A Fly In The Ointment

You can identify fools just by the way they walk down the street! (Ecclesiastes 10: 3 NLT)

         Solomon tells us that like a dead fly in a bottle of perfume, a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor.  The world perpetuates the idea that when you become a Christian you turn off your ability to reason just like you check your hat at a fine restaurant.  But some of this mentality may be self-inflicted because some Christians still act like fools.

Closing The Mind But Opening The Mouth

         The Book of Proverbs tells us that, Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions (Proverbs 18:2 NLT).  The fool loves knowledge to show off because as Matthew Henry has said, “he loves the sound of his own voice,” Dr. David Jeremiah has said that the fool “closes his mind while opening the mouth.”  Humility is the pivotal piece here.  Humility understands that wisdom is never gained just to promote our own agenda.  Self-effort never makes us humble.  If we should gain a measure of humility and wisdom due to our own merit, we ultimately will end up being proud of our humility.  The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God” (Psalms 14:1 NASB).  We can seek wisdom and miss God, but we can never miss wisdom if we seek God first.

A Picture or a Mirror?

         Kris Langham of Through The Word as a “young and prideful” Christian started reading through the Book of Proverbs.  It was so obvious to him how foolish people were.  He said it was almost “laughable” how stupid people acted sometimes.  But it was not long before he started to see that God was not just giving him a picture of a fool, but a mirror image of one.  A fool is always blind to his flaws as deception is a by-product of conceit. If you think you are humble you are probably not. If pride is operative in our lives we will end up with a dead fly in our ointment.  And people recognize this smell even when you are just walking down the street.

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

Chasing After The Wind

Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind (Ecclesiastes 4:4 NLT).

            The writer of Ecclesiastes is looking at life “under the sun.”  He is excluding from his discussion heaven and hell.  He concludes that “all is vanity” and life has no meaning.  All our pursuits in life, even our good ones like our religious activities, can become “like chasing after the wind.”  We can do all the right things for all the wrong reasons.

The Futility of Life

            Remember Solomon is writing about “life under the sun.”  He is expressing a worldly view of existence.  There are three themes in Chapter 4; oppression (v. 1), envy (v. 4), and loneliness (v. 7).  All three of these are the results of self-centeredness.  He realizes that the world is a cruel place with mean people in places of power.  He observes that we try to put people down to lift ourselves up.  And we compete with others to get one more of everything when we have no real friends with which to share it.  If we leave it right here, we too would say “all is vanity.

The Meaning Of Life

            Ecclesiastes is not a stand-alone book.  It is meant to be read with the rest of the Bible which gives us a perspective not just on “life under the sun” but about our eternal existence.  We need to bring into the discussion the one who came to give life meaning, Jesus Christ.  He taught us how to live.  Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too (Philippians 2:3 NLT).  We are simply not to be selfish.  We are to quit trying to impress others which leads to envy being the pivotal motivational factor in all our pursuits.  Someone once said, “People do not care how much you have as long as it not more than them.”  It is a comparison game. 

            Jesus challenged the self-centeredness of fallen nature.  He exposed the tendency of our hearts to believe that the universe revolves around us.  C.S. Lewis said, “humility is not thinking less of yourself, its thinking of yourself less.”

The Way Up Is Always Down

            William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, was a man that knew how to instill the proper meaning of life in his cadets.  On one occasion a promising cadet arrived in England from the United States.  The cadet had formerly been a pastor of a very influential church in the states.  He was known for his powerful preaching.  The first job General Booth gave to this recruit was to go to basement and “blacken” the boots of the other cadets.  As he started to shine the boots, thoughts pervaded his mind like, I used to preach to thousands of people, what am I doing shining these boots?  Just at the point that the thoughts were starting to effect his work, he saw an image in his mind.  The vision was of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.  He pondered for a second, and then said to himself; If Jesus could wash feet then I guess I can “blacken” boots.  He finished his chore and the story goes that when General Booth stepped down, this was the man that replaced him.  The way up is always down.

