Rejoicing In The Lord Always

September 6, 2011 2 Comments

Many years ago, in Germany, a young man was diagnosed with cancer of the tongue. The cancer would spread unless the tongue was completely removed. That was an undesirable line of treatment, but it had to be done.

On the day of the surgery, a group of students gathered around the operating table to observe the procedure. Before the surgeon began, though, he bent down over the patient and said to him, “My friend, if you wish to say anything, you now have the opportunity. But I must warn you that your words will be the last words that you will ever utter. Think well about what you wish to say.”

The young man did take considerable time before speaking, and those moments of silence hung heavy in the air as the surgeon and the students waited. Finally, they heard him utter these simple words: “Thank God, Jesus Christ.” That response brought tears to their eyes.

I have to question if I would express such devotion at such a time. My last words could well have been: “Why, Lord?” or “I don’t understand, Lord.” Maybe I’m underestimating myself. Then again, maybe I’m not.

The New Testament book of Philippians is a letter the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians of Philippi. It is a short book, just four chapters long, but over the course of those four chapters Paul uses some variation of the word “rejoice” no less than eleven times. Furthermore, he uses the word “joy” six times. What makes these words all the more amazing is the fact that Paul wrote the letter while he was under house arrest in Rome. This explains his references to “the palace guard” (1:13) and “Caesar’s household” (4:22).

How could a man talk so much about rejoicing and joy when he was chained to a Roman soldier twenty-four hours a day? (The guards operated in six-hour shifts). How could he say, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”? (Philippians 4:4) Obviously, Paul had learned that inner joy isn’t dependent upon outward circumstances. He understood that he had been granted spiritual life by Christ. He understood that his sins had all been forgiven. He understood that God could use him no matter what his circumstances were. He understood that even if Rome put him to death that would just be his promotion to heaven. This explains the joy that was bubbling out of him.

Christian, I don’t know where you find yourself in life today, but I do know that you can have joy there. Even if your earthly circumstances aren’t all that pleasant, you can focus on your eventual entrance into heaven. In that glorious place there will be no more sorrow, pain, sickness, shame, or regret. You will be eternally wedded to Christ as a part of the church, His bride. And you will surely have never-ending reason to say, as that young man in Germany chose to say, “Thank God, Jesus Christ!”

Filed under Adversity, Attitude, Comfort, contentment, Forgiveness, Heaven, Joy, perseverance, Reward, salvation, The Tongue Tagged with , , , , , ,

Find Things For Which To Be Thankful

August 1, 2011 Leave a comment

A subway car was overly crowded, which caused several people to be forced to stand. Naturally, most of them were griping about the situation. As the car pulled into another station where still more people boarded, one man who was standing said to those coming aboard, “I hope you people like standing because we’ve been doing it for a long while.” He didn’t see the crippled invalid who was helped aboard the train and graciously given a seat, but the invalid heard the comment. To it he somberly replied, “You are fortunate.”

Please don’t hypocritically judge the fellow who was standing. The fact is, he could have been any of us. Speaking personally, his complaint sounds just like something that I would have said. It’s just typical human nature, isn’t it? But that doesn’t make it right or pleasing to God.

Hebrews 13:15 says:

Therefore by Him (Jesus) let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Christian, I ask you, how are you doing at continually offering the sacrifice of praise to God? What form is the fruit of your lips taking these days? Are you in the habit of giving thanks to the name of the Lord? Truth be told, our answers to these questions probably leave much to be desired.

The Lord knows that you have legitimate problems. He also knows that life can oftentimes be a difficult game to play. But through it all He remains forevermore worthy to be praised. Even during those instances in which you don’t feel like praising Him, He is still worthy. The secret is to train yourself to count your blessings. As the old saying goes, “Count your blessings one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

You see, even that crippled invalid who was boarding that train wouldn’t have had to look very hard to find something for which to be thankful. He could have been thankful for the people who helped him get aboard the train. He could have been thankful for the person who gave up his seat for him. He could have been thankful that someone in his condition could get aboard a train and travel to distant places, places he could never have seen on his own. Do you see my point?

So in the midst of all your grumbling and complaining, make yourself stop and be thankful for all the good things that God has sent your way. And if you can’t come up with anything, be thankful for the fact that Jesus Christ (God the Son) left heaven, took upon Himself human flesh, lived without sin among men, died on a cross to pay the sin debt for the sins of the world, arose from the dead, ascended back to heaven, and now offers salvation and forgiveness of all sin to anyone who will believe in Him as Savior. Trust me, that one item right there should be enough to keep you thankful for all eternity.

