Monthly Archives: October 2012

Rulers or Governors

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Peter, a disciple of Jesus, in addressing pastors and church leaders wrote, “Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don’t lord [dictate] it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example.”1

In listening to an interview on a recent TV news commentary, the man being interviewed told how, immediately following his election, a current political leader had said that he was ready to rule. The interviewee noted wisely that politicians are elected to govern—not to rule! An excellent point to be sure. This brought to mind that some pieces of equipment have an inbuilt governor, a devise to govern the piece of equipment so that it doesn’t exceed its limit, go out of control, or break down.

When voting for our political leaders, it is imperative to keep this principle in mind. What we need are leaders who govern—not rule. The same principle applies to church leaders as pointed out in today’s word from God’s Word, the Bible: pastors, priests, and church leaders are to lead and never to “lord” [dictate] it over anyone.

The fact is, whether it be a pastor, a politician, a father, or anyone else who is rigid and legalistic, such a one has a need to dictate/lord/control others because of his or her insecurity. These people only feel safe when they are in control, and have their own way—this, of course, is a false security. When voting for and/or choosing leaders, be sure to know who you are voting for, what he/she stands for, and how they govern. Go by what they have done in the past and never on what they merely say they are going to do in the present and future.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me whenever I am in any kind of leadership role—be it minor or major—to never lord it over people to get my own way. Help me to be sensitive to others needs, listen to their input, lead by my own good example, and above all to lead as Jesus would lead. So help me God. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Peter 5:2-3 (NLT).

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It’s Only Words

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“A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver,” and, “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.”1

One of my favorite songs sung by the Bee Gees a number of years ago went something like this: “It’s only words and words are all I have to take your heart away.”

Words can be a force far beyond their weight, and can have an impact far beyond their immediate reach. With words we can make people laugh—or cry; respond positively—or negatively; draw people closer to us—or drive them away. With words we can inspire people to noble acts of kindness or, if we are so inclined, to evil deeds of wickedness. Compare the words of Martin Luther King with those of Hitler.

And while you and I will never be a King or a Hitler, our words can and do have a lasting impact, especially on our spouse and on our children—as well as on our friends, associates, and people in our circle of influence. I know of one mother who told her daughter that she wasn’t wanted, and that child, now an adult, is still traumatized by that rejection. And speaking personally, I can still remember words of encouragement I received as a young man growing up—words that have stayed with me all of my adult life.

So never forget the impact your words can have on those you love the most and those who are closest to you—and even on strangers. Remember today’s scripture verse: “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up,” and that:

Words spoken may soon pass away and forgotten be, but when spoken in love and kindness are like beautiful flowers, and even though they fade and die from conscious memory, their fragrance  lives on embedded in the deeper mind–forever.2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me a sensitive spirit and help me to learn the art of speaking loving and kind words (eloquent or otherwise) to all those who cross my path and are in need of encouragement. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 12:25; 25:11 (NIV).

2. Dick Innes, “Words.” See http://tinyurl.com/words-spoken.

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The Lost Chord

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“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men [and women] of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.”1

Joy, my wife, is a harpist and for many years she and her fellow harpist friend, Susan, played harp duets. On one occasion they practiced for endless hours to master a particularly difficult arrangement of “The Lord’s Prayer.” After the service where they played this duet, a man rushed up to thank them for playing such a magnificent rendering of “The Lost Chord.”

What a letdown for Joy and Susan. Joy and I laugh about it now but it didn’t feel so good for her and Susan at the time.

But isn’t life like that? No matter what we do, how hard we work at it, how good a job we do of it, there will always be someone who doesn’t get it, doesn’t like it, misses the point, or who will find fault with whatever we do.

In my line of work—writing Daily Encounters for one thing—I sometimes experience this. When I fail to be “politically correct,” some readers love it and others hate it. Some commend me. Others criticize me. That’s par for the course, and for those who want to make a difference in life, that’s par for the course of life. People who aim to please everybody end up pleasing nobody.

As Christians, our responsibility is to be witnesses for Jesus—not to be politically correct people pleasers. I like what an English Bishop once said, “Everywhere Paul went there was either a revival or a revolution. Everywhere I go they serve tea.”

I hate tea, if you get my drift!

In this day of ever-decreasing moral standards and increasing evil, would to God that there were more “Apostle Pauls” in our pulpits and “Apostle Paul” type politicians in leadership positions who would cause or at least trigger spiritual revivals and/or moral revolutions.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me always to stand firm in the faith and to live and work in harmony with your Word in order to bring glory to you—and never be a people pleaser for my own praise and glory. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (NIV).

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Sheep of God’s Pasture

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Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”1

Not so long ago, Joy and I were visiting our then ACTS office in New Zealand and, while there, we spent a few days sightseeing some of the beautiful NZ countryside. It seemed like everywhere we went there were sheep, sheep, sheep and more sheep.

