Work may be defined as a spiritual, physical, or mental activity directed toward the accomplishment of something. Many people work for money. They run around literarily until they drop dead or their health fails them. Such persons treat life as a rat race. The comedian, Lily Tomlin said, “The problem with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.”
Why do you work? Is it for money, bill payments, punishment for the sin of Adam or provide for family and others? There is a biblical point of view for why we work. God requires us to work because it enables self-sustenance. It empowers us to provide for our families. Acts 20:33-35, 2 Thessalonians 3:10, 1 Timothy 5:8. When we do our work well, it brings glory to God. It enables us to give to others Ephesians 4:28. Finally, the outside world respects you for your work. 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12.
Who is your Employment Officer? God was man’s first employer. Genesis 2:15. He remains your ultimate employer regardless of who comes between you and Him. (Psalms 75:6). Work is not an end in itself but a means to an end. The ultimate goal for work is to sustain life to serve the Lord. Acts 20:18-24. You are better than animals. They hunt for food to sustain life as an end in itself.
Humans work to become, not to acquire. Your work tests your character, faith, obedience, love, integrity, and loyalty. Every day at work is an opportunity to deepen character. Romans 8:28.
Secular versus Spiritual Work
One of the common misconceptions regarding work is the notion that certain jobs are spiritual while others are secular. The idea behind this categorization is that spiritual work is by divine appointment, while physical work is not. Due to this understanding, some are waiting to really serve the Lord when they become full time ministers. You see a different picture however, when you considered the lifestyle of Apostle Paul.
“After Athens, Paul went to Corinth. That is where he discovered Aquila, a Jew born in Pontus, and his wife, Priscilla. They had just arrived from Italy, part of the general expulsion of Jews from Rome ordered by Claudius. Paul moved in with them, and they worked together at their common trade of tent making. But every Sabbath he was at the meeting place, doing his best to convince both Jews and Greeks about Jesus.” Acts 18:1-4.
The Apostle continued to work as a tentmaker during the week while he served at the temple on the Sabbath day. He may have touched other lives during the week if the opportunity came up while he made tents. There was no demarcation between when he carried out spiritual and secular work. Assuming the tent making was done unto the Lord, he had no secular job at this point in his life. The idea of spiritual and secular jobs is recent and unbiblical.
Which of the following is a secular job?
A security man does his work as unto the Lord.
A preacher with 20 years of experience preaches from 10-year-old notes without praying or any other form of preparation.
A pizza delivery person carries out all deliveries as unto the Lord.
A Sunday School Teacher resigns “to spend more time with his family” because he did not get recognition for her efforts.
It is not the nature of a job that makes it spiritual or secular but whether it is done unto the Lord or not. Any job carried out as unto the Lord is not secular. The following 2 bible passages reveal fundamental truths that should shape our attitude to our work:
“Servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters. And don't just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you'll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you're serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn't cover up bad work.” Colossians 3:22-25.
“Servants, respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with an eye to obeying the real master, Christ. Don't just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ's servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you're really serving God. Good work will get you good pay from the Master, regardless of whether you are slave or free.” Ephesians 6:5-8.
The following important facts can be gleaned from this passage:
We must approach every work as a God-given job.
There is a reward from God for every work beyond the earthly compensation.
Our real Boss, Supervisor or Manager is God Himself. Our earthly boss is just a representative.
Give your best at your job.
There are several examples of good works in the Scriptures. In 1 Timothy 5:10, we read, “well reported for good works: if she has brought up children (child rearing), if she has lodged strangers (hospitality, hotels, nursing homes), if she has washed the saints’ feet (all church-based ministries), if she has relieved the afflicted (medical, nursing, social work, public service, prison), if she has diligently followed every good work.
Summary:
No job is secular if it is done unto the Lord. Do your work as someone attempting to please God. If the nature of your job is such that it cannot be done unto the Lord, you need a different job.
Recognize God as your ultimate Employer. Ask Him to lead you to a job that you really enjoy and that will be an expression of your natural and acquired abilities. The more a job utilizes your areas of strength, the more fulfilled you will be at doing it.
Have a positive attitude at your workplace. Your job provides opportunities for character development. Don’t complain about everything, backbite with others and get involved in activities that do not glorify God.
Aim to be the best at what you do. God deserves and demands it.
You work on earth carries rewards that are both temporal and eternal.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Gratitude
Gratitude is having a great attitude in all circumstances. It is refusing to be small when the times are hard. It is the ability to see the cup half full rather than half empty. It is giving God praise when your flesh says otherwise. It is magnifying God and minimizing problems. After all, God is eternal, challenges are not. Luke 17:12-19.
Many of us see the need to pray but don’t see the need to praise. We do not understand the importance of praise in the spiritual world. Life is controlled by a gate. “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it”. Matthew 7:13-14. This life gate opens to praise because praise is a gate opener. You “enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! ….” Psalm 100:4a. Anytime you want to approach God, remember that praise is a gate lifter to God’s presence.
There is an important secret the Devil does not want believers to understand. In the Old Testament times, whoever controls the gate controls the city. This is because the gate of the enemy is its control center. Just as praise is a gate lifter into God’s presence, you can use praise to control the gates of your enemies. Genesis 24:60. When you gain access to the Lord by praise the same can bring God down to your situation. Such was the case with Paul and Silas who worshipped God at midnight and experienced a great deliverance.
Contentment
One of the reasons we are often ungrateful is discontentment. If you are not content with less you will never be content with more. There are many who live in a world of “If onlys.” If only I had this.... If only this were different.... If only I could do that.... If only this had not happened in my life....Apostle Paul said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11).
Don’t postpone joyfulness until your situation changes, or you have acquired a certain thing. If you cannot be joyful now you will not be joyful then, for joy is not a matter of what you have, or what situation you are in. It is a matter of who you are and how you respond to life.
I am really content — until I start looking through the Costco catalogue. I liked my car — until I saw the new Mercedes Benz. I am satisfied with my clothes — until I stroll through Macy’s. I love our home — until I think of what it would be like to own a log cabin on the shore of some remote lake. I am satisfied with every area of my life — until I start comparing with someone else’s life. I feel like I have enough of everything — until I see someone who has more.
Contentment comes from God. “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” Notice that it does not say “Prosperity with contentment is great gain.” Contentment comes from seeking God, not things. Jesus said, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). If you are not happy with what you have, why do you want more of that which cannot satisfy? “Keep your lives free from the love of money and are content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5). Your contentment comes from God, not things.
If we seek God the way we seek after other things many of our problems would disappear. It is our relationship with God which is the source of contentment, and nothing else can take his place. The Bible says, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).
One of the secrets of contentment is to seek God’s face, not just His Hands. Seek Him, not His gifts. Run after God, not just His goodies. The Psalmist, when thinking of heaven, said, “I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness” (Psalm 17:15).
I really appreciated how much I’m blessed the other day when I listed what I have. Below are my assets:
A gracious God
A wonderful wife
A flourishing family
Abundant life (Eternally and materially I am filthy rich compared to the rest of the world.)
A meaningful vocation
Friends
Today (Ps 118:24).
Opportunities to grow in grace, knowledge, and experience
An attitude of gratitude is an act of faith. It means you are unafraid to live and be happy because you have faith in a God who cares for you and provides for you. He is faithful and his promises are true. He never fails. Dare to be grateful at all times.
Many of us see the need to pray but don’t see the need to praise. We do not understand the importance of praise in the spiritual world. Life is controlled by a gate. “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it”. Matthew 7:13-14. This life gate opens to praise because praise is a gate opener. You “enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! ….” Psalm 100:4a. Anytime you want to approach God, remember that praise is a gate lifter to God’s presence.
There is an important secret the Devil does not want believers to understand. In the Old Testament times, whoever controls the gate controls the city. This is because the gate of the enemy is its control center. Just as praise is a gate lifter into God’s presence, you can use praise to control the gates of your enemies. Genesis 24:60. When you gain access to the Lord by praise the same can bring God down to your situation. Such was the case with Paul and Silas who worshipped God at midnight and experienced a great deliverance.
Contentment
One of the reasons we are often ungrateful is discontentment. If you are not content with less you will never be content with more. There are many who live in a world of “If onlys.” If only I had this.... If only this were different.... If only I could do that.... If only this had not happened in my life....Apostle Paul said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11).
Don’t postpone joyfulness until your situation changes, or you have acquired a certain thing. If you cannot be joyful now you will not be joyful then, for joy is not a matter of what you have, or what situation you are in. It is a matter of who you are and how you respond to life.
I am really content — until I start looking through the Costco catalogue. I liked my car — until I saw the new Mercedes Benz. I am satisfied with my clothes — until I stroll through Macy’s. I love our home — until I think of what it would be like to own a log cabin on the shore of some remote lake. I am satisfied with every area of my life — until I start comparing with someone else’s life. I feel like I have enough of everything — until I see someone who has more.
Contentment comes from God. “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” Notice that it does not say “Prosperity with contentment is great gain.” Contentment comes from seeking God, not things. Jesus said, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). If you are not happy with what you have, why do you want more of that which cannot satisfy? “Keep your lives free from the love of money and are content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5). Your contentment comes from God, not things.
If we seek God the way we seek after other things many of our problems would disappear. It is our relationship with God which is the source of contentment, and nothing else can take his place. The Bible says, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).
One of the secrets of contentment is to seek God’s face, not just His Hands. Seek Him, not His gifts. Run after God, not just His goodies. The Psalmist, when thinking of heaven, said, “I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness” (Psalm 17:15).
I really appreciated how much I’m blessed the other day when I listed what I have. Below are my assets:
A gracious God
A wonderful wife
A flourishing family
Abundant life (Eternally and materially I am filthy rich compared to the rest of the world.)
A meaningful vocation
Friends
Today (Ps 118:24).
Opportunities to grow in grace, knowledge, and experience
An attitude of gratitude is an act of faith. It means you are unafraid to live and be happy because you have faith in a God who cares for you and provides for you. He is faithful and his promises are true. He never fails. Dare to be grateful at all times.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Depression
A teacher said to her students, "Boys and girls, there is a wonderful example in the life of the ant. Every day the ant goes to work and works all day. Every day the ant is busy. And in the end, what happens?
Little Johnny said, "Someone steps on Him."
Depression is a hopelessness that’s not consistent with reality. It’s a temporary condition, an emotional state with exaggerated feelings of sadness. It is more than discouragement. It can make negative circumstances overwhelm a person’s life.
Recent studies of more than 11,000 individuals found depression to be more physically and socially disabling that arthritis, diabetes, lung disease, chronic back problems, hypertension, and gastrointestinal illnesses. 19 million American adults or about 9.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older suffer from depression every year. Twice as many women as men are affected. These figures translate to 12.4 million women and 6.4 million men in the U.S.
Women between the ages of 25-44 are most often affected by depression with a major cause of depression in women being the inability to express or handle anger.
Symptoms of depression
1. Weight loss or weight gain.
2. Loss of sleep and energy.
3. Lose interest in most or all pleasurable activities.
4. Reduced ability to concentrate.
5. Overcome with feelings of hopelessness or uselessness.
Causes
Death or serious illness of a friend or family member
Loss of love or attention from a friend or family member
Breakup of a romantic relationship
Family problems, especially parents’ divorce
Isolation/loneliness/rejection
Physical, verbal, and/or sexual abuse
Genetic vulnerability, particularly if a parent is/was depressed.
Background to depression
77% of everything we think is negative and counterproductive and works against us. People who grow up in an average household hear "No" or are told what they can’t do more than 148,000 times by the time they reach age 18. This results in unintentional negative programming. Negative parents breed negative children. 1 Corinthian 15:33.
It is not uncommon for servants of God to suffer from depression. Listen to Moses in Numbers 11:15, “If this is how you intend to treat me, do me a favor and kill me. I've seen enough; I've had enough. Let me out of here.” Elijah made a similar request for God to take his life. 1Kings 19:4. Job cried out, “Obliterate the day I was born. Blank out the night I was conceived!” Job 3:3. Therefore if you are a Christian and you are depressed, you are not alone.
One of England’s finest preachers was C.H. Spurgeon. Frequently during his ministry he was plunged into severe depression, due in part to gout but also for other reasons. Sometimes he would be out of the pulpit for two to three months at a time.
Many years ago a young Midwestern lawyer suffered from such deep depression that his friends thought it best to keep all knives and razors out of his reach. He questioned his life’s calling and the wisdom of even attempting to follow it through. During this time he wrote, "I am now the most miserable man living. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell." That lawyer was Abraham Lincoln who became the 16th President of the United States of America.
Timing of Depression
1. Depression may come after a time of intense ministry output. Elijah became depressed after defeating the prophets of Baal. 1 Kings 19:1-18. More pastors resign on Monday than any other day of the week. Don’t be surprised therefore if you experience depression after a very success program or event. Pastors wonder why they feel so low after moving into a new church building. Athletes wonder why they feel so empty with the trophy in their hands; students wonder why they feel so unfulfilled with the diploma in their hands. Mothers wonder why they can’t stop the tears after giving birth to a healthy baby.
2. Relational conflict is a common cause of depression. Problem with your boss, breaking up with boyfriend, argument with wife are not uncommon.
3. After physical exhaustion. Elijah killed 450 false prophets, prayed intensely for rain, and then in the power of the Holy Spirit ran for over 20 miles just before he became depressed. Sometimes, overscheduling and overloading ourselves may make us susceptible to emotional letdown. Inability to balance the demands of work, family, church and recreation can tilt us over. While you can do anything, you cannot do everything. When you are tired you are really vulnerable to the discouragement that leads to depression.
How to get depressed
1. Be alone. Most depressed people are lonely or act as if they are alone. Elijah wasn’t all alone, what about Obadiah that brought him the news of hiding prophet of God? 1 Kings 18:13. Depression shuts out the thing we need most: people. When we gather in Sunday school class of caring people, when we come into a church service with Christian friends we draw strength for life’s battles. So when you are struggling with depression don’t go somewhere alone, find Christian friends to be with so they can minister to you. Remember Galatians 6:2 says "Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
2. Focus on the negative. We all have negative times in our lives, but when we make little things into big things and let them overwhelm us, we become downcast. This enhances our loneness. There is a silver lining in every cloud. Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
3. Leave God out. God provided for Elijah through a widow who had nothing. This man of God called down fire from heaven and caused rain to cease for more than 3 years. God had never failed him. Has He ever failed you? In times of crisis, it is easy to forget the faithfulness of God in our lives and focus on the immediate challenges in isolation.
The Best Anti-Depressants
God.
He cured Elijah and He will cure you too. There is no problem He cannot solve, no challenge He cannot overcome for you. No other anti-depressant works as well. If there is any one principle that can help all depressed people, this is it. James 4:8, Psalms 40:1-2. During the 1st part of the 20th century, J. C. Penney presided over a successful business of over 1,700 stores. At the time he had the country’s largest chain of department stores, each one bearing his name. But, although his enterprise made him incredibly wealthy, J.C. Penney’s life was not devoid of setbacks and troubles.
When the Great Depression struck the country, it came at a time of great financial vulnerability for Penney. In the good times, before the Depression, Penney had overextended himself and had borrowed heavily to finance many of his ventures. But when the Depression hit, banks began to request repayment of his loans sooner than anticipated. Suddenly cash flow was tight, and Penney was finding it difficult to meet payment schedules. Constant and unrelenting worry began to take its toll. "I was so harassed with worries that I couldn’t sleep, and developed an extremely painful ailment," he said.
Concerned about his deteriorating health, Penney checked himself into the Kellogg sanitarium at Battle Creek, Michigan.
"I got weaker day by day. I was broken nervously and physically, filled with despair, unable to see even a ray of hope. I had nothing to live for; I felt that I hadn’t a friend left in the world, that even my family had turned against me."
Alarmed by his rapidly deteriorating condition, Dr. Eggleston gave Penney a sedative. However, the effect quickly wore off, and Penney awakened with the conviction that he was living the last night of his life. "Getting out of bed, I wrote farewell letters to my wife and to my son, saying that I did not expect to live to see the dawn."
