is He making a difference in your relationships with people? I covered that a little in the paragraph above, but I need to expand on it because if you don’t have good relationships with people, especially Christians, Jesus is not making the difference in your life that He should be making. Dealing with other people is one of life’s greatest challenges, and this is particularly true of Christians. Let’s just face it, some people get on our nerves – or as we might say “our last nerve.” As Christians, we just have to remember that the New Testament gives us only one thing that we can do with people, and that is to love them. Take my word for it, it will always be a challenge, but it is worth the effort. Some of the people that I thought would be the hardest to love, have ended up being good friends. You just need to remember that if Jesus is making a difference in your life, you will make a real effort to have good relationships with people – even people who are difficult to love. Is Jesus making a difference in your life? Bro. Joe “A good man shows favor, and lendeth: he shall guide his affairs with discretion. 6. Surely he shall not be moved forever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. 7. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.”
These verses from Psalm 112 remind us that even when times are hard and the world seems to be spinning out of control, we can live with courage because we believe in and trust the Lord. If I did not believe in Him I would be very afraid today. Having concern for the future is not the same as being afraid of the future. The same God who is here today will be in the future as well. An anonymous writer shared this: “The next time you find your courage tested to the limit, God wants to remind you that He is not just near, He is here. Your Heavenly Father is your protector and your Deliverer. Call upon Him in your hour of need, and be comforted." Whatever our challenge, whatever our trouble, God can handle it and will. This doesn’t mean that God will always bring us out on the winning side. It does mean that whatever we face, He is with us. After all David confessed that when he went through the “valley of the shadow of death,” he would not fear, “for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4) I have always been impressed that David wrote that God was with him as he went through the “valley of the shadow of death,” not as he went around it or over it. We must know that we will face difficult times just like everybody else. But unlike everybody else those of us who are believers, know that our mighty God is present and will see us through. I don’t know what you are going through right now. Whatever it is might be devastating, but you are not in it alone if you are trusting in God for your welfare. Verse 7 of Psalm 112 really struck a chord with me, and is the reason that I am writing this now. It says that a good man (person) “shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.” The Bible does not record that David wrote this particular psalm, but it does sound a lot like him. David knew a lot about “evil tidings.” A good part of his life was spent in dangerous situations. Just being a soldier and going to war a lot was very dangerous, but he had Saul after him for a long time, and later his son Absalom wanted to kill him as. But he gives us an example of how we can trust God, even when times are hard. The person who is trusting in God has a heart fixed on God, not on the circumstances of life. The circumstances of life can sometimes feel like "King Saul" is after us, and we have nowhere to run. But we need to remember that the “King Sauls” of life are not bigger than the Lord. He is bigger than whatever circumstances that we may face, whether they are health problems, family problems, workplace problems, or just plain personal worry. When I feel that my life is getting out of control, I l turn to Psalm 118:3-4 to find comfort: “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee. 4. In God I will praise His word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.” If I told you that I have this down perfectly, you would know that I was lying, but trusting in God has sure made my life a whole lot better than when I was not trusting in Him. Whatever you are facing right now - today – put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He paid a heavy price to give you His security. Believe it! Bro. Joe “Give, and it shall be given you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured unto you again.’
People do not really care to hear about giving, but giving is an integral part of the Bible. We are not told in the Bible to just give but to be giving people. Giving should come from who and what we are as Christians. Are you a giving person? Giving covers every aspect of our lives. We should give of ourselves. We should give of ourselves to other people. This is what Christian service is all about. I remember that early in my ministry I asked the Lord what it meant to serve Him. The answer that He gave me in my heart was that to serve Him is to serve people. Think about what Jesus did while He was here. His service was concerned with people – all kinds of people. He served the poor, the wealthy, the sick and whatever other human need there was . Jesus was not afraid to give of Himself to others. That’s what Jesus did when He died on the cross. We have spiritual gifts, or we might call them talents, that are intended to enable us in our service to God and people. We need to share these gifts. They are not given to keep for ourselves. We should give of our time. This is what the Good Samaritan did. It took time for him to look out for the wounded man’s needs. Jesus said that this is what we should do. We need to give people our time and we need to give God our time. For example, we need to take the time to pray, to read the Bible, to serve the Lord in the church and in the community. We should give of our money. I call this meddling. People don’t seem to care when we talk about giving of time and talent, but when we get on money we “done gone to meddling.” During his sermon a preacher said, “Everybody who drinks liquor is going to hell.” A little old lady on the front pew said “amen.” Next he said, “Everybody who smokes cigarettes is going to hell.” The little old lady said “amen.” He concluded: “Everybody who dips snuff is going to hell.” The little old lady said,” Uh oh, preacher you done gone to meddling now.” That’s the reaction we get when we talk about money. It’s like, “Lord you can have my heart, but leave my pocketbook alone.” The Bible never hesitates to ask us to give of our time, talents and substance. But read on: There is a promise that goes with giving: “Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure you mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” I know this is an old saying, but it is worth repeating: “We cannot out give God.” Giving is reciprocal. In modern language, Luke 6:38 is telling us that the measure that we give is the measure that will be given back to us. This reciprocation is true of all of life. The more give of ourselves, the more God returns to us. The more we give of our time, the more God returns to us. The same is true of money. This should not be our main motivation for giving, but it is true. The question is are you a giver? Do you withhold yourself? Do you withhold your time? Do you withhold your money? If so, you are cheating yourself out of a lot of blessings that God wants to give you. All I can tell you now is to give it a try, and you will be delighted at what God will do in your life. It’s true! Try it! Bro. Joe “Jesus Christ is the same today, yesterday and forever.” “I am the Lord, I do not change.”
