5/13/13

From Gary... Happiness, Joy and the path to God




If you look for it, happiness is but a heartbeat away. And joy is just behind it!!!  Frankly, I have been thinking about food, as Monday is Weight-Watcher weigh-in day.  So, this morning, I only had Yogurt and several cups of coffee.  Bummer!!!  So, when I saw these cute little gadgets for making sunny side up eggs, I practically drooled!!!  Somehow, the song "keep on the sunny side" from the movie "O, BROTHER, where art thou?" came to mind and along with it the title song "A Man of Constant Sorrow".  I watched both videos and was happy as a clam.  If you watch them both, you  might find yourself singing along with them, just like I did.  This "made my day"!!! and I found myself rejoicing over these simple songs.  Of course, when I am in this frame of mind, the following passage from the book of Philippians comes to mind...

Philippians, Chapter 4
1 Therefore, my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.  2 I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to think the same way in the Lord.  3 Yes, I beg you also, true partner, help these women, for they labored with me in the Good News, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. 4 Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!”  5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.  6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.  7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. 

Now, the movie is an epic tale of searching for happiness and ends well.  For those of us who follow Jesus, we KNOW how things will end and that alone should be enough to make us happy enough to burst in joy at the least provocation!!!  Keep on the sunny side- good advise for EVERYBODY!!!  And if you listen to the second video all the way through, you will know that even this man of sorrow has his mind set on heaven.  Bottom line, happiness leads to joy and joy leads to the peace of God!!!  For me, that is better than any amount of fancy eggs and even a generous helping of home fries to boot!!!  

From Jim McGuiggan... 1 Corinthians 5:11, Can't eat with my wife?


1 Corinthians 5:11, Can't eat with my wife?

A reader wonders about 1 Corinthians 5:11. Karl Barth said one should study with the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. No bad idea (though it has limits). Im sure he would have agreed that the Bible should be studied with a healthy dose of sanctified common sense. ("Sanctified" common sense is common sense used for holy purposes.) If we dont trust ourselves to have some common sense—limited though it might be—then we ought to leave the Bible alone, it'll only confuse us. Such common sense must be applied in understanding the following passage.
In 1 Corinthians 5:11 Paul tells believers "not even to eat" with someone that claims to be a brother/sister and yet is known to be immoral or a swindler or an idolater. (The list isnt exhaustive—only exemplary.) The passage isnt talking about a repentant person who struggles against moral weakness and is duly sorrowful when he/she loses in a moral struggle. The passage has a bold sinner in mind, a sinner that wants the fellowship of the community of Christ but has no heart for the Christ who is the community's Lord.
Paul says the believers are not to have company with or to engage in "table fellowship" with a person like that. He wasnt talking about eating in the same restaurant or building; he was talking about choosing to eat with them and express social approval. Believers were to distance themselves from the impenitent one that called him/herself a Christian. The transgressor was to be convicted and society was to know that the transgressor did not represent the followers of Christ.
There was nothing wrong with a Christian eating with non-Christians, people who made no profession of faith in Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 10:27 and compare 5:9-10). There was something very wrong in giving the known transgressor (that insisted that he/she was a Christian despite flagrant and chosen ungodliness) the impression that all was well with him/her. And there was something very wrong in expressing approval on the known libertine (by happy social fellowship) before a watching non-Christian society.
I've known groups that forbade wives and children and parents to eat with the other members of the family if they didnt come to Christ. I've known cases where wives/mothers made meals for the family, put them on the table for the others and went and ate alone. This is not what Paul had in mind. These men and women felt free to eat in the presence of their neighbours and fellow-workers who were non-Christians but wouldn't eat with their families.
The instruction in 1 Corinthians 5 is very specific and is not to be generalised and made to seem stupid and ineffectual. The relationships in families don't vanish because of 1 Corinthians 5:11. It is to be taken for granted that mutual love and the responses that go with that should continue. Imagine lovingly practicing 1 Corinthians 7:3-4 while refusing to eat. No, the 5:11 text does not over-ride the other standing and usually private responses of love within a family/parents/children.
No doubt if a family member freely chose decadence but wanted to be recognised still as a Christian there'd be family conferences but the public wouldn't expect (nor should we) the Christian to violate profoundly important relationship responses in her/his home in order to fulfil 1 Corinthians 5:11.
Compare also 2 John where professed believers who deny fundamental gospel truth are not to be welcomed. Strangers are to be welcomed, unbelievers are to be welcomed but professing believers to teach heresy were not to be welcomed. Such passages must not be taken beyond their obvious intention. See again, 1 Corinthians 5:9-10.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Mark Copeland... Mindful Of The Things Of God


