What Is The Difference? 

Matthew (5:13-16)
Ours is a hell-bound, degenerate world, and you know it. Political corruption abounds. International peace, a splendid ideal, continues to blow up in our faces. The crime rate escalates as domestic violence and gang wars and drug traffic and overcrowded jails continue to plague society. Pending legal cases choke the courts of our land with an endless litany of litigation. And even when cases are finally brought to trial, no courtroom or prison cell can remove madness from minds or hatred from hearts.

Satan, our relentless enemy, has a game plan, and it's on the board. Knowing that his days are numbered, knowing that he has an appointed amount of time before the scoreboard counts him out, he holds the world in his lap and gives it directions, implementing his strategy day after day.

If our Christian message is a mirror image of the message of the world, the world yawns and goes on its way, saying, "What else is new? I've heard all that since I was born." But if the Christian lifestyle and motivation and answers are different, the world cannot help but sit up and take notice, thinking: How come they live in the same place I live, but they are able to live a different kind of life? Why is their love so deep and lasting and ours so shallow and fickle? How is it that she can forgive and never hold a grudge? Why do these people have so much more compassion, kindness, integrity, and patience than anyone else I know?

Do you get the message? It's the difference that makes the difference!

Think about it: Do people feel more alive when they're around you? Do you create within them a thirst for God? Does anyone ever wonder why you are so unselfish, so thoughtful, so caring? Do the neighborhood children want to be in your home because of the way you treat your children?

What do people see when they look at you? Do they see your good works? Do they hear your courtesy? Do they detect your smile? Do they notice that you stop to thank them? Do they hear you apologize when you are wrong? Do they see every visible manifestation of Christ's life being normally lived out through you? When they see all that, Jesus said, they "will glorify your Father who is in heaven", Matthew (5:16).

Isn't it a pleasure when someone says to you, "Why are you like that?" And isn't it a natural thing to respond, "I'm glad you asked. Let me tell you what's happened"?

"When the Church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it. It is then that the world is made to listen to her message, though it may hate it at first" (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones).

Thanksgiving

At Thanksgiving, we typically express gratitude for God's blessings. But did you ever consider thanking Him for something that doesn't seem like a blessing--such as a trying circumstance you want Him to remove or change? A grateful heart is most precious to God when, humanly speaking, our situations don't warrant giving thanks. By making four foundational decisions, we can begin to see the value of our adversities and respond with appreciation.    

Believe and trust the Lord. Only by viewing life from a scriptural perspective can we understand His purposes in our trials and trust His wisdom in allowing them.

Accept the situation as coming from God - either directly sent or permissively allowed. If we truly believe He's working for our good, Romans (8:28-29), we can choose to receive each difficulty as coming from His loving hand. Then we can say "Thank You."

Submit to God in the circumstance. Although we may not like the situation, knowing that God "is good and does good" allows us to confidently place our lives under His authority.

Draw from Him the strength to endure. No one has the ability within himself to endure hardships with gratefulness. Only by relying on the Lord can believers go through adversity with an appreciative heart.

Now, think about that circumstance you would like changed, and with a new mindset, offer this prayer to God: "Lord, I accept this situation as coming from You. In faith and trust, I place myself under Your loving authority, and draw from You the strength I need to endure with gratitude." 

They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 

Unlike the Jews, the Romans were not limited to 39 stripes, so the beating Paul and Silas took was severe. The stocks they had to endure afterward were two large pieces of wood pierced with holes at different distances, designed to restrain the feet and produce pain.

Confined to the pitch-dark bowels of the prison, Paul and Silas now lie on a filthy floor on their bloody, shredded backs, their legs painfully distended. One might think they would have every right to complain about how unfairly the Philippians had treated them--or at least to spend all their time beseeching God to relieve them of their pain. Notice verse 25, however: "But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them"!

Not only were they singing praises of thanksgiving to God, but they were also doing it loud enough for the other prisoners to hear them! Just as James says in James (5:13): "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms." They were praying for their affliction, but they were also singing songs of praise to God from hearts filled with thanksgiving!

Are we willing to do this, or will we just thank God when we think He deserves it? We need to make it a sincere habit to thank God fervently every day for all His benefits, glorifying His holy will and purpose for us. He is never undeserving of our praise and thanks - indeed, we cannot thank Him enough.

Care Enough To Confront, And Help Each Other 


'Warn those who are out of line.' 1 Thessalonians (5:14)

'Warn those who are out of line, encourage the timid - help - he weak.' Sadly, we'd rather stay quiet and be popular than speak difficult truth into the lives of others. One teacher writes: 'A church isn't a group of individuals who happen to meet in the same place every week; it's a spiritual body, a loving family. It's far easier to comfort and encourage than to warn or exhort, but both are necessary. Ephesians (4:15) tells us to speak the truth in love so that the whole body may "grow up in all things".

