The tool of discouragement

Psalm 73:21-26 (NLT)

21 Then I realized that my heart was bitter, and I was all torn up inside. 22 I was so foolish and ignorant— I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you. 23 Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. 26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.

This is a psalm of Asaph that tells us of his battle with a strong temptation to envy people who were prideful and wicked; for they had much prosperity among them. The psalmist explains above how he eventually overcame the temptation that was discouraging him.

John Yates, in "An Attitude of Gratitude," writes -- I read once that the devil was having a yard sale, and all of his tools were marked with different prices. They were a fiendish lot. There was hatred, jealously, deceit, lust, pride—all at expensive prices. But over to the side of the yard on display was a tool more obviously worn than any of the other tools. It was also the most costly. The tool was labeled, DISCOURAGEMENT. When questioned, the devil said, “It’s more useful to me than any other tool. When I can’t bring down my victims with any of the rest of these tools, I use discouragement because so few people realize that it belongs to me.”

Asaph was fighting discouragement. He looked and saw people who were prosperous. They didn’t seem to face the problems most people faced. They were very prideful in their attitude. Asaph said they wore pride like a jeweled necklace. In their pride they spoke evil and sought to crush others with their superiority. Their pride even led them to boast against God saying, “What does God know?”

Asaph realized what these wicked people had could be taken from them at any moment. He says in verses 18-20, “Truly, you put them on a slippery path and send them sliding over the cliff to destruction. In an instant they are destroyed, completely swept away by terrors. When you arise, O Lord, you will laugh at their silly ideas as a person laughs at dreams in the morning.”  

In actuality what did these wicked people have – NOTHING. For everything they had could be taken from them in a blink of an eye. They had forsaken God - so there would be no one to comfort them; there would be no one to counsel them; there would be no one to give them hope.

Asaph knew having God as the strength of his heart was more important than pride, arrogance or wealth. Asaph had God who would hold his hand through any difficulty he faced.

Is God the strength of your heart? I pray you would put all your faith and trust in the Lord that no matter what you face God will be there with you. I pray when you become discouraged you will remember God is there holding your hand, walking with you and encouraging you along the way.

God knows and God cares

Psalm 139:1-6 (NLT)

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. 4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. 5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

In this Psalm King David asserts God is everywhere and knows everything. As our creator God knows and understands our most reserved thoughts. David goes on to say God’s knowledge is too great and wonderful for him to understand. God is truly omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.

 

Natalie Grant sings a beautiful song called “The Real Me” that asks the question in the following way:

   Foolish heart looks like we're here again

   Same old game of plastic smile
   Don't let anybody in
   Hiding my heartache, will this glass house break
   How much will they take before I'm empty
   Do I let it show, does anybody know?

Let me encourage you, if you are asking these questions:

-Does anybody know the heartaches I feel?

-Does anybody understand the pain I bear?
-Does anybody understand the difficulties I face?
-Does anybody understand the mask of frailty I hide behind?

Let me assure you there is an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent God who understands. Yes, God does understand and is concerned about every problem you face and His desire is to love you through each of those issues. God is present with you every moment, knows the real you, and is just waiting for you to loosen your grasp on your fears and take His hand and trust Him. Let me encourage you today along with Natalie’s beautiful song to turn to God and ask for His help however great or small the problem might be. Let God love you through the process without hiding behind a mask. For God sees you as a beautiful and precious child of His.

Pride

Proverbs 13:10 (NLT)

10 Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise.
 

Matthew Henry says, “Foolish pride is the great make-bate. Would you know whence come wars and fighting? They come from this root of bitterness. Whatever hand other lusts may have in contention (passion, envy, covetousness), pride has the great hand; it is its pride that it will itself sow discord and needs no help. Pride makes men impatient of contradiction in either their opinions or their desires, impatient of competition and rival ship, impatient of contempt, or anything that looks like a slight, and impatient of concession, and receding, from a conceit of certain right and truth on their side; and hence arise quarrels among relations and neighbors, quarrels in states and kingdoms, in churches and Christian societies. Men will be revenged; will not forgive, because they are proud. [However] those that are humble and peaceable are wise and well advised. Those that will ask and take advice, that will consult their own consciences, their Bibles, their ministers, their friends, and will do nothing rashly, are wise, as in other things, so in this, that they will humble themselves, will stoop and yield, to preserve quietness and prevent quarrels.”

There are decisions that will lead us away from a relationship with God.  Our choices may not just have negative effects on us and our own walk with Jesus, but it’s very possible that those choices will damage other people’s relationship with Jesus.