What we saw were flocks of sheep but, as Max Lucado points out, what the shepherd sees is a sheep—an individual sheep—and knows the characteristics of every one of his sheep. And, at least in New Testament times, the shepherd apparently knew each of his sheep by name.

When Jesus, the Good Shepherd, sees you and me in a crowd, he doesn’t see the crowd. He sees every one of “his sheep” as individuals and knows each one of us by name. He knows our joys, our sorrows, our gains, our losses, our successes, our failures—and he loves each one of us devotedly. We are not a crowd to him. We are his individual children.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that when I accept Jesus as my Savior, you know me by name, know everything about me, and always want the best for me because you care deeply about me and love me devotedly. Please help me always to remember that I am one of your special ‘sheep’ and love you devotedly too. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. John 10:27-28 (NKJV).

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What Is God Like?

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“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”1

King Duncan writes about the small boy who “was consistently late coming home from school. His parents warned him one day that he must be home on time that afternoon, but nevertheless, he arrived later than ever. His mother met him at the door and said nothing. His father met him in the living room and said nothing.

“At dinner that night, the boy looked at his plate. There was a slice of bread and a glass of water. He looked at his father’s full plate and then at his father, but his father remained silent. The boy was crushed. The father waited for the full impact to sink in, then quietly took the boy’s plate and placed it in front of himself. He took his own plate of meat and potatoes, put it in front of the boy, and smiled at his son. When that boy grew up, he said, ‘All my life I’ve known what God is like by what my father did that night.’”2

We, too, can know what God is like by what Jesus did for us when he came to earth as a babe in Bethlehem and then to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for all our sins so we can be freely forgiven and receive God’s gift of eternal life to be with him in heaven forever.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, how can I ever thank you enough for your great love gift to me at Christmas time some 2000 years ago in giving your Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for all my sins through his death on the cross so that I could receive your gift of forgiveness and eternal life? Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Romans 5:8 (NIV).

2. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com.

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Pegs to Hang Anger On

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“An angry man stirs up strife, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.”1

Unresolved anger can express itself in a score of destructive ways including resentment, a negative critical attitude, hostility and hatred. It causes all sorts of problems both to the angry person and to those on whom he dumps his anger.

Repressed it can become super-charged and cause the angry person to explode and lash out and hurt people—even murder them. Or it can cause a person to implode and ruin his physical health and destroy his relationships.

Unresolved anger is like an emotional cancer and you either get rid of the “cancer” or in time the “cancer” will get rid of you—one way or another.

Furthermore, angry people are forever looking for pegs to hang their anger on. Instead of facing their own reality, they are forever looking for faults—real or imagined—in others on whom to dump their anger and blame them for it.

So how do you relate to these people? Wherever possible it’s best to avoid them. If you can’t avoid them, exercise tough love and let them know in a kind way that there will be consequences (such as distancing yourself from them) if they continue to treat you in an angry, abusive way, either physically or emotionally.

If you happen to be an angry person, the first thing to do is admit it and then seek the help of a qualified anger-management counselor to help you work through and resolve your anger. Doing this will be one of the most loving things you can do for your loved ones and for yourself.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, if I am an angry person, please help me to see and admit this, and to find the help I need to resolve it so I can always maintain a loving attitude. And please give me the courage to lovingly confront any angry person in my life by letting them know that I will no longer allow them to treat me in an angry, abusive way, and that I will have to distance myself from them if they refuse to get the help they need to overcome their anger issue. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: See the article, “Taming Your Anger” at http://tinyurl.com/b439f.

1. Proverbs 29:22 (NASB).

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Running on Empty

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“It is not good for man to be alone.”1

Years ago, in my single days, I had just arrived home from work one evening and, as I was walking into the front door of my home, a simple but profound truth hit me: “The reason I feel empty is because I am.”

I have come to realize more and more that whenever I feel empty, it is because either my “God love cup” or my “people love cup” is running on low or empty.

It is true that we can live well without a lot of things, but we can’t live meaningfully without at least one close, loving relationship, and preferably several. It doesn’t have to be romantic love, but it does need to be at least brotherly love.

It has been said that there is a God-shaped vacuum in every heart that only God can fill. This is very true, but there is also a people-shaped vacuum that only people can fill. Both need to be kept topped up for total well-being and meaningful living.

I like to visualize my heart as a cup made up of two parts: One is a God-shaped half. The other a people-shaped half. Only as both are “fixed and filled” do I become a whole!

We can no more run on an empty love cup than our car can run on an empty fuel tank. We need to keep our God-love-cup filled by daily keeping in fellowship with God by living a wholesome life; by daily reading and meditating on God’s Word, the Bible; by maintaining an active prayer life; and in purposeful fellowship with other Christians. And we need to make sure we get our people-love-cup filled in healthy relationships, otherwise we may be tempted to get our love-cup filled in unhealthy and damaging relationships which can lead to an increase in our feeling of emptiness and, consequently, in time, become ill physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please fill my empty heart with your love and help me to get my people-love-cup filled in healthy ways—and help me to see what I can and need to do to meet both of these God-given needs. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Genesis 2:18.

