We Believer's Give Thanks And Why They Dont (1 Thes. 4:18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/19/2014 9:19 AM

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Why We Give Thanks, and Why we Don’t

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  1Thess. 4:18

            Message of the verses:  18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

            I actually thought that we were done looking at this verse, but after listening to John MacArthur’s sermon on this verse I have decided to come back and add some more things to what we talked about in our last SD. 

            Let me begin with some reasons to give thanks and why we are to give thanks.  I have in the past gone back to the beginning, that is the book of Genesis and looked at the creation of planet earth as described there and how the Lord created all the things on planet earth before he created man, for He created the things He did in order for man to live on a beautiful planet so that man would be thankful for His creation and worship the Lord for all He did.  However there was a fly in the ointment as Satan deceived Eve and her and Adam fell into sin, the first sin by humans and plunged the entire universe into sin making it difficult to be able to give thanks to the Lord because they had died spiritually and all who followed them would be born spiritually dead.  Right after the fall of man God promises that One would come to defeat the works of the devil as described in Genesis 3:15.  God was speaking of Jesus Christ who was born of the virgin Mary because the sin nature passed through the male, thus making a virgin birth the way Jesus would be born without having a sin nature.  Jesus came for the purpose to save those who would come to know Him as Savior and Lord giving all who accepted His payment of the penalty of sin a new nature and also the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, building a bridge back to His Father.  These are all things that we should be giving thanks for, for we could have done none of this on our own.  So with our new nature and with the Holy Spirit living in us and with the Word of God to read and with the local church to attend listening to sermons from godly Pastors to help us grow, why then is it so hard to give thanks in everything? The answer is the old nature that we still have and also temptations from the devil and the pull of the world’s system are three reasons that make it hard. 

            We are now going to look at several reasons why believers can become unthankful, for this is not the way that they should be, but this can happen to believers.  Now unbelievers are not thankful for they mostly believe that they can do things on their own, not realizing that all people who live on the earth share in “common grace” that are given to them by God, things like food to eat, air to breathe, rain that falls on the earth to produce crops and other things too.  However our discussion will be on the unthankfulness of believers.

            MacArthur says in his sermon that the first reason that believers become unthankful is doubt, and what he is talking about is doubt about God, about His character.  Doubt about His love for us, or doubt about His sovereign control of all things, or perhaps doubt about His wisdom.  What we are talking about is doubting His attributes.

            Number two is selfishness as this poisons the springs of gratitude.  A selfish person does not care that God is in control of His life, he just wants what he wants and wants it now, not believing that God can do things which are the best for you, not believing what Romans 8:28 has to say.

            Thirdly hindrance to being thankful is worldliness which is the love of the world system.  John writes the following “15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”  The thing to remember here is that the world is passing away, but all believers will live forever with the Lord, so the things on earth are not as important when we think of it that way.

            The forth hindrance to being unthankful is a critical spirit:  “A critical spirit, a person who is bitter, a person who is negative, who has a sour life attitude.”

            Number five is impatience:  “Some people don’t give thanks simply because they’re discontent over the perception that God doesn’t move on their day timer.”  I have heard it well said that God created time, but He doesn’t wear a watch, and also God is never late.

            Next is spiritual coldness to which we could call it lethargy.  An example of this is the description that Jesus gave of the church at Laodicea where He said:  “14 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: 15  ’I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 ’So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.”

            The last hindrance is just plain out rebellion. Rebellion against the Lord because perhaps of something that has happened to you in your life that you have blamed God for. 

            MacArthur writes the following on the last part of verse eighteen “this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  “The ‘in Christ Jesus’ modifies you, you who are Christians, you who are in Christ Jesus.  For you this is God’s will.  There’s no point in God willing it for the world, they can’t truly and constantly joyful, they cannot be in constant communion with the Lord, they don’t even have a relationship and they’re certainly not going to be thankful.  But for you who are in Christ Jesus, you who are in the body of Christ, you who have been joined to Him, this will of God is placed on you as a mandate.”  This is done by God as seen in Philippians 2:13 “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

            One more important quote from MacArthur:  “And by the way, these three commands, rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, these three commands penetrate the innermost recesses of the redeemed heart.  They penetrate the innermost recesses of the redeemed heart. 

            “You say, ‘What do you mean by that?’  They’re the best gauge on a person’s spiritual condition.  Did you get that?  They are the best gauge on a person’s spiritual condition.  Don’t judge your spirituality by church attendance.  Don’t judge your spirituality by ministry activity.  Don’t judge you spirituality by the fact that you do your duty as a Christian…you give money, you show up at your Bible study, whatever it might be.  Don’t judge your spirituality by the fact that you haven’t raped anybody, you haven’t robbed anybody, you haven’t murdered anybody, you haven’t committed adultery, you haven’t committed fornication, you haven’t lied and cheated on you income tax, you haven’t abused your wife, you don’t abuse your children.  Don’t judge your spirituality on that.  God deeper than that.”