“During a 1923 training exercise, a naval destroyer called the USS Delphy led a flotilla of seven vessels down the California coast. The USS Delphy was captained by Lieutenant Commander Donald T. Hunter, an experienced navigator and instructor at the Naval Academy. Without warning, about half way on their training mission, a thick blanket of fog descended on the ships. In the midst of the fog (Hunter claimed it looked like "pea soup"), Hunter couldn't get an accurate evaluation of his location. Contrary to Hunter's calculations, the lead ship was headed right into Devil's Jaw, a scant two miles off the California coast. But that didn't stop Hunter from plowing ahead. That is not surprising, for Hunter was known for his self-confident decisiveness [pride] and what others called his ‘magic infallibility’ to guide his ship.

“Traveling at 20 knots, suddenly the USS Delphy smashed broadside into the rocky Point Arguello shoreline. The force of the massive collision of welded steel and jagged rock split the hull of the USS Delphy in half. One by one, the other destroyers followed the Delphy's lead and smashed into the rocks. Twenty-two naval men died. The accident resulted in the loss of all seven ships. It still stands as one of the worst peacetime naval disasters in history.” [Robert McKenna, The Dictionary of Nautical Literacy (McGraw Hill, 2003), p. 97; Charles Lockwood & Hans Christian Adamson, Tragedy at Honda (Naval Institute Press, 1986), pp. 29-49]

I’m sure someone on the deck was trying to give advice about ship’s course, which the captain falsely believed to be correct. In the end one man’s decisions lead to both ships and life being lost. The accident was one of the worst recorded and to this day no other ship has been named Delphy.

Listening to advice is a wise thing to do; and putting that advice to use ever wiser. Pride that holds back from listening to sound advice will often to lead to disaster and serious conflict in life. Are you taking time to listen wisely and make sure pride is not getting in your way?

Love others

Proverbs 10:12 (NLT)

12 Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses.

King Solomon tells us hatred is a great mischief-maker, always trying to stir up conflicts and add problems to circumstances. Hatred readily brings a person to do the devil’s work. Hatred takes pleasure in setting neighbors against each other with misrepresentations and lies that create sparks of contention. Love, however, is the great peacemaker and covers a multitude of sins. There are often occasions of discord, but when love enters the picture instead of aggravating the offence, love extinguished the flames of the argument and conceals the sparks of contention. Love will excuse an offense that is often a mistake or done without ill intention. Love recovers peace and quickly restores fellowship.

I started out this morning to write about hatred, but the more I looked at statistics on hatred and quotes and news articles on hatred I began to feel strife being stirred up in myself. I was actually beginning to get angry looking at statistics and news articles about hate. So I’m changing my focus and turned my devotion towards love.

Solomon tells us love makes up for all offences. It is hard to be angry with someone as they face you back in love. I have watched the TV show Intervention before and many times the person facing the intervention will become angry. They feel resentment and they fear what their family is trying to do to them. But as the family expresses their love for the individual the hatred and feelings of resentment often fade. There is nothing like love to quench the feelings that grow from hatred.

I love tell the story of how one day I was just having a miserable day. Every time I would say something negative my wife would just look back at me and say “I love you” and she would just smile. After a while I couldn’t complain any more, but instead had to smile back as she attempted to make me happy through love.

As I said earlier just looking at hate brought up strong emotions. We all should turn away from feelings that stir up hate and instead seek out ways to love people. People who focus on negative thoughts and feelings will often direct their frustrations at others. If the other person is not prepared they will eventually begin to respond to the hatred and a quarrel will break out. Let us all learn to love and seek out positive feelings that are good for us. Allow God to work in our lives to show us where we need to change and how we can love others.

The New Covenant

Romans 7:15-19 (NLT)

15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.

In these verses the apostle describes his struggle with sin. He does not understand how he could want to do what is right, but doesn’t do it. The apostle knows there is a battle taking place within him – on one side he wants to do what is right and on the other side he is pulled towards sin. Verse 19 sums it up well, “I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.”

How many of you feel like the apostle? I know personally I do. I cannot number the times I have told myself I want to obey the Lord and then did the complete opposite. I remember telling my mother as a child “I didn’t want to be a teenager because they grew up and get into trouble.” She said she couldn’t stop me from being a teenager - and she was right. I eventually turned 13 and in those teen years I often sinned. Even as an adult I tell myself I want to do what is right, but I still catch myself committing the sins I so much wanted to avoid.

