Category: Uncategorized

Commit to Work Hard at Peace

Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
1 Peter 3:11 NLT

Life Application Study Bible
Too often we see peace as merely the absence of conflict, and we think of peacemaking as a passive role. But an effective peacemaker actively pursues peace. He or she builds good relationships, knowing that peace is a by-product of commitment. The peacemaker anticipates problems and deals with them before they occur. When conflicts arise, he or she brings them into the open and deals with them before they grow unmanageable. Making peace can be harder work than waging war, but it results not in death but in life and happiness.

This morning’s verse is from a message extended to all Christians about Christian living:

Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.”
1 Peter 3:8‭-‬12 NLT

What a beautiful list:

1) Christian unity of mind and purpose

2) Sympathy towards each other

3) Love each other

4) Be tenderhearted

5) Be humble

6) Don’t retaliate against evil actions or words

7) Pay back evil with blessing

8) Keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies

9) Turn away from evil

10) Do good

11) Search for peace, and work to maintain it

Imagine a world where people actually lived this way — not as an oppressed and heavily burdened people afraid of the harsh consequences of breaking any of the above “laws” — but as a people who knew and believed that this narrow path of dying to self and to having faith and living for God is best.

Imagine a world full of people who are taught and led and empowered by the very spirit of God to overcome their natural tendencies to resist such rules and laws so that they could instead live and appreciate and live ot such things.

Does your imagination look like you, your Christian family, your church?

If it doesn’t yet in your eyes, don’t complain and grumble about the specks you see around you in others — see how you can remove the logs of 1-11 above by the power of the Holy Spirit, by the power of Christ in you, so that you might glorify God with your life today and encourage and not stumble your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Lord, help us in such amazing change in our lives that is contrary to our selfish, prideful nature. Reveal to us what must change, what will change, what you are changing in us — and convict or hearts and minds to walk with you today. Amen.

Show Respect, Patiently Endure

You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.
1 Peter 2:18‭-‬25 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1pe.2.18-25.NLT

Life Application Study Bible
We may suffer for many reasons. Some suffering is the direct result of our own sin, some happens because of our foolishness, and some is the result of living in a fallen world. Peter is writing about suffering that comes as a result of doing good. Christ never sinned, and yet he suffered so that we could be set free. When we follow Christ’s example and live for others, we too may suffer. Our goal should be to face suffering as he did-with patience, calmness, and confidence that God is in control of the future.

Life / Workplace Application

You cannot lead effectively long term if you regularly disrespect and undermine your leaders. You can effectively teach the tactics of dissent and overthrow — which may allow you to manipulate yourselves in an upward direction as you climb over the defeated — but you will eventually be undermined yourself by the very behaviors and attitudes you have sown into your “followers”.

Let’s read this not about the far off words “slaves and masters” from a long ago age — but about the very real and personal relationships we participate in each day with bosses/managers/ supervisors/leaders and subordinates:

submit to your [leaders] with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment.

And if you want to be an impact player long term, you will respect your leaders. I’m not talking about being a yes man and a brown noser while compromising your own integrity and values and following them into unjust and immoral and illegal activities — but I am talking about patiently enduring and continuing to do good, instead of grumbling, complaining, disrespecting or causing dissent.

Patiently enduring unjust treatment is never easy. But we must remember:

God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

We are called to DO GOOD, EVEN IF IT MEANS SUFFERING.

CHRIST IS OUR EXAMPLE.

That doesn’t mean that we are cowards or defeated or pacifists.

Yes, Jesus did once flip over tables and chase people with a whip. Yes, Jesus did speak out about injustice through parables that revealed the sin in themselves and in their leaders. But Jesus did teach his followers to openly resist and overthrow evil leaders, He provided the means to pay the taxes from ther mouth of a fish:

On their arrival in Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple tax came to Peter and asked him, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the Temple tax?” “Yes, he does,” Peter replied. Then he went into the house. But before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered? ” “They tax the people they have conquered,” Peter replied. “Well, then,” Jesus said, “the citizens are free! However, we don’t want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.”
Matthew 17:24‭-‬27 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.17.24-27.NLT

This jumps out:

we don’t want to offend them

I’m immediately reminded of:

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord . Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Romans 12:9‭-‬21 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.12.9-21.NLT

There is always a narrow path, a best way to respond, that doesn’t “demand respect” from others and doesn’t retaliate. If you have truly “died to self” and seek only to “live for God” — then any pride and feelings of self worth that demand “I should be respected” or “I should be treated justly” are to be crushed, overthrown, trod under foot by our example, suffering servant, Christ beaten, convicted wrongly, and crucified mercilessly, yet still praying for them saying:

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”
Luke 23:34a NLT

How can we do such a thing that is so different from our nature, so contrary to what our flesh and pride and ego cries out against and demands vengeance for our being “wronged”?

