Three Character Traits

Plato, the Greek philosopher, was once accused of dishonorable conduct. “Well,” he said, “we must live in such a way that all men will see that the charge is false.”

Three things are advocated in I Timothy 4: 12 as traits of an honest and honorable life. They are fundamental for all life.

The first is love, The Greek word “agape” means unconquerable regard for the welfare of another without regard for what is gotten in return. It means to seek only the good of others. It rules out bitterness, vengefulness, resentment, and does not tolerate hate. Not all who say, “I love you,” really love you. If they love you they will deal with you personally and never try to expose or exploit your weaknesses. 

Love, such as a boy has for a girl or a girl for a boy, is instinctive. It is a thing of the heart. Agape love is a thing of the will. 

Michelangelo was reviewing the work of some of his students. For a long time he paused silently before the work of one of his favorite students. Then with a brush he wrote one word across it: “amplius,” meaning “larger.” The young artist had shown great skill but his small canvas made the design appear cramped. Could it be our Lord is respectfully writing “amplius” across your life? Do you need to expand the horizons of your love? Paul’s prayer for the Philippian church is worthy of application today: “This I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment.” (Philippians 1: 9)  AMPLIUS ! 

The second is loyalty. This is an appeal for devotion to Jesus regardless of the cost. Loyalty to Jesus is an authenticating mark which defies circumstances. It is true whether you are in the light or in the shadows.

A 20th Century example of loyalty in Corrie Ten Boom. She lived through the worst Satan could hurl at her. In a Nazi concentration camp she saw her family tortured, starved, and finally killed. She survived through a clerical error. Yet through all of her anguish, torment, and pain she was loyal to her Lord and strong in her faith.

Her loyalty might be explained by these words found on a cell wall in a German concentration camp:
“I believe in the sun, even when it isn’t shining.
I believe in love, even when I feel it not.
I believe in God, even when He is silent.”

The third is purity. Purity is an unconquerable allegiance to the standards of the loving Lord.

When Trajan was Emperor of Rome, Pliny his governor in Bithynia, wrote him of the Christians in his territory:

“They are accustomed to bind themselves by an oath to commit neither theft, nor robbery, nor adultery; never to break their word; never to deny a pledge that had been made when summoned to answer for it.” Aspiration to live by that standard today is admirable. Pause and realistically examine yourself in light of those three standards.

Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So

You have a voice, but it is of no value if you don’t use it. It is constructive or destructive, depending on how you use it. How are you using your ability to communicate? Negative voices are releasing toxic information in our society. Are you seeking to rebut them in any way? Perhaps you voice won’t make a difference. Combined with others of like-mind it can. Even a single voice can make a difference. Consider that of a little man from the country named Telemachus. 

Mark the year A.D. 391. The city Rome, Italy. The character involved was named Telemachus, a resident of a small rural village. Without knowing it he had been led to Rome by the Lord. He followed the surging crowd and ended up in the Colosseum. In amazement he heard the gladiators stand before the emperor and say, “We who are about to die salute you.” Only then did he realize that they were about to fight to the death for the entertainment of the crowd. He shouted out, “In the name of Christ, STOP!” The noise of the crowd drowned him out.

As the games began he pushed his way through the crowd and eventually dropped to the floor of the arena. This tiny little man continued to shout, “In the name of Christ, STOP!”

The crowd thought he was a part of the show and laughed at first. Then, realizing he wasn’t became angry. As he pleaded with the gladiators to stop, one plunged his sword into his body. He fled to the stand and as he lay dying his last words were: “In the name of Christ, stop!”

Then a strange thing happened. A hush fell over the crowd as the gladiators stood and looked at that tiny little man lying there. In the upper rows a man stood and made his way to the exit. Others followed. A dead silence gripped the crowd as others filed out.

The year A.D. 391 and that was the last battle to the death in the Roman Colosseum. Never again did men kill men for the entertainment of the crowd. This happened all because of one small voice that could hardly be heard above the crowd. One small voice — one life — that spoke the truth in Christ’s name: STOP!

Many people are suffering at the hands of others in our brutal society. Isn’t there a voice to say, “In the name of Christ, STOP!”

Let’s be candid, to speak up in defense of Jesus or any cause of which He would espouse you can expect there to be efforts to shout you down. I’ve been there, and they have done that. Regardless of whether you carry the day and your cause prevails or fails you can rejoice in that you were faithful. Speak up!

The disciples spoke up even after being ordered not to. They were beaten severely as a result. Thereafter they went out rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer for the Lord.

Mind Your Mines, Mine Your Mind (Use This)

During the 1982 war between Britain and Argentina over 30,000 land mines were laid in the Falklands. Since that time most of the 25,000 mines have been cleared by a demining team of approximately 100 experts from Zimbabwean. They worked mostly in the winter to avoid disrupting penguins in the area. Most mines have been cleared by an extensive prolonged process. 

Battlefields around the world have left similar danger zones. These hidden devices cause death and destruction when disrupted by unsuspecting persons. Special techniques and protective devices are essential for use by de-mining personnel.

In spiritual warfare Satan has strewn the land with hidden dangers. Our loving Lord knowing this has provided armor for His followers.

If you have hidden mines, that is, explosive issues and know it, avoid setting them off. 

