​Don’t worry, “impatience” is not a typo in the title above.  Patience is a good thing, of course –  something the Scriptures repeatedly tell us to develop.  The Bible shows that God is incredibly patient with us and he expects us to learn to be patient with others also (Colossians 3:12, etc.).  So what’s this about impatience?

As with many aspects of the Christian life, there is sometimes a place for impatience as well as patience, just as there is a place for both mercy and judgment, “a time to speak and a time to refrain from speaking” (Ecclesiastes 3:7), and so on. We might say that right impatience can be the “other side of the coin” of patience, but it’s just as real and can be just as necessary.

To understand this, we must first see that impatience can be an attribute of God. The Book of Judges tells us that after suffering affliction for some time, the ancient Israelites: “… put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel” (Judges 10:16 ESV).  The Hebrew expression translated “impatient” in this verse is literally to become “short of soul” in the way we would say “short tempered” or “running short of patience” –  in other words, impatient –  not with Israel, but with its suffering.  This verse is unequivocal in telling us that God can express the trait of impatience when he views human-caused suffering and he wants to end it.

God can be impatient with other things, also – especially sin. He is patient almost beyond belief when it comes to working with us to help us toward repentance, but his patience with sin can run out, as we see in the narrative of the Flood where we are told: “Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with humans forever …’” (Genesis 6:3).  The apostle Paul also stresses the limits to God’s patience (Romans 2:4-5, etc.).

We find other examples of righteous impatience in the New Testament. Jesus himself displayed impatience with the money-changers in the temple (Matthew 21:12–17) and on occasions such as when his disciples (who had been given the power to do so –  Luke 9:1) could not heal a spirit-tormented child (Luke 9:38-40).  Luke tells us that Jesus’ response to his disciples and the boy’s father was clearly an impatient one in this situation: “You unbelieving and perverse generation… how long shall I stay with you and put up with you?” (Luke 9:41). Notice that the object of Jesus’ impatience was not so much the people themselves, but their unbelief despite having already witnessed many miracles.

Putting the various scriptures together that show godly impatience, we see a definite pattern. God is clearly said to express impatience, and it is usually with human-caused suffering, sin, and disbelief. How does all this apply to us? We are certainly called to be patient, and we are not called to express impatience with others, but a right response to all three of the factors of sin, disbelief and avoidable suffering should increase our impatience with ourselves. 

​Sometimes we need to become more impatient with our own sins and failings in order to make more progress in overcoming them (Romans 7:24-25). Sometimes we need to be impatient with our own disbelief when it is holding us back from spiritual growth (Mark 9:24).  And we need real impatience with ourselves when we cause any kind of avoidable suffering –  even in situations where we think we are in the right (Acts 8:3).  We certainly need impatience when we view much of the suffering that fills the world in which we live – and that impatience sometimes needs to be expressed in more fervent prayer for the kingdom of God and more active involvement in doing what we can to help alleviate suffering  (Matthew 6:10).   But in any situation, the right kind of impatience is always aimed at ourselves, whether to spur us to do more to help others or to further propel us in the growth for which we all should be aiming.

So if we are on the way to mastering the quality of patience, we should keep up the good work –  but we should not forget to work on righteous impatience also where that is appropriate!

“Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools” (Ecclesiastes 7:9 ESV).
 
The Scriptures have much to say about times we become upset or angry, but this verse in the Book of Ecclesiastes summarizes much of the Bible’s wisdom on the subject. It’s a verse most of us know well, but one we often fail to understand or appreciate as fully as we might. We tend to remember the admonition as simply one of not becoming angry quickly, and that’s certainly part of what it is telling us.

But we should also notice the second half of the statement – that anger “lodges” or resides in the heart of fools. We all become upset and angry at times, but this does not mean we are all “fools” –  the point Ecclesiastes is making is that we are only fools if we allow the anger to “lodge” or stay within our hearts. The verse is actually contrasting two things that are both wrong – quickness to become upset and slowness or failure to release the anger.
These are, in effect, the two sides of the “coin” of anger, but while we might give a lot of thought and effort to not becoming angry, we don’t always drop the emotion as quickly as we should.  Humanly, once someone upsets us over something and anger takes hold within us, we tend to begin to justify it –  and the longer we let it “reside” in us, the more difficult it becomes to shake the emotion out.

Despite our best efforts, the truth is we cannot simply “bury” our feelings of anger or resentment. We can try, but feelings that are “buried alive” never really die.   Left within us, they take hold and begin to poison our attitudes and relationships.  Remaining upset at others usually ends up hurting them in some way, and always ends up hurting us.  The Bible contains many examples of this –  beginning with Cain who was upset with his brother (Genesis 4:5, 8) through Saul who was upset with David (1 Samuel 19:9) to Nabal (whose name, not coincidentally, means “fool”) who seems to have become upset with many people and his  wife in particular (1 Samuel 25:2-38).  In all these cases and many others, we see a pattern of individuals becoming upset in a way that led to their permanent downfall.

So it is not surprising that the Scriptures contain many commands and admonitions urging us not to allow ourselves to continue to be upset with someone.  It’s a command made in the Old Testament and reiterated in the New. The Book of Leviticus ties the command directly to the principle of love: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself...”(Leviticus 19:18). We cannot love someone if we allow ourselves to remain upset with them. From a biblical perspective, remaining upset is sin.  That is why the apostle Paul wrote “In your anger do not sin” before stressing “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” (Ephesians 4:26). People sometimes joke that not allowing the sun to go down on our anger allows individuals living at the North Pole a full six months to remain angry, but Paul’s point is clear, and it would be foolish to ignore it.
 
The Bible acknowledges that we may become angry – sometimes for very legitimate reasons –  but it continually stresses that we should never hold on to that anger, and that if we do, it inevitably leads to a spirit of unforgiveness that hurts us as much as others. That is also why we find the principle in Ecclesiastes 7:9 with which we began this post repeatedly echoed elsewhere in the Bible – as in the Book of Proverbs where we read: “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense” (Proverbs 19:11 ESV). Here, we see the two necessary sides of our response to anger –  we must be slow to anger, but also quick to drop it.  Failing to follow the second of these biblical principles is as dangerous as ignoring the first. If we do not want our upset to become our downfall, we must always put anger away quickly. 

* For more on anger management, see our post "When Your Fuse Burns Down" here.   