Who are you really crying out against?

Do you not know that God is sovereign and mighty and His will cannot be thwarted?

Do you not know that He foresaw your circumstances and that you are in this place right now for a reason and a purpose?

Will you grumble against Almighty God who has placed you in this moment and given you the opportunity to choose either to be like Christ in this moment or to show yourself again as a child of wrath instead of as a child of God?

Lord, help us. It is only by the poet of Christ in us that we can reach such humble standing at the foot of the cross. Help us today to be more like you. Amen.

Reality Smacks Us Right In the Face

People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed.
Proverbs 10:9 NLT

We read our morning devotional together as a family to start or day as usual:

But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.
Matthew 5:39 NLT

And my prayer was something along the lines of:

Lord, help us to be humble and faithful and forgiving. Help us to not expect anything ot of the world around us but wickedness and hurtful behaviour towards us from people who are lost and are full of sin instead of full of you. Lord, it isn’t easy when people at school are mean to us our our friends, and it isn’t easy in the workplace when things are unjust and we are faced with challenges beyond our control. Lord, help us to see these difficulties as a bold dividing line between how others lost in this world act and are seen and recognized, as opposed to those who love and serve you and not just themselves. Help us to be willing to shine brightly as that peculiar people you have called us to be, even when it is hard and difficult and feels unfair. And may the people recognize the difference of this faith, of this integrity, of the fruit of your sweet Holy Spirit stirring something up in us that is unexpected and unusual — so that they might want this for themselves — that they will draw close to us wondering what it is that is so different — that they will find you because it is Christ in us that is the source of this hope that they know instinctively that they need too. Lord, we can’t do this without you. It is too hard, too wearisome a road to try to walk perfectly and with integrity in a world that wrons us and our flesh cries out — producing grumbling, demanding justice, yearning for vengeance! You didn’t promise us a life of ease, living amongst a wicked, sinful world in compromise and comfort — and we may not see on this side the evidence of any effective change from this sowing of the seeds of your love, of your gospel, of suffering silently knowing that we share both in your sufferings and as heirs in heavenly treasures. But help us to do your will, too be your messengers, to keep our hand on the plow no matter the challenges around us. Help us to be willing to speak up for those around us who are being bullied and wronged, and to do our best to help them, even when it puts us directly in the line of fire instead. And help this burden to be light because we find peace in knowing that nothing in this world can steal us away from you and what lies ahead for your children. Amen.

There are some very real challenges in my workplace. We were recently purchased by a competitor and there have been serious management, compensation, process and culture changes that have come with this acquisition. This had been extremely stressful for most of the employees, with most folks admitting privately that they are either actively or passively seeking other employment. Honestly, I can’t say that the new company has any less integrity or any more wickedness than the previous owners, but everyone is not accustomed to the differences yet, so issues are compounded because of the lack of trust. People are getting thrown under the bus, and then are themselves tossing others under the bus, etc. And it has become in many ways a very toxic work environment, like dogs ripping and tearing at each other, and like caught criminals informing on each other — generally not out of a sense of integrity — but from a place of blame shifting and vengeance.

And with the technical and operational challenges of merging two very different companies, there are challenges that arise because of the necessary amount of change that is occurring to processes, systems, and personnel. In the midst of these changes, the are things that are broken and clearly not working right, and that are affecting my team of co-workers, but many are afraid to speak out or provide any honest feedback, because of the hostility and bullying they have seen and experienced first hand. Any value and trust that had been built with previous management has either left the building as those old managers were changed out for different ones, or they have been eroded by the toxic, dog eat dog environment of what the world would understand in comparison as an unexpected coop and ensuing occupation.