            How do we go deeper than that?  We rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks.

            Spiritual meaning for my life:  By God’s grace I wish to sort out the things that I am failing at and by the help of the Holy Spirit care for them, and when I fail, I want to dust myself off and then start over again remembering that a the successful Christian life is a series of new beginnings.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Remember what I wrote in the previous section of my SD.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-6.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “The magicians and sorcerers” (Exodus 7:11).

Today’s Bible question:  “What sin caused 23,000 to fall in one day?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/19/2014 10:22 AM

 

Being Constantly Thankful (1 Thess. 5:18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/18/2014 8:55 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Being Constantly Thankful

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1 Thessalonians 5:18

            Message of the verses:  “18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

            We are looking at the last command given by Paul that John MacArthur writes about in the 16^th chapter of his commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians in which he names this chapter “The Sheep’s Responsibilities to the Great Shepherd Part One.”  Yes there are more of these commands in chapter 17^th of his commentary that come from the fifth chapter of 1 Thessalonians. 

            I want to begin with a statement that is pretty oblivious to me as I read these seemingly impossible commands that we have been looking at in this section, that of always being joyful, always having an attitude of prayer, and now always giving thanks and being thankful.  Humanly speaking I know that I cannot do these things.  I have to remember that when the Lord saved me that He gave me a new heart, and also gave me His Holy Spirit to live within me to do His will.  Philippians 2:13 reads as follows “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  God is the One working in my life so that I can do the things that He commands me to do.  I believe that I must desire to have Him do these things in my life, to be joyful, to have an attitude of prayer, and to give thanks for the things that happen in my life knowing that as Romans 8:28 says “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  When I think about this verse I think of God’s powerfulness as He can use all things that come into my life to work together for good for me and to bring glory to Him.  That is the kind of God I desire to worship.

            Those who have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are naturally unthankful as seen in Romans 1:21 “For even though they knew God, [through conscience and general revelation] they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”  (Bracket items given my John MacArthur.)  Now as believer we see we are always to be thankful, to in everything give thanks, and MacArthur writes that this word “everything” (en panti) “refers to all that occurs in life.  No matter what struggles, trials, testing’s, or vicissitudes occur in the lives of Christians (with the obvious exception of personal sins), they are to give thanks (Acts 5:41; cf. James 1:2-3; 1 Peter 1:6-9).  Thankfulness therefore should be part of the fabric of the regenerate life, a gracious fruit of the Holy Spirit’s work within the believer’s heart (cf. Col. 2:7).”  “Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving (Col. 2:7)” (ESV). 

            Yes, trying to be joyful always, living always with an attitude of prayer, and giving thanks for everything is impossible without the power of God in my heart.  As I have been studying the book of Jeremiah, one of the chapters that have special meaning to me is chapter 32, and now I want to quote verses 26-27 of Jeremiah 32 in order to encourage my heart that I can do the commands that Paul is writing to the Thessalonians in this fifth chapter of 1 Thessalonians:  “26 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 27  "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?"”  I am going to go out on a limb and say that nothing is too difficult for the Lord, even working in my heart to be continually joyful, that is knowing that God is in charge of all things, to give me an attitude of continued prayer, and also to cause me to give thanks for everything knowing that this is God’s will for me.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful to be reminded that God is in control of everything, and that nothing is too difficult for Him, and so I can rest assured that God will fulfill these three commands in my life.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  John MacArthur writes “It is God’s will that all those who are in Christ Jesus should express constant joy, constant prayer, and constant thanksgiving, and God not only mandates those expressions of righteousness, but He makes it possible for believer to articulate them and is pleased when they do,”  “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13).”

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-6.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you died and you life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ, who is our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  5 Therefore consider the member of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God has come upon the sons of disobedience,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “She was not ruled by kingly power.”

Today’s Bible question:  “Who else beside Moses and Aaron, had their rods become serpents before Pharaoh?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/18/2014 10:00 AM

 

Pray Without Ceasing (1 Thess. 4:17)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/17/2014 9:49 AM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  Pray Without Ceasing

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1 Thessalonians 5:17

            Message of the verses:  17 pray without ceasing;”

            Let us begin with a quote from Warren Wiersbe who writes under his main point of “Family Worship” “Worship is the most important activity of a local church family.  Ministry must flow out of worship; otherwise it becomes busy activity without power and without heart.  There may be ‘results’ but they will not glorify God or really last.  Many church services lace an emphasis on true worship and are more, like religious entertainments, catering to the appetites of the congregation.”  He then goes on to talk about prayer and praise which cover verses 17-18. 