If we don't take the time to exhort, encourage, warn, comfort, uphold and be patient, 'we all suffer in the end. Your body doesn't function properly when one part is hurting or performing poorly. And the church suffers when one of its members is unruly, fainthearted, weak, or falls into bad doctrine. Letting a body part fester, or not supporting a part that's hurt, can lead to irrecoverable damage - letting serious issues go unaddressed does a grave disservice to the member in question.' The truth is the only safe ground to stand upon, and your goal should be to speak it in love.

There are hurting people everywhere, but at times we just don't know what to say or do to ease their pain. Here are six practical ways to bear someone else's burden.

Be there. At times the best "method" of helping is simply to be present. During our darkest hours, we don't need someone who tries in vain to fix everything; we just need a friend.

Listen. Don't attempt to give answers or tell people what to do next. Injured souls frequently want simply a listening ear so they can express what's on their mind.
Share. Never parade yourself as someone who has all the answers. Instead, allow your own pain and failures to help others.

Pray. There is power in speaking people's names before the Lord. When they hear someone talk to Jesus on their behalf, healing often starts taking place.
Give. Sometimes helping others involves more than a handshake or warm hug. Maybe they need something financial or material. One of the best measures of sincerity is how much we're willing to give to others.

Substitute. You may know an individual who bears the burden of caring for someone else. If you step in and take his or her place for a while, you are emulating your Savior--He, too, was a substitute.

Because we were unable to do it ourselves, Jesus bore all of our sin and sorrow, even unto death. As a result, we can live happily and eternally in communion with our Father. If Christ did that for us, how can we ever say, "I'm too busy to bear someone else's burden"?

Loneliness In Leadership


That you may not bear it yourself alone.' numbers (11:17)
Moses said to God, 'Why have You.. laid the burden of all these people on me?' God replied, 'Gather to Me seventy men I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them...that you may not bear it yourself alone' Identify your God-given strengths, then delegate the rest to those who have strengths in your areas of weakness.

Every leader is responsible for areas in which they have little or no competence. And when they try to exercise authority in those areas, they hinder everything and everybody under their watch. Put bluntly, there are things you are responsible for that you'll never be good at, that you need to keep your nose out of and give to others! Why do we have such a hard time doing this?

1) Pride. Success is intoxicating and intoxicated people don't think too clearly. We assume our abilities are broader than they actually are. Admitting weakness doesn't make you less effective; it just confirms what everybody around you already knows!

2) Ignorance. We feel bad about delegating our weak areas because we assume everybody hates to do what we hate to do. Not so. You're allowing others to shine; your limitations are their opportunities.

3) Independence. We think if the job is to be done 'right' we must do it ourselves. But leadership isn't just about getting things done; it's about getting things done through others. If you can't find somebody to hand things to, look in the mirror! The people who follow you are exactly where you've led them! If you've nobody to delegate things to, guess who needs to change?

Deceiver Of Truth

Matthew (4:3-4)
The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 


Even when Satan says (truth), even when he quotes Scripture, he puts a perverse twist to it. How did our Lord fight Satan? With truth! That is how one defeats Satan: being confident that Jesus Christ has already secured the victory and that God has put a hedge around us so that we will not fall into a situation confronting Satan that is beyond us, and being absolutely reliant upon the truth of God! Even though we may not be able to see how it is worked out, even though we may feel that following the truth of God is going to require a considerable sacrifice on our part, we have the example of Jesus Himself fighting Satan by relying upon the truth of God. He trusted what God said.

One might wonder why Satan used "if." He did not use "if" to get Jesus to doubt His Son-ship. Jesus knew who He was. Rather, he was trying to get Him to reflect on the meaning of "if." Satan seems to be saying, "Surely, if You are the Son of God, You have the right to expect Your needs at the moment to be satisfied."

Jesus did not fall for it. As hungry as He was, He knew it was a trap. He knew He did not have to be concerned about supplying His material needs because God would do it for Him. Did He not later say, "If God so feeds the birds of the field"?

This was a temptation for Christ to use His Son-ship in a way other than its God-ordained purpose. What is the God-ordained purpose of our calling? "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" Matthew (6:33). That is the truth of God. God will supply what we need. So Jesus' answer was, "Thank you, but I'll just wait for God to supply My need."

Conforming To Jesus

Romans (15:7)
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

As long, as our knowledge is imperfect and our differences vary, and our opinions differ', let's make room in areas of our lives that don't really matter'. For diversity and variety provide the body of believers with a beautiful blend of balance. But a squint eyed - severe spirit is a killer, strangling it's victim in a noose of caustic criticism". 

