June
WHAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE? PART 4
by Bill Rollins
I must share with you that since I have started looking into this topic, God has shown me again and again how I fail to have in mind the things of God. In my dealings with co-workers, brethren, family and even the kids on my school bus, God has shown me the deviousness of my wanting to have my way! It is not that I must give way to the will of those around me – for that would also be idolatry – but the will of God is my prime directive.
In the previous installment we looked at a curious example of idolatry found in Matthew 16:21-25. Let’s consider another – perhaps unusual – example of idolatry found in the bible. This one is found in 2 Samuel 6:6. King David wants to move the ark of God and Uzzah has the task of guiding the cart that is hauling the ark. The oxen stumble, Uzzah reaches out to steady the ark and he meets with death. Is he guilty of idolatry in this action? Uzzah had the things of man and not the things of God in mind. His work met with death. I’m going to go with idolatry. But let’s not forget David. In 1 Chron. 13 we read that David conferred with “his officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds” – uh oh! He did not consult the word of God for this endeavor which commanded that only the Levites may carry the ark of God. This is a good example of the scripture, “There is a way which seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death.” There is here a spirit of idolatry that can influence our decisions. These examples have nothing to do with idols of stone and wood but with flesh. It is a spirit of idolatry that resides within the human nature.
And so let us look at David’s act with Bathsheba. Was it his sin with this woman or his sin with her husband that might be considered idolatry? It was both. Remember, we have spoken of the fact that the idol is “eliyl”, it is nothing. David did not idolize Bathsheba or Uriah the Hittite. His idol was his own will; his ego and vanity.
We could go on and discuss Saul and his failure to obey God’s command to destroy the Amalekites and all their livestock. He did not have the things of God in his heart. All of these examples have one thing in common – they failed to have that perfect love for God in their heart, their strength and their life. These examples show forth a love of the world that John tells us to avoid in 1 John 2:15, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Many times a brother or sister in Christ will refer to a certain scripture in Proverbs as a hallmark for their life. Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in YHVH with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Note the emphasis on the word “all”.
Trust in YHVH with all your heart (Prov. 3:5); love YHVH with all your heart (Deut. 6:5); serve YHVH with all your heart (Deut. 10:12); seek YHVH with all your heart (Deut. 4:29) – throw in the fact that you should do this with all your strength and all your life and you have a recipe for avoiding idolatry.
Simply put, this life is not about us. It is wholly and totally about the God we serve. It’s funny, isn’t it? We are toward the end of a four part article and I just stated the gist of it in two short sentences. If we find ourselves with a spirit of idolatry, we cannot love. We cannot love God and we cannot love our neighbor, pure and simple! And indeed, it is not always easy to see. A brother or sister may be in some kind of trouble and we rush in to help. Was God testing this person in some way and we just overstepped our bounds because we decided to help? I’m sure that Uzzah felt that he was just doing a good deed in steading the ark – his work was a dead work.
So, perhaps you’ve been wondering, “Is this series of articles about the opposite of love, as the title suggests; or is it about renewing your mind so as to have the mind of Christ, as the start of this article seemed to indicate, or is it about keeping ourselves from idols, as 1 John 5:21 warns us?” And the answer is …. YES!!
Allow me to quote Paul in his letter to the Romans (Ah, the very letter where we began this study). Romans 8:5-8 says, “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the flesh; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on the Spirit. The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace; the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
If we have our minds set on the things of the flesh, we cannot love God. If we have our minds set on the things of the flesh, we are not renewing our minds. If we have our minds set on the things of the flesh, we are not keeping ourselves from idols.
Paul goes on to encourage the Roman church in verse 9, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you ….” Oh my, you might as well read the entirety of this chapter. It all fits here.
I must assume that all of you who are reading this are striving to have your minds set on the Spirit and not on the flesh. But sometimes the “old man” gets in the way. After all, we know how some things should turn out for the best. We should have our own way. The Boss, the neighbor, our relative, our spouse, etc.; they just do not know how it should work and we need to have our opinion served. And maybe we are right; but to what cost?
“Continue to work out your salvation within fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to desire and to work according to His purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe.” (Phil. 2:12-15)
So, perhaps you have read this far and you are wondering, “Where do I go from here?” Simply put; down on your knees. How should you conduct your life with this info in mind? I don’t know, but God does! Ask Him to show you. And when He places a contrary spirit in your path, in your life – do not plead for deliverance, pray for insight. Let Him lead and direct your path. “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your path straight.”
