Unmixed

 

"For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, 

and simple concerning evil" (Romans 16:19).

In the above verse we are being exhorted to be "simple concerning evil". That word "simple" literally means unmixed, or without mixture of evil. The verse admonishes us to be holy and not allow evil to be mixed into our lives.  

A few years back one of our teachers in children's ministry did something to illustrate this principle very clearly. She brought a batch of her favorite chocolate chip cookies into class and set them right in front of the children. She told them they could have some, but first, because they were her favorite, she wanted to tell them how she made them. The cookies looked great and the students were ready to pounce on the tasty treats.

She began to reveal one at a time all the ingredients that were mixed together to make these yummy snacks, until she came to one last ingredient that set these cookies above all others, which is too disgusting to mention.   The cookies were then offered to the shocked little ones and of course there were no takers. If I remember the story right, the teacher's husband then jumped up and grabbed a cookie and gulped it down. What a rise that got out of the kids! None of us would have eaten those cookies if we thought that recipe was real, no matter how tasty they looked.

Because we are so bombarded with things of the world, it is easy to let evil get mixed in and defile our lives with hardly a notice. Things that ought to repulse us get mixed into our lives and we consume them without a care.

These days press us to live under a constant reminder that God has called us to be holy, to be set apart from the world, and to cling unto Him. We are in need of perceptive, discerning eyes, that we might be guarded against mixing with evil. Let's all take Paul's exhortation to heart and be simple concerning evil.

Slow To Anger

"So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, 

slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not 

produce the righteousness of God."

James 1:19-20

I was walking in a parking lot the other day and witnessed a woman doing a seemingly terrible thing. She started to back out of her parking place and didn't realize a car was approaching. The oncoming car was still a good distance away but stopped abruptly and laid on their horn for dear life. The poor lady backing out stopped, pulled back in her space and waved with a smile, to which she received an angry glare as if she had committed some sort of crime. This is not the first time I have seen such silliness, and most of you have seen similar displays, sadly it's too common.

Does it seem like people are more contentious these days? There was the guy at the gym yelling at the clerk because there were no paper towels, or the lady at McDonalds cursing some poor kid because there was ketchup on her burger. A young man at our church told me the story of a man harassing a flustered young cashier, she got so upset the whole check-out took way too long. The irate man turned to the young guy from our church and apologized for the girl taking so long, I was so proud of his response, he simply said, 'I'm not the one you should apologize to'.

My feeling is that these short-fuses are due to the days we live in. I know of so many people who live on the go, hardly ever slowing down. There are pressures from finances, work, family, car problems, dating problems, not being able to get a date so you can have dating problems, the list of the trials and troubles we can have in life is endless. On top of the usual hassles of life, you add in the twenty-four seven news cycle beamed nightly into our homes, so we witness worldwide troubles and tragedies. It's no wonder there are so many short-fuses waiting to be lit by the least little spark.

As Christians, we are not protected from the headaches of this world, but we are commanded to be slow to anger. Our best safeguard from a short-fuse is to be disciplined in stepping away from the pressure-cooker life and enjoy a daily Sabbath with the Lord. Jesus said that which flows out of our mouths is from the abundance of the heart. If our hearts are filled with His precious promises and praise towards the Lord, and if our hearts are at ease having spent time in His presence, than you can be sure your fuse will not be short. I won't add a new pressure to your life by insisting on an hour long daily Sabbath, that may not be realistic. I do know what is realistic; can you give the Lord ten minutes in His word, can you play some worship music in your car or home? Even those small steps will begin to bring the fruit of His peace. It is a powerful witness to the world when we Christians are able to walk in peace in the midst of this frazzled world.

Do You Also Want To Go Away?

 

"From that time many of His disciples went back

and walked with Him no more."

John 6:66

Jesus had given a difficult teaching on being the Bread of Life. Many of His disciples had heard the teaching and didn't fully understand it, in fact they were shocked by His claims. These who were said to be followers of Jesus walked away from Him when they didn't like what He said. As His disciples departed, Jesus didn't call them to return or water down His statements, instead He solidified His teaching by turning to the twelve and asking if they too wanted to leave. To their credit they didn't leave as Peter responded "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." As an aside, it has always fascinated me that this verse describing Jesus' disciples walking away from Him is John.... 6:66!

I love Peter's confident stance with Jesus, and my hunch is most of you, if you could picture yourself there on that day, would place yourselves alongside the bold fisherman saying amen. We are now living in days in which you don't have to delve into your imagination to take such a stance. More and more the teachings of the Bible are being attacked and mocked as being out of date, ignorant, irrelevant, even bigoted and hateful. Jesus' word clearly leads us against the main stream of our culture. His word may even come against our own feelings or desires. I've even witnessed too many Christians treating God's word like their iPods, downloading the verses they like and deleted those they don't. The issue for us is the same as it was for Peter and the twelve, it's not about us fully grasping it or even liking the word, it's about who spoke the word.

