March 5, 2000 Volume 1 Number 10
DOES
IT MATTER WHAT WE BELIEVE AS LONG AS WE ARE HONEST?
A good father outlines the rules
(both specifically and in general) that his children are to follow. He does this
through consideration of his families needs and
his children’s best interests. The children will have ideas of their
own and these will often conflict with their father's rules. The children love
the father, but sometimes feel that they have reason to ignore or disobey his
rules. They know that their father loves them and they honestly believe that the
thing they want to do is good, and that good will result; surely (because it is
good) their father will be pleased and will not punish them for breaking the
rules.
The father is more knowledgeable and mature than the children. Because of
his greater experience, the father knows that the thing that was done was not
good, and he is displeased. Should he punish, or should he commend his children?
The 13th Chapter of I Kings tells of a prophet whom God ordered to make a
journey to destroy an altar that was being used by King Jeroboam in worship of
idols. The prophet was not to eat bread, drink water, or return home the way he
came.
The altar was destroyed and the prophet started home as commanded. But an
old prophet met him and lied to him saying that an angel had commanded that the
traveler was to come home with the old prophet and eat bread and drink water.
The prophet believed him, went home with him, and ate bread and drank water. The
prophet was sincere and honestly believed that he was acting in accord with the
will of God. He believed he had good reason for he was told that the instruction
had come from God. He was honest and sincere, however, God destroyed him very
soon afterward because of this disobedience.
The ardent Jewish Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus, persecuted the church in the
days soon after it's establishment, and brought many Christians to trial and
death. He did Christ a very great wrong because he wanted to please God. But
Saul did all these things with a sincere and honest conscience; years later,
this same man (now a Christian) said, in Acts 23:1, “I have lived in all good
conscience before God until this day".
Men still say, "God will be pleased with your life and your worship
as long as you are honest and sincere in your heart". The story about the
good father is an earthly example to show that honesty and sincerity is not
always the key to being pleasing to the one in authority. The stories about the
prophet and Saul are only two of a host of examples that show that the actions
of sincere and honest people are not, necessarily, pleasing to God, and if God
is displeased, these actions will result in punishment.
God does not leave man without knowledge about his will nor without
instruction about how to please Him. Because persons may be ignorant of His
will, having not studied sufficiently, or that they might have believed a lie
from a false teacher (or prophet) is no excuse in the sight of God. Speaking of
the Old Testament examples like that about the prophet, Saul (Now the Apostle
Paul) wrote in I Corinthians 10:11, "Now all these things happened to them
for examples: and they are written for our admonition. .,. wherefore let him
that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall".
Our conscience can be a safe guide to us in religious or moral matters,
only if it is a well taught and trained conscience. It is of prime importance
that we learn of God's will through study of His word. Jesus said, "Ye
shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free". We must be doubly
careful for there are deceivers everywhere; II Timothy 3:13 tells us, "But
evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
Thus, the Bible must provide authorization for our every living act if we
are to be pleasing to God. Yet, we are confined only to that which is written
and we must not invent additions to the Gospel; read II John, verse 9.
We seek to present the word of
God free of human prejudice. We request that you always check each scripture
reference carefully to be sure that what we teach is correct as used in our
lessons, classes and articles. We ask that you check the context of the verse
and other correlative scriptures. We beg of you not to believe a thing of what
we, or any other person teaches, unless you can prove it for yourself from your
own Bible.
adapted from The Bible Research Library
Home
and Family:
SOLVING FAMILY PROBLEMS
United Press International recently reported that in Bloemfontein, South
Africa, a man built a wall through the middle of the house and told his wife to
stay on the other side. This is the kind of wall, which one cannot break through
physically. However, many people have built walls which cannot be seen, but
which prevent people from communicating emotionally and spiritually.
The statement of the Apostle Paul in Galatians 6:2, which states:
"Bear you one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ",
must certainly include the family relationships, but only when we are in an
authentic dialogue will we know the burdens that others bear. Only when we are
willing to reveal our burdens, only when we are truly sensitive to the burdens
of others, only in a relationship of genuine openness can we "Fulfill the
law of Christ". It is a truism that you cannot really love another person
unless you know that person's needs and help fill those needs. Yet, too often
people fail to reveal their needs to members of their own family. Too often,
others are not listening with sufficient attention to notice the needs of
others.
It is not always wise to "smooth things over". There are worse
situations than conflict: hidden resentments are worse; silent bitterness is
worse; hypocrisy is worse. When the Apostle Paul had a grievance against Peter,
he "withstood him to the face" (Galatians 2:11-14). More face-to-face
frankness in the right spirit would help many a parent-child relationship and
many a marriage.
In Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus said that a person who has been wronged should
go to the one who offended him and discuss the matter directly. Surely, this
must apply to the family as well as to other human relationships. When your
child, your parent, or your marriage partner does bring a grievance, try to be
"quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger" James 1:19. Allow the
other person to express fully whatever he feels. Too often, we cut each other
off and give hasty advice. Too often, we resent hearing about grievances. When
we are "slow to hear and quick to speak", we reverse the Biblical
teaching and we disobey God. Have we thought, instead, of listening lovingly as
part of our Christian way of life?
When James wrote, "confess your faults one to another" (James
5:16), there is little doubt that he included all Christian relationships.
Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, should be able to
express their weaknesses to each other. A life of pretense can be an unbearable
burden. Besides, those closest to us usually know our strengths and weaknesses
anyway. It helps when we ourselves are frank about them.
Honesty and courage about acknowledging your faults will encourage others
in the family both to understand you better and to talk freely about their
shortcomings. In this sharing, we learn to love and help each other more
beautifully than in a "closed circuit" situation. In Ephesians 4, we
are exhorted to "be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you Part of forgiveness,
and part of genuine dialogue involves acceptance. The Father of the prodigal son
accepted his boy completely, compassionately, and joyfully. He expressed
unconditional love. In true family dialogue, we do not expect perfection in the
other, even as we know we are not perfect. Rather, we receive the other with
sympathy and unconditional love. When a person finds that he is accepted, he is
able to grow into an increasingly meaningful and strengthening dialogue.
So, do not allow a wall to be built inside your house. Share your real
feelings. Share your burdens. Share your needs and the emotions and burdens of
everyone in your family. In doing so, you will build a family circle which
cannot be broken.
~
The Bible Research Library
Daddy,
I Just Want to Be Like You
Garages are a wonderful feature of the modern American home. Seems that
they often turn into a large storage room for things we just can’t seem to
find a place for inside our home. If
your garage is anything like the one at the Allen’s then one (or sometimes
both) of your vehicles gets to spend the night outside in the elements. When
snow was in the forecast a few weeks back, I decided to go out and clean up the
garage a little— with the goal being to just get enough moved out of the way
so I can get our truck parked inside.
After getting the majority of “stuff” picked up, I noticed a pile of
our 3 year old daughter’s (Emilea) toys over in a corner.
In another corner, next to my snow shovel was her small, plastic, yellow
toy shovel. After she took her toys
inside, I impatiently hollered from across the garage for her to get that toy
shovel and put it where it belonged. Suddenly,
and without warning, Emilea burst into tears.
Thinking, that she just did not want to cooperate with her daddy’s
orders, I barked at her again to get that toy shovel out of the way.
This time, crying even more, she came running up to me and said,
"Daddy, I just want to be like you."
I had to stop and think about that for a minute.
“What was she talking about?” I wondered.
Then, it hit me. Just a few
weeks earlier, following a snowfall, Emilea came out to help me shovel the snow
from our driveway. After we
finished, she must have placed her small shovel next to mine so when the next
snow came she would be ready to go out and help me get it cleared away. Then and there, I was reminded of just how much of an
influence a parent can have on his child—especially a small child.
I began to ask myself, “Do I want her to always be like me—all of the
time?” “Would I want her to
pick up on some of my bad habits?”
Parents must realize that everything that they say and do is being
observed constantly by their children. This
is sometimes easy to forget as we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of this
life. How you react to problems,
your attitude toward others, and your general disposition are all there to be
picked up on by your child.
What kind of person does your child see?
Does he/she see a godly person who looks
to God for guidance and help in all things? Psalms 1:1-3 Does your child see a
parent who is patient, longsuffering, and kind? Galatians 5:22-26 Does your
child see in you a person who desires to be as pleasing to God as possible? 2
Corinthians 5:9 Would you want your child to grow up and be just like you?
Ephesians 6:4
At the time, I thought nothing of Emilea’s “helping” with shoveling
snow. I failed to realize just how
big of a occasion that was for her. Remember,
little eyes and ears are always watching, and what may seem insignificant to you
is a “big deal” for your child. This is why it is so important to always be
the proper kind of example.
I quickly apologized to her that afternoon, and told her that she could
leave her shovel next to mine. For
the rest of this winter, in our garage you’ll find two snow shovels—a big
one for me, and a little one for Emmy. Let
it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
~
from The Southside Messenger
The
Devil's Beatitudes
Author
Unknown
If
the Devil were to write his Beatitudes, they would probably go something like
this:
Blessed
are those who are too tired, too busy, too distracted to spend a few hours a
week with their fellow Christians in Church - they are my best workers.
Blessed
are those Christians who wait to be asked and expect to be thanked - I can use
them.
Blessed
are the touchy, with a bit of luck they may stop going to church - they are my
missionaries.
Blessed
are those who are very religious but get on everyone's nerves - they are mine
forever.
Blessed
are the troublemakers - they shall be called my children.
Blessed
are those who have no time to pray - they are easy prey for me.
Blessed
are the gossips - for they are my secret agents.
Blessed
are those critical of church leadership - for they shall inherit a place with me
in my fate.
Blessed
are the complainers - I'm all ears for them.
Blessed
are you when you read this and think it is about other people and not yourself -
I've got you.
You
should know that--
Jesus
Christ Himself :
Built
the church; Matthew 16:18
Shed
His own Blood for the church; Acts 20:28
Loved
the church; Ephesians 5:25
Called
the church His; Matthew 16:18
Is
the head of the church; Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:23; Colossians 1:18, 24
Added
people to the church; Acts 2:41, 47; 5:14
Will
save the church. Ephesians 5:23
~excerpted
from pearlstreet.org
We
hope you find this bulletin useful in your Bible study.
2
Sam 22:31
As for God, His way is perfect; The
word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. NKJV