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Devious Devilish Devices

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“For we are not ignorant of his [Satan's] devices.”1

To defeat an enemy it is imperative to understand his modus operandi. Satan, our archenemy, is the father of lies and a liar from the beginning. One of his most dangerous devices is to keep us in denial—to keep us from seeing the truth about God, about ourselves, about God’s plan and our need of salvation, and above all to keep us from seeing the truth about the totally destructive nature and effects of sin.

To give us a clearer picture and understanding of sin, the Bible uses three words to describe sins’ various facets.

First, is the word “transgression” which means to rebel against and/or disobey God’s laws, to make up our own rules and go our own way. Rebellion can be willful and deliberate or it can be passive and even unconscious.

Second, is the word “iniquity” which is the expression of our sinful nature. For instance, we are not sinners because we sin, but rather, we sin because we are sinners. It is our nature to do so.

The third facet of sin is to “miss the mark”—God’s mark or target of holiness. As Paul wrote, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory [standard or target] of God.”2 God’s mark is the perfection or wholeness he envisioned for us. Therefore, anything in my life that falls short of God’s standard is sin. Besides obvious external acts such as stealing, lying, adultery, murder, etc., etc., it also includes failing to resolve hurts from the past, sins of resentment, pride, anger, bitterness, denial, failing to resolve my pockets of immaturity, and so on.

Once we understand the nature of sin and Satan’s devices, with deep honesty and God’s help, we are free to work on overcoming the sins and problems that so easily beset us.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, give me the courage to face my total ‘dark side’ and confess every secret and known sin. Help me to see wherever I fall short of your standard so I can bring these areas of my life to you for your healing and recovery. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1. 2 Corinthians 2:11 (NIV).

2. Romans 3:23 (NIV).

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Opening the Door to Healing

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“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”1

Related to what the Bible calls “confession,” counselors call “catharsis,” which means to purify by emptying out—an emptying out of the emotional poison that makes us sick or sicker than we need to be. Catharsis is needed to “get rid of … feelings of hatred”2 as God’s Word instructs us to do. Just talking “about” negative feelings doesn’t get rid of them. In fact, it can keep one stuck in them. They need to be felt in all their intensity and expressed creatively by either verbalizing them or writing them out until they are totally dissipated. (For help see footnote No. 3.)

Confession is not only confessing our failures and sins, but also where we’ve been sinned against, as this can leave a spirit of resentment in us that we need to “empty out” and resolve.

Confession with catharsis is the emptying out of the poisonous emotions of hurt, anger, grief, guilt, and shame that are a result of our own actions or of being hurt, abandoned, abused, criticized, rejected, and so on, which stops us truly forgiving any and all who may have hurt us in the past—anywhere from yesterday to yesteryear all the way back to early childhood.

Furthermore, to fail to forgive keeps us bound by the past. As we have noted before, “Failing to forgive is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” Or as Max Lucado put it, “Forgiveness is unlocking the door to set someone free and realizing you were the prisoner.”

It is a fact of life that confession with catharsis, followed by forgiveness of any and all who have ever hurt us, opens the door to our healing and wellbeing.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to see any sins in my life that I need to confess, and help me to get in touch with any unresolved negative emotions and learn how to ‘empty them out’ in helpful and healing ways. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 5:16 (NIV).

2. 1 Peter 2:1 (TLB) (NLT).

3. See, “Taming Your Anger,” http://tinyurl.com/b439f.

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Aching Arms

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“As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset”1

I don’t know why God required Moses to keep his hands raised when the ancient Israelites were in battle against the Amalekites—unless it was to acknowledge Israel’s total dependence on God. Whatever the reason, it was a smart move to get a helping hand from Aaron and Hur, as Moses never could have made it by himself. It is also a good lesson for all of us because none of us can get through life without a helping hand from others.

I believe it was Paul Harvey who made the following comment: “We have always tended to revere the airplane pilot who did it alone and the country doctor who never left the bedside…. Such a spirit of independence served us well and caused us all to grow tall. But we’d never have made it to the moon without a spirit of interdependence. And we’d never have eradicated typhoid and smallpox and polio without cooperative effort. We’ve found that no person alone can fetch oil from beneath the ocean. We’ve found that we are becoming increasingly interdependent—not only in our country, but also all around the world.… On the steep slope ahead, holding hands is necessary.”2

And in the quiet of our home and among friends holding hands is also necessary.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me never to be slow to offer a helping hand to a friend in need, and never too proud to ask for help when I need a helping hand. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Exodus 17:11-12 (NIV).

2. Paul Harvey, Cited on Kneemail, www.oakhillcoc.org/

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