Filed under Adversity, Attitude, Christ's Death, Christ's Resurrection, contentment, Disappointment, Forgiveness, perseverance, Problems, salvation, Thankfulness Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

“My Cross Is Too Big For Me To Bear”

July 15, 2011 2 Comments

A Christian woman was forced to continually deal with a ongoing problem in her life. Eventually she faded into total self-pity. Time and time again she told people, “My cross is too big for me to bear.”

One night she dreamed that she went to heaven. In the dream, she approached Jesus and said, “Lord, my cross is too big for me to bear.” Jesus said, “I understand. Would you be willing to trade it for another one?” The woman enthusiastically answered, “Yes.” Jesus said, “Very well. Then we’ll go into that room over there and find you another one.”

As the two entered the room, the woman was amazed at not only the number of crosses but how intimidating most of them were. There were big crosses, heavy crosses, twisted crosses, and even crosses with nails in them. Finally, after a good deal of searching, she saw a small, easy-looking cross standing in the corner. She looked at Jesus and said, “That’s the one for me right there. I’ll take it.” Jesus said, “Okay, but that’s the one you brought in.”

Christian, there isn’t a doubt in my mind that your problem is real. It is unpleasant, painful, and burdensome, and I wouldn’t even begin to try to explain it away. Furthermore, I don’t pretend to know all God’s reasons for either causing you or at least allowing you to have to deal with that problem. That’s His realm, not mine.

But what I will do is remind you that you certainly aren’t the only person in the world who has a problem. If the crosses we bear were literal, you’d be amazed to see that everybody is carrying at least one and many people are carry much more than one. You’d also see that many of the crosses are big enough and bad enough to make you cringe.

You see, what you need is some perspective on things. To acquire that perspective you’ll have to get your eyes off yourself and start noticing others. Stop talking so much about you and start listening to them. If you’ll do this, I think you’ll find that your cross isn’t nearly as unbearable as you think it is.

Filed under Adversity, Attitude, Choices, contentment, Disappointment, perseverance, Problems, trials Tagged with , , , ,

In Training To Be Used Mightily

July 7, 2011 Leave a comment

A budding young soloist went to a great Italian musician for voice training. The master handed him a piece of music and said, “Practice this for one full year and then return here.” The request seemed a bit strange, but for the next twelve months the young man faithfully did his practicing.

At year’s end, he returned to the musician, confident that the master would change his assignment and give him a new, higher grade of music to learn. But it didn’t happen. The master simply said, “Practice the same piece for another year and then return here.”

Somewhat discouraged, the young singer returned home and begrudgingly rededicated himself to his task. For twelve more months he practiced that same piece of music over and over again. Then he returned again to the musician. As he went, he thought, “Surely this time I will be given a new piece to learn.”

Once again, however, the master instructed him to work at the same piece of music for another year and then return. But this time the young man objected. He said, “No, I want to practice something new. I have worked hard, and I deserve to move on up to a more advanced lesson.” Stubbornly, though, the master held his ground, saying, “No, my son, the same lesson this year.”

So now the young man had a decision to make. Should he continue to trust in the great musician and keep practicing the same piece of music? Or should he question the musician’s expertise and seek training elsewhere? Two long years had come and gone. The young singer had worked hard and done as he was told, but he wasn’t seeing any fruit for his labors. Maybe it was now time to cut his losses with the supposed master and change everything.

The young man pondered the issue for quite some time, but in the end he decided to stick with the great musician’s training. So he went back to practicing the same old lesson and faithfully worked at it for yet another year. Then he returned to the master.

But this time the singer wouldn’t be given any more preparatory assignments. Instead, the great musician simply looked at him and said, “Go, my son. You have nothing more to learn.” The young man was both shocked and relieved, but he took the master at his word and began auditioning for singing parts. He nailed performance after performance, no matter how difficult the song, and eventually he rose to become the leading singer in all of Italy.

How was such a thing possible? It was possible because that one piece of music that the singer had so faithfully practiced all those years held within it a certain combination of notes, and that combination had allowed his vocal cords to be developed to perfection. The master, of course, had known this all along.

