Leading To Edification

"We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification."
Romans 15:1-2 (NKJV)

Truth is absolute, but people's perception of the truth is not.  It is true that if you add two of one thing to two more of those things you will have a total of four, that is the truth.  But what if someone was very bad at math and they thought that two plus two is three, or five?  That person may be convinced that two plus two is three or five, even though that is not accurate or true.  The solution in this situation is not to start an argument or debate, but to find a way to show the person that the correct answer really is four.

Christians, and people in general, can have different ideas and perceptions of what is true and false. Unfortunately, what often happens is that people will argue about something, trying to prove that what they are saying is true.  Very often the issue is not resolved and people only end up offended and upset, which is not the same as helping people and leading them to edification.  Humility and kindness can go a long way in helping people see and understand the truth, without creating a problem in the process.

Some people believe that the main point is to show people what is right and wrong, and if they don't like it, then that is the other person's problem.  But in Romans 15, Paul said that the "strong" people should not just try to please themselves, but work towards pleasing others and edifying them.  There may come a point where we need to take a very strong stand for the truth, but that is not the first step in dealing with other people.  We need to bring the truth to people in a way that will help them clearly see right and wrong, and that will lead them to being edified by knowing the truth.

Our Refuge

"I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."
Psalm 91:2 (NKJV)

When you fly on an airplane, they show you where the exits are located.  In buildings, you can find the emergency exits, which are not the normal way to leave the building, but they are the exits you will have to use in an emergency situation.  Some buildings are listed as being shelters in a storm, or as the place to go if there is a tornado.  All of these things are good and beneficial, but if you don't know where the exits and shelters are located, and how to get there, you can have a problem.

In Psalm 91 it talks about God's protection.  God is talked about as our refuge and our fortress.  A refuge is good, and a fortress is good, but if you don't know they exist, or how to get to the place of refuge, or the fortress, then you can have a problem.  In Hosea 4:6, God said that "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge".  Some Christians do not even know about Psalm 91 and what God has said, and some believers think that it is up to God to protect us, if He wants to, otherwise we just suffer with our problems.

As Christians, we need to know and understand that God loves us so much, that He sent Jesus to die in our place and pay the price for our sin, so that we could live in a relationship with God.  We need to know and understand all that God will do for us, and how He wants to help us in every situation.  God has given us His Word and the Holy Spirit to show us what to do, and how to do it, in the time of trouble, so that when we face adversity that God can guide us into a place of refuge and be our fortress to protect and deliver us from whatever may come.

Unpredictable

"Forever, O Lord, your Word is settled in heaven."
Psalm 119:89 (NKJV)

Something that is unpredictable is something that unreliable, it is something you are uncertain of.  For example, the weather can be unpredictable and it can be hard to say with any accuracy what the weather will really be like a day or two from today.  If something is unpredictable, you cannot know exactly how it will act.  On the other hand, if something is predictable, such as the sun rising in the East and setting in the West, then it is something that is a certainty and can be depended upon.

We all want things that are important for us to be dependable and reliable, but if they are unpredictable, they can be a problem.  People themselves and what they do and say are often unpredictable.  But one thing is certain, God and His Word are predictable.  What God has said in His Word is something we can depend on and it is reliable.  We don't have to be concerned that what God said in His Word will change from year to year or work differently in our life today than it did before.

We can accurately predict that 1 John 5:14-15 will work today just as it always has and that by praying according to God's Word, He will hear us and answer our prayer.  We can predict and depend on the fact that those who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13) and that God is ready to perform His Word as He watches over it (Jeremiah 1:12).  There are many things we can say about God's Word, but it is not unpredictable; God will always do what He has said in His Word!

Keep On Going

"When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself.  But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.
And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick."
Matthew 14:13-14 (NKJV)

Taking a trip somewhere can be fun, unless you run into a problem.  If you are traveling by car and you have a flat tire or some car problem, it has the potential to ruin your trip.  Normally, if you have a problem with your car, you just fix the problem and go on.  If you don't keep going, no matter what the problem is, then you will never reach your destination.  No matter how minor or severe the problem is, the best thing to do is to keep on going and do what you need to do to reach your destination.

In Matthew 14, we see Jesus going to be by Himself.  This happened right after John the Baptist, who was a relative of Jesus, was killed by Herod.  This was obviously a terrible thing and not something Jesus or any of His family would have been happy about.  But it is interesting to see how that after Jesus goes away to be by Himself, that a multitude of people came to Jesus and that Jesus had compassion on them and healed them.  Even though He had experienced a problem, Jesus kept on going and doing the will of God.