Penney awakened the next morning, surprised to find himself alive. Making his way down the hallway of the hospital, he could hear singing coming from the little chapel where devotional exercises were held each morning. The words of the hymn he heard being sung spoke deeply to him. Going into the chapel, he listened to the singing, the reading of the Scripture lesson, and the prayer.
"Suddenly something happened," he said. "I can’t explain it. I can only call it a miracle. I felt as if I had been instantly lifted out of the darkness of a dungeon into a warm, brilliant sunlight. I felt as if I had been transported from hell to Paradise. I felt the power of God as I had never felt it before." In a life-transforming instant Penney knew that God, with His love, was there to help. "From that day to this, my life has been free from worry," he declared. "The most dramatic and glorious 20 minutes of my life were those I spent in that chapel that morning." Here are the words of the hymn he heard that morning:
Be not dismayed whate’er betide, God will take care of you;
Beneath His wings of love abide, God will take care of you.
God will take care of you, through every day, o’er all the way;
He will take care of you, God will take care of you.
Change your thinking.
There is nothing new under heaven, including all your problems. Problems are in 2 categories: the ones you can do something about and the ones you cannot. No amount of worry will resolve issues that are beyond you. The Bible contains many promises that will uplift even the most depressed individual. Get acquainted with them. Read them aloud several times a day. Check your thoughts. The Bible says we should take every thought captive. What am I thinking? Am I seeing things in a healthy way, or am I seeing everything as the end of the world? Continuing to live a life that is hypocritical is a huge cause of depression.
Share your problems with others believers. Problem shared is problem halved.
Help others
During a lecture on mental health someone once asked Dr. Carl Menninger: "What would you advise a person to do if that person felt a nervous breakdown coming on?" Most people thought he would say, “Go see a psychiatrist immediately," but he didn’t. Much to everyone’s astonishment, Dr. Menninger replied, "Lock up your house, go across the railroad tracks, find somebody in need, and help that person." To overcome discouragement, "Don’t focus on yourself; get involved in the lives of other people”. Proverbs 11:25
Exercise
Regular exercise toughens the mind as well as the body. After working out three times a week for six months, one group was found to be 20% fitter. Bonus: they also scored 70% better in a test of complex decision-making.
Not only does exercise improve the body and mind, it also improves the spirit of a person. It can help to relieve some of the effects of depression.
Let God, not problems be your Director.
Depression may be a signal to warn us that we need to deal with something. Is there some past trauma that we have not dealt with – loss, anger, abuse, poor decisions of the past, is there sin in my life? Norman Wright describes depression as being like a person in a deep pool of water, holding on to a large, heavy rock. The rock will pull us down. If we refuse to let it go, it will destroy us. It is not the rock that will destroy – it is our decision.
Little Johnny said, "Someone steps on Him."
Depression is a hopelessness that’s not consistent with reality. It’s a temporary condition, an emotional state with exaggerated feelings of sadness. It is more than discouragement. It can make negative circumstances overwhelm a person’s life.
Recent studies of more than 11,000 individuals found depression to be more physically and socially disabling that arthritis, diabetes, lung disease, chronic back problems, hypertension, and gastrointestinal illnesses. 19 million American adults or about 9.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older suffer from depression every year. Twice as many women as men are affected. These figures translate to 12.4 million women and 6.4 million men in the U.S.
Women between the ages of 25-44 are most often affected by depression with a major cause of depression in women being the inability to express or handle anger.
Symptoms of depression
1. Weight loss or weight gain.
2. Loss of sleep and energy.
3. Lose interest in most or all pleasurable activities.
4. Reduced ability to concentrate.
5. Overcome with feelings of hopelessness or uselessness.
Causes
Death or serious illness of a friend or family member
Loss of love or attention from a friend or family member
Breakup of a romantic relationship
Family problems, especially parents’ divorce
Isolation/loneliness/rejection
Physical, verbal, and/or sexual abuse
Genetic vulnerability, particularly if a parent is/was depressed.
Background to depression
77% of everything we think is negative and counterproductive and works against us. People who grow up in an average household hear "No" or are told what they can’t do more than 148,000 times by the time they reach age 18. This results in unintentional negative programming. Negative parents breed negative children. 1 Corinthian 15:33.
It is not uncommon for servants of God to suffer from depression. Listen to Moses in Numbers 11:15, “If this is how you intend to treat me, do me a favor and kill me. I've seen enough; I've had enough. Let me out of here.” Elijah made a similar request for God to take his life. 1Kings 19:4. Job cried out, “Obliterate the day I was born. Blank out the night I was conceived!” Job 3:3. Therefore if you are a Christian and you are depressed, you are not alone.
One of England’s finest preachers was C.H. Spurgeon. Frequently during his ministry he was plunged into severe depression, due in part to gout but also for other reasons. Sometimes he would be out of the pulpit for two to three months at a time.
Many years ago a young Midwestern lawyer suffered from such deep depression that his friends thought it best to keep all knives and razors out of his reach. He questioned his life’s calling and the wisdom of even attempting to follow it through. During this time he wrote, "I am now the most miserable man living. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell." That lawyer was Abraham Lincoln who became the 16th President of the United States of America.
Timing of Depression
1. Depression may come after a time of intense ministry output. Elijah became depressed after defeating the prophets of Baal. 1 Kings 19:1-18. More pastors resign on Monday than any other day of the week. Don’t be surprised therefore if you experience depression after a very success program or event. Pastors wonder why they feel so low after moving into a new church building. Athletes wonder why they feel so empty with the trophy in their hands; students wonder why they feel so unfulfilled with the diploma in their hands. Mothers wonder why they can’t stop the tears after giving birth to a healthy baby.
2. Relational conflict is a common cause of depression. Problem with your boss, breaking up with boyfriend, argument with wife are not uncommon.
3. After physical exhaustion. Elijah killed 450 false prophets, prayed intensely for rain, and then in the power of the Holy Spirit ran for over 20 miles just before he became depressed. Sometimes, overscheduling and overloading ourselves may make us susceptible to emotional letdown. Inability to balance the demands of work, family, church and recreation can tilt us over. While you can do anything, you cannot do everything. When you are tired you are really vulnerable to the discouragement that leads to depression.
How to get depressed
1. Be alone. Most depressed people are lonely or act as if they are alone. Elijah wasn’t all alone, what about Obadiah that brought him the news of hiding prophet of God? 1 Kings 18:13. Depression shuts out the thing we need most: people. When we gather in Sunday school class of caring people, when we come into a church service with Christian friends we draw strength for life’s battles. So when you are struggling with depression don’t go somewhere alone, find Christian friends to be with so they can minister to you. Remember Galatians 6:2 says "Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
2. Focus on the negative. We all have negative times in our lives, but when we make little things into big things and let them overwhelm us, we become downcast. This enhances our loneness. There is a silver lining in every cloud. Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
3. Leave God out. God provided for Elijah through a widow who had nothing. This man of God called down fire from heaven and caused rain to cease for more than 3 years. God had never failed him. Has He ever failed you? In times of crisis, it is easy to forget the faithfulness of God in our lives and focus on the immediate challenges in isolation.
The Best Anti-Depressants
God.
He cured Elijah and He will cure you too. There is no problem He cannot solve, no challenge He cannot overcome for you. No other anti-depressant works as well. If there is any one principle that can help all depressed people, this is it. James 4:8, Psalms 40:1-2. During the 1st part of the 20th century, J. C. Penney presided over a successful business of over 1,700 stores. At the time he had the country’s largest chain of department stores, each one bearing his name. But, although his enterprise made him incredibly wealthy, J.C. Penney’s life was not devoid of setbacks and troubles.
When the Great Depression struck the country, it came at a time of great financial vulnerability for Penney. In the good times, before the Depression, Penney had overextended himself and had borrowed heavily to finance many of his ventures. But when the Depression hit, banks began to request repayment of his loans sooner than anticipated. Suddenly cash flow was tight, and Penney was finding it difficult to meet payment schedules. Constant and unrelenting worry began to take its toll. "I was so harassed with worries that I couldn’t sleep, and developed an extremely painful ailment," he said.
Concerned about his deteriorating health, Penney checked himself into the Kellogg sanitarium at Battle Creek, Michigan.
"I got weaker day by day. I was broken nervously and physically, filled with despair, unable to see even a ray of hope. I had nothing to live for; I felt that I hadn’t a friend left in the world, that even my family had turned against me."
Alarmed by his rapidly deteriorating condition, Dr. Eggleston gave Penney a sedative. However, the effect quickly wore off, and Penney awakened with the conviction that he was living the last night of his life. "Getting out of bed, I wrote farewell letters to my wife and to my son, saying that I did not expect to live to see the dawn."
Penney awakened the next morning, surprised to find himself alive. Making his way down the hallway of the hospital, he could hear singing coming from the little chapel where devotional exercises were held each morning. The words of the hymn he heard being sung spoke deeply to him. Going into the chapel, he listened to the singing, the reading of the Scripture lesson, and the prayer.
"Suddenly something happened," he said. "I can’t explain it. I can only call it a miracle. I felt as if I had been instantly lifted out of the darkness of a dungeon into a warm, brilliant sunlight. I felt as if I had been transported from hell to Paradise. I felt the power of God as I had never felt it before." In a life-transforming instant Penney knew that God, with His love, was there to help. "From that day to this, my life has been free from worry," he declared. "The most dramatic and glorious 20 minutes of my life were those I spent in that chapel that morning." Here are the words of the hymn he heard that morning:
Be not dismayed whate’er betide, God will take care of you;
Beneath His wings of love abide, God will take care of you.
God will take care of you, through every day, o’er all the way;
He will take care of you, God will take care of you.
Change your thinking.
There is nothing new under heaven, including all your problems. Problems are in 2 categories: the ones you can do something about and the ones you cannot. No amount of worry will resolve issues that are beyond you. The Bible contains many promises that will uplift even the most depressed individual. Get acquainted with them. Read them aloud several times a day. Check your thoughts. The Bible says we should take every thought captive. What am I thinking? Am I seeing things in a healthy way, or am I seeing everything as the end of the world? Continuing to live a life that is hypocritical is a huge cause of depression.
Share your problems with others believers. Problem shared is problem halved.
Help others
During a lecture on mental health someone once asked Dr. Carl Menninger: "What would you advise a person to do if that person felt a nervous breakdown coming on?" Most people thought he would say, “Go see a psychiatrist immediately," but he didn’t. Much to everyone’s astonishment, Dr. Menninger replied, "Lock up your house, go across the railroad tracks, find somebody in need, and help that person." To overcome discouragement, "Don’t focus on yourself; get involved in the lives of other people”. Proverbs 11:25
Exercise
Regular exercise toughens the mind as well as the body. After working out three times a week for six months, one group was found to be 20% fitter. Bonus: they also scored 70% better in a test of complex decision-making.
Not only does exercise improve the body and mind, it also improves the spirit of a person. It can help to relieve some of the effects of depression.
Let God, not problems be your Director.
Depression may be a signal to warn us that we need to deal with something. Is there some past trauma that we have not dealt with – loss, anger, abuse, poor decisions of the past, is there sin in my life? Norman Wright describes depression as being like a person in a deep pool of water, holding on to a large, heavy rock. The rock will pull us down. If we refuse to let it go, it will destroy us. It is not the rock that will destroy – it is our decision.
Understanding the Body of Christ
If you are born-again, you are automatically a member of the body of Christ. It is important that every member of the Body of Christ has some understanding of the significance, benefits, privileges and responsibilities of this most important membership. Our lack of discernment leads to certain patterns of behavior. This in turn may lead to weakness, sickness and death. 1 Corinthians 11:30 (Amplified Bible).
Advantages of discerning the body
The book of the Acts of Apostles provides insights into the unique benefits of discerning the body. This was the time when “all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met” Acts 2: 44-45. In other words, no one lacked. If we practice this in our local churches, no one will go to bed hungry while another church member has food at home. No one will be homeless while another member has a spare room.
“The whole congregation of believers was united as one—one heart, one mind! They didn't even claim ownership of their own possessions. No one said, "That's mine; you can't have it." Acts 4:32, 34-35. Not surprisingly, when such believers pray, venues shake. Oneness of the pew impacts the power of the pulpit. “They even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on stretchers and bedrolls, hoping they would be touched by Peter's shadow when he walked by. They came from the villages surrounding Jerusalem, throngs of them, bringing the sick and bedeviled. And they all were healed” Acts 5:15-16. When members of a local church are in unity, signs and wonders will be commonplace. When they are not, weakness, sickness and death prevail. This principle is so important the devil used it in getting enraged people to stone Steven.
The modern day church is weak because it does not practice love as described in the Bible. We barely tolerate each other. This attitude is hurting us more than any other. Compare your life with the following counsel: “Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Romans 12:13, 17-18.
The Biblical standard of oneness among brethren is so high we are not encouraged to take another member to court for any reason! 1 Corinthians 6:1. A believer is admonished to love his enemies; how much more fellow believers. My beloved Christian, I am not advocating some mysterious doctrine. “If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Philippians 2:1-2.
The Strategy of Satan
When there is division, plans cannot succeed. Dreams do not come through. Visions are lost. Power dissipates. The enemy gains a foothold. Our fellowship is powerless and routine. There is no evidence of divine presence. This is the reason Satan does everything he can to cause division among Christians. Luke 11:17, 18. When Christians are united, nothing can prevail against them. You can build anything with unity; you can destroy anything without it. When mankind came together to build the Tower of Babel, listen to what God said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language…now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them” (Gen 11:6). This is God’s assessment of mankind in unity. May it become His assessment of our gatherings in Jesus' name. Amen.
Caveats
You are not called to be clones of each other. That is uniformity which means to look alike, talk alike, and behave alike. You lose your identity and personality. This is not what the Bible advocates. The Apostles were all different personalities which impacted on the way they carried out their ministries. You are called to be unified with other believers. Unification means you share a common purpose and a set of objectives while maintaining your unique personality and identity.
The Greatest Sign of a Disciple
Disciples behave like their master. A disciple of Prophet Mohammed will exhibit violence just as his master did. How are the disciples of Christ identified? Is it by their wealth? Boldness? Speaking in tongues? Great miracles and healings? No. The Lord Jesus said, “This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other” John 13:35. The more we act in love, the more like Jesus we become. The closest disciple to Jesus was John the Apostle. He wrote extensively about love in 1st John. If you do not love the brethren, you are either not born again or you are a very poor reflection of your Master.
“The way we know we've been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn't love is as good as dead. This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. 1 John 3:14, 16-17.
“The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love. 1 John 4:8
Love as Jesus loved
Jesus said: "This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.”(John 15:9-12). This is not natural love. You can’t will it. It is unconditional. It is supernatural. God has deposited this agape love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. We yield to the Holy Spirit in order to release this love into the world around us. In other words, you love by faith. Many of us are unlovable in the natural. Loving the lovable is easy. Loving the unlovable is challenging. Our imperfections, faults and weaknesses rub off on others negatively. Without God’s help, it is impossible to love others as you should.
Note that faith and love are intertwined. You cannot love as Jesus loves without faith. However, without love, you cannot practice faith because faith works by love. Galatians 5:6. When you come across difficult believers, ask the Holy Spirit to love them through you by faith. As you do this your faith will grow in leaps and bounds.
Practical Issues
No believer should have an unmet need when there’s another believer who can meet that need. No believer should starve when you have food. No believer should be homeless when you have a house. No believer should have difficulty getting around when other brethren have cars. No believer should be lonely in the presence church members.
In 1765 John Fawsett was called to pastor a very small congregation in England. He labored there diligently for 7 years, but his salary was so meager that he and his wife could scarcely obtain the necessities of life. Though the people were poor, they compensated for this lack by their faithfulness and warm fellowship. Then Dr. Fawcett received an offer from a much larger church in London. As his few possessions were being placed in a wagon for moving, many of his parishioners came to say good-bye and pleaded with him to reconsider. Touched by this great outpouring of love, he and his wife began to weep. Finally Mrs. Fawcett exclaimed, "O John, I just can’t bear this. They need us so badly here." "God has spoken to my heart, too!" he said. "Tell them to unload the wagon! We cannot break these wonderful ties of fellowship." This experience inspired Fawsett to write the hymn, “Blessed be the tie that binds”.
