Character and Reputation

He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. (Psalms 37:6 NLT)

We often worry about our reputation more than we should, rather than being concerned with a clean conscience which produces godly character.

It is effortless in this sinful world to invert our priorities, where reputation takes precedence over conscience and character.  It has been said that reputation is what others think about us, character is what God knows to be true about us.  Reputation can be a positive or negative exaggeration about us.  In this world, a godly character can cause you to lose your reputation.  Dwelling on changing your reputation can be an exercise in futility.  You are trying to change something over which you have no control.  Yes, reputation is affected by having a clean conscience and godly character, but it is accomplished not by dwelling on what people think about you, but by how God views you.  Character is who we are when no one is looking, and it stems from the condition of the heart.

It seems pretty easy to get these virtues mixed-up.  How do we ensure we get these in proper order?  By dwelling first on a clear conscience before God.  If we do,  godly character will follow, and among those who matter, reputation will fall into place. Who matters?  God and those who think and act like him.  Denying our conscience to prop up our reputation, is like a dog chasing it’s tall.

Are you being falsely accused, or your faults being greatly overstated? Join the club. Keep a clear conscience and let God take care of your reputation.  If you do, God promises “the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.”

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Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Citizens of Heaven

Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ (Philippians 1: 27a CSB)

Paul wrote these words from a Roman prison. He found a way of framing all his life experiences, good or bad, by his vision for heaven that furthered the Gospel of Christ. 

The Eternal Kingdom

Life is all about priorities.  For Christians, it is sometimes about choosing between good and God’s best.  There is a difference between doing good things and the right thing.  There are many good pursuits in life, but only God’s direction can bring us to the right course.  We will pursue what we dwell upon.  The Bible says, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21).  I have often said that the Christian life is choosing between motherhood, apple pie, and the will of God.  Families and friends may desire good things for us according to the world’s standard, but the will of God may lead us a different direction based on an eternal perspective.  What will help us choose the best rather than settling for good?

We must keep our eyes on the prize. Where does our ultimate citizenship lie?  It is in the world to come. We must keep our eyes on where we are going. One of the first lessons we learn in driving on a highway is to keep your eyes down the road. Whatever you focus on you will drive towards.  The Bible says, “the road is narrow” (Matthew 7:13) and straight that leads to life. The pathway of good intentions often leads us on a broad, yet a crooked road. Remembering that first and foremost, we are citizens if heaven will help us make decisions, not with temporal but eternal outcomes furthering the Gospel of Christ.

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Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Dross

You have tested us, O God; you have purified us like silver. (Psalms 66:10 NLT)

The Refiners Fire

For every Christian, there is a testing process. Similar to the purification of silver the process involves fire, expressed in our lives as trials.  Though the process is never pleasant, in the end, it produces the “peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11).

Silver is a beautiful mineral, but in its natural form, comes full of dross.  Dross is foreign material that is considered worthless.  In the smelting process, when heat is applied the impurities rise to the surface.  They are then removed, increasing the beauty and value of the silver.  Something very similar happens in the lives of all true believers.  God allows pressure and heat to be applied to our lives in the form of accusations or other unfair treatment. Most Christians, including myself, don’t recognize or want to admit that we have imperfections in our lives.  When fiery trials come, they bring to the surface areas in our lives hidden from us.  The accusations may even be false, but they bring to the surface other areas that do need our attention.  We can be so concerned with the injustice of the allegations, we miss seeing the impurities and allowing God to deal with them. Therefore, we never shine as God intends. 

How do I know so much about this subject, because I have spent too much time dwelling with what others have done, and not enough on my own faults?  As Pogo said in the comic strip with the same name, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” We can dwell on the surface, who is right, or who is wrong, and miss the underlying purpose of our circumstances: eliminating the dross and bringing about the “peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

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Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

God Is Still on the Throne

 The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples.

 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation. (Psalms 33:10-11 NASB)

Many things happen in this life that seems to be incomprehensible. Christian die seemingly too young in what appears to be in the midst of their usefulness. Occurrences transpire that do not look to fulfill God’s purposes, yet God is still on the throne.

I once heard a story about a Pastor in Hawaii. The Pastor’s wife fell ill and went into a coma.  After some time, she was confined to a nursing facility.  The Pastor, before he went to his church in the morning, would go by and visit with his wife.  He would comb her hair and talk to her, with no response.  In the evening after work, he sat and spoke to her, without ever even a slight reaction from her.  This went on for an extended period of time.  Suddenly, one day she regained consciousness.  It was only for a few moments.  One of the few things that his wife said in those brief seconds was, “God is still on the throne.”  God wanted this Pastor to know that he was still in control.