Christian, it may be that God has had you working on the same assignment for years now. And it also may be that you have grown very tired of singing it. So you’ve begun to long for something new, something different, something that will break you out of your rut. Perhaps you are right now even contemplating going off and doing your own thing because you are tired of living the life in which God has stationed you.

Well, let me ask you this: Could it be that for the past several years God has faithfully been preparing you to do great and mighty works for Him in the future? And, furthermore, could it be that even now your spiritual “vocal cords” are almost perfectly trained to handle these great works? You see, at this point, the last thing you need to do is short-circuit God’s whole plan by foolishly abandoning your master’s training and making some change that you shouldn’t make.

Call this a warning. Call it a word of encouragement. Call it what you will. But just know that God never sends out His servants unprepared, and if He still has you working on the same old assignment, then your training must not be fully completed yet. You ask, “How much longer will it be?” I don’t know. All I know is that there will come a day when God will send you forth to put all of your training to incredible use for Him.

Filed under Adversity, Choices, Commitment, Disappointment, Discipleship, Doing Good, faith, faithfulness, God's Timing, God's Omniscience, God's Will, Impatience, Ministry, Music, obedience, Patience, perseverance, Rebellion, Reward, submission, Teaching, Temptation, Trusting In God Tagged with , , ,

He Maketh No Mistake

July 5, 2011 Leave a comment

My Father’s way may twist and turn,
My heart may throb and ache;
But in my soul I’m glad I know
He maketh no mistake!

My cherished plans may go astray,
My dreams may fade away;
But still I’ll trust my Lord to lead,
For He doth know the way!

Though night be dark, and it may seem
That day will never break;
I’ll pin my faith, my all in Him,
He maketh no mistake!

There is so much now I cannot see,
My eyesight’s far too dim;
But come what may, I’ll simply trust
And leave it all to Him.

For by and by the mist will lift,
And plain it all He’ll make;
Through all the way, though dark to me,
He made not one mistake.

A.M. Overton

Filed under Adversity, Attitude, Comfort, Disappointment, Discipleship, Dying To Self, faith, God's Omniscience, God's Will, Patience, perseverance, Problems, trials, Trusting In God Tagged with , , ,

Someone Who Understands

June 28, 2011 Leave a comment

A farmer had some puppies for sale. He painted a sign advertising them and nailed it on a post at the edge of his yard. As he was driving in the last nail, he felt a tug on his overalls. He turned around to see a little boy standing up against the fence. “Mister,” said the boy, “I want to buy one of your puppies.”

The farmer was a little embarrassed at the request because he strongly doubted that the boy had the kind of money he was asking for the pups. Trying to dissuade the little fellow, he said, “Son, these puppies come from fine parents and cost a fair amount of money.” The boy, however, didn’t give up so easily. He reached deep into his pocket, pulled out a handful of change, and said, “I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to at least take a look?” The farmer couldn’t help but smile and answer, “Sure.”

The man then let out a whistle and called, “Here, Dolly!” Out from the doghouse and down the ramp came Dolly, followed by four little balls of fur. The boy’s eyes danced with delight. But as Dolly and her pups made their way to the farmer, the boy saw another little ball appear at the door of the doghouse. It was noticeably smaller than the others, but it slid down the ramp with every bit as much enthusiasm. Then it began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up.

Immediately the boy pointed at the runt and said, “I want that one.” Now the farmer felt really bad. In his most compassionate tone, he answered, “Son, you don’t want that puppy. He’ll never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would.” Upon hearing that, the little boy stepped back from the fence and began rolling up one leg of his pants. That allowed the farmer to see that a steel brace ran down both sides of the leg and attached itself to a specially made shoe. Looking up at the farmer, the boy said, “You see, sir, I don’t run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands.”

We all wonder why God either allows or (let’s admit it) causes certain “bad” things to happen to people. “Why?” is surely one of the most common words ever spoken to Him. Well, I don’t pretend to have all the answers that people want, but I do know this: At least one of the reasons why God either allows or causes “bad” things to happen to people is because such things enable us to truly understand others who are going through them as well.

Tonya and I have two wonderful boys, but the fact is that we lost two other children, including our first, by way of miscarriage. During those incredibly difficult times I will never forget how various couples went out of their way to minister to us by sharing their stories of how they too had experienced miscarriages. I was surprised at how many there were. You see, these people had never spoken of such things to us, but once Tonya and I had to walk down that road, they instinctively knew that we needed “someone who understands.”