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

One of the greatest misconceptions about God, even among many Christians, is that God expects us to be perfect – as he is – and is continually unhappy with us when we are not.  Jesus’ words “Be perfect…” from the Sermon on the Mount are so well-known that it is sometimes hard to see past what they are commonly thought to say to what they really mean.

To get a proper perspective on what God does expect of us, we must first look at Jesus’ words in context. In Matthew, Jesus clearly tells us to be perfect as God is perfect, but if we read the same account in the Gospel of Luke his words are recorded as “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).   Why the difference?  Both Gospels show in context that Jesus was talking about love (see Matthew 5:43-47 and Luke 6:27-35). Matthew’s Gospel stresses that our love should be perfect and Luke’s Gospel stresses that our love should be merciful – doubtless Jesus talked about both aspects of love. 
 
But when we look closely at the expression “Be perfect,” we see the situation even more clearly. The Greek word translated “perfect” in Matthew is a form of teleios which does mean “perfect,” but in the sense of being mature or complete.  Notice 1 Corinthians 14:20, for example, where we find: “Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults”– and the word “adults” is the word teleios.  In Hebrews 5:14 we find the same word translated mature: “… solid food is for the mature…”

In the context of love we find in Matthew 5:48 that Christ urged his followers to be mature and complete in their love – like God who is himself Love.  Only a few verses before saying “be perfect” Jesus had said: “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45), once again showing we should be like God in our love.

Jesus’ statement in the Sermon on the Mount does not mean that God expects us to always be perfect. In fact, the New Testament shows repeatedly that God knows we cannot be perfect in every way (1 John 1:8-10). That is why God accepts Christ’s perfect life in place of ours, just as he accepts Christ’s death on our behalf (Romans 5:10).  But that does not mean that we need not strive in our own lives toward the goal of perfection (John 14:23-24) – as long as we realize that our efforts will never gain our salvation.  Our motivation for trying to be as perfect as possible must be our love of God.

This fact brings us full circle.  When we realize that God knows we cannot be perfect in this life, but that he does encourage us to grow up in him – to become more like him as we live each day –  we see God in better perspective. We see that the God of love has made a way for us to be perfect in his sight through Christ’s life in our stead.  But the God of love also offers to give us his love to enable us to continually grow to be more like him.
 
God does desire to see perfection in us, but he looks beyond us for that perfection.  God does not expect continued perfection in our own daily lives – just continued progress. The statement that we must “be perfect” is not a command to do the impossible, it is an encouragement to become mature in fulfilling God’s law of love (Romans 13:10, Galatians 5:14).

​Everyone understands that trust and forgiveness are different things, yet it is easy to confuse them in actual life. Sometimes people feel that trust is part of forgiveness and that they must trust those they forgive.

In other situations people feel that although they should forgive, they do not ever need to trust the person again.

Both of these extremes can be wrong.  We always have to forgive, but we do not have to trust those who hurt us and show no sign they are sorry.  On the other hand, once we have forgiven we should strive to allow trust to be rebuilt whenever possible.  The difference lies in the fact that forgiving someone who has wronged us is our responsibility; reestablishing trust is most often the responsibility of the person who wronged us.

In real life, people get hurt repeatedly –  that fact was the basis for Peter’s question to Jesus: “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” (Matthew 18:21). The problem is a very real one because humanly, repeated wrongs done against us can make forgiveness progressively harder. That is why Peter suggested we only forgive up to seven times –  a “manageable” number of wrongdoings.   Jesus’ answer, of course, was that we must not put a limit on the number of times we forgive someone (Matthew 18:22).  But his answer has no application to staying in a situation where we would continue to get hurt if that is avoidable.  Nor does it mean that we should trust the wrongdoer if it would be unwise or dangerous to do so. Remember again the Scripture’s counsel: “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.”  This clear wisdom is expounded twice in the Bible (Proverbs 22:3; 27:12) for a reason. 
 
Not understanding these basic truths prevents many people from restoring relations after forgiving those who have hurt them and causes many others to suffer unnecessarily when they do. In his book The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren says: “Many people are reluctant to show mercy because they don't understand the difference between trust and forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past. Trust has to do with future behavior.”  Warren is surely correct in this, for while forgiving must be immediate on our part, trust must be rebuilt over time and depends on the behavior of the one forgiven. As Warren puts it, trust requires a track record: “If someone hurts you repeatedly, you are commanded by God to forgive them instantly, but you are not expected to trust them immediately…” Our forgiveness of others must always be unconditional, but our trust of others can and often should be conditional – it has to be earned.
 
Forgiveness doesn’t mean we have to see change in the other person in order to forgive them – that would be an entirely wrong approach. We must forgive whether an individual changes or not. But we need not trust them if they have not changed. Trust develops slowly – and it must be remade over time.  Think of the example of Jesus asking Peter three times, “do you love me?” (John 21:15-17) after Peter’s betrayal. Peter had failed Jesus three times, of course (John 18:15-27), and perhaps there is a lesson in Christ’s repeated questions that we should see recurrent or ongoing evidence of change before we fully trust again. 

A simple analogy is that being hurt by another is like receiving a cut to our body.  Forgiving the person acts like the stitches that close our wound, but spiritual and emotional healing, just like physical healing, still require time. Even when we fully understand the difference between granting forgiveness and trust, we must always remember that allowing time for trust to be repaired does not mean allowing ourselves a period of time to brood, feel sorry for ourselves, or to allow resentment or anger to continue to develop. That would be like allowing an infection to take hold in the cut that should be healing. Granting ourselves time to trust again should always be based on our complete and unhindered forgiveness of the other person –  that is the only way we will, in fact, heal. 
  
We should always be open to allowing trust to be rebuilt whenever this is possible. Forgiveness is a possession we all have that we are able to give to others. But trust is not a possession, it is a process that we allow to develop once our forgiving makes trust possible again.

* Exerpted from our new free e-book How to Forgive. You can download a copy here.

You may not know at this moment when you will need to exercise forgiveness, but you can be certain that sooner or later you will have to forgive someone for something. Perhaps right now there is an old hurt that you have never been able to completely forgive, or perhaps the necessity will not arise until tomorrow or next week, but whenever the need to forgive comes up or to prepare you for when it does, our latest free e-book is designed to help you.

Our new book, How to Forgive, looks at this vitally important subject from a practical perspective, showing what the Bible actually teaches about this topic and how we can best apply the guidance it gives us.  As with all our e-books, this new title is absolutely free and does not require any kind of registration or giving an email address. The book is available in three formats –  so you can download a copy to read on your computer, phone, kindle or other e-book reader. Simply click on the version you want here.  