            Success can only be fulfilling when our motivation to please Him transcends self-fulfillment.  “Life under the sun” can only have meaning when Christ is King.

           

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 Judges The Heart

 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?

10. But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives.  I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”  (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

God judges on two levels; the action and the secret motive that leads to the action.  This was why Jesus rarely seemed to be too concerned about external behavior.  He was trying to get to the source of the problem.  Are you frustrated because you are dwelling on external issues without allowing God to change the heart?  Permit God to deal with the root (the heart) and the surface issues will take care of themselves.

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

Are You Worried About Your Reputation?

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
 and your judgment as the noonday (Psalms 37:6 NASB). 

The great commentator Matthew Henry once wrote, “If we are careful to keep a good conscience, we may leave it to God to take care of our reputation.”  We get it wrong.  We have a tendency to try and maintain our reputation and are tempted to do things that defile our conscience.  Henry goes further and says, "he will make it clear that you are honorable, and that is honor enough".  If for some sovereign reason God does not share that honor broadly, as long as you and God know, that is always enough. You and Him are always a majority.

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

If You Pray His Word, You Will Be Heard

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.   And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him (I John 5:14).

     Who does not want to get more of their prayers answered?  Is there a way to ensure this will happen?  To give credit where it is due, the topic and many of the thoughts came from a message preached by my Pastor, John Freel of Messiah Christian Church in Richmond, Virginia.   I have placed a link to the full message at the end of the article.

     From our scriptural reference, there are two things that sort of leap out off of the page. First, if we ask according to his will, He hears us.  And if He hears us, He will grant our requests.  That seems nice and tidy.  Until we think of that little word with huge implications.  "If" we ask according to His will.  The "64 Thousand Dollar Question" (I know I am dating myself) is how do you determine if what you are asking for is God's will?

David Got It Right

      In I Chronicles 17, the narrative illustrates one factor in discerning God's will, being able to take correction.  David had in his heart to build a house for the Lord.  And at first he got human encouragement from the prophet Nathan.  But then Nathan received a different message from the Lord. “Go and tell David My servant, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in” (I Chronicles 17:4).  Nathan continued and said, ... Moreover, I tell you that the Lord will build a house for you (v. 10).  David wanted to build God a house, but God planned to build David a house through his son Solomon.  With God, most every correction has an intended blessing.  God knows how to do it better than we do.

            How did David respond?  “Now, O Lord, let the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as You have spoken” (v. 23).  David submitted to the will of God.  Prayer is not trying to change God’s mind, but agreeing with His intended purposes.  David prayed God’s Word, and as verified by biblical history, God heard and granted his request. 

The Pitfall, Our Own Understanding
            The angel Gabriel spoke to Mary; The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus” (Luke 1:30-31).  Mary responded to the angel by saying, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” (v.34)  Mary was perplexed and confused as most people would have been.  But doubt does not have to be spiritually fatal.  Mary listened to Gabriel’s explanation of how it would happen.  The angel lended credibility to his account by referring to how her relative Elizabeth had been enabled by God to conceive in her old age (v. 35-36). 

            At this junction Mary must have responded in her heart similar to the writer of the book of Proverbs, Trust in the Lord with all your heart
 And do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight (Proverb 3:5-6 NASB).  She did not let her own understanding become her stumbling block and allowed the angel of the Lord to illuminate her path.  God wants to reveal His will to us more than we want to hear it.

            The angel sensing her rising faith brings the clincher.  “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:31 NASB).  Mary concluded that, as incredible as it seemed according to the laws of nature, this was God’s will for her life.  Mary replied to Gabriel.  ...“Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word...” (v.38).  Mary prayed God’s Word and she was heard, and you all know the rest of the story.

“Can I Get More of My Prayers Answered? Pastor John Freel

           

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