1. Art and Diseño

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE FROM A TO Z
A Systematic Doctrinal Study
Of
What the Bible Says About Christian Living
Teaching Outline with Scripture References
and Illustrations
Part One
(GOALS, FOUNDATIONS AND ALLIES)
By
Bob Marcaurelle
Copyright 2014
by Bob Marcaurelle
www.meadowbrookbaptist.cc link to
www.homeorchurchbiblestudy.com
1
Table of Contents
1. Joyful Living Day by Day
2. What God Wants Most from His Children
3. What God Wants Second – Obedience Why
4. Obey Who and What
5. Church House Religion- Substitutes for Loving Obedience
6. What God Wants Third – Victory Over Worry
7. Wanting Way Too Much – Our Biggest Problem
8. Contentment, Gratitude and Peace
9. Temptation – In the Ring With the Devil
10. Overcoming Temptation
11. Confession – Detecting Defects
12. Confessing Defects
13. Fight the Good Fight
14. Growth Through Suffering – The What Now of Suffering
15. The Why of Suffering
16. Conversations With God – Bible Study and Prayer
17. Bible Study
18. Prayer
19. Prayer Principles and Practice
20. Church Why Bother – Power from the People of God
21. The Power of a Good Friend
22. Why is the Christian Life So Hard?
2
3
Living for Jesus
Bob Marcaurelle
Week 1
JOYFUL LIVING DAY
BY DAY
“The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience…”
(Galatians 5)
Day 1
God Wants Us to Have Joy
Philippians 4:4; 1:14
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I
will say it again, rejoice.” /
“Because of my chains, most of
my brothers in the Lord have
been encouraged.”
We all want the same thing.
Some get married to find it
and some get divorced. Some
make money and others give
money away. We want to be
happy. God also wants it for
us.
Describing
mature
Christian character (the fruit
of the Spirit), God puts love
first; joy second; and peace
next. He doesn’t just want it
He commands it (Phil.4:4).
He wants it because He
loves us. Every good parent
wants his child to be happy.
He wants it to empower our
service.
Nehemiah
told
discouraged workers their
joy would be their strength
(8:10). 2 Corinthians 9:7
says, “God loves a cheerful
giver.”
If we are miserable,
ungrateful people we will not
feel like getting into our
Bibles; spending time in
prayer;
taking
any
responsibility in our church;
or taking time to help others.
God wants it because of our
influence. When Paul was in
prison (Acts 28) he wrote
Philippians, his most joy
filled letter and because of it
others were encouraged to do
better. (Phil.4:14)
The best argument for
Christianity is a good
Christian; one who does not
whine when life knocks him
down. We don’t have to clap
our hands and say, “Praise
the Lord”, though we may.
Our unshakable peace in
times of trouble is our best
testimony.
A man told a Christian, “You
Christians
are
only
dreaming.” “Maybe so” the
Christian replied, “but please
don’t wake me up because
its wonderful.” To have a
joyful life:
Day 2
1. Live Right (Isaiah 48:22)
“The Lord says, there is no
peace for the wicked.”
The biggest problem in
Christianity today is that we
put happiness first and God
puts holiness first. What they
don’t
realize
is
that
happiness is the reward of
holiness. To those who seek
to be good; to please the
Lord; to serve and love
others; God gives the
blessing of happiness. If we
go after it, like the pot of
gold at the end of the
rainbow, we never find it, but
if we go after goodness, we do.
2. Face Life One Day at a
Time
Deuteronomy 33:25
“As your days are, so will
your strength be.”
Jesus says, “Don’t worry
about tomorrow.” (Matthew
6:34)
and
Paul
says,
“Forgetting what lies behind
me; I reach forward to what
lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13).
We can take anything today.
Failure today does not mean
we are failures; it means we
have the chance to do better
tomorrow. God assigned the
rugged hill country to the
tribe of Asher and promised
them, “As your days are, so
will your strength be.”
A different twist on this
comes from Thoreau, “The
contemplation of suicide has
gotten many a person
through a difficult night.” Of
course, our course is far
better than this, but it shows
the power of human nature
created in God’s image to
endure almost anything
Day 3
3. Decide to Be Joyful Today
“This is the day the Lord has
made, we will rejoice and be
glad and in it.” (Psalm
118:24)
We do what we make up
our minds to do. Put a smile
on your face if you have to
starch it. Rise and shine
don’t rise and whine. Say,
Good Morning, Lord, not,
Good Lord! Morning!
Joy comes from within;
good things can’t produce it
and bad things can’t take it
away. Paul said in prison “I
have learned to be content.”
(Philippians 4:12-13) It takes
time and effort.
begins, “It is not about me.”
The trouble is, for most of
us, it is all about me; and that
is why we are so miserable.
We need to get out of
ourselves and try and make
life good for others.
Day 4
4. Expect Irritations Today
A boy scout came home with
a broken arm. His mother
asked what happened and he
said he tried to help a little
old lady across the street.
His mother said, “Did you get
hit by a car?” “No,” he said,
“She didn’t want to go.”
Song of Solomon 2:15
“Catch the foxes for us, the
little foxes that spoil the
vine”.
A psychiatrist asked a lady,
“Do you wake up grouchy
every morning?” She said,
“No, I let him sleep.”
Lincoln said, “Most people
are as happy as they make up
their minds to be.”
God punished farmer Adam
with briars (Genesis 3); what
we call “Murphy’s Laws.”
Simple things aren’t! Self
starters won’t! If you don’t
want to meet someone, you
will!
Since joy is commanded, it
is a choice. We choose to be
thermometers or thermostats.
Thermometers register what
is around them; thermostats
change it. When bad things
happen we have a bad day.
When good things happen
we have a good day. We
place our happiness in the
hands of others.
It irritated college president
George Washington Carver
when his young students cut
across his beautiful lawns.
He would run out and yell at
those who did it. Realizing
how foolish and frustrating
this was, he solved the
problem. Everywhere he saw
a footpath he put a sidewalk.
A lady told a psychologist,
“This kid is driving me crazy.”
The doctor said, “Let me get
this right. You have given
your mental balance to a 3year-old.”
Day 5
5. Do Something Good for
Someone Today (Acts 20:35)
Jesus said, “It is more
blessed to give than to
receive.”
The runaway best seller,
“The Purpose Driven Life”
Whether it is a word, a
deed, a smile, listening, etc.;
do at least one good thing for
someone else.
Proverbs
17:24 says, “Kind words are
like honey – enjoyable and
healthful.” Say things like,
“Have you lost weight? Can
you help me? I appreciate
you. Honey, that breakfast
was good.”
Dwight L.
Moody said, I can live a
month
on
one
good
compliment. They is good
for you and for those you
give them to.
Most of our misery comes
from seeking happiness
instead of trying to create it
for others. The devil sits us
in a little world with three
people, “Me, Myself and I.”
We dwell on our body, our
mind, our peace, our
happiness. Truly happy
people are those who are so
5
busy living life and doing
simple things for others that
they don’t think about
whether they are happy or
not.
Day 6
6. Decide not to be Afraid
Today
Jesus said, “Do not worry (be
all torn up) about tomorrow.”
Matthew 7:34
See Week 6 on trusting God
instead of worrying.
7. Stay Balanced Today
“A merry heart does us good
like a medicine.” (Proverbs
17:22)
coach little league as a
calling. We should not
always go for the larger pay
check; more time with our
family might be better for
them and us.
and you will read it through
every year even if you miss
90 days. Write notes of what
comes to you in the margin.
This is your perpetual
spiritual diary.
Play and Rest Hard work will
Every day say “Our
Father” and realize that no
matter what is going on in
your life, untold millions
your brothers and sisters,
right now, all over the world
know exactly how you feel.
Say, “Our Father” and know
that you are in His heart and
on His mind. He will not
shelter you from harm but
He will go with you. Say,
not kill you but too much
work will. Half of our
physical problems come
from our emotions and half
from our abused bodies.
When
Elijah
was
so
depressed that he wanted to
die God put him to sleep;
gave him something to eat;
sent him back to work; and
gave him an assistant (1
Kings 19).
When
Urban
Myer
announced he was leaving
coaching because of stress
related chest pain; long time
coach Lou Holtz said a coach
needs
“other
interests”.
When life gets out of balance
we get in trouble. We need to
balance work, rest, play, and
worship.
If you put your nose to the
grindstone rough / and leave
it down there long enough /
Soon, these three will your
world compose / You, the
stone, and your ground down
nose.
Work was not a curse from
“You will keep in perfect
peace the one whose mind is
fixed on Thee because he
trusts in Thee.”
the Fall. Adam was told to
tend the Garden of Eden
from the beginning (Genesis
2:15). Human beings are
born to achieve. This does
not mean we have to love
our job and see it as a
calling. We can see a
mundane job as the way to
provide for our family, and
Day 7
Worship (Isaiah 26:3)
Pray Talk to the Lord all day
as you would talk to a friend
about everything that is
going on. Let Him speak by
reading a chapter from the
New Testament every day
“Lord, I thank you that
nothing I face today will be
too much for you and I
together to handle.”
Pray “Forgive me of my
sins”. Give God the sins of
yesterday; claim forgiveness
and the power be better
tomorrow. Every day is the
first day of the rest of your
life. (1 John 1:7-10; Psalm
51)
A lady, in and out of
hospitals, told me she broke
her health because she
violated her marriage vows
one time, 20 years ago. I told
her to ask God to forgive her
and she said she had done
that a thousand times. I said,
“Maam, that is 999 times too
many.”
6
Living for Jesus
Bob Marcaurelle
Week 2
WHAT GOD WANTS MOST
“Master, which command is the
greatest? Love the Lord your
God (Deuteronomy 6:5) and
love your neighbor as you love
yourself (Leviticus 19:11).” All
the Law and the Prophets
(Jewish phrase for the Old
Testament), hang on these two
commandments.
(Luke 10:25-37; Matthew
22:34-37)
Day 1
God’ Three Priorities
What is the purpose of a
sock factory? It is not to
make socks (as most people
answer); it is to make
money. Without goals we
wander aimlessly. God’s
goals are summed up in three
words; love, obey, and trust.
A man fell in a well, caught a
root and hung on
in
darkness. He yelled, “O God
are you up there?” A friend
heard him and answered in a
deep voice, “Yes, I am here”.
The man said, “Father, what
am I to do?” The friend,
knowing the well was shallow
and had no water, said, “Turn
loose my son, turn loose.”
There was silence and then
out of the well came these
words, “Anybody else up
there?”
In a true love relationship
there is trust that leads to
obedience. It is all built on
love.
Day 2
1. Love Obeys the Law of
God
When
we
become
Christians and repent, we
commit, with God’s help to
stop wrongdoing and live by
God’s laws (repentance). The
Bible is a “flashlight for our
path” (Psalm 119). God’s
moral and ethical laws are
good (Romans 7) and for our
good.
God
condemns
drunkenness to save 25
thousand lives every year on
our highways. He condemns
adultery to save children
from the hell of broken and
warlike homes.
His laws are like sunlight,
reflecting the character of
God; like a streetlight,
protecting citizens; and like a
bathroom light over a mirror
showing us where we need to
clean up our lives (James
1:22-25).
with ten commands (Exodus
20). Jesus expanded these
into His short Sermon on the
Mount (Matthew 5-7).
But when asked by a Bible
teacher which command was
the greatest, Jesus summed
them all up with one word–
love. All the commands, He
says are based (hang) on
love.
If we love someone we
will not steal from them, hate
them, envy them, etc.. If we
all lived like that, no doors
would be locked and our
children could walk our
streets unafraid. It would be
heaven on earth.
3. Love is more than affection
Our problem is, we don’t
have a clue what Christian
love is. We use the term for
many things- we love
baseball; our children; banana
pudding; etc. Our definition of
love is:
Day 2
2. God’s Laws add Up to
Love
Romans 13:8
“He who loves his fellow man
has fulfilled the Law.”
The Pharisees summed up
the thousands of Old
Testament laws with 625
rules. God summed them up
“A warm affectionate
feeling; something that
brings us pleasure”
This gives us trouble when
we are commanded to love
our enemies- the person who
poisons our dog; insults our
wife; or lies about us at
work,
costing
us
a
promotion. We all know we
7
cannot love them with the
warm affectionate feeling we
have for our family and
friends; and the good thing
is; that is not what God asks.
Day 3
4. Love is a choice to do what
is best for others
(Proverbs 13:24)
“Whoever spares the rod
hates his son (or child). But
whoever loves him will be
careful to discipline him.”
The Greek language clarifies
all this because it has four
basic terms for love.
For
“Christian” love and God’s
love, the Holy Spirit did not
choose to use Eros (romantic
love); Phileo (friendship); or
Storge (love of family). All
these
point
to
warm
affectionate feelings and
pleasure.
He chose the
seldom used term agapeactive good will; kindness;
practical help. That is why
the KJV translated it charity.
We may not be able to have
warm feelings for the one
who poisons our dog; but we
can ask God to help us act in
such a way that will help him
and protect others he may
treat the same way. We can
try to turn a negative into a
positive. We choose to do
what is best.
Day 4
Parents often say, “I love
my child so much, I can’t
spank him.” The Bible says
the opposite in our text. To
prepare our children for life
we must teach them choices
have
consequences
everywhere. If we really
care about them we will
prepare them for life by
setting limits and applying
appropriate discipline.
Bill Gates, speaking at a
graduation ceremony
gave some life rules,
including this, “Do what you
are supposed to. If you think
your mother was tough, wait
until you get a boss.”
Day 5
5. Love does not require
feelings
(Luke 10:25-37)
We do not have to like
someone to do what is right
towards them. Jesus brings
this out in His definition of
love in the golden rule: “Do
for others what you would
like others to do for you.”
(Matt. 7:12) He brings it out
in his description of love in
the Parable of the Good
Samaritan (Luke 10).
When the Bible teacher
asked Jesus who is this
“neighbor” we are supposed
to love; he probably hoped
He would say, “All people,
Jew and Gentile.” This way
He might lose some of His
followers, because most
Jews hated non Jews
(Gentiles),
especially
Samaritans, who were part
Jew and part Gentile.
Jesus “trapped the trapper”
and pictured a Samaritan
helping a Jew (Implied).
Two religious Jews (Levite
and Priest – See week 5)
passed by; saw him; and
walked right on by. Maybe
the priest had to work on his
sermon on love. Maybe the
Levite had to heat the
synagogue so the priest
could preach his sermon on
love.
This Samaritan probably
did
not
have
warm,
affectionate feelings for this
Jew. Most Jews would never
help him or even his wife
and children if they found
them in distress. But in spite
of this, he helped him. If
ever a person had the
temptation, and almost the
right, to walk on by; it was
this Samaritan.
Love is what we do for
others no matter how we
feel about them because we
have a warm affectionate
feeling for the Lord.
8
Day 6
6. Love sees needs
Love makes the time and
effort to notice others. It is
easy to miss those who lie
beaten by the side of the
road, because we are so
preoccupied with ourselves
and our wants that we do not
see: the wife who needs
more of our time / the
employee who needs a word
of encouragement or some
time off. Think about it:
who in your family needs
more of your time; who
could use an anonymous gift
of money; who are you
passing by, etc?
7. Love meet needs
(1 Jn. 3:18)
“Let us love not just with
words; but with actions.”
No doubt, like the Priest and
Levite, the Samaritan’s day
timer was full, but he did the
right thing. He did what he
would want done for him or
his loved ones. He tended the
fallen man’s wounds, took
him to an inn, and offered to
pay for his care and his stay.
This is Agape.
If a man is hungry, love
feeds him. If a man is lonely
love spends time with him. If
a man is lost love tells him
about the Lord. If a man is
unkind, love is kind in return.
Love is what we do
“A song is not a song until
we sing it. A bell is not a
bell until we ring it. Love
isn’t put in our heart there to
stay. Love isn’t love, till we
give it away!”
8. Love does what is best
Love isn’t blind; sometimes
it has to be hard and
unpleasant. Jesus drove out
the money changers with a
whip (John 2) to protect the
worshippers and also to lead
these men to repent. A man
who poisons dogs needs to
be stopped. Disciplining
children is hard, but it is
best. Firing an employee is
hard but sometimes it is best.
If an alcoholic “needs” a
drink we know he does not
need it.
In the TV show The
Jeffersons, George Jefferson,
a
black
man,
was
accidentally invited to a
business lunch held by the
KKK. Told to leave, he went
to the back and sat down.
The speaker, spewing out his
hatred, suddenly grabbed his
chest and fell with a heart
attack. No one did anything,
so George went up, gave him
mouth
to
mouth
resuscitation, and he lived.
When the speaker learned
what happened he looked at
Jefferson and said, “I wish
you had let me die.” George
walked away but when he
was half way down the hall, a
young man caught him, stuck
out his hand and said, “Thank
you Mr. Jefferson for saving
my dad’s life”.
Day 7
7. Love is powerful
felt the same about
Samaritans again; and this
Samaritan never felt the same
about Jews again. I like to
think a bond of friendship
developed as they reached over
the man-made walls and saw
each other as fellow human
beings, brothers on the road
of life. Love’s kindness has a
way of tearing down walls.
Sometimes it changes others.
9
Living for Jesus
Week 3
WHAT GOD WANTS
SECOND
(OBEDIENCE – WHY)
“This is love for God; to obey
His commands; and they are
not a burden to us.” (1
John5:2) “You are my friends
if you do what I command
you.”
(Jesus in John 15:14)
A little girl came in from
school and began telling her
mother about something
exciting that happened that
day. As soon as the mother
saw a stopping place she
said, Honey, mamas busy,
you can tell me the rest after
supper. After supper the little
girl tried three times to finish
her story and each time the
mother had something she
“had” to do. As the mother
tucked her into bed she said,
“Mama loves you.” The little
girl said, “Mama, if you love
somebody, shouldn’t you
listen to them?”
Day 1
1. Obey To Have Assurance
1 John 3:10
“Anyone who does not do
what is right or does not love
his brother, is not God’s
child.”
Few things are worse than
to believe in heaven and hell
and wonder if you will make
it to heaven. God wants us to
have assurance of salvation
(I John 5:13) and a life of
faith and obedience is the
best evidence.
Conversion
In true conversion we turn
(convert) from our sins
(repent) to Jesus (faith) for
forgiveness and the power to
live for Him (Acts 2:38 /
3:19 / 16:31).
Repentance
is willingness, not ability.
We ask God to change us
and help us live for Him. The
answer to this prayer is the
new birth (John 3 / 2
Corinthians 5:17 / Rom. 6:114).
Day 2
Faith
The first birthmark of the
true believer is continual
faith in the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ for our forgiveness“faith
in
His
blood”
(Rom.3:25).
The true Christian, conscious
of his or her sins (1 John
1:7), would no more attempt
to enter the presence of a
holy God apart from Jesus
than he would try to lie face
down on the surface of the
sun and live. Sadly, this
faith is all some people have,
and they think it is enough.
To live a moral, ethical, and
spiritual life, to them, is
optional.
But we also must have:
Fruit (Obedience)
Matthew 7:17-23
“You are known by your
fruits. A good tree cannot
bear bad fruit and a bad tree
cannot bear good fruit.” /
“Many will say to me in that
day: Lord, we prophesied in
your name; we cast out
devils. And I will say, I never
knew you, go away from me
you evil doers..”
James 2:14
“Faith without works is dead.”
A national survey in the
1970’s and another in the
early 2000’s by George
Barna, revealed the same
results. Evangelical church
members who attend church
regularly are just as likely to
cheat; have sex outside of
marriage;
engage
in
dishonest business practices;
etc. as those who do not
attend.
Almost all who do these
things will point to their
conversion experience and
tell you they are saved. To
them, this “experience” is the
important thing; but to God
the lifelong expression of
that experience in faith and
fruit is the important thing.
Paul, before listing the fruits
of conversion (Gal.5:22),
beginning with “Love”,
mentions
things
like:
immorality, jealousy, filthy
acts; etc. and says,
10
“Those who live like this will
not inherit the kingdom of God.”
(5:21)
To have assurance, live
every day like is your last
day, and live it trusting and
obeying the Lord.
Day 3
2. Obey for Power in Prayer
1 John 3:22 “What we ask for,
we receive from Him, because
we keep His commandments
and do the things that are
pleasing in His sight.”
God’s
love
is
not
conditional,
but
His
blessings are. Geoffrey King
says, “It should frighten us to
know that some of us could
never have an answered
prayer again until we deal
with some willful, unconfessed sin in our lives.”
This
does
not
mean
perfection, but it does mean
we are committed to living
for him. We fail, but we keep
trying.
Day 4
3. Obey to Do Our Duty
Luke 17:10
“Jesus said, When you have
done all you have been told
to do, say, we are only
servants; we have done our
duty.”
A man pulled the covers over
his head one Sunday morning
and told his wife, he was not
going to church. When she
asked why, he said the
people didn’t like him; he
didn’t like the music; and the
kids made fun of him. His
wife kept insisting so he said
if you will give me three good
reasons I will go. She said
God’s Word tells you to; you
need to set a good example;
and You’re the Pastor!”
Paul’s favorite title for
himself was not “Illustrious
Apostle” but “bond slave” of
Jesus Christ. (Rom. 1:1).
Duty is not the highest
motive but it is the track
Christianity runs on. Thank
God for it.
If people came to church,
tithed, visited others, etc.
only when they felt like it or
wanted to, the church would
be crippled beyond repair.