​Everyone who begins to study the Bible eventually learns that context is of the greatest importance in understanding the message of a given verse or passage. But although we may all come to recognize and hopefully remember this fact in our study, how often do we utilize the principle of context in other aspects of our Christian lives –  in our behavior?

An Old Testament example often given of this principle is that of Moses striking the rock, as God instructed him, to produce water for the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:8-12).  The first time Moses struck the rock was in obedience to God’s instruction, but the following blows seem to have not been commanded and the situation changed immediately. An action that was in obedience to God in one context became one of disobedience when the context changed.

Consideration of context in our behavior applies just as much today as it did in this Old Testament example.  Christians understand, of course, that many Old Testament injunctions such as the command to sacrifice an animal if one sins were laws given to the physical nation of Israel under the Old Covenant. Such commands applied in full force at that time –  to the people to whom they were given –  but the New Testament makes it clear that Christ fulfilled many of those laws and they do not apply to Christians today (Hebrews 10:10, etc.).

But beyond this obvious example, there are many other instances where context affects both if and how we keep various biblical instructions.  Consider a few small examples:

1) Although we are told to bear with and overlook the failings of others (Proverbs 19:11, Romans 15:1, etc.), we are also commanded never to tolerate or overlook our own failings (James 4:7-10, 1 John 1:6-9, etc.).  Overlooking problems is biblical in the one context, but not in the other!

2) Some New Testament commands have in mind the context of the Church while others apply to our relationships with people outside the Church or to all people.  A very basic example of this is found in what Paul instructs us regarding teaching and admonishing one another (Romans 15:14) and speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19).  Looking at the context of these instructions, we find that it is one of interacting with fellow believers – not instructing or quoting scriptures or hymns to every stranger we meet!

3) A more subtle example is that of the command to confess our sins to one another (James 5:15-16). While this principle clearly applies only within the context of the Church (as we can see by reading the passage in which the command occurs), it also has a more specialized context.  The indiscriminate confessing of our sins to any or all our spiritual brothers and sisters would not only be unwise, but could be hurtful to those who do not need to know our sins. The specific context of James's instruction seems to be one in which a believer has not only sinned, but who also is sick.  Perhaps the sin and the illness are connected (Psalm 32:3-4; 1 Corinthians 11:30, etc.), but in any event the command to confess our sins is “…so that you may be healed” (James 5:16).  There are times when confession may also be valuable and proper in the context of accountability discussions with trusted spiritual friends and advisors, but the context should always be one that is chosen with wisdom and care.

4) The New Testament repeatedly tells us that we should pray for one another (1 Timothy 2:1, Ephesians 6:18, James 5:16, etc.), but the apostle John makes it clear that there are some situations in which we should perhaps not pray for others: “If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that” (1 John 5:16).  The “sin that leads to death” is probably one of the continuous willful sins of those who adamantly reject God.  But we should notice that John does not say we must not pray for such individuals, just that he is not saying we need to do so. The apostle is simply showing that context affects our prayers, too. 
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In these few examples we see some vital patterns. We must always discern the context of any biblical command. Was it clearly one applying in the past only or one that applies now? Does the command apply to our behavior toward ourselves or to others? Does the command apply only to our relationship with those within the Church or to all people?  Does the instruction apply in all situations or only in specific ones?  Is the instruction actually a command or simply a counsel?

As Christians we must always remember that context in understanding and application are equally vital –  the importance of context applies just as much when we are deciding how to apply a scripture in our lives as it does to understanding what the scripture is saying!

An old joke says that the only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions, but assuming the worst of situations and people is a problem we are all guilty of at times – sometimes all too frequently. 

Not surprisingly, the Bible has a good deal to teach us about this tendency and why we need to overcome it.  Proverbs 25:8 is a good example.  The Message Bible translates this verse as: “Don't jump to conclusions - there may be a perfectly good explanation for what you just saw.” That may not be a literal translation of the Hebrew proverb, but it does show a principle we must all keep in mind.

Just as important as this kind of direct instruction are the many biblical stories that show the folly of jumping to conclusions.  One of the clearest is that of the Syrian general Naaman who was afflicted with leprosy and who travelled from ancient Aram (Syria) to Israel to ask the prophet Elisha to pray for his healing. Second Kings 5 tells this story and shows repeated examples of people in responsible positions jumping to unwarranted conclusions. 

First we see that the king of Aram sent a letter to Israel’s king on behalf of his general, asking help in Naaman’s healing.  As many of us might have done, the Israelite king immediately began to jump to conclusions –  going into to a “jump to hyperspace” within a few seconds: “As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, ‘Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!” (2 Kings 5:7).

Fortunately, the prophet Elisha was aware of the situation and arranged for Naaman to come to him. “So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, 'Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed'” (vss. 9-10).

While that may sound like a positive ending to the story, the human tendency to jump to conclusions came into play again –  almost wrecking the outcome of the situation:

But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not … the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage (vss. 11-12).
We can almost hear Naaman saying this –  and perhaps hear our own thoughts if we had been in the same situation: “What a waste of time!  I came all this way to ask for help and this guy just brushes me off. Who does he think he is anyway?  It looks like I’m not good enough for him – probably he’s biased against Syrians!”

Naaman almost returned to Syria, but fortunately one of his servants persuaded him to just do what he was told to do and the general was indeed healed when he washed himself in the Jordan as instructed (vs. 14).  But this story shows that assuming the worst almost led to Naaman not being healed when he was given the opportunity, and at an even broader level to war between Israel and Syria. 

In another biblical example ancient Israel came precipitously close to civil war because many of the Israelites assumed that an altar built by some of their tribes was in rebellion against God (Joshua 22:9-34).

So rushing to judgment and jumping to conclusions is dangerous. And the problem of jumping to conclusions is often broader than we may think. Other biblical stories show the many ways we can make unfounded assumptions –  such as assuming the worst because of people’s appearances, or because of what they say or do.  We may end up wrongfully judging people because we assume their motives, or assume something they say is critical of us. Spiritually, we may assume a principle we have not heard before is not true, or we may assume that specific Bible verses or teachings about them don’t apply to us – but perhaps to someone we know.  Perhaps the most damaging way we can assume the worst is by jumping to conclusions about God.