            When we get to this verse, verse 17 and read it we can think of many different things and perhaps what we are thinking about is not what the verse is talking about.  We wonder how can we pray all of the time when we have to work or we have to sleep, and so perhaps we just want to give up and not dig into what the real meaning of what Paul was writing about so we can follow his instructions.  At this point in his letter he is writing about some things that will help the Thessalonian church grow and worship the Lord in a proper way, and one of the things he wants them to do is to pray without ceasing.  Warren Wiersbe says that we are to keep the receiver off the hook so that we can always talk to the Lord.  He also writes “Pray without ceasing” does not mean we must always be mumbling prayers.  The word means ‘constantly recurring,’ not continuously occurring.”  He then writes that “God knows the desires of the heart (Ps. 37:4), and He responds to those desires even when our voice is silent.  See Psalms 10:17; 21:2,”  “17 O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear.”  “2 You have given him his heart’s desire, And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.”  Psalm 37:4 reads “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.”

            John MacArthur ties being joyful with praying without ceasing and writes:  “Joyful believers will also be prayerful believers.  Those who live their Christian lives in joyful dependency on God will continually recognize their own insufficiency and therefore constantly be in an attitude of prayer.  Paul’s exhortation to the Thessalonians to pray without ceasing is thus a divine mandate to all believers.”  He then goes on to explain the words pray and without ceasing.  The word prayer is “from proseuchomai, the most common New Testament word for prayer.  It encompasses all the aspects of prayer: submission, confession, petition, intercession, praise, and thanksgiving.  Without ceasing means ‘constant’ and defines prayer not as some perpetual activity of kneeling and interceding but as a way of life marked by a continual attitude of prayer.” 

            When we think about an example of prayer we must first of all think of our Lord Jesus Christ when He was on earth.  As we read through the gospels we can find numerous times when our Lord was praying.  MacArthur writes “He undoubtedly prayed with a kind of intensity that believers know little or nothing about.”  Now when we combine this with joyfulness that our Lord had we read in Hebrews 12: 1-2 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”   We can see this most of all when our Lord was praying in the garden the night before He was crucified as found in both the gospels of Matthew and Luke, but since Luke was the beloved doctor he wrote about Jesus actually perspiring blood when He was praying, for His prayer was so intensified to His Father.  Jesus was about to be separated from His Father as His Father was about to take upon Him the punishment for the sins of the world.  Jesus was separated from His Father because of our sins and He had never been separated from His Father before, and this was why He fervently prayed to His Father at this time.  We can see how much He loves us to do such a thing to provide salvation for those who would accept His sacrifice for them. 

            In the early church we see from the book of Acts much about prayer as it was the disciples of our Lord who had seen Him pray, and thus they knew the importance of prayer and so they prayed fervently in the early church. 

            In the sermon that John MacArthur did on this verse he gave ten reasons why we should pray without ceasing.  I am not going to give the entire quote, but just list them and perhaps give a little bit of his commentary on them.

Number one is a desire for the Lord’s glory.  When we read “The Lord’s Prayer” we first of all see “Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.” When we pray this we are not praying four ourselves, but we are praying that our Father’s will be done.

Number two reason for praying without ceasing is “a desire for fellowship with God.  “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God (Psalm 42:1-2)?” 

Thirdly is a desire for our needs to be met.  Jesus prayed “Give us this day our daily bread.” MacArthur writes “It is right to pray that our needs would be met.  It is right to ask God for the basic things of life.  That’s a prompter to prayer.” 

The forth motive for praying without ceasing is a desire for wisdom.  “James put it this way, ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men liberally and holds back nothing.’”  Now don’t believe that we do not need the wisdom of God in our life, for we all do.  One of the verses that I use in my prayer life is Proverbs 3:5-6 “5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Number five is “prayer is prompted by a desire of deliverance from trouble.”  We can read through the Psalms and especially the ones that found David running from Saul and we can see how he prayed for deliverance from trouble.  Let us look at the prayer that Jonah said when he was in the belly of the great fish:  “1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish, 2 and he said, "I called out of my distress to the LORD, And He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice. 3 “For You had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current engulfed me. All Your breakers and billows passed over me. 4 “So I said, ’I have been expelled from Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple.’ 5 “Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head. 6 "I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. 7 “While I was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, And my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple. 8 “Those who regard vain idols Forsake their faithfulness, 9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD."”  We now see the answer in verse ten:  “10 Then the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.”

Number six is “a desire for relief from fear and worry.”  Philippians 4:6 says “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”  He goes on in verse 7 “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  MacArthur writes “When you’re in fear and anxiety and worry, you are in distress, you are in depression, what should you do?  Very simply, stop being anxious and go to prayer and pray with a thankful heart and the peace of God which surpasses all human comprehension will protect your heart and mind. What does that mean?  Guard it from anxiety; guard it from depression, distress, fear, and worry.  If you want a humanly comprehensible solution, go to a person.  If you want a humanly incomprehensible solution, go to God. In the time of fear, in the time of worry, in the time of anxiety, in the time of emotional distress and pain, the formula is simple, just go to the Lord in persistent continual unceasing prayer with thanksgiving and the peace of God promised will guard your heart and mind.”