Now, we all know that some changes and even some occupation by foreign forces, can be liberating and prove good for the better of the country in the end. So don’t read into this that I’m condemning the new owners — without them, we would have been tossed aside with no jobs by the old owners. I’m simply sharing the current culture and environment so that you can understand the circumstances.

On a similar note, my daughter, who is a second grader is dealing with a group of girls who have risen up to pick on and bully others in her class and have created and environment that some days does it’s best to steal my little girl’s joy. She won’t speak openly with us about it very often, but I can see it in her normal facial expression no longer being that hopeful smile, but it is more often a pensive, shut down frown as her mind is a thousand meself away, trying to process the weight of the situation.

And I am the one in my own workplace, that when I see coworkers and teams suffering from the broken systems and processes that used to work properly but leave them now with no answers — I’m the one that opens the support tickets for the failing systems, and communicates the broken processes with management. And even though taking the time to document and report the issues seemingly just makes me in the eyes of others a trouble maker, a voice of discontent, someone who they would rather just respond to with “shut up and do your job”. I’m actually trying to help communicate effectively what will help better serve our “company values”.

So, I too understand after day after day of broken phone systems, failing applications, broken processes, absent supervision/support — where like my daughter’s situation, the bully/ problem doesn’t want you revealing what is going on, and the teacher/ management doesn’t want to see any evidence of something not going right “on their watch” — how the joy doesn’t seem quite so close and evident in my resting face, in my pensive moments, in those moments when I turn off the plastic, painted customer service voice of “Thank you for contacting _____, this is Hop, how can I help you today?” to sink back into the pit of today’s circumstances.

“It isn’t fair!”

“It isn’t fun!”

“People are sometimes really jerks!”

A voice shouts at me from inside my head.

“You can show them!”

“You could make them pay!”

That same voice entices me to not only ignore any remaining joy or peace left dwindling in my mind, but to pour out the sickening vomit of grumbling, of dissent, of vengeance upon anyone “deserving” that is within reach.

But that enemy, that flesh or demon, whichever it may be — shouldn’t have mentioned the word “deserving”.

Because what am I deserving before the Lord, but the very things that the voice wants me to pour out onto others?

So I remember what Jesus Christ endured when He truly deserved none of the suffering and shame. I remember all that I have done wrong that deserves worse than I have received. I remember that everyone around me is fallible and falls short of the glory of God. I remember that I could expect worse than I receive from the wickedness of this world if it were not for the grace of God.

And I am renewed.

And eventually, the truth will be revealed.

Until then we share in the sufferings, just as one day we will share as heirs with Christ.

Lord, as I prayed this morning, help us. Help my daughter endure not only those who would put her down and try to tear her down, but that she would continually be willing to step forward for those others that ate being hurt — even when it hurts to do so and makes her a target. Lord, let it be a shining testimony of Christ in her. And as much as I want her to never be hurt, never suffer pain, never be wronged, never be broken hearted by the fallen things of this world — let this drive us to you, Lord. Help me, Lord. Help. Amen.

Alzheimer’s and Dementia

https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/managing-personality-and-behavior-changes-alzheimers

It’s hard seeing the friends or family members that we love so much slow down, change, and seemingly become someone else altogether.

It’s hard enduring verbal and emotional attacks from those who know you well enough to say the things about you that hurt you the most.

It’s hard to not be trusted by the very person that you are trying to help, to be suspected by them that you are taking advantage of them when you are trying to help, to be accused of being after their money or possessions when you are investing in and supporting them as best you know how.

It’s hard when their inappropriate behavior, cursing, etc affects your young children.

It’s hard when you see the emotional and physical strain upon yourself and others who ate involved in caregiving for someone suffering from Alzheimer’s and/or dementia.

It is hard when you are getting negative behavior in return for your positive input, to not want to avoid them and minimize the amount of time you are subjecting yourself to what sometimes just feels like abuse.

It’s hard when the necessities of a new chaotic type of life within your household have those around you recognizing and wondering about the lack of consistency in your attendance, participation, and involvement in things you used to do with them regularly and reliably.

It’s hard when the added weight of such things in your life add up to added weight around your middle, added health concerns, reduced productivity and focus in your workplace, and a gradual pulling down of your

You will be tempted to wrestle wotrh the question of “why?” And I fear that we may not know those kinds of answers this side of heaven.