Make no mistake about it. God is to kind to do anything cruel.
Too wise to make a mistake. To deep to explain Himself.
Forgiveness is the key to handling our enemies, not revenge'.

Our goal in life is to become more likened unto that of Jesus" meaning our spirit" 
God is committed to the task of conforming you and me to the image of His Son.
Not physically - He's not making us look like Jesus looked physically - but inwardly: in character, in patience, in gentleness, in goodness, in grace, in truth, in discipline.
He is committed to conforming our lives to the inner character of His Son.
Also when it says in Genesis you were made in God's image, that image is of the spirit" not our physical likeness, for it is our spirits that will be raise up not our physical body's".

Junk Get It Out!

'Lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares.' Hebrews (12:1)

Picture a big ship being worked on in dry dock. Beneath the waterline is all the 'junk' it has picked up during its voyages. Nobody can see it, but an experienced captain can feel it because his ship lacks the 'oomph' it once had. As a result, companies complain that it takes too long to get goods for their customers, and the ship's owners are unhappy because it hurts profit margin in a competitive market.

The effort required to remove the 'junk' is back-breaking and time-consuming, but there's no other way to do it. Finally, after months of hard work the dry dock is flooded with water, the gates open, and the big vessel heads out to sea and back into the profit column. Writing to the believers at Corinth, Paul says, 'Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves', 2 Corinthians (13:5).

Let's be honest; it's easier to examine your neighbor than to examine yourself, or to talk about what you once accomplished rather than what you're accomplishing now. Are you slowing down? Are you losing spiritual momentum? Are you in the profit or loss column? You'll find the answer under the waterline where only God and you can see. Carelessness, a critical spirit, compromise, conformity to the world, and coldness of heart: that's the 'junk' that builds up and slows you down. These are the subtle sins you must deal with in order to be everything God called you to be and enjoy the blessings He has in store for you.

Stabilizing Peace

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John (16:33)

On May 3, 1943, air raid sirens sounded over London. People raced toward Bethnal Green Underground station, where more than 500 people had already taken refuge. In the next ten minutes, 1500 more would join them. A woman carrying a baby lost her footing on one of the 19 steps leading down from the street. Like dominoes, people started falling on top of one another. In the end, 173 people died.
Bombs didn't kill them, fear did! Today there's a stampede of fear around us and, if you're not careful, you'll get caught up in it. It's okay to recognise danger, but God doesn't want you to be overwhelmed by it. So you need to monitor what you listen to, think and say. The disciples needed a rock to stand on in the coming storm. Jesus had just told them how bad things were going to get in the world and the extent to which they would suffer. He announced He was leaving and told them He would send the Holy Spirit to be with them. John chapter 16 ends with these words:

"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world."' No matter what the situation, Jesus is on top of it. No matter what trial you face, Jesus will bring you through it. Though surrounded by fear and the fearful, you will have His peace. And that stabilizing peace will fortify you and cause others to turn to you for answers.

How Do You Respond?

The Lord is my strength, he enables me to "go on". Habakkuk (3:19).

Are things in your life falling apart? Your finances look uncertain, the career you worked to build is floundering, your health is failing, the people you trusted have let you down. Nobody enjoys such times, but if you live long enough you'll go through them. And they have a way of making you re-examine your responses.

When the things the prophet Habakkuk counted on started to crumble, he was forced to discern between what's truly important and what's merely temporal. It's a re-evaluation we all have to make at some point. Here's what Habakkuk said: 'Though the fig tree does not bud', there are no grapes on the vines, the olive crop fails, the fields produce no food, there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. The Sovereign Lord is my strength. He enables me to go on, (17-19). Habakkuk realised he had no control over certain things. So he chose to control his response by rejoicing in the Lord regardless of what happened, and drawing from God the strength to 'go on'.

What can you learn from this man? That you have a choice! That you can decide to praise God regardless of the hand life deals you. God doesn't promise to take you out of your situation; He promises to bring you through it. So change your response and begin to praise God for His faithfulness, for your salvation, for your health, for your friends and family, and all the other blessings He's given you. If you look for reasons to rejoice, you'll find them!

Where Is Your Vision?

Psalm (31:24)

Vision - the one essential ingredient for being an original in a day of copies - gets lost, overwhelmed by the odds. Too bad! We start focusing on the trouble. Then we start comparing the odds. The result is predictable: We become intimidated and wind up defeated.

What is your challenge? Which giants make you feel like a grasshopper when you face them? What does your future resemble when you measure it on the basis of facts and figures? You'd like not to surrender, right? You'd like to be courageous, wouldn't you? There is a way through, but you'll need one essential quality - vision.

