Understanding God

James 3:13 (NLT)

13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.

A truly wise man is a very knowing man: he will not set up for the reputation of being wise without laying in a good stock of knowledge; and he will not value himself merely upon knowing things, if he has not wisdom to make a right application and use of that knowledge.

According to researchers at Erasmus University carrying a grudge can weigh you down—literally. The researchers asked study participants to write about a time when they'd experienced a conflict. Some were instructed to reflect on a time when they didn't forgive the offender, others were told to think about the time they did forgive the person, and a third group wrote about a comparatively dull social interaction. They were then given a small physical challenge: jumping five times, as high as they could, without bending their knees.

They then asked their human guinea pigs to jump as high as they could, five times, without bending their knees. Those who had been thinking about a time when they'd forgiven jumped highest, about 11.8 inches on average; those who had written about their grudges, on the other hand, jumped 8.5 inches. There were no significant difference in the jumps of those in the non-forgiveness and neutral conditions. In another, similar experiment, people who'd been set up to think about a time they held a grudge estimated that a hill was steeper than people who were thinking about a time they forgave someone.

The results suggest that the "weight" of carrying a grudge may be more than just a metaphor. The lead researcher for the study wrote, "A state of unforgiveness is like carrying a heavy burden—a burden that victims bring with them when they navigate the physical world. Forgiveness can 'lighten' this burden."

[Melissa Dahl, "Holding a Grudge May Literally Weigh You Down," Science of Us (1-9-15)]

The wise look to understand God’s ways and live a life pleasing to God. We have been freed from sin by the blood of Jesus Christ, but with freedom comes responsibility to live with humility from the wisdom we have acquired.

Confidence and hope

Romans 12:12 (NLT)

12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.

Prayer has a distinct relationship to all Christian duties and graces. It is not possible for us to carry out the holy commands of our Lord Jesus unless we are abundant in supplication. The Romans at the time that Paul wrote to them were subject to persecution, and in this verse he mentions two remedies for impatience under such afflictions, remedies which are equally effectual under all the trials of life. [C.H. Spurgeon]

In 1949, a Catholic priest known as Abbe Pierre, started the Emmaus Communities, now a ministry to homeless men and women across Europe. This unique ministry restores the dignity of homeless men and women, also called ministry "companions," by asking them to serve others.

It all started with Abbe Pierre's first companion in ministry, a homeless man named Georges. After Georges' release from prison, his family couldn't cope with his reappearance, so they told him to leave. Homeless, unemployed, and on the verge of suicide, Georges came to Pierre and asked for help. Much to Georges' surprise, Father Pierre asked Georges to help him instead. Father Pierre told Georges that he was overwhelmed with meeting the needs of homeless mothers and their children. So Pierre challenged Georges to turn his life around by serving the less fortunate.

Georges became the first "companion" for Emmaus, helping Father Pierre build shelters for the homeless mothers and their children. In the ensuing years, like Georges, every companion was invited to serve others as they received help. Initially, all the companions collected second-hand goods and prepared them for resale, thus earning the name "the rag pickers." Later in his life, Georges said, "Whatever else [Abbe Pierre] might have given me—money, home, somewhere to work—I'd have still tried to kill myself. What I was missing, and what he offered, was something to live for." These sentiments became the unofficial motto for Emmaus—give the poor a reason to live, not just things to live on.

In her book, The Gift of Thanks, Margaret Visser notes that this ministry restores dignity and breathes new life into the poor because "members [of the Emmaus community] turn to those who have nothing [the homeless]—and ask them to give." [Margaret Visser, The Gift of Thanks (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009), p. 373]

We are told to be patient when in trouble and to keep on praying for we can rejoice in our confidence and hope in The Lord. For The Lord will lead us and encourage us so that we may do the same for others.

Where does my help come from?

Psalm 121:1-2 (NLT)

1 I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!

We must see all our help laid up in God, in his power and goodness, his providence and grace; and from him we must expect it to come: "My help comes from the Lord; the help I desire is what he sends, and from him I expect it in his own way and time. If he do not help, no creature can help; if he do, no creature can hinder, can hurt.' [Matthew Henry Commentary]

In the book Prayer, Tim Keller writes: In the second half of my adult life, I discovered prayer. I had to. In the fall of 1999, I taught a Bible study course on the Psalms. It became clear to me that I was barely scratching the surface of what the Bible commanded and promised regarding prayer. Then came the dark weeks in New York after 9/11, when our whole city sank into a kind of corporate clinical depression, even as it rallied. For my family the shadow was intensified as my wife, Kathy, struggled with the effects of Crohn's disease. Finally, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. At one point during all this, my wife urged me to do something with her we had never been able to muster the self-discipline to do regularly. She asked me to pray with her every night. Every night. She used an illustration that crystallized her feelings very well. As we remember it, she said something like this:

Imagine you were diagnosed with such a lethal condition that the doctor told you that you would die within hours unless you took a particular medicine—a pill every night before going to sleep. Imagine that you were told that you could never miss it or you would die. Would you forget? Would you not get around to it some nights? No—it would be so crucial that you wouldn't forget, you would never miss. Well, if we don't pray together to God, we're not going to make it because of all we are facing. I'm certainly not. We have to pray, we can't let it just slip our minds.

Let us all take a moment today to pray to the living God thanking Him for the help, mercy, grace and love provided. In our prayers remember those of 9/11, the families, friends and responders.

Titus 2:2 (NLT) Live wisely, filled with love

Titus 2:2 (NLT)

2 Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience.