Number seven is “a desire to offer thanks for past blessing.”  Sometimes we pray and pray and finally get the answer and then forget to praise the Lord for the answer we have been seeking for such a long time.

Number eight “here is a very important motive to prayer and that is a desire to be freed from the guilt of sin.” We need only to look at one of the Psalms that David wrote when he had committed his sin with Bathsheba, and that is Psalm 32.  I won’t quote this but it is good to take the time to read over it.

Number nine is “a desire for the salvation for the lost.”  This is a very important element of our prayer life as we pray for the lost, praying that God would do that same miracle of the new birth in their lives that he has done in ours.

Number ten “is prompted by a desire for the spiritual growth of believers.”  We only have to read through the letters that Paul wrote to the churches that he founded to see that he prays for their spiritual growth of them.  This is something we can continue to do as we all need to grow in our walk with the Lord as long as we are on this earth.  We have a lot of good suggestions to pray about.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Continue to pray and remember these ten items to pray about in my prayer life which is to be without ceasing.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Pray without ceasing.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-6.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and you life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Joshua” Joshua 3:9-17).

Today’s Bible question:  “Prior to first Samuel, what made Israel different from other nations?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/17/2014 11:16 AM

 

 

 

Joyfulness (1 Thess. 5:16)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/16/2014 10:02 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                               Focus:  Joyfulness

Bible Reading & Meditation                                          Reference:  1 Thessalonians 5:16

            Message of the verses:  “16 Rejoice always;”

            Paul is writing to the Thessalonians on what is needed to make a healthy church, and we have already looked at long-suffering in our last SD from verse fourteen, and now we will look at joy, and then peace, and love, now all four of these can be found in the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22.  Warren Wiersbe writes “Family partnership is vital to the health and growth of the church.  Are you bearing your share of the burdens, or are you merely a spectator who watches the others do the job?”  Being a part of the local church is being a part of a family, a family that will always be together when all is said and done, for Paul has already written about the Rapture of the church which takes all true believers to be with the Lord in their new bodies in heaven, so we have that promise to look forward to, and so we need to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to the Lord and good for the other members of our true family.

            I listened to a sermon that John MacArthur has on this one verse and near the beginning of the message he said the following about joy:  “The discussion of Christian joy is, of course, crucial and essential to all of us who name the name of Jesus Christ.  Much can be said, much should be said, much has been said.  But I want to begin our study today with a statement that might surprise you.  In fact, it may appear hard if not impossible to believe.  Then I want to tell you why that statement is true and teach you it significance and its application.  Here is the statement.  ‘There is not event or circumstance that can occur in the life of any Christian that should diminish that Christian’s joy.’  Let me say that again, ‘There is not even tor circumstance that can occur in the life oa any Christian that should diminish that Christian’s joy.’     

            “In fact, let me go even further than that.  If there is an event or circumstance apart from sin that does diminish your joy, you have sinned.  Does that sound ridiculous given the woes and the pains and the difficulties of life?  Nevertheless, no matter how it sounds the command of Scripture is explicit, rejoice..how often?...always. Any failure to do that constitutes disobedience and sin.  Therefore we can say that there is no event or circumstance that can occur in the life of any Christian that should diminish that Christian’s joy.  It will if we react improperly to it.”

            Now I want to skip ahead in this sermon to give the important definition:  “Now listen very carefully, this is the heart of what I’m going to say.  Here is the definition.  Christian joy is the emotion springing from the deep-down confidence of the Christian that God is in perfect control.  Let me say that much again.  Christian joy is the emotion springing from the deep-down confidence of the Christian that God is in perfect control of everything and will bring from it our good in time and our glory eternity.”  Now I will again skip ahead to the following “Christian joy is not an emotion on top of an emotion.  It is not a feeling on top of a feeling.  It is a feeling on top of a fact.  It is an emotional response to what I know to be true about my God.  That’s the substance of it.  All of us should be in the habit of constantly expressing joyful wonder when we contemplate the unchanging eternal relationship with God that we have through the Lord Jesus Christ.”

            My goal in doing these Spiritual Diaries is to better understand the Word of God and if I better understand the Word of God then I can better understand the God of the Word, and that is why I study the Word of God and why I read different commentators who help me with this goal.  John MacArthur took 45 years in his church to teach his congregation what is written in the New Testament, and Warren Wiersbe has written a commentary on very book in the Bible and that is why I look to these two men for the help that I need.