The heroes of life are moms
who work and dads who
work and preachers who
preach and soldiers who
fight and laypeople who
support their church because
it is right, whether they feel
like doing it or not.
Hanna Smith says we cannot
dedicate our emotions to
God, how we feel, because
they rise up and down like
the tide. But we can dedicate
our wills.
Day 5
4. To Keep from Being
Spanked
Hebrews12:8-11
“The Lord corrects everyone
He loves and punishes
everyone He accepts as a son
(child).” (TEV)
Proverbs
16:6
says,
“Because of the fear of the
Lord men depart from evil.”
This is not the cringing fear
of a slave before a tyrant; it
is the fear of a disobedient
child with good parents who
expect and require him to do
right.
When Jonah ran from the
will of God he ran into a
storm and ended up spending
three days in the stomach of
a great fish. A children’s
story book puts it this way:
And the fish vomited Jonah
up on the shore and then
Jonah did what the Lord
told him to do.”
Sometimes God, just like
our parents did, has to
remind us of the switches on
top of the refrigerator.
A young Marine accidentally
got some beets on his food
tray and the rule was to eat
all that was on the tray.
When a Corporal told him to
eat them, he said he couldn’t
11
eat beets.
A Chaplain
overheard this and said,
“Son, I don’t blame you. And I
want you to know that no one
can make you eat those
beets; not this Corporal; not
your company commander;
not the Commandant of this
base; and not even the
chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff; but son, they can
make you wish you had.
This does not usually mean
horrible things will happen;
but it does mean we never
have to wonder if a horrible
thing that does happen could
be because of our habitual
wrongdoing.
Day 6
3. To Have the Best Life
John 10:10
“I have come so you can have
life; life more abundantly.”
Disobedience
produces
guilt and shame. It also leads
us to dangerous places. In
my early sixties I was burned
out as a Pastor and started
making plans to retire. The
number one factor was
money and the cost of
insurance. My wife is never
sick, but she had to have a
kidney stone removed by
lithotripsy and didn’t spend
one night in the hospital. Her
bill was $13,000. I got the
message, God was saying,
“Bob, you’d better factor me
into your retirement plans
and all this thinking about
money.” I stayed until I got
God’s go ahead.
A missionary doctor was
operating when bombs began
falling. He refused to leave
his patient and when asked
why, said. “I am in the center
of God’s will; and for me that
is the safest place on earth.”
Day 7
4. To Show Love for Jesus
Jesus in John 15:14
“You are my friends if you do
what I command you.”
We do not show our love by
simply singing, “Oh, how I
love Jesus.” If I am healthy
and stay home and watch TV
while my wife works two
jobs to support the family; I
can buy her flowers and say
pretty words to her, but we
all know I don’t love her. I
love what she can do for me.
A lot of church members are
like this. We sing God’s
praises and go out and do
what we want, not what He
wants. Jesus said,
he even sent money to
support her work. Years later
he went to visit her in the
poor country where she
ministered as a nurse.
Walking down the hospital
hall he saw a woman, on her
knees, cleaning up after a
sick patient, and stopped to
ask her where he could find
his former fiancé. The lady
looked up and it was her. She
stood
up,
embarrassed;
wiped her hands, and greeted
him. Before he knew it, he
said, “Jane, there’s not
enough money in the world to
get me to do what you just
did.” The beautiful girl smiled
and said, “Jim, there’s not
enough money in the world to
get me to do it either; but I
have learned you will do
things for Jesus you will not
do for money.”
“These people honor Me with
their lips, but their hearts are
far from Me.” (Matthew 15:8)
A young man reluctantly and
painfully called off the
wedding when his fiancé
answered God’s call to
foreign
missions.
They
remained good friends and
12
Living for Jesus
Bob Marcaurelle
Week 4
OBEY WHO AND WHAT?
use for “organized religion”,
tell them, “I didn’t know we
had a choice.”
George Whitfield asked a
man what he believed. The
man said, “I believe what my
church believes.” Whitfield
said, “What does your church
believe?” The man said, “It
believes what I believe.”
Whitfield said, “What do you
both believe?” He said, “We
believe the same thing.” As
Protestants we get our
marching orders first and
foremost from:
When I was converted, I tell
people, I joined everything
but the “Women’s Union”.
The second thing I did was
buy a modern translation of
the New Testament, and read
it and mark it until it fell
apart. Obey the Bible:
Day 1
Acts 8:30-31
“Phillip heard him reading
Isaiah / and he said, “Do you
understand what you are
reading?” The man said,
“How can I unless someone
guides me?
1. The Bible
Psalm 119:105
“Thy word is a lamp to my
feet and a light for my path.”
When Jesus was tempted to
do the wrong thing and not
go to the cross, He stuck His
Bible under the devil’s nose
(Matthew 4:4) and quoted
Deuteronomy 8:3:
“Man does not live by bread
alone, but by every word that
proceeds out of the mouth of
God.”
In Scripture we find our
duty towards our fellow ma,
what we call charity (love)
and towards God; what we
call piety- religion When
people tell you they are
Christians but don’t go to
church because they have no
Day 2
2. The Church
One problem with Bible
reading is that it is difficult
to understand and we often
read into it what we want to.
We need to expose ourselves
to the best interpretation of
Christians
through
the
centuries. There is no better
place to find this than in the
creeds; statements of faith;
Sunday School lessons; and
the pulpit of a godly Pastor.
A classmate of mine in
seminary said, “I don’t need
anything but my Bible and
the Holy Spirit.” Our
professor said, “You have
just eliminated 2000 years of
what the Spirit has said to
others.” Spurgeon put it, “It
is amazing how much some
teachers thing of the Spirit’s
witness to them; and how
little they think of His
witness to others.”
The last two young men in
my pastorate called to
preach, had the opportunity
to go to seminary and chose
not to. I did not give them
much of my time and I gave
them none of my books.
Why, because a man ought
to prepare himself to teach
others the word of God.
Even Paul, who knew the
Bible inside out, spent three
years in the desert preparing
himself (Gal. 1:17).
In church, pay attention;
take notes; think all week
about what you learned.
Most of us don’t and that is
why we often say, “I don’t
get much from my church.”
(James 1:22ff)
A preacher filled in at a
country church where a hat
was passed to pay him. He
put a dollar in his hat and
passed it down. When he got
it back there was one dollar.
He said to his son as they
left; all I got was this dollar.
His son said, “Daddy, if you
had put more in, you would
have gotten more out.”
13
Day 3
Day 4
3. Your Interpretation
4. Your Conscience
When the best teacher in
the church preached in
Berea, those who listened
went home and (Acts 17:11):
The Christian conscience (1
Timothy 1:5) is what the
Reformers called “the inner
witness of the Holy Spirit”.
This came into play in a
dispute in the early church
over whether it was right or
wrong to buy meat in the
market which had been
blessed by pagan sacrifices
and whether or not certain
special OT should be
observed. Paul said that was
something they had to work
out themselves. He said,
“Examined the Scriptures
every day to see if all this
(what Paul said) was true.”
A lady was interviewed on
television. She was going to
have a baby with no mind;
and no way to move its body.
It would have been a living
vegetable. Even though she
and her husband were
Roman Catholic; she had an
abortion. The interviewer
said, “How could you do that
in light of the Pope’s recent
statement adopted by the
church.”. She said, “My
husband and I felt this was
what God desired of us.”
Right or wrong, she followed
the Baptist principles of “the
priesthood of the believer
and “soul competency”- the
right of every human being
to interpret the Bible for
themselves; to follow their
conscience; and to accept full
responsibility when they
stand before God.
“Each one should firmly
make up his own
mind.”(Romans 14:5, TEV)
“If you have doubts about
what you do (eat meat
offered to idols) you are
going against your beliefs.
And you know that is wrong
because anything you do
against your beliefs is sin.”
(Romans 14:23 / CEV)
Shakespeare is right, “To
thine own self be true.”
A young soldier did not go to
a bar with his friends, telling
them he promised his father
he wouldn’t start drinking in
the Army . They asked him to
go and drink cola, but he said
he couldn’t do that either.
They asked if his dad told
him not to do that and he
said no. “How then”, they
asked, “do you know he
doesn’t want you in a bar?”
He said, “Because I know
my father.”
4. Good Christian Friends
We must not however stop
examining and questioning
our actions. One way to do
this is to have good Christian
friends who will be honest
with you in an uncondemning way and another
is to listen to our critics.
They will hunt for our faults
and love to bring them out
into the open. .
When Peter gave in to peer
pressure by some leading
churchmen from Jerusalem
and stopped fellowshipping
with non Jewish believers at
Antioch, Paul said, “He
opposed him to his face.”
(Galatians 1)
To be honest, until recently
I saw nothing wrong with
buying a lottery ticket. I have
never done it but I didn’t see
it as wrong. I told this to a
friend and she told me the
average salary of those who
buy lottery tickets is $13,000
and they spend an average of
spend 9% of their income on
it. The lottery exploits the
poorest among us; hurting
not only them but their
children and I don’t believe
God wants me to invest in it.
14
My mother always told me
when we smell a shirt to see
if it is dirty and can be worn
again, the rule is:
“When in doubt, don’t.”
Day 5
You, Me, and God
(At the Judgment) “the
requirements of God are
written on / their conscienceaccusing & excusing them”
(Rom. 2:14-16)
The bottom line is we all
have to do what we believe
is best; what we believe God
would have us do. I will
answer to God for me and
you will answer for you.
A wonderful Christian we
called “Jaybird” was a
member of my first church
out of Seminary. He worked
six days week, thirty miles
away and only got one week
of vacation. It was his
vacation week and his wife
wanted him to paint the
porch, an all day job. It had
rained every day and was
supposed to rain through
Saturday. On Wednesday
night
Jaybird
grinned;
explained this to me and
said, “Preacher, don’t you
think the ox is in the ditch,
and I can miss church
Sunday?” (Luke 14:5) I put
my hand on his shoulder and
said, “Jaybird, if it’s alright
with you and Jesus; it’s
alright with me.” I think he
was in church, but it really
doesn’t matter. What matters
is what he believed Jesus
wanted.
5. Our Influence
“Let us pursue the things
that make for peace and
building up one another / It is
better not to eat meat (that
had been offered to idols);
drink wine; or do anything
that causes a brother to
stumble.”
(Romans 14: 19/21)
Addressing the issues in
Romans 14-15 Paul stresses
the principle of loving
influence. We must think
about how our actions,
innocent for us affects fellow
believers.
As a new Christian I saw
nothing wrong with a beer or
a social drink every now and
then. Two things changed
my mind. Some Boy Scouts I
was leading saw beer in my
apartment and said, “Mr.
Bob, we didn’t know you
drank.” Then one day I came
across Romans 14:20-21 the
passage about causing others
to stumble. I prayed and I
knew that even if I could
stop with one beer or one
drink, I might influence a
young person who couldn’t,
and alcohol could ruin his
life. I knew the Lord wanted
me to give it up.
Day 6
Doing Good to the Most
People
We must use common sense
and do what is best for the
kingdom and for the most
people.
The principle does not apply
to self Centered legalists.
The Pharisees hurt people
and kept them from coming
into the kingdom (Matt. 23).
They
attacked Jesus
primarily because He did not
do all the petty rules they
lived by and taught, like
healing on the Sabbath
(Mark 3, etc.). He told them:
“You (Pharisees) have a fine
way of setting aside the
commands of God to observe
you own traditions.”
(Mark 7:9)
There are some who feel
obliged to make us like them.
They
are
experts
at
confessing other people’s
sins and telling the rest of us
what to do.
A good Christian, wanting
to do right, is an easy target
for others who want to tell
them right from wrong. It is
amazing how much we allow
others to do our thinking for
us and make us feel guilty
for doing things they say are
wrong, when deep down we
know are not. No one does
15
this more than Baptists with
their religious traditions.
Suppose you believe you
need to spend more quality
time with your family, and
Sunday is the only day
available. You pray and
believe the Lord wants you
to quit going to church on
Sunday night to do this.
Many of your fellow church
members would see this as a
sin.
Day 7
It does not apply to strange
Christians who do things far
removed from humanity and
common sense, that they
have no influence for Christ.
In High School in the 50’s, I
remember the three girls who
always sat in chairs outside
the auditorium every time we
saw a movie like, “Tom
Sawyer”. They were the
daughters of local pastors
who believed going to a
movie was a sin. My friends
and I wouldn’t go within a
thousand miles of a religion
like that.
Only God can steer us
between the extremes of
being weird and being
worldly.
My wife and I had to make
a decision about Halloween
when almost all the churches
around me in my outlawed it.
To me it has nothing to do
with Satan or ancient Druids.
Some Christians do however,
and as a church staff and
deacons, we decided to have
an alternative celebration for
our children and youth, so as
not to offend them.
But I am also a parent. My
wife and I, wanting to pass
on a healthy Christianity to
our children, allowed them to
dress in costumes and “trick
or treat”. We put up our little
ghosts and cats and scary
pumpkins
because
we
wanted our girls to know
they did not have to be
strange
to
be
good
Christians.
A nice lady down the street
came with a friend and told
my wife and I they were
praying for us because they
felt we were “giving the
devil a foothold” in our
home. We kept our “Kitty
Cats” on the door.
Living for Jesus
Week 5
CHURCH HOUSE RELIGION
Substituting Religion for
Loving Obedience
“How terrible it will be for
you teachers of the law (OT
Bible) and you Pharisees.
Hypocrites! (Actors) You are
careful to tithe even the
tiniest part of your income,
but you ignore the important
things of the law - justice,
mercy, and faith.
Matthew 23:23-24 (NLT)
Day 1
(Matt. 23 / Amos 5:13-4;21-24)
Some people claiming to be
Christians
change
the
doctrines about God and
salvation that they don’t like.
All three major cults- calling
themselves Christian; Jeh.
Witnesses; Mormons and
Christian Scientists have a
“no hell religion”. They
don’t like the doctrine of hell
so they throw it out. In this
study we are concerned with
those who change the duties.
Wanting to do our own
thing, we create our own
religion, and in essence, our
own god, self. Turning from
God’s command to love and
obey we make substitutes
that suit us. Men wanted to
get drunk so they created
Bacchus, the god of wine.
They wanted uncontrolled
sex
so
they
created
16
Aphrodite, the goddess of
love. Our counterfeit religion
is made up of:
Day 2
1. A Conversion
“Experience” Without a
Change of Life
James 2:14-26
“If a man says he has faith
but has no works; can that
faith save him? / Was not
Abraham, our father, justified
(forgiven- made right with
God) by works when he
offered up Isaac? / As the
body without the spirit is
dead, so also faith without
works is dead.”
We have traded the
conversion experience (faith
in Jesus) for the conversion
expression (fruit).
The
illustration James gives for
“works” is helping the poor
(agape love). Jesus and Paul
say this (Mt. 77:15f /
Gal.5:21) use the term
“fruit”; emphasizing it is the
Holy Spirit in us creating
Christian character.
God
emphasizes
the
expression
from
our
conversion, which is seeking
to please God and living a
life of continual repentance
and faith as we fall short (1
Jn. 1:7-22).
I know I loved my wife
when I married her because I
have been with her for over
40 years and still love her.
Ruth Graham, the daughter
of missionaries does not
remember any “one”
experience that made her a
Christian, but Billy says she
is the finest Christian he
knows. She had “the”
experience because her life
expressed.
important part of our religion
is our relationship to Christ.
Those who don’t call it a
religion, pile religious duties
on others as a sign of their
devotion; when Christ says,
Day 3
A man came home from a
retreat and told his Pastor he
had gotten close to God and
wanted to do something for
the Lord. The weary pastor
scratched his head and said,
“Jim, I’ll see what I can do.
But we already have 40
ushers.”
2. Religious Habits
James 1:27
“What God the Father
considers to be pure and
genuine religion is this: to
take care (showing love) of
widows and orphans in their
suffering, and to keep
oneself from being corrupted
(made dirty) by the world.”
Micah 6:6-8
“With shall I bring to the Lord
/ when I come to worship
Him / the best calves /
thousands of sheep / endless
streams of Olive oil / my first
born child? “No, the Lord
has told us what is good.
What he requires of us is this:
to do what is just (obey), to
show constant love, and to live
in humble fellowship (prayer
and worship) with God.”
Evangelical Christians are
quick to point out that
Christianity is not a religion
but a relationship; which is
absurd. Even God’s word
says it is a religion. The most
“You are my friends if you do
what I command / I
command you to love each
other.”
(Jn. 15:14 /17)
The soul winner says win
souls; the Bible student says
study the Bible. The
Presbyterian says honor God
in church. The TV healer
says send your money to
God at his address. The
Baptist says be in church
every
Sunday
and
Wednesday; and give the
church your tithe. These are
some of our duties but they
are not God’s priorities.
Three fourths of Jesus’
preaching was against people
just like this; proud, unloving
Pharisees in the church.
17
They studied their Bibles,
went to church every
Saturday, prayed daily, gave
their tithes, fasted twice a
week; witnessed all over the
world; called Jesus the devil;
killed Him, and went to hell.
The only time excitement is
associated with the Holy
Spirit outside of Acts which
had earth shakings and
tongue speaking is in Corinth
where it is viewed as
problem (1 Cor. 11-14).
Day 4
3. Magnifying Emotion
Vance Havner says the most
excited thing in a barnyard is
a chicken with its head cut
off; but it is still dead.
“These people honor me
with their lips, but their
hearts are far from me.” Matthew 15:8
Things like enthusiasm,
praise
and
worship,
testimonies, etc. are seen as
the proof of salvation. As a
young Pastor, I watched the
young people’s revival in
America in the early 70’s,
where the “in thing” was to
give your testimony. In one
service four young people
came to the front and
expressed their “love” for
Jesus. That was alright.
They began to ask everyone
to come forward, and said to
those who didn’t, “Don’t you
love Jesus?”
I looked at a lady who had
lost two sons to diabetes and
a husband to an accident in
the home. She was a radiant,
faithful, joyful Christian and
I wanted to tell those young
people, “She does not need
to walk an aisle to prove her
love for the Lord; her life
proves it every day.”
Day 5
Substituting Learning for
Doing
James 1:21-22
“Get rid of all moral filth and
the evil that is so prevalent
and humbly accept the Word
that is planted in you which
can save you. Do not merely
listen to the Word and
deceive yourselves; do what it
says.”
Church house religion gorges
people on Bible study that
produces spiritual obesity.
We learn much and do little.
Bud Wilkinson said the
church is like a football
game- thousands of people in
need of exercise sitting in the
stands; and a handful of
people in need of rest on the
field.
A fine Christian from my
former church came to see
me. He was the only person
in his church, regularly
visiting one member, a dying
pastor, in the nursing home.
He
said, “Preacher, I am
worn out. I go to four
meetings
every
Sunday;
deacons meetings on some
Mondays;
visitation
on
Tuesday; Prayer Meeting on
Wednesday; and now they
have some Wednesday night
classes they want us to go to.
I don’t want to go, and I feel
guilty.”
I told him that visiting that
forgotten Pastor and taking
care of many of his needs
was the best thing he was
doing for God. I said, “The
last thing you need is more
meetings to go to. You
already know more now than
you are doing; so why should
you learn more and dump
more guilt and spiritual
fatigue on yourself? Forget
the classes and visit that
pastor on Wednesdays. He
didn’t do it because church
house religion had him in its
grip, filling him with guilt for
not supporting his church.
Day 6
5. Using Meaningless
Phrases
Ephesians 5:18
“Be filled with the Spirit”
Church house religion talks
about being: “surrendered,
sold out, living the victorious
life, making Jesus “Lord”,
fully dedicated, being a born
again Christian, Spirit filled,
etc.
18
When I was called to
preach (1961) People were
divided mankind into three
groups based on (1 Cor. 3:1):
the natural man (the non
Christian); the carnal man
(worldly) Christian; and the
spirit filled Christian. The
Spirit filled” person lived a
“victorious life”.
Such
phrases
are
meaningless. What I never
heard was “I am getting
more courage to talk with
others about the Lord; I am
learning to obey God more; I
am spending more time with
my kids; I am telling my
wife more that I love her; I
am finding more people to
help with my income; etc.”
Day 7
Amos 5:21-24
“I hate you’re your religious
festivals; I cannot stand your
assemblies (church services)
/ Though you bring me choice
fellowship offerings I have no
regard for them / Away with
the noise of your songs / But
let justice (doing what is right
in society) roll down like a
river, righteousness (doing
God’s will- Mt. 5:20-Ch. 7),
like a never ending stream.”
In a day of unparalleled
prosperity Israel’s churches
were filled; but they were
filled with empty people; the
rich sold the poor like cattle
(2:6) and cheated them in
court (5:12-13). A father and
son went in to the same
woman (2:7); alcohol was
used to the excess (6:6).
These cruel, calloused people
“were in church every
Sunday” and longed for the
Messiah to come (5:18). The
land “oozed” with religion. It
is
sickening to see
injustice or immorality join
hands with Christianity and
make it appear they are
friends. These folk went to
church but didn’t carry
church with them back into
the world. All this was
predicted by God to be the
“Christianity” of the last
days in 2 Tim. 3:1-5.
“Lovers of pleasure rather
than lovers of God-having a
form of religion but deny its
power.”