And please don’t think, “Oh, he’s such a strong person taking care of his family in such a situation!” I am not the primary caregiver in our circumstance, that would be my mom. And I’m not even the secondary caregiver, that would be my wife. And it could even be argued that some weeks my daughter spends more time with Nana doing exercises with her than I do sitting and talking with her. So I’m no toiling and suffering saint to be lifted up high in your mind as you read this. No, these godly women around me, like good nuns amongst the needy, the frail, the hurting, remind me even more clearly of how far I fall short in such things.

I’m reminded of the prayer:

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.”

What a powerful concept if we don’t just speak it, but we hear it, we receive it, we take hold of it.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones. Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine. My child, don’t reject the Lord ’s discipline, and don’t be upset when he corrects you. For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights. Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding. For wisdom is more profitable than silver, and her wages are better than gold. Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. She offers you long life in her right hand, and riches and honor in her left. She will guide you down delightful paths; all her ways are satisfying. Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly.
Proverbs 3:5‭-‬18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.3.5-18.NLT

Trials and Tribulations

Even though we encounter seasons of cold and darkness like winter in our lives where we deal with struggles, trials, loss, challenge, hurt, pain, heartache, betrayal, loss of faith, backsliding, and so many other uncomfortable circumstances — we can trust that the rose will reveal itself beautiful and fragrant on the spring. Our hope, our faith, is so much more about what lies ahead rather than what lies in our hand today.

Rainbow Reminders

Isaiah 54:8-10 ESV
In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer. “This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 43:2 ESV
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

John 16:33 ESV
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Bells and Pomegranates

Our scripture today comes from Exodus 28:33-34:

And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around.
Exodus 28:33‭-‬34 NKJV

And our study, even though titled “Bells and Pomegranates” might just as easily be called:

Sound Doctrine & Fruitful Life

Charles Spurgeon, in his “Lectures to My Students” (worth buying on Amazon if you like paper books, or Google Play Books if you are not old fashioned like me) — anyways, old Charlie Spurgeon, who was a Baptist preacher back in the 1800s in London (who is today called by many the “Prince of Preachers”) — old Charlie had this to say of our scripture that we are looking at today:

“The priest was to have in his robes bells and pomegranates; the one a figure of sound doctrine, and the other of a fruitful life.” – Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students

Now if you wanted to save time and just trust anything at all that I or Charles Spurgeon shared as being “unquestionably the gospel truth”, you could blindly agree (against my recommendations), and just skip ahead. But I know that you may rightly wonder if that’s just some fanciful thing that some old Baptist preacher came up with — out of left field — with no Biblical basis — that was just some esoteric opinion — that he “read into” the scripture — to make for “smart sermon clickbait”.

And I hope that we are good students of the Word who will test every spirit, against our canonical set of writings as Christians — namely the infallible and inerrant Word of God, the Holy Bible.

So first, let’s lay the groundwork for what we are talking about.

What are…

Bells

Wikipedia would tell us that:

“A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an internal “clapper” or “uvula”, an external hammer, or—in small bells—by a small loose sphere enclosed within the body of the bell (jingle bell).
Bells are usually cast from bell metal (a type of bronze) for its resonant properties, but can also be made from other hard materials; this depends on the function. Some small bells such as ornamental bells or cow bells can be made from cast or pressed metal, glass or ceramic, but large bells such as church, clock and tower bells are normally cast from bell metal.”

And Easton’s Bible Dictionary says:

“The bells first mentioned in Scripture are the small golden bells attached to the hem of the high priest’s ephod ( Exodus 28:33 Exodus 28:34 Exodus 28:35 ). The “bells of the horses” mentioned by ( Zechariah 14:20 ) were attached to the bridles or belts round the necks of horses trained for war, so as to accustom them to noise and tumult.”

Ok, so what are…

Pomegranates

Nelson’s Compact Bible Dictionary tells us that:

A “pomegranate is a round, sweet fruit about inches across with a hard rind. It is green when young and turns red when ripe. There are numerous edible seeds within the pomegranate… The hem of Aaron’s robe was decorated with images of pomegranates (Ex. 28:33-34, 39:24-26), it was listed among the pleasant fruit of Egypt (Num. 20:5). Solomon decorated the temple with the likeness of the pomegranate (1 King 7:18, 20). A spiced wine was made from the juice (Song 8:2).”

