You and Them

Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me.

 (Psalms 27:6a)

There are times when the world seems to come down all around us. Accusations and innuendoes are flying all around you. Some of them being partly true and others completely false. Occasions like these will show you with whom to put your trust.

You may be trying to do good, and the world will tell you that you are doing badly. When you are trying to do the right thing, those around you will say to you that you are doing wrong.  When you are trying to give your best, those close to you will demand even more. There does not seem to be anywhere to run, yet God is our fortress.

When we are actually doing badly, God gives us the Gospel to show us how to be good. When we really are wrong, God grants us his grace to help us to do right. When we are not giving our best, the Lord reveals to us his son, who teaches us how to do better. Whereas the world tries to revile you, God works with you to lovingly correct you.

The Devil actively seeks to distort reality, manipulate and condemn you. When someone makes you feel like there is no hope for you, this comes from the pit. God accepts you just as you are, but he loves you enough to help you be better.  God sees you not just as you are, but as you can be. Therefore, he has great hope for you.

What you focus upon, you become. If you dwell on the trash the world says about you, it will eventually bring you down. If you gaze at a kind and just God, it will transform you.

Speaking about the world, Mother Theresa once said, “It was never between you and them anyway.” It’s between you and God.

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: Ken Barnes' Book Site
Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com
            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

The Heart and the Mind: Doing good things the right way

 But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon,  the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the Ark.  Then the Lord’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and he struck him dead because he had laid his hand on the Ark. So Uzzah died there in the presence of God.  (1 Chronicles 13:9-10 NLT)

 

David had good intentions.   King Saul’s did not honor the Ark of the Lord, and David did not want to do the same. Good intentions are not enough. The work of the Lord must be done not only through good means but right ones. We can follow our hearts without exercising our minds and have disastrous results.

In I Chronicles 15:13 it says, “Because you Levites did not carry the Ark the first time, the anger of the Lord our burst out against us.  We failed to ask God how to move it in the proper way.” David learned a harsh lesson on how to accomplish the purposes of God. He assumed he knew how to do it without first asking God. Self-sufficiency may be the source of a multitude of sins.

It appears to me that people in the Church today fall under two categories. Those who emphasize the truth, exercising their minds, and those who dwell on the spirit and follow their hearts. The is a need for both as Jesus said that we must worship in “spirit and truth,” but not one at the exclusion of the other. If I might paraphrase what I heard someone say; All truth (mind) and no spirt and you dry up. All spirit (heart) and no truth and you blow up. Spirit and truth, and you grow up.

God gave us a mind and a heart, and he expects us to use them both.  We can avoid experiencing problems of our own making by doing good things the right way.

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website:Ken Barnes' Book Site
Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com
            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Justice and Fairness

Justice will settle down in the desert and fairness will live in the orchard.
(Isaiah 32:16 NET)

As Christians, we sometimes confuse the concepts of justice and fairness. God is just but life at times is not always fair.

Ten of twelve Apostles were martyred. Were they treated fairly? They were killed just for proclaiming the truth. Justice and fairness are similar yet different concepts, while fairness is an issue seen from a temporal or a short-term perspective. Justice has eternal or everlasting benefits.

If you liken eternal life to a movie, our life on this earth is but a few frames. In those limited scenes of our earthly existence is where injustice and or lack of fairness arises. God sees the end from the beginning, and from this perspective, dispenses his justice. When God said he would give justice to all mistreated, that is what he precisely means. The Apostle Paul, when treated deceitfully, said,” For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body” (2 Corinthians 5:10 NLT). The all-seeing and all-knowing God will one day set all accounts in order. Until then, we walk by faith and not by sight and trust in the character of God.

There is one manner that we can receive justice now. Darlene Cunningham, the co-found of Youth With A Mission, was looking across the barrier between free and communist Europe. She had heard of the extreme persecution of the believers on the eastern side of the divide. She asked the Lord, “I don’t suffer as they do, where is your justice?” God spoke to her spirit, no, you don’t suffer like they do, but neither do you know me like they do. To whom much is expected, much is given, and in the most valuable form, the knowledge of God. God is not a debtor to any person.

We have all experienced injustice in varying degrees. Of course, my unjust treatment looks more significant than yours, because it is mine and not yours. At God’s judgment seat, he will reveal the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. The corresponding rewards will last throughout eternity, unlike temporal ones who always have a fading glimmer. At this point, our eyes will be opened to the big picture, and we will see that God has been unquestionably just.

Image used with permission by MIcrosoft.

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

From Another's Perspective

You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.

 (John 8:15-16 NIV)

Perspective is determined by our beliefs, experiences, and life choices. Sometimes we can never see things from another's perspective because of our preconceptions. 

Someone once said I have my mind made up, don't confuse with the facts. We all judge by human standards and at least, in part, imperfectly. Admitting this to be true is the first step in seeing things from others perspective.

The basis of all truth is God's Word, yet good people do sometimes disagree about the interpretation of various things stated in the Bible. Someone once said, "In the Bible, the main things are the plain things, and the plain things are the main things." Certain truths in the Bible can never be compromised, such as the means of our salvation and the nature and the character of God.   Other biblical issues have been discussed for centuries, such as the sovereignty of God and free will of man. You can make a biblical case for both of these seemly contradictory theological issues. Maybe, what God has not revealed plainly, we should not try to define completely.

