8/20/13

From Gary... The healing power of a SMILE


The year was 1973; the place was Norton Company in upstate New York; and the man was Mike B..  He wasn't much to look at, drank way too much, always seemed to be in the thick of any disturbance, yet he comes to my mind as one of the outstanding characters of my early adulthood.  I am almost at a loss for words in describing him, so I will reference Eliza Doolittle's father (from the movie- My Fair Lady) as the best comparison I can think of at the moment.  Mike had a special sort of wisdom and insight into people that is singular in my experience with human beings.  He would say things like: "You can say anything to anybody at anytime, as long as it is the truth and you have a crazy enough smile on your face."  And mike did!!!  From his immediate supervisor to the head of the department and even the general foreman of the plant, Mike practiced what he preached!!!  The thing is: Mike's smile was infectious. He could turn the most adversarial situation into laughter and most people just loved to be around "crazy Mike".  So much for the power of a smile.  In thinking about Mike, I remembered JOB and his positive attitude towards adversity and his consideration towards the less fortunate...

Job, Chapter 29
 21 “Men listened to me, waited,

and kept silence for my counsel.
  22 After my words they didn’t speak again.
My speech fell on them.
  23 They waited for me as for the rain.
Their mouths drank as with the spring rain.
  24 I smiled on them when they had no confidence.
They didn’t reject the light of my face.
  25 I chose out their way, and sat as chief.
I lived as a king in the army,
as one who comforts the mourners.


Today, I offer no great insights, or revelations; just something you already know.  The power of a smile and the knowledge that it has the capacity to confuse even the most obnoxious among us to the point that they can become pliable to the point of being friendly.  You don't have to agree with me- but know that as I write these words, I have a smile from ear to ear!!!  Confused yet????

From Jim McGuiggan... Noah singing to Mrs. Noah

Noah singing to Mrs. Noah

Human love can be an astonishing and inspiring thing. I’m talking about romantic love which at its best knows what’s it like to feel the heart lurch when some special person walks into the room but also knows how to give itself—come what may—through all of life to that same person.
I believe that human love (romance included) is a profound gift from God but I think I’m aware that as soon as the gift leaves his hand it’s no longer quite what he gave. That might need chewed on for a while but there’s no doubt in my mind that however sinful humans are, by the grace of God they’re capable of fascinating demonstrations of warm loyalty and happy self-sacrifice. They’re capable of seeing beyond themselves to what pleases someone else and while it’s true (certainly!) that they get pleasure in their self-forgetfulness they don’t do it with the commercial spirit. “If I love her/him I will find happiness in return.” None of that! Choice is never obliterated in the relationship but after a time it takes a back-seat and the lover is carried along with the person of the beloved.
Only a thoroughly hedonistic person—ruled by the pelvic region—is untouched by Noah’s song to his wife. The musical Two by Two is a humorous reflection on Noah and his ark. In 1970, Richard Rodgers, Martin Charnin, Peter Stone (using Clifford Odets, “Flowering Peach”) combined their talents and have Noah (talkative Danny Kaye in the part) sing to his wife.
I do not know a day I did not love you.
I can’t remember when love wasn’t there.
The planting when the earth ran through your fingers.
The harvest when the sun shone in your hair.
I do not know a day I did not need you
For sharing every moment that I spent
I needed you before I ever met you
Before I knew what needing someone meant.
And if we ever were to have tomorrow
One fact alone is full and filled with song
You will not know a day I do not love you
The way that I have loved you all along.

In the face of a global flood with the future filled with mystery and maybe uncertainty you can imagine his heart pouring that out.
The good news is that Noah isn’t dead. He’s alive and well in a countless number that—whatever their failures and limitations—have hearts that can think such thoughts and long for such loveliness. [Think I'll go and give Ethel my imitation of Tony Bennett.]

©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... True Comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)


                "THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS"

                          True Comfort (1:3-5)

INTRODUCTION

1. Have you ever known people who despite tragedy were able to offer
   comfort to others?
   a. I know a woman who within two years lost her husband, her father,
      and her two sons
   b. Yet when I saw her at the funeral of the last one to die, I was
      impressed by the way...
      1) She graciously went around welcoming those who came to pay
         their respects
      2) She offered comfort to others, when you would think she would
         be the one needing it

2. On the other hand, some people are devastated by personal
   hardships...
   a. They find no peace, no consolation
   b. They certainly are in no position to help others

3. What is the difference?  Where do those who are able to comfort
   others while enduring their tragedy receive the strength to help
   others?
   a. The apostle Paul was one individual who had learned the secret
   b. And he passed it along to us in his second letter to the
      Corinthians

[It is in 2Co 1:3-5 where we learn about "True Comfort" (read).
Note first of all regarding...]