Things happen in this life that we may never be able to comprehend.  It is in these times that we trust in the character of God.  God is just in all his ways and kind in all his doings (Psalms 145:17). Bible tells us that the just shall live by faith (Hebrews 10:38).  It is in times of immense loss that by faith we remember that God is still on the throne, and at his return will restore all things.

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Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

The Fear of Death

Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had^[a] the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. (Hebrews 2:14-15 NLT)

Many of us live in bondage to many things in this life.  Ultimately, there is one great fear owned and propagated by the devil.  There is no greater slavery than the fear of death.

The Bible instructs us that it is appointed for men to die once (Hebrews 9:27). Unless Jesus returns first, all men will experience death.  It is the one great equalizer.  Whether you are rich or poor, famous or not, we will all go the way of the flesh.  The devil is referred to as one who has the power of death.  Satan was the first sinner and the one who first tempted us to sin.  He was the one who brought death into God’s creation, yet by Christ’s death, he defeated the power of the enemy.  Jesus conquered sin by his work on the Cross, and death was overcome by his resurrection, and so will you and I rise with him (Matthew 27:52). As Matthew Henry once said, “Death is not only a conquered enemy but even a reconciled friend. It is not now in the hands of Satan but in the hands of Christ.”

If you are a Christian and still enslaved by the fear of death, you don’t understand the implications of your salvation.  If you cannot approach death well, you will never live well.

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Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

The Chief of All Sinners

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15 NKJV)

The Apostle Paul

The great evangelist, the Apostle Paul, viewed himself as the chief of all sinners.  Identification with the transgressor will lead many to Christ.

In my days as a school teacher, I had a colleague who had a moral failure.   He had gotten sexually involved with a female student.  He was tried and convicted of the crime.  We were told by our supervisor that we should dissociate ourselves from this teacher.  In my earlier years, I had learned a great deal from him concerning integrating technology into the curriculum. I ignored my supervisor’s warning. He had helped me, should I not reach out to him in his time of need.  I visited him before his trial and after he was incarcerated. One day as I spoke to him over a phone through a glass partition, I thought to myself, but by the grace of God there go I.  Maybe not his sin, but many others.  That day I realized, spiritually speaking, I should have been on the other side of the glass.  God in his goodness, not mine, had freely pardoned me.  I had reached out to my teacher friend because God had previously extended forgiveness to me.

My supervisor did not think this teacher deserved forgiveness, and she was right, just like you and I did not merit our salvation.  Paul, the chief of all sinners, became the greatest of all evangelists.  Identification with the transgressor is more effective in reaching them than just pointing out their sins.  On which side of the glass do you deserve to be?

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Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Got Any Beer? A Thanksgiving Message

For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.

Samoset at Plymouth Colony

 (2 Corinthians 4:15 NASB)

God often helps his people in unexpected ways.  The first Thanksgiving may never have happened if the Pilgrims had not received help from an unanticipated source.

Samoset was the first Native American to contact the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony.  On March16,1621 he startled the colonist by walking into their compound unannounced and greeted them in English and asked for beer.  Samoset had some dealings with English fishermen in Maine and had acquired a taste for their English brew.  Believe it or not, the colonist did bring some beer with them, but it was long gone.  They were a bit hesitant about Samoset’s visit as they viewed Indians as savages, as the literature of that day indicates. Yet, they gave him food and let him stay overnight.  He returned a few days later with some other Indians, one of which was the famous, Squanto. He taught the Pilgrims how to grow Indian corn, fertilize it with fish, and was a liaison between the Massasoit, the Chief in that area.  Without Squanto’s help, Plymouth Colony may not have survived.

God goes before us to help us accomplish his will, yet because of theological, cultural, or racial differences, we can miss God’s provision.  At times, God offers us help from people who look, think, or act differently from us. God looks at the heart, not outward appearances.  What cookie-cutter mentality of how God works has limited God providing for you.  Gratefulness for God’s help, no matter how it is packaged, may facilitate the unity of spirit they had at the first Thanksgiving.

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Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Hearing God's Voice

 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.(John 10:3-4 NASB)

In the world today, followers of Christ are deemed somewhat strange when they say that they have heard God’s voice.  Even other believers in Christ can be skeptical. In the Bible, it is unusual when godly people do not hear his voice.

Thomas Szasz, a psychiatrist, once said, “If you talk to God, you are praying; If God talks to you, you have schizophrenia.”  I am not sure if Szasz was being sarcastic, but this is how people many people think.  Communication is always a two-way street.  This is an accepted norm except concerning God.  