Old disciples of Christ must conduct themselves in every thing agreeably to the Christian doctrine. That the aged men be sober, not thinking that the decays of nature, which they feel in old age, will justify them in any inordinacy or intemperance, whereby they conceit to repair them; they must keep measure in things, both for health and for fitness, for counsel and example to the younger. Faith, love, and patience, are three main Christian graces, and soundness in these is much of gospel perfection.  [Matthew Henry]

Why do we enjoy watching others—especially rich, powerful, famous people—"fall from grace"? Joseph Epstein commented on our need to know and discuss stories about prominent people who have failed:

How delightful to those of us living out our modest lives, to witness, if only through the media, such ego-filled balloons getting popped .… When we see someone mightier than we divested of his dignity, stripped of his pretentions, humiliated in public, we feel comforted by having retained our own dignity, pretensions, good name. Perhaps after all, we conclude, it is just as well that we are not so rich, powerful, beautiful, talented. Relishing in others humiliations is good for our ego …. Even when we know deep down that if [our local newspaper] knew everything about us, we might be on the cover too. [Joseph Epstein, "The Sweet Smell of Failure," Town &; Country (April 2012);]

Teach me to do Your will

Psalm 143:10 (NIV)

10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

He prays that he might be enlightened with the knowledge of God's will; and this is the first work of the Spirit, in order to his other works, for God deals with men as men, as reasonable creatures. [Matthew Henry]

There's a story about a man who walks into a restaurant and orders a Coke. As soon as he receives it, he throws it in the waiter's face. The waiter is ready to fight, but the man says, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I have a horrible compulsion. I can't help it. Whenever someone hands me a drink, I throw it in their face. Please, forgive me." Then the guy says, "I'm working hard to overcome this compulsion. Would you bring me another Coke?"

The waiter says, "Do you promise not to throw it in my face?"

The guy responds, "I'm going to do everything I can not to throw it in your face. I'm working really hard to resist."

So the waiter says, "Okay, I'll bring you another one."

Soon the waiter comes back with another Coke, and the guy throws it in the waiter's face. The waiter says, "I thought you said you wouldn't do that."

The guy apologizes: "Oh, this compulsion is so strong. I promise you that I will check myself into an in-patient clinic to get some help. Forgive me. I'm so sorry."

The guy felt genuine guilt and sorrow, so he checks himself into a clinic, and for one month he gets intense psychotherapy to deal with his compulsion. When he gets out of the clinic, he goes back to the same restaurant, and he walks in and says, "I'm cured. Give me a drink."

The waiter says, "Wait a minute. I had to change my shirt last time you were here. Are you sure you're cured?"

The guy says, "I know I'm cured. I promise."

The waiter says, "Okay, if you're cured, I'll bring you a Coke." And so the waiter brings him a Coke. The guy looks at it and throws it right in the waiter's face. The waiter says, "I thought you said you were cured."

The guy says, "I am cured. I still have the compulsion, but I don't feel guilty about it anymore."

[Phillip Griffin, from the sermon "Broken and Repentant"]

Sometimes we miss the point God is trying to make with us, so it is important that we learn God’s will for us and allow The Spirit to us in our lives.

Listening to God

Isaiah 48:17 (NIV)

17 This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.

God by the prophet Isaiah sends the people of Israel a gracious message for their support and comfort under their affliction. God reminds them that He is with them, teaching them and directing them in the way they should go.

Henry Blackaby in Hearing God’s voice writes: The first funeral I ever conducted was for a beautiful three-year-old. She was the first child born to a couple in our church, and the first grandchild in their extended family. Unfortunately, she was spoiled. While visiting the little girl's home one day, I observed that she loved to ignore her parents' instructions. When they told her to come, she went. When they said, "sit down," she stood up. Her parents laughed, finding her behavior cute.

One day their front gate was inadvertently left open. The parents saw their child escaping out of the yard and heading toward the road. To their horror, a car was racing down the street. As she ran out between two parked cars, they both screamed at her to stop and turn back. She paused for a second, looked back at her parents, then gleefully laughed as she turned and ran directly into the path of the oncoming car. The parents rushed their little girl to the hospital, but she died from her injuries.

As a young pastor, this was a profound lesson for me. I realized I must teach God's people not only to recognize His voice but also immediately to obey His voice when they hear it. It is life.

The story above speaks of a tragic loss of life. There are many of us who may recognize God’s voice calling out to us, but we don’t take the time to listen. Instead we follow our own desires, which lead to undesirable consequences. If you hear God speak today, stop, listen and obey.

Unfailing love

Psalm 119:64 (NLT)

64 O Lord, your unfailing love fills the earth; teach me your decrees.

David pleads that God is good to all the creatures according to their necessities and capacities; as the heaven is full of God's glory, so the earth is full of his mercy, full of the instances of his pity and bounty. Not only the land of Canaan, where God is known and worshipped, but the whole earth, in many parts of which he has no homage paid him, is full of his mercy. Not only the children of men upon the earth, but even the inferior creatures, taste of God's goodness. His tender mercies are over all his works. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

In 1982, the Today show in New York City scheduled an interview with Reverend Billy Graham. When he arrived at the studio, one of the program's producers informed Graham's assistant that a private room had been set aside for the reverend for prayer before the broadcast. The assistant thanked the producer for the thoughtful gesture, but told him that Mr. Graham would not need the room. The producer was a bit shocked that a world-famous Christian leader would not wish to pray before being interviewed on live national television.

Graham's assistant responded, "Mr. Graham started praying when he got up this morning, he prayed while eating breakfast, he prayed on the way over in the car, and he'll probably be praying all the way through the interview."  [Harold Myra and Marshall Shelley, The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham (Zondervan, 2005)]

David prayed and worshiped often to God so that he would learn more about God and His unfailing love. It is something we all should do to stay close to God.