I. THE SOURCE OF "TRUE COMFORT"

   A. MANY SEEK FOR COMFORT "IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES"...
      1. Some in thinking their problems are no worse than those of
         others
      2. Some in thinking that things will improve
      3. Some in believing that it can't be helped
      4. Some in trying to forget
      5. Some in exciting and dissipating pleasures of the flesh
      6. Some in complaining and repining

   B. BUT TRUE COMFORT COMES FROM GOD...
      1. He is called the "God of all comfort" - 2Co 1:3
      2. Why Him?
         a. Because He is also the "Father of mercies" - cf. 2Co 1:3
            1) The term "father" implies "source"
            2) Thus He is the source of all kinds of goodness and mercy
               - cf. Jm 1:17
         b. Comfort is just one of His many mercies, and so He is
            described as:
            1) The "God of all comfort" - 2Co 1:3
            2) "The God of patience and comfort" - Ro 15:5
      3. As the God of ALL comfort, there is no limitation to the
         comfort He provides

[The source of "True Comfort", then, is God.  But when does it come,
and how...?]

II. THE BESTOWAL OF "TRUE COMFORT"

   A. IT IS BESTOWED "IN ALL OUR TRIBULATION"...
      1. God comforts us when it is most needed - 2Co 1:4
      2. As taught elsewhere, God does not desert us in time of need...
         a. "I will never leave you nor forsake you." - He 13:5b
         b. He will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to
            bear - 1Co 10:13
         c. Yes, even in "the valley of the shadow of death", He is
            there to comfort us - Ps 23:4
      3. Indeed, the greater the affliction, the greater the comfort!
         - 2Co 1:5
         a. As the sufferings abound...
         b. ...so does the consolation!

   B. IT IS BESTOWED "THROUGH CHRIST"...
      1. "...so our consolation also abounds through Christ" - 2Co 1:5
         a. Just as with all other spiritual blessings, it is found
            only "in Christ" - Ep 1:3
         b. To receive the comfort that comes from God, then, we must
            be "in Christ"!
      2. Being "in Christ", there are two avenues through which comfort
         is dispensed...
         a. The Word of God - cf. Ro 15:4
         b. Prayer - cf. Php 4:6-7

[Actually, there is a third avenue by which the "True Comfort" God
gives us in Christ is bestowed, but that will become apparent as we
consider...]

III. THE PURPOSE OF "TRUE COMFORT"

   A. TO COMFORT OTHERS...
      1. "...that we may be able to comfort those who are in any
         trouble" - 2Co 1:4
      2. The comfort God provides through Christ is not just for our
         private consumption
      3. "God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make
         us comforters." - John Henry Jowett (1817-1893)
      -- Yes, our comfort is designed to be shared!

   B. A CASE IN POINT...
      1. How God comforted Paul - 2Co 7:4-7,13
         a. The Corinthians comforted Titus in the way they received
            him
         b. So comforted by the Corinthians' reception, Titus' coming
            then comforted Paul
         c. Yet Paul saw that the source of this comfort was ultimately
            from God!
      2. This reveals another avenue by which God bestows His comfort
         a. It may come DIRECTLY from God (e.g., through His Word - Ro 15:4)
         b. It may also come INDIRECTLY from God, through the
            exhortations of others - cf. 1Th 4:18
      3. Sadly, many people neglect all avenues through which God
         offers "true comfort"
         a. They do not feed upon the Word and pray, to receive comfort
            directly
         b. Nor do they develop the network of relationships with other
            Christians, through which God might comfort them indirectly
            when needed!
         -- But when all avenues are utilized, then "true comfort" is
            possible, and we can then pass it along!

[Finally, let's also notice...]

IV. A CONSEQUENCE OF "TRUE COMFORT"

   A. GRATITUDE, MINGLED WITH ADORATION...
      1. Paul began our text with these words:  "Blessed be the God and
         Father..." - 2Co 1:3
      2. It was the "true comfort" he had received that moved him to
         praise God

   B. SUCH PRAISE IS ONLY NATURAL...
      1. Not only because of the comfort we have received
      2. But also because of the comfort we can now pass along to
         others!

CONCLUSION

1. Are you lacking in this "true comfort"?
   a. Perhaps you have been looking in the wrong places...
      1) It comes only from "the God of all comfort"
      2) And it comes only "through Christ"
      -- Are you in Christ? - cf. Ga 3:27
   b. Perhaps you are not benefiting from the comfort God gives
      others...
      1) There are those who would be happy to share their comfort with
         you
      2) But you must be willing to develop the relationships necessary
         for such comfort to travel from them to you!
      -- Are you working on your relationship with fellow Christians?
         - cf. Php 2:1-5

2. For those who are faithful Christians, having delighted in fullness
   of "true comfort", remember these exhortations...
   a. "Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you
      also are doing." - 1Th 5:11
   b. "Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort
      the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all."
      - 1Th 5:14

Do these things, and we will all experience the "true comfort" by which
we will want to say:

   "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
   of mercies and God of all comfort..."  (2 Cor 1:3)

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

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