Living for Jesus
Week 6
WHAT GOD WANTS
THIRD
VICTORY OVER WORRY
“Without faith it is impossible
to please Him.”
(Hebrews 11:6)
Day 1
THE PRIORITY
Hebrew 11 was written to
Christians and spoke of the
obedience
of
Noah,
Abraham, and Moses who
obeyed because of their.
God’s third priority is for us
to trust Him as we obey. The
man in the well; if he turned
loose; would do it (obey)
because he trusted the one
who told him to.
When Charles Stanley was
called to preach, he asked
advice from his grandfather,
who told him, “Charles, if God
tells you to run through a
brick wall, start running and
trust Him to make a hole.
Trust is the foundation of our
relationship with the Lord.
Christianity is not simply a
matter of ethics, principles,
and religious rituals. It is
fellowship with a personal
God we believe is our
Father; and claiming to be
members of His family. Our
children may do a lot for us,
19
but if they don’t trust us, the
relationship is bad.
Day 2
“Faith is the victory that
overcomes the world.”
– 1 Jn. 5:4
Faith is the foundation of a
powerful prayer life. James
says if we don’t ask with
faith, we will not “receive
anything from the Lord”.
(1:5-7).
Our
strength
becomes God’s strength
because “prayer does what
He can do.”
Faith gives us peace about
life. Jesus says:
“Do not be anxious (torn
apart) about tomorrow –
what you shall eat or wear –
look at the birds – your
heavenly Father feeds them.”
– Mt. 6:25-26
The term anxious means “to
be torn / to be pulled in
different directions”. Seeing
all kinds of bad possibilities,
we are afraid of what might
happen. We are stressed,
which means to feel out of
control. Circumstances have
us in an iron grip and we are
not only paralyzed by fear,
but half of our illnesses come
from this state of mind.
Faith is needed when
troubles come; when we face
something we cannot handle;
when there is no way out. If I
have ten million dollars I
don’t need faith to believe I
can send my son to college;
but if I lose my job and
cannot
make
house
payments; I need direction
and power from God and if I
believe I have it or will have
it, I will have peace
This blows our minds, and
it blew his, because he said it
was
far beyond what we
can imagine. The song says
of this peace,
Day 3
Jesus said we cannot add
one inch to our height. To try it
is silly. Worry does not do
one bit of good. It never
solved a problem or lifted
one burden. Worry is like
pouring gasoline on a fire to
put it out. All it does is add
one more problem to the
problems you have and
keeps you from working on
solutions. It is like trying to
go to town in a rocking chair.
THE PRESCRIPTION
1. Give God Your Situation
Phil. 4:4-6
“Don’t worry (be anxious, all
torn up) about anything; but
pray about everything. Tell
God what you want and
thank Him for what you have.
If you do this God’s peace,
which far surpasses anything
we can imagine, will stand
guard over your hearts and
minds in your union with
Christ Jesus.” (Paraphrased)
Faith is fear that has said its
prayers. When Paul wrote
this (Acts 28) he could be
tried,
condemned,
and
beheaded at any moment.
But in this horrible situation
He said more about joy in
this Letter than in all of his
other letters combined. He
told God what he wanted,
thanked him for what he had,
and
found
peace.
“The world didn’t give it and
the world can’t take it away.”
Day 4
2. Think of the Uselessness
3. Think of the Cost
Health Dr. Hans Selwye,
the recognized expert on
stress says chronic fear
lowers our immune system
and is the cause of all
disease.
This
is
an
exaggeration, but I have
never met a Doctor who
disagreed with the Mayo
brothers who said half the
patients they see are ill
because of their emotionsespecially anxiety (fear,
worry, stress); anger; and
guilt.
20
We all know what fear
does- clammy hands, rapid
heart beat, trembling, and a
sinking feeling in our
stomachs. Men in combat
have had their hair turn white
in an hour. Pastor Norman
Vincent Peale, told of a
groom whose hair produced
a white streak from front to
back during his marriage
ceremony. This all comes
from the endocrine glands
and chronic fear produces a
constant drip, drip, drip, of
poison into our bodies.
My last 15 years in my long
pastorate I a crick in my neck
and upper back because, as
the church grew larger, more
and more things went on that
I didn’t think should have.
Fearing for the church’s
reputation and feeling out of
control (stress), threw me
into chronic pain, that was
gone a week after I retired.
When you worry ask
yourself,
“Is this worth my health?”
Relationships
When we are all torn up
over what may or may not
happen, we are miserable
and make everyone around
us miserable. Remember
Mary and Martha, when
Jesus came to visit? Mary
was sitting at the feet of
Jesus and Martha was being
the perfect host; preparing
food and worrying about
how to feed that crowd. She
was not a happy camper.
And, as the song says,
“When mama ain’t happy;
ain’t nobody happy.”
they
slept?.
His
fear
paralyzed him far more than
the polio ever did.
She interrupted Jesus and
scolded Him for not making
Mary help her. Jesus said to
her.
“I can do all things through
Christ who gives me the
strength.” (Philippians 4:11ff)
“Martha, Martha, you are
anxious (all torn up) over a
whole lot of things. Mary has
chosen to do the best thing.”
(Lk. 10:41,42)
Day 5
4) Think of the Odds
“Do not worry about
tomorrow; today’s troubles
are enough for today.” –
Matt. 6:34
We waste much time
crossing bridges before we
get there; when most of them
never appear. How many
people do you know who
have been hit by lightning;
carjacked; robbed; etc.
When President Franklin
Roosevelt contracted polio
and was partially paralyzed,
he never again had a
peaceful nights sleep. He
was afraid the house would
catch fire, and he would be
burned alive. Of the hundreds
of thousands of people he
knew, I wonder how of their
houses burned down while
4) Think of the worst thing
that can happen
Tell yourself whatever it is,
you and God together can
and will handle it. Paul was
looking a horrible death
square in the face. Once you
can say, “If I get cancer / if
my child dies / etc., I will be
crushed, but I will survive / I
will go on, etc. you will find
peace.
This is one of the great
values of support groups.
Only one NT verse (Heb.
10:25) commands us to go to
church and the reason is to
gather courage from others.
“Don’t stop coming together
as some have done. Go there
and encourage each other.”
As a Pastor and friend I
have walked through dark
valleys with people who
have lost their child to
cancer; lost their health
early; etc. They showed
remarkable faith and courage
and are my heroes and my
inspiration.
21
Day 6
5) Do What You Can to
Help
cannot be trusted; and
because we are His children,
it breaks His heart.
I have no doubts that Paul
was working on a defense for
his trial before the Emperor.
God feeds the birds, Jesus
says, but they work all day
and fight off hawks to get it.
Prayer is not a substitute for
work it gives the wisdom to
know what to do and the
power to do it.
Dale
Carnegie, in his book “How
to Stop Worrying and Start
Living” says we should write
our problem down, and one
by one, list every possible
solution. Eliminate each one
until you have only one left
and do it.
Day 7
6) Leave Your Problem
With God
A boy asked if pastor if
prayer would help him pass
algebra. The Pastor said, “It
will if you study.” Pray the
Prayer of St. Francis,
“Lord, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot
changer; the power to change
the things I can; and the
wisdom to know the
difference.”
6) Confess Worry as a Sin
Wesley said he would as
soon take God’s name in
vain as to worry. Worry
dishonors the character of
God by telling Him He
“God cares for you, so cast
all your cares to him.”
– 1 Pet. 5:7
everything from whippings
to psychiatry, all to no avail,
and told me, “I am turning
loose of the string. My son
belongs to God.”
The boy was instantly
cured; but if he hadn’t been,
it would have worked out for
the best, because God had it
in His hands.
Copyright 2010 by Bob Marcaurelle
The Greek term, “cast” was
used for throwing blankets
on a horse (Lk. 19:35).
Don’t just take your troubles
to the Lord; leave them
there. If you don’t you are
only “worrying on your
knees”.
If you are dying and know
you have not left enough
money to support your
family, give your family to
God. Call them in, tell them
you are dying, ask them to
forgive you for not looking
ahead,
accept
their
forgiveness; and tell them to
serve the Lord so you can all
be together in heaven. This is
peace.
I preached years ago that
most of us with problems
give them to God like we fly
kites. We send them up but
hold on to the string. A lady
came forward and told me
how her son could not take
tests in school without
throwing up. She tried
22
Living for Jesus
Week 7
Trust and Worry (Continued)
WANTING WAY TOO MUCH
Coveting- Our Biggest
Problem
7) Conquer Greed
Day 1
Matt. 6:19-27
“Do not store up treasures on
earth / Store up treasures in
heaven, - For where your
treasure is there your heart is
/ No man can serve two
masters / You cannot serve
both God and Mammon
(Money). Do not worry (be
torn up) about your life –
what you eat – what you
wear.”
Philippians 4:6
“Don’t worry about anything /
ask God for what you need,
always asking Him with a
thankful heart.” – TEV
I was conducting a revival
and
the
nightly
news
revealed
the
appalling
number of people in that
county that had to choose
between food and medicine.
An alarming number were
eating dog food so they could
buy medicine. The next day
the Pastor and I had dinner
with one of the finest
Christians in his church. He
had retired and had just
moved. He went from a large
$300,000 dollar house to a
$600,000 house on twelve
acres he had purchased. He
said, “Brother Bob, we prayed
about this and saw that God
was in it. In this down
economy our house sold the
week after we put in on the
market.” I wanted to say,
“Man, with people all over
this county eating dog food or
doing without medicine, I
don’t believe God was within
a million miles of what you
did. And from all I could tell,
he was a very good Christian
man; and I know a thousand
just like him sitting in our
pews.
Materialism
has
blinded
us
to
true
Christianity; and our anxiety
over “things” is the price we
pay.
Day 2
Money Worries
Most of our worries are
money worries. It is not by
accident that Jesus, in His
Sermon on the Mount,
discusses worry in the
section dealing with our
relationship
to
material
things. It is the longest
section because it is our
biggest problem.
Almost all of us have far
more
than
we
need.
Compared to the rest of the
world
we
live
like
millionaires. Yet we are
stressed out; always on the
go; and our family life
suffers the most. This is the
price we pay for making
material possessions our god.
Col. 3:5 says, “Covetousness”
(wanting way too much)
is
idolatry”.
The American dream is a
nightmare. We buy things we
don’t need; with money we
don’t have; to impress people
we don’t like. When we are
young we spend our health to
get wealth and when we are
old we spend our wealth to
get our health back
A. It Dethrones God
Jesus says in Mt. 6:21-24:
“Your heart will always be
where your riches are / No
one can serve two masters.
He will hate one and love the
other. He will serve on and
be disloyal to the other. You
cannot serve God and
Money.”
Jesus
used
the
term
“mammon” (money) as a
personal name for the greedy
person’s god. We speak of
the “Almighty Dollar. Their
bodies are in church going
through the motions of
worship but Jesus says
(Mark 4:18-19):
“They listen to the message,
but the worries about this
life; the love for riches; and
all other kinds of desires,
crowd around them and
choke the message.”
23
Day 3
Day 4
B. It is Detestable to God
C. It Damages
1Timothy 4:10
“The love of money is the
source of all kinds of evil.” –
TEV
Col. 3:5
“You must put to death the
earthly desires at work inside
you; such as sexual
immorality; indecency; evil
passions and greed
(covetousness); because
covetousness is idolatry.”
1Timothy 4:6-10
“Those who want to get rich
fall into temptations. They
end up caught in the trap of
many foolish and harmful
desires that pull them down
to ruin and destruction.”
“The love of money is the
source of all kinds of evil.
Some, in their eagerness to
have it have wandered away
from the faith, and have
broken their hearts with
many sorrows.”– TEV
God lists wanting way too
much with the detestable sins
of dirty people. The church
in the sixth century listed it
with the “Seven Deadly
Sins”. It was the first sin in
the
Bible.
Eve
had
everything but wanted more.
It was the first sin out of
Eden. Cain killed Abel
because he coveted the
acceptance God gave Abel.
It is the source, the “root”,
of almost all other sins. All
six of the seven deadly sins
come from it: pride (I want
me to be first) / greed
(wanting money) / lust
(wanting sex) and gluttony
(wanting pleasures). And
since the desire to acquire
makes us miserable, we can
add melancholy.
God is not in the business
of ruining our fun; He does
not stay up nights thinking of
ways to make us miserable.
He hates this sin because it
hurts us.
1. It Dissatisfies
“If you love gold, you will
never be satisfied with gold /
If you long for wealth you will
never be wealthy enough.” –
Eccl. 5:10
Solomon sucked up all the
pleasures he could findwealth, wisdom, works, wine
and women. And he called it,
“Meaningless / Chasing the
wind.” Madison Avenue
advertising has done a job on
us and our families. It says,
“Here is more. Here is
something else you need.”
But greed is insatiable
because our ego is involved.
What
we
accumulate
proclaims how successful
and “together” we are. Our
mottoes are:
“He who dies with the most
toys; wins -Once a man twice
a boy The only thing
different is the price of his
toys
Last year several CEO’s
earning $30 million dollars
broke the law and risked
going to jail for a few
million more. Tell me that
isn’t worship. We are all like
this; we never earn enough.
Our home is never nice
enough. Our place in the
company is never high
enough. Our bank account is
never large enough. We:
“Get all we can / Can all we
can / and we sit on the can”
- Adrian Rogers
Day 5
2. It Damages our Families
Eccl. 2:22-23 (TEV)
“You work and worry your
way through life; and what do
you have to show for it /
Everything you do brings you
nothing but heartache and
worry. Even at night your
mind cannot rest.”
Any
marriage
counselor will tell you the
two biggest problems in
marriage are selfishness and
Debt
24
money problems. At the head
of the list is debt and credit
cards.
Gorging ourselves
on more and more, our
families pay a terrible price.
We live under the shadow of
debt. This creates:
Desire gone haywire
requires extra work to make
money, not for necessities,
but for luxuries. The tired
mother and father
come
home irritated already; and
things like supper, crying
kids, teens who played video
games all day, a couch
potato husband, and still too
many bills to pay, makes
home life a hell. And the
better parents we want to be;
the more guilt we feel, and
thus the more irritability and
depression we feel.
Stress
Our possessions possess
us. There are always are
things to mow; things to
plant; things to paint; things
to pull up; things to prop up;
things to pay for; and things
to ponder that we might
need. When people die on of
the hardest problems is what
to do with all their “stuff”.
And we are angry. We
leave our $500,000 houses in
our $35,000 cars and explode
with road rage if someone
pulls out in front of us, or is
driving too slow. That is why
Rage
our purses and pockets are
full of pills.
life of doing what we want,
in the call to salvation.
Day 6
3. It Damns the Soul
People are told today that
all they have to do is believe
they are sinners, believe
Jesus died for them, and
accept Him. Even when they
say we accept Him as Savior
and “Lord”, they usually
mean accept Him as God in
human form- the Lord.
Making Jesus our Lord is
making Him our “boss”.
A man asked Jesus to
make his brother divide the
family inheritance with him.
Jesus gave him a stern
warning:
Luke 12:15
“Be on guard against every
kind of greed; because a
person’s life is not made up
of what he owns.”
Then he told story of a
successful man planning well
for retirement (filling his
barn, to eat, drink and enjoy
life). He wasn’t planning to
spend it on prostitutes; or
pornography; he just felt he
had earned the right to enjoy
life before he died. Everyone
in America applauds him and
his portfolio but God calls
him a fool. The problem is,
when the last nail was
driven, he dropped dead.
Day 7
Churches without
Repentance
Men like him fill our
churches; “lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God” (2
Tim. 3). One of the reasons is
there is no repentance, no
call for a break with the old
Jesus told a rich religious
ruler who wanted eternal life
to give all his money to the
poor and he would not do so.
Jesus commented that it is as
hard for a rich person to get
into the kingdom of heaven
as it is for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle
(Luke 18).
Jesus and John the
baptizer came on the scene
preaching repentance and the
people asked John what he
meant. He gave four
examples; all having to do
with material things. Help
the poor; don’t collect too
much money from those who
owe you; don’t take money
by force; and be content with
your wages. (Luke 3:11-14).
To this day God asks if we
are serving Him or ourselves.
Our souls hang in the
balance.
25
Living for Jesus
Week 8
Covetousness (Continued)
CONTENTMENT
GRATITUDE AND PEACE
D. It Can Be Defeated
“I have learned to be
satisfied (content) with what I
have. I know what it is to be
in need and I know what it is
to have more than enough. /
I am content whether I have
too much or too little.”
Phil. 4:11-12
Day 1
1. Don’t Over Value Money
1 Th. 5:18
“Be thankful in everything.”
Gratitude is our duty and
our privilege. Paul found in
jail what we in our brick
houses miss and this is not
only
sad
but
wrong.
Ingratitude means we look at
God and tell Him, “You gave
me the short end of the stick”
The majority of our
“worries” are by healthy
people,
with
healthy
families, worrying about
material things they don’t
have, or are afraid they might
lose. They are the product of
our greed for life’s extras
and our covetousness and
jealousy concerning our
neighbors. We worry about
not getting the promotion at
work when we should thank
God for the job we have.
We worry because we can’t
buy a new car like our
neighbor when we should
thank God for the
transportation we have. We
worry because we can’t send
our children to college when
we should thank God they
are healthy enough to work
their way through. We
worry over our house
payments when we should
forget what people think and
move into a less expensive
house.
We don’t seek righteousness
first and our tortured mind is
the fruit of our divided
loyalty. We are all torn up
over things God cares
nothing about- luxury and
“keeping up with the Jones”.
That is why He makes us
miserable in our worship of
this god.
Day 2
Dr. Criswell told of a man
who looked out the window
and saw his son scuffing up
his new shoes by kicking an
old soccer ball. He could
barely make ends meet, so
he yelled for the boy to come
in. When he did he scolded
him for not being more
careful with his new clothes.
His wife told him their stove
was broken and needed
replacing. Filled with anger
because he couldn’t buy a
new one, he looked in the
paper for a used one. He
found an ad that said anyone
who would pick up their old
stove could have it.
He drove his old, beat up
truck to the address and
found a beautiful mansion on
a hill. Driving up to the home
he saw a pool and tennis
courts in the back, and a field
with horses and cows. He felt
resentment burning inside of
him and almost hated the
people there before he met
them. Inside, he found they
were nice and after the stove
was loaded, they had him sit
down for sandwiches.
As he talked he told about
how his son had ruined his
school shoes. The lady’s eyes
began to tear up and she left.
When she came back, she
had a pair of boy’s shoes in
her hands. She said, “My little
boy fell off of a horse and is
paralyzed and cannot walk. I
wish he could scuff up his
shoes but he can’t so please
take them.”
When he got home the
family was asleep. He went
into his son’s room, took the
shoes in his hand and
thanked God for every scuff
mark.
26
I cried because I had no
shoes / Until I met a man
who had no feet
and
set
aside money
(offerings) to help Christian
causes like world missions
an individuals in need..
Day 3
B. Titbe and Help Others
A Pastor died with cancer
and the Pastors of our
Association gave an offering
and challenged our churches
to give some. We hoped to
get his wife and new baby a
piece of land and a down
payment for a home; but in
the end she got the land and
the home paid for in full. I
don’t even remember what I
gave, but until the day I die I
remember that I gave.
God wants everyone to
earn enough to meet their
needs. Jesus tells us to pray,
“Give us this day our daily
bread”. And God is not
against
having
wealth.
Wealth is a wonderful tool
for good and for God. Jesus
didn’t call barn builder a fool
for filling his barns and
making plans for the future.
It was his misuse of
money. It was all for him and
his family. He did not think
about helping the workers in
his fields; who helped make
him rich. He did not think
about the people in his world
who would starve that day;
or die that day; because of
lack of medical help. He did
not care about the condition
of the church in his town and
whether of not they had
sufficient funds to reach the
townspeople physically and
spiritually. That was not his
business. His business was
getting ahead; supporting his
family; etc.
We cannot give to every
need and every person, so we
should give a tenth (tithe) of
what we make to the church
Day 4
1. Tithing Helps Those We
Can’t Help Alone
Malachi 3:12
“Bring the tithes so there
may be food in House.”
Our church can reach people
we as individuals and small
groups cannot. I can’t find a
residence for an orphan in
Singapore, but my church
can.
2. Tithing Helps Build
Churches
The temple in Malachai’s
day wasn’t much; but it cost
the people of God a lot of
hard work; a lot of dangerous
challenges; a few lives; and a
lot of money.
My first church out of
seminary told me how they
built their fellowship hall. A
wealthy man in the church
told them he would match
whatever they raised. A
worker in his factory, who
made minimum wage, and
could barely feed and clothe
his family, stood up and said,
“Mr. Albert has been good to
do this, so I pledge a week’s
salary to the building fund.”
One by one others stood up
and they built without
borrowing a dime. Mr. Albert
could have bought it for them
but he did something far
better. He let them get in on
the blessing of giving and
helping the work of God.
Day 5
3. Tithing Honors God
“Will a man rob God? You
have robbed me. You ask
how? In tithes and offerings.”
(Mal. 3)
We honor God as our
Creator who shares His
creation with us. Psalm 24:1
says, “The earth is the
Lord’s.” The blood in our
veins is God’s. The soil that
gives us food is God’s. The
health that enables us to
work is God’s and our family
it supports is God’s
Day 6
We honor the God who
trusts us. He asks us to tithe.