In this world, change is inevitable. I can think back over my life and see so many changes that it almost makes my head spin. We have a difficult time dealing with change. I have been going through one of these difficult times about my grandchildren. They have grown up on me, all four of them. My two oldest grandchildren have grown up and moved away. My two youngest are now teenagers. I wail and moan: “I miss my little boys and my little girl.” lol? The problem is that time goes on and things change. If we can do anything about an unpleasant change, we should, but most of the time all that we can do is accept change and go on. It might prove to be bad or it might prove to be good, but we just have to accept what we cannot change. I began my ministry in 1960 when I was 21 years old, fresh out of the Navy. I was called to my first pastorate in 1960. Let me tell you that I really got weary of people calling me “our young little preacher.” I longed for the day that they would stop it. Well, I looked in the mirror this morning and realized that I got my wish. That change occurred. No one has called me a “young little preacher” in a long, long time. I’m sure that they have called me many other things, but not “young little preacher.” Here is where real hope comes in. Hebrews 13:8 tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same today, yesterday and forever.” Malachi 3:6 quotes God saying, “I am the Lord, I do not change.” While it seems that change and decay are all around us, we have the reality of the unchanging God. He is aware of all of the changes that take place in our lives and he invites us to come to Him in His unchangeableness and find the comfort and joy that we can find only in Him. When we get up in the morning, we don’t have to worry about whether God has changed overnight. He is where He has always been and is who He has always been. (Stop reading here and praise Him.) With our human limitations, we can’t always depend on each other. Don’t misunderstand me, there are dependable people in my life and yours, but human limitations dictate that no one can satisfy all of our dependability. Only God, in His infinite wisdom can do that. No one else is all-knowing, all-powerful and ever-present. That’s part of what faith is all about. When it’s not going right here, we know that it’s going right with God, and that He is aware of our situations. The unchanging, eternal God will either get us over or through the situation, but He will act. We can depend on Him to be God! We can always know that, in His holiness, God will always hate sin. He knows how sin ruins our lives. He will always judge sin. That is just an unchanging Biblical fact. However, we also know that He is the God of unchanging Grace and that He will always love us. Even our sins will not stop Him from loving us. He will discipline us, but that is only because of His unchanging love for us. Nothing can change the fact that because of the sinful condition of the world, He sent His Son to live among us and to die for us in order for us to be forgiven for our sins. We can know that if we go to Him in true sorrow for our sins and in true repentance, He will forgive us. 1 John 1:9 tells us that Jesus is “faithful and just” to forgive our sins. That will never change. Everything else around us might change, but His forgiveness will never change. It is my hope and prayer that you will put your hope and trust in the unchanging God. He loves you and wants the best for you, but you need to return His love and want the best for yourself. Rejoice that the unchanging God is real and that He loves you. Bro. Joe “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you.”
The title for today’s blog indicates that we will have good days and bad days. This is just the nature of life. I would like to tell you that if you believe in Jesus all of your days will be merry, and that you will never have to be worried or upset about anything. The only problem is that we live in the world with everyone else, and we have the same human experiences that they have. There is an incident recorded in Luke 10:38-43 about a visit that Jesus made to home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Martha was busy with housework, and probably getting a meal together, while Mary simply sat at Jesus’ feet, worshipping Him and listening to Him. Martha was having a bad day because they had an important guest and she wanted everything to be just right for Him. She became upset with Mary for not helping her. She was having one of “them days, when everything’s wrong and nothing is right.” Jesus told her that she was distracted by too many things, and that Mary had chosen the good part, i.e., to spend time with Him. Martha was having a bad day because she did not put her focus on Jesus, but on something less important. I think that this should tell us something about our own bad days. We get distracted by the day’s news. We are worried about what is going on in Syria, Iraq, Iran, Ukraine - you name it. Believe me, there are a lot of distractions that can sidetrack us and take our focus off of Jesus. Being human, we are just going to have those days, but when we are having them, we need to stop and ask ourselves why nothing seems to be going right. We might find the answer in our own hearts. Remember this: Bad days will come, but they do not have to stay. For example, the context of today’s scripture is about the days when King Hezekiah was “sick unto death.” Hezekiah was not just having a bad day; he was having a bad life. This is when the Lord spoke to the prophet Isaiah and told him to give words of comfort to Hezekiah: “Turn again and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.” He was told that he and Israel would be delivered from Assyria, and that he would get well and live fifteen more years. Look at the message that was delivered to the king. First, he was told “I have heard your prayer.” God was not deaf to Hezekiah’s needs, just as He is not deaf to our needs. God/Jesus knows what is going on in our lives at any particular time. He knows whether we are having good days or bad days. We should pray and know that He hears us when we pray. We should also know that He answers our prayers. He will see us through the good and the bad!!! God told Hezekiah: “I have seen your tears.” We sometimes think that we are God-forsaken, and that He is not aware of what we are going through. Well, if He saw Hezekiah’s tears, He will see ours as well. Whatever your problem is on any given day, God is aware of it and He sees your tears as well. God is not hard-hearted about what is going on in our lives. What He wants is to minister to our hearts and minds. In order for Him to minister to our hearts and minds, we have to focus our attention on Him. He told Hezekiah: “Surely, I will heal you.” Notice the word “surely.” We can be assured that God will act in our best interest, whatever we are going through. He might want to use a bad day to teach us something, but in the process He will heal us if we put our focus on Him. Life is filled with good days and bad days, but our eternal God is present in all of them and acting on our behalf. Believe it! Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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