The New Testament shows that many of those who saw Jesus teach and perform miracles jumped to erroneous conclusions. Some thought he was unrighteous in what he did (John 10:33-36), others thought he was mad or demon possessed (John 10:20). Some just presumed that “no good thing” could come out of Nazareth –  Jesus’ home town (John 1:46).  Although we may not think such reactions apply to us, we can assume the worst of God when things do not go well. We think that perhaps God is angry with us, punishing us, does not care about us –  these are all human reactions we may experience at times if we allow ourselves to assume the worst.

Some of us may be more prone to this fault than others, but ultimately we must all work on not jumping to conclusions.  The legal principle of “innocent until proven guilty” has saved many innocent lives, and the principle of assuming the best until we have reason to think otherwise has saved many friendships, marriages and other relationships.  It’s a sound biblical principle we can apply any and every day of our lives. By all means jump to exercise, but don’t jump to conclusions. 

Have you ever thought about how the Bible emphasizes many of its important points? Of course, the original writers of the Scriptures could not utilize large print, highlighting or colored ink. Instead, they utilized techniques that were easily recognizable to those who read or heard their words.

One of the main ways the biblical writers emphasized important points was through repetition –  utilizing what is called “reduplication for emphasis or intensification” –  in what they wrote.  This is not talking about repetition of the same things, such as the Ten Commandments,  in different parts of the Bible, though that is clearly often done to emphasize something’s importance.

Reduplication for emphasis or intensification applies to repetition occurring in the same verses or passages of scripture.  This is common in the Old Testament because the Hebrew language  often uses repetition in this way in order to stress something that is being said.  For example:  “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God” (Numbers 15:41, emphasis added here and in the following scriptures), or “…Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’” (Zechariah 4:7).
 
This kind of repetition is easy to see and to understand, but there are other times when the reduplication is not so obvious. Hebrew storytellers often used the technique in stressing important elements of their accounts.  If we look at the story of Joseph, for example, we may notice repetition but not think about its significance: Joseph receives two robes (one from his father, one from Pharaoh); his robe is used twice by those trying to destroy him; Joseph has two dreams in which his family bows to him; Pharaoh has two dreams foreshadowing the coming famine in Egypt; Joseph’s brothers make two visits to Egypt to seek his help; and so on.

The reduplication does not mean that the two events are not both part of the story, but that they are carefully selected to make the story’s main points.

The same principle is found in the New Testament.  We see the same repetition of individual words and phrases for effect –  for example “… But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God ... For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:11-14) or, more simply: “… Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty …” (Revelation 4:8).

But repetition of ideas was also used in the Old and New Testaments as well as the repetition of words. We often find Jesus himself employing this more subtle form of repetition in order to stress important points in his teaching.   For example, in his Sermon on the Mount we find that he gives numerous pairs of examples with only slight variation.  He uses salt and light to teach about the responsibilities of the disciple (Mathew 5:13-14); he speaks of food and clothing as things that we should not be worried about (Matthew 6:25-31); he mentions both birds and lilies to show God’s care (Matthew 6:26-30); and he also uses dogs and pigs as examples of animals to which we would not give things of great value (Matthew 7:6).

This kind of reiteration in the teaching of Jesus was not accidental or unplanned. Both biblical and rabbinic tradition used the repetition of ideas to teach, and Jesus utilized the principle carefully in some of his most important messages.
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So if we realize we are “seeing double” in our study of the Scriptures, we need to take special notice – seeing double in the Bible often means that what is being said is doubly important!

Ironic as it might seem, the further we progress along the Way to which we are called as Christians, the more it seems we see the failings and errors  of our own nature.   That can be discouraging at times, but when it happens we need to remember something. 

The Bible gives us two stories that speak to this situation, though we might not realize it unless we give the matter some thought. The first story, in the Old Testament, relates to a vision of the prophet Isaiah:

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple… “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 6:1, 5).

Isaiah’s very clear reaction on seeing God in this vision was one of understanding his own spiritual inadequacy and “uncleanness.”   Now compare this story with another in the New Testament  – how Jesus revealed his divine power to Peter and the men fishing with him:

“One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret … he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”….   When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break …. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”  (Luke 5:1-8).

Although these two stories may seem very different on the surface, Peter’s reaction to seeing even a small glimpse of Jesus’ divinity was not unlike the effect of the vision of Isaiah – it was a realization of his own unworthiness and sinful nature.   Admittedly, these events occurred at the beginning of the careers of the two servants of God, but the principle remains the same – the more we come to understand of God, the more we are conscious of our own failings. 

It was many years after the conversion of the apostle Paul that he wrote: “What a wretched man I am!” (Romans 7:24), and “… I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle…” (1 Corinthians 15:9). Yet Paul continued this same thought to the Corinthian Christians: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect” (vs. 10).  Despite his painful awareness of his own failings – after many years  of God working with him – Paul could still say near the end of his life: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).  Both statements were true! Just like the rest of us, Paul doubtless realized his own spiritual failings all the more as the years progressed, yet he knew that God was changing him and completing a purpose in his life.  

To use a simple analogy, before conversion we live in spiritual darkness – like living in a dark room – and cannot see any of the “stains” and “black marks” of sin that cover us.  As we are converted and move  toward the “light” (remember, God is spiritual light), the more we begin to see those black marks on ourselves – and the brighter the light becomes, the more we see even the smallest stains.

It is a  simple truth of the Christian life that the more we grow and come to see God, the less we like what we see of ourselves. Yet this can be encouraging – looked at the other way around, the less we like what we see of ourselves the more we are probably seeing of God and moving closer to him! 

This is not the same as living our lives in a despondent spiritual attitude that focuses on how unworthy we are.  It is just an honest realization of our own spiritual inadequacy and a heightened awareness of ways in which we do fail – sometimes in small things that we would never have noticed earlier in our Christian lives. 
 
Perhaps we can say that our occasional discouragement with our own failings can be turned around.  The more we see the failings of our own nature, the more we can be encouraged that we are doubtless moving closer to God who is enabling us to see those things.  We can rejoice that just as we see ourselves more clearly as we move closer to God, he can continue the process of helping us to see him and making us more like him. ​

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Scripture in Focus:

“If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you” (Proverbs 25:21-22).