The NT says, “Let each man
27
purpose in his own heart.” (2
Cor. 9:7). What a wonderful
thought! God trusts you and
me.
Tithing is also how honor
God and show him love for
the gift of His Son.
A mother and father
presented a financial gift to
the church building program
in memory of their son who
died in Vietnam. Another
family was sitting there and
the husband said to his wife,
“Let’s give a gift for our son.”
The mother said, “Our son
didn’t die in Vietnam, he
came home!” “I know,” said
the dad, “that’s why I want to
give it!”
Day 7
4. Tithing Helps Us
Mal. 3:10
“Put Me to the test; see if I
won’t open the windows of
heaven and pour out
blessings.
The hand that is closed in
giving is closed in receiving.
God does not need our
money, but we need to have
the character that it develops.
Tithing is not Gods way of
building churches it is His
way of building people.
If we are wealthy, we have
the wonderful opportunity to
control our money instead of
letting it control us; make a
difference in the lives of so
many people; and learn that
the best things in life are
free.
Life Magazine told how in the
1980’s many six figure
executives who lost their jobs
took blue collar jobs, and
when the economy turned
around stayed where they
were. One man said, “Since I
have been working on a
loading dock, I threw away all
my pills; spend more time
with my family; play golf once
a week; and sleep soundly
every night. There is not
enough money to get me
back in that rat race I was
in.”
Christ will give you this and
it is far more than your
money can give. First
Timothy 6:6-7 says,
“Godliness makes a person
wealthy if he is content with
what he has. We brought
nothing into this world and
we take nothing out. If we
have food and clothes, we
should be content. That
should be enough for us.”
trusting God with our
finances; and he can do a lot
more with them than we can.
But the best blessings
are spiritual. Tithing is not
an insurance policy against
disaster. God may well test
us. Sufferings may be part
of His way to make us
strong.
In my first church, after
my first sermon on tithing, a
man gripped my hand and
said, “Everything you said is
true. We cannot out give
God. He just blesses and
blesses.” That fellow gripped
my hand left-handed. Why?
Because his right arm had
been chewed off up to his
shoulder in a bailer. He had a
strong grip because he had
just rebuilt his kitchen after
lightning struck it. And here
he was, praising God for all
his blessings. People like that
have something that money
cannot by and hard times
cannot take away. He is one
of God’s heroes and mine.
If we are having a hard time
financially, the best thing we
can do for ourselves
financially is to start working
towards ten percent and find
someone less fortunate than
we are and help them.
Tithing means we are
28
II. Growth
1. Temptation
Week 9
TEMPTATION
(In the Ring with the Devil)
“Each person is tempted
when he is lured (a fishing
term) and enticed by his own
desire. Then desire, once it
has conceived, gives birth to
sin;
sin and sin when it is full
grown brings forth death.”
death
(James 1:14-15)
A lady watched
Michaelangelo carving a
statue of a lion. She said, “I
wish I could do that.” He said,
“It is easy. All you have to do
is take out everything that
does not look like a lion.”
In Christian growth, we
slowly take out everything in
us that does not look like
Jesus (Colossians 3:5-6).
And we all know this is not
easy. It is a battle from start
to finish.
We face three enemies
with a thousand temptations.
The world around us; the
powerful spirit being, the
devil in them and in us; plus
our own evil nature trie to
pull us down
Sometimes, as in the case
of Job, Satan uses the
infliction of suffering to
DRIVE us from God’s will
(Read Psalm 73). Under
extreme suffering Job’s wife
(the world), and a fellow
sufferer, said “Curse God and
die” (2:9). From all his anger
in the chapters that follow,
we see he was like doing just
that.
Day 2
Sometimes, as in the case
of David, he uses the
enticements of sin to DRAW
us away (2 Samuel 11).
Beautiful Bathsheba bathing
in public was saying, “Come
on over to my house big boy.”
One song said,
was His call from God to
start for the cross (Isaiah 40
and 53). He submitted by
being baptized, and the first
person He met was the devil.
We read, “The tempter came
to Him and said…” (Matt. 4).
With three great temptations
he urged Jesus to find some
other way to save men rather
than by hanging naked on a
cross.
Day 2
We are not to imagine
some long tailed demon out
in the wilderness with Jesus.
The desire to avoid the cross
came from within Jesus.
What human being would
want that shame and pain?
Jesus didn’t, but He knew it
was God’s will, so not to do
it, for Him, would be sin.
Therefore in His heart of
hearts He did want it.
WHAT IS TEMPTATION
Day 3
1. A desire to do wrong
Temptation is not just a
fork in the road where we
have choices. It is a desire
deep within to do wrong. It
can be something wicked, as
when David wanted another
man’s wife. It can be
something not inherently
wicked, like not wanting to
go to the mission field when
called by God.
2. The Enticement to Do
Wrong David was probably
minding his own business,
perhaps even praying, when
“shazam”- he saw a beauty
queen with no clothes on,
obviously wanting him to see
her. Satan is the fisherman
who puts forbidden food like
Bathseba in front of us.
“Somebody’s knocking /
Should I let him in / Lord it’s
the devil / Would you look at
him / I’ve heard about him /
But I never dreamed / He’d
have blue eyes and blue
jeans.
Jesus experienced this.
When John started preaching
(Mark 1), Jesus knew that
For Jesus, one time, it was a
close friend. When He told
his followers He was going
to the cross, Peter, out of
29
great love for Him, told Him
not to do it. Jesus, again
tempted not to go, said, “Get
behind me Satan” (Mk.
8:33).
4. A Desire We Rationalize
Eve didn’t say no to Satan,
she had a conversation with
him. He asked her if God
really told her not to eat the
fruit. Then he told her God
was wrong, and she would
not die for eating it. Finally,
he told her, she could be like
God if she ate (Genesis 3).
When we start dialoging
with these kinds of thoughts,
we are headed for a great
fall. The Bible says, “Resist
the devil and he will run
from you.” (). People don’t
leave home one day deciding
to look for an affair. They
begin by spending time with
someone,
“who
really
understands and cares”.
They reason that God does
not want us to be miserable
at home, and lust is seen as
love.
A married man told me he
who knelt in prayer with his
married girl friend in a
motel, thanking God for
bringing them together.
When people steal from their
employers they call it
borrowing, fully intending to
pay it back; or see it as
getting what they deserve
from a company that does
not pay them enough.
Day 4
5. Desire Even in Strong
Points
“Whoever thinks he is
standing firm should be very
careful; so he will not fall.” (1
Cor. 10:13)
(Num. 12:3; 20:8-12) /
David’s murder of Uriah ( 2
Sam
11-12);
Noah’s
drunkenness and nakedness
(Gen. 6-9) and Abraham’s
sins against Sarah twice
(Gen. 12:14 & 20:2), warn us
we can commit any sin a lost
person can commit.
Day 5
WHY RESIST TEMPTATION
Satan usually targets our
weak spots, but sometimes
he targets our strengths.
Almost
every
mans’
weakness is women; but
David’s strong point was
love for his soldiers. Satan
got him to have Bathsheba’s
husband killed in battle,
costing the lives, no doubt of
many soldiers. (2 Sam. 1113).
If anyone told David he
would do than, he would
have killed him on the spot;
but Satan is strong. Peter’s
strong point was bravery and
love for Christ, yet out of
fear He denied knowing
Jesus (Mk. 14). That’s why
he wrote:
“Be on guard, your enemy the
devil, prowls around like a
roaring lion seeking out
whom he can devour.”
(See Week 3, Day 5)
Fishing is fun; but not for
the fish! There is desire; the
decision to give in; and then
death. We end up like a dead
fish on the dock gasping for
breath.
God spanks us (Heb. 12).
See David losing the joy of
salvation (Psalm 51:12);
tortured in mind and body
(Psalm 32 / 51); actually
dying from guilt (2 Sam. 1112); with dead baby in a
coffin; with the sword of
conflict never leaving his
family;
with
his
son
Absalom running him out of
town like a whipped dog;
with
Absalom sleeping
publicly with his wives and
concubines; and with David
sobbing over
Absalom’s
death (2 Sam. 18). This is
how God can spank His
children.
Never say you will never
do something. Moses rage
30
Sin leaves consequences.
For the adulterer it is the
death of self respect; the
death of his home; and the
death of his children’s
respect
for
him.
For
drunkenness it can be death
on the highway; or for the
angry it can be the death of
self control that leads us to
do awful things. Many a
wounded child is hurt not by
a bad parent, but by a good
one who for one moment in
time, loses his or her temper.
Day 6
Sin also leaves scars that
never go away. On two
occasions Abraham, trying to
save his own life instead of
trusting God, put his wife
Sarah in danger of being part
of someone’s harem. God
spared her, and forgave him,
but we all know that
Abraham lost respect for
himself and in Sarah’s eyes
he was never the same again
(Gen. 12:14 & 20:2). There
is the death of influence.
The Book of Romans says,
“The name of God is
blasphemed because of you.”
(Rom. 2:24)
A thousand Christians can
stand morally and ethically
and the world pays little
attention. But let any of us
give in to anger or profanity
or immorality or dishonesty
and the world will shout it
from the rooftops. They
hear us curse on the golf
course or tell some dirty
joke, but they don’t see us on
our face before God that
night begging for
forgiveness.
holidays, choking on his own
vomit. Was he bad? No!
Was he a drunk? No! Was
he a hypocrite? No! He was
a good but weak man who
could not, on that particular
night, say no to the crowd;
and he paid a terrible price.
Growth
Far more terrible is when
one of our children ruins his
or her life practicing
something they learned from
us. Lot chose Sodom because
of its money, but in the end
lost his wife to death; and his
daughters to incest (Gen.
19).
Sin can ruin a life. It
doesn’t take long. One night
of passion can bring an
unwanted marriage that is
doomed from the start. One
drink can leave you, or
someone else dead or
crippled on the highway.
Years ago a handsome,
young,
African American
teenager and I became
friends. He felt called to
preach; worked hard; and
went to night school. We had
wonderful
conversations
together about the Lord, the
Bible and preaching. He was
like a Timothy to me. One
day I got the call that he was
dead and the family wanted
me to help with the funeral.
How did he die? He drank
himself to death one night
during
the
Christmas
Week 10
OVERCOMING
TEMPTATION
No temptation has overtaken
you that is not common to
man. But God can be
trusted. He will not let you be
tempted beyond your
strength, but with the
temptation will provide the
way of escape.”
(1 Cor. 10:13)
1. Resolve to Do Right
(Dan. 1:8)
“Daniel purposed in his heart
that he would not defile
himself.”
In the 500’s BC Babylon
deported the finest Jewish
young people and planned on
making them just like the
Babylonians. This meant
they would have to do many
things God did not want
them to do. Daniel decided
before he got there that he
would not defile himself and
disobey. God bless this and
Daniel rose to the second
highest political position in
Babylon.
31
Drug
prevention
in
America is called, “Just Say
No”. Kids are urged to make
up their minds ahead of time
that they will not do drugs.
There is power in having a
purpose in life and setting
goals that direct our choices.
The time for a girl to decide
about her body is not sitting
by a lake with the captain of
the football team.
An evangelist told young girls
to take a big Bible and put it
on the front seat on dates.
He added, “Its hard for any
boy to get past Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John.
Day 2
2. Remember
1) God is Growing Us
“Consider it a joyful thing,
my brothers, when you
encounter all kinds of trials /
for the testing of your faith
produces endurance / the
man who perseveres will
receive the crown of life.”
(Js. 1:2-3 / v12)
In the ring with the devil
we learn the foul depths of
our hearts and the love God
has for us; we learn from our
mistakes, and our victories;
we learn to apply the Bible;
to pray without ceasing; and
to trust the promises of God.
We learn the strategies of the
devil; the high cost of giving
in; and the joys of victory.
One
growth
blessings
stands out- humility. We
grow in humility toward
others as we experience
failure.
When Jimmy Swaggart fell
into the awful sexual sins a
national
news
agency
interviewed his father. The
old man said, “Maybe now he
won’t be so hard on the rest
of us.” There’s no telling how
many times he had been
scolded for something like
chewing tobacco. If so, after
this, Jimmy probably had
nothing more to say about
his dad’s tobacco.
We also grow
– in grace.
Peter, who fell further than
any Apostle, said:
before
Martin Luther said, “My
three greatest teachers are
temptation; temptation; and
temptation.” God does not
tempt us to do wrong but He
allows Satan to do it,
because He wants us grow
strong in the struggle.
in humility
God
“Grow in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. To Him
be glory.” (2 Peter. 3:18)
to have us on His side. But
as we learn more and more
of our selfish desires we are
painfully aware that
salvation is a gift of grace to
the undeserving.
Adrian Rogers says of the
new birth,
“God doesn’t change us so He
can love us; He loves us so
He can change us.”
Day 3
2) To Use Your Bible
(Ps. 119:11)
“I have hidden (treasured)
your word in my heart so I will
not sin against Thee.”
Ps. 119:11
Jesus
answered
every
suggestion of Satan with a
quote from the Bible. For
every temptation there is a
text (Mt. 4). Tempted to
anger say to Satan, “Anger
lives in the heart of a fool”
(Ecc. 7:9). Tempted in
sorrow lose faith or leave
God, say with Job, “Though
he slays me still will I trust
Him” or “All things work
together for those who love
God.” (Rom. 8:28)
Day 4
3) Temptation is not a Sin
“He (Christ) was tempted in
When we come to Christ we
often think how lucky God is
all points like we are, yet
WITHOUT SIN. ” (Heb. 4:15)
32
If we want to do
something wrong, Satan tells
us we have already sinned in
our hearts, so we might as
well go on and do it. The
truth is that part of us, what
Paul calls the flesh, does
want to do it. But another
part does not. We are
engaged in a civil war in our
souls; and we decide who
wins. Paul said in Galatians
5:17:
“The sinful nature desires
what is contrary to the Spirit
/ They are in conflict with
each other, so you do what
you do not want to do.”
Within my earthly temple
there’s a crowd / There’s
one of me that humble and
one that’s proud / There’s
one who is not happy in sin /
While another unrepentant
sits and grins / From much
corroding care I would be
free/ If I could only know
which is me.
Day 5
4) We don’t have to give in
Our temptations are common
to all men and God provides
a way of escape (1 Cor.
10:13). We are responsible
for our actions and the worst
thing we can say about
wrongdoing is that we
couldn’t help it.
When God confronted Adam
with his sin, he said, “The
woman”. When He
confronted Eve she said,
“The snake”. Worse than
that, Adam blamed God
when he said, “The woman
YOU gave me.”
A mother found five year old
Billy had three year old
Caroline backed into a closet.
Crying, she said, “Mama, Billy
kicked me, pulled my hair,
and spit on me.” The mother
said, “Billy”, why did you let
the devil make you act like
that?” Billy said, “He told me
to kick her and pull her hair,
but spitting on her was my
idea.”
Day 6
3. Run
2 Tim. 2:22
“Run from youthful lusts”
When Jospeh’s master’s
wife seduced him and
grabbed his robe, he ran right
out of it. (Gen. 39). Jesus
teaches us to pray, “Lead us
not into temptation, but
deliver us from the evil one.”
(). This is not the prayer of a
coward wanting an easy life.
It is the humble prayer of
someone who knows his or
her weakness and wants to
avoid temptation at all costs.
The opposite of this the exdrunk Billy Graham talked
about in Peace with God. To
show his victory over
alcohol he hitched his horse
in front of the saloon every
time he went to town. He
looked over the swinging
doors, took a big sniff and
said, “I don’t need this any
more.” Billy said one day
conditions would be right
and he would give in and be
back in that old life before he
knew it.
A young farm boy loved to
steal watermelons. After he
joined the church the
preacher asked him if he still
stole watermelons. The little
boy said, “Preacher, I can’t
keep my mouth from
watering when I pass a patch,
but I can run.
The minute you feel
attraction for someone else’s
husband or wife, is the time
to back away. The instant
you need money and know
you can take some from your
company without getting
caught is the time to make it
where you will get caught.
A man offered a boat
captain $10,00o to haul
drugs up from Mexico. He
said, “No.” The man offered
$20,000 and he said no
again. When the man offered
$50,000 he picked up his
shotgun and ordered him off
the boat. “Why are you so
mad” the man asked. The
captain said, “I’m not mad.
33
You’re are getting too close
to my price.”
Day 7
4. Return When You Fall
(Mt. 26:41; Jn.21:15
2 Tim. 4:11)
1 John 1:9
But if we confess our sins, He
is faithful and just to forgive
us (restored fellowship) and
cleanse us from all
unrighteousness (growth).”
Seeking Christ likeness we
will fall short; we will give
in to temptation. That is why
the Lord, teaching us to pray,
included ”Forgive us our sins
(Matt. 6).
Peter and David failed
horribly. Both repented.
Peter became the powerful
preacher of Pentecost (Acts
2). However, he was not
through with failure. Twenty
years later he gave in to
prejudice against Gentile
church members, and was
rebuked by Paul (Gal. 2).
When the Apostles fell
asleep in Gethsemane Jesus
did not disown them, He
said, “The spirit is indeed
willing but the flesh is weak”
(Mt. 21:15). He knew they
weren’t uncaring or wicked;
they were weak.” He reused them and kept loving
them and believing in them.
John Mark quit the mission
field (Acts 15:36-40) and
this caused friction between
Paul and Barnabas. Paul
wrote Mark off - for a while!
But when Paul was dying he
asked Timothy to bring Mark
to him, saying,
“He is
useful to me!” (2 Tim.
4:11).
The devil will knock us
down. But we don’t have to
stay down. He will win
some battles but he doesn’t
have to win the war. We
will fail but we don’t have to
be failures. We may tall a lie,
but we don’t have to become
liars. God’s hall of FAME is
made up of people who were
at times in the hall of SHAME
but refused to stay there. The
devil never beats us until we
quit trying.
Growth
2. Confession
Week 11
DETECTING DEFECTS
(Rom. 7:14-26 / Phil. 3:1016)
1 John 1:8-9
“If we (Christians 5:13) say
we have no sin (Sin nature),
we deceive ourselves and the
truth (of the Bible) is not in
us. But if we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to
forgive us and cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.”
When God saves us he
leaves our old human nature
(the flesh); the person we
were before we met Christ;
inside of us. Paul says,
Romans 7:18
“Nothing good lives in me,
that is in my human nature
(flesh).”
This is where temptation
comes from and Christian
character is developed as we
wage war against our old
nature. We grow day by day,
victory by victory, as we see
the bad in us, confess it,
renounce it, and ask God to
forgive us and help us
overcome it.
The problem is too many
people give up the really bad
sins, like adultery, and
profanity, and feel they have
“arrived spiritually”. Blind to
34
their faults, there is no
confession and therefore no
improvement.
One night, around 11 PM I
had to rush to the Emergency
Room. I was there for three
hours- talking to the family;
to the injured person; to
doctors; to nurses; and to
people in the waiting room. I
was the model of the good
Pastor. Getting home about
3AM I brushed my teeth;
looked in the mirror and said,
“Geronimo!”
I looked like an Indian. On
my right cheek, below my
eye, there was s glob of
“black gook medicine” that I
had put on a small boil at
10PM.
For four hours, looking, I
thought, like the model
Pastor and Christian, I had
looked like a clown for two
reasons. I didn’t look in the
mirror and not because I
didn’t look in the mirror not
one person in the hospital
had the nerve to tell me what
I really looked like.
Day 2
A. Have the Right Goal
Philippians 3:10
“I want to know Christ / and
the fellowship of sharing in
His sufferings, becoming like
Him in His death.”
With this goal, he went on:
“Not that I have already
attained this / but I press on
to take hold of that for which
Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
(3:12)
It is also why he gave us in
Romans 7:14-26 a look at the
battle he had on the inside:
Romans 7:15 / 18-19 /25
“I (Paul) do not understand
what I do; for I don’t do what I
would like to do; but instead I
do what I hate. / Even though
the desire to do good is in
me, I am not able to do it. I
don’t do the good I want to
do; instead, I do the evil that I
do not want to do. / This then
is my condition /Who then
will deliver me from this body
of death?” (TEV)
Day 3
Satisfied Christians are like
the old farmer who had his
rifle leaning on a fence. One
hundred yards away was a
barn with 20 bull’s-eyes hit
dead center.
A stranger
asked him if he shot the
holes from 100 yards away
and he said yes. The stranger
was amazed and the farmer
said it was easy; just shoot a
hole in the barn and go draw
a target around it.
Let us set the goal and can
reach it. Let it be God’s goal,
living a Christ like life of
love, and we will never we
will never reach it, but we
will always be reaching for
it.
When Paul wrote Romans 7
he didn’t have a foul mouth;
a heart full of bitterness; a
Playboy Magazine in his
coat; a girl friend on the side;
or some of the church’s
money in his pocket. He just
hated everything in him that
was not like Jesus.
Day 3
B. Ask God to Show You to
You
Psalm 139:23-24
“Search (Investigate) me O
God and know my heart /
See if there is any offensive
way in me.”