Focuses on warfare of spirit knowing, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (II Corinthians 10:4-5)

Carrying the analogy further most persons know their mines, that is, their spiritual battlefield. They know their spiritual traps. They are aware where they should not tread. In physical warfare the object is to avoid the mines.

Like hidden mines in a battlefield Satan disguises the hidden danger with enticing cover. Therefore,  “….let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,….” (Hebrews 12: 1) A “weight” is not a sin, but basically a good thing that serves as a conditioning attitude or action that can be a prelude to sin and its explosive conduct. It is a good thing leading to a bad thing.

There are some things that are neither good nor bad. It depends on how we relate to them. As I Corinthians 6: 12 indicates they are lawful, but not helpful. Of themselves they are neither good nor bad. Discerning how they are to be used is the critical issue. 

In physical warfare no one is likely to deliberately step on a mine. To be most effective the mine has to be hidden or designed to deceive. Enticement makes some of the most destructive ones. They are very dangerous, but are made to look attractive. Satan is no less cunning than a military officer in knowing to deceive persons. He is a deceiver. “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14: 10)

Most people know where the spiritual mines are on their battlefield. Avoid them.

Follow the Lord Jesus who leads through mine free green pastures for His name sake and your joy.

How to Hide God’s Word in Your Heart

There is a definition of a New Year’s resolution being “a to do list for the first week of January.” Well, belatedly try yet another, the regular reading of the Bible. In Latin such a program is referred to as lectio divino, meaning “divine reading.” Since antiquity doing so has been illustrated by a term used of certain animals, ruminate, meaning “to chew the cud, or turn over in the mind.” Certain animals have more than one stomach. They ingest food, chew it, swallow it, later regurgitate it, chew it again, and go through the process again. Certain animals have four stomachs with which to do this.

First, take a bit and chew it. This is equivalent to first attentively reading the Scripture. Read it slowly so that at all the time you are paying attention to what you are reading. 

The next step calls for chewing on the word, that is, meditate on it.

This requires an undisturbed place of solitude where you can contemplate on the passage giving it deep thought. Mentally dissect the passages phrase or word by word and consider how they apply to you. Make it personal.

Let your emotions come along beside your intellect and consider how it relates to you emotionally. How do you feel about it? Resolve to apply it in your daily life.

Let your own heart interpret the text at this time. This is time spent in personal comprehension of the Scripture, not a deep dive in the text. That comes later. 

A third phase for rumination is study of the Scripture. The second stage being the meditative phase now has added to meditation the study of the word using resources such as Bible commentaries. There are numerous good free commentaries on the Internet. In the search bar enter: “Bible Commentaries.”

This is time to do as instructed: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (II Timothy 2: 16)

“Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. .(Psalm 119: 11) 

Don’t only ruminate on the Word as part of your initial reflection, apply it as opportunity presents itself during your busy work day. Reflect on it until it becomes your basic nature, that is, you instinctively apply it. In this way it soon becomes your “go to” conduct even without conscious thought. At that stage in your rumination you will have ingested, and assimilated it. Thus, it becomes your energizing force.

To get started practice these steps using Philippians 4: 4 – 7.

Good Grief

“Good grief” is an expression of surprise, dismay, alarm or other emotion, usually negative. The term, a euphemism for “good God,” dates from the early 1900s. It appeared frequently in Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip, Peanuts, where various characters would use it in addressing the hapless hero, “Good Grief! Charlie Brown!” Do you ever have cause to apply it to the circumstances of your life? Do you ever experience surprise, dismay, alarm or other emotion, usually negative? The chorus resounds: “I do.” 

Grief isn’t good, but good can come out of it, though sometimes we are slow to recognize it.

The warning Jesus gave His disciples is applicable to each of us, “you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy.” I Thessalonians 4:13-14

Every time we wrestle with the events in the catalog of pain the Bible shows up and offers us hope, such as, “Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8: 18

We are all on the scale of suffering somewhere between life being free and easy, and suffering that seems unbearable. The latter is described in Scripture as groaning. However, this darkness is not going to end in despair, not even death. If you are a follower of Jesus, this groaning will end in God’s glory and your joy.

Grief is a form of pain, physical or emotional. Dr. Braun, director of the former leprosarium near Baton Rouge, was asked if he could give a person suffering from leprosy one gift, what would it be? He said he would give them the gift of pain. Not being sensitive to pain they might put their hand on a hot stove, and not feel the heat injure themself seriously. Pain, like all suffering, is a warning signal something is wrong.

Consider the form of pain: grief. The big three in terms of loss usually involve the death of a spouse, child, and/or close family member, becoming unemployed, and, finally, moving and/or the loss of a home. But there are many other major life changes that can cause grief, too—things like illness, disability, separation, divorce, abuse—all excellent candidates for triggering a grief response. That’s why how you handle grief is so important. 

Grief is love with no place to go. It is the final stage of love. As such it often awakens us to the need of God from which comes all comfort. You don’t have to suffer alone. The same Jesus who wept at the tomb of Lazarus wants to be your companion in time of grief. Overcoming grief takes time. Don’t try to ignore it. Internalizing it can be emotionally harmful. There is an old hymn with a line that offers comfort, “Take it to the Lord and leave it there.” Express it to Him.

Claim these promises.

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (I Peter 5: 10)

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”