Lead Wisely

Proverbs 31:1-9. This section of scripture contains words (chosen by the Holy Spirit) that are the words of a mother giving advice to her son who is a King… King Lemuel. She tells him (among other things) not to drink “wine or strong drink”. The reason is that the King might forget what has been decreed in the laws of the land and give a judgment that is incorrect and oppresses the innocent. She does not warn him not to get drunk but to avoid “wine and strong drink”. The text goes on to say that “wine and strong drink” has its place. Namely, to aid those who are dying and need relief from pain and to help those who are in “bitter distress” We’re a little short on Kings nowadays but I think these verses have application for leaders of the family. Fathers/husbands, after all, have the responsibility to lead the family and to make wise decisions for their families. Leading a family is a man’s greatest responsibility it is given to him by God. Anything that might compromise that responsibility including “wine and strong” drink should be avoided so that we don’t displease God and bring harm to our families. Husbands listen closely to the wise words of King Lemuel’s mother and lead your families wisely.

Of Swords and Fighting

Imagine the scene… Jesus Christ at night in the garden of Gethsemane juxtapositioned between two groups of highly agitated men armed with swords. On one side his own followers who have already stated that they are willing to die for him or follow him to prison.

On the other side are the soldiers of the Jewish authority also equipped with swords and clubs ready to take Jesus by force if necessary.

Judas, apparently in an attempt to appear innocent, identifies Jesus with a pre-arranged signal… a kiss. Jesus foils Judas’ attempt at secret betrayal by revealing Judas’ true intent to everyone observing. Then he asks the armed soldiers who they are looking for and upon receiving their answer unashamedly and without fear identifies himself as “Jesus of Nazareth”… So much for the need for betrayal.

The soldiers seize Jesus. Peter and the disciples are ready to fight asking, “Shall we attack with our swords?” Two armed highly agitated groups of men ready to start fighting each other… A fire ready to erupt just waiting for a spark. And then Peter not waiting for Jesus’ answer draws his sword and strikes and draws first blood. Aha… the spark.

Quickly Jesus turns to his disciples to diffuse the situation and tells them “no more of this”. He heals the man who was struck and then turns his attention to his captors and chides them for their methods of arresting him secretly and their threat of force with “swords and clubs”. Jesus, the master of every situation, calms both groups down.

Jesus goes with his captors peacefully and his disciples scatter upon the four winds. Moments before this scene Jesus had been praying privately in great sorrow and anguish that God would spare him the torture that he had to go through. God sent an Angel to strengthen Jesus and even though Jesus’ disciples offered him a way out by fighting for him Jesus knew the course he had to follow.

I admire the disciples for being willing to “fight to the death” for Jesus. What they didn’t know was that they would “serve to the death” for Jesus the Christ. I also admire Jesus for paying the full price in giving up his life. Can we give anything less in return?

Don't Get Drunk

Ephesians 5:15-21

The letter to the Ephesians contains Paul’s instructions to the Christians who lived in the city of Ephesus as to how to live their lives as Christians. Christians are supposed to live humble lives that serve others and not proud lives that serves self.

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil”

Christians must live their lives carefully and wisely consider the results of their actions.

“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery”

Debauchery means… extreme indulgence in sensual pleasures. Drunkenness is self- serving. It feeds our desire to have a good time and make idiots of ourselves. Drunkenness leads to sexual exploitation of ourselves and others. It is a destructive behavior.

“Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Instead of being filled with alcohol we should be filled with the Spirit of God which leads to non-destructive behaviors… behaviors that build others. Being filled with the Spirit of God leads us to sing about God, to remember him and build a spirit of thankfulness. Be careful how you live, don’t place yourself in an atmosphere of drunkenness. Surround yourself with spiritual people so you can be spiritual.

Making Grapes

Prior to his crucifixion Jesus had a long conversation with his disciples. He was preparing them for when he would be gone and for what their duties would be after he was gone.

In, John 15:1-8, he told them that he had some expectations of them… they would need to be productive. He explained this by comparing them to grape vines. In the vineyard the master gardener evaluated the productivity of different branches of the grape plant. If a branch was not productive it would be removed. If a branch was producing a lot of grapes it could be pruned so that it would produce even more grapes. God is the gardener. Jesus is the plant. We are the branches.