Of course, at times Christians think they hear weird things from God.  Sometimes we misunderstand what God is saying.  I say things that sometimes people do not understand.  We do not stop speaking with each other, we clarify to understand each other better. Such is the communication process. From Abraham to Moses, to David, and Paul and the Apostles, it is a given that they spoke to God, and God to them.  God’s Word is the primary way we hear his voice, but not the only way.  It is the yardstick by which we judge what we hear from God.  God never contradicts his Word.

How can you have a relationship with someone where the conversation is a monologue rather than a dialogue?  If you are not hearing from God, maybe it is because you are not listening.  And possibly, you are not paying attention because you believe God is not speaking.

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Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs:  http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

        http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Justice and Mercy

The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings. (Psalm 145:17 RSV)

Justice and Mercy

Have you ever tried to be just and yet kind and merciful at the same time?  Humanly speaking, it is a tall task. In the Cross of Christ, God has found a way of being just and merciful at the same time.

If you have ever been a parent, you have most likely grappled with this balance between justice and mercy.  When your children disobeyed, and you disciplined them, you still felt a little guilty because you felt sorry for them.  The saying, this is going hurt me more than you, is sort of true.  On the other side, when you overlooked a transgression to show them mercy, you still felt guilty because you were afraid that you were teaching them that it is ok to break the rules.  Oh wretched parent that I am, no matter what I do I am wrong. Jokingly, I have often said, parenting is like trying to be a cross between Mother Theresa and Attila the Hun.

God is a good Father, and he instructs us through Cross.  The penalty for our sin was paid, yet it was given to us freely.  Justice and mercy were both parts of the transaction. Justice without mercy teaches us that we can do nothing right, the opposite leads us to believe we can do nothing wrong.  Neither path alone will make us a true disciple of Christ. Justice and mercy are attributes of God.  Skew them one direction or the other, and you have distorted the character of God.  Our redemption being free to us but costly to God reminds us that God is kind and just simultaneously.

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Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Full Assurance

And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence ^[a]so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, (Hebrews 6:11 NASB)

There are times in our Christian walk that we can just get tired and spiritually lazy.   Paul reminds us that the good works we did, in the beginning, should continue to the end.  Diligence ensures the full assurance of our hope until the end.

The Bible in this section speaks about a higher measure of hope.  Matthew Henry has written, “Full assurance is a higher degree of hope; assurance and hope do not differ in nature, but only in degree.”  This full assurance is only achieved by persevering to the end.

In this world, people will disappoint you, even our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Paul exhorts us toward good works done for the right reason.  “For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints” (v.10).  Our love for Christ should be the motivating factor in our ministering to the saints, and unlike people, God never forgets.  If we are treated poorly by people, and we lose our hope, we may be trying to please people by serving God, rather than pleasing God by ministering to man.

At the very top of the mountain, the climb often becomes the steepest.  Paul was concerned that the saints would lose their hope and faith in the end. Disappointment or just age can cause us to be sluggish (v. 12).  Paul directs us to imitate those among us or who have gone before us, who through faith and patience have inherited the promises of God. Victory comes for those who persevere to the end.

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Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

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Spiritual Groupies

 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,^[a]” or “I follow only Christ.”(1 Corinthians 1:12 NLT)

Paul had planted the Church in the great city of Corinth.  He got reports that they had started to divide into groups based on the preference for leadership.  If your fondness for a spiritual leader separates you from the rest of the Body of Christ, you may be on the path to becoming a spiritual groupie.  

We all have a preference for how a pastor or minister leads, yet if we compare our group with others, and consider ours better, we may be following a person rather than Christ. Paul zeros in on the problem in v. 13 when he asks, “Can Christ be divided into pieces?  Was I, Paul crucified for you?  Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul?  It is apparent that the Church in Corinth had started to substitute mere men for the role that Christ should have had.  We should honor, respect, and reasonably submit to our spiritual leaders, yet when our commitment to them rivals our loyalty to Christ, all kinds of spiritual problems arise.  Christ, alone, is our one unifying factor.  That is why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2: 2 that he wanted only “to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” 

Paul, Apollos, and Peter were undoubtedly good examples of Christian leaders, yet none of them were good enough to take the place of Christ. Each represented part of God’s character, but none of them his totality.  If we elevate our pastors and spiritual leaders above what they really are, imperfect servants, we are on the road to becoming spiritual groupies, dividing the Church, Christ’s Body.

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Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

What Pride Is and Isn't

But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. “What are you doing around here anyway?” he demanded. “What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and deceit. You just want to see the battle!” (1 Samuel 17:28 NASB) 

The Devil is called the accuser of the brethren.  Those who struggle with pride are the first to charge others of this offense.  The Enemy is very skillful in accusing us of sin generally that we may not be guilty of specifically.  