Just before I retired at age
65 God showed me to me,
and it wasn’t pretty. I had
worked hard for God and for
my church members for 36
years. I averaged 12 hours a
day working; came back
from vacation 23 times;
received
verbal
abuses
without ever retaliating;
studied four hours a day; and
visited faithfully in homes
and hospitals. My motto was,
“I’d rather burn out than rust
out”, so I burned out
Exhausted, I retired at
age 65 and I wondered what
I would do with the rest of
35
my life except play golf and
enjoy my family. I asked
God to show me and He did,
in a disturbing way.. I went
to a funeral in another town
of a lady named “Betty”. The
Pastor used 1 Cor. 13 to
describe her. He said,
Betty was patient; Betty was
kind; Betty- was not jealous;
Betty did not boast; Betty
was not arrogant; Betty was
not rude; Betty did not insist
on her own way; Betty was
not irritable; Betty did not
keep a record of wrongs
done to her; Betty did not
rejoice over the wrong doing
of others; etc.
Every word broke my
heart like an arrow from
heaven. I knew God would
say: “Bob was impatient;
unkind; jealous. He did insist
on his own way; he was
irritable; he did keep records
of wrongs done to him.”
I knew God did not show
this to me to condemn me
but to heal me. I found my
task in life; why I was left on
this planet; and it was slowly
strive to become a 1
Corinthians 13 kind of
person; beginning in my
family. It has been seven
years and I am still trying to
give my wife a better
husband
Day 5
C. Look in the Book
and tells us where we need to
change.
To see myself as a clown
that night, I needed to have
looked in a mirror. James
calls the Bible God’s mirror
(1:22-25). He says,
In the flyleaf of his Bible, D. L.
Moody wrote, “This Book will
keep you from sin; or sin will
keep you from this Book.”
“Get rid of the filth and evil
that is so prevalent / look
intently into the prefect Law
(Bible) / not forgetting what
is heard (or read) but doing
it.”
Day 6
D. Listen to Your Friends
“The way of a fool is right in
his own eyes; but he who
harkens to counsel is wise.”
(Prov. 12:15)
The Bible, as it did to me
at that funeral, in the hands
of the Spirit, actually
examines us. We read,
“Open rebuke is better than
hidden love. Faithful are the
wounds of a friend.” (Prov.
27:5f)
“The Word of God is alive /
sharper than any two edged
sword / It judges the
thoughts and attitudes of the
heart.” Heb. 4:12
This can be a Pastor like
Nathan. He stuck his finger
in David’s nose and charged
him with evil the sight of
God. (2 Sam. 12:7, 9)
That is why Psalm 119 says,
It can be someone you
don’t know that God puts in
your path. Like Abigail.
David was on his way to take
revenge against innocent
people and she stood in the
road before him and said,
“Let no wrongdoing be
found in you as long as you
live.”.
“How can a young man keep
his way pure; by living
according to Your word / I
have hidden your word in my
heart that I might not sin
against you.” (v10)
Maybe that is why we don’t
read it any more than we do;
and don’t give time and
effort when we do. Going to
the Bible is like going to the
doctor. He pokes everything
we have from head to toe;
It can be a good friend like
Paul was to Peter (Gal.
2:11). When he gave in to
prejudice against Gentile
believers Paul said, “I
opposed him to his face.”
36
Paul loved him and the
kingdom
enough
to
jeopardize their friendship.
Wc should also pay close
attention to those who don’t
like us – our critics. They
will tell the truth.
When
David was being run out of
Jerusalem by his own son a
man named Shemi cursed
him, threw rocks at him, and
said this came because of his
great sin (which it was). One
of David’s men wanted to
cut his head off, but David
said, “Let him speak / he
might be speaking from the
Lord. (2 Samuel 15-16)
Day 7
E. Look at Those You
Admire
Fred Craddock tells of the
couple whose increased
income and elevated social
standing caused them to
leave off spiritual matters
and be unfaithful to the
church. In a New Year’s Eve
company party at their home,
the liquor was flowing and
the off color stories were too.
As they sat down to eat, the
couples’ 5 year old daughter
came down and said, “Can I
come to the party?” The
mother said, “No, honey, but
you can get a plate of dessert
and take it upstairs.” As she
picked up her plate, the little
girl said, “Has anybody said
the blessing?” Embarrassed,
they asked her to. The couple
came to church the next
Sunday and told Fred as they
cleaned up their home that
night they decided to clean
themselves up. They put God
back in first place in their
lives and told Fred he could
count on them to help in the
church. ( Even a five year old
in the hands of God can lift
us higher so our lives can do
the same for others.)
Growth
2. Confession
Week 12
CONFESSING DEFECTS
1 John 1:8-9
“ But if we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to
forgive us (restored
fellowship) and cleanse us
from all unrighteousness
(growth).”
King David committed two
horrible sins- adultery and
the murder of the woman’s
husband (2 Sam. 11-12). His
great sin was matched by
great confession in Ps. 32
and 51. Hopefully we will
never fall this far, but our
ugliness needs confession.
A. Confess Gratefully
No one who is born of God
will continue to (habitually
and willfully) sin / he cannot
go on sinning, because he
has been born of God.
(1 John 3:9/10)
(NIV-NASV-AMPL)
(Rom. 7:15 / 24)
“What I want to do, I do not
do; but I do what I hate /
“What a wretched man I am.
Who will rescue me from this
body of death? Thanks be to
God- through Jesus Christ our
Lord.”
Seeing our sinfulness after
conversion sometimes leads
us to doubt our salvation.
37
The truth is, seeing it, hating
it, and having a burning
desire to be delivered, is
evidence of true conversion.
The closer we get to Christ
the more we see our sin. We
can commit acts of sin (1 Jn.
1:9-10)but cannot live in sin
(1 Jhn.3) without feeling
shame, wanting to be better,
and being afraid before God.
Sins intrude but do not rule.
In my late teens I was
drinking beer and fishing
with some friends. It was
lightning and one of them
said to me, “Man, quit taking
God’s name in vain in this
lightning!” I didn’t even
know I was. Taking God’s
name in vain was so much a
part of who I was that I
didn’t even know when I did
it and I wasn’t ashamed or
afraid. I didn’t care.
Day 2
J.C. Ryle says a growing
Christian may not think he is
growing, because he is
growing in self knowledge.
Warren Wiersbie says a
growing Christian sins less
and less and confesses more
and more.
My first year in Seminary and
my second year as a
Christian, I still had a volatile
temper; slipped back into
profanity at times; and was
afraid to personally witness. I
compared myself to other
students and doubted my
conversion born again.
I
found peace in Romans
seven, and in Billy Graham’s,
book, Peace with God. Billy
said if a cat falls in the mud it
is miserable. It jumps out
immediately and cleans
itself. That is the nature of a
cat.
If a hog falls in it
wallows in it. That is the
nature of a hog.
If I stumble tonight; break
my toe and my head goes
into my TV; I might say a
curse word or two. But
before I go back to sleep I
will be ashamed and I will
ask God to forgive me and
help me never curse again
credit cards, and Dodson
gave some psychological
label for her addiction. We
all know what she had; self
love; selfishness and greed.
Instead of being like Eve
who blamed the snake and
Adam who blamed Eve and
God; we should be like
David here.
In our society we blame
everyone but ourselves. We
say a drunk in an alcoholic;
not sinful but sick. He needs
treatment not forgiveness.
Labeling this a sin is not
being unkind; but kind. As
long as we think we can’t
help what we do, we will not
seek help or forgiveness.
Day 4
Day 3
B. Confess Responsibly
David- Psalm 32:3-5
I acknowledged my sin to
Thee; I did not cover up my
iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess
my transgressions to the
Lord’, and you forgave the
guilt of my sin. /
The term “confess” means
to “say the same thing- to
agree”. When God and our
conscience tell us we are in
the wrong, we need to admit
it and take responsibility for
it. Even James Dodson,
whom I admire, talked with a
lady who maxed out her
C. Confess Shamefully
David hurt a lot of people,
but number one on his list
was hurting God, “grieving
the Holy Spirit” (Eph. 6).
He said,
“Against Thee and Thee
alone have I sinned and done
this evil in front of You”
(Ps. 51:44).
You may be saying you
have not done something
horrible like David, but for
the child of God, all
wrongdoing is horrible. John,
after telling us to confess
acts of wrongdoing when we
38
fail, connects our forgiveness
with the cross. He says,
“We have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous One; and He is an
atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
(2:1-2)
This probably does not
mean Jesus has to literally
plead our case before God
like a lawyer, every time we
sin. Jesus and the Father are
one (John. 14). It does mean
that when we do wrong as
Christians, the only way we
can get back in fellowship
with God is through the
sacrifice of Jesus. That
sacrifice is evident in heaven
because Jesus still has “the
marks of slaughter”- the
scars on His body in heaven
(Rev. 5:6).
Day 5
Sins we commit after
conversion are far worse that
sins
committed
before
conversion.
Before,
we
sinned in the darkness, not
realizing what we were
doing; but now we sin in the
light of who God is and what
Jesus did for us. Before, we
sinned against our Creator;
after, against our Savior.
Before we sinned against
law; after, against love.
Hebrews six told Christians
leaving
Christianity for
Judaism they are “crucifying
the Son of God all over
again.” Standing at the foot
of the cross, all sin is bad.
When we do some seemingly
harmless sin, like using
profanity telling dirty jokes;
listening to dirty jokes; using
racial slurs; refusing to
forgive someone; repeating
gossip; delighting in other’s
failures; etc. it is horrible and
harmful.
What we are doing is taking
our stand with those who
killed Jesus and mocked Him
in His dying hours. We pick
up a hammer and stand on
the side of Satan, the author
of things like child abuse.
It’s a wonder God does not
send us all straight to hell. A
new song asks the Lord, “Do
you still feel the nails every
time I sin?” We all know the
answer is, “Yes.”
A
Christian’s sin is
personal, against the Lord.
Doing wrong we walk up to
the cross and spit in His face.
It is a wonder God does not
send us straight to hell.
“Whoever covers his sins will
not prosper; but he who
confesses and forsakes them
will find mercy.” (Prov. 28:13)
In true confession we turn
from our wicked ways: we
“get rid of the filth” (Js.). We
ask God for victory in this
area. Notice, David asked
God to “create” the right
spirit in him.
We cannot promise God we
will not repeat what we have
done, but we can plead for
His power, pledge our
cooperation, and fight that
sin like we would a mad dog.
Day 7
E. Confess Receptively
“Blessed is he whose
transgressions are forgiven,
who sins are covered. “
-Ps. 32:1
David found joy and new
ministry after his great sin
because he accepted God’s
forgiveness. God tells us to
forgive others 70 times 7
times if they repent (). He
will certainly do the same for
you and me.
Day 6
D. Confess Repentantly
Psalm 51
“Create in me a pure heart
and build a faithful spirit in
me / I will teach
transgressors your ways so
they will turn back to You.”
Our problem is we don’t
forgive ourselves. Satan
loves it when we wallow in
guilt and become no good to
God or others. Remember
the lady who said she prayed
a thousand times for
39
forgiveness and I told her
that was 999 times too many.
She ruined her life and her
family’s by depriving them
of a joyful wife and mother.
Her adultery, unknown to
them,
didn’t
but
her
unwillingness to let God
forgive her did.
Her
unwillingness
to
accept forgiveness, itself,
was a sin. I told her she was
refusing to believe God’s
promises; doubting God’s
love; and cheapening the
sacrifice of Christ. Jesus for
that act after conversion
In seminary I had a job
mopping the sandwich shop
from 9-11 PM. One night a
group of preachers came in
and were particularly loud
and messy. I had a test the
next morning and needed to
get to my dorm room; so I
was not a happy camper.
When one of them spilled
his drink and I acted a little
irritated when he called me
to mop it.
When I went back to work
the Lord told me to
apologize. I would rather eat
nails, but I did it. When I did
he said, “It makes you
wonder if you are really saved
doesn’t it brother?”
My first impulse was to stick
the mop in his face. But I
said, “No, it makes me love
Jesus more because He died
for and puts up
someone like me.”
with
Years later that man was
fired from his church for
moral reasons. I’m not
surprised. You can’t carve
rotten wood and his actions
were not from a slip up but
from a settled attitude for
which he saw no need to
apologize.
Division into days of the
week is not included in the
remaining chapters.
Growth
3. Warfare
Week 13
FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT
2 Timothy 4 (Paul)
“I am ready to be offered / I
have fought a good fight; I
have finished my race; and I
have kept the faith. Now
there is laid up for me the
crown of righteousness.”
Ephesians 6:11-12 / 18
“Put on the whole armor of
God so you may stand
against the wiles
(strategies, plans) of the
devil. For we are fighting,
not against flesh and blood
(people and things of this
world) / but against wicked
spiritual forces in the
heavenly world; against
rulers, authorities and
cosmic powers of this dark
age / Do all this in prayer,
asking for God’s help.”
An old Labrador fisherman
seemed to always arrive
home with fewer dead fish
than his friends. They looked
into his holding area and in
among the fish he kept a
small shark. When they
asked him why he said that
as the fish move around and
fight to say alive, they grow
stronger.
It is the same with us. In
our fight against temptations
and sin we grow stronger.
We learn our strengths and
40
weaknesses; we learn the
battle plans of the enemy;
and we learn to tap the
resources of God.
Being a church member is
easy; just show up on
Sunday and put a little in the
plate. But being a faithful
follower of the Lord is
unbelievably difficult. The
Bible describes our struggle
for Christian character as
work, warfare and wrestling.
It is work. Philippians 2:13
says, “Work out your own
salvation
in
fear
trembling.” Rocks lie
and
on the
ground and are worthless,
but to get to gold we have to
put our lives on the line and
bore down deep into the
earth. It is called wrestling
(Col 4:12). This is fighting
up close and personal, and is
the most exhausting thing in
the world. And it is called
warfare in our texts.
As Paul faced death he told
young Pastor Timothy, “Join
me and endure hardship like a
good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
Muscles grow strong by
overcoming resistance. It is
the same with spiritual
muscles. Trees in the forest
grow tall, but alone in the
field they don’t.
The tree that never has to fight
/ For sun, soil and light
Never becomes a forest king
But lives and dies a scrubby
thing
Peter is living proof of this.
He started his Christian life
weak; had some successes
and failures along the way;
but he ended well. According
to tradition he was executed
by Nero at the same time as
Paul, the man who wrote
these words. His wife was
executed before his eyes, and
when they came to crucify
him, he asked to be crucified
upside down because he was
not worthy to be crucified
like his Lord. He could say
with Paul,
“I have fought a good fight;
I have kept the faith; I have
finished my race”.
All this takes time and
effort. When Jesus first met
him He nicknamed him
“Rocky” (Jn. 1:42). He was
more like a “shifty”. He was
quick to boast that the other
Apostles might deny the
Lord when danger came, but
not him. But he not only
denied the Lord three times
that very night; but cursed to
show he was not one of His
followers (Matt. 26).
The
Lord restored him
privately (1 Cor. 5:5) and
publicly (Jn. 21) and made
him the leader of the early
church (Acts 1-5). When the
same crowd that sentenced
Jesus to death said it would
kill him if he did not stop
preaching Jesus, he told them
to go ahead and kill him,
because he would not quit.
But the devil was not
through with him. He went
from hero to coward again
about ten years later. Some
big shot Jewish Christians
told him it was wrong for
him to eat with Gentile
believers and he gave in and
quit eating with them. Paul
had the love and the courage
to tell him he was wrong
(Gal. 2).
Peter, everyone’s favorite
disciple, never quit sinning
and never quit failing the
Lord; but he never quit
trying to do right; never quit
growing; and never quit
fighting the good fight to be
the right kind of Christian.
He could say with Billy
Sunday:
“As long as I have a fist I am
going to hit the devil; as long
as I have a foot I am going
to kick the devil; as long as I
have teeth I am going to bite
the devil; and when my teeth
are gone I am going to gum
the devil.”
41
A. The Wicked One
(Eph. 6)
Jesus told Peter the reason
he would deny Him was
because Satan was at work
against him (Lk. 22:31).
Something in us wants to do
wrong and there is a sinister,
powerful,
spirit
being,
whispering in our ear; telling
us to give in. He has millions
upon millions of invisible
evil sprits, organized and
working on different levels,
with different assignments
and
responsibilities, to
frighten,
tempt,
and
discourage us. Hell has battle
plans aimed right at us.
Satan spoke though Simon
Peter (MK. 8:33); hurt
Simon Peter and in the end
used Nero to kill him. He
hurt Simon Peter, by getting
him to deny Jesus. No one
was braver among the
Apostles than him.He loved
Jesus with all his heart and
drew his sword to fight a
small army to defend Him at
His arrest (Jn. 18:10). But it
was Peter who failed the
most that night. Jesus told
him why. Satan did not
believe he was a rock, but a
handful of wheat that could
be blown by the slightest
wind (Lk. 22:31).
Satan used Simon Peter.
When Jesus told his friends
he was going to be crucified,
Peter, out love, said, “No
Lord, don’t do it.” Jesus,
who was being tempted by
Satan not to do it, recognized
him in His best friend and
said, “Get behind me Satan.”
(Mk. 8:33). We are not
surprised then that it was
Peter, who wrote thirty years
later:
“Be wide awake and
cautious, because your
enemy, the devil roams
around like a roaring
(hungry) lion; looking for
someone to eat.”
(1 Pet. 5:8)
Years ago Mary Ann and I
seemed to be having more
disagreements than ever.
You could feel an air of
unhappiness in our home.
At the Southern Baptist
convention, Henry Brandt, a
counselor from Kansas City,
said the first day that a new
problem he was seeing all
across America was friction
in pastor’s homes. He said he
was counseling more pastors
and their wives than ever
before. He said he believed
Satan was waging an all out
attack on Pastors and their
wives. Stephen Olford, the
next day, not there the day
before and unaware of what
Brandt had said, said the
divorce rate among Pastors
was
increasing
at
an
alarming rate and said he
believed
Satan
was
“targeting pastor’s homes”.
On the final day, Billy
Graham, unaware of what
these two men said, said,
“Satan is launching a full
scale
offensive
against
Pastors and their wives,
because he knows the best
way to damage a church is to
separate a Pastor and his
wife. Even if they don’t get a
divorce, the Pastor will not be
effective, because of the
problems at home”.
I
stopped being angry at Mary
Ann and blaming her, I got
mad at the devil.
The only weapon that
works against Satan is
prayer.
Paul
concludes
Ephesians 6 with,
“Pray in the Spirit, on all
occasions, with all kinds of
prayers and requests.”
We need to begin every day
asking God to be with us; to
pray all during the day when
we fail or when we see a
need. We are to find time
regularly to open the Word
of God so that when we talk
with God about our lives we
are looking and listening for
what He says. If we don’t we
are like the picture of the
little boy on the front of the
tugboat that went to the
bottom of Niagra Falls. He
stood there shooting a water
pistol back at it.
42
David Jeremiah says:
“Trying to live the Christian
life without factoring in the
devil and praying hard is like
parachuting into an Al-Quida
camp wrapped in the
American flag”.
B. The World
Satan the prince and god of
this world (Jn. 12:31 / 12
Cor. 4:4) works through our
fallen nature, and through the
people all around us, what
the Bible calls “the world”.
A servant girl’s mocking
plus fear of what the Jews
would do to him led Peter to
deny knowing Jesus and to
curse. Criticism from Jewish
big shots led Peter down the
road to prejudice (Gal. 2).
The world has two tactics;
one is to pull us down to its
level.
The Philips
translation of Romans 12:1-2
says, “Don’t let the world
squeeze you into its own
mold.”
Peer pressure,
mocking, criticism, etc. has
caused many a good person,
like Peter in Antioch
(Galatians 2) to do wrong.
If the pulling doesn’t work,
the
world
resorts
to
persecuting us. Jesus said,
“The world hates Me
because I testify that its
works are evil” (John 7:7).
When we don’t join in the
world’s sin they go on the
attack. First John 3:12 says
Cain killed his brother Abel,
“Because the things he
himself did were wrong; and
the things his brother did
were right.”
When we attack its pleasure
or its pocketbooks, its fangs
come out. It wears velvet
cloves but they still cover a
fist. It doesn’t burn us at the
stake, but it excludes us and
laughs at us around the water
cooler.
A new convert asked D. L.
Moody if he would have to
give up his friends. Moody
said, “No, most of them will
give you up”.
Growth
4. Suffering
Week 14
GROWTH THROUGH
SUFFERING
(The Gift Nobody Wants)
Part 1
THE ‘WHAT NOW’ OF
SUFFERING
“We rejoice in our sufferings
because suffering produces
perseverance; perseverance
produces character; and
character produces hope.
“(Romans 5:4)
“In all things God works for
the good of those who love
him.” (Romans 8:28)
When horrible suffering
fell on Job he cried out to
heaven in 7:20: “Why do you
use me for your
practice?”
(TEV).
target
When
horrible things like cancer,
car crashes, kids on drugs,
etc. come our way, unless we
are obviously at fault, it is
almost impossible to know
why.
There is nothing wrong
with questioning God. The
Psalms are full of it; the
Book of Job is almost
nothing but questions; and
even Jesus asked the “why”
of His sufferings (Matt.
27:46). The problem is, we
seldom get an answer.
43
There are only four answers.
It can be our fault – we smoke
from age twelve and die
from emphysema. God sends
it to make us better people or
to punish us. God allows it.
(To me this is the same as
God sending it.)
Finally, our pain is part of
the price we pay for being
human. Life has dealt us a
bad blow and God is with us
to help us. If we give our
situation to God we can
claim Romans 8:28, that God
will make it work out and
produce something good.
Suffering can make us better
but
it can also make us bitter.