The Great Mystery
God presented Eve to the first Adam. When Adam saw her, he exclaimed:
“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:23-24.
Sometime in the future, God will present a bride to the last Adam, Jesus Christ. “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. For this reason a man (Christ) shall leave his father (God the Father) and mother (God the Spirit) and be joined to his wife (Church), and the two (Christ+Church) shall become one flesh (Bride). This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:30-31.
The Godhead is made up of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three are one. They created man in Genesis 1:26 “in our image, after our likeness”. This means that from the beginning, the Godhead had plans to bring man into oneness with the Trinity. On the last day, the body of Christ (Church) shall become one with the Head thereby fulfilling the original goal set forth in Genesis 1:26.
God spoke in the Old Testament mainly through the prophets. He is speaking in the last days through the Son. However, in the last chapter of the Bible, God shall speak through the Spirit and the Church. Why? Because the Bride has become one with her husband, the Lord Jesus. “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. Revelation 22:17. This is man in God’s image, after His likeness.
This is an answer to the prayer of Jesus in John 17:21, “That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me”.
This is what the Bible means when it says that “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:7. God is Love. He is Grace personified. He wants to show the limitless boundary of His grace by lifting man from the depths of depravity to oneness with Him.
Prayer:
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 5:14-19.
Advantages of discerning the body
The book of the Acts of Apostles provides insights into the unique benefits of discerning the body. This was the time when “all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met” Acts 2: 44-45. In other words, no one lacked. If we practice this in our local churches, no one will go to bed hungry while another church member has food at home. No one will be homeless while another member has a spare room.
“The whole congregation of believers was united as one—one heart, one mind! They didn't even claim ownership of their own possessions. No one said, "That's mine; you can't have it." Acts 4:32, 34-35. Not surprisingly, when such believers pray, venues shake. Oneness of the pew impacts the power of the pulpit. “They even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on stretchers and bedrolls, hoping they would be touched by Peter's shadow when he walked by. They came from the villages surrounding Jerusalem, throngs of them, bringing the sick and bedeviled. And they all were healed” Acts 5:15-16. When members of a local church are in unity, signs and wonders will be commonplace. When they are not, weakness, sickness and death prevail. This principle is so important the devil used it in getting enraged people to stone Steven.
The modern day church is weak because it does not practice love as described in the Bible. We barely tolerate each other. This attitude is hurting us more than any other. Compare your life with the following counsel: “Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Romans 12:13, 17-18.
The Biblical standard of oneness among brethren is so high we are not encouraged to take another member to court for any reason! 1 Corinthians 6:1. A believer is admonished to love his enemies; how much more fellow believers. My beloved Christian, I am not advocating some mysterious doctrine. “If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Philippians 2:1-2.
The Strategy of Satan
When there is division, plans cannot succeed. Dreams do not come through. Visions are lost. Power dissipates. The enemy gains a foothold. Our fellowship is powerless and routine. There is no evidence of divine presence. This is the reason Satan does everything he can to cause division among Christians. Luke 11:17, 18. When Christians are united, nothing can prevail against them. You can build anything with unity; you can destroy anything without it. When mankind came together to build the Tower of Babel, listen to what God said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language…now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them” (Gen 11:6). This is God’s assessment of mankind in unity. May it become His assessment of our gatherings in Jesus' name. Amen.
Caveats
You are not called to be clones of each other. That is uniformity which means to look alike, talk alike, and behave alike. You lose your identity and personality. This is not what the Bible advocates. The Apostles were all different personalities which impacted on the way they carried out their ministries. You are called to be unified with other believers. Unification means you share a common purpose and a set of objectives while maintaining your unique personality and identity.
The Greatest Sign of a Disciple
Disciples behave like their master. A disciple of Prophet Mohammed will exhibit violence just as his master did. How are the disciples of Christ identified? Is it by their wealth? Boldness? Speaking in tongues? Great miracles and healings? No. The Lord Jesus said, “This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other” John 13:35. The more we act in love, the more like Jesus we become. The closest disciple to Jesus was John the Apostle. He wrote extensively about love in 1st John. If you do not love the brethren, you are either not born again or you are a very poor reflection of your Master.
“The way we know we've been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn't love is as good as dead. This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. 1 John 3:14, 16-17.
“The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love. 1 John 4:8
Love as Jesus loved
Jesus said: "This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.”(John 15:9-12). This is not natural love. You can’t will it. It is unconditional. It is supernatural. God has deposited this agape love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. We yield to the Holy Spirit in order to release this love into the world around us. In other words, you love by faith. Many of us are unlovable in the natural. Loving the lovable is easy. Loving the unlovable is challenging. Our imperfections, faults and weaknesses rub off on others negatively. Without God’s help, it is impossible to love others as you should.
Note that faith and love are intertwined. You cannot love as Jesus loves without faith. However, without love, you cannot practice faith because faith works by love. Galatians 5:6. When you come across difficult believers, ask the Holy Spirit to love them through you by faith. As you do this your faith will grow in leaps and bounds.
Practical Issues
No believer should have an unmet need when there’s another believer who can meet that need. No believer should starve when you have food. No believer should be homeless when you have a house. No believer should have difficulty getting around when other brethren have cars. No believer should be lonely in the presence church members.
In 1765 John Fawsett was called to pastor a very small congregation in England. He labored there diligently for 7 years, but his salary was so meager that he and his wife could scarcely obtain the necessities of life. Though the people were poor, they compensated for this lack by their faithfulness and warm fellowship. Then Dr. Fawcett received an offer from a much larger church in London. As his few possessions were being placed in a wagon for moving, many of his parishioners came to say good-bye and pleaded with him to reconsider. Touched by this great outpouring of love, he and his wife began to weep. Finally Mrs. Fawcett exclaimed, "O John, I just can’t bear this. They need us so badly here." "God has spoken to my heart, too!" he said. "Tell them to unload the wagon! We cannot break these wonderful ties of fellowship." This experience inspired Fawsett to write the hymn, “Blessed be the tie that binds”.
The Great Mystery
God presented Eve to the first Adam. When Adam saw her, he exclaimed:
“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:23-24.
Sometime in the future, God will present a bride to the last Adam, Jesus Christ. “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. For this reason a man (Christ) shall leave his father (God the Father) and mother (God the Spirit) and be joined to his wife (Church), and the two (Christ+Church) shall become one flesh (Bride). This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:30-31.
The Godhead is made up of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three are one. They created man in Genesis 1:26 “in our image, after our likeness”. This means that from the beginning, the Godhead had plans to bring man into oneness with the Trinity. On the last day, the body of Christ (Church) shall become one with the Head thereby fulfilling the original goal set forth in Genesis 1:26.
God spoke in the Old Testament mainly through the prophets. He is speaking in the last days through the Son. However, in the last chapter of the Bible, God shall speak through the Spirit and the Church. Why? Because the Bride has become one with her husband, the Lord Jesus. “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. Revelation 22:17. This is man in God’s image, after His likeness.
This is an answer to the prayer of Jesus in John 17:21, “That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me”.
This is what the Bible means when it says that “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:7. God is Love. He is Grace personified. He wants to show the limitless boundary of His grace by lifting man from the depths of depravity to oneness with Him.
Prayer:
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 5:14-19.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Life Management
A lifetime is the period between date of birth and date of death. We all know our date of birth but don’t know the later. Compared to eternity however, life is too short. Time is a unit of life. It is life’s currency. “Time is a resource that is nonrenewable and nontransferable. You cannot store it, slow it up, hold it up, divide it up or give it up. You can’t hoard it up or save it for a rainy day–when it’s lost it’s unrecoverable. When you kill time, remember that it has no resurrection.”(A.W. Tozer).
Stephen Covey writes: “Time management is a misleading concept. You can’t really manage time. You can’t delay it, speed it up, save it or lose it. No matter what you do time keeps moving forward at the same rate. The challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves.” This is why the topic of this article is life management, rather than time management.
The Unwelcome Realities
In a lifetime the average North American will spend:
6 months sitting at stoplights
8 months opening junk mail
1 year looking for misplaced objects
2 years unsuccessfully returning phone calls
5 years waiting in line/waiting for latecomers
6 years eating
21 years watching television.
Number your Days
No one has all the time in the world to do everything he wants to do. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. It is therefore critical that you know what you’re doing with your time.
“Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” Psalms 90:10, 12.
Your available total time = the time between the date of birth and date of death/rapture. This time is our allotted time. Job 7:1, Job 14:14, Acts 17:26.
Assuming you have 81 years to live, you’ll spend;
8 hours per day sleeping = 21 years.
8 hours per day working or studying = 21 years.
8 hours per day grooming/miscellaneous = 21 years.
The first 2 sets of 8 hours are fixed, the third one is variable. This means that you don’t have a lot of control over two-thirds of every day of your life. However, there is a lot you can do within the more flexible time. How much time do you have left? Assuming a lifespan of 80 years, you can calculate the number of days you have left by using the following formula:
80 – Age X 365 = number of days left to live.
For a 40-year-old man, the answer is 14,600 days. This translates to:
4866 days sleeping
4866 days working
4866 days to cleanup, shop, eat, exercise, pay bills etc.
The average individual only has 5 hours a day of discretionary time. In the case of this 40-year-old man, he has 1014 days in total of discretionary time. The difference between a fulfilled life and an empty one is often dependent on how this discretionary time is used. Where are you investing those 5 hours a day of your life?
The true cost of things
Our lives are measured in terms of time. Whenever you want to make a major purchase, think of the true cost of the purchase in terms of time. Anything you want to spend money on that demands you spend more time working extra hours to pay for it requires critical thinking. Few things in life are worth the enormous sacrifice of longer hours at work. “You don’t really pay for things with money. You pay for them with time. “In 5 years, I’ll have put enough away to buy that new house. Then I’ll slow down or get out of this business altogether.” That means the house will cost you five years---five out of eighty, maybe. That’s one sixteen of your whole life; one twelfth of your adult life; one quarter of the time you’ll spend living with any one of your children.” Charles Spezzano.
Very few things are worth the extra hours of money-making. Vacation, second home, recreational gadgets, jewelry etc. are usually not worth it. An additional qualification which may eventually increase your hourly rate may be.
Make the most of opportunity
The Bible admonishes us to redeem the time. The word “redeeming” can be translated buying up or purchasing. The word “time” is not the Greek word “chronos" which means clock time that is measured in hours, minutes and seconds, but it is the Greek word "kairos" which refers to quality of time or season. We are not called to be good time managers; we are called to be good opportunity managers. It is not just counting the days, months and years, but making the days, months and years count. Tomorrow you will be given another 24 hours, but you may never have the same opportunity again.
Successful management of life depends on how you manage every 24 hours. The most crucial part of your 24 hours is time spent in dialogue with God. Therefore make sure that part of your 5 hours of discretionary time is spent in activities that have eternal value. Remember that regardless of how you mismanage a particular day another day is a new opportunity for improvement. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning.
Busyness
One excuse many of us have for not giving God our time is that we are very busy. “If you have so much business to attend to that you have no time to pray, you have more business on hand than God ever intended you should have” (DL Moody). “The management of time is the management of self; therefore, if you manage time with God, He will begin to manage you.” (Jill Briscoe). "The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes & hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in." (C.S. Lewis)
In making the most of every opportunity, take note that relationships are the best use of our time. The order is as follows:
Our relationship with God
Relationship with spouse (if any)
Relationship with children (if any)
Relationship with brethren
Relationship with others (neighbors, coworkers, extended family members).
Life is too short to bear grudges, gossip, backbite, harbor hate, plot revenge, and watch TV endlessly. Gain a new perspective. Focus on the eternal. Minimize the temporal. After all, 80 years is a very short time compared to endless life. Our current life is a preparation for the next. Avoid distractions. “You can either pay now and play later or play now and pay later. But either way, you’re going to pay”.
Forget yesterday Phil 3:13-14. Manage your life by managing your day. Stop worrying. “Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday”. There is only one of you for all time. Fearlessly be yourself (Anthony Rapp). And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. (Abraham Lincoln).
Treasure every moment that you have! Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift...That’s why it’s called the “present!”
A colleague told me this story about a time management expert who was teaching a seminar for executives. He placed a large jar in front of the group. Next, he put seven or eight large rocks into the jar until it was full. “Is the jar full?” He asked. Everyone nodded. Then he took pebbles and filled up the jar with the small rocks until they reached the rim. “Is the jar full?” By now, they didn’t answer. So, he poured fine sand in. “Is the jar full?” Some nodded. He proceeded to take a pitcher of water and filled up the jar again. “What’s the lesson about time management?” he asked. Hands shot up, and everyone agreed “No matter how busy you are you can always fit more things into your schedule.” “Wrong.” he replied. “The lesson is: unless you put the big rocks in first, they never will fit in. You must figure out what the big rocks are for you.
The biggest rock in my life is the Rock of Ages. In Him I live and move and have my being. I must carve out time with Him on a daily basis or I am not making adequate preparation for my next life. If I am not going to spend eternity working, shopping or playing golf, it makes sense for me to train myself to spend time with God on earth. My next big rock is my marriage followed by my children. I must also live a love-filled life for the rest of my days.
Terry Muck tells of a letter he received from a man who used to have absolutely no interest in spiritual things. He lived next door to a Christian, and they had a casual relationship. Then the non-Christian’s wife died of cancer within a short time. “I was in total despair. I went through the funeral preparations and the service like I was in a trance. And after the service I went to the path along the river and walked all night. But I did not walk alone. My neighbor - afraid for me, I guess - stayed with me all night. He did not speak; he did not even walk beside me. He just followed me. When the sun finally came up over the river he came over to me and said, "Let’s go get some breakfast."
I go to church now. My neighbor’s church. A religion that can produce the kind of caring and love my neighbor showed me is something I want to find out more about. I want to be like that. I want to love and be loved like that for the rest of my life.”
The Christian saw an opportunity to reveal Christ to his friend. He had learned how to redeem the time.
Stephen Covey writes: “Time management is a misleading concept. You can’t really manage time. You can’t delay it, speed it up, save it or lose it. No matter what you do time keeps moving forward at the same rate. The challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves.” This is why the topic of this article is life management, rather than time management.
The Unwelcome Realities
In a lifetime the average North American will spend:
6 months sitting at stoplights
8 months opening junk mail
1 year looking for misplaced objects
2 years unsuccessfully returning phone calls
5 years waiting in line/waiting for latecomers
6 years eating
21 years watching television.
Number your Days
No one has all the time in the world to do everything he wants to do. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. It is therefore critical that you know what you’re doing with your time.
“Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” Psalms 90:10, 12.
Your available total time = the time between the date of birth and date of death/rapture. This time is our allotted time. Job 7:1, Job 14:14, Acts 17:26.
Assuming you have 81 years to live, you’ll spend;
8 hours per day sleeping = 21 years.
8 hours per day working or studying = 21 years.
8 hours per day grooming/miscellaneous = 21 years.
The first 2 sets of 8 hours are fixed, the third one is variable. This means that you don’t have a lot of control over two-thirds of every day of your life. However, there is a lot you can do within the more flexible time. How much time do you have left? Assuming a lifespan of 80 years, you can calculate the number of days you have left by using the following formula:
80 – Age X 365 = number of days left to live.
For a 40-year-old man, the answer is 14,600 days. This translates to:
4866 days sleeping
4866 days working
4866 days to cleanup, shop, eat, exercise, pay bills etc.
The average individual only has 5 hours a day of discretionary time. In the case of this 40-year-old man, he has 1014 days in total of discretionary time. The difference between a fulfilled life and an empty one is often dependent on how this discretionary time is used. Where are you investing those 5 hours a day of your life?
The true cost of things
Our lives are measured in terms of time. Whenever you want to make a major purchase, think of the true cost of the purchase in terms of time. Anything you want to spend money on that demands you spend more time working extra hours to pay for it requires critical thinking. Few things in life are worth the enormous sacrifice of longer hours at work. “You don’t really pay for things with money. You pay for them with time. “In 5 years, I’ll have put enough away to buy that new house. Then I’ll slow down or get out of this business altogether.” That means the house will cost you five years---five out of eighty, maybe. That’s one sixteen of your whole life; one twelfth of your adult life; one quarter of the time you’ll spend living with any one of your children.” Charles Spezzano.