And now that Tonya and I have lived through the pain of those two miscarriages, we have the understanding to minister to couples who must endure one. Do you see how the divine chain of ministry perpetuates itself? Certainly no one wants to volunteer to go through something “bad,” but at least we know that God can bring something “good” out of the experience.

So keep all this in mind today, Christian, and don’t be shy about ministering to those who are having to travel difficult ground that you’ve already traveled. Know that there is a person out there somewhere who needs someone who understands, and that someone is you. You just have to be willing to care and willing to share. And I”m happy to report that what you’ll find is that even as you minister to others, God will minister to you through the experience.

Filed under Adversity, Attitude, Disappointment, Doing Good, God's Love, God's Work, Influence, Mercy, Ministry, perseverance, Problems, Trusting In God, Witnessing Tagged with , , , ,

The Danger of Silence

June 27, 2011 Leave a comment

There are a lot of old legends out there, stories that did or didn’t happen. One of them is the account of the destruction of an ancient city. In those days, the cities were surrounded by walls, and watchmen kept guard atop the walls to warn if an enemy army was approaching. The watchmen of this city were particularly cautious and would sound the alarm anytime they saw something stirring in the distance. This, of course, led to many false alarms. Finally the citizens complained so much about the false alarms that the watchmen stopped sounding the alarm altogether. You can guess what happened. A real enemy army eventually stormed the city and destroyed it. Sometime later someone erected a small memorial where the city had once been. The epitaph read: “Here stood a city that was destroyed by silence.”

As Christians, we have the God-given responsibility to share God’s truth. This responsibility means that we cannot remain silent about the sin that surrounds our world and threatens to destroy it. We must speak out. We must instruct. We must warn. If we don’t play the role of watchmen, no one will.

The Legislature of the state of New York recently ruled to legalize same-sex marriages. That made New York the sixth state to do so. So should Christians stop sounding the warning that homosexuality (like adultery, premarital sex, incest, and bestiality) is sexual sin in the eyes of God? Should we just throw up our hands and say, “Oh, let’s cave in to the homosexual agenda and let them have their hearts’ desires?” Should we concede defeat and rationalize it by saying, “No one is listening to us anyway”? My answer is an emphatic, NO. True watchmen simply cannot remain silent when danger is at the door.

I’m not going to lie and say that we will win all the battles. The fact is, we may not. But if “winning” the cultural war is the only reason that we are crying out, then we are operating from the wrong motivation anyway. God hasn’t given us the mandate to “win” the war. Our mandate is simply to be responsible, diligent, effective, persevering watchmen. And no matter how much the citizens complain, that’s a duty that we must never shirk.

Filed under Adversity, Commitment, Communication, Criticism, Current Events, Doing Good, faithfulness, God's Work, Homosexuality, obedience, Persecution, perseverance, politics, Sin Tagged with , ,

Criticism

June 20, 2011 Leave a comment

Yesterday I heard Jack Graham, the pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Texas, tell a great story in his sermon. It went something like this:

A man and his wife walked into a store. A parrot sitting on a perch greeted them at the door by saying to the man, “Hey you, you’re stupid and your wife is ugly.” Shocked, the couple quickly moved away from the bird. But the bird wouldn’t let the matter go. Even as they moved toward another part of the store it said to the man again, this time a little louder, “Hey you, you’re stupid and your wife is ugly.”

At that point the store manager came out of the back, and the couple immediately reported what the parrot had said to them. The manager said, “Oh no, is that crazy thing doing that again? I’ve warned him about that.” Then the manager walked over to the bird, grabbed it by its neck, and swatted its backside a few times with his hand. The bird took its punishment and squawked in pain, after which the manager returned it to its perch.

Well, by then the couple was pretty upset about the whole episode and decided to just leave the store. So they headed for the door, which meant that they had to walk past the parrot again. And just as they opened the door to leave, the bird said to the man, “Hey you.” The man’s first instinct was to just keep walking, but curiosity got the better of him. So he slowly turned around and looked straight at the bird. The bird stared back at him for a second and then said, “You know.”

Graham’s point was that critics are everywhere. He’s right. So if you are doing something that you know is right, don’t let them get you down. Just keep on doing it.