For a long time I have seen our culture in a slow steady move from Biblical morality. That movement is still steady but it is no longer slow, it is nearing a full sprint. To stand for Christ and for His word is not in vogue, and the pressure to walk from Him is bound to increase. God has placed upon us the high call to stand with Jesus and believe on His word. Will you walk from Him? I pray that we will all stand with Him, for where else can we go, He alone has the words of eternal life!

Cover Your Mouth

 

"The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but the heart of the fool does not do so."  Proverbs 15:7 

When I was fairly young, I saw a movie on healthy living that had a huge impact on me. They were trying to get the point across that you should cover your mouth when you sneeze. To teach this lesson, they filmed a guy sneezing in slow motion. The lighting they used in filming the sneeze highlighted all the moisture  (I won't say spit), that dispersed out of the 'sneezer's' mouth.

The image has stuck with me, and whenever I'm around anyone who is sneezing, my mind automatically flashes to that picture of a slow-moving cloud of moisture moving toward me. Since that movie, I have also begun doing what I am told is a bad habit...I hold my own sneezes in. I've been told that this could cause a heart attack, or a herniated disc, and one teacher even told me I could pop my eyes out! I hold my sneeze with the good intention of not dispersing anything bad to any bystanders.

I would like you to keep the image of the slow motion sneezer in your mind as we reflect on the words we speak from our mouth.  When we speak, we can speak as the wise or as the fool. The wise will disperse knowledge, encouragement, wisdom, and edification. The fool will sneeze forth discouragement, division, disputes, and worse.   

Let's all wise to cover our mouths, or perhaps hold our words in so as to disperse only words that bring health.

Staying Faithful

"So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority."

Genesis 39:4

One of the greatest examples of faithfulness is found in the life of Joseph. In the book of Genesis we see young Joseph sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. He is a slave in Egypt, his life seemingly shattered, in a predicament he did not cause nor ever imagine he would end up in. Joseph didn't quit on life, he didn't sulk or fall into self-pity. He remained faithful to the Lord and became the best servant at his master Potiphar's estate. He trusted and determined to be the best he could be no matter the circumstances and it became clear to all that God's hand was upon him, and he was given great responsibility.

Later in Joseph's life, we see his character and faithfulness revealed again after he was wrongly imprisoned. While in jail, he prospered not by complaining or grumbling, but by trusting in and waiting upon God. Of course we know the end of the story as Joseph is eventually raised up to be second in command under Pharaoh, and his family is spared from famine and reunited. Because Joseph remained faithful even under harsh and unfair treatment, God was able to use him in mighty ways, and take even what was meant for harm to bring about good.

God has called you to be faithful in whatever place He would have you, even if it's difficult and you don't like it. You need to be faithful and allow God to take care of the results.

Glory in Tribulations

"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations,
knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;" (Romans 5:3).

As I write this, I realize you might think I'm a tad silly, but August mornings have had a unique affect on me for quite a while. The warm humid feel and unique scent of the new day give it away. Even without a calendar, my body tells me it's August, and my adrenaline starts to flow a bit.

When August hits, my ingrained memory kicks in and reminds me that this was the time of year I needed to work harder, be more disciplined, to push myself a little more, to lift, run, sweat, and hurt, because football was just around the corner!

You see, for me, August had become the time to really train seriously for the upcoming football season. I would purposely begin to introduce tribulation into my life by adding resistance to my weight training, distance to my long runs, and upping the tempo of my short runs. The extra work was difficult, but I knew the labor was worth it, as it built my endurance and made me stronger for the season ahead. This tribulation was, actually, good for me.

God allows, and sometimes introduces tribulation into our lives and this is not a dreadful thing, for we are assured that in Christ tribulation produces good things. This is one of the great wonders of walking in Jesus, even difficult circumstances, hurtful trials, and tribulations are used to bring forth good fruit. We are promised that all things are used to strengthen and mature us, to conform us more into the image of Christ.

How odd it sounds, but we are to glory even in tribulation, for God is faithfully at work, and even that trial will produce great fruit in you. Trust the Lord and...have a fruitful August!
 

Remember No More

"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."  Hebrews 8:12

I have been blessed to help with VBS for a good number of years, I've determined teaching first and second graders is good medicine for my faith. This year was like previous years, the week went by very fast, I got very tired, and as usual it seemed I learned more from the children, than they learned from me. 

One of the evenings during the Bible study time, Pastor John was sharing the gospel with the children by using colored helium balloons. Each colored balloon represented a part of the message, and one of the balloons, the black one, not surprisingly stood for sin. As John held the black balloon and explained how sin keeps us from heaven and blocks us from seeing God, a young boy leaned over to his teacher and quietly said, I think he should just let that black balloon go. I was so blessed that this little guy was in a simple way grasping the heart of the gospel. This boy had a healthy dislike for the darkness and ruin of sin and would have liked to see it just float away. Of course it may not be easy to let go of sin, but by Jesus' blood (red balloon), the curse of sin is done away with, and our sins are remembered no more. 

What a sweet reminder for us all, there is no need to be bound by sin any longer, as we let go of sin to cling to Christ, the crippling affect of sin floats off like a helium balloon.