Very few things are worth the extra hours of money-making. Vacation, second home, recreational gadgets, jewelry etc. are usually not worth it. An additional qualification which may eventually increase your hourly rate may be.
Make the most of opportunity
The Bible admonishes us to redeem the time. The word “redeeming” can be translated buying up or purchasing. The word “time” is not the Greek word “chronos" which means clock time that is measured in hours, minutes and seconds, but it is the Greek word "kairos" which refers to quality of time or season. We are not called to be good time managers; we are called to be good opportunity managers. It is not just counting the days, months and years, but making the days, months and years count. Tomorrow you will be given another 24 hours, but you may never have the same opportunity again.
Successful management of life depends on how you manage every 24 hours. The most crucial part of your 24 hours is time spent in dialogue with God. Therefore make sure that part of your 5 hours of discretionary time is spent in activities that have eternal value. Remember that regardless of how you mismanage a particular day another day is a new opportunity for improvement. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning.
Busyness
One excuse many of us have for not giving God our time is that we are very busy. “If you have so much business to attend to that you have no time to pray, you have more business on hand than God ever intended you should have” (DL Moody). “The management of time is the management of self; therefore, if you manage time with God, He will begin to manage you.” (Jill Briscoe). "The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes & hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in." (C.S. Lewis)
In making the most of every opportunity, take note that relationships are the best use of our time. The order is as follows:
Our relationship with God
Relationship with spouse (if any)
Relationship with children (if any)
Relationship with brethren
Relationship with others (neighbors, coworkers, extended family members).
Life is too short to bear grudges, gossip, backbite, harbor hate, plot revenge, and watch TV endlessly. Gain a new perspective. Focus on the eternal. Minimize the temporal. After all, 80 years is a very short time compared to endless life. Our current life is a preparation for the next. Avoid distractions. “You can either pay now and play later or play now and pay later. But either way, you’re going to pay”.
Forget yesterday Phil 3:13-14. Manage your life by managing your day. Stop worrying. “Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday”. There is only one of you for all time. Fearlessly be yourself (Anthony Rapp). And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. (Abraham Lincoln).
Treasure every moment that you have! Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift...That’s why it’s called the “present!”
A colleague told me this story about a time management expert who was teaching a seminar for executives. He placed a large jar in front of the group. Next, he put seven or eight large rocks into the jar until it was full. “Is the jar full?” He asked. Everyone nodded. Then he took pebbles and filled up the jar with the small rocks until they reached the rim. “Is the jar full?” By now, they didn’t answer. So, he poured fine sand in. “Is the jar full?” Some nodded. He proceeded to take a pitcher of water and filled up the jar again. “What’s the lesson about time management?” he asked. Hands shot up, and everyone agreed “No matter how busy you are you can always fit more things into your schedule.” “Wrong.” he replied. “The lesson is: unless you put the big rocks in first, they never will fit in. You must figure out what the big rocks are for you.
The biggest rock in my life is the Rock of Ages. In Him I live and move and have my being. I must carve out time with Him on a daily basis or I am not making adequate preparation for my next life. If I am not going to spend eternity working, shopping or playing golf, it makes sense for me to train myself to spend time with God on earth. My next big rock is my marriage followed by my children. I must also live a love-filled life for the rest of my days.
Terry Muck tells of a letter he received from a man who used to have absolutely no interest in spiritual things. He lived next door to a Christian, and they had a casual relationship. Then the non-Christian’s wife died of cancer within a short time. “I was in total despair. I went through the funeral preparations and the service like I was in a trance. And after the service I went to the path along the river and walked all night. But I did not walk alone. My neighbor - afraid for me, I guess - stayed with me all night. He did not speak; he did not even walk beside me. He just followed me. When the sun finally came up over the river he came over to me and said, "Let’s go get some breakfast."
I go to church now. My neighbor’s church. A religion that can produce the kind of caring and love my neighbor showed me is something I want to find out more about. I want to be like that. I want to love and be loved like that for the rest of my life.”
The Christian saw an opportunity to reveal Christ to his friend. He had learned how to redeem the time.
Wanted: Christ Copiers.
Whose copy are you?
Recent polls show that professing Christians are just as likely as non-Christians to have been divorced, bought a lottery ticket, watch MTV or have subscribed to cable television like HBO and watch R, and even X rated movies as non-Christians. Whose copy are you?
A Christ Copier is a disciple of Christ. He is a “decent example” of Jesus. A disciple is a Christian. The disciples were called Christians (Christ-copy) for the first in Antioch. (Acts 11:26) There are 3 hallmarks of a disciple of Christ: born again, learner, a member of a small group of disciples.
Born again
Discipleship is a journey that starts when an individual surrenders to the Lord, receiving forgiveness of sin in the process. It is a defining moment that starts a relationship between man and God. It cannot be substituted with regular church attendance, church membership, ministry work, charitable works etc. have you invited Jesus who died for you into your heart? If not, it is not too late.
Learner
When anyone becomes born-again, he is a baby in Christ and needs to grow into a mature Christian. There are many who claim to be born again but are not growing. They have lost or never got a Learner’s Permit. This permit is for a lifetime. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby”. 1 Peter 2:2. It is tragedy to start as a babe, and remain so after many years in the faith. Someone with a lower opinion of babies once described them this way: “A baby is a digestive apparatus with a loud noise at one end and no responsibility on the other.” Is your life marked by a desire to know God and become like Him?
Certain characteristics are essential for growth: Food, shelter, clothing, love/affection, ability to hear, speak, think, ability to sit, stand and walk and, ability to read and write. Which of these essentials is most important for growth? Food. Without food, the baby will die and will never have the opportunity to acquire other abilities. Babies need milk, natural or artificial, to survive. They also need to gradually grow to tolerate adult meals in order for their development not to be stunted.
Man is made up or body, soul and spirit. As physical food is to your body, so is the Word of God to your spirit. On average, we eat 3 times daily. How often do we feed our spirits with the Word in a 24-hour period? Stop starving your spirit. Feed your spirit by: Meditating on the Word daily and talking to God for at least 15 minutes daily. God came to Adam in the cool of the evening to chat with him daily. It is one of the reasons we exist. Face-book and twitter God on a daily basis and you will never be the same again.
Member of a small group
There are many lonely people in this world. These loners are in 2 categories: The Ignorant and the Arrogant. The ignorant loner does not know he needs others. The arrogant thinks he is self-sufficient. There is a reason none of us dropped from the sky or shot out of the ground like a plant. Regardless of whether your parents are together or not, everyone was born to a small group called family. It is not good for man to be alone as he goes through life’s journey.
The Almighty God exists as a small group of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Before the God-family made man, man was referred to in the plural. God said, “Let Us make man in our image, according to our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Genesis 1:26.
Soon after Adam was made, God formed a family for him by creating Eve. Genesis 2:24. Noah was found righteous in God’s sight but he did not go into the Ark alone; he went with his household. Genesis 7:1. What do all these have to do with being a disciple of Christ? Jesus had 12 of them; none walked alone. There is no such thing as lonely disciple.
When a child is born, he becomes part of a family of parents and siblings. In the same was, as soon as a man gets born again, he becomes a member of the family of Christ, the Body of Christ, the Church. The local church is a microcosm of the Church Universal. Christ is the Head. Church leaders are the neck. Other parts are made up of all other believers and may play roles that are visible or invisible.
The Body of Christ has all it takes to take care of its own.
Healthcare Department
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. James 5:14-15, Mark 16:18.
Education Department
“Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children” Titus 2:3-4 (NIV), Hebrews 5:12, Ephesians 4:11-13. Older believers (assuming they have grown in the Lord as they should) have a responsibility to teach the babies in the faith.
Bank of Heaven
"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or worse, stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being”. Matthew 6:19-20 (The Message), Matthew 19:21, Philippians 4:19. Giving lays up treasure in heaven. A disciple must be a giver.
Social Security Department
And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met. Acts 2:44-45 (The Message)
Electricity
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. John 1:9.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7.
Water Department
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Ephesians 5:25-27 (NIV)
Waste Management System
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32 (NIV)
Social Services
Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. Galatians 6:1-3 (The Message)
Housing Department
……God is building a home. He's using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home. Ephesians 2:20-22 (The Message).
Diversity of the Body of Christ
Aren’t we happy that our human body is not made up of one huge hand or even a collection of hands? When it comes to our local church, our appreciation of the differences that exist between members is not automatic. It takes work, persistence, commitment, patience, perseverance. Concerning marriage, a man and a woman become one on their wedding day. However, that unity must be nurtured, strengthened and defended throughout their life together. Everyone comes to marriage with a baggage which if not attended to, becomes a source of conflict and eventual separation.
If marriage is challenging, imagine the potential for division in a church with many more members than an average family! We all have issues and baggage that we have brought into our relationship as members. But we must win one another’s trust with unconditional love.
Don’t be a leech. The human body does not exist to meet the needs of the hand. The hand exists to meet the needs of the body and in doing so gets its own needs met. The Church does not exist to meet our needs. We exist to carry out the work of the Body and in doing so our own needs are met.
Every member is a minister.
As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV)
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 1 Corinthians 12:7 (NKJV)
But that doesn't mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. Ephesians 4:7 (Message)
Nobody is a nobody in the body of Christ. We all have a distinct role to play.
From him (Christ) the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:16.
The church will not grow if each part doesn’t do its work. Everyone is essential. No one is useless. This is illustrated in the fictional story below:
A man broke his left arm.
One night when he couldn’t sleep, he imagined a dialogue between his right and left hands.
Right Hand said, “Left Hand, you are not missed. Everybody’s glad it was you that was broken and not me. You are not very important.”
Left Hand asked, “How are you superior?”
Right Hand replied, “Why, my owner cannot write a letter without me.”
Left Hand: “But who holds the paper on which he writes?”
Right Hand: “Who swings the hammer?”
Left Hand: “Who holds the nail?”
Right Hand: “Who guides the plane when the carpenter smoothens a board?”
Left Hand: “Who steadies the board?”
Right Hand: “When our owner walks down the street and lifts his hat to greet someone, which of us does it?”
Left Hand: “Who holds the briefcase while he does it?”
Then he continued, “Let me ask you a question. When our owner shaved yesterday, you held the razor, but his face is cut because I wasn’t there to help. Also, our owner’s watch has stopped. Why? You may do the winding, but if I’m not there to hold it, the watch won’t get wound. You can’t take money out of his wallet to pay for something because I’m not there to hold it. The master can do very few things without me.”
In summary, a Christ-copier must be born again, eager to learn by meditating on the Word and praying daily, and be an active part of a local church where he or she is located.
Recent polls show that professing Christians are just as likely as non-Christians to have been divorced, bought a lottery ticket, watch MTV or have subscribed to cable television like HBO and watch R, and even X rated movies as non-Christians. Whose copy are you?
A Christ Copier is a disciple of Christ. He is a “decent example” of Jesus. A disciple is a Christian. The disciples were called Christians (Christ-copy) for the first in Antioch. (Acts 11:26) There are 3 hallmarks of a disciple of Christ: born again, learner, a member of a small group of disciples.
Born again
Discipleship is a journey that starts when an individual surrenders to the Lord, receiving forgiveness of sin in the process. It is a defining moment that starts a relationship between man and God. It cannot be substituted with regular church attendance, church membership, ministry work, charitable works etc. have you invited Jesus who died for you into your heart? If not, it is not too late.
Learner
When anyone becomes born-again, he is a baby in Christ and needs to grow into a mature Christian. There are many who claim to be born again but are not growing. They have lost or never got a Learner’s Permit. This permit is for a lifetime. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby”. 1 Peter 2:2. It is tragedy to start as a babe, and remain so after many years in the faith. Someone with a lower opinion of babies once described them this way: “A baby is a digestive apparatus with a loud noise at one end and no responsibility on the other.” Is your life marked by a desire to know God and become like Him?
Certain characteristics are essential for growth: Food, shelter, clothing, love/affection, ability to hear, speak, think, ability to sit, stand and walk and, ability to read and write. Which of these essentials is most important for growth? Food. Without food, the baby will die and will never have the opportunity to acquire other abilities. Babies need milk, natural or artificial, to survive. They also need to gradually grow to tolerate adult meals in order for their development not to be stunted.
Man is made up or body, soul and spirit. As physical food is to your body, so is the Word of God to your spirit. On average, we eat 3 times daily. How often do we feed our spirits with the Word in a 24-hour period? Stop starving your spirit. Feed your spirit by: Meditating on the Word daily and talking to God for at least 15 minutes daily. God came to Adam in the cool of the evening to chat with him daily. It is one of the reasons we exist. Face-book and twitter God on a daily basis and you will never be the same again.
Member of a small group
There are many lonely people in this world. These loners are in 2 categories: The Ignorant and the Arrogant. The ignorant loner does not know he needs others. The arrogant thinks he is self-sufficient. There is a reason none of us dropped from the sky or shot out of the ground like a plant. Regardless of whether your parents are together or not, everyone was born to a small group called family. It is not good for man to be alone as he goes through life’s journey.
The Almighty God exists as a small group of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Before the God-family made man, man was referred to in the plural. God said, “Let Us make man in our image, according to our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Genesis 1:26.
Soon after Adam was made, God formed a family for him by creating Eve. Genesis 2:24. Noah was found righteous in God’s sight but he did not go into the Ark alone; he went with his household. Genesis 7:1. What do all these have to do with being a disciple of Christ? Jesus had 12 of them; none walked alone. There is no such thing as lonely disciple.
When a child is born, he becomes part of a family of parents and siblings. In the same was, as soon as a man gets born again, he becomes a member of the family of Christ, the Body of Christ, the Church. The local church is a microcosm of the Church Universal. Christ is the Head. Church leaders are the neck. Other parts are made up of all other believers and may play roles that are visible or invisible.
The Body of Christ has all it takes to take care of its own.
Healthcare Department
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. James 5:14-15, Mark 16:18.
Education Department
“Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children” Titus 2:3-4 (NIV), Hebrews 5:12, Ephesians 4:11-13. Older believers (assuming they have grown in the Lord as they should) have a responsibility to teach the babies in the faith.
Bank of Heaven
"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or worse, stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being”. Matthew 6:19-20 (The Message), Matthew 19:21, Philippians 4:19. Giving lays up treasure in heaven. A disciple must be a giver.
Social Security Department
And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met. Acts 2:44-45 (The Message)
Electricity
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. John 1:9.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7.
Water Department
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Ephesians 5:25-27 (NIV)
Waste Management System
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32 (NIV)
Social Services
Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. Galatians 6:1-3 (The Message)
Housing Department
……God is building a home. He's using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home. Ephesians 2:20-22 (The Message).
Diversity of the Body of Christ
Aren’t we happy that our human body is not made up of one huge hand or even a collection of hands? When it comes to our local church, our appreciation of the differences that exist between members is not automatic. It takes work, persistence, commitment, patience, perseverance. Concerning marriage, a man and a woman become one on their wedding day. However, that unity must be nurtured, strengthened and defended throughout their life together. Everyone comes to marriage with a baggage which if not attended to, becomes a source of conflict and eventual separation.
If marriage is challenging, imagine the potential for division in a church with many more members than an average family! We all have issues and baggage that we have brought into our relationship as members. But we must win one another’s trust with unconditional love.
Don’t be a leech. The human body does not exist to meet the needs of the hand. The hand exists to meet the needs of the body and in doing so gets its own needs met. The Church does not exist to meet our needs. We exist to carry out the work of the Body and in doing so our own needs are met.
Every member is a minister.
As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV)
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 1 Corinthians 12:7 (NKJV)
But that doesn't mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. Ephesians 4:7 (Message)
Nobody is a nobody in the body of Christ. We all have a distinct role to play.
From him (Christ) the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:16.
The church will not grow if each part doesn’t do its work. Everyone is essential. No one is useless. This is illustrated in the fictional story below:
A man broke his left arm.
One night when he couldn’t sleep, he imagined a dialogue between his right and left hands.
Right Hand said, “Left Hand, you are not missed. Everybody’s glad it was you that was broken and not me. You are not very important.”