P.S. You might just begin with Psalm 115. May God bless you with insight!
Don’t use a big word when a singularly unloquacious and diminutive linguistic expression will satisfactorily accomplish the contemporary necessity.
For Your Good
by Cynthia Saladin
Pepper doesn’t particularly like our vet. He is in a strange place where there are lots of animal smells. The vet draws blood - or rather has tried to draw blood. The vet gives Pepper shots. Two years ago, it was a major battle to accomplish what we needed to. So two weeks ago, when I took Ebony in, the vet gave me a sedative in a syringe to shoot into the back of Pepper’s mouth before I took him in today. You can imagine how much fun that was! I managed to accomplish it, and we were amazed at his resulting sluggishness. The sedative took the edge off Pepper’s high spirits, enough that our vet could give him both vaccines (distemper and rabies). There was no way Pepper was going to allow him to draw blood to do the heartworm test!
My normally high-spirited dog is very subdued this afternoon. He is not only sleepy, he also had no interest in food or in going on a walk with Ron. He doesn’t feel very well. He crept over to me earlier and just leaned up against me after pushing his face into my leg. Poor little doggie. I just wonder what’s going through his mind. The day started out really well with a walk, but it went downhill from there: sedative shot into his mouth, a trip to the vet, two shots that HURT, and now a tummy ache. Yep, it’s been a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day.
Sometimes it’s like that for us, as Christians, too. We’re blithely going about our business, it looks like it’s going to be a very good day, and suddenly some terrible, horrible, no good, very bad stuff happens. We don’t like what has happened, and we’d very much like to hit erase.
The only thing is: we were bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:20); we now belong to God (1 John 4:6). Futhermore, God is sovereign. There is nothing that happens that He doesn’t allow. Even Nebuchadnezzar had to learn this lesson (Daniel 5:21)! Add to this the fact that God loves us so much (John 17:23) that He gave His only begotten Son that we might be saved and adopted into the very family of God (John 3:16, Romans 8:23).
In the end, if you have a relationship with the Sovereign God of the universe, if He is your God and you are His, then there is nothing that happens to you that He does not control (Romans 8:28, Genesis 50:20).
I love Pepper. I want the best for him. And today, the best meant giving him a sedative, taking him to the vet, and having him stuck with a needle twice - because I want him to be healthy.
God loves each of us so much more than I love this dog. So the next time you’re having a rough day, stop and consider if maybe, just maybe, it was for your good. Maybe you needed it so you’d be a healthy Christian.
"Things that upset a chihuahua may pass virtually unnoticed by a Great Dane."
Smiley Blanton
An Honest Day’s Work
The USS Astoria (C-34) was the first U.S. cruiser to engage the Japanese during the Battle of Savo Island, a night action fought the 8th to 9th of August 1942. Although she scored two hits on the Imperial flagship Chokai, the Astoria was badly damaged and sank shortly after noon, on 9th of August.
About 0200 hours a young Midwesterner, Signalman 3rd Class, Elgin Staples, was swept overboard by the blast when the Astoria's number one eight-inch gun turret exploded. Wounded in both legs by shrapnel and in semi-shock, he was kept afloat by a narrow life belt that he managed to activate with a simple trigger mechanism.
At around 0600 hours, Staples was rescued by a passing destroyer and returned to the Astoria, whose captain was attempting to save the cruiser by beaching her. The effort failed, and Staples, still wearing the same life belt, found himself back in the water. It was lunchtime. Picked up again, this time by the USS President Jackson (AP-37), he was one of 500 survivors of the battle who were evacuated to Noumea.
On board the transport, Staples for the first time closely examined the lifebelt that had served him so well. It had been manufactured by Firestone Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio, and bore a registration number.
Given home leave, Staples told his story and asked his mother, who worked for Firestone, about the purpose of the number on the belt. She replied that the company insisted on personal responsibility for the war effort and that the number was unique and assigned to only one inspector. Staples remembered everything about the lifebelt and quoted the number.
It was his mother's personal code and affixed to every item she was responsible for approving.