From a Christian perspective, the proverb’s admonition that we give food and water to our enemies so that “burning coals” will be heaped upon them may seem strange indeed.  Helping someone just to bring punishment on the person seems contradictory to most biblical teachings, yet this exact Old Testament proverb is also cited in the New Testament –  by the apostle Paul:

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head” (Romans 12:18-20).

But we do not need to understand this proverb literally in order to understand its message. If we look at it in its original setting in the Book of Proverbs, we find that it occurs in a group of sayings that all use physical imagery to describe emotional conditions.  Proverbs 25:20 – the proverb directly before the one we are looking at – tells us, for example: “ Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on a wound, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.”  Proverbs 25:23 –  the saying directly after the one we want to understand –  likewise tells us: “Like a north wind that brings unexpected rain is a sly tongue — which provokes a horrified look.”  All of these proverbs are not to be understood literally, rather they are meant to supply a graphic image of what a given feeling is like.

In Proverbs 25:22 we are given an analogy showing what the emotional feeling will often be like for someone who is treated kindly despite their own behavior toward the person showing the kindness.  In a great many cases that feeling will be one of emotional discomfort – the flush of acute embarrassment –  that might well be symbolized by having “burning coals” tipped upon the person’s head.  There are other examples of the metaphorical use of “burning coals” in the Scriptures, as in 2 Samuel 14:7 which uses the image of a “burning coal” to  represent a person’s heir, but the meaning of the expression in Proverbs 25 is clearly that of a feeling of  emotional embarrassment and perhaps guilt. 

There is a wonderful example of this principle and its effect in the Book of 2 Kings (6:8-23) which tells the story of how the Prophet Elisha asked God to strike an Aramean army that was invading Israel with blindness.  When the enemy soldiers did become blind, rather than having them killed as many expected, Elisha led them to Israel’s capital city Samaria where he instructed the king of Israel to “Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master” (2 Kings 6:22). This is the exact application of the principle of giving food and drink to one’s enemies, in this case to those who had sought to harm the people of Israel.
 
Not surprisingly, when the sight of the enemy warriors was restored and they had been fed “a great feast” by those they originally intended to harm, we read that: “after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory” (2 Kings 6:23). The Aramean warriors who had been treated in this way felt great embarrassment at the kindness of those they had considered enemies and that feeling doubtless was responsible for their cessation of hostilities.

That is why the apostle Paul could cite Proverbs 25:21-22 as a practical example of not being overcome by evil, but overcoming evil with good (Romans 12:21).  The principle of embarrassment also underlies Paul’s words to the Thessalonian church:  “Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed” (2 Thessalonians 3:14).   Paul knew that it is better, where possible, to embarrass others with right behavior than to ignore or reciprocate their wrongdoing.  “Heaping burning coals” in the context that Paul uses the expression clearly means to cause temporary emotional discomfort that may lead to good.

 
“Our moods do not believe in each other.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
Emerson hit the proverbial nail on the head in this succinct little quote.  It’s a simple yet important truth that the philosopher elaborated upon: “Life is a train of moods … as we pass through them they prove to be many colored lenses, which paint the world their own hue, and each shows us only what lies in its own focus.”  There is a great deal of truth in that observation. When we are up, it is hard to imagine being down and discouraged, but when we are down, it is often difficult to believe that the feelings are temporary and will pass.

Although we may understand and live with this aspect of physical life, as Christians we don’t always apply that understanding spiritually – although it is equally true of our spiritual lives. In his thought-provoking work The Screwtape Letters* C.S. Lewis noted that there are times when God seems particularly close to us and our spiritual lives seem to go easily: our faith seems strong, we want to do what is right –  and temptations to do otherwise seem relatively easy to overcome.  Yet there are other times when God seems more distant, our faith seems less secure, and overcoming temptation may seem infinitely harder.

So our spiritual lives, just like our physical lives, are a series of ups and downs, of peaks and troughs that “hardly believe in each other.” But that is not the bad news we often presume it to be. In writing about this fluctuation in our spiritual experience, Lewis stated:  “Now it may surprise you to learn that [God] … relies on the troughs even more than on the peaks; some of His special favourites have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else.”

In fact, Lewis tells us, although God may often seem close to us and we may frequently experience true spiritual “peaks,” God never allows this state of affairs to last long: “Sooner or later He withdraws, if not in fact, at least from … conscious experience, all those supports and incentives. He leaves the creature to stand up on its own legs—to carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish.”

On the surface, this situation may seem extremely discouraging, but Lewis effectively argued that it is during such “trough periods,” much more than during the peak periods, that we are growing into the sort of creatures God wants us to be: “He wants [us] to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there, He is pleased even with [our] stumbles.”

This is an important understanding. God allowing us to go through spiritual “lows” means that our efforts during those times are especially appreciated by him. “Hence,” Lewis writes, “the prayers offered in the state of dryness are those which please Him best.”  That is an incredibly encouraging perspective if we can grasp it and make it ours. Although the spiritual aspect of our lives has its ups and downs and droughts  as well as times of abundance, our God can and does use the spiritual lows of our lives if we let him.
  
When we demonstrate that we want to continue to walk with God even when we do not feel inspired or particularly blessed or helped, we demonstrate the reality of our commitment.  The apostle Peter wrote: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).  Although these words apply directly to active problems and persecution the Christian may encounter, the principle applies just as much to the spiritual “low” times of our everyday lives. 

Just like the daily temperature cycle, we will always experience “lows and highs” in our spiritual lives.  Realizing that if we maintain our dedication lows do not last forever, and that while we are in them they are opportunities to grow that spiritual highs do not give us, can make a big difference in how we live and what we accomplish.  

The main thing is not to presume that whatever spiritual phase we find ourselves in is somehow our “spiritual condition.”  The only true measure of where we are spiritually is the combination of our highs and lows. So, as Lewis and many other Christian thinkers have stressed, we should not simply try to live and endure through our spiritual low periods.  Seeing them for what they are, we should accept our low periods as opportunities to fight the good fight with renewed dedication – realizing they are opportunities to accomplish more than we may accomplish even during our “highs.”
 
*All C.S. Lewis quotes in this article are taken from chapter 8 of The Screwtape Letters, originally published in London during 1941 and 1942. 

 
Every year countless people make “New Year’s resolutions” – setting goals ranging from cleaning out closets to getting more exercise.  Many people make resolutions regarding character issues, too –  resolving to stop doing things they wish to stop, or to do better at things they want to do.