Left Hand asked, “How are you superior?”
Right Hand replied, “Why, my owner cannot write a letter without me.”
Left Hand: “But who holds the paper on which he writes?”
Right Hand: “Who swings the hammer?”
Left Hand: “Who holds the nail?”
Right Hand: “Who guides the plane when the carpenter smoothens a board?”
Left Hand: “Who steadies the board?”
Right Hand: “When our owner walks down the street and lifts his hat to greet someone, which of us does it?”
Left Hand: “Who holds the briefcase while he does it?”
Then he continued, “Let me ask you a question. When our owner shaved yesterday, you held the razor, but his face is cut because I wasn’t there to help. Also, our owner’s watch has stopped. Why? You may do the winding, but if I’m not there to hold it, the watch won’t get wound. You can’t take money out of his wallet to pay for something because I’m not there to hold it. The master can do very few things without me.”
In summary, a Christ-copier must be born again, eager to learn by meditating on the Word and praying daily, and be an active part of a local church where he or she is located.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Islam: What every Christian should know
Islam had its origins in the Middle East. The four largest populations of Muslims are Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world today (there are between 1.2 and 1.5 billion Muslims in the world, nearly 25% making it the 2nd largest religion after Christianity at about 33% or 2.1 billion).
In America, they’re at least 7 million and quickly rising. There were 11,000 converts to Islam each year in the United States in the early 90s (Newsweek, Oct. 30, 1995) and 90% of them are among the black population. The word Islam, meaning submission, says much about the attitude of the followers of Islam.
Origin
Islam traces its lineage to the firstborn son of Abraham by Hagar, Ishmael. (Gen 16:16). The Jews trace their lineage to Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah who had been promised by God. Muhammad Ibne Abdullah founded Islam. He was born at or around 570 A.D. in the city of Mecca, which is now located in Saudi Arabia. He was orphaned early in his life and tradition says that he was raised by his grandfather and then his uncle, Abu Talib.
Muhammad was a poor man until he married a wealthy widow named Khadija. At about the age of 40, Muhammad is said to have begun to see visions and receive revelations. He had 9 wives but in his day, those who had more than 4 were commanded to divorce them. He was the only one exempt from this rule. One of his wives was 9-year-old Aisha Siddique who he married when he was 56 years old.
Writings
Qur’an. The Qur’an is considered to be Allah’s final revelation to humanity and is said to have been revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel over a period of 26 years.
The Hadith are a collection of oral traditions surrounding the sayings and teachings of the prophet Muhammad. Both are widely accepted among Muslims.
The 5 pillars
The 1st pillar is Shahadah. As a profession of this faith, they would say, in Arabic, “I testify that there is only one god Allah and that Muhammad is his messenger.” The 2nd pillar of Islam is Salat. This requires a Muslim to pray five times a day at specific times. The 3rd pillar is Zakaat. This is alms-giving which is required from all who are able to do so. Sawm, the 4th pillar, is ritual fasting during the season of Ramadan. Muslims have to abstain from food, drink, and sexual intercourse from dawn to dusk during this month. The 5th pillar is the Haji. Every able Muslim is obliged to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if they can afford it.
What Muslims believe
Muslims believe that Allah is their god. During the days of Muhammad, each Arab tribe used the word Allah to refer to its own particular god. Before Islam began, the moon god was the central focus of prayer and worship at Kabah. Interestingly the moon god was worshiped by praying toward Mecca several times a day, making an annual pilgrimage to the Kabah which was the temple of the moon god, running around the Kabah seven times, touching a black stone set in the wall of the Kabah and gathering on Fridays for prayer and giving of alms to the poor. These were all part of the pagan rites practiced by the Arabs long before Muhammad was born and they still serve as “the five pillars” of Islam practiced today.
Muslims generally are among the most serious and devout people on the earth. Many of them have completely memorized the Koran. They pray at least five times a day. They fast for one month every year (during Ramadan, from sunrise to sunset). Islam does have a high standard of morality called the “straight path,” which must be strictly maintained. Women are regarded as possible temptations which would lead men away from the path, so women must be modest to the point of being veiled and wearing clothing that completely covers them. Rape victims according to the Koran have to produce 4 male witnesses of good character to say that they were raped or they will be charged with adultery and stoned according to Islamic tradition. Also according to the Koran, all a man has to do to divorce his wife is say Talaq 3 times. For women of course getting a divorce is much harder.
Moslems belief that the moment they blow themselves up, taking ‘infidels’ with them, they will be transported to a heaven where 72 virgins will satiate their lusts and food and drink will satisfy their every appetite. This is why some of the 9/11 terrorists were frequenting porn shops just before their attacks
True Christianity is spread by love and choice – Islam is spread by sword and force.
Islam is a religion of works which was created by a warlord. Muhammad conquered territories and then rallied the conquered peoples around one central religion, which he created. Islam is a religion bathed in bloodshed. Islam clearly teaches that all non-Muslims who refuse to be persuaded be killed as stated in the following verses from Qur’an:
"But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practice regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful." (Surah 9:5)
"O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty (unto Him). “(Surah 9:123)
"Fight those who believe not in Allah or the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." (Surah 9:29)
Surah 9:29 “Fight against such of those who have been given the Scriptures (Bible) as believers not in Allah…”
Surah 5:51 “O you who believe: Take not Jews and Christians for your friends…”
Surah 60:4 “And there has arisen between us and you hostility and hate forever until you believe in Allah only.”
According to Professor Gabriel Weismann of Haifa University, “There are some 4,800 terrorists or terrorist related Web sites currently on the Internet.” Not every Muslim is a terrorist or a terrorism supporter, but almost every terrorist today is a Muslim! And because of what the Qur’an says, every Muslim is high risk to one day rise up against us.
True Christianity worships the eternally self-existent God who spoke the world into being. Islam worship a god named Allah who is not eternal and who created nothing. James 2:19.
Is Islam a peaceful religion?
Many moderate Muslims would say yes but action speaks louder than words. Jerry Rassamni, a former Muslim extremist who converted to Christ, wrote the book “From Jihad to Jesus.” He writes, “In Islam, the world is traditionally divided into two camps. Those are Dar Al Islam (literally house of Islam or submission) meaning House of Peace, and Dar Al Harb (House of War).
Salman Rushdie had a fatwa (an Islamic death sentence upon someone who is considered an infidel, apostate or a blasphemer) was issued against him by Ayatollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, in February 1989. He remains under British government protection till today.
After a Danish newspaper displayed 12 cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad in 2005 and early 2006, violent protests erupted around the world. Muslims throughout the Middle East and Africa rioted. They burned embassies and churches and fought with police; at least 200 people died and many more were injured. More recently, the preacher from Georgia, Terry Jones, who planned to torch 200 copies of the Qur’an, may face a $200,000 bill for policing costs during the firestorm his plan created, The Gainesville Sun newspaper reported.
In September 2001, at least 915 people were killed as Christian-Muslim violence flared in northern Nigeria. The following year, more than 200 died in rioting in the northern city of Kaduna. The first spate of violence of 2010 started on 17 January at Jos in Nigeria and lasted at least four days. Houses, churches, mosques and vehicles were set ablaze during the fighting. At least 200 people were killed. In the same area, hundreds of people died in fresh clashes in March 2010. According to the New York Times, the slaughtered villagers were, Yoruba, mostly Christians, slain by machete attacks from the Hausa-Fulani, a group of Muslim herdsmen. Hundreds more left the scene of the attack in case the perpetrators returned.
Christianity versus Islam
In the Koran there are no miracles performed by Mohammed or anyone else. There is not a single mention of the love of Allah for the world or the people in it. There are many laws and strict warnings of the penalty of not keeping the laws. The concept of having a relationship with Allah is not found anywhere in the Koran. But Christians understand that Christianity is not about moral laws or religious practices — it is about a relationship with a living Savior, Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:8-11.
The greatest tension between Christian and Muslims is the difference between Muhammad and Jesus Christ. To Muslims, Jesus was a prophet but not the Son of God. While Christians understand that Jesus was not a way to God, He is the only way to heaven. John 14:6-7. For Muslims, evangelism is not so much by the word as it is with the sword. The followers of Mohammad have been the most violent people in the history of the world, and continue to be so to this day — a fact well attested to in history. Jesus taught that we are to love the sinner. Mohammed taught that the infidel must be killed if he refuses to convert.
Islamic Methods of Conversion
According to the Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HUT) conference 1994, Muslims have been instructed to specifically target problem groups for conversion. These include teenage girls, people with social problems, the recently bereaved and victims of abuse as children. These people are considered to be weak willed and easily manipulated. Once identified, the Muslim will try to convince their target that Islam will magically solve all their problems. Muslim men are to target non-Muslim girls with plain or unattractive physical, facial or body features. These girls would not be accustomed to this attention and would do anything to maintain a relationship.
Muslims work in groups when converting, with one person forming a very close friendship with their target. The group works to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the person involved and then will work accordingly. If for example, the person loves sport, they go on about how Islam actively encourages sport and how all the world's best sportsmen such as Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson are Muslims. If the person has a strongly anti-white attitude, then they will stir up racial hatred against whites even more by talking about past white injustices against them. This policy has been used effectively with African-Americans, with whom they talk about the slave trade and give Malcolm X as role model. The poor are offered well-paid jobs with Muslim businesses providing they convert.
Political Strategies of Islam
Islam is a religion committed to making EVERYONE Muslim. It is the duty of every Muslim to wage Jihad (Holy War) against infidels and unbelievers (what the Koran calls non-Muslims) and make them submit to Islam. Violence against unbelievers is encouraged in the Koran, if gentle persuasion doesn’t work. The HUT and other Muslim groups aim to make FRANCE, an Islamic Republic by the year 2015 and Britain by 2025 through conversions, immigration and high Muslim birth rate. Please take time to watch the stunning video below titled Muslim Demographics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU
Conclusion
Violence had been part of Islam from its inception as a religion. World domination is its current goal. It is intent on
1) Dominating the entire Middle East
2) Wiping Israel off the map
3) Fulfilling what it sees as its mission of bringing the entire world into a state of submission to the religion of Muhammad. It's already happening in Europe.
Human governments cannot stop Islam; it is a religion governed by a violent principality. Only born-again believers who are strong in the Lord can tame it. The Almighty God is not afraid of Islam. “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.” Psalms 2: 4. The Lord laughs at the attempt by Muslims to dominate the world with their religion. The enemy behind the Islamic propagation is Satan, a defeated foe. Let us join the Lord Jesus in asking the Father who admonished us to “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession”. Psalms 2:8.
In America, they’re at least 7 million and quickly rising. There were 11,000 converts to Islam each year in the United States in the early 90s (Newsweek, Oct. 30, 1995) and 90% of them are among the black population. The word Islam, meaning submission, says much about the attitude of the followers of Islam.
Origin
Islam traces its lineage to the firstborn son of Abraham by Hagar, Ishmael. (Gen 16:16). The Jews trace their lineage to Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah who had been promised by God. Muhammad Ibne Abdullah founded Islam. He was born at or around 570 A.D. in the city of Mecca, which is now located in Saudi Arabia. He was orphaned early in his life and tradition says that he was raised by his grandfather and then his uncle, Abu Talib.
Muhammad was a poor man until he married a wealthy widow named Khadija. At about the age of 40, Muhammad is said to have begun to see visions and receive revelations. He had 9 wives but in his day, those who had more than 4 were commanded to divorce them. He was the only one exempt from this rule. One of his wives was 9-year-old Aisha Siddique who he married when he was 56 years old.
Writings
Qur’an. The Qur’an is considered to be Allah’s final revelation to humanity and is said to have been revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel over a period of 26 years.
The Hadith are a collection of oral traditions surrounding the sayings and teachings of the prophet Muhammad. Both are widely accepted among Muslims.
The 5 pillars
The 1st pillar is Shahadah. As a profession of this faith, they would say, in Arabic, “I testify that there is only one god Allah and that Muhammad is his messenger.” The 2nd pillar of Islam is Salat. This requires a Muslim to pray five times a day at specific times. The 3rd pillar is Zakaat. This is alms-giving which is required from all who are able to do so. Sawm, the 4th pillar, is ritual fasting during the season of Ramadan. Muslims have to abstain from food, drink, and sexual intercourse from dawn to dusk during this month. The 5th pillar is the Haji. Every able Muslim is obliged to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if they can afford it.
What Muslims believe
Muslims believe that Allah is their god. During the days of Muhammad, each Arab tribe used the word Allah to refer to its own particular god. Before Islam began, the moon god was the central focus of prayer and worship at Kabah. Interestingly the moon god was worshiped by praying toward Mecca several times a day, making an annual pilgrimage to the Kabah which was the temple of the moon god, running around the Kabah seven times, touching a black stone set in the wall of the Kabah and gathering on Fridays for prayer and giving of alms to the poor. These were all part of the pagan rites practiced by the Arabs long before Muhammad was born and they still serve as “the five pillars” of Islam practiced today.
Muslims generally are among the most serious and devout people on the earth. Many of them have completely memorized the Koran. They pray at least five times a day. They fast for one month every year (during Ramadan, from sunrise to sunset). Islam does have a high standard of morality called the “straight path,” which must be strictly maintained. Women are regarded as possible temptations which would lead men away from the path, so women must be modest to the point of being veiled and wearing clothing that completely covers them. Rape victims according to the Koran have to produce 4 male witnesses of good character to say that they were raped or they will be charged with adultery and stoned according to Islamic tradition. Also according to the Koran, all a man has to do to divorce his wife is say Talaq 3 times. For women of course getting a divorce is much harder.
Moslems belief that the moment they blow themselves up, taking ‘infidels’ with them, they will be transported to a heaven where 72 virgins will satiate their lusts and food and drink will satisfy their every appetite. This is why some of the 9/11 terrorists were frequenting porn shops just before their attacks
True Christianity is spread by love and choice – Islam is spread by sword and force.
Islam is a religion of works which was created by a warlord. Muhammad conquered territories and then rallied the conquered peoples around one central religion, which he created. Islam is a religion bathed in bloodshed. Islam clearly teaches that all non-Muslims who refuse to be persuaded be killed as stated in the following verses from Qur’an:
"But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practice regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful." (Surah 9:5)
"O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty (unto Him). “(Surah 9:123)
"Fight those who believe not in Allah or the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." (Surah 9:29)
Surah 9:29 “Fight against such of those who have been given the Scriptures (Bible) as believers not in Allah…”
Surah 5:51 “O you who believe: Take not Jews and Christians for your friends…”
Surah 60:4 “And there has arisen between us and you hostility and hate forever until you believe in Allah only.”
According to Professor Gabriel Weismann of Haifa University, “There are some 4,800 terrorists or terrorist related Web sites currently on the Internet.” Not every Muslim is a terrorist or a terrorism supporter, but almost every terrorist today is a Muslim! And because of what the Qur’an says, every Muslim is high risk to one day rise up against us.
True Christianity worships the eternally self-existent God who spoke the world into being. Islam worship a god named Allah who is not eternal and who created nothing. James 2:19.
Is Islam a peaceful religion?
Many moderate Muslims would say yes but action speaks louder than words. Jerry Rassamni, a former Muslim extremist who converted to Christ, wrote the book “From Jihad to Jesus.” He writes, “In Islam, the world is traditionally divided into two camps. Those are Dar Al Islam (literally house of Islam or submission) meaning House of Peace, and Dar Al Harb (House of War).
Salman Rushdie had a fatwa (an Islamic death sentence upon someone who is considered an infidel, apostate or a blasphemer) was issued against him by Ayatollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, in February 1989. He remains under British government protection till today.
After a Danish newspaper displayed 12 cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad in 2005 and early 2006, violent protests erupted around the world. Muslims throughout the Middle East and Africa rioted. They burned embassies and churches and fought with police; at least 200 people died and many more were injured. More recently, the preacher from Georgia, Terry Jones, who planned to torch 200 copies of the Qur’an, may face a $200,000 bill for policing costs during the firestorm his plan created, The Gainesville Sun newspaper reported.