A. Hurt Can Draws Us
Closer to God (Job 1:5)
When Jonah ran into a
storm at sea running from
God we read that, “All the
sailors were afraid and each
cried out to his own god.” We
glance at heaven every now
and then but most of us
never really look up with
interest until life knocks us
down. The very fact that we
say, “Why me, Lord?”
means we have been driven
to God and a deeper level of
communication with Him.
We find all these in the Bible
and we may experience all in
our lifetime; but much of the
time we are left in the dark
as to the “why” . What we
must do is go from why to
“what now”. We must give
our troubles to God and ask
Him to make it work out for
our good, the good of the
Kingdom, and the good of
others.
The KJV of Romans 8:28,
“All things work together for
good” is misleading. The
newer versions bring out
what the NASV says, “God
causes all things to work
together for good.” Faced
with more than we can bear
we naturally turn to the all
powerful and all loving God.
The traits we admire the
most, such as courage,
patience, mercy, and faith;
are developed in painful
situations. At high noon the
sky above us is filled with
stars, but we cannot see
them. In the darkness of pain
God shows us things we
cannot see in the day light of
good times.
Even
lost,
unreligious
people go to God in pain if
only to curse Him. C.S.
Lewis says God whispers to
us in our pleasures but shouts
to us in our pain. We may
look up to accuse Him; to
bargain with Him; to shake
our fist at Him; to ask why;
or to ask for help- but we
look up!
A pilot told the passengers an
engine was on fire. One man
yelled frantically - “Do
something
religious
somebody!”
A Catholic
pulled out her beads. An
Episcopalian pulled out his
prayer book. Those who had
not given much thought to
God tried to pray; and a
Baptist took off his hat and
took up an offering.
B. Hurt Can Draw Us Closer
to Others
(2 Corinthians 1:3-5)
“God / comforts us in all our
troubles so we can comfort
those in any trouble with the
comfort we ourselves have
received from God. For just
as the sufferings of Christ
flow over into our lives, so
through Christ our comfort
overflows (to others).”
It’s amazing how selfish
we are. We cling to our clan,
our family, our friends, our
church. Looking at a street
person, a wheelchair, a blind
person,
etc.
we
are
uncomfortable and shy away.
We wish them well but do
nothing to help them.
It is only when life throws
us into some great hurt that
we join them. Our clan
changes, it grows larger. We
see life through others’ eyes.
When God helps us we want
to pass it on to them.
44
Adam Walch’s son is
murdered, and he gives his
life to capturing criminals
and helping parents like
himself. Michael J. Fox,
stricken with Parkinson’s
said goodbye to his television
career. But he said, “Hello!”
to finding a cure for
Parkinson’s and to working
with people with Parkinsons.
Hurts are turned into helping
hands, when before the hurt,
all we did was fill our hands
with the things of this world.
C. Hurt Can Draw Us Closer
to our (Best) Selves
(Philippians. 4:12-13 CEV)
“I know what it is to be poor
or have plenty / I have lived
under all kinds of conditions
/ Christ gives me the strength
to face anything.
I saw a sign, “Christians are
like tea. Their strength does
not come out until they are in
hot water!” We don’t know
ourselves, our potential, our
courage, our faith, our
strength in Jesus, until some
crisis brings it out.
Renee Bondi, in 1988, was
on top of the world, She was
a Christian and a high school
choral teacher engaged to be
married. She always made it
a practice to instill faith in
her students, faith that they
and God could handle
anything.
One night, exhausted, she
fell out of her bed, landed on
her
head
and
was
immediately paralyzed from
the neck down.
She
admitted she asked God why.
Working through it she said
God whispered to her soul
that we do not select the
songs of our life, but if we
trust him, we can still make
beautiful music.
She wasn’t too sure. She
wondered if she had the faith
she had taught her students.
She did. Mike, her fiancé,
married her. She now sings
songs she has written to
prisoners, teenagers and
church groups.
She has
formed three youth choirs in
her church. She looks at her
whole life now, smiles and
says, “Now this is beautiful
music!”
D. Hurt Can Draw Us Closer
to Heaven
(Philippians 1:22, 23)
“The desire to break camp
here and be with Christ is
powerful. Some days I can
think of nothing better.”
“The Message” Version
It’s amazing how much we
prepare for this world and
how little we think about the
world to come. I think of this
when I see people jogging on
Sunday morning instead of
going to church. We get
emotional about heaven
when a loved one dies, but
back in the rat race of life,
heaven moves to the back
burner. It is only as this
earth hurts us more and more
that we begin to “groan
inwardly” and “wait eagerly”
for heaven (Romans 8).
James Dobson told of a
television docudrama with
three families, each of which
had been told that one of
them would die soon of
cancer. They showed the
shock, the tears, the unbelief,
the anger, the acceptance
and the courage of the days
and weeks that led up to
death.
The family he remembered
most was the very humble
African American pastor of a
small inner-city church. He
and his wife received the
news calmly. They thanked
the doctor for his honesty
and kindness. In the car they
joined hands, bowed their
heads and recommitted
themselves to the Lord.
The TV camera recorded his
last sermon to his little
church. He said, “Some have
asked me if I’m mad at God,
but I have only love for Him.
God did not do this to me.
We live in a world of suffering
and sin and death. Our Lord
suffered for our sins so why
shouldn’t I share some of His
suffering. I’m going to a
better place where there are
no tears, no suffering and no
heartache.” Then he broke
45
out in a song. Those were his
last words to his people. We
are sad for him and his
family, but we don’t feel sorry
for them. They have a faith, a
joy and a hope we admire.
that every year, millions who
die,
E. Hurt Can Drive Us
AWAY from God (Job 2:9)
He wore his unbelief proudly
but beneath the pride and
anger was probably a lonely,
broken heart.
Job’s) wife said to him,
“Are you still holding on to
your integrity? Curse God
and die!’”
Blessings are not automatic.
Job’s wife was made bitter
not better. Pain can drive us
to God or erect a barrier
between us and God. It can
drive us inward to discover
hidden strengths or to self
pity. It can drive us to love
and help people or to be
jealous of their good fortune
and to actually hate them for
having what we do not have.
Mark Twain had little use for
religion. It is said that when
he related one time to his
little daughter where he had
been and who he had seen,
that she said, “Daddy. I’ll bet
you know everybody but
God.”
Life’s sufferings, especially
when it came to his home as
death took his wife, drove
him not just away from God,
but against God. One of his
last books was an attack
upon Christianity. He wrote
“scoff at the pitiful world
and the useless universe and
violent, contemptible human
race.”
Growth
Suffering
Week 15
THE WHY OF SUFFERING
Let cancer or a car crash
take someone you love or
bring them unspeakable pain
in a hospital and your faith
will be shaken to the core.
Senseless pain is Satan’s
greatest weapon to get us to
doubt the love of God,
disobey the Word of God,
and defect from the service
of God.
There are a lot of bitter
people who have left our
churches, who secretly are
angry with God over the
course their lives have taken.
Some, no knowing how to
get out of going to church sit
in our pews with broken
hearts and a broken faith.
God wants us to grow better
but many only grow bitter.
The amazing paradox,
however, is that Satan’s
greatest weapon to get us to
defect from God is also one
of God’s greatest weapons to
grow us- to make us more
loving, more tolerant, more
patient, and more obedient.
It is easy to talk about the
value of pain when we are
not hurting. But Paul was not
doing that. Nobody in the
New Testament, outside of
Jesus, suffered more than he
did. He spent years in jail;
suffered shipwrecks; went
hungry; was beaten and left
for dead; was lied about by
fellow Christians; and had
some terrible chronic pain
that tortured him all the time.
And He says, “I rejoice in it
because it has given me
patience, Christian character,
love, and hope.
Jesus did the same thing.
Hebrews says when He
looked at the cross, “He
thought nothing of the
disgrace of dying on the
cross because the joy that
was waiting for him.” (12:2,
TEV)
We may never get there but
as we grow towards it, we
will become more and more
like our Lord, who suffered
also.
A. The Mystery of Pain
The Agony
To make the best of pain
we must somehow try and
46
wrap our minds around it.
We understand that to have
“good” we must have the
choice of evil. We know
people can make bad choices
and hurt us. We also
understand how pain can
make us better people.
What we don’t understand
is why it has to be so bad.
Every time I hear about an
adult abusing a little child, or
see a child crippled by
disease I think, “O God why
does it have to be that bad?”
In one sense, suffering is
harder for Christians because
we have to interpret it in the
light of God’s will..
If a person with no interest
in God has a child die from a
brain tumor; that to him is
bad luck. But if we live for
God and have truly given our
children to God, we have to
wrestle with the why. We
take it personally. If God
didn’t send it, He allowed it,
and we cannot help but
wonder why.
comes into our lives is God’s
specific will for us and He
sends it. Others can’t bring
themselves to say God sent
that drunk driver, so they say
allows it. They point out that
Satan had to get God’s
permission to hurt Job (Ch.
1).
I personally have never been
able to see the difference. If
God beats me up or lets
Mike Tyson beat me up, I am
still beaten up.
The wonderful book, “Why
There is nothing wrong with
wondering why or asking
why. It is not wrong to
question God. The Bible is
filled with this and even
Jesus, on the cross, quoted an
Old Testament child of God
and said, “My God, why have
you forsaken Me.?” (Ps. 22).
Job hurls questions at heaven
like bullets from a machine
gun.
The problem is we don’t
usually get an answer from
God. Job didn’t. We have no
record that Jesus did, before
He went to heaven. We have
to walk on and hold by faith
that there is an answer, and
that God is good, and that
God can make our pain work
out for some kind of good.
The Added Difficulty
The Answers
Some suffering is easy to
understand. Lung cancer
that comes from chronic
smoking; liver disease that
comes from abuse of alcohol,
etc. comes because we have
broken God’s laws of healthbut what about those things
over which we have no
control?
In our area a car driven by
drunk, jumped a curb, and
killed a woman’s husband.
Two years later a robber,
running through a large
parking lot, shot two of her
daughters, killing them
both. How do we, as
Christians,
explain
something like that?
We can say they are sent
by God. Many fine Christian
teachers say everything that
Bad Things Happen to Good
People”, says it is all part of
being human. Bad things
happen to all of us,
Christians and non Christians
alike. They say with Job 5:7:
“Man is born to trouble as
sparks from a fire go up.”
It is not that God sends them
personally to us, or allows
them; it is just part of life.
God stands ready to suffer
with us; to help us make it
through; and to make good
come out of it.
A lady in my former church
developed
crippling
arthritis at age 16 and had
over a dozen operations.
Her great grandmother had
the same disease. It was
genetic. It is hard for most
Christians to see God
47
deciding to “zap” her with
arthritis when she was
sixteen. And that is the way
she told me she felt about
it. She didn’t see it coming
from the devil or God. This
was her lot in life and she
and God were building
together on it.
The Book of Job, they say,
deals with the problem of
suffering in general. It is not
saying that God had to allow
Satan to hurt Job personally,
but explains why God allows
suffering in our world; and
how people can love and
serve Him in spite of it.
The worst possible answer,
the one Job was written to
disprove, is that suffering is
sent
to
punish
us
personally for some sin.
The Jews in Jesus day
believe this.
Seeing a man born blind,
the disciples wanted to know
if it was because his parents
sinned or even if he sinned.
They must have believed in
reincarnation; that he had
sinned in a past life. Jesus
said that neither had sinned
enough to deserve this, and
what it did was give Him and
God the opportunity to help .
Sadly, as a Pastor for almost
fifty years, the majority of
Christians who terrible blows
like wonder what they did
wrong to deserve it.
Then you won’t get
discouraged and give up.”
Our Limitations
Horrible suffering is one
subject
we
have
to
experience to even try to
understand. The explanation
that brings you peace may
not do the same with
someone else. It is hard to
know what we believe, or be
consistent in our thinking,
until we hurt.
I have held all four views
and none of them alone gives
me peace. Each has their
weaknesses and problems
and I have no more answers
now, after 50 years, than I
had to begin with.
The important thing is not
for us to explain evil and
suffering but to endure it
with a deep and abiding joy
that circumstances cannot
destroy; and embrace it as
God’s tool to make us better
people.
Some Helpful Truths
We saw last week how
suffering can make us
better people (Rom. 4:3).
Another help is that God
suffered too Heb. 12:1-3
says,
“We must keep our eyes on
Jesus. He endured the shame
of being nailed to a cross /
A modern parable of
Judgment Day pictures
unruly crowd before
Throne of God. They
crying out to God, “Who
You to judge us?”
the
an
the
are
are
The slaves of all the ages
said, “Wear chains and feel
the lash on your back and
then you can judge.”
The poor said, “Be born
poor.”
The victims of prejudice
said, “Be part of a despised
group.”
Those who had been
lynched or
wrongfully
convicted said, “Walk in our
shoes before you judge us.”
Suddenly the crowd grew
silent. Jesus Christ walked in
and appeared beside the
throne. On his brow were the
scars of the thorns. On his
hands and feet were the
scars of the nails. The crowd
slowly dispersed. They knew
God had already in all the
hurting placed where they
had been.
Finally, heaven will make it
worth it all (Rom. 8:18,
CEV). Paul the sufferer said:
:
“Our sufferings now cannot
compare with the glory that
will be shown to us.”
As a young pastor visiting
my first person paralyzed
48
from the neck down, I was
dreading having to go. It was
a young a man paralyzed at
age 18. Walking in I was
speechless. After some small
talk I prepared to pray –
nervous about what I would
say. I was impressed
(hopefully by the Spirit) to
walk over and softly say, ,
“Dwayne I don’t know why
things like this happen but I
know the Bible says that in
heaven ‘The lame man will run
like a deer.’(Isa. 35:6)) I’ll
bet when you get to heaven,
it will take a thousand years
for anyone to catch you as
you run all over God’s
heaven. A big mile crossed
his face.
Folks, heaven is not “pie in
the sky bye and by” it is the
only thing that makes this
trail of tears we call life
make any sense.
Bob Marcaurelle Week 16
C. Allies
CONVERSATIONS WITH
GOD
(Bible Study and Prayer)
“I am the vine and you are
the branches / Stay joined to
me and you will produce fruit
/ But you cannot do anything
without me.”
John 15:5 (CEV)
PRAYER
A dad asked his twelve year
old son to roll a huge rock in
their yard to the edge of the
driveway by 3:00 when his
mother would come home.
The boy worked and worked
but was not moving it fast
enough. The dad said, “Son,
use all your strength.” The
boy said he was, and the dad
said he wasn’t. The dad came
out in an hour and said the
same thing. The boy, with
tears, said, “Daddy, I am.”
The dad said, “No you aren’t
son. You haven’t asked me to
help you. Now let’s move this
rock.”
A. Relying
(Philippians 4:13)
“I can do anything through
Him (Christ) who gives me
strength.”
Prayer is a declaration of
dependence
upon
God.
Above our cities are huge
reservoirs of water waiting to
come to us but we must turn
on the tap. We all feel self
sufficient, and this is not all
wrong. We know the
ridiculous, silly extremes of
those who pray over every
little decision. People pray
for a parking space close to a
building
when
walking
would do us all good. Far
worse, however is our
practice of leaving God out
until we get in something
over our heads. The man
who wrote:
“No matter how straight the
gate / Or charged with
punishments the scroll / I
thank whatever gods there
be / For my unconquerable
soul.”
- committed suicide.
B. Contacting
(Adoration)
Jesus, in the pattern prayer
(Matthew 6) shows our first
goal is to make contact. Get
alone and say, “Our
Father”. We bring God
down to our life like a
magnifying glass that can
catch the sunlight and set a
forest on fire. We set the
Lord before us and see
ourselves in His presence. It
is life changing to see the
God of the universe focusing
in on you and calling you
His child. Prayer is a child of
49
God talking to his daddy
(Abba- Galatians 4:6). What
interests us interests Him,
however small.
Lenny Wilkins was the coach
of
the
Atlanta
Hawks
basketball team when they
were playing in the huge
Omni Stadium for the
championship. Ten thousand
screaming
fans
were
shaking the roof. Suddenly
Coach Wilkins heard one
voice. He looked down and
his eight year old son said,
“Daddy, I need some money
for a hot dog.” Coach Wilkins
reached in his pocket and
handed him a ten dollar bill.
love, closer to God. We all
want a peaceful death, but
more than that I want my life
to count for God. In prayer
God tests our “wants” and
our “wants”; what our hearts
desires, are our true prayers.
(Psalm 37:4).
Prayer is the soul’s sincere
desire / Uttered or
unexpressed / The motion of
a hidden fire / That lies
beneath the breast
Prayer is not our way of
getting God to do what we
want but His way of getting
us to do what He wants
C. Submitting
D. Asking
Jesus’ second priority is
to submit; to put God and
His
kingdom
above
“Thy
ourselves, saying,
Prayer takes many forms,
(Ephesians 6:18-20)- praise,
thanksgiving,
confession,
etc. but the most important is
asking for specific things.
Sam Jones said, “When you
pray for rain, carry your
umbrella.” Many devalue
“asking” and make it the
lowest form of prayer. They
are right if this is all we do
or if getting what we want is
primary. (James 4:3) Helmut
Theilicke says,
Kingdom
done.”
come,
thy
will
be
We know this applies to
wrong requests. God will not
give a drunk money for a
bottle. But it also applies to
legitimate requests. I would
like to live to be ninety and
shoot my age playing golf.
However long I live I would
like to die quickly and not
have to be cared for by my
family.
But all of us should pray
that the manner and time of
our death will bring those we
“God always wants to know if
we want His hand or the coin
in His hand.”
reason is; it takes faith to ask
and then fully expect an
answer from God. It puts
teeth into our prayers and
makes
them
real.
In
adoration, confession, etc. it
is all subjective. Doing these
we hope and often feel we
have made contact, but when
God gives us a specific
answer to a specific request
(Psalm 116:1-2), all heaven
breaks loose in our souls.
And when we don’t get the
answer we want, if we talk to
God about it, He will show
us He gave us the answer we
need. If we are late for a
plane, we should pray for a
close up parking space; and
God may provide it or may
not let us find any parking
space, to teach us to be on
time. Either way, we and
God have talked about it and
we have learned more about
ourselves and Him.
We pray for our needs,
physical and spiritual - our
“daily bread”. Paul said God
supplied “all his needs” (Phil.
4). Needs are not wants. Paul
suffered greatly and had to
make tents to supplement his
income as a preacher. For
spoiled Americans, give us
our daily bread means, “Give
us our daily cake.”
The N T, however, says
more about asking than any
other part of praying. The
Next
we
ask
for
forgiveness. If you can’t
50
think of anything you have
done wrong or any place you
need to improve, ask God to
show you (Psalm 139:3-4).
Ask for forgiveness and
“cleansing” (1 John 1:7-10);
the power to lay that sin
down
Pray then for others,
(intercession). “Thy Kingdom
come” means we want people
to be saved and come into
the kingdom, and we want
our fellow church members
to act more like they are
members of the kingdom.
Pray too for their needs.
Love them in the presence of
the Lord, and seek to bring
Him into their lives.
Here we must be honest.
Some people want us to pray
what they want for
themselves, not what God
may want. They want out of
the suffering but we should
pray they stay in long
enough to get the blessings
God wants to give them in
their suffering. They may not
be able to pray “Thy will be
done?” and we can do it for
them.
E. Thanking and Praising
It is amazing that what we do
the most, thanksgiving, is not
included in the Lord’s
prayer. Also, the phrase,
‘Thine is the kingdom, and the
is
not found in the oldest
manuscripts. It seems that
the church put it in later. The
only reason I can see why
Jesus leaves it out is that
when we pray right, and
believe we are truly in God’s
hands,
praise
and
thanksgiving come naturally.
Telling a believing Christian
to pray is like telling a three
year old he “has” to eat his
ice cream.
power and glory forever”
F. Believing
(Matthew 6:7,11)
“Ask and you will receive. As
bad as you are, you give good
gifts to your children. Your
heavenly Father is far more
ready to give good things to
those who ask.”
Leave your prayer time
believing you and everything
you have talked about is in
His hands. This is the path
way to peace. Paul writing
Philippians from prison, not
knowing if God will set him
free or let him be beheaded
(1:12-18) says in 4:4-6
(JB Phillips Version)
G. Doing
Praying is not a substitute
for doing. In Matthew 9
Jesus sees a vast crowd of
hurting people and tells his
disciples to pray for workers
who will go to them with the
Gospel.
Then
He
immediately
called
the
Twelve; gave them power;
and sent them out. He
answered their prayers with
them.
A Christian family sat down
to eat and the dad said,
“The Johnson family’s barn
burned down and all their
hay was destroyed. We
need to pray they will be
able to make it through the
winter.” Little Johnny said,
“Daddy, we don’t need to
bother God with that, we
can help the Johnson
family make it through the
winter.”
“Don’t worry about anything
but pray about everything.
Tell God what you want and
thank Him for what you have
and the peace of God that is
beyond human
understanding will stand
guard over your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”
51
Week 17
BIBLE STUDY
“Like newborn babies crave
the pure spiritual milk of the
Word so you will grow.”(1 Pet.
1:7)
In prayer we talk to God; in
Bible study He talks to us.
We,
A. Discover God’s Path
“Be careful to obey all of the
Law my servant Moses gave
you. Do not turn away from it
to the right or to the left, and
you will find success
wherever you go.”