The apostle tells us in verses 9-13, “At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.”

As we begin to understand the Lord we find ourselves in a battle. I am aware God does not want me to covet and yet what do I do? I find myself desiring those things I do not need or do not belong to me. The laws made me realize those desires are present and against what God wants for me.

In the Old Testament God made covenants between Himself and man. These covenants were agreements mediated between God and man that said if you followed His laws God would bring blessings into your life, but if you disobeyed His laws there would be curses you must recon with.

The New Testament brought about a New Covenant. Jeremiah 31:31-34 gave us a preview of this covenant. The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord. “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

In the Old Testament the people did not always follow God’s word so they had to deal with the curses brought against them. In the New Testament Jesus mediated a New Covenant with God for Man. Jesus paid the debt for sin for all time through his death on the cross. There was no longer a need for a system of curses and blessing. Instead God put the law on the hearts of man so they would know what is right and wrong. They would continue to battle against sin in their lives, but when we they failed it was not a permanent failure. They could ask for and receive God’s forgiveness and the sin was never remembered again. Jesus blessed us in a tremendous way. We were freed from the slavery of sin that we might live to please God without fear of retribution when we slipped and fell. The laws were not removed, but the law no long had a grip on us that said one failure meant condemnation. There may be consequences from our own actions, but the curses of God would no longer be upon us.

Looking for God's love

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NLT)

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

In these verses the apostle is writing to the Corinthians about the qualities of love. The apostle tells us what love is and what it is not. In John 13:34 Jesus said, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” This was an additional command from the Son of God that we should love each other, so it is with importance that we understand love.

 

The famous and luxurious Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina, was originally owned and managed by George and Edith Vanderbilt, an elegant couple known for their exceptional treatment of rich and famous guests. But today when people summarize the Vanderbilts' management of the Biltmore House, they don't just retell stories about how they treated their wealthy guests; they also point to the story of how George Vanderbilt treated a young employee named Bessie Smith.

Smith was a teenager when she began working at the Biltmore, and she was intimidated by its opulence. On her first day as a server, she walked into the house's grand banquet hall and, startled by the vastness of the room, dropped the tray of monogrammed china she was carrying. George Vanderbilt, a professorial figure with dark hair and a slightly curved moustache, rose from his chair as his guests looked on, their eyes begging: What on earth are you going to say about this distraction? But he didn't say anything. Instead, he got down on his hands and knees and helped her pick up the shards before saying, 'Come see me in the morning.'" Bessie Smith assumed she was going to be fired. Instead, George Vanderbilt promoted Bessie to chambermaid, so she wouldn't have to carry such heavy dishes. [Leigh Ann Henion, "Biltmore Insider's Tour," Our State North Carolina (March 2011)]

George Vanderbilt was not irritated with Bessie, but instead was patient. George could have stood prideful in front of his guests and rudely chastised this young girl, but he instead showed love to kindly help this young girl.

Do you understand the love, grace and mercy God extends to all? If not seek out God and His Son Jesus and find out the answers for yourself.

Do not bow to evil

Luke 10:3 (KJV)

3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.

In this verse Jesus tells the disciples they must set out on their duty with the expectation of trouble and persecution. Their enemies will be as wolves, vicious, cruel and ready to shred them into pieces. The enemies will howl as wolves trying to terrify, threaten and make them run away from their obligations as Christians. Yet they are to press forward as peaceful and innocent lambs.

I am often reminded of the story of Elijah who ran from Jezebel after she had slain the godly prophets around him. Elijah hid out in a cave in fear for his life; depressed over the murder of so many of God’s people. Elijah felt like he was all alone, chases by wolves, trying to stand up for God. Yet God called out to Elijah to encourage him and said, “I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” In other words Jezebel failed to kill all of God’s prophets because God had preserved 7,000 prophets who had devoted themselves totally to Him. Elijah was not alone after all, but had 7,000 others who would stand up with him.

Sometimes in our Christian walk we may feel like we are alone when we stand up for God’s word. However we must remember there are others who are willing to stand up with us. We must as Christians support one another and stand up in one voice to let others know what we believe about God. Our duty is not to attack individuals, but to speak up on morality and speak out against sin.

I am proud of the many who took part in standing up for the free speech of God’s word when they participated in joining thousands of others by going to Chick-fil-a on August 1^st. There was picture after picture showing crowds forming around Chick-fil-a buildings patronizing them. May we as Christians continue to support what God has ordained and stand up for His word. May we be like the 7,000 prophets who devoted themselves to God and did not bow to evil.