                          "THE GOSPEL OF MARK"

                 Mindful Of The Things Of God (8:31-33)

INTRODUCTION

1. As Jesus travelled near Caesarea Philippi, He made the first of three
   predictions concerning what awaited Him in Jerusalem... - Mk 8:31; 
   cf. Mk 9:31; 10:33-34
   a. He must suffer many things
   b. He must be rejected and killed, and rise again in three days

2. Peter's response was adamant...
   a. He took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him... - Mk 8:32
   b. Peter's words:  "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen
      to You!" - cf. Mt 16:22

3. In turn, Jesus looks at His disciples and then rebukes Peter...
   a. "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of
      God, but the things of men." - Mk 8:33
   b. Matthew reveals that Jesus also said:  "You are an offense to
      Me..." - Mt 16:23

[Peter's outburst of concern for Jesus was only natural.  But Jesus'
rebuke reveals an important lesson in being "Mindful Of The Things Of
God."  Let's first consider that...]

I. GOD'S WAYS ARE NOT OUR WAYS

   A. AS STATED...
      1. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My
         ways" - Isa 55:8
      2. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways
         higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."
         - Isa 55:9

   B.  AS ILLUSTRATED...
      1. By His view of suffering in the scheme of redemption - 
         Mk 8:31-33; Lk 24:26-27,44-46
      2. By His view of greatness versus ours - Mk 10:42-45
      3. By His view of beauty versus ours - 1Pe 3:3-4
      4. By His view of money versus ours - Lk 16:13-15

[Clearly the mind of God and the things of God come from a higher plane
than the mind of man.  Peter failed to appreciate this.   How can we be
sure that we are ever "Mindful Of The Things Of God"...?]

II. MINDFUL OF THE THINGS OF GOD

   A. WE CANNOT TRUST OURSELVES...
      1. Our feelings
         a. This is often the standard of right and wrong for many
            people
            1) Who go by whatever "feels right"
            2) Who place stock in a religion "better felt than told"
         b. Yet the Bible declares the danger of trusting in our
            feelings
            1) "There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end
               is the way of death." - Pr 14:12
            2) "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool..." - Pr 28:26
      2. Our conscience
            a. "Let your conscience be your guide" is the motto of many
         b. But consider:  "O Lord, I know the way of man is not in
            himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own
            steps." - Jer 10:23
         c. Our conscience is not always reliable
            1) Paul had served God with a good conscience throughout his
               life - Ac 23:1
            2) Even at a time when he was persecuting Christians! - cf.
               Ac 26:9-11
      3. Our wisdom
         a. Many feel that through their own wisdom they can determine
            right and wrong
         b. God has chosen to save man in a manner designed to confound
            the wise - 1Co 1:18-29
         c. For us to know God's will, it was necessary for Him to
            reveal it to us - 1Co 2:9-12
            1) This He has done through His Spirit-inspired apostles
            2) Who in turn shared it with us through their writings - 
               Ep 3:1-5

   B. WE MUST TRUST IN GOD...
      1. In how to be saved
         a. Some seek to be saved by good works
         b. Others by faith only
         c. We must trust in Jesus and His apostles - 
            Mk 16:15-16; Ac 2:38; 22:16
      2. In how to worship
         a. Some want to offer what pleases them
         b. Others want to offer what pleases others
         c. We must trust in the commands and will of the Lord - 
            Mk 7:6-7,9; Col 3:17
      3. In how to live
         a. Some want to make themselves #1
         b. Others want to make work or family #1
         c. We must trust Jesus and the Word of God - 
            Mt 6:33; 1Ti 6:17-19; 2Ti 3:16-17; 2Pe 1:3

CONCLUSION

1. We can only be "Mindful Of The Things Of God" when we...
   a. Humbly submit to what is revealed in the Word of God
   b. Refuse to let our feelings, conscience, or wisdom be our guide

2. Otherwise, we are "Mindful Of The Things Of Men", where we...
   a. Become an instrument of Satan! - cf. Mk 8:33
   b. Become an offense to Jesus! - cf. Mt 16:23

Have you given much thought as to whether you are "Mindful Of The Things
Of God"...?

   "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are
   above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your
   mind on things above, not on things on the earth." - Col 3:1-2

   "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
   renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and
   acceptable and perfect will of God." - Ro 12:2



Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

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