In September 2001, at least 915 people were killed as Christian-Muslim violence flared in northern Nigeria. The following year, more than 200 died in rioting in the northern city of Kaduna. The first spate of violence of 2010 started on 17 January at Jos in Nigeria and lasted at least four days. Houses, churches, mosques and vehicles were set ablaze during the fighting. At least 200 people were killed. In the same area, hundreds of people died in fresh clashes in March 2010. According to the New York Times, the slaughtered villagers were, Yoruba, mostly Christians, slain by machete attacks from the Hausa-Fulani, a group of Muslim herdsmen. Hundreds more left the scene of the attack in case the perpetrators returned.
Christianity versus Islam
In the Koran there are no miracles performed by Mohammed or anyone else. There is not a single mention of the love of Allah for the world or the people in it. There are many laws and strict warnings of the penalty of not keeping the laws. The concept of having a relationship with Allah is not found anywhere in the Koran. But Christians understand that Christianity is not about moral laws or religious practices — it is about a relationship with a living Savior, Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:8-11.
The greatest tension between Christian and Muslims is the difference between Muhammad and Jesus Christ. To Muslims, Jesus was a prophet but not the Son of God. While Christians understand that Jesus was not a way to God, He is the only way to heaven. John 14:6-7. For Muslims, evangelism is not so much by the word as it is with the sword. The followers of Mohammad have been the most violent people in the history of the world, and continue to be so to this day — a fact well attested to in history. Jesus taught that we are to love the sinner. Mohammed taught that the infidel must be killed if he refuses to convert.
Islamic Methods of Conversion
According to the Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HUT) conference 1994, Muslims have been instructed to specifically target problem groups for conversion. These include teenage girls, people with social problems, the recently bereaved and victims of abuse as children. These people are considered to be weak willed and easily manipulated. Once identified, the Muslim will try to convince their target that Islam will magically solve all their problems. Muslim men are to target non-Muslim girls with plain or unattractive physical, facial or body features. These girls would not be accustomed to this attention and would do anything to maintain a relationship.
Muslims work in groups when converting, with one person forming a very close friendship with their target. The group works to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the person involved and then will work accordingly. If for example, the person loves sport, they go on about how Islam actively encourages sport and how all the world's best sportsmen such as Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson are Muslims. If the person has a strongly anti-white attitude, then they will stir up racial hatred against whites even more by talking about past white injustices against them. This policy has been used effectively with African-Americans, with whom they talk about the slave trade and give Malcolm X as role model. The poor are offered well-paid jobs with Muslim businesses providing they convert.
Political Strategies of Islam
Islam is a religion committed to making EVERYONE Muslim. It is the duty of every Muslim to wage Jihad (Holy War) against infidels and unbelievers (what the Koran calls non-Muslims) and make them submit to Islam. Violence against unbelievers is encouraged in the Koran, if gentle persuasion doesn’t work. The HUT and other Muslim groups aim to make FRANCE, an Islamic Republic by the year 2015 and Britain by 2025 through conversions, immigration and high Muslim birth rate. Please take time to watch the stunning video below titled Muslim Demographics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU
Conclusion
Violence had been part of Islam from its inception as a religion. World domination is its current goal. It is intent on
1) Dominating the entire Middle East
2) Wiping Israel off the map
3) Fulfilling what it sees as its mission of bringing the entire world into a state of submission to the religion of Muhammad. It's already happening in Europe.
Human governments cannot stop Islam; it is a religion governed by a violent principality. Only born-again believers who are strong in the Lord can tame it. The Almighty God is not afraid of Islam. “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.” Psalms 2: 4. The Lord laughs at the attempt by Muslims to dominate the world with their religion. The enemy behind the Islamic propagation is Satan, a defeated foe. Let us join the Lord Jesus in asking the Father who admonished us to “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession”. Psalms 2:8.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
GRACE
Many of us are like the poet Heinrich Heine who said, “My nature is the most peaceful in the world. All I ask is a simple cottage, a decent bed, good food, some flowers in front of my window, and a few trees beside my door. Then, if God wanted to make me completely happy, he would let me enjoy the spectacle of six or seven of my enemies dangling from those trees. I would forgive them all the wrongs they have done me from the bottom of my heart, for we must forgive our enemies. But not until they are hanged.”
In the secular world, we are taught mottos such as: the early bird gets the worm, no pain no gain, there is no such thing as a free lunch, demand your rights, you get what you pay for. These are all merit-based virtues. We are brought in a world where you get things done by your might and power. Then you read what God spoke to Zerubbabel in Zechariah 4:6-7, “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it”. Then we came to know Christ, the antithesis of merit.
Grace: God’s favor that is unearned, undeserved and unrepayable.
Grace is a gift that costs everything to the giver and nothing to the receiver. It is given to those who don’t deserve it, barely recognize it, and hardly appreciate it. God sought us out when we had our backs turned on Him. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. Romans 5:6-8
It is important to understand grace because God does not use men based on merit. The grace of God is demonstrated in the kinds of people He used in the Bible. Such persons include:
Rahab, a harlot
David, the murderer and adulterer
Jacob, the cheat and liar
Noah, who got drunk after the flood
Moses, the murderer with a hot temper
Jonah, who disobeyed because he did not understand grace of God
Peter, who denied the Lord
James & John, who piously thought they were the greatest
Paul, who killed Christians in the name of religion
Grace teaches us that there is nothing you can do to make God love you more. There is nothing you can do to make God love you less. In Jesus Christ, our value in God’s Kingdom is set from the very beginning. Our value does not depend on our position, status or ability but upon the person of Jesus Christ.
The example of Christ
The Lord Jesus had God’s grace upon Him. “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him”. Luke 2:40, John1:14
The Lord Jesus accomplished all he did by the grace of God. “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”. John 1:16-17. Even the death on the cross was by the grace of God.
“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone”. Hebrews 2:9
The Lord Jesus was grace personified. 2 Corinthians 13:14. None of us can relate with Christ without grace. Even the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of grace in Hebrews 10:29.
No Christianity without grace
1. No one can be saved without grace. According to Ephesians 2:8–9
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast”. Our gospel is the gospel of grace. The good news is good only because of grace. Acts 20:24, Titus 2:11.
We are justified by the grace of God and our redemption from the sin market is by grace also. Romans 3:24, Eph 1:6-7.
2. Our calling is by grace. Gal 1:15.
3. Grace is a gift from God to us. “Who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time 2 Tim 1:9
4. Believers in Jesus are under grace, not under the law. Romans 6:14
5. The Word of God is the Word of His grace. The impact of the Word in your life is based on grace. Acts 20:32
6. Our faith works by grace. Romans 4:16
7. Spiritual gifts come to us by grace. Romans 12:6, Eph 4:7
8. You are who you are in Christ by the grace of God with each of us receiving unique parcel of grace from our Lord Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15:10, Ephesians 4:7.
You can only serve the Lord by grace. Your success in the ministry depends on the grace of God. Ephesians 3:7, 1 Peter 4:10.
9. Our ability and desire to give are grace-driven. 2 Corinthians 8:1-7, 2 Corinthians 9:8.
10. In prayer, we approach our Father who sits on the throne of grace. Hebrews 4:16
11. The last verse in the Bible speaks of grace. Without grace, the Bible has no meaning. Revelation 22:21
Grace Multipliers
There are 3 things that increase the grace of God in our lives: the knowledge of God, humility and holiness. You grow in grace as your knowledge of the Lord increases. 2 Peter 3:18, 2 Tim 2:1, 2 Peter 1:2. As we draw closer to God, we become more aware of our inadequacies versus God’s awesomeness. We come to understand the importance of grace for such a God to choose to work in and through our lives.
Humility before the Lord is a grace multiplier. James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5-6. Humility is attractive to God and brings His grace to us. Holiness unto the Lord is another grace multiplier. Heb 12:14-16.
In the secular world, we are taught mottos such as: the early bird gets the worm, no pain no gain, there is no such thing as a free lunch, demand your rights, you get what you pay for. These are all merit-based virtues. We are brought in a world where you get things done by your might and power. Then you read what God spoke to Zerubbabel in Zechariah 4:6-7, “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it”. Then we came to know Christ, the antithesis of merit.
Grace: God’s favor that is unearned, undeserved and unrepayable.
Grace is a gift that costs everything to the giver and nothing to the receiver. It is given to those who don’t deserve it, barely recognize it, and hardly appreciate it. God sought us out when we had our backs turned on Him. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. Romans 5:6-8
It is important to understand grace because God does not use men based on merit. The grace of God is demonstrated in the kinds of people He used in the Bible. Such persons include:
Rahab, a harlot
David, the murderer and adulterer
Jacob, the cheat and liar
Noah, who got drunk after the flood
Moses, the murderer with a hot temper
Jonah, who disobeyed because he did not understand grace of God
Peter, who denied the Lord
James & John, who piously thought they were the greatest
Paul, who killed Christians in the name of religion
Grace teaches us that there is nothing you can do to make God love you more. There is nothing you can do to make God love you less. In Jesus Christ, our value in God’s Kingdom is set from the very beginning. Our value does not depend on our position, status or ability but upon the person of Jesus Christ.
The example of Christ
The Lord Jesus had God’s grace upon Him. “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him”. Luke 2:40, John1:14
The Lord Jesus accomplished all he did by the grace of God. “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”. John 1:16-17. Even the death on the cross was by the grace of God.
“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone”. Hebrews 2:9
The Lord Jesus was grace personified. 2 Corinthians 13:14. None of us can relate with Christ without grace. Even the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of grace in Hebrews 10:29.
No Christianity without grace
1. No one can be saved without grace. According to Ephesians 2:8–9
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast”. Our gospel is the gospel of grace. The good news is good only because of grace. Acts 20:24, Titus 2:11.
We are justified by the grace of God and our redemption from the sin market is by grace also. Romans 3:24, Eph 1:6-7.
2. Our calling is by grace. Gal 1:15.
3. Grace is a gift from God to us. “Who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time 2 Tim 1:9
4. Believers in Jesus are under grace, not under the law. Romans 6:14
5. The Word of God is the Word of His grace. The impact of the Word in your life is based on grace. Acts 20:32
6. Our faith works by grace. Romans 4:16
7. Spiritual gifts come to us by grace. Romans 12:6, Eph 4:7
8. You are who you are in Christ by the grace of God with each of us receiving unique parcel of grace from our Lord Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15:10, Ephesians 4:7.
You can only serve the Lord by grace. Your success in the ministry depends on the grace of God. Ephesians 3:7, 1 Peter 4:10.
9. Our ability and desire to give are grace-driven. 2 Corinthians 8:1-7, 2 Corinthians 9:8.
10. In prayer, we approach our Father who sits on the throne of grace. Hebrews 4:16
11. The last verse in the Bible speaks of grace. Without grace, the Bible has no meaning. Revelation 22:21
Grace Multipliers
There are 3 things that increase the grace of God in our lives: the knowledge of God, humility and holiness. You grow in grace as your knowledge of the Lord increases. 2 Peter 3:18, 2 Tim 2:1, 2 Peter 1:2. As we draw closer to God, we become more aware of our inadequacies versus God’s awesomeness. We come to understand the importance of grace for such a God to choose to work in and through our lives.
Humility before the Lord is a grace multiplier. James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5-6. Humility is attractive to God and brings His grace to us. Holiness unto the Lord is another grace multiplier. Heb 12:14-16.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Humility
Humility
What is humility?
True humility can be defined as the true measure of a man in relation to God. It is when a creature knows his limits in comparison to the Creator. When John said, 'I am not the Christ' and 'I am not good enough to untie the strings of his sandals', that is humility (John 1:20, 27). When Christ told Peter he would deny Him three times before the cock crows, the disciple's refusal to accept the truth shows pride. Pride goes before a fall. Humility comes before promotion.
Humility according to John 3:30 is, “He must become greater; I must become less”. The natural man is born full of himself. The process whereby he gets filled with God as he empties himself is humility. It is the displacement of self by the enthronement of God. Where God is all, self is nothing.
The measure of a man compared to God is his humility. It is not how we compare ourselves with others or where we stand in relation to our peers. Humility is not peer review. It's not a byproduct of peer pressure. You can't generate humility from your resume. The only assessment that generates true humility is when we see God as He is and us as we are. When we understand that the race is not for the swift and the battle is not for the strong, we become humble (Ecclesiastes 9:11). When we come to know that in life, the elder may serve the younger not by fault but by fate, we become humble (Genesis 25:23). When we get the revelation that our accomplishments are not by might nor by power but by divine enablement, we become humble (Zechariah 4:6). When we come to find out that sometimes in divine mathematics, 1+1=100, and a man may sow in time of famine and reap a hundredfold, we become humble (Genesis 26:12).
You are not God
The first recorded temptation took place when the snake told Eve in Genesis 3:4-5 that she will be like God if she ate the forbidden fruit. Since then, mankind had been trying to play God. You are not God. Never been, never will be. In fact, if you want to really enjoy life, recognize that the One and Only God is your source for everything you are and have.
“For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” 1 Corinthians 4:7
The 2 types of humility
“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. Colossians 2:18
“Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. Colossians 2: 20-23
True humility is distinctly different from false humility which consists of deprecating one's own sanctity, gifts, talents, and accomplishments for the sake of receiving praise or adulation from other. False humility is humility for show. It is limited to the external.
True humility starts on the inside although it may manifest itself outwardly. It is primarily an attitude of the heart. It submits to God and legitimate authority. It recognizes virtues and talents that others possess, particularly those that surpass one's own, and gives due honor and, when required, obedience.
Benefits of Humility
“For thus says the high and lofty One--He who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, but with him also who is of a thoroughly penitent and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the thoroughly penitent. Isaiah 57: 15.
Humility makes God feel at home with you. Pride drives him away. Any attribute that draws us closer to God is a crucial one to possess.
“He who is greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself [with haughtiness and empty pride] shall be humbled (brought low), and whoever humbles himself [whoever has a modest opinion of himself and behaves accordingly] shall be raised to honor”. Matthew 23:11-12. Another benefit of humility is the potential to be promoted by the Lord. Promotion does not come from the east or the west but from the Lord and humility is a catalyst for it.
Humility also helps in receiving from God. “If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land”. 2 Chronicles 7:14
Dangers of Pride
Pride is the opposite of humility. The Greek word most often translated proud is: - Phusioo - to blow up, or puff up, inflate. “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” Proverbs 16:18–19. Humility is being weak and pitiful and knowing it. Pride is being weak and pitiful and believing otherwise. Lack of humility leads to humiliation. It also brings resistance from the Lord. James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5. The same God resisted the people of Babel in Genesis 11:4 when they said, “And they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth”. However, in the following chapter, Genesis 12:1-2, He promised Abram what he denied the people of Babel. “Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing”. What you stand to lose from pride you gain by humility.
“I used to think that God’s gifts were on shelves one above another and the taller we grow, the easier we can reach them. Now, I find, that God’s gifts are on shelves one beneath another and the lower we stoop, the more we get”. F. B. Meyer.
Like Father, like son
“In God’s family, children never grow up; they grow down. The more Christ-like the person, the more humble and dependent he is. "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matt. 18:3-4). We should be humble because God is humble. He doesn’t abuse his rank or his power. He is very patient with us. He doesn’t rise up indiscriminately in great anger in reaction to our insults and denial of him. Jesus himself said it plainly, "I am gentle and humble in heart" (Matt. 11:29). Jesus was born in a manger in a stable, in a little, out-of-the-way town. His family was poor and of no account in society. The witnesses of his birth were shepherds, sheep and cattle. He was called the Lamb of God many times in Scripture. A lamb has no power. It is at the mercy of its shepherd.
Leadership & Humility
“Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”. Mark 10:42-45. Lead by serving. Whatever titles we may have earned, whatever degrees may hang on our wall, being like Jesus will mean we never lord our authority over others, or try to make them feel inferior to us.