One can be a grape branch that is producing a lot of leaves, is robust and is pleasing to the eye. One can also be a grape branch that may not have many leaves but is loaded up with grapes.

God is not interested in people who just look like good Christians. Our works of service to others is the most beautiful thing to him. Let’s make some grapes.

Shall We Sin?

Ephesians 4:17-19, describes the lifestyle of those who had rejected the teachings about Jesus.

- Their thinking was confused

- Their understanding was clouded

- They were excluded from the blessings of God because of their ignorance.

- They were hard headed

- They became callous and as a result engaged in every form of “sensuality” and “impurity”

These are also characteristics of people today. They reject God because they are unwilling to give up their… sexual misconduct, alcoholism, drug use and other forms of “sensuality” and “impurity”.

Even so called Christians confuse themselves by believing the lie that it is OK to sin every once in a while and God’s grace will cover whatever sins that we might occasionally engage in. God calls for us to hate sin and ruthlessly eliminate it from our lives. We are in fact to transform ourselves into the very picture of Jesus Christ.

Don’t let our society confuse you about how to live. Look with clarity into God’s revealed word and receive all his blessings.

Spiritual Cripple or Spiritual Giant?

On the occasion of Jesus taking the Last Supper with the twelve disciples, Jesus informs Peter that Satan has asked for permission to “test” Peter. Jesus granted that permission and told Peter that he would not pass the “test”. That, in fact, despite Peters assertion that he was willing to die for Jesus or be imprisoned with him, Peter would do neither of those things but would, In fact, deny that he even knew Jesus. Jesus, additionally, informed Peter that even though he was going to fail… his faith did not need to fail and he had prayed to God that it would not. Furthermore he charged Peter with strengthening the other disciples after his failure. A few points… Satan saw a weakness in Peter and wanted the opportunity to exploit it. Jesus granted that because he knew Peter would be made stronger for it. Sometimes failure can lead to a loss of faith. Satan wins twice; he wins by creating an episode for failure and he wins when we become so despondent by our failure that our faith becomes crippled. And then we need a spiritual ”handicapped parking sticker”. There are three medicines for faith problems that Jesus employed 1) He predicted Peter’s failure. That’s huge. If someone wiser can identify the results of unrighteous behavior for an individual, the individual can look back on those words and think “if only I had listened”. 2) Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail. Christians should be active in their prayer on behalf of others. It worked for Peter and it can work for your loved ones. 3) Jesus gave Peter a job to do… strengthen the other disciples. Wait a minute, wasn’t Peter the one who needed to be strengthened? Yes he was but we are made stronger when we are helping others. Know someone whose faith has been crippled? Get them back to work for God. Work makes us strong. Sitting on our rear ends makes us weak. Satan’s tests can make us stronger even if we fail them. They did for Peter and Jesus allowed those tests because he needed for Peter to be stronger. He needs for us to be stronger too.

Good Neighbors: Borrowing and Lending

I’ve reaches the age where I don’t really like to borrow things from people. Oh, I’m a good lender… and if you borrow from me I’ll make you feel like I’m your best friend… but me borrowing… that’s a different story.

Today I was riding my lawnmower and noticed that it was gouging my yard. I didn’t really want to go buy another lawn mower so I called my friend Juan. Juan repairs small engines and he and I have developed a friendship. He’s one of the few people I will borrow from. So I called Juan and told him about my problem and asked him if he had a riding lawnmower I could rent. Juan replied, “I’ve got one you can use”. That’s Juan-talk for he won’t take any money.

I mowed my two acres with Juan’s riding mower and when I was finished I blew all the dust off of it, sprayed it down with a pressure washer and filled the gas tank up all the way. I’m returning that mower better than I received it. That’s being a good neighbor. Be a good neighbor when you borrow something. Don’t return borrowed equipment back with only one drop of gasoline left in it and so caked with dirt you can’t recognize it.

I know Juan won’t take money from me but I’ll tell him something like… “take your wife out to eat on me” or if that doesn’t work I’ll give him some flea products for his dogs (he’s got 14 of them). Good friends take care of each other.