            We have mentioned that three of the four items mentioned are a part of the fruit of the Spirit and when we include longsuffering from verse fourteen we have all four of them, now there is an old hymn that includes three of these qualities that we will be looking at in verses 15-17, and I want to quote this song. 

 

1. Take my life and let it be
   Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
   *Take my moments and my days,
   Let them flow in endless praise.
2. Take my hands and let them move
   At the impulse of Thy love.
   Take my feet and let them be
   Swift and beautiful for Thee.
3. Take my voice and let me sing,
   Always, only for my King.
   Take my lips and let them be
   Filled with messages from Thee.
4. Take my silver and my gold,
   Not a mite would I withhold.
   Take my intellect and use
   Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.
5. Take my will and make it Thine,
   It shall be no longer mine.
   Take my heart, it is Thine own,
   It shall be Thy royal throne.
6. Take my love, my Lord, I pour
   At Thy feet its treasure store.
   Take myself and I will be
   Ever, only, all for Thee.

There is one more thing that I want to be reminded of as I finish this part of this SD and that is to remember that joy is not like happiness, for we can be joyful without being happy, and the way we can do this is to remember who is in charge, and that is the God of the universe who loves us so much that He sent His One and only Son into the world to bring us back into fellowship with God by caring for the sin problem that all of us have.  If He is so great and loving to do this then we can trust Him throughout the difficult circumstances that we go through. 

Studying joy before I learned that joy is Jesus first, others second and yourself last.  Not sure that I totally agree with that being a great definition, but there is truth in it.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I surely desire to live my life where I rejoice always in all circumstances, knowing that there are difficult times that I have already went through and perhaps more to come.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Remember contentment is a part of being joyful.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-5.

1 Therefore if we have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set you mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you died and you life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  5 Therefore consider the members of you earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Mars’ Hill” (Acts 17:22).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who led the children of Israel through the Jordan River?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/16/2014 10:54 AM 

 

           

Dealing with Wayward Sheep (1 Thess. 5:14-15)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/15/2014 10:55 AM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Dealing with Wayward Sheep

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  1 Thessalonians 5:14-15

            Message of the verse:  “14 We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

            I would like to begin this SD with a fairly long quote from John MacArthur that tells us what we will be looking at in this 14^th verse of 1 Thessalonians chapter five.

            “Paul’s approach to church growth was in sharp contrast to present-day ‘church growth’ experts’ concerns about cultural demographics and homogeneity, subtle schemes to make the church more ‘seeker friendly,’ sophisticated entertainment methodologies to make worship services ‘more relevant,’ and glib marketing techniques to attract new members.  Rather than relying on such man-made strategies or concepts, the apostle focused on the sinful obstacles to the Thessalonian church’s spiritual growth.  In so doing he identified five types of struggling sheep that the healthy sheep needed to deal with:  the wayward, who needed to get back in line; the worried, who needed to have more courage, faith, boldness, and confidence; the weak, who needed to be more disciplined in holiness; the wearisome, who needed to keep pace in obedience; and the wicked, who needed to behave righteously.  The church’s lack of spiritual progress is usually due to the sinful behavior of people in those problem categories, and Paul earnestly desired that the Thessalonians know how to adequately deal with those in each category, as necessary.”  I can say that I had experience with my former church which was trying to become a seeker friendly church, and that is the main reason that I had to leave that church after 32 years of attending it.  The church is suppose to be salt and light to the world, and so if the church decides to become like the world to attract the world then when the world comes to visit the church they will see no difference, they will see no salt and light.  God’s church is supposed to be different than the world, and it is very sad when one goes into a church and sees little difference than what is seen in the world.  We will try and look briefly at these different things that Paul writes about in this verse.

            The first one is “admonish the unruly.”  This word that is translated as unruly is a word that was used for a military person who was not marching in line with the rest of his troops; he wanted to march in tune with his own way of marching.  As we look at the church in the metaphor of being a family, and I think that we in the church are a family, we can see that there are rules in most families that all the children are suppose to obey.  Paul is speaking of those at this church who were not going along with what they were suppose to do, and in his second letter he has to write more about this as it seems that the people did not following his instructions from this first letter.  Now we must remember that one of the problems with the Pharisees was that they were so caught up in their rules and regulations that it became a large problem with them, so we as believers cannot get so caught up in rules and traditions that we get so out of balanced that we are no good to anyone.

            Next we look at dealing with the worried sheep.  The word “fainthearted” which is the word we are dealing with here actually means “small souled.”  This is kind of the opposite to those who were unruly, as the unruly were pushing on the edges of acceptable Christian behavior; these were the worried sheep, huddled in the middle and afraid to get near the edge.  MacArthur writes “There are those in the church who are bold and courageous, unafraid of persecution or difficulty, and willing to put their lives on the line for a noble cause or principle of truth.  In contrast, the faithhearted lace the boldness to accept a challenging new ministry, for change and the unknown, and want a risk-free ministry that is traditional, safe, and absolutely secure.”   Paul is encouraging stronger believers to come alongside of these weak believers to help them grow and better understand the truths of the Scriptures.  An example of this would be that perhaps a young or fainthearted believer fears he can lose his salvation and so a stronger believer can show them a verse like this:  “13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13).”