SOURCE: Commander Eric J. Berryman, U.S. Naval Reserve, Proceedings, U.S. Naval Institute, vol. 15/6/1036 (June 1989), P. 48. (as found on www.sermoncentral.com)
WHAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE? PART 4
by Bill Rollins
I must share with you that since I have started looking into this topic, God has shown me again and again how I fail to have in mind the things of God. In my dealings with co-workers, brethren, family and even the kids on my school bus, God has shown me the deviousness of my wanting to have my way! It is not that I must give way to the will of those around me – for that would also be idolatry – but the will of God is my prime directive.
In the previous installment we looked at a curious example of idolatry found in Matthew 16:21-25. Let’s consider another – perhaps unusual – example of idolatry found in the bible. This one is found in 2 Samuel 6:6. King David wants to move the ark of God and Uzzah has the task of guiding the cart that is hauling the ark. The oxen stumble, Uzzah reaches out to steady the ark and he meets with death. Is he guilty of idolatry in this action? Uzzah had the things of man and not the things of God in mind. His work met with death. I’m going to go with idolatry. But let’s not forget David. In 1 Chron. 13 we read that David conferred with “his officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds” – uh oh! He did not consult the word of God for this endeavor which commanded that only the Levites may carry the ark of God. This is a good example of the scripture, “There is a way which seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death.” There is here a spirit of idolatry that can influence our decisions. These examples have nothing to do with idols of stone and wood but with flesh. It is a spirit of idolatry that resides within the human nature.
And so let us look at David’s act with Bathsheba. Was it his sin with this woman or his sin with her husband that might be considered idolatry? It was both. Remember, we have spoken of the fact that the idol is “eliyl”, it is nothing. David did not idolize Bathsheba or Uriah the Hittite. His idol was his own will; his ego and vanity.
We could go on and discuss Saul and his failure to obey God’s command to destroy the Amalekites and all their livestock. He did not have the things of God in his heart. All of these examples have one thing in common – they failed to have that perfect love for God in their heart, their strength and their life. These examples show forth a love of the world that John tells us to avoid in 1 John 2:15, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Many times a brother or sister in Christ will refer to a certain scripture in Proverbs as a hallmark for their life. Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in YHVH with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Note the emphasis on the word “all”.
Trust in YHVH with all your heart (Prov. 3:5); love YHVH with all your heart (Deut. 6:5); serve YHVH with all your heart (Deut. 10:12); seek YHVH with all your heart (Deut. 4:29) – throw in the fact that you should do this with all your strength and all your life and you have a recipe for avoiding idolatry.
Simply put, this life is not about us. It is wholly and totally about the God we serve. It’s funny, isn’t it? We are toward the end of a four part article and I just stated the gist of it in two short sentences. If we find ourselves with a spirit of idolatry, we cannot love. We cannot love God and we cannot love our neighbor, pure and simple! And indeed, it is not always easy to see. A brother or sister may be in some kind of trouble and we rush in to help. Was God testing this person in some way and we just overstepped our bounds because we decided to help? I’m sure that Uzzah felt that he was just doing a good deed in steading the ark – his work was a dead work.
So, perhaps you’ve been wondering, “Is this series of articles about the opposite of love, as the title suggests; or is it about renewing your mind so as to have the mind of Christ, as the start of this article seemed to indicate, or is it about keeping ourselves from idols, as 1 John 5:21 warns us?” And the answer is …. YES!!
Allow me to quote Paul in his letter to the Romans (Ah, the very letter where we began this study). Romans 8:5-8 says, “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the flesh; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on the Spirit. The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace; the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
If we have our minds set on the things of the flesh, we cannot love God. If we have our minds set on the things of the flesh, we are not renewing our minds. If we have our minds set on the things of the flesh, we are not keeping ourselves from idols.
Paul goes on to encourage the Roman church in verse 9, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you ….” Oh my, you might as well read the entirety of this chapter. It all fits here.
I must assume that all of you who are reading this are striving to have your minds set on the Spirit and not on the flesh. But sometimes the “old man” gets in the way. After all, we know how some things should turn out for the best. We should have our own way. The Boss, the neighbor, our relative, our spouse, etc.; they just do not know how it should work and we need to have our opinion served. And maybe we are right; but to what cost?
“Continue to work out your salvation within fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to desire and to work according to His purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe.” (Phil. 2:12-15)
So, perhaps you have read this far and you are wondering, “Where do I go from here?” Simply put; down on your knees. How should you conduct your life with this info in mind? I don’t know, but God does! Ask Him to show you. And when He places a contrary spirit in your path, in your life – do not plead for deliverance, pray for insight. Let Him lead and direct your path. “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your path straight.”