In spite of the difficult situation He was dealing with, Jesus kept on going and helped those who came to Him.  No doubt Jesus was saddened by what happened to John the Baptist, but Jesus knew what His mission in life was and He knew the best thing to do, no matter what happened, was to keep on going.  We all can experience difficulties, and even tragedy in our lives, but rather than stop and allow these things to hinder or define us, we need to keep on going in our walk with God and in the plan He has for our life.

Clean It Up

"How can a young man cleanse his way?  By taking heed according to your Word."
Psalm 119:9 (NKJV)

When I was a child, I did not always keep my room as clean as I should have.  Although my parents told me to clean my room, that meant something different to me than it did to them.  Today, people have different ideas about what it means to keep things clean, what a standard for cleanliness is, and even what is right and wrong.  What might be right in the eyes of one person for how they live their life, may be seen as completely wrong by another person.

People's ideas about things can be completely different, unless they have a similar standard.  This is the real problem in a lot of areas today, people's standards vary and for most people there is no real objective standard.  This can create problems because with no objective standard, people can do things all kinds of different ways, and right and wrong can mean different things to different people.  However, for Christians, our standard is God's Word, the Bible.  It shows us right and wrong and what is true and false. 

There are people today who ask the same kind of question that David asked in Psalm 119, how can I clean up my way of life and do things right?  David realized that in order to live the right kind of life he had to live his life according to God's Word, that is the only real objective standard we can use.  If we don't have a standard for what is right or wrong; our life will end up in a mess.  Our standard for life has to be God's Word.  By putting God's Word in first place in our life we will know how to live the right way and how to have a blessed life.

A Way In The Will Of God

"For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the Gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,
making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you."
Romans 1:9-10 (NKJV)

In the past, explorers would go out to find a way to get to a certain place.  People like Lewis and Clark had an idea of where they wanted to go, but they were not exactly sure how to get there.  These different explorers were determined to reach their goal, and while they may have had some general idea of how to get there, usually it was through a process of searching that they finally found the route they were looking for to get to where they wanted to go.

The Apostle Paul traveled to many different places and preached the Gospel to many different people.  Paul knew that it was God's will for him to preach the Gospel, that was God's general will for Paul and all of us as well.  Rome was one of the places that Paul wanted to go to, and he shared that desire when he wrote his letter to the people of Rome.  The phrase Paul used when he talked about this is very important, he wanted to "find a way in the will of God" to go to those people. 

Paul knew the general will of God, but Paul still needed to know how and when to do it.  This can happen for us too, how do we do what we know to do?  We need to find a way in the will of God.  First, we have to know God's will.  Then we can start to explore ways and methods of carrying out God's will by talking to God in prayer and considering the options we have in our life to do what we know we need to do.  As we take steps in the general will of God, we will find a way in the will of God to do what God has called us to do.

The Good Fight

"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses."
1 Timothy 6:12 (NKJV)

There are many kinds of fights that can take place. People might fight over ideas, material possessions, or a location.  There are also different ways that people fight, either in some type of physical confrontation or with words.  But one thing is certain, the only kind of a fight that is a good fight is the one you are on the winning side of.  While it is true that not all fights need to be fought, if you are in a fight, and you want it to be a good fight, you would have to know how to win the fight.

In 1 Timothy 6:12, Paul encouraged Timothy to fight the good fight of faith.  In 2 Timothy 4:7, Paul said that he had fought the good fight, which means that he must have fought by faith.  Paul knew that the Christian life is a fight, and that the only way to win the fight was to fight in faith, because we are fighting a spiritual enemy, not a physical foe.  Paul understood that the only way for a Christian to fight is by faith, and Paul was successful because he knew how to fight the good fight of faith. 

Whether we like it or not, the devil is real and he will try to stop us from fulfilling the will of God in any and every area of our life.  So, what are we going to do?  We are going to have to fight the faith fight.  How do we do that?  We fight the fight of faith by keeping our focus on God and His Word and by speaking God's Word in any and every situation in our life.  No matter what we face, the way we deal with it, the way we fight the good faith fight, is to find out what God's Word has to say and then act on that in any way that we can and say what God's Word has to say. 

Getting Stronger

"If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small."
Proverbs 24:10 (NKJV) 

If you go to a gym for the first time to do a workout, you do not try to lift the heaviest weight possible.  No matter what physical condition you are in, it would foolish for anyone in their first workout to try and lift the heaviest weight they could find.  The only result from something like this would be someone getting hurt.  And, if you were to go into a gym to exercise and someone told you that you were not strong enough to lift the heaviest weight, you would not get upset; you would just realize that you need more strength to do that.