Augustine taught that we must have unity in the essentials of our faith. You cannot change the plain things. In the non-essentials, we can have the diversity of thought, but, according to Augustine, the freedom to disagree only works if you have love in all things. 

In the eighteenth century, two famous preachers, George Whitfield, a Calvinist, and John Wesley, an Arminian, had great debates about free grace and divine election. Each of them argued their theological point vigorously. After Whitfield's death, a woman asked Wesley if he thought he would see Whitfield in heaven. After a long pause, Wesley said, "No, madam.  Do not misunderstand me, madam; George Whitefield was so bright a star in the firmament of God's glory, and will stand so near the throne, that one like me, who am less than the least, will never catch a glimpse of him." Christian unity is not about the meeting of the minds, but that of our hearts. Only then will be able to see things from another's perceptive.

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

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 Knowledge of Fools

But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much.
 (1 Corinthians 8:1b-2 NLT)

Albert Einstein

If you think you know a lot, you over-estimate yourself. Proud knowledge is the most significant proof of our ignorance.

Those from whom I have learned the most, are people who are most humble. Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.” The trait of a good teacher is to take a subject that is difficult for most people to understand and make it understandable to almost everyone. In my university experience, I have had professors who seemed to try and take simple things and make them complex. If you are continually speaking over people’s heads, you are not teaching them; you are endeavoring to impress them. Einstein further commented, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

The commentator Matthew Henry once wrote, “There is no proof of ignorance that is more common than proud knowledge. Those who understand their ignorance are ones who know best.” God is the source of all knowledge. When we believe that knowledge comes through our great intellect or is expressed only through our eloquent words, we are becoming a fool. Proverbs 9:18 (NLT) tells us that “Fear if the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Without God, we know nothing.

The Apostle Paul was often criticized for his lack of eloquence. He responded by saying he only sought to know Christ and him, crucified. The power of the Gospel speaks for itself.  Proud knowledge is the language of fools and only broadcasts our ignorance.

Image used with permision by Microsoft.

 

The Gospel of Envy

A sound heart is life to the body,
But envy is rottenness to the bones. (Ecclesiastes 6:9 NLT)

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill once said, “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” Many young people today are being hoodwinked by the gospel of envy.

The gospel of envy, like the Gospel of Christ, transforms our entire being. The former leading to moral corruption, the latter to ethical transformation. We often confuse envy and ambition. Envy seeks to take from others what we want for ourselves. Ambition, in its purest form, creates things that make life better for ourselves and others. Envy limits initiative and retards innovation.  Socialist wait for others to create so that they can take. Yes, selfish ambition is condemned in the Bible, but not the desire to succeed. Ambition practiced with generosity for the glory of God is a good thing.

Envy always leads us to compare ourselves with others. It breads division between those we consider the haves and the have nots. We should never compare what we have with what others possess, but thankfully receive what God desires to give us, be that a little or a lot.  Pride is extending its ugly tentacles down into your heart when you envy others. The moral compass of our faith must always direct the desire to succeed. Sanctified ambition always seeks the highest good for all concerned, including God, others, and ourselves.

The gospel of envy leads to moral corruption because It keeps us self-centered in our desires and selfish in our pursuits. The emerging generation can trumpet the high-sounding mantra of equality for all, but will receive only what Churchill calls the “equal sharing of misery.”

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

 

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

Two Brothers

To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons.
 (Luke 15:11 NLT)

Luke tells us about two sons.  The younger son forsook his father and his household for riotous living.  The older son stayed home and did all the right things for all the wrong reasons. There are none so far from God that live close to him without ever really knowing him.

The self-righteous older brother

I grew up in church and had all the perfect attendance Sunday school pins down one lapel and up the other one.  I made a public confession of my faith was baptized, which was expected of all young people in the church.  I was known as a good boy.  I tried to do the right things, especially on Sunday mornings. This all continued until one day on my college campus. I gave my heart to the Lord; then, I saw that I was not as good as I thought myself to be.  I was a lot more like the older brother in this story.

The younger brother spent all his inheritance on wild living.  He was living among the pigs, and even their food looked good to him (vs. 13-16).  He finally came to his senses v. 17).  Recognizing our sin is like finally seeing the obvious.  He realizes that he no longer has the right to be called his father’s son (v. 19).  Repentance never demands mercy.

The younger brother returns home and voices to his father the contrition that he has already experienced in his heart (v.21).  His father, being a type of Christ, treats him like he has never sinned, by clothing him with a beautiful robe and killing the fatted calf for a celebratory feast (v.22-23); enter the older brother.

The elder sibling does not seem to be excited about his brother’s return.  He was angry that his father was giving his brother what he deserved.  When our hearts are right with God, we always rejoice when a sinner repents.  It appears that all his good works have done little to change his heart.  He served his father, not out of love, but to earn what he felt he deserved, his inheritance.  Spiritually speaking, we can never receive anything until we realize that we deserve nothing.

Working for our salvation always makes us feel entitled.  Only the poor in spirit come to know Christ.

Image used with permission by Microsoft

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