Vision is the ability to see God's presence, to perceive God's power, to focus on God's plan in spite of the obstacles.

When you have vision it affects your attitude. Your attitude is optimistic rather than pessimistic. Your attitude stays positive rather than negative. Not foolishly positive, as though in fantasy, for you are reading God into your circumstances. So when a situation comes that cuts your feet out from under you, you don't throw up your arms and panic. You don't give up. Instead, you say, "Lord, this is Your moment. This is where You take charge. You're in this."

This is nothing more than having a strong belief in the power of God; having confidence in others around you who are in similar battles with you; and, yes, having confidence in yourself, by the grace of God. Refusing to give in to temptation, cynicism, and doubt. Not allowing yourself to become a jaded individual. Belief in oneself is terribly important.

Determination is hanging tough when the going gets rough. I have no magic wand to wave over your future and say, "All of a sudden everything is going to fall into place." Vision requires determination, a constant focus on God who is watching and smiling. Even in a world that is negative and hostile. Even in a world where the majority says, "We can't," you can. Trust God today. With eyes of faith, get back in the game. Play it with great enthusiasm!

Trusting Our Lord

I have found great help from two truths God gave me at a time in my life when I was bombarded with a series of unexpected and unfair blows (from my perspective). In my darkest hours, these principles become my anchor of stability, my only means of survival. Afflicted, confused, persecuted, and rejected in that situation, I claimed these two truths and held on to them like wild waves, strong winds, and pounding rain grabbing hold of the mast of a ship at sea. God took me through the consequences and kept me from becoming a bitter man.

Because they worked for me, I pass them on to you. At the risk of sounding simplistic, I would suggest that you not only write them down where you can read them often, but also that you might commit them to memory. The day will come when you will be thankful you did, I assure you. They have scriptural support, but I'll only list a couple of verses for the sake of brevity and clarity.

Here is the first truth to claim when enduring the consequences of suffering: nothing touches me that has not passed through the hands of my heavenly Father. Nothing. Whatever occurs, God has sovereignly surveyed and approved. We may not know why (we may never know why), but we do know our pain is no accident to Him who guides our lives. He is, in no way, surprised by it all. Before it ever touches us, it passes through Him.

The second truth to claim is this: everything I endure is designed to prepare me for serving others more effectively. Everything. Because my heavenly Father is committed to shaping me into the image of His Son, He knows the ultimate value of this painful experience 2 Corinthians (1:3-7). It is a necessary part of the preparation process. It is being used to empty our hands of our own resources, our own sufficiency, and turn us back to Him the faithful Provider.
And God knows what will get through to us.
Trust in Him at all times, O people, pour out your heart before Him; 
God is a refuge for us. Psalm (62:8).

You and I could name things, specific things that we've gone through in the last several years that make no logical sense whatsoever but that's okay. We can't figure them out. 
But let me assure you, God is at work doing His mysterious plan (mysterious to us), which defies human logic. 
So quit trying to make it humanly logical. Trust Him.
Do you realize what a peaceful life you can live if you decide to live like this? Do you realize how relaxed you can be, how free of stress? Honestly. 
It's so helpful for me to remind myself: He is the One who is unfathomable. He is unsearchable. I'm neither.

Do You Have A Gentle Spirit?


What is the 'spirit' in which we are to restore someone? The spirit of gentleness. 'If anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.' More than likely, the person is already hurting and as fragile as glass; condemnation will only worsen their plight. Understanding and acceptance - not agreement - are what's needed here.

The spirit of love and empathy. Paul writes, 'Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ', Galatians (6:2). In this passage the word 'burden' means 'a heavy load'. It means being willing to walk with them, weep with them and work with them until they've been restored. If the hurting cannot find grace, love and healing in the family of God, where can they go to find it?

We are very thankful, Father, that in the process of our spiritual growth You remind us of the importance of gentleness: Your Word not only instructs us in what we're to do, it also shows us how to do it. We remember what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians he gently dealt with them as a mother with a nursing child. Help us, Father, to have that kind of gracious, gentle spirit - especially those of us who tend to be impatient with others who are not as quick on their feet, or those of us who are healthy and lack compassion for others who are not as strong, or those of us who find delight in accomplishments but lack empathy for others who are not as productive. It's so easy for all of us - if not verbally, at least in our minds - to compete, to look down on others, to complain and to compare. May we, through Your Spirit's power, become more like our gentle Savior, who promised, "My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Like our Master and Lord, may our encounters with others be easy and bring light. Meet our needs in a very special way, especially our need for a gentle and quiet spirit.

In the name of Your gracious Son Jesus. Amen.