(Joshua 1)
Jesus said we “live” by the
word of God (Matthew 3). It
is easy to talk about being in
God’s will; but God’s will is
an ever increasing discovery;
and if we are not searching
for it we are lying. Maybe
that is why we don’t pray
and read our Bibles more. D,
L. Moody wrote in the
flyleaf of his Bible,
“This Book will keep you
from sin, or sin will keep you
from this Book.”
B. Embrace God’s Power
“Put on God’s armor and when
the evil day comes you will be
able to resist the enemy’s
attacks.”
(Ephesians 6)
In our war with Satan Paul
describes our armor by
putting the Bible in our right
hand as a sword and faith in
the Bible in our left hand as a
shield. With one hand we
ward off all Satan’s fiery
arrows of temptation, and
with the other hand we
attack. (Ephesians 6:10-12).
This is what Jesus did
(Matthew 3). He met every
foul temptation from Satan
with a quote from the Bible
He learned as a boy.
On the cross, in His darkest
hour, He spoke seven times
and five were quotations
from or allusions too His
Bible. His last words on
earth came from Psalms
31:5: “(Father) into thy hands
I commit my spirit.” Living
by the Bible he had the faith
to die by it.
C. Experience God’s
Presence
Hebrews 4:12
“The word of God is living
and active. It pierces
between soul and spirit and
bone and marrow, judging
the thoughts and motives of
the heart.”
The Bible is not cold, dead
words in print. It is alive
with the presence of God.
David said, “Your laws are my
counselors” (119:24).
We
don’t just pray to a far off
God, “Give us this day our
daily bread”. We talk to the
God who is in our presence
and say, “Father please hand
me the bread I need in this
hour. I am weak pass the
bread of strength. I am
lonely pass the bread of
friends. I am afraid pass the
bread of courage.
Spurgeon said,
“This Book has wrestled
with me; hit me; cried with
me; comforted me; smiled
down on me; frowned on me;
taken my hand and warmed
my heart.”
Looking in the pages of
Scripture we are looking into
the heart of God.
D. Interact With God’s
People
1 Corinthians 10:1,6
“What happened to our
ancestors who followed
Moses / is an example for us
not to desire evil things.”
In Scripture we find flesh
and blood examples, good
and bad, of people who
encounter God and see how
52
He deals with them and us.
We see Joseph beaten by life
and apparently forgotten by
God, rise to the right hand of
the throne of Egypt and we
believe
our
apparently
forsaken lives are headed
somewhere (Genesis 37-44).
Facing a challenge too big for us
we read where David faced
Goliath and said, “The battle
is the Lords” (1 Samuel 17);
and we pray for and believe
the God who helped him will
help us.
We find the Bible hard to
understand and see Peter
having the same problem
with Paul ‘s writings (2
Peter 3:18). We see evil
people prospering and are
confused, and tempted to
lose our faith. Then we find a
man work through this same
thing in Psalm 73. We find
ourselves in the pages of
Scripture. D.L. Moody said,
“I believe the Bible is the
word of God because I don’t
read it as much as it reads
me.”
E. Claim God’s Promises
2 Peter 1:3-4
“(God) has given us everything
we need that pertains to life
and godly living. We get to
know Him who has called us
by His glory and virtue. From
these He has give us precious
and marvelous promises so
that through them we can
become like Him.”
Peter singles out God’s
promises as a vital part of
Christian growth. When we
claim
them
we
see
personally how God honors
His word. In Malachi God
said, “Put me to the test.”
(3:10); and then promised to
open heaven’s windows to
all who tithed. Millions have
proven and testified that we
cannot out-give God. We
give with a spoon and He
gives back with a shovel. But
this principle applies to all
areas of life.
Soon after my call to preach,
I visited a friend’s church and
the pastor surprised me by
asking me to come up and
speak just before his sermon.
I froze with fear and could
not
think
of
anything
worthwhile to say. I thumbed
through my Bible in my lap,
praying for guidance and
found a promise in Proverbs
16:1:
J.C. Penny, as a young man
was a patient in a hospital
and over-work and stress had
him on the edge of despair
and at the point of death.
Walking down the hall with
no hope left, he heard the
sound of a little group singing
a truth found 1 Peter 5:7,
“Cast all your cares on Him
because He cares for you.”
He heard these words:
“Be not dismayed what’er
betide / God will take care of
you / Beneath His wings of
love abide / God will take
care of you”.
Then and there, he says, in
an instant, he trusted that
promise; made it his life’s
foundation; and went out and
built a great company on
Christian principles.
Spurgeon said (Sermon 932).
When a sufferer leans on the
Scriptures they are sunshine
to the soul; a song in the
heart; marrow to the bones;
and rejoicing to the spirit.
“The preparations of the
heart are from man and the
words of the mouth are from
God.”
I claimed it and have been
claiming it now for fifty
years.
53
Week 18
PRAYER
“Men ought always to pray
and not give up” (Jesus in
Luke 18)
A. THE NATURE OF PRAYER
1. Don’t worry about the
“how” of prayer.
Fosdick says if you cannot
pray like you should pray
like you can.
football team and are not
willing to practice, our
dominant desire is not to
play the piano or make the
team but to rest or do more
interesting things than
practicing.
“Prayer is the soul’s sincere
desire/ Uttered or unexpressed/ The motion of a
hidden fire/ That lies
beneath the breast.”
5. Prayer is the anvil upon
which God makes us more
like Jesus.
We struggle when what we
2. Prayer is inviting God to
go through the Christian
life with us.
We ask God to guide and to
guard. The Psalmist said,
“I am your servant and you
have helped me. You alone
keep me safe. Don’t reject or
desert me. Even if my father
or mother deserts me, you
will take care of me.”
(Ps. 27:9. 10*)
3. Prayer is the dominant
desire of our souls.
want and what God wants is
different. I always told my
mother and then my wife
how to get along with me.
All they had to do was let me
do what I want to do. We all
know that is not going to
happen and it does not
happen with God either.
When God says “No” or
Wait” like our parents said to
us, we often act like big
spiritual babies pouting
because we don’t get way.
The two most powerful, life
changing prayers we can
pray are:
Psalms 37:4 says God will
“give you the desires of your
heart.” Sometimes we don’t
want what we say we want.
For example if we want to
play the piano or make the
(1) Thy will be done, and
(2) Lord do in me today what
You need to do so You can do
through me what You want to
do.
B. THE. MOTIVATIONS FOR
PRAYER
1. God commands it
Not to pray is to be disloyal
disobedient. Samuel told
King Saul that disobedience
was as bad as witchcraft and
told the people he would not
disobey God by not praying
for them (1 Sam. 12:23 and
15:23)
2. It produces humility
The first character trait
Jesus used to introduce the
Christian Life was, “Blessed
are the poor in spirit.”(Matt.5).
The Christian life begins
with a recognition of our
spiritual poverty. Paul was a
ten talent man in almost
every area but in the face of
Christian living and ministry
he cried, “Who is sufficient for
all these things?” The CEV
says, “No one is really able to
do this work.” (2 Cor. 2:16)
There is a joke about the
preacher who putted his golf
ball off line and at the last
minute an earthquake shook
it into the hole. The preacher
looked up and said, “Father,
I’d rather do it myself.” We all
have this kind of pride
ingrained
in
us
from
childhood. We are taught to
be self reliant and to work
hard. This is good but it can
54
give birth to pride and the
Bible says,, “God hates a proud
look.”(Prov. 6).
3. It Encourages Others
Our inability and humility
can encourage others. Our
human strength can discourage
others. They see our will
power and dedication and are
made more aware of their
failures and see little hope
for themselves. But when
they learn we are weak and
even wicked sometimes and
that our strength comes from
God, they can take heart. We
tell them the God who helps
us will help them.
A lot of people go too far
and say we deserve none of
the credit because God won’t
give any of his glory away. I
don’t see our God having
this kind of ego problem.
We inspire others to work
with God as “co-laborers with
God” (). We must assign
some responsibility and let
them know “without God we
cannot and without us God
will not.”
A new pastor visited a
farmer who was a member of
his church. Sitting on the
porch looking at the lush
pasture and the lake below
the Pastor said, “Bill, God has
sure given you a beautiful
place here.” Bill said, “He
sure has and I thank Him
every day for it. But Preacher
you should have seen this
place when God had it by
Himself. That green pasture
was filled with submerged
rocks and thorn bushes. My
boys and I were bruised and
bloody before we got it ready
for the grass. And that lake
was
a swamp full of
submerged trees, foul water
and snakes.”
does not know and sees
things the Pilot cannot see.
Hill said you have to report if
you are a gigantic “747” or a
tiny “Piper Cub”. You don’t
get so big that you don’t need
to report and you are never
so little that the Tower won’t
talk with you. He said if the
Tower says stop you stop; if it
says climb you climb and if it
says dive you dive.” God is
our Tower.
4. God answers prayer.
C. CONDITIONS OF POWER IN
PRAYER
Jesus says, “Ask and you will
receive.” (Matt. 6)
The Almighty God can do
things we cannot do. Prayer
has parted the seas. Prayer
has closed the mouths of
lions. The Bible says, “You do
not have because you do not
ask.” (James 4:2) The all wise
God knows things we do not
know. He says,
“I will point out the road
that you should follow. I will
be your teacher and watch
over you. Don’t be stupid
like horses and mules.”
(Ps. 32: 8,9 CEV)
The great preacher E.V. Hill
had a sermon titled “Report!”
He said a pilot calls the tower
to get on the run way. He
calls it when is ready to take
off. He calls it when he takes
off and he calls it when he is
in the air. Why? Because the
Tower nows things the Pilot
1. The request is God’s will
(1 John 5:14)
2. We are obeying God’s laws
(Prov. 28:9)
3. We do not love certain sins
(Ps 66:18)
4. We have faith (James 1:6-8)
5. The request is not selfish
(James 4:1ff)
6. We keep on praying
(Lk.11,18:1f)
This does not mean we have
to be perfect and cross every
“T” and do every “I” to be
heard and answered by God.
He is not some machine that
Demands the exact change.
He is a loving heavenly
Father who is using prayer
(good and bad) to grow us
and teach us. If we stress too
much the meeting of all
conditions to get answers we
end up making it appear we
“earn” God’s blessings. We
do need however to be real,
to be teachable, to learn from
our failures to meet God’s
55
onditions, and to be willing
to change. God is not with
holding blessings because we
don’t measure up, He is
trying to make us the kind of
people He can trust with His
answers.
Archbishop Trench was a
man
of
prayer.
An
unbelieving Physician friend
said to him one day, “Trench,
what you Christians call
answered prayers we pagans
call “coincidences”. Trench
said,
“That may be so, but all I
know is that the more I pray
the more coincidences I
have, so I will keep on
praying.”
Week 19
PRAYER PRINCIPLES
D. THE PRINCIPLES OF
EFFECTIVE PRAYER
1. Make Contact with God.
Jesus says begin with “Our
Father”. Get God into your
life. Peter went down in the
waves because he looked at
them and not the Lord (Matt.
14). The Bible says, “He will
keep in perfect peace whose
mind that is fixed on Him (Isa.
26:3).
2. Be honest.
Dying King Hezekiah told
God how good he had been.
We criticize that but God
saved his life. Don’t say
what you think you think you
should say. Be very careful
and tell what’s on your mind.
God already knows. “We
might as well kneel down
and worship gods of
stone/As offer to the living
God a prayer of words
alone.”
3. Never give up.
The number one condition
of answered prayer
according to Jesus is
perseverance- not quitting
(Lk.11; 18, etc.)
Use Helps
Pray through the Lord’
Prayer; a chapter a day in
Proverbs; the Psalms; the
hymnal; a devotional book;
your hand:
Your thumb reminds you of
those closest to you. Your
pointer finger reminds you
of teachers, parents and
pastors. Your middle finger,
the strongest reminds you of
our nation and world. Your
ring finger, the weakest
reminds you of those who
are hurting. You little finger
reminds you of your
children. The word ACTS
pictures prayer as:
Adoration, confession,
thanksgiving and
supplication (asking)- for
yourself and others.
If you pray for rain carry an
umbrella. Be like the little
boy who said to his family,
“I am going upstairs to pray
before I go to bed, do any of
you need anything?
E. THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF
REGULAR PRAYER
1. Begin each day with God.
(Psalm 5:3). Few of us have
much time in the mornings,
but we can start out with a
few basic comments about
the day ahead.
2. Spend each day with God
as you “pray without ceasing” (
1 Thess. 5:17). When a need
arises; when we do wrong;
when God impresses us; we
can send up our thoughts and
whispers. End the day with
God
assured
of
His
forgiveness and power, and
praying as you lie down,
“Underneath
are
the
everlasting arms.” (Dt.
33:27)
4. Set aside “closet” time each
day for God. Pick a good time
and place. It can be at lunch;
as we drive to and from
work; before going to sleep;
etc. Don’t be legalistic and
feel guilty when you miss a
day. Too many see daily
prayer as a duty and quit
because of guilt as they fall
short of this. Some read the
Bible through in a year, and
5. Expect an answer
56
most of the time, rush so
much that they learn little.
5. Carry a small NT with you
and read a chapter a day.
You can miss 90 days and
still read it through every
year.
6. Talk first with God about
what is uppermost in your mind.
We don’t find God at the end
of an argument that proves
He exists; we find Him at the
end of needs; where we find
out He cares. To put off what
concerns us at that moment
creates an atmosphere of
unreality.
7.
Number the lines on
notebook paper 1-30. Write on
each line something you
want to talk with God about.
When the page is full do
more pages. On the first,
third, tenth, etc. day of each
month pray for what is on
that line for that day’s date.
As God answers or gives
insights write in on the line
with the request. . This is a
spiritual diary that will bless
you like nothing else..
Some children were looking
through their mother’s Bible
after her funeral and found
the letters, “TP” written many
times in the margins. They
discovered her meaning
written on the back page:
(TP- Tried and Proven).
8. Stay with the basics. Bible
study can be dangerous as
we find things that bewilder
and
bother
us
like
predestination. In seminary I
read where God ordered
Israel to kill everyone in
Canaan, including babies.
Disturbed, I read many
explanations and found little
comfort, so I wrote in that
section at the top of my
preaching Bible, “I don’t
know what this means but I
know God is love.” Peter
Marshall said,
“It is not the hard to
understand passages that
bother me; but the ones I
understand all too well like
‘turn the other cheek’ and
‘forgive those who hurt you’.”
Treat the hard to understand
verses like bones when you
eat chicken. Don’t gnaw on
them; lay them aside.
Study Bible” explains the
texts and the “Quest Study
Bible” answers the tough
questions.
A father noticed that his son
had not packed his Study
Bible as he left for college.
When he commented on this
his son said, “Dad, I’m going
to church, but with all my
studying, I won’t have time to
read my Bible.” The dad took
him and his beautiful Irish
Setter on a truck ride. They
rode through a rough part of
town until they saw a thin,
mangy dog eating from a
garbage can. The dad said,
“Your dog ‘Buster’ is strong
and beautiful; aren’t you glad
he doesn’t look like that?”
The boy said, “Yes” and the
dad went on, “Son the only
difference between those two
dogs is their ‘diet’. Neglect
your time of talking with and
listening to God and your
Christian life will look just
like that dog in the alley.”
9. Study your Sunday School
lesson. There is no better way
to learn the important
contents of the Bible; and
how to interpret and apply
the
Bible
than
this;
especially if the lesson is
also discussed in class.
10. Get a good study Bible in
a good translation like the
New International or New
American Standard versions
(NIV / NASV). The “NIV
57
Allies
Week 20
CHURCH – WHY BOTHER?
POWER FROM
THE PEOPLE OF GOD
“We must not give up
assembling together as some
people are in the habit of
doing. We should encourage
one another especially since
we see the day (Of Christ’s
coming) drawing near.”
(Heb. 10: 25)
Even in NT times some
believers had given up on the
church. They felt they did
not need it to live the
Christian life. In fact they
may have felt the church
hindered their walk with
Christ.
Most of us have felt this
way. One Pastor admitted, “I
have been so busy going to
the Bible for sermons that I
don’t have time to go for
food for my own soul.”
Another said, “The church
has been like a huge wedge
between me and my family
and my God. I was closer to
God as a teenager than I am
now.” My first ministerial
staff member and I, weary of
church games, used to say,
“We could work in a gas
station; hand out tracts and
win more people to the Lord
than we do now keeping the
church machinery running.
What is Wrong with It
Someone said, “The church
is like Noah’s ark. If it
weren’t for the storm on the
outside, we couldn’t put up
with the stink on the inside”.
Why?
It is hypocritical. It talks
the talk but does not walk the
walk. We see this every four
years at election time when
men invoke the cause of
Christ and then steal us blind
for three years. We see it
every day in business. I have
heard over and over, if a
business
claims
it
is
Christian then go somewhere
else unless you want to get
cheated. I don’t know if it is
true, I’m just repeating what
I’ve heard for 50 years.
The church embarrasses
us. Pat Robertson said this
week the earthquake hit Haiti
because the country made a
pact with the devil decades
ago. Bailey Smith said, when
he was president of the SBC
that God would not hear a
Jew’s prayers.
It worships methods and
resists change. Jesus told
the Jewish Church, “For the
sake of your traditions you set
aside the word of God”
(Matthew 15:6).
Baptists
have stood up against
Sunday Schools; using any
version other than the King
James; baptizing in a man
made pool; using tapes in
church; and having couples
classes for married adults.
It mistreats outsiders and
becomes like a country club.
James 2 warned against
welcoming the wealthy and
snubbing the poor who come
to worship. The church
knows
how
to
keep
undesirables at arm’s length.
Author Tennessee Williams
and his sisters visited a little
church and the kids made
fun of their clothes. Never
again, he said, was he even
tempted to go to church.
This is especially true in our
treatment of the unsaved.
Baptists talk about “loving
souls” but they forget that
“souls” means “people”. We
don’t have souls like we
have a gall bladders; we are
living souls. Instead of
investing time and effort into
loving these people, we
usually “witness” to them
once or twice and then write
them off as unreachable.
A prostitute found Christ in
an AA meeting in a church
basement. She asked to join
the church. The Pastor told
her to think about her
conversion and come back in
a week. She did so and he
told her to read her Bible and
come back in a week. She
58
did and he told her to pray
and come back in a week.
She never came back. One
day the Pastor saw her and
asked why. She said I did
what you said. I prayed and
the Lord told me not to worry
about it, He had been trying
to get into your church for the
last 20 years.
Note
One reason for Baptist
growth in America was that
we provided neighborhood
churches where everyone
was from the same economic
level. My mother made me
go to a “downtown” church,
and I hated it because
everyone there had more
than I did. I went back to my
mill hill church. This didn’t
mean that church did not
care for me. I had a Sunday
School teacher there who
took a personal interest in me
and wrote me encouraging
letters. I remember his name
to this day.
The church bores us.
Churches have long prayer
lists that include people with
bad
colds;
children’s
sermons
and
long
announcements that eat up
too much time; church
conferences
on
Sunday
morning; and wonder why
visitors don’t come back.
Churches fight like cats and
dogs. Peeking through the
window of the First Baptist
Church of Corinth Paul said
he was afraid that if he came
to them he would find (2
Cor. 12:20 TEV):
“quarreling, jealousy, hot
tempers, selfishness, insults,
gossip, pride, and disorder.”
Baptists are the worst.
Right now small Baptist
churches are dying, and they
will let their churches die
before they will even
consider uniting with another
Baptist
church
nearby.
People already have enough
conflicts and problems. Why,
they ask, should we start
going to church and find
more.
Why Go?
The Bible commands it.
Jesus founded the church and
we need to support it and its
work. The creation of local
congregations of believers all
over the Roman world who
ministered to the people in
their area was not a “good
idea” thought up by the
Apostles. Jesus told His
disciples, “I will build my
church.”
(Mt.
16:18).
Failure to support it is failure
to follow Him.
Hebrews
10:25 is not a suggestion it is
a command. When people
tell me they are Christians
but don’t go to church, my
answer is, “I didn’t know we
had a choice.” We cannot
pick
and
choose
the
commands we like and will
obey and call ourselves
followers of Jesus Christ.
That is like calling yourself a
soldier and not putting on the
uniform or joining any
branch of the military
We need to support
others through it.
Jesus
commissioned His followers
to preach “repentance and
the forgiveness of sins to all
nations” (Luke 24:46)
There is no way they could
have done this as individuals,
or even families. They had to
ban together, elect leaders,
and assign responsibilities,
even though it would cost
them their lives (Acts 7 and
12).
People selfishly say they
don’t
like
“organized
religion”. A “Lone Ranger”
Christian may live a good
life, but he cannot do alone,
what God wants done. We
cannot provide medical care
for our loved ones and
neighbors
without
“organized” hospitals; or law
and
order
without
“organized” government; or
education
without
“organized” schools. Neither
can we provide Christianity
to our world to our neighbors
59
without
Christianity
“organized”
The Bible commends it.
We need to be supported by
it.
Hebrews says we can
“encourage” each other to
live for Christ. In church
we are taught the right Book.
Nowhere else in society will
you be taught and expected
to believe the Word of God
and live by it. Even if you
don’t agree with your Pastor
or SS Teacher, at least you
are thinking about the Word.
The word makes us strong.