Many Christians also make resolutions, of course, and like other people they find varying degrees of success in reaching the goals for which they aim.  But some think that making resolutions is not a biblically sound idea for Christians as they feel God has already given us his “resolutions” in the form of biblical admonitions and commands and we should just concentrate on trying to follow them.  Others feel that making resolutions encourages us to focus on our own human ability to accomplish spiritual goals.
 
But the Bible shows a number of God’s servants making resolutions –  ranging from Daniel resolving not to partake of the food and wine of the Babylonian palace (Daniel 1:8) in the Old Testament, to Paul resolving to go through Macedonia and Greece to Jerusalem (Acts 19:21) in the New Testament.

In fact, making resolutions can be an extremely important aspect of biblical living. Consider an example of this in the Book of Malachi:  “If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me” (Malachi 2:2).

In cases like this the Bible shows we need to resolve to follow God’s will whenever we come to see it in a given circumstance.  Also, each and every time we make a mistake and repent of doing something we have come to see is wrong, we need to be making firm resolutions to overcome the problem in the future. This kind of resolution does not in any way lessen our understanding of our need for God’s help, and the same is true of many New Year’s resolutions that involve spiritual issues.

Now, it’s clear that the Bible does not mention resolutions in the context of a new year, but new beginnings are psychologically among the best times to make resolutions and are among the times when they are most likely to succeed.  The great Christian writer G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) doubtless understood this when he wrote: “Unless a … man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective.” Chesterton’s point is a good one –  humanly we often need the impetus of some event to resolve to do better in our lives, and the New Year provides just such an occasion – and a “new beginning” to work from.

The main problem with resolutions, of course, is that so many of them do not last long enough. Humanly we so often begin with great dedication only to “lose steam” as we go along.  But as Christians that is exactly where we can ask for God’s help to continue to apply and to keep our resolutions. That, in fact, is exactly what we find in the apostle Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian church: “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power” (2 Thessalonians 1:11 ESV).

Notice that Paul prayed for the Thessalonians that God would help them fulfill every "resolve" or resolution for good. It’s a prayer we can pray for ourselves as we go into this coming year – and one that we can pray for each other, too. 

​During the course of this past year we published well over a hundred blog posts here and on our sister site.

The list below gives the twelve posts that were most popular on this site, so check out the list to see how it compares with your own favorites and to see if you missed any of these posts ...
 



A Lesson about Knowledge

Caesar and the Servant:  I Have Come to…

As We Serve, We Grow

Seeing the Practical Side of Paul

The Three Keys of Happiness

With Eyes Wide Open

Active and Passive Forgiveness

The Woman Caught in Adultery:  A Story of Entrapment and Escape

On Not Running Ahead

An Unexpected Source of Strength

When Your Fuse Burns Down

Allies, Preparation and Persistence

 
You might also like to see the parallel list of most popular posts this year on our sister site when we publish the list on LivingWithFaith.org this Wednesday (12-27-2017).

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​“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters... Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,  I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff,  they comfort me…” (Psalm 23:1-4).



It’s hard for modern Christians not to think of Psalm 23 when the word “shepherd” comes to mind.  But that beautiful psalm reflects only some of the aspects of shepherding. Leading the sheep to pasture – providing for them – and through the valley of darkness – protecting them – are certainly vital aspects of the job, but as a shepherd himself David knew that there was more to the job than just feeding and protecting the sheep.

We find additional insights into the role of the shepherd in another of David’s psalms: “Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever” (Psalm 28:9). In the first half of this single verse we see the same aspects of protecting the sheep and providing for them, and in the second half David also mentions guiding the sheep (the Hebrew urom is a verb – to shepherd or guide, not to be a shepherd) and carrying them.

In this short but remarkable verse, David captures perhaps all the major aspects of the shepherd’s role in four verbs: To protect the sheep from death, to supply their needs, to guide them and finally to carry them when they are weak or injured and need the shepherd’s strength in addition to their own.   

This picture meshes well with Christ’s role as shepherd, which we see in the prophecy quoted by Matthew: “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah … out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel” (Matthew 2:6).  Jesus himself elaborated on the same four aspects of that role mentioned by David in Psalm 28.  As the prophesied shepherd,  Christ did all these things for his people:

Protected them from eternal death: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

Provided their needs: “I am the gate for the sheep… whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture” (John 10:7-9).

Guided them: “When Jesus … saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things” (Mark 6:34).

Carried them: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he… go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home” (Luke 15:4-6).

The people of ancient Israel in David’s day, and those of Judea in Christ’s day, knew well that these things were all involved in being a shepherd. That’s why Christ used that analogy often, and why his hearers may have understood more fully  than we sometimes do what it means that the Lord is our shepherd. They knew, as we should come to know also, that the flock need never doubt that the Shepherd will always  protect, provide for, guide, and carry the sheep. It’s what shepherds do.

​Militarily, a beachhead (so named because it is often a literal area of beach on a sea coast) is an area that an army secures as the initial foothold in enemy territory. 

​Once the beachhead is established and reinforcements arrive, the invading army can then begin to extend its position and radiate out into the territory it seeks to capture. But it is vital that the beachhead be firmly established and controlled for expansion to occur.

One of the most famous operations of this type in modern history was the Normandy beachhead established on the French coast by Allied troops in World War II –  allowing the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe and the eventual overthrow of that dark regime in the countries it had conquered.  That beachhead cost the lives of thousands of brave soldiers, but their sacrifice made possible the invasion that brought freedom to multiple millions. 

Earlier in history, at the beginning of our present era, we find something similar occurred in the establishment of Christianity in Jerusalem and its eventual expansion from there.  It’s an analogous situation that helps us to understand a number of scriptures in the New Testament.

Early in his ministry, when Jesus first sent out his disciples, we find that he commanded them: “… Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel” (Matthew 10:5-6). Later, after his resurrection, his command changed: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15).   Was this a contradiction, as is sometimes claimed? Why the change? The answer is simply because the spiritual “beachhead” of Jerusalem and Judah had to be first secured through the teaching of Jesus and his disciples. Then the preaching of the Kingdom of God could progressively radiate out from Jerusalem.  We see this expansion in Christ’s own words: “… you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). 

In the invasion of Normandy, the allied troops were not simply spread out across the whole French coastline where they would have had no effect; rather the invading forces established a specific beachhead on “Omaha” and its adjoining beaches.  The establishment of Christianity was no different.  Jesus himself said “… I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” (Matthew 15:24), and that is exactly where he concentrated his disciples’ efforts at first.