Let’s read some quick background on our scripture in…

Bible Commentaries on Exodus 28:33-34

“around the hem of the ephod was these, were these little golden bells and then a pomegranate… all around the hem. The purpose was that when he went into the Holy of Holies, no one could go in there except the high priest, but coming into the presence of God was really a hazardous job. When the whole thing first got started they realized what a hazardous occupation they’d gotten into as priests.

The very first day that they started their ministry as priests, two of them got wiped out. Nadab and Abihu both got wiped out the very first day. Because when they got the whole thing set up, and they got the altar all set, and the wood on the altar, fire came down from heaven, and the wood just spontaneously started to burn. Aaron’s two sons got so excited they grabbed their little incense burners, and they took… the incense burners, but it took strange fire, and they went in to offer it before God and the fire came from the altar and consumed the two sons of Aaron. It was a dangerous, hazardous job. You’re coming into the presence of God, and you better make sure that everything is right; if it isn’t, you’ve had it.

Now even the high priest in coming in
before God, coming into the presence of
God, everything had to be just right, if it
wasn’t the high priest would get wiped out. How would they know? The bells would quit ringing. So that was the purpose of the little bells. They would tie a rope on his foot, and if the bells would quit ringing they’d take and drag him out. Occupational hazard.

So that was the purpose of the little golden bells around the hem… that when he was ministering before God, in the actual going into this area of coming into that area where God’s presence was to meet the people, things had to be right, or it could mean the life of the high priest. So the golden bells so that they would know in case he died.” Chuck Smith, C2000 Series on Exodus

“Bells of gold between them all
around: On its hem, between the
ornate pomegranates of blue and
purple, were bells, so the priest
could be heard while ministering
before God – if he were to die, the
bells would stop ringing and he
could be pulled out of the Most Holy
Place. The sound ofthe bells would
remind the priest of the solemn
nature of his work, and remind him
so that he may not die.” – David Guzik

“The tinkling bells were
presumably so that the people
outside could trace the
movements of the priest within,
who was of course invisible to
them. By this they would know
that his offering had been
accepted, and that he had not
been struck dead.” (Cole)

“The pomegranates (symbols of
fruitfulness) were either hanging
as ‘bobbles’ between the bells, or
else embroidered on the fabric.”
(Cole)

“The alternating bell and
pomegranate on the skirts ofthe
priest’s robe were typical of his
obligation to testimony and fruit
bearing.” (Morgan)

“Round the skirts of the robe were hung golden bells, and the representations of pomegranates made of yarn of divers colours. The pomegranates added to the beauty of the robe, and the sound of the bells gave notice to the people in the outer court when he went into the holy place to burn incense, that they might then apply themselves to their devotions at the same time (Lu. 1:10), in token of their concurrence with him in his offering, and their hopes of the ascent of their prayers to God in virtue of the incense he offered.
Aaron must come near to minister in the garments that were appointed him, that he die not. It is at his peril if he attend otherwise than according to the institution.

This intimates that we must serve the Lord with fear and holy trembling, as those that know we deserve to die, and are in danger of making some fatal mistake. Some make the bells of the holy robe to typify the sound of the gospel of Christ in the world, giving
notice of his entrance within the veil for us.
Blessed are those that hear this joyful sound (Ps. 89:15). The adding of the pomegranates, which are a fragrant fruit, denotes the sweet savour of the gospel, as well as the joyful sound of it, for it is a savour of life unto life.

The church is called an orchard of
pomegranates.” – Matthew Henry, Commentary

Illustration

Charles Spurgeon continues to expound upon these reflections upon Sound Doctrine and Fruitful in his “Lectures to My Students”:

Liars

In a discussion about God hating liars (Proverbs 6:17, Proverbs 6:19, Proverbs 12:22), the following question came up:

My discussion went along these lines:

“Do you know what a parable is?”

“If one man generates a tale from imaginary characters in order to demonstrate and teach a valuable truth, while another man uses truthful facts to manipulate another to unknowingly participate in a lie, who is the wicked man? Is this not clear?”

“A liar could never speak a fact that is untrue, yet still be a liar through and through because he is deceitful in his dealings, while meticulous in his facts.”

