APPRECIATING OTHERS!

                       WALKING THE WALK 

TEXT: ROMANS 16:1-27  -  Like the genealogies of the Old Testament, we may be tempted to just take a cursory glance at this chapter, or, to pass over it entirely. But, as with the genealogies, some precious truths can be found in the mix. PRINCIPALLY, THE CHAPTER TEACHES US TO VALUE OUR FELLOW-BELIEVERS IN THE FAITH!

WE VALUE THEM WITH….

1.   APPRECIATION FOR THEIR EFFORTS IN THE CAUSE OF THE GOSPEL (vv 1-16)

“…who risked their own necks for my life…” v4

a.   Special People vv 1-5

b.   Fellow Workers vv 6-16

2.   ADMONITION TO STAND AGAINST TROUBLESOME PEOPLE (vv 17-20)

“…and avoid them…”

3.   VALEDICTION (vv 21-24)

“I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord.” v 22

4.   A BENEDICTION (vv 25-27)

The writer points the recipients away from themselves toward God! “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ…to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.”

-dc

ARE WE GOING SOFT IN THE NAME OF LOVE?

PROVERBS 28:4 declares.....

"Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law strive with them." (Do note the word "strive.")  In the N. T. Jude admonished us to "earnestly contend" for the faith. But, nowadays, I fear too many, IN THE NAME OF LOVE, are capitulating, compromising and going soft toward sin. But, let us be reminded, the thrice holy God is not pleased and neither is the Son, Jesus, who vehemently excoriated the religious hypocrites of His day (Matthew 23). Acutually, and curiously, God hates both sin AND the sinner. Psalm 5:5-6 says, "The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. You destroy those who speak falsehood; The Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit." HE has the the capacity to love and hate a sinner simultaneously. In dying for sinners Jesus shed His blood to get sin out of the way. He was striving against sin and the devil on the cross. It was God taking issue with sin but He did it both redemptively (in love) while at the same time remaining a holy God, hating all that necessitated the death of His only begotten Son. And, while we can't love and hate sin and sinners at one and the same time, we can love them both practically and redemptively but never at the expense of truth and holiness. We must THRIVE in love but at the same time STRIVE for what is right. It's easy to keep one ball in the air. But, we must be strong in the Lord keeping two balls going at the same time, loving but hating all that nailed Jesus to the cross. The wise man said, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate" - Prov. 8:13. God help us not to use "love" as an excuse to soften toward that which necessitated the gruesome death of His Son. Such 'softening'  makes us akin to the liberal political philosophy that tries to negotiate with a mortal enemy instead of believing such an enemy must be decommissioned. ALL sin nailed Jesus to a cruel cross. Believers in Jesus are called to crucify the flesh and the lusts thereof. Ironically, at any particular time, Christians will heatedly lash out at 'the sin of the moment' (just as is rightfully done in the current homosexual crisis) while at the same time continuing in a host of other iniquities, often conveniently excused and/or condoned. Again, "the Lord abhors the man... of deceit." Again, sin is sin, and while living lovingly, we must never 'go soft' rationalizing and condoning that which caused our Savior to die the death of all deaths. We must keep the 'balls' of love and hate in the air at one and the same time. - rdc

HEY, MR./MRS. PERFECTIONIST - CEASE TRYNG TO DO GOD'S WORK

The Bible tells Christians that the battle is not their's but the Lord's. (In the days of King Jehoshaphat many enemies ganged up on God's people. God reassured His own that they should not be afraid nor dismayed "FOR THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS, BUT GOD'S" - 2 Chron. 20:15). Such a reminder does not excuse us from due diligence but it does keep us from attempting to do the work that only God can do. Proverbs 3:5 instructs us to trust in the Lord from the bottom of our hearts and not to lean on our own understanding, or, as paraphrased, not to try to figure everything out ourselves. It is most exhausting and frustrating when we try to play God, or go beyond our line of duty and venture into His realm. Perfectionists and controllers especially need to understand this. :-0
-dc

HERE ARE TEN WAY TO TELL IF YOU ARE A PERFECTIONIST...

1. You are highly conscious and hyper-critical of mistakes.
2. You aim to be the best in everything you do, even if it is something that you are not interested in.  
3. You spend copious amounts of time to perfect something even at the expense of your own well-being.
4. You set absolute ideals. There is only black and white, no grey.
5. You are your harshest critic. You beat yourself up over the smallest thing that goes wrong.
6. You mull over outcomes if they did not turn out as expected.
7. You are defensive towards criticism and have a fear of failure because they suggest imperfection. 
8. You only care about achieving the end goal, paying no heed to the journey.
9. You have an all-or-nothing approach.
10. You are conscious of any situation which might give others the perception you are not perfect.  
       - copied

WHEN GOOD PEOPLE DIFFER....