Filed under Adversity, Attitude, Choices, Commitment, Criticism, Doing Good, faithfulness, God's Will, Humor, obedience, Persecution, perseverance, Problems, trials, Trusting In God Tagged with , , ,

A True Masterpiece

June 13, 2011 Leave a comment

An artist visited a museum where one of his masterpieces was on exhibit. As he approached the painting he noticed that the museum had placed one of his earlier, lesser known works beside the masterpiece. He stood there comparing both paintings and began to feel sad. Just then someone recognized him and said to him, “You should be pleased because of the progress you have made.” But the artist didn’t share that opinion. He just smiled somewhat sadly and said, “It grieves me that I realized so little of the promise I showed in my youth.”

Truth be told, many Christians would have to say the same thing about their Christian growth. They showed such promise when they were young! They went to church. They studied the Bible. They prayed. They gave. They witnessed. They lived lives of holiness. But then they got older and ran into some trouble.

When conflict within the church caused them to become disillusioned, they stopped attending. When differing interpretations made studying the Bible harder, they gave up on it. When their prayers weren’t answered to their satisfaction, they quit praying. When their financial situation took a downturn, they eliminated their giving. When they saw no fruit from their witnessing, they hushed. When God didn’t seem to reward the life of holiness, they turned to worldly pursuits and pleasures.

Christian friend, do you find yourself anywhere in this description? If you do, I urge you to find your way back to the fellowship you once had with God. And, please, work on the fellowship before you start working on the service. If you can get the fellowship where it needs to be, the service will inevitably flow, but if the fellowship isn’t there the service will seem like drudgery. Try to rediscover that simple, childlike faith that you once had, a faith that was sincerely shown even in a rhyming prayer: “God is great, God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. By His hands we all are fed. Thank you, Lord, for daily bread. Amen.”

Consider Matthew 18:1-4:

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Isn’t it fascinating that Jesus said that we must “become as little children” AFTER we are “converted”? Why would He say such a thing? He said it because He knew that we are prone to become more hardened, cynical, and doubtful as we age. The adult life has a way of knocking the childlike faith out of us, and even authentic Christian conversion doesn’t eliminate that tendency. That’s why we adults must become again “as little children.” Is that a tall order? You’d better believe it. But is it one worth meeting? Absolutely, because when we meet it that creates a true masterpiece.

Filed under Adversity, Attitude, Backsliding, Bible Study, Children, Choices, Disappointment, Evangelism, faith, giving, God's Work, perseverance, Personal Holiness, prayer, Problems, salvation, The Bible, trials, Trusting In God, Witnessing, Youth Tagged with , , ,

Suffering

June 2, 2011 Leave a comment

We live in a culture in which we are taught to avoid suffering at all costs. After all, avoiding it does seem to make perfect sense. However, the problem is that God, Who oftentimes delights in making little or no sense, sees suffering as one of His tools. It’s a tool He uses to grow the sufferer in terms of maturity and spirituality. As one writer has written, “God often digs the wells of joy with the spade of sorrow.” Another one has written, “A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor; uninterrupted prosperity and crowning success never qualifies a man for usefulness and genuine happiness.”

Coming at this issue another way, we know that God certainly used the sufferings of Jesus. No, Jesus didn’t need to become more mature or grow spiritually, but God used Christ’s sufferings in an even greater way: to provide a payment for the world’s sin debt. Hebrews 9:26 says that Jesus “has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” And in Luke 24:25 Jesus says of His death, burial, and resurrection, “Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?”

My goal with this post is to remind us that suffering, as unpleasant as it is, is not without its benefits. As a matter of fact, the Bible actually sings the praises of suffering for the sake or cause of Christ. Acts 5:41 says of the apostles who had just been beaten:

So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.

Along the same lines, Philippians 1:29 says:

For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.

Of course, such passages exclusively apply to the Christian. But if you are a Christian there is one other passage that I’d like to share with you. It’s Romans 8:18:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

That is the verse that I will leave with you today, Christian. So if any bouts of suffering do come your way, please try to keep them in proper perspective. Remember that they are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will one day be revealed in you. This is the great promise that allowed the apostles to rejoice that they got to suffer for Christ’s name, and it’s the same promise that should motivate us today.

Filed under Adversity, Attitude, Christ's Death, Christ's Resurrection, Disappointment, Patience, Persecution, perseverance, Problems, Reward, salvation, Waiting Tagged with , , , ,

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