This fact explains two more scriptures that are sometimes thought to show contradicting accounts.  Early in his ministry, Jesus sent out his disciples, telling them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt” (Luke 9:3).  But later in his ministry Jesus specified “… the one with a purse should take it, and likewise a bag; and the one without a sword should sell his cloak and buy one” (Luke 22:36).   In the first instruction Jesus made sure the disciples would not have the necessary supplies to go beyond the borders of Judea, where he was sending them.  At the end of his ministry, once the “beachhead” was established, Jesus instructed them to take the things they would need for longer journeys into more distant territory.  In fact, the “bag” (NIV) they were told to take means a “backpack” or “travelling bag” and is so translated in many versions of the Bible (ESV, Holman, etc.).

But if this analogy helps us to better understand several scriptures regarding the original establishment and expansion of Christianity, it should also remind us that like the beachhead of Normandy, Christianity’s beachhead cost many lives to make freedom from the powers of darkness, and ultimately salvation, possible.  Principally, of course, it cost the life of the “captain of our salvation” (Hebrews 2:10 KJV), but we should remember that the Book of Acts shows that many others also gave up their lives on that original beachhead as they followed Christ.
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Today we are called to lay down our lives, too –  even if only metaphorically –  for the sake of others.  The message of the Kingdom of God has spread out into the world, but not all the world has been reached.  Wherever missionary activity is occurring, beachheads exist.  Some are in distant lands, others are in our own communities.  But if we are following the command given to the followers of Christ, we can give and serve to help establish those beachheads whether in person or in prayer.  On which beachhead are you fighting today?

​Among the band of heroes that the Bible tells us were King David’s leading warriors – his “special forces operatives” –  one warrior is particularly interesting.  David’s chief fighters were all noted for great exploits, but one who stands out even in that crowd is Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.  We might well call this warrior “Benaiah the lion hearted,” considering what is said about him:

Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. And he struck down an Egyptian who was five cubits tall. Although the Egyptian had a spear like a weaver’s rod in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a staff. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty warriors. He was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty, but he was not included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard (1 Chronicles 11:22-25).

Take a minute to consider these exploits.  The son of a famous warrior, Benaiah ended up excelling his father’s deeds.  Living in a time when ancient Israel was frequently attacked by surrounding nations, he is first said to have killed the two greatest warriors of Israel’s arch-enemy Moab. We don’t know if he fought these enemies separately or together, but the Hebrew term used of them seems to imply that they were “lion-like.” Yet that is only the beginning of Benaiah’s reputation.

We are also told that Benaiah slew a giant Egyptian warrior who was doubtless part of an invading Egyptian force. This man is said to have been of great height –  approximately the same as the famous giant Goliath that David himself had killed –  but it seems that Benaiah was armed only with a staff and that either through cunning or sheer strength he snatched the Egyptian’s huge spear and killed him with his own weapon.

But the most notable of Benaiah’s feats is that he “went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.” This is the deed we need to think about in order to truly appreciate its magnitude.  We are not told why Benaiah  slew this fierce animal, but at that time lions frequently preyed on flocks and herds (1 Samuel 17:36), and this predator may well have been endangering the people of the area where the incident took place. 

Whatever the reason Benaiah ended up fighting the lion, this story gives us some important details about the contest. Military ground operations must always take three major factors into account:  the strength of the enemy, the terrain – including options for mobility and withdrawal, and the ambient conditions (fog, smoke, bad weather, etc.).  If any one of these factors is disadvantageous,  military units must operate with great care.  In Benaiah’s case, all three of these factors were against him. The simple statement “a lion in a pit on a snowy day” indicates an enemy of vastly superior strength, in very difficult terrain, and with very negative ambient conditions.

These combined conditions meant that on the snowy day visibility may have been limited by flying snow.  Being in a pit meant that the sun would not melt ice on the ground making it easy to slip, plus the fact that the wind would likely have blown more snow into the pit where it could have become quite deep –  making it hard to move.  These are all very difficult conditions in which to find oneself: in a pit, facing a lion with no easy way of retreat. Keep in mind that a fully grown lion can smash a human skull with a swipe of one of its paws and can bite completely though a human body. The lion may have been trapped in the pit, but once Benaiah entered it, so was he.  Any person with a tactical background knows that the simple biblical description of this contest indicates what a huge victory it was for Benaiah.

Even with these great exploits, Benaiah was not one of David’s three top generals at this time. However, he is said to have been greater than the king’s top 30 fighters and, perhaps not surprisingly, to have been made the commander of the king’s bodyguard.  But there is one final detail that is often overlooked regarding the hero Benaiah.  1 Chronicles 27:5 tells us that “… Benaiah [was the] son of Jehoiada the priest. He was chief and there were 24,000 men in his division.” Both Benaiah and his warrior father were Levites and his father is actually said to have served as a priest. 

Perhaps we might not expect an individual with this priestly background to have taken on the enemies he did – including lion-like warriors and an actual lion.  But the story of Benaiah, like that of David and Goliath, is one of several accounts given in the Old Testament that show the connection between faith and fearlessness –  of active, tactical involvement in life and the willingness to take on real problems and enemies.  In that sense, Benaiah is the story of a religious man who was not afraid to fight to help others.  Thankfully, in our own day we do not have to fight lions, but the battles are out there for the warriors who are willing to fight them in faith.

The four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – lie at the very heart of Christianity, recording its most essential teachings and providing us with most of what we know about the person of Jesus Christ, his fulfillments of Old Testament prophecies, his message, and his true identity. Without them the rest of the New Testament would not make any sense, and we would have no idea of the true significance of a great deal of what is written in the Old Testament. 
 
Yet many Christians do not know why there are four Gospels, exactly how they differ, or what their unique lessons are. This book answers those questions by looking at the “stage,” the “actors,” and the “story” for the Gospels and by providing background and perspective that can greatly increase your understanding of their message. 

The four Gospels are certainly among the most important books of the Bible. Isn’t it time you got to know them better? Our free new book Inside The Four Gospels is available in formats for computer, e-book reader and smart phone.  Download a copy here.

                


Twelve thoughts you can read and perhaps tweet this week – each with a point worth thinking about.
 