Years ago, I remember reading Proverbs 24:10 and getting a little upset about it.  There was a situation I was dealing with and I was not doing so well in overcoming the problem.  When I read Proverbs 24:10, I first got upset, but then I started to consider what that verse was saying.  Instead of looking at it as an obvious statement that my not doing so well in adversity was the result of a lack of strength, I realized that this was an encouragement for me to get stronger to be able to better deal with my situation.

The goal of people lifting weights is to get stronger, and our goal as Christians should be that we too are getting stronger, spiritually.  A simple way to be a stronger Christian is to grow and develop spiritually.  God's Word will help us grow and develop spiritually (1 Peter 2:2) and God's Word itself will strengthen us (Psalm 119:28).  By spending time reading and studying God's Word, and allowing the Holy Spirit to direct us as we put God's Word into practice, we will grow spiritually and be strengthened to be better able to face any challenge and overcome it.  We need to be spiritually getting stronger every day, and God's Word is an important part of that.

Hoping For Hope?

"For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."
Romans 15:4 (NKJV)

When people struggle with something in their life, they naturally want to find a way out of the situation.  However, there are times when people do not know what to do and they find themselves feeling hopeless and helpless.  These people are sometimes hoping for hope, in the sense that because they are at a loss for what to do, they are just wishing something would change to make things better.  Unfortunately, the only thing that usually happens in this situation is a continuation of the problem.

There are many people today who are just hoping for hope and living in a hopeless situation.  The problem is that these people are often just wishing something would change, but they have no basis for any hope.  The Bible speaks about hope, and it is more than just wishful thinking.  When the Bible talks about hope, as in Romans 15:4, it is really referring to a positive expectation.  Real Bible based hope is a positive expectation, a joyful anticipation, that has God's Word as its foundation.

God has given us His Word to give us hope, a positive expectation for solutions to the difficulties we face in life.  What we see in the Bible helps us to have hope, a positive expectation, that God is working in our life, He has given us His Spirit, and He will help us in every situation.  We don't have to be like so many people who are only wishing things would somehow change and are hoping for some hope, with God we can have a positive outlook for the future and know that whatever we face God is there to help us!

Fact Checkers

"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."
Acts 17:11 (NKJV)

Getting the right information is vitally important.  Today, there is a lot of information coming at us from so many different places that it can be challenging to know what is true and what is false.  Someone can claim something is true, and someone else can check those facts and say that it is not true, but how can we know who is right and who is wrong?  It could be that the person who first presented the information and the "Fact Checkers" were both wrong and the truth could be in the middle of those two positions.

One of my favorite examples in the Bible is about the people in the city of Berea.  These people were biblical fact checkers as they searched the Word daily to see if what they were hearing was correct.  What is really amazing to me is that it was Paul and Silas who came to speak to the Bereans.  Paul and Silas were not just some recent converts or people who had never done anything before, they were well established ministers of the Gospel, and still the people in Berea checked what Paul and Silas had to say.

It can be easy, and a little dangerous, to just assume that what we are hearing is the truth because of who we hear it from.  Just because what we hear comes from a well-known speaker, an "expert", or some "trusted" source, does not mean we should automatically accept what we are told as the truth.  We need to be biblical fact checkers who examine everything we hear in light of God's Word to see if it is truth we need to embrace or something we need to reject as false.

Where Is Your Faith?

"Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples, and He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake."  And they launched out.
But as they sailed He fell asleep.  And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.
And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water.  And they ceased, and there was a calm.
But He said to them, "Where is your faith?" And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be?  For He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him!"
Luke 8:22-25 (NKJV)

Locating something is necessary for us to make use of it.  If, for example, you need to get some gasoline for your car, you need to know the location of a gas station.  If you drive your car to a restaurant, you can find something to eat but nothing to fuel your car.  If you need a dentist, but you don't know the location of a good dentist and instead go to a bank, you will not find a dentist.  Knowing where something is located, knowing where it is, is an important thing. 

In Luke 8, Jesus was crossing a lake with His disciples, and there was a storm.  Jesus had gone to sleep and when the disciples were in danger, they woke Jesus up.  Jesus calmed the storm and asked the disciples an important question, "Where is your faith?".  The answer is that their faith was not in what Jesus said about crossing the lake, or even that He was with them, their faith, their confidence, was in what they saw and what they were experiencing.

Today we could ask ourselves, where is our faith?  Is our faith in God and what He has said, or are we focused on our circumstances?  Do we put more emphasis on God and His Word or on what we have been, or are, experiencing?  Do we trust in our own abilities, knowledge, and expertise more than we trust and have faith in God?  We need to develop a strong faith in God and His Word, which shows us the importance of knowing God's Word. Then, when the storms of life come to us, we are ready to deal with them.  Where is our faith today?