P.S. You might just begin with Psalm 115. May God bless you with insight!
Don’t use a big word when a singularly unloquacious and diminutive linguistic expression will satisfactorily accomplish the contemporary necessity.
For Your Good
by Cynthia Saladin
Pepper doesn’t particularly like our vet. He is in a strange place where there are lots of animal smells. The vet draws blood - or rather has tried to draw blood. The vet gives Pepper shots. Two years ago, it was a major battle to accomplish what we needed to. So two weeks ago, when I took Ebony in, the vet gave me a sedative in a syringe to shoot into the back of Pepper’s mouth before I took him in today. You can imagine how much fun that was! I managed to accomplish it, and we were amazed at his resulting sluggishness. The sedative took the edge off Pepper’s high spirits, enough that our vet could give him both vaccines (distemper and rabies). There was no way Pepper was going to allow him to draw blood to do the heartworm test!
My normally high-spirited dog is very subdued this afternoon. He is not only sleepy, he also had no interest in food or in going on a walk with Ron. He doesn’t feel very well. He crept over to me earlier and just leaned up against me after pushing his face into my leg. Poor little doggie. I just wonder what’s going through his mind. The day started out really well with a walk, but it went downhill from there: sedative shot into his mouth, a trip to the vet, two shots that HURT, and now a tummy ache. Yep, it’s been a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day.
Sometimes it’s like that for us, as Christians, too. We’re blithely going about our business, it looks like it’s going to be a very good day, and suddenly some terrible, horrible, no good, very bad stuff happens. We don’t like what has happened, and we’d very much like to hit erase.
The only thing is: we were bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:20); we now belong to God (1 John 4:6). Futhermore, God is sovereign. There is nothing that happens that He doesn’t allow. Even Nebuchadnezzar had to learn this lesson (Daniel 5:21)! Add to this the fact that God loves us so much (John 17:23) that He gave His only begotten Son that we might be saved and adopted into the very family of God (John 3:16, Romans 8:23).
In the end, if you have a relationship with the Sovereign God of the universe, if He is your God and you are His, then there is nothing that happens to you that He does not control (Romans 8:28, Genesis 50:20).
I love Pepper. I want the best for him. And today, the best meant giving him a sedative, taking him to the vet, and having him stuck with a needle twice - because I want him to be healthy.
God loves each of us so much more than I love this dog. So the next time you’re having a rough day, stop and consider if maybe, just maybe, it was for your good. Maybe you needed it so you’d be a healthy Christian.
"Things that upset a chihuahua may pass virtually unnoticed by a Great Dane."
Smiley Blanton
An Honest Day’s Work
The USS Astoria (C-34) was the first U.S. cruiser to engage the Japanese during the Battle of Savo Island, a night action fought the 8th to 9th of August 1942. Although she scored two hits on the Imperial flagship Chokai, the Astoria was badly damaged and sank shortly after noon, on 9th of August.
About 0200 hours a young Midwesterner, Signalman 3rd Class, Elgin Staples, was swept overboard by the blast when the Astoria's number one eight-inch gun turret exploded. Wounded in both legs by shrapnel and in semi-shock, he was kept afloat by a narrow life belt that he managed to activate with a simple trigger mechanism.
At around 0600 hours, Staples was rescued by a passing destroyer and returned to the Astoria, whose captain was attempting to save the cruiser by beaching her. The effort failed, and Staples, still wearing the same life belt, found himself back in the water. It was lunchtime. Picked up again, this time by the USS President Jackson (AP-37), he was one of 500 survivors of the battle who were evacuated to Noumea.
On board the transport, Staples for the first time closely examined the lifebelt that had served him so well. It had been manufactured by Firestone Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio, and bore a registration number.
Given home leave, Staples told his story and asked his mother, who worked for Firestone, about the purpose of the number on the belt. She replied that the company insisted on personal responsibility for the war effort and that the number was unique and assigned to only one inspector. Staples remembered everything about the lifebelt and quoted the number.
It was his mother's personal code and affixed to every item she was responsible for approving.
SOURCE: Commander Eric J. Berryman, U.S. Naval Reserve, Proceedings, U.S. Naval Institute, vol. 15/6/1036 (June 1989), P. 48. (as found on www.sermoncentral.com)