Lone Ranger Christians are
easy prey for this sinful,
seductive world. Out there
we are bombarded all the
time with the world’s
philosophy and ways- make
money, look out for number
one, have fun, don’t take
anything off of anybody, etc.
had to be hoisted out of bed
with a lift. We sinned
together as friends in High
School, but when I returned
there to Pastor, he had
accepted Christ and was a
member and worker of my
church. When I left I asked
him what he wanted me to
pray for him. He wept and
said, “God has been so good
to me. Just thank Him for
that”.
Folks I need to be around
people like that. My children
and grandchildren need to be
around people like that. They
say in Africa it takes a
village to raise a child- you
are my village; and I thank
God for every one of you.
C. Allies
Week 21
4. Christian Friends
THE POWER OF A GOOD
FRIEND
It has the right people.
They encourage and inspire
us. It has some of the worst
people on earth. Almost all
of us have the scars to prove
it. If you were Satan
wouldn’t you put your best
(worst) workers where they
can do the most harm?) But
it also has the best.
“And (King) Saul’s son
Jonathan went to David at
Horesh and helped him find
strength in God. ‘Don’t be
afraid,’ he said. “My father
will not lay a hand on you.
You will be King over Israel,
and I will be second to you.”
(1 Sam.23:16-17)
Last month I visited a high
school friend who is in the
last stages of MS. He had
been bedridden for years and
We do not have to go it
alone, we have the church,
and we have some special
friends, God has given just to
us.
Jesus
had
many
followers; and He chose
Twelve “to be with Him”
(Mark 3:14); and then chose
three of them as a kind of
inner circle (Matthew 17:1)
The danger in friendship, the
deep wound of betrayal, is
worth the risk. We say:
I’ve trusted many a friend
that failed / And left me to
weep alone
But I’ve had enough of my
friends that were true /
That make me want to trust
on.
Some definitions are: “A
friend / will see you through
after others see you are
through; / warms you by his
presence, trusts you with his
secrets and remembers you
in his prayers; / is there to
care;. / doesn’t think you’ve
done a permanent job when
you’ve made a fool of
yourself; / walks in when
everybody else walks out.”
No matter how you define it,
a friend is one of life’s
greatest treasures.
When it seemed that
David, a hunted fugitive
because of the jealousy of
King Saul, had no friends, he
found the best friend in the
Bible. The King’s son
Jonathan, the heir to the
throne, told David he
(David) was God’s choice to
60
replace his father and he
gladly took second place to
David. His dream of serving
beside David never came
true because a few years later
he died in battle next to his
father. When he did, David
tore his clothes, fasted and
cried his heart out. He had
lost his best friend (2 Samuel
1). A friend:
A. Gives Life Meaning
Life
is
meaningless
unless we have someone to
share it with. In pleasure we
share the joy; in pain we
share the burden. Most of us
hear about the horrors of
prison life and feel we would
want a cell all to ourselves,
all the time. But prison
workers will tell you that
solitary confinement drives
people insane faster than
anything else.
As a POW in North Viet
Naam, Howard Rutledge
wrote The Presence of Mine
Enemies. Prisoners were kept
separated and he said what
got them through were the
little secret signals (coughs;
wall taps, etc.) they devised
to communicate with one
another.
B. Offers Help (23:16)
Jonathan didn’t feel sorry
for David; he risked his
father’s anger and “went to
David at Horesh” (23:16).
A friend in need is a friend
indeed. He is there to care.
He doesn’t love from a
distance. He is not like the
husband whose wife asked
him if he still loved her. He
said, “Woman, I told you I
loved you when we got
married, and if I ever change
my mind I will let you
know.”
At his wife’s funeral, Rev.
E.V. Hill told that early in
their marriage he received
death threats from drug
dealers angry over his
converting many of their
customers and his fighting
them from the pulpit. A letter
came and warned that they
were going to shoot him one
day as he went to and from
church . His wife begged
him not to go but he was
stubborn. When he got up
the next morning she was
gone. Panic set in and then
he saw her drive into the
garage. When she got out he
saw she had his coat and hat
on, and he knew she had
driven to the church and
back. Dr. Hill said a
profound thing; he said,
“Never again did I feel the
need to ask her if she loved
me.”
C. Is There Whatever
The country song says,
“Friends are hard to find
when they discover that
you’re down.” Jonathan was
there when David killed
Goliath and became the
heavyweight champion of
Israel. He “became one in
spirit with David, and
loved him as himself” (1
Samuel 18:1). In our text he
was there when David’s
world fell apart and everyone
else walked out.
Two close friends were
fishing in a mountain river
when they saw a Grizzly bear
running towards them. One
boy stepped out of the water
and was trying desperately to
climb up a huge Pine tree.
The other sat down and
calmly started putting his
shoes on. The other guy said,
“Jimmy you know no one can
outrun a Grizzly.” Jimmy said,
“I don’t have to outrun a
Grizzly. All I have to do is
outrun YOU.”
D. Is Tough and Tender
A good friend is tender He
will listen without sitting in
judgment. In our “macho”
society men avoid being
called “tender” like the
plague. Jonathan, like David,
was a man’s man, a
champion. In 1 Sam. 13 he
leads Israel’s troops to
victory over the Philistines.
In 1 Sam. 14 he and his
armor
bearer
kill
20
61
Philistines in a hand to hand
fight that covered a half an
acre (14:14). Yet the Bible
says he “loved” David
(18:1).
When Jonathan was killed in
battle David said, “I grieve
My favorite teacher in High
School, often cut me off at
the knees, saying, “Bobby,
I’m surprised at you.” She
always made me want to be
better.
for
you,
Jonathan
my
brother; you were very dear
to me.” (2 Sam. 1:26)
E. Is Godly
Chicago Bears’ fullback
Brian Piccillo, from the
South, was teased when he
was assigned to room with
Gayle Sayers who was black.
But after Brian died with
cancer and Gayle won the
courage award for coming
back from a knee injury he
said, “I dedicate this to Brian
Piccilo, the bravest man I
ever knew.” And he adde- “I
love Brian Piccillo”.
A good friend will also be
tough when necessary. They
love us enough to risk the
friendship. The Bible says,
“Faithful are the wounds of
a friend.” (Proverbs 27:6).
Simon Peter, the recognized
leader of the early church,
gave in to prejudice, and
refused to sit with non
Jewish Christians. Paul said,
“I opposed him to his face”
and told him he in the wrong.
(Galatians 2). Paul could
have been more tactful but
Peter needed to hear that.
Just before Peter died, he
wrote a letter and called Paul
is “brother” (2 Pet. 3)
(1 Sam. 14:10; 18:3; 19:5;
23:17)
Jonathan, rightful king,
knowing God had chosen
David, submitted to God.
The first time he saw David,
right after he killed Goliath,
he laid his armor at his feet
(18:3), a sign of his
submission.
This was
amazing because he was in
line for the throne, and a
military leader who inspired
men to die by his side.
Jonathan shared God. He
“helped him (David) find
strength in God” (23:16). I
can give you strength and
that is like a cup of cold
water; but if I help you link
up to God I have given you a
fountain that will never run
dry.
During the aftermath of
Watergate, the officers came
to take Chuck Colson to
prison.
The night before,
three other men came to him
in his suburban home and
stayed until midnight. There
was
ex-Senator
Harold
Hughes,
ex-Congressman
Graham Purcell and a man
named Douglas Coe. They
didn’t gather to drink their
troubles away, to lay blame,
or plan legal strategy, or even
to “be there to care.” They
gathered to pray and to give
Chuck Colson moral and
spiritual support. They led
him to link up with God and
the rest is history. He’s still in
the jails today; but not as a
prisoner but as a minister,
leading prisoners to join
Christian Prison Fellowship.
He is offering them friends,
Christian friends, because
friends brought him through
when everyone thought he
was through.
In 1982, fourteen year old
Karen Hartsock of
Castlewood, VA woke up to
the smell of smoke. From her
first floor bedroom she
didn’t run outside. She ran
upstairs two times through a
wall of fire that engulfed the
stairs. First, she got her
younger sister and brought
her to her dad. Before he
could stop her she was gone
again, returning this time
with her little brother. On the
way a piece of burning
wallpaper had fallen across
her .and burned her horribly
as she shielded her brother
from it. As she turned to go
back for her other little
sister, they stopped her,
because she was already out.
In the months of skin
grafting her little body
required she told the nurses
62
who apologized for hurting
her, “That’s alright.” What a
friend she was.
But the day came when she
saw her burned face and lost
the will to live. No one could
lift her out of this. The
parents called for the Pastor
of their little Baptist church,
Fred Patrick. Constantly by
her bedside, he said, “Karen,
you are the bravest person
I’ve ever known. You can’t
quit now. The Spirit of
Christ has already used you
and He wants to use you now
to help others burned like
you.”
Karen, later said, “That
was just what I needed to
hear.” The little hero got
well and became a nurse. in
a burn ward. President
Reagan gave her an award
for courage and she told him,
“I’m not a hero. I just did
what I had to.”
I’m not sure you or I could
do what Karen did. But Fred
Patrick, as her friend, gave
her the power to keep going.
I can do that! And you can
do that!
Th e Christian Life from A-Z
22.
WHY IS THE CHRISTIAN
LIFE
SO HARD?
Matt. 7
“The way is hard and few there
are who find it.”
Heb. 12:14
“Strive to live in peace with
everyone, and pursue holiness,
without which no one will see
the Lord.” Phil. 2:13
“Work out you own salvation in
fear and trembling; because it
is God who works in you both to
will it and do it.” -
A man asked his friend if
he found peace when he
became a Christian; and the
man replied; “Yes, but I also
found war.” Christianity is
described as work (Phil. 2:13);
as warfare (2 Cor. 10); and as
wrestling (Eph. 6).
It is a fierce battle and a
daily battle from start to
finish. At his conversion
Jesus told Paul “all that he
would suffer for His name” (Acts
During his ministry Paul
said, “I bear on my body, the
9).
scars of the Lord Jesus (Gal.
6:17).At
the end of his life,
30 years after his conversion,
Paul said, “I have fought a good
And if ancient Christian
traditions are right, Paul was
later beheaded for being a
Christian. Before he left, he
told Pastor Timothy, “Endure
hardship as a good soldier of
Jesus Christ (2 Tim. 2:3).
Why
is Christianity so hard?
THE DEMANDS OF
CHRISTIANITY
Jesus’ call was, “Take up your
cross and follow me.” (Lk. 14)
In the First Century the cross
was not a piece of gold
jewelry to hang around the
neck; it was the epitome of
suffering and shame. It
brought to mind all that was
hideous and painful And if
Jesus was tempted in
Gethsemane to give it up for
an easier way, how much
more will we be tempted to
do so also?
In Matthew 5:48 Jesus
says, “Be perfect as your Father
in heaven is perfect”. The only
one who ever did this was
Jesus, and the Bible says,
“Everyone who says he lives in
Him, ought to walk (e.g. order
their lives) as He walked.” (1 Jn.
2:6)
Thank God this is our aim
but never our attainment in
this life. Paul himself said,
fight” (2 Tim. 4).
“I do not claim that I am /
already perfect / but I run
63
straight toward the goal to win
the prize.” (Phil. 3:12 / 14).
This is why our text says,
“Pursue holiness”.
THE THREE ENEMIES
1. The Devil
If this isn’t bad enough,
when we are tempted by
conflicting desires, there is a
sinister, powerful, spirit
being, whispering in our ear;
telling us to give in. He has
millions upon millions of
invisible evil sprits to infest
our lives and thoughts and
tempt us and discourage us.
Eph. 6 says,
“Put on the whole armor of God
so you may stand against the
wiles (strategies, plans) of the
devil. For we are fighting, not
against flesh and blood (people
and things of this world) / but
against wicked spiritual forces
in the heavenly world; the
rulers, authorities and cosmic
powers of this dark age.”
(NIV and TEV).
When Peter deserted and
denied Jesus, Jesus told him
Satan was grinding him up
like wheat. That’s why Peter
wrote 30 years later, “Be wide
awake and cautious, because
your enemy, the devil roams
around like a roaring (hungry)
lion; looking for someone to
devour.” (1 Pet. 5:8)
Years ago Mary Ann and I
seemed to be having more
disagreements than ever. The
arguments
were
more
forceful than ever, and you
could feel an air of
unhappiness in our home.
At the Southern Baptist
convention, Henry Brandt, a
counselor from Kansas City,
said a new problem he was
seeing was friction in
pastor’s homes. He said he
was counseling more pastors
and wives than at any other
time in his ministry. Stephen
Olford, on a different day,
unaware of what Brandt said,
said the divorce rate among
Pastors was increasing at an
alarming rate.
On the final day, Billy
Graham, unaware of what
these two men said, said, “I
believe Satan is launching a
full scale offensive against
Pastors and their wives,
because he knows the best
way to damage a church is to
separate a Pastor and his
wife. If they don’t get a
divorce, the Pastor will not
be effective, because of the
problems at home”.
I
stopped being angry at Mary
Ann and blaming her, I got
mad at the devil.
2. The Devil’s Crowd
James 4:4 says, “Whoever
makes
himself
God’s
enemy.”
(TEV).
As Christians we have three
enemies: our own evil nature
with its unholy desires (Gal.
5:16-18 / Rom. 7:14ff); Satan;
and the world of people all
around us. The people of this
world have two tactics: one
is to pull us down to their
level; and the other is to
persecute us if we don’t come
down.(Proverbs 5:1-9)
The world tries to pull us
down. I love J. B. Philip’s
translation of Romans 12:12, “Don’t let the world squeeze
you into its own mold.” Few
things are more powerful
than peer pressure. It has
caused many a good person
and many a godly person to
do wrong. Many a godly
person has yielded to the
peer pressure of the world to
become an alcoholic, a drug
addicts, a prisoner to the
wrong person in marriage;
etc.
If the pulling doesn’t work,
the
world
resorts
to
punishment. Jesus said, “The
world hates me because I testify
that its works are evil” (Jn.
It is the age old story of
Cain and Abel. God’s word
tells us why Cain bashed his
brother’s skull, or some
think, he “choked” him to
death. The Bible tells us:
7:7).
wants to be the world’s friend
64
“Why did Cain murder him?
It was because the things he
himself did were wrong; and
the things his brother did
were right.” (1 Jn. 3:12).
The people of the world will
show their fangs when we
attack their pleasures (with
things like abolishing the
sale of liquor) or their
pocketbooks (telling them
they can’t sell alcohol on
Sunday).
But we don’t have to do that
to incur their anger. When
we don’t join in their “fun”
they feel like we think we are
better than them, and they go
on the attack. The forms of
punishment have changed
but not the principle. The
committed Christian will
often be shunned by the “in”
crowd; passed over at work
for promotions; and laugher
at behind their backs.
A new Christian asked D.
L. Moody if he would have
to give up most of his friends
now that he was a Christian.
Moody said, “No, most of
them will give you up”. The
world makes it hard to be a
committed Christian.
THE STRANGE WAYS
OF GOD
“If anyone comes to me and
does not hate his father and
mother, his wife and children,
his brothers and sisters – yes
and even his own life, he cannot
be my disciple/”
- Jesus in Luke 14:25ff
Since hating is a sin (Mt. 5:2126) and parents are to be
honored (Ex. 20), we know
Jesus is using “hate” as a
figure of speech pointing out
how our love and devotion
for Him must come first,
above all else and all others.
God does not make things
easy for us; in fact He often
makes life more difficult
than they were before we
became Christians. Jesus
would not have died on a
cross if He had chosen to
stay in Nazareth and be a
good, godly carpenter.
The first Bible description in
detail of a person and God
living life together is that of
Abraham (Genesis 12-25).
Abraham, called the friend of
God, had to battle his old
nature. Twice; to keep
Pharaoh from killing him
and taking his wife, he lied
and called her his sister;
putting her in danger of
being placed in Pharaoh’s
harem.
But he also did battle with
the
strange
ways
of
friendship with God.
As an old man he yielded to
the true God and the first
thing God did was kick him
out of his rocking chair in
retirement and send him 900
miles away. On the way his
father died.
The first thing he found in
the
land
was
a
drought.
Going down to Egypt to
survive, his beautiful wife
was in danger of being stolen
by Pharaoh. God promised
him a son, but it was 30
years before he gave him
one. His nephew Lot, left
him for more money. When
his son finally came, God
gave him time to get to love
him and then asked him to
sacrifice him. (See, Choking on
God’s Dust – The Life of Abraham)
You find this all through
Scripture. Joseph was sold
into slavery; put in jail
because of a lie; and
forgotten by a friend in jail
before God gave him what
he promised. Right after
Moses was closer to God
perhaps, than anyone in the
Bible except Jesus. After
putting up with 40 years of
complaining from the First
Baptist Church of the Desert,
he prayed in his frustration.
“God if this is the way you
are going to treat me; then
kill me right now” (Num. 11).
David bravely stood up and
conquered Goliath, incurred
the jealousy of King Saul,
and he was forced to live for
65
years in caves and fields as a
fugitive with a price on his
head. Isaiah was called to
preach and told up front that
no one would listen to him
(Isa. 6).
And poor Jeremiah was not
allowed to have a wife and
family to support him; was
attacked by his own people.
He was so disappointed with
God that he called him a
“deceitful brook” (15:18) e. g.
one a thirsty man runs to and
finds no water. (Read Jeremiah
12-21)
Take
the
matter
of
seemingly unanswered prayers.
We ask God for things we
almost know He wants us to
have and do not get them.
This makes prayer an
exercise in agony. Paul
called prayer “earnest striving”
(wrestling) and the term is
agonidzo from which we get
the word agonize (Col. 4:12).
Jesus,
who
made
continual prayer in the face
of “no” answers the prime
condition
of
answered
prayers (Mt / Lk 11 / 18), said,
“Men ought to always pray and
The
Amplified Bible defines this
– turn coward, faint, give up.
In
other
words;
get
discouraged and quit.
not lose heart.” (Lk. 18)).
A Psalmist said,
“I have cried desperately for
help but still it does not come.
During the day I call to you, my
God; but you do not answer. I
call at night but get no rest.”
(Then pointing to his Bible
he said),
“Our ancestors put their trust
in you / and you saved them.”
(Ps. 22:1-2 / 4-5 TEV).
He was like the little boy
who prayed, “Dear God:
Uncle Fred still doesn’t have
a job; Mama still fusses at
me all the time; and sister is
still mean to me. And I am
tired of praying prayers for
this family that don’t do any
good.”
No wonder Jesus says we
shouldn’t “lose heart”.
A heroine of Church history
named Teresa, granted
sainthood by the RC church;
had a hard life. In deep
prayer and meditation one
especially difficult day, she
asked God why and He
answered, “This is how I
treat my friends”. “Ah
Lord,” she said, “Now I
understand why Thou has so
few.”
INTERPRETING LIFE’S
BLOWS
Job was called “blameless
and upright; one who feared God
and shunned evil” (1:1-2).
And
when his world caved in
after he lost his children and
his health, he wrote, “Man is
born to have troubles; just as
surely as sparks fly upward (from
a fire).” (5:7).
And Job’s awful blows along
with the theme of Job tell us
Christians are not granted
immunity from sorrow.. We
take
our
licks
with
everybody else. If we were
immune to things like car
crashes and cancer we could
not build enough churches to
hold the people who would
come there for all the wrong
reasons.
We re-dedicate our lives and
lose our job; or our husband;
or our wife. We give up
everything; surrender to
foreign mission work; move
away from family and
friends; and our child
contracts malaria and dies.
This
creates
a special
problem for Christians. It is
often said that handling
troubles is easier with the
Lord being with us; and this
is right. But there is a sense
in which it is more difficult.
Unlike those who leave God
out of their plans, we who
include Him and say, “Thy
will be done!” have to
interpret the “why” of it.
Some would say it was in
God’s plans for their child to
66
die and others would say,
“We don’t believe it was; it
is that we have to face
sorrows like everyone else.”
The answer for most of us
is that we don’t know why
things like this happen, but
what we do know is that God
can use it to make us better
people and better servants if
we will let Him. He will
make it work for some good
if we let him (Rom. 8:28).
The reason we find this
dilemma so bewildering is
that in suffering we think
with the heart instead of the
mind. If I serve God
faithfully and pray earnestly
for my family to be safe on a
trip and they have a horrible
accident and die or end up
paralyzed, I will wonder why
God did not answer my
prayers. I cannot help it. I
believe I would be tempted
take it personally, even
though, if it happened to you,
with my logic and beliefs I
would tell you it was not
personal; it was just a part of
life.
I am forced by my own
nature to ask “why” and that
is one question God seldom
answers. Even Jesus prayed,
on doing the will of God
until he could say, “It is
finished.” (Jn. 19).
Why does God make it so
hard? He wants to populate
heaven with soldiers and in
our
struggles
we
strengthened.
Tall
are
trees
grow in forests, where they
have to compete and fight for
nutrients and sunlight. Trees
in the field by themselves
take the shape of bushes.
Someone wrote,
“The tree that never had to
fight, for sun and air and soil
and light / Never became a
forest king / But lived and die a
scrubby thing.”
But more than that, living
the Christian life was hard
for Jesus. He buried his
earthly father. His brothers
and sisters thought he was
insane. He was given a cross
to bear. We are no better
than Him. With Him in
mind, let us say,
“Must I be carried to the skies
of flowery beds of ease / While
others fought to win the prize /
And sailed through bloody seas?
“My God, why have your forsaken
and even
though we don’t know of any
answer He received; He kept
me?”
(Mt.
27);
67