Not Far Away

"For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off.
It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'
Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'
But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it."
Deuteronomy 30:11-14 (NKJV)

There are some things that are near to us and some things that are far away.  For example, the ground we walk on is obviously very near to us.  On the other hand, the moon is very far away and only a few people have ever been there.  If something is near to us, it is easily accessible, but if something is far away, it is not as accessible and not so easy to get to.  If you needed something, it would be good to have it nearby rather than far away where you could not make use of it. 

People have a lot of different ideas about who God is and how God speaks to us; some people think it is all very mysterious.  Some people think that God is too distant and uncaring to interact with us and it would be extremely rare to actually hear from God.  But God has given us His Word, the Bible, and we have it available to us in so many ways.  This is really great news for us!  The God who created the universe has given us His Words to read, study and learn from.

We don't have to wish some angel would come down to us from heaven with God's Word, we already have it!  We don't have to find some explorer to go over the ocean or search through the deepest jungle to find God's Word, we already have it!   There is no need to climb a mountain or cross the desert to find God's Word, we already have it!  Yes, thank God, we have the Holy Spirit and God has given us men and women who are great teachers and preachers of God's Word, but thank God for His Word, the Bible, that is available to each one of us.

The Right Question

"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."
Jeremiah 33:3 (NKJV)

If I was interested in what the temperature was, should I ask someone if it was raining?  If I did ask someone if it was raining, should I be surprised that they did not tell me if it is hot or cold outside?  If I said to someone, "What time is it?", when I really needed to know what the date is today, should I be unhappy and frustrated when they do tell me the time?  If we have a question, and we want the right answer to our question, we would of course have to first ask the right question.

One thing I have seen over all the years I have been a Christian, and in the years I have been teaching in Bible schools and churches, is that many believers are frustrated and living below the standard that God has for them.  God has provided so much for us through Jesus, and God has a great plan for our lives.  As we find and fulfill God's plan and purpose for our life, we will experience the abundant life that God has promised us and that Jesus talked about in John 10:10, but we must put God and His Kingdom first (Matthew 6:33).

God tells us that if we call on Him, He will answer us, and show us things that we don't know.  But we first have to ask and we also need to be sure we are asking according to God's will.  Our first question should always be, "Heavenly Father, what is your will for my life?" rather than, "God, how can I fulfill my dreams and plans?", or "God, how can I have all your blessings?".  As we ask the right question about God's will for our life, we will find the answers to the other questions that we have about the details of our life.

Walking In Love - How Hard Did You Look?

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;"
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NKJV)

When you lose or misplace something, you usually look for it until you find it.  How hard you look for something depends on how much you want to find it.  For example, one time I misplaced my passport.  If I am not carrying my passport with me, there is one place I usually keep it, and when I could not find my passport, I looked as soon as I could, every place that I could, until I found it.  But, if I had lost an old pen, I would not bother looking for that, because it has no real value to me.

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul talked about what real love is and how love acts.  One characteristic of love is seen in 1 Corinthians 13:5 where it tells us that loves "does not seek its own".  In other words, love does not seek what it wants, love seeks what others want and need.  If you are really walking in love and displaying the love of God towards someone, you are not focused on what you want, you are interested in what the other person is interested in and you are looking for the things they are looking for.

In the area of walking in love, how hard do we look to help others and meet the needs of others compared to our own?  Are we only seeking what benefits us, or are we considering others and seeking what is best for them, regardless of our own interests?  If things were reversed, how much would we want others to help us find what we are looking for?  True love helps others find what they are looking for; this is an area that we can all develop in.

Take That Step

"So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do you want me to do?"  Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
Acts 9:6 (NKJV)

Most people like to have things figured out in advance.  Some people are more spontaneous than others and are willing to take a step without knowing what the next one might be, but almost everyone likes to have a plan where they know what is going to happen next and what needs to be done to be successful.  For many of us, the more information and details we have, the more willing we are to do what we need to do.  But whether we know one step, two steps, or three steps we need to take, we still need to take the first step.

Paul, who was formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, did great things for God once he met Jesus.  Many people admire the Apostle Paul and desire to do great things for God like he did, but they don't know where to start.  The good thing is, that anything we do for God starts with the first step.  And, we can learn a great lesson from the life of Paul, we need to take the step we know to take, no matter how many steps after that we may or may not know about.

In Acts 6, we see that Paul wanted to know what God wanted him to do, and all Paul got was a first step.  What if Paul had not taken that first step, would he have ever known the next step and done the things God wanted him to do?  What if Paul had said he was going to wait until God gave him some more information before moving?  If that was the case, Paul would never have moved.  We need to be like Paul and take the step we have now.  As we do, God will give us more steps, and lead us step by step into His wonderful plan for our life!