“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place."Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them”. John 13:12-17. It is interesting that both Philip, the evangelist who preached to the Ethiopian eunuch and Stephen the first martyr killed for the Christian faith, were men who were happy to wait on tables (Acts 6:1-6). God usually chooses those who are willing to do the lowly tasks to do the greatest tasks. "The beginning of greatness is to be little, the increase of greatness is to be less, and the perfection of greatness is to be nothing” D. L. Moody
Measure your humility by your sense of unworthiness of God’s goodness and grace. If you are truly humble, you will be constantly amazed that God is so good and gracious to you. Every time the Lord rewards you, deep gratitude wells up in your soul. You feel compelled to exclaim in the words Jesus taught, "I am an unworthy servant of the Lord; I am only doing what it is my duty to do" (Luke 17:10). Measure yourself by your eagerness to decrease so that Christ may be all in all. Measure yourself by your willingness for others to receive the prominence while you are forgotten, for others to receive credit for what you have worked so hard to achieve. Measure yourself by your joy in working the hardest in the most obscure positions. Wesley Deuwel
The big question
How can a Christian think of himself as having a lowly state and being weak if he is God’s child and is seated with Christ in heavenly places? We should never forget that though we have the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, and countless blessings because we are in Christ, all of them are undeserved gifts. D. L. Moody was once walking along the streets of Chicago with another man. On seeing a drunk sleeping in a doorway, Moody said, "There, except for the grace of God, go I”.
You are not humble when:
• You perform good deeds and expect the praise of men.
• Your children litter the church but you are offended when asked to clean up the mess.
• You exaggerate the faults of others but minimize yours
• You cannot be corrected without being offended.
• The number of brethren you don’t greet is more than the number you have visited.
• A believer commits a sin and your response is, “I can never do that”
• You get angry with pastor because the church bulletin missed your birthday.
• You find it difficult to forgive others.
• You throw tantrums when criticized.
• You give excuses for sin rather than repent.
How to be humble
Humility, like agape love and faith, are divine qualities made possible in us by the Spirit of God. None of us can make ourselves humble. When the Bible says, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord" that does not mean you can acquire the virtue by wishful thinking. It means you and I should go to God asking Him to reveal Himself to us. The more of Him we see, the more humble we become. It was after Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon the throne that he realized he was a man of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5). When the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, he said, 'Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child" (Jeremiah 1:6). When Moses met with God behind a burning bush, his initial response was, 'Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt? (Exodus 3:11). Whenever a man encounters God, he gets a true sense of how inadequate he is. Regardless of what you may be before men, you are nothing before your Maker. He made you what and who you are today. Your humility should show in your eagerness to worship Him in all situations.
We were born full of ourselves. We grow up using the time, treasure and talents the Lord has given us. The more we accomplish and acquire, the more we become proud of our success. Those with five talents look down on those with two and they in turn look down on those with one. It is not natural to realize that there is nothing we have that we have not received (1 Corinthians 4:7). When we catch a glimpse of who God is we realize we are nothing without Him or compared to Him. This is what it means to be humble in the sight of the Lord. Humility is the realization that the conduit pipe does not own the oil that passes through it. The message is not owned by the messenger. It is not the helm of the garment that heals but the virtue that flows from the Master.
Serve with humility following the example of Christ. “Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion”. Philippians 2:5-8. Let us put self aside, put on God and walk before Him.
What is humility?
True humility can be defined as the true measure of a man in relation to God. It is when a creature knows his limits in comparison to the Creator. When John said, 'I am not the Christ' and 'I am not good enough to untie the strings of his sandals', that is humility (John 1:20, 27). When Christ told Peter he would deny Him three times before the cock crows, the disciple's refusal to accept the truth shows pride. Pride goes before a fall. Humility comes before promotion.
Humility according to John 3:30 is, “He must become greater; I must become less”. The natural man is born full of himself. The process whereby he gets filled with God as he empties himself is humility. It is the displacement of self by the enthronement of God. Where God is all, self is nothing.
The measure of a man compared to God is his humility. It is not how we compare ourselves with others or where we stand in relation to our peers. Humility is not peer review. It's not a byproduct of peer pressure. You can't generate humility from your resume. The only assessment that generates true humility is when we see God as He is and us as we are. When we understand that the race is not for the swift and the battle is not for the strong, we become humble (Ecclesiastes 9:11). When we come to know that in life, the elder may serve the younger not by fault but by fate, we become humble (Genesis 25:23). When we get the revelation that our accomplishments are not by might nor by power but by divine enablement, we become humble (Zechariah 4:6). When we come to find out that sometimes in divine mathematics, 1+1=100, and a man may sow in time of famine and reap a hundredfold, we become humble (Genesis 26:12).
You are not God
The first recorded temptation took place when the snake told Eve in Genesis 3:4-5 that she will be like God if she ate the forbidden fruit. Since then, mankind had been trying to play God. You are not God. Never been, never will be. In fact, if you want to really enjoy life, recognize that the One and Only God is your source for everything you are and have.
“For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” 1 Corinthians 4:7
The 2 types of humility
“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. Colossians 2:18
“Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. Colossians 2: 20-23
True humility is distinctly different from false humility which consists of deprecating one's own sanctity, gifts, talents, and accomplishments for the sake of receiving praise or adulation from other. False humility is humility for show. It is limited to the external.
True humility starts on the inside although it may manifest itself outwardly. It is primarily an attitude of the heart. It submits to God and legitimate authority. It recognizes virtues and talents that others possess, particularly those that surpass one's own, and gives due honor and, when required, obedience.
Benefits of Humility
“For thus says the high and lofty One--He who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, but with him also who is of a thoroughly penitent and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the thoroughly penitent. Isaiah 57: 15.
Humility makes God feel at home with you. Pride drives him away. Any attribute that draws us closer to God is a crucial one to possess.
“He who is greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself [with haughtiness and empty pride] shall be humbled (brought low), and whoever humbles himself [whoever has a modest opinion of himself and behaves accordingly] shall be raised to honor”. Matthew 23:11-12. Another benefit of humility is the potential to be promoted by the Lord. Promotion does not come from the east or the west but from the Lord and humility is a catalyst for it.
Humility also helps in receiving from God. “If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land”. 2 Chronicles 7:14
Dangers of Pride
Pride is the opposite of humility. The Greek word most often translated proud is: - Phusioo - to blow up, or puff up, inflate. “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” Proverbs 16:18–19. Humility is being weak and pitiful and knowing it. Pride is being weak and pitiful and believing otherwise. Lack of humility leads to humiliation. It also brings resistance from the Lord. James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5. The same God resisted the people of Babel in Genesis 11:4 when they said, “And they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth”. However, in the following chapter, Genesis 12:1-2, He promised Abram what he denied the people of Babel. “Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing”. What you stand to lose from pride you gain by humility.
“I used to think that God’s gifts were on shelves one above another and the taller we grow, the easier we can reach them. Now, I find, that God’s gifts are on shelves one beneath another and the lower we stoop, the more we get”. F. B. Meyer.
Like Father, like son
“In God’s family, children never grow up; they grow down. The more Christ-like the person, the more humble and dependent he is. "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matt. 18:3-4). We should be humble because God is humble. He doesn’t abuse his rank or his power. He is very patient with us. He doesn’t rise up indiscriminately in great anger in reaction to our insults and denial of him. Jesus himself said it plainly, "I am gentle and humble in heart" (Matt. 11:29). Jesus was born in a manger in a stable, in a little, out-of-the-way town. His family was poor and of no account in society. The witnesses of his birth were shepherds, sheep and cattle. He was called the Lamb of God many times in Scripture. A lamb has no power. It is at the mercy of its shepherd.
Leadership & Humility
“Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”. Mark 10:42-45. Lead by serving. Whatever titles we may have earned, whatever degrees may hang on our wall, being like Jesus will mean we never lord our authority over others, or try to make them feel inferior to us.
“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place."Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them”. John 13:12-17. It is interesting that both Philip, the evangelist who preached to the Ethiopian eunuch and Stephen the first martyr killed for the Christian faith, were men who were happy to wait on tables (Acts 6:1-6). God usually chooses those who are willing to do the lowly tasks to do the greatest tasks. "The beginning of greatness is to be little, the increase of greatness is to be less, and the perfection of greatness is to be nothing” D. L. Moody
Measure your humility by your sense of unworthiness of God’s goodness and grace. If you are truly humble, you will be constantly amazed that God is so good and gracious to you. Every time the Lord rewards you, deep gratitude wells up in your soul. You feel compelled to exclaim in the words Jesus taught, "I am an unworthy servant of the Lord; I am only doing what it is my duty to do" (Luke 17:10). Measure yourself by your eagerness to decrease so that Christ may be all in all. Measure yourself by your willingness for others to receive the prominence while you are forgotten, for others to receive credit for what you have worked so hard to achieve. Measure yourself by your joy in working the hardest in the most obscure positions. Wesley Deuwel
The big question
How can a Christian think of himself as having a lowly state and being weak if he is God’s child and is seated with Christ in heavenly places? We should never forget that though we have the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, and countless blessings because we are in Christ, all of them are undeserved gifts. D. L. Moody was once walking along the streets of Chicago with another man. On seeing a drunk sleeping in a doorway, Moody said, "There, except for the grace of God, go I”.
You are not humble when:
• You perform good deeds and expect the praise of men.
• Your children litter the church but you are offended when asked to clean up the mess.
• You exaggerate the faults of others but minimize yours
• You cannot be corrected without being offended.
• The number of brethren you don’t greet is more than the number you have visited.
• A believer commits a sin and your response is, “I can never do that”
• You get angry with pastor because the church bulletin missed your birthday.
• You find it difficult to forgive others.
• You throw tantrums when criticized.
• You give excuses for sin rather than repent.
How to be humble
Humility, like agape love and faith, are divine qualities made possible in us by the Spirit of God. None of us can make ourselves humble. When the Bible says, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord" that does not mean you can acquire the virtue by wishful thinking. It means you and I should go to God asking Him to reveal Himself to us. The more of Him we see, the more humble we become. It was after Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon the throne that he realized he was a man of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5). When the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, he said, 'Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child" (Jeremiah 1:6). When Moses met with God behind a burning bush, his initial response was, 'Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt? (Exodus 3:11). Whenever a man encounters God, he gets a true sense of how inadequate he is. Regardless of what you may be before men, you are nothing before your Maker. He made you what and who you are today. Your humility should show in your eagerness to worship Him in all situations.
We were born full of ourselves. We grow up using the time, treasure and talents the Lord has given us. The more we accomplish and acquire, the more we become proud of our success. Those with five talents look down on those with two and they in turn look down on those with one. It is not natural to realize that there is nothing we have that we have not received (1 Corinthians 4:7). When we catch a glimpse of who God is we realize we are nothing without Him or compared to Him. This is what it means to be humble in the sight of the Lord. Humility is the realization that the conduit pipe does not own the oil that passes through it. The message is not owned by the messenger. It is not the helm of the garment that heals but the virtue that flows from the Master.
Serve with humility following the example of Christ. “Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion”. Philippians 2:5-8. Let us put self aside, put on God and walk before Him.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
The Mind of the Believer
Introduction to the Mind
At conversion, only your spirit is born again. Your mind and your body are not. Your mind is the gateway to your spirit and it controls your body. Your state of mind determines your state of being. The mind of the natural man is not subject to God and can never be. Rom 8:5-8. This is the main reason your mind must be renewed as a child of God. When this happens, your mind becomes that of a spiritual man which is subject to the Spirit of God.
At birth, the mind is a blank slate. It becomes shaped by the things it is exposed to as a child grows up. Examples of those things that mold the mind are fashion, media (electronic/print), popular psychology, religion, superstition, advertisement, friends, relatives, culture, and for believers, the Bible.
The war over your mind
Every believer is a walking civil war. Within us are the old and the new man. Each jostles for control and dominance.
“For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want”. Galatians 5:17.
“So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin”. Romans 7:21-25
Satan has declared war on you and the battlefield is in your mind. That’s why Paul tells us to be vigilant in 2 Corinthians 10:5.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Satan's method
Satan will use any goal, any ambition, any activity, and any material thing to occupy our minds; so that we will not be receptive to God’s Word; and, consequently, we will not grow or be changed. What goes into our mind determines the output. Consequently, Satan is going to do all he can to fill our minds with garbage—Why? Because Satan knows that if:
- he can change our thoughts, he can change our attitudes,
- and if he changes our attitudes, he can change our actions,
- and if he can change our actions, he’ll get what he’s always wanted- the destruction of our marriages, our children, and our churches.
An old Indian Christian was explaining to a missionary that the battle inside of him was like a black dog fighting a white dog. “Which dog wins?” asked the missionary. “The one I feed the most,” replied the Indian.
2 Rules of the Mind
Psychologists tell us there are two simple rules to do with the mind:
The Law of Concentration states that whatever we dwell on grows in our life experience and becomes part of us.
In the Law of Substitution states that our conscious mind can only hold one thought at a time and you can substitute a positive thought for a negative thought and vice versa.
Two thoughts cannot occupy the mind at the same time, so the choice is ours whether or not our thoughts will be constructive or destructive. It is impossible to think evil when we think on the good!
Born Single Minded
Man was created to be single minded.
Matthew 6:24 “No one is able to serve two lords; for either he will hate the one, and he will love the other; or he will cling to one, and he will despise the other. You are not able to serve God and mammon”.
Jesus is saying that a human being has been created with a capacity to serve only one master. He cannot and does not have the capacity to serve two. A double-minded person is unstable (James 1:8).
Fixed Mindset
Colossians 3:2: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” A mind set on the flesh is death but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. That’s exactly what Isaiah 26:3 in the New Living Translation proclaims: “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you!” In other words, we must let the mind of the Master be the Master of our minds as Philippians 2:5 says: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”
Lanny Bassham, is an Olympic gold medalist in shooting the small-bore rifle. Listen to how he trained himself to hit the bulls-eye as told to Sports Illustrated: “Our sport is controlled non-movement. We are shooting from 50 meters--over half a football field--at a bull ’s eye three-quarter the size of a dime. If the angle of error at the point of the barrel is more than .005 of a millimeter (that is five one-thousandths), you drop into the next circle and lose a point. So we have to learn how to make everything stop. I stop my breathing. I stop my digestion by not eating for 12 hours before the competition. I train by running to keep my pulse around 60, so I have a full second between beats…You do all of this and you have the technical control. But you have to have some years of experience in reading conditions: the wind, the mirage. Then you have the other 80% of the problem—focusing the mind” (Sports Illustrated, 8/2/76).
How the mind works
First used in the field of computer science, the phrase “Garbage In, Garbage Out,” really expresses a biblical principle. When we allow garbage into our minds, garbage will come out. If we allow godly thoughts in, godly behavior follows. In his book called, “As a Man Thinketh,” James Allen writes: “A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.” Your input determines your output which in turn, determines your outcome.
There are 3 sources of input to your mind: eyes, ears and mouth.
Your eyes are the windows to your mind. You capture images with your eyes which are then developed in your mind. This is why it is possible to commit adultery with your eyes.
“You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery'. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart”. Mat 5:27-28.
Job, a righteous man, took what he saw seriously. He controlled his eyes by been careful what he looked at.
"I made a covenant with my eyes
not to look lustfully at a girl”. Job 31:1
Your ears are the door to your mind. What you hear makes a big impact on your life. The just shall live by faith but this faith comes by hearing God’s word. Rom 10:17. Read the Bible aloud to yourself. Make is a point of duty to attend meetings where you are exposed to the Word of God. Note however that the converse is also true. Doubt, unbelief, skepticism, fear, confusion, anxiety, depressed mood and sorrow can all come from what you hear. Control your hearing to control your life.
You mouth is the garage to your mind. While the Bible says, “You shall have what you hear” it is also true that you can lose what you have by how you talk. Mk 11:23b, James 3:2, 6, 9-10. Your speech should not be based on how you feel but on your expectation. For example, when a weak person expects to be strong, he should say so according to Joel 3:10 which says, “Let the weak say I am strong”.
In summary, what comes to your eyes, your ears and out of your mouth carries a spiritual charge that affects you. Watch out and be discreet with what you see, hear and say.
Mind Training
Our minds cannot tell the difference between real experience and imagination. That is why one can watch a horror movie and not be able to sleep or wake up from a bad dream with your heart pounding in fear. Neither situation is real but the mind cannot tell the difference. Of what use is this information? When a carnal man is repeatedly exposed to God’s Word through study, meditation, preaching, television, radio, and internet, he becomes transformed by that word. Regardless of how far he may be from the word of God, if he applies himself, his mind will become renewed.