Unfortunately, in this instance, the man wasn’t asking so that we could speak and reason together, but he just wanted to mock God and mock my beliefs in the midst of our discussion. And he saw my questions as insulting and we couldn’t communicate with each other at all. I didn’t even know we were “arguing” initially, I just thought we were talking and asking questions to consider together. Thankfully, a friend revealed to me that it was arguing, so I apologized and departed. No sense debating over words with someone looking for a fight — you aren’t going to change their mind when they aren’t even listening but agree just waiting for their turn to speak.

Let’s not miss seeing the forest for the trees, and let’s not mince words so finely for the sake of finding someone to argue with over things that might be simple enough for a young child to understand.

I really enjoyed looking at this parable from Jesus immediately following this discussion. A parable, that while revealing a truth about “unclean foods”, and also mentioning “deceit” defiling a man, speaks back to instructions given to Israel in Leviticus about this very topic.

Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart. ” Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.) And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”
Mark 7:14‭-‬15‭, ‬17‭-‬23 NLT

And this is what was given in Leviticus:

“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. “Of all the land animals, these are the ones you may use for food. You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud. You may not, however, eat the following animals that have split hooves or that chew the cud, but not both. The camel chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is ceremonially unclean for you. The hyrax chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean. The hare chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean. The pig has evenly split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is unclean. You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses. They are ceremonially unclean for you. “Of all the marine animals, these are ones you may use for food. You may eat anything from the water if it has both fins and scales, whether taken from salt water or from streams. But you must never eat animals from the sea or from rivers that do not have both fins and scales. They are detestable to you. This applies both to little creatures that live in shallow water and to all creatures that live in deep water. They will always be detestable to you. You must never eat their meat or even touch their dead bodies. Any marine animal that does not have both fins and scales is detestable to you. “These are the birds that are detestable to you. You must never eat them: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the kite, falcons of all kinds, ravens of all kinds, the eagle owl, the short-eared owl, the seagull, hawks of all kinds, the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, the barn owl, the desert owl, the Egyptian vulture, the stork, herons of all kinds, the hoopoe, and the bat. “You must not eat winged insects that walk along the ground; they are detestable to you. You may, however, eat winged insects that walk along the ground and have jointed legs so they can jump. The insects you are permitted to eat include all kinds of locusts, bald locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers. All other winged insects that walk along the ground are detestable to you.
Leviticus 11:2‭-‬23 NLT

For someone only seeking to mince words, they might abandon these two passages as irreconcilable.

For someone insistent upon measuring and comparing and debating such things, they will find much of what Jesus teaches to be a stumbling block.

But can you step back from this and see the forest, not just the individual trees — even more importantly, can you see our utter and complete need for God?

Can you shift your perspective from being about what “I” or “they” are doing to be about what He has done? This is the ONLY way you will find yourself at His feet, clearly understanding such things. He is the ONE TRUTH, ONE WAY, ONE LIFE. Amen.

Crave

What does it mean to “crave” something?

When we are talking about the topic of likes, wants, needs, and desires — craving is at the extreme end of the spectrum.

When speaking of “craving” something and I look over my own life — I can see times when I “craved” a lot of things that weren’t necessarily good or healthy for me, but that I was drawn to them so powerfully that I might accept unnecessary risks in order to enjoy those things that I was craving. Cravings for things like sex, food, partying — even professional and social recognition — have at times had me chasing cheap, short term comforts and satisfactions at the risk of more costly long term consequences.

I don’t say this to self denigrate or deprecate — but so that we might consider and agree to the “intensity” that is understood in the word “crave”. And I believe that even a small child watching Sesame Street can appreciate this shared experience of what it means to “crave” something, as they watch Cookie Monster saying, “Me want cookie! Me eat cookie!” and lose control of himself attacking the cookies with a voracious “Nom, nom, nom.”

Now you might believe that from what I’ve written so far, that I’m going to tell you about the “dangers of excess” and that “craving” is bad — as if the key to self improvement is to learn to cage your inner cookie monster and become a good (miserable on the inside, but smiling on the outside) vegan instead. But no, there is a lot of impetus and power and motion that “craving” can bring to our lives. We aren’t just looking for a blandly extended lifeline in this discussion — or encouraging a life built around “no, no, no”, “don’t do that”, “don’t eat that”, etc.