 





The thanksgiving difference:
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1) “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.”  Willie Nelson
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2) “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” William Arthur Ward
 
Say it with thanks:

3) “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” William Ward

4) “Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and give thanks continuously.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
Thanks beyond things:

5) “Thankfulness includes being grateful for all the problems we do not have.” Anonymous
 
6) “We must find the time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.” John F. Kennedy
 
Gratitude makes us all richer:

7) “Give thanks for a little, and you will find a lot.” Hausa Proverb

8) "Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy.” Fred De Witt Van Amburgh
 
Lives of thanks and giving:

9) “Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our Thanksgiving.”  W.T. Purkiser

10) “If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share.”  W. Clement Stone
 
Don’t stop now: 

11) “Thankfulness expressed today and forgotten tomorrow is like an unkept promise. True thanksgiving never dies young.” Anonymous
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12) “My thanksgiving is perpetual.” Henry David Thoreau

​The letters of the apostle Paul to the Thessalonian church – a strong church that Paul had planted and nurtured – are, in effect, spiritual report cards. The context is clear; Paul is writing to his best students – these are a teacher’s letters to those who have done best in class. Just how good were they? Paul tells us in congratulating them:

“And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere” (1 Thessalonians 1:7).

But Paul doesn’t stop with congratulations – in fact, he only begins there. Having complimented the Thessalonians on their spirituality, notice how he continues:  “…brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more” (1 Thessalonians 4:1).

The Thessalonians clearly received a grade of  “A” in pleasing God, but Paul urges them to do more – and he doesn’t stop with the first subject:  “Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for … you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more” (1 Thessalonians 4:9).   Another “A” – another still not good enough.  Paul proceeds in the same way through all the subjects in which the Thessalonians had excelled:  “Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

Paul’s second report card to the Thessalonians is not much different:  “… brothers and sisters … your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing” (2 Thessalonians 1:3);  “… brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good” (2 Thessalonians 3:13).

The pattern is clear. Even though they were his best students, the apostle repeatedly urges the Thessalonian believers, strong as they were, to do more and more – never to stop doing more and more.

Humanly, it’s natural to want to rest a little after our battles, savor our victories, enjoy the report card and take a break before hitting the next semester. But Paul knew that the more we do with God’s help, the more we become capable of doing. God doesn’t want us to serve and help in any way other than to the fullest extent of His help. He also doesn’t want to  reward us minimally, but to the fullest extent possible. That’s why Paul urges us repeatedly, if we are doing what we should, that is well and good! Now do more and more!

  

The story of David and Goliath may be the most famous conflict story in the Bible, but an earlier battle fought by Abram, before his name was changed to Abraham, was perhaps even more impressive.  The story is a fascinating one that carries important reminders for modern warriors of the Way.
                       

In Genesis 14 we are told that Sodom and Gomorrah and other cities of the Dead Sea Valley had long been subject to the kings of Mesopotamia (“Shinar”), but that while Abraham was living in the area of nearby Hebron they rebelled against this foreign rule. The Amorite Mesopotamian king assembled a large army including his Elamite, Hurrian, and Hittite allies. The massive force  overwhelmed Sodom and its neighboring cities, seizing the goods of the cities and taking many of their inhabitants as slaves.  In doing this they also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since Lot was living in that area (Genesis 14:12).  But Abram was informed of what had happened and took decisive action:

“A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near … Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram.  When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people” (Genesis 14:13-15).

Many people may be surprised to read in this account that Abram had over three hundred “trained men” which shows the size of his household.  In fact, these trained men were not simply shepherds and other workmen hastily handed a sword or other weapon. The  Hebrew word hānīk means an “armed servant” and was used of men whose primary function was to provide military protection. These men were essentially a small private security force in full-time service to Abraham. Together these men pursued the returning Mesopotamians, catching up with them near Dan on what was later Israel’s northern border.

But what is truly surprising in the account is the daring raid that Abraham and his small force executed to rescue Lot.  Militarily, a raid is usually a carefully planned small-scale attack on enemy forces,  conducted covertly with speed and surprise – often at night and behind enemy lines – on an unsuspecting enemy.  An extraction raid is one planned to rescue captured soldiers, hostages or other friendly elements and  the  idea is almost always “quick-in, quick-out.” Abraham’s raid against the Mesopotamian allied  forces was a classic extraction raid, conducted under the cover of darkness in a skillfully planned attack – but it was anything but a “quick-in, quick-out.” 

After his attack Abraham and his small force continued to engage the enemy over an extended distance – a further fifty miles from Dan to Damascus.  These men did not just hit and run – they stuck with their mission until it was successful and Lot was rescued. Abraham’s men probably did not carry much food or supplies in order to travel quickly and catch up with the enemy force, but they travelled a considerable distance of at least 153 miles (247 km) – from Hebron to Damascus and beyond – and then returned to the Dead Sea Plain.
 
Abraham and his men gladly gave credit to God for their victory against a vastly superior force (Genesis 14:20),  but we should not forget the part these men played in the conflict and the things they did that were militarily sound.     Even apart from the successful tactics Abraham employed in utilizing  a night attack to maximize confusion and with divided forces closing from different directions (Genesis 14:15-16),  we see three key factors aiding the mission’s success.
 
Abraham didn’t set out unprepared. His men were properly trained and ready, as we have seen (Genesis 14:14).   He didn’t try to go it alone. He involved his allies, the  men of Mamre, Eshkol and Aner (Genesis 14:13, 24). These men were not just his neighbors – the Hebrew says they were “sworn allies” (literally “possessors of the covenant of Abram”), so these were allies Abram could trust.  Once the fighting began, Abraham and his men persisted – they “went the distance”  till their mission  objective was fulfilled.
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Simple as they may sound, these three principles are fundamental to our own spiritual warfare.  Warriors of the Way need to train well to be prepared for the battles we will inevitably have to face. We then need to utilize the allies we are given in the form of fellow-believers – allies we can trust.  And when the battles begin, we need to proceed with a warrior’s attitude of persistence till we have fulfilled the task we have been given.  The very characteristics so clear in Abram’s victory over physical enemies are ones we need to develop in our spiritual lives, too.  

Not all prayer is asking for something, but a great deal of it obviously is.  When we do ask, do we pray mainly for our own physical and spiritual needs and concerns?    It is certainly acceptable to pray for these things – we have Christ’s encouragement to do so – but that is only part of the picture we find in the words of Jesus and in the New Testament as a whole. 

The New Testament actually gives us an insight into an important aspect of prayer that we might easily miss. See what that 80% principle is in our latest article, here.