            Next we look at helping the weak.  Paul was talking about those who were weak in the faith, and not those who were physically weak, and were not growing stronger in the Lord.  Many of these who Paul was writing about were weak in their liberty in Christ.  Paul writes about them in Romans and other letters, and they were the ones who continued in the Jewish laws, like the holy days and they would not eat meat either.  How do we handle these weak believers?  Dr. Wiersbe writes “With patient, reassuring love.  It is unfair and unwise to compare on child with another, for each one matures in his own time and his own way.  We must ‘take hold’ of these weaker believers and help them stand and walk in the Lord.”  It takes patience to do this and so the next thing we look at has to do with patience.

            “Be patient with everyone.”  Dr. Wiersbe writes:  “It takes patience to raise a family.  That weaker member who demands much help may one day be a choice leader, so never give up.”  This statement is a very true statement for I believe that many unruly children finally grew up to be missionaries, and it took the patience of older and wiser people to allow them to mature and then finally hear the call of God in their lives to serve Him.

            Dealing with the wicked sheep:  “15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.”

            John MacArthur writes:  “For Christians, the severest, most painful disappointments come not from the wickedness of the unbelieving world but from other sheep within the church.  Sheep are definitely capable of harming other sheep, sinning against them in a variety of ways, such as wicked words, that include gossip and slander, ostracizing them from fellowship and ministry opportunities, or harming them more overtly by helping break up a marriage (cf. Ex. 20:14; 1 Thess. 4:6) or influencing someone toward sinful behavior (Matt. 18:6-10).” 

            Paul tells us how to deal with such wickedness by writing “See that no one repays another with evil for evil.”  John MacArthur writes that this is written in the “imperative—to those wronged was that no one should repay with evil.” There is no place for retaliation or personal vengeance among Christians.  God’s Word tells us that vengeance belongs to the Lord.  Paul goes on to write “but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.”  Now we have only to look at our Lord Jesus Christ to see how this works.  Jesus Christ lived in an unbelievable, indescribable place which is heaven and then we find out that in eternity past it was decided that He would one day come to this sinful earth and take on human flesh, and Paul writes that we as believers should have this same attitude:  “5  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  The Scriptures tell us that we are enemies with God, and yet God loved us so much that He sent His Son to come to earth and die in our place so that those who accept this free gift will become children of God and His enemies no more.  Now since Christ has forgiven us everything we too should forgive those who sin against us, even those wicked among the Church that Paul writes about here.   Take the time to look up and read the end of the 52^nd chapter and 53^rd chapter of Isaiah, and then look at the 22^nd Psalm to see a glimpse of what our Lord went through for us.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I think about what I have learned or been reminded of in this section I am convicted of using words in a sinful way, and need to repent of this and remember of how Jesus spoke to others and do the same.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Use my words wisely and un-sinfully.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-5.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and you life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

 Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jonah” (Jonah 1:9).

Today’s Bible question: “On which hill in Athens did Paul preach?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/15/2014 12:06 PM

 

 

 

The Sheep's Responsibility to the Shepherd (1 Thess. 5:12a-13)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/14/2014 9:07 AM

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  The Sheep’s Responsibility to the Shepherd

Bible Reading & Meditation                                   Reference:  1 Thessalonians 5:12a-13

            Message of the verses:  “that you appreciate those…and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.”

            Now before I begin this portion of my Spiritual Diary today I want to quote something from John MacArthur’s earlier commentary on 1 Thessalonians that has to do with the subject from yesterday’s SD, and also today’s SD.  “Those called to be elders in the church, who preach, teach and lead God’s flock, are entrusted with the unequalled duty of proclaiming the gospel to unbelieving sinners, and bringing those who believe and are baptized into the fellowship of the local church.  There the Holy Spirit will sanctify them as they worship God in spirit and truth, submitting to the exposition and application of Scripture.  Pastors also must intercede for their people through public and private prayer, oversee the administration of the Lord’s Table so their people will regularly confess their sins and renew their covenant of obedience, equip other teachers and workers within the church, superintend and enforce church discipline, and provide biblical counseling to the congregation.  All of this spiritual work is to build up the saints to maturity—‘to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ’ (Eph. 4:13).

“The elder must be a spiritual physician who can capably apply biblical cures to those vices and heresies that might afflict members of his church.  He also must be a tender shepherd who, while feeding the flock, also heals their wounds, clams their fears, protects them from spiritual dangers, and comforts them in their distresses.  In short, he is to be a champion for biblical truth (1 Tim. 4:12), a provider of spiritual resources (1 Peter 5:1-2), a guardian and protector (Acts 20:28-31), and always a model of spiritual virtue (1 Tim. 4:12), for all of which he is directly accountable to his Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 13:17; James 3:1).