Most of the feelings, beliefs and attitudes we have about ourselves are acquired through habitual repetition. By repeatedly thinking on the Scriptures, you can become what God wants you to be.
"Whatever you hold in your mind will tend to occur in your life. If you continue to believe as you have always believed, you will continue to act as you have always acted. If you continue to act as you have always acted, you will continue to get what you have always gotten. If you want different results in your life or your work, all you have to do is change your mind”. Author Unknown
The importance of what you think
You’re not what you think you are; but what you THINK—you are! To change your life, you have to change your life. What you think is so important the next few principles may change your life.
Principle 1
Think about what you think about because your life depends on it.
Genesis 6:5-7
“The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them."
The world was destroyed because of evil thinking. Man judges only what you do but God judges what you think and as well as do. Therefore, think about what you think about. It is that important.
Principle 2
What you think today determines where you’ll be tomorrow.
Proverbs 23:7
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he”.
You were what you thought. You are what you thought. You will become what you think today. Those who allow anything into their minds cede the control of their life to circumstances and the environment. Life change happens only AFTER you change your thinking. And the thinking can only be changed by the Word of God, when applied to us by the Holy Spirit.
Principle 3
Your thinking has creative power
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope”.
When God thinks, it happens. When man thinks, it happens because he is made in God’s image. You are sad because you think sadness. You are glad because you think gladness. It is not your circumstances that determine your mood, it is how you think about your circumstances. Regardless of the situation, thinking like your Father will change you to see things as He does.
Your thought-life affects everything about you, how you act, feel, live.
If you THINK negative thoughts, you will ACT in a negative way.
If you THINK sad things … you will BE sad.
If you THINK you’re sick … you will FEEL sick.
If you THINK you’re worthless… you’ll TURN OUT to be worthless.
If you THINK bad thoughts … you’ll DO bad things.
BUT … on the other hand if you THINK godly things … you’ll ACT more Godly!
Norman Cousins was hospitalized with a rare, crippling disease. When he was diagnosed as incurable, Cousins checked out of the hospital. Aware of the harmful effects that negative emotions can have on the body, Cousins reasoned the reverse was true. So he borrowed a movie projector and prescribed his own treatment, consisting of Marx Brothers films and old "Candid Camera" reruns. It didn’t take long for him to discover that 10 minutes of laughter provided two hours of pain free sleep. Amazingly, his debilitating disease was eventually reversed. After the account of his victory appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, Cousins received more than 3000 letters from appreciative physicians throughout the world.
“Beware of what you set your mind on because that you surely will become.” Ralph W. Emerson
Principle 4
Your thoughts constitute your prayer requests; do not think about that you do not want God to act upon.
Ephesians 3:20
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us..”
This passage declares that God is able to according to what we think. Will you like God to act on your thoughts? If not, change what you think about. God will respond to your thoughts because they are also your prayer requests.
Ask and you will receive; think and you will receive.
Seek and you shall find; think and you shall find.
Knock and it shall open; think and it shall open.
Principle 5
Be proactive with what occupies your mind because your life depends on it.
Phil 4:8
“Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse”.
The mind is never empty. Psychologists tell us that each person has about ten thousand thoughts per day. How many of our thoughts are of the qualities described in Philippians 4:8? The human mind is going to set itself on something. The question is on what? The best way is to keep the bad thoughts out of your mind is to concentrate on the good thoughts.
Principle 6
Your thinking determines your success in life.
Joshua 1:8
“And don't for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you'll get where you're going; then you'll succeed”
Your thinking = your success or lack of it. Those who set their minds on God’s Word often will be successful.
“But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law he habitually meditates by day and by night. And he shall be like a tree firmly planted by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper. Psalm 1:2-3
“And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide….” Genesis 24:63. I believe this is partly why he sowed and reaped a hundredfold in one year during famine. Meditation on God’s Word guarantees success in life.
Principle 7
Our behavior will change, when our thinking changes. If there is no change in your behavior, question your thinking. If someone says, “I believe in tithing” but does not tithe – then he doesn’t believe in it. You only really believe the parts of the Bible that you obey. All behavior is based on a belief. If you lie, it’s because you believe lying will cause less pain than being honest. It’s a lie, but you believe it. Eating the forbidden fruit will not bring Adam and Eve blessings – it’s a lie - but they believed it. When somebody comes to you and says, “I’m leaving my husband, and I’m going to marry this other man because I believe God wants me to be happy.” They just told you the belief behind their behavior. It’s wrong, but they believe it.
When you sin, you’re doing what you think is the best thing for you. You say, “I know God says to do that, but I’m going to do this.” You believe a lie. Behind every sin is a lie. You believe that something is good for you, even if it is an outright sin to God. When you live in sin, you’re living in deception and believing a lie. Confront these lies with the Word of God because change always starts in the mind. When you start dealing with these lies, you’ll start to see change in your life. This is what the Bible describes in Romans 12:2 as being “transformed by renewing your mind”.
How you think determines how you feel, and how you feel determines the way you act. If you want to change the way you act, you must determine the way you think. You can’t start with the action. You start with the thought. If you want to see a change in your life – change your beliefs first. If we are feeling afraid, we need to ask ourselves what we are thinking. If we are sad, we need to ask ourselves what’s in our mind that caused it. We need to change our thoughts about the situation by looking at the Word – reading, listening, studying, meditation, and memorizing it.
At conversion, only your spirit is born again. Your mind and your body are not. Your mind is the gateway to your spirit and it controls your body. Your state of mind determines your state of being. The mind of the natural man is not subject to God and can never be. Rom 8:5-8. This is the main reason your mind must be renewed as a child of God. When this happens, your mind becomes that of a spiritual man which is subject to the Spirit of God.
At birth, the mind is a blank slate. It becomes shaped by the things it is exposed to as a child grows up. Examples of those things that mold the mind are fashion, media (electronic/print), popular psychology, religion, superstition, advertisement, friends, relatives, culture, and for believers, the Bible.
The war over your mind
Every believer is a walking civil war. Within us are the old and the new man. Each jostles for control and dominance.
“For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want”. Galatians 5:17.
“So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin”. Romans 7:21-25
Satan has declared war on you and the battlefield is in your mind. That’s why Paul tells us to be vigilant in 2 Corinthians 10:5.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Satan's method
Satan will use any goal, any ambition, any activity, and any material thing to occupy our minds; so that we will not be receptive to God’s Word; and, consequently, we will not grow or be changed. What goes into our mind determines the output. Consequently, Satan is going to do all he can to fill our minds with garbage—Why? Because Satan knows that if:
- he can change our thoughts, he can change our attitudes,
- and if he changes our attitudes, he can change our actions,
- and if he can change our actions, he’ll get what he’s always wanted- the destruction of our marriages, our children, and our churches.
An old Indian Christian was explaining to a missionary that the battle inside of him was like a black dog fighting a white dog. “Which dog wins?” asked the missionary. “The one I feed the most,” replied the Indian.
2 Rules of the Mind
Psychologists tell us there are two simple rules to do with the mind:
The Law of Concentration states that whatever we dwell on grows in our life experience and becomes part of us.
In the Law of Substitution states that our conscious mind can only hold one thought at a time and you can substitute a positive thought for a negative thought and vice versa.
Two thoughts cannot occupy the mind at the same time, so the choice is ours whether or not our thoughts will be constructive or destructive. It is impossible to think evil when we think on the good!
Born Single Minded
Man was created to be single minded.
Matthew 6:24 “No one is able to serve two lords; for either he will hate the one, and he will love the other; or he will cling to one, and he will despise the other. You are not able to serve God and mammon”.
Jesus is saying that a human being has been created with a capacity to serve only one master. He cannot and does not have the capacity to serve two. A double-minded person is unstable (James 1:8).
Fixed Mindset
Colossians 3:2: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” A mind set on the flesh is death but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. That’s exactly what Isaiah 26:3 in the New Living Translation proclaims: “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you!” In other words, we must let the mind of the Master be the Master of our minds as Philippians 2:5 says: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”
Lanny Bassham, is an Olympic gold medalist in shooting the small-bore rifle. Listen to how he trained himself to hit the bulls-eye as told to Sports Illustrated: “Our sport is controlled non-movement. We are shooting from 50 meters--over half a football field--at a bull ’s eye three-quarter the size of a dime. If the angle of error at the point of the barrel is more than .005 of a millimeter (that is five one-thousandths), you drop into the next circle and lose a point. So we have to learn how to make everything stop. I stop my breathing. I stop my digestion by not eating for 12 hours before the competition. I train by running to keep my pulse around 60, so I have a full second between beats…You do all of this and you have the technical control. But you have to have some years of experience in reading conditions: the wind, the mirage. Then you have the other 80% of the problem—focusing the mind” (Sports Illustrated, 8/2/76).
How the mind works
First used in the field of computer science, the phrase “Garbage In, Garbage Out,” really expresses a biblical principle. When we allow garbage into our minds, garbage will come out. If we allow godly thoughts in, godly behavior follows. In his book called, “As a Man Thinketh,” James Allen writes: “A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.” Your input determines your output which in turn, determines your outcome.
There are 3 sources of input to your mind: eyes, ears and mouth.
Your eyes are the windows to your mind. You capture images with your eyes which are then developed in your mind. This is why it is possible to commit adultery with your eyes.
“You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery'. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart”. Mat 5:27-28.
Job, a righteous man, took what he saw seriously. He controlled his eyes by been careful what he looked at.
"I made a covenant with my eyes
not to look lustfully at a girl”. Job 31:1
Your ears are the door to your mind. What you hear makes a big impact on your life. The just shall live by faith but this faith comes by hearing God’s word. Rom 10:17. Read the Bible aloud to yourself. Make is a point of duty to attend meetings where you are exposed to the Word of God. Note however that the converse is also true. Doubt, unbelief, skepticism, fear, confusion, anxiety, depressed mood and sorrow can all come from what you hear. Control your hearing to control your life.
You mouth is the garage to your mind. While the Bible says, “You shall have what you hear” it is also true that you can lose what you have by how you talk. Mk 11:23b, James 3:2, 6, 9-10. Your speech should not be based on how you feel but on your expectation. For example, when a weak person expects to be strong, he should say so according to Joel 3:10 which says, “Let the weak say I am strong”.
In summary, what comes to your eyes, your ears and out of your mouth carries a spiritual charge that affects you. Watch out and be discreet with what you see, hear and say.
Mind Training
Our minds cannot tell the difference between real experience and imagination. That is why one can watch a horror movie and not be able to sleep or wake up from a bad dream with your heart pounding in fear. Neither situation is real but the mind cannot tell the difference. Of what use is this information? When a carnal man is repeatedly exposed to God’s Word through study, meditation, preaching, television, radio, and internet, he becomes transformed by that word. Regardless of how far he may be from the word of God, if he applies himself, his mind will become renewed.
Most of the feelings, beliefs and attitudes we have about ourselves are acquired through habitual repetition. By repeatedly thinking on the Scriptures, you can become what God wants you to be.
"Whatever you hold in your mind will tend to occur in your life. If you continue to believe as you have always believed, you will continue to act as you have always acted. If you continue to act as you have always acted, you will continue to get what you have always gotten. If you want different results in your life or your work, all you have to do is change your mind”. Author Unknown
The importance of what you think
You’re not what you think you are; but what you THINK—you are! To change your life, you have to change your life. What you think is so important the next few principles may change your life.
Principle 1
Think about what you think about because your life depends on it.
Genesis 6:5-7
“The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them."
The world was destroyed because of evil thinking. Man judges only what you do but God judges what you think and as well as do. Therefore, think about what you think about. It is that important.
Principle 2
What you think today determines where you’ll be tomorrow.
Proverbs 23:7
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he”.
You were what you thought. You are what you thought. You will become what you think today. Those who allow anything into their minds cede the control of their life to circumstances and the environment. Life change happens only AFTER you change your thinking. And the thinking can only be changed by the Word of God, when applied to us by the Holy Spirit.
Principle 3
Your thinking has creative power
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope”.
When God thinks, it happens. When man thinks, it happens because he is made in God’s image. You are sad because you think sadness. You are glad because you think gladness. It is not your circumstances that determine your mood, it is how you think about your circumstances. Regardless of the situation, thinking like your Father will change you to see things as He does.
Your thought-life affects everything about you, how you act, feel, live.
If you THINK negative thoughts, you will ACT in a negative way.
If you THINK sad things … you will BE sad.
If you THINK you’re sick … you will FEEL sick.
If you THINK you’re worthless… you’ll TURN OUT to be worthless.
If you THINK bad thoughts … you’ll DO bad things.
BUT … on the other hand if you THINK godly things … you’ll ACT more Godly!
Norman Cousins was hospitalized with a rare, crippling disease. When he was diagnosed as incurable, Cousins checked out of the hospital. Aware of the harmful effects that negative emotions can have on the body, Cousins reasoned the reverse was true. So he borrowed a movie projector and prescribed his own treatment, consisting of Marx Brothers films and old "Candid Camera" reruns. It didn’t take long for him to discover that 10 minutes of laughter provided two hours of pain free sleep. Amazingly, his debilitating disease was eventually reversed. After the account of his victory appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, Cousins received more than 3000 letters from appreciative physicians throughout the world.
“Beware of what you set your mind on because that you surely will become.” Ralph W. Emerson
Principle 4
Your thoughts constitute your prayer requests; do not think about that you do not want God to act upon.
Ephesians 3:20
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us..”
This passage declares that God is able to according to what we think. Will you like God to act on your thoughts? If not, change what you think about. God will respond to your thoughts because they are also your prayer requests.
Ask and you will receive; think and you will receive.
Seek and you shall find; think and you shall find.
Knock and it shall open; think and it shall open.
Principle 5
Be proactive with what occupies your mind because your life depends on it.
Phil 4:8
“Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse”.
The mind is never empty. Psychologists tell us that each person has about ten thousand thoughts per day. How many of our thoughts are of the qualities described in Philippians 4:8? The human mind is going to set itself on something. The question is on what? The best way is to keep the bad thoughts out of your mind is to concentrate on the good thoughts.
Principle 6
Your thinking determines your success in life.
Joshua 1:8
“And don't for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you'll get where you're going; then you'll succeed”
Your thinking = your success or lack of it. Those who set their minds on God’s Word often will be successful.
“But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law he habitually meditates by day and by night. And he shall be like a tree firmly planted by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper. Psalm 1:2-3
“And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide….” Genesis 24:63. I believe this is partly why he sowed and reaped a hundredfold in one year during famine. Meditation on God’s Word guarantees success in life.
Principle 7
Our behavior will change, when our thinking changes. If there is no change in your behavior, question your thinking. If someone says, “I believe in tithing” but does not tithe – then he doesn’t believe in it. You only really believe the parts of the Bible that you obey. All behavior is based on a belief. If you lie, it’s because you believe lying will cause less pain than being honest. It’s a lie, but you believe it. Eating the forbidden fruit will not bring Adam and Eve blessings – it’s a lie - but they believed it. When somebody comes to you and says, “I’m leaving my husband, and I’m going to marry this other man because I believe God wants me to be happy.” They just told you the belief behind their behavior. It’s wrong, but they believe it.
When you sin, you’re doing what you think is the best thing for you. You say, “I know God says to do that, but I’m going to do this.” You believe a lie. Behind every sin is a lie. You believe that something is good for you, even if it is an outright sin to God. When you live in sin, you’re living in deception and believing a lie. Confront these lies with the Word of God because change always starts in the mind. When you start dealing with these lies, you’ll start to see change in your life. This is what the Bible describes in Romans 12:2 as being “transformed by renewing your mind”.
How you think determines how you feel, and how you feel determines the way you act. If you want to change the way you act, you must determine the way you think. You can’t start with the action. You start with the thought. If you want to see a change in your life – change your beliefs first. If we are feeling afraid, we need to ask ourselves what we are thinking. If we are sad, we need to ask ourselves what’s in our mind that caused it. We need to change our thoughts about the situation by looking at the Word – reading, listening, studying, meditation, and memorizing it.
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