What if we could crave things that were good and healthy and best for our lives instead of craving those other things?

Madness, you say? How can one change his basest and oldest desires and cravings, and trade them in, like an old book at the library, for another?

Haven’t we felt like those innermost desires, needs, “cravings” almost defined “who we really are”, even if we’ve been self controlled enough to “hide them from the world around us” — don’t we know ourselves and who we would be “unchecked, wild, running free”?

—–

At this point, I have to share something ultimately important with you. That yes, those deep down cravings are part of what defines “you” — whether you have those current cravings as a result of your nature, your nurture, or consequences of your own decisions, you only have two options for addressing those cravings. Either you alone have to attempt to control them, or you need help from something outside yourself. And self-control of lower intensity items that are likes, wants, even needs is not quite the same as trying to put out the roaring fire of something that truly is a “craving”.

For me, there were “cravings” that went beyond mere self help books and beyond simply rationally arguing between an angel on one shoulder and devil on the other. Have you ever truly experienced the power and intensity of an unhealthy craving? It seems to have a life and power and influence of its own, beyond your own policing powers, and smarter and more wily than your best prison warden efforts can keep caged.

For me, it would have been nice for many of my unhealthy likes, wants, and desires to be changed to something healthy — but my unhealthy “cravings”, it seems that they HAD TO BE, or it seems that I might have eventually destroyed myself through risks and consequences far too costly to bear.

Luckily for me, I met this man who told me that I could be “born again”, that I could become a “new creation”, that I could be given “a new heart” with”new desires” and in a leap of faith, I said “Yes, I would rather have that. Take that old me, and give me something that looks more like you, Jesus.”

This has to be shared, because without that newness of life being explained and offered to you as well, how could I share this next information without it seeming like I’m telling you to police, cage, and hide the real you to just hypocritically act on the outside as if your “cravings” aware healthy instead of unhealthy?

If you know my Jesus, if you have truly given up on who you were to wholeheartedly abandon the old to see the new revealed in you — please continue reading in the midst of that understanding, that call, to be like little children at His feet.

Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.
1 Peter 2:2‭-‬3 NLT

Life Application Study Bible
One characteristic all children share is that they want to grow up-to be like big brother or like sister or like their parents. When we are born again, we become spiritual newborn babies. If we are healthy, we will yearn to grow. How sad it is that some people never grow up. The need for milk is a natural instinct for a baby, and it signals the desire for nourishment that will lead to growth. Once we see our need for God’s Word and begin to find nourishment in Christ, our spiritual appetite will increase, and we will start to mature. How strong is your desire for God’s Word?

Handling Insults

I like these two things to think about:

1) Allowing someone to offend you to the point of anger is handing over your joy and happiness to someone else — it is like surrendering the power of your own mindset into their control. A thoughtful and wise person sees insults as a foolish attempt by another to manipulate and control their emotions, and denies them the opportunity by ignoring the insult.

Proverbs 12:16 ESV
The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.

2) Insults, bitterness, contention, and drama rise up from miserable people like a cancer, looking for someone to share the sickness and spread. Instead of letting them suck you into their misery — offer the exact opposite of what they were seeking to provoke in you. Offer them forgiveness, not because they deserve it, but because it makes it absolutely clear to them that you are free from their influence and control, and because they just might see their own misery and bitterness and want to finally let go of it for something better.

Ephesians 4:31-32 ESV
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Christ went to the cross absolutely innocent and did not see the need to “defend himself”. So that’s a great example that he has given us. And Paul even said things like “bless those who curse you” and “if you only do good to those who do good to you, how are you any different than the world”. We see that even criminals do good in return to those who are good to them. But we are called to love and pray for our enemies.

We are not called to “defend our own honour” because we are told that there is nothing good in us apart from Christ. Any feelings of having to defend our honor is actually us hanging onto our own pride of life, when we are called to die to self daily. If we know that we are not honorable, but that “only God is good”, then we won’t insist on others honoring or glorifying us — in fact, we don’t expect or demand it, because all the honor and glory is due to God alone.

Is this a radical and narrow path? Yes. But when we consider how freeing it is, we’ll find that it is a much lighter burden than holding a grudge, demanding respect, arguing senselessly, etc.