We are all of the offspring of Adam.  We have the tendency toward pride in our hearts, yet God deals with it in his time and way.  The Devil is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10). God, generally, does not reveal pride to us through accusations.  The Devil tries to condemn us, God convicts us.  Conviction of pride has specificity to it rather than vague charges.  Pride always has feet to it.  It is about an attitude or action.  If someone says that you are conceited, yet does not tell you how you are so, I would ignore it.   Condemnation makes you feel guilty without giving you the information you need to deal with it.  Conviction, being specific, coupled with repentance leads to hope and freedom.

To ease their consciences, people are skillful in projecting their sins on us.  How did David respond? He said, “What have I done? Was it not just a question?” (v. 29) If your heart does not convict you explicitly, you should not let man condemn you generally.  The Devil would like to keep us hopeless by making us feel guilty with no way out. God is not the accuser of the brethren.

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Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Lofty Eyes

An Arrogant Look

O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me. (Psalm 131:1 NASB)

Whether you are proud or not, you will be accused of being so.  David’s brother said he was proud (1 Samuel 17:28 NLT), yet he knew the condition of his heart.  He could have remained in the sheepfolds as well as rise to be a king.  Lofty eyes always stem from a proud heart. 

Pride tends to make us jealous of those above us, and disdain those under us.  Lofty eyes motivate us to look to our position in life for our acceptance.  We compare ourselves with others in our performance to derive our value.  Our hearts have a tendency towards vanity like a baby seeks its mother’s breasts.  David describes himself as a weaned child (v. 2).  David had a quieted soul because he did not strive for a station in life that was higher or lower than God had chosen for him.  The most significant people in this life often to do not recognize their greatness, which may be a distinct characteristic of humility. David realized his own limitations as he said, “Nor do I involve myself in great matters or in things too difficult for me.”  This may have been the key to his child-like dependence on God.  

A haughty look is a product of what motivates us.  If we are jealous of those over us or despise those under us, we have lofty eyes. David knew the accusation about his motivation was false because he felt no need to strive for authority.  We all have the tendency for pride in our hearts, but David encourages us that we can be weaned from it.

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Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Heaven's Court

God presides over heaven’s court; he pronounces judgment on the judges: 

(Psalm 82:1 NLT)

There is a chief justice of heaven’s court, and his name is the God of Justice.  The judges and magistrates on this earth wield enormous power and influence.  When those who administer justice in this world walk in darkness and dispense injustice, there is still a God who rules and reigns.  He fights for the rights of the poor and needy.  He brings judgment on the judges.

The recent Supreme Court confirmation process shed light on the monumental struggle that is taking place in our nation between good and evil.  I am not saying that all people who were either for or against the confirmation, were either good or evil.  Yet, there is a struggle where there is no gray area, and that is between justice and injustice.

The judges in our nation have deemed that it is just to take innocent life through abortion.  It is one thing to do wrong, but to call wrong, right is eviler. Matthew Henry wrote, “To do unjustly is bad, but judge unjustly is far worse because it is doing wrong in the name of right.”

Judges rule by divine decree, yet when they lose accountability to Godly authority, everything starts to break down.  Their consciences become seared, and they become ignorant and walk in darkness (v. 5).  When we begin to call injustice, justice, we are the road to national decline.   When those who are in positions of public trust walk in darkness, it brings trouble on the whole nation.  As long as the law of our land says it is right to take innocent life, we will be a marked nation.  The chief justice of heaven’s court will have to bring judgment on the judges.

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Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

The Sum of God's Word

The sum of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting. (Psalm 119:160 NASB)

All of God’s word is true, yet taking one part of it without considering the other parts, will not lead you to the truth.

You can make the Bible say whatever you want, just by emphasizing one portion and ignoring other parts.  The Bible always interprets itself.  You must compare Scripture with Scripture.  Most false religions base their beliefs on certain verses in the Bible, but not the full counsel of God.  The New Testament admonishes us to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15 NKJV).  Find out what a verse means in the context of where and when it was written and compared to other Scripture.

In the Bible, you have absolute and relative truths.  Absolute truths are ones where you see no alternative meanings in any other segments of the Bible.  A relative truth applies to a specific time frame or cultural setting, but cannot be universally applied.  An example of this is men and long hair. In I Corinthians 11:14 Paul forbids men to have long hair, yet in Numbers 6:5-6, the Nazarites were forbidden to cut their hair. Apparently, the length of hair for a man is not a universal issue.  Taking an absolute truth and making it relative is liberalism.  Making a relative truth into an absolute is legalism.  Neither path brings us to the truth.

Are you rightly dividing the word of truth?  Do you have a favorite verse in the Bible, but ignore its balance in other parts of Scripture?  If you are, you may be trending toward liberalism or legalism.  Only the sum of God’s word is truth.

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Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com