“Even the uniquely gifted apostle Paul asked the question, ‘And who is adequate for these thing?’  (2 Cor. 2:16).  He realized that no man could effectively discharge the immense obligation of spiritual leadership by human wisdom, effort, and strength alone.  He knew that only God could provide the power to be an effective leader, although he struggled with his flesh and found himself not doing the things he wanted to do and doing the things he did not want to do (Rom. 7:14-25).  God graciously gave him suffering and pain to continually humble him and make him dependent on divine power (2 Cor. 12:7-10).”

“If Paul is the ideal human model of one with a pastor’s heart, that is only because he carefully patterned his pastoral ministry after that of Jesus Christ, who perfectly modeled the pastor’s heart during His earthly ministry.  He was the ultimate example of affection for His sheep (John 10:11-16, 27-28), unselfishness for His disciples (John 13:3-17), compassion for His people (John 11:33-44; cf. Matt. 23:37-39), protectiveness toward His lambs (John 10:2-5), delight for His church (Matt. 16:18-19), gratitude for His followers (Matt. 11:25-30), and intercession for His beloved children (John 17:6-26).  That model of the shepherd’s heart is the divine standard for all pastors today.”

            This quote not only gives us some of the responsibilities of Pastors but is also is a good model to use as a prayer guide for our Pastors so that God will fulfill in the lives of our Pastors the things that are written above.  We must never neglect to pray for the Pastor that God has sovereignty put over us.

            In our SD from yesterday we went over the responsibility that we as believers have to our Pastors and so there is no need in going over it again, however I do want to quote something that was written many, many years ago from a Puritan man named Richard Baxter and he wrote the following concerning the importance of the pastor’s being able to teach the truth effectively:  I quote “To preach a sermon, I think, is not the hardest part; and yet what skill is necessary to make the truth plain; to convince the hearers, to let irresistible light in to their consciences, and to keep it there, and drive all home, to screw the truth into their minds, and work Christ into their affections; to meet every objection, and clearly to resolve it; to drive sinners to a stand, and make them see that there is no hope, but that they must unavoidably either be converted or condemned—and to do all this, as regards language and manner, as beseems our work, and yet as is most suitable to the capacities of our hearers.  This, and a great deal more that should be done in every sermon, must surely require a great deal of holy skill.  So great a God, whose message we deliver, should be honoured by our delivery of it.  It is a lamentable cause, that in a message from the God of heaven, of everlasting moment to the souls of men, we should behave ourselves to weakly, so unhandsomely          , so imprudently, or so slightly, that the whole business should miscarry in our hands, and God should be dishonoured, and His work disgraced, and sinners rather hardened than converted; and all this through our weakness or neglect! How often have carnal hearers gone home jeering at the palpable and dishonorable failings of the preacher!  How many sleep under us, because our hearts and tongues are sleepy, and we bring not with us so much skill and zeal as to awake them!  (The Reformed Pastor [1656; Edinburgh:  Banner of Truth, 1974 reprint of 1862 abridgement] 70)

            As believers in Jesus Christ we have the responsibility of listening and obeying our leaders and to pray for them.  We may not always agree with the minor things that goes on in our churches, like the color of the drapes or some other thing that when we think about does not mean a whole lot, but we still have these responsibilities to do.  Like we said yesterday sin and Satan can bring great problems into our churches, but Christ has promised that His Church will not fail, so we can hold onto that promise.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In my earlier years as a believer I set under to great Pastors who are now both with the Lord, and I must say that I did not pray for them as diligently as I should have.  Later we had two splits in the church that I attended for 32 years and after leaving in the second split and then going to a very wonderful church I have begun to realize the importance of praying for our Pastors, and so I do so most every day, and am thankful for all of them.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to pray for our Pastors and leaders.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-5.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ, who is our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Obtain Mercy” (Matthew 5:7).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of Heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land?”

Answer in our next SD.

8/14/2014 9:55 AM

 

 

 

 

Family Leadership (1 Thess. 5:12)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/13/2014 10:24 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Family Leadership PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1 Thessalonians 5:12

            Message of the verses:  “12 But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction,”

            We are going to be talking about the church, the local church today, and the reason for the title of “Family Leadership” is because the local church is a family made up of leaders who would be the Pastors, deacons, elders of the church, and the rest of the people are like those who are under the authority of the leaders.  Jesus Christ is the head of the church as He is the Great Shepherd, and as we look at the church today we see other leaders as mentioned earlier who are the sheep.  As we look back at the creation of planet earth we see that God spent most of the first six days to create the earth for His prize creation, which is man.  After God created Adam and after Adam named all of the animals God put Adam to sleep and then created Eve from one of Adam’s ribs thus we have the first marriage.  After the fall Adam and Eve they had many children, thus we have the first family.  The family is the lifeblood of the nation, for as goes the family so eventually goes the nation.  The family is supposed to be made up of a father, a mother, and children with the father or husband as the leader of the family.  So when we compare the local church to the family we can understand better how it is suppose to operate.