                      WHEN GOOD PEOPLE DIFFER

Consider with me Romans 14:1 – 15:7. This passage instructs us “how” to deal with certain disputables that arise among believers. These are those kinds of matters upon which good and faithful men differ. The paragraph begins and ends similarly. 14:1 reads, “Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.” And, 15:7 says, Therefore, receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.” Too often such issues lead to the rejection of one another. Such is not God's plan for His family.

NOW FOR NINE GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

1.   THAT OF DIVINE IMPORTUNITY (14:4)

“Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.”
(In other words, God ever works sanctifyingly with His people. Because He's doing this, it is His major concern not mine. I need not meddle or be overly intrusive, although, if what my brother or sister is doing is highly offensive to me, I should "go" and confront, as per Matthew 18.)

2.   THAT OF INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY (5)

“Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.”
(Each of us must prayerfully and carefully make life decisions. It may not always meet with the approval of others, but I should have 'elbow room' to make them. I need also to give others the same freedom.)

3.   THAT OF AN HIGHER AUTHORITY (6-9)

Six times in these verses the phrase “to the Lord” occurs, and then, twice again the “Lord” is referenced.
(The eyes of the Lord are ever upon us. We must make daily decisions with that in mind. He is Lord, that is, Master of our lives. Each decision I make I must ask whether or not it meets with His approval.)

4.   THAT OF FUTURE ACCOUNTABILITY (10-12)

“So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”
(Notice we will stand there very individually...."each one"......)

5.   THAT OF BROTHERLY CHARITY (13-21)

“Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love.” (15)
(We must ever take note how what we do affects others.)

6.   THAT OF BELIEVING INDIVIDUALITY (22,23)

“Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God.”
(In some matters what we do privately before God may not be our prerogative in public.)

7.   THAT OF SELFLESS DIPLOMACY (15:1-3)

“Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.”
(Our behavior must be conducive to the strengthening of our brothers and sisters in Christ.)

8.   THAT OF BIBLICAL SUPREMACY (4)

“For whatsoever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”
(All the Bible is our text book for life. We must be sure we are understanding it correctly. If we are it will be a source of comfort and hope, as well as inner reassurance.)

9.   THAT OF CHRIST-LIKE HUMILITY (5,6)

“Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus…”
(We must love others as we do ourselves, so our Lord taught us. It's the mind of Christ who humbled Himself and left heaven's glory for us. Self sacrifice is an important Biblical principle.

A.W. Pink remarked: “Few things more adorn and beautify a Christian profession than exercising and manifesting the spirit of peace.”

-dc 

HOW GOD MAY ANSWER OUR PRAYERS.....

I BELIEVE GOD ANSWERS OUR PRAYERS BOTH DIRECTLY BUT, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, INDIRECTLY. OR, PUT ANOTHER WAY, HE CAN SPEAK AND IT IS DONE, OR, HE MAY USE 'MEANS' TO BRING 'WHATEVER' TO PASS.

There was a preacher who fell in the ocean and he couldn't swim. When a boat came by, the captain yelled, "Do you need help, sir?" The preacher calmly said "No, God will save me." A little later, another boat came by and a fisherman asked, "Hey, do you need help?" The preacher replied again, "No God will save me." Eventually the preacher drowned & went to heaven. The preacher asked God, "Why didn't you save me?" God replied, "Fool, I sent you two boats!

I do believe God could have reached down with His own arm and plucked the preacher from the water. After all He led Israel waterlessly through the Red Sea. Water is no problem to God, and, to use the prophet's words, His arm is not shortened that it cannot save. But in another instance He sent a big fish to save Jonah and directed that fish to spit him up on dry land. In this way God used other than human means. However, God could have saved both Jonah and the preacher directly, even as He delivered the Hebrew men from the fiery furnace. He mysteriously appeared right there in the furnace with them. 

But, in the cases cited, He rather chose to use 'means.' And, more often than not 'the means' principle' applies to any area of life.

We can obtain wisdom from God, indirectly, even by means of a tiny ant. In Proverbs 6:6 He directs: "Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise..." So, we fascinatingly observe and learn.

OR.....

"But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

Therefore, we should not presume upon God but actively learn wisdom from sources all around. Nor should we limit God but seek Him intensely to give what we need at any given moment. So, we look down and around for wisdom; we also look up for it.

 However we go about it, (or He goes about it) God loves to give what is needed in every day life in whatever way He pleases. Let us not limit Him but be so in touch with Him that we will read His responses correctly even while refusing to limit Him in His self chosen ways of doing what He will do. 

- dick christen