            We have mentioned that Paul was not at Thessalonica for a very long time before he was run out of there by persecution and so it is understandable that after he was forced out of there that he had great concern for this very young (in the Lord church) and so he sent Timothy to see how they were doing and finds out that they were growing in the Lord, doing what a church was suppose to do.  I suppose that it is possible that Timothy, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, chose leaders for this small church, but perhaps Paul had already done this task before he was forced to leave, at any rate we can see from verse twelve that they had leaders placed in the church.  John MacArthur in his commentary writes about the different words used in the NT that speak of leaders:  “Four basic New Testament terms identify and describe church leaders.  First is the familiar term elder (presbuteros), which characterizes leaders as spiritually mature and wise (Acts 15:2ff.; 20:17; 1 Tim. 5:17, 19; Titus 1:5; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1, 5; 2 John 1; 3 John 1).  Second is the word overseer (episkops; Acts 20:28; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1-2; Titus 1:7), which describes the leader’s spiritual oversight and authority.  (Except in Acts 20:28, the KJV renders the term ‘bishop’ in the preceding references.)  Third, the familiar term pastor (poimen) emphasizes the leader’s responsibility to feed and protect his flock (Eph. 4:11; cf. Matt. 9:36; Mark 6:34).  Finally, the term leader (hegemon) indicates that the church leader must be able to provide spiritual discernment and guidance for his flock (cf. Heb. 13:7, 17, and 24).” 

            We need to understand that the Church was started by our Lord Jesus Christ, and that He paid for the sins of those in the Church.  The church still has problems with sin and with Satan, but Christ’s promise is that the Church will survive even thought there are times of troubles in it. 

            Paul is writing about the Shepherds’ responsibility to the sheep in verse twelve, and that is what we will be looking at in the rest of this SD.  Warren Wiersbe writes in his commentary on this chapter that the members in the church are to accept their leaders, appreciate their leaders, and obey their leaders. 

            Accept them:  “They are God’s gifts to the church.  They have spiritual authority from the Lord and we should accept them in the Lord.  They are not dictators, but leaders and examples.  As they follow the Lord, we must follow them.”  When he writes “they are not dictators” it is possible for them to become dictators, and have become dictators in different local churches.  I think that people fear this of their leaders if they are not walking with the Lord, believing that He chose and put in place the leaders that they have.  We mentioned sin and Satan as problems in the church, and it is either sin or Satan or both that can turn a leader into a dictator.  I have been in a church were this began to happen and after talking about it with the pastor I decided it was best for me to go elsewhere, which I did, but it was a very difficult decision that I had to make around four years ago.  I attended that church for over 32 years and it was one of the most painful things that I ever had to do.  Through God’s grace my wife and I go to a wonderful church at this time.

            Appreciate them:  In the KJV the word “exhortation” is used while in the NASB the word appreciate is used.  As members of the local church we are to appreciate our leaders for true leaders are called by the Lord and work very hard leading the flock that God has given to them.  The pastor that we have has a great love for the Lord and for the flock that God has given him.  I have seen him weep many times from the pulpit, especially when a person comes to know the Lord as their personal Savior.

            Love them:  Dr. Wiersbe writes “as brothers, the leaders are ‘among us’; and as leaders, they are ‘over us in the Lord.’”  The first pastor that I had after being saved told me that one of the most difficult things that he went through as a pastor was that he could not have any really close friends, for if he did then this could have caused problems in the church.  I believe that this is something that perhaps could be lacking in our churches today that is that some leaders can become buddy, buddy with members of the church they are in and this can cause problems like jealously and it can also cause problems of being influenced by their close friends.

            Obey Them:  We are to obey our leaders in the Lord, and like I said this has to be of the Lord.  Paul writes that children are to obey their parents, and because the church is like a family we are to also obey our leaders.  Now if the leader is doing something that is against what the Scriptures have to say then they should be confronted with the issue, and if they do not confess of their wrong doing that there should be something done to remove him if the charges are true and if they are against the teaching of the Scriptures.  James writes the following “Jas 3:1 Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I desire to be an obedient member of the church that the Lord has placed me in; doing things that will bring honor and glory to the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord, through His Spirit, to search my heart in order that I may not have any unconfessed sin in my life.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-5.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “They did not believe in the resurrection of the dead”

Today’s Bible question:  “Complete the beatitude ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall…’”

Answer in our next SD.

8/13/2014 11:29 AM