10/27/13

From Ben Fronczek... Danger of Being Ungrateful







Danger of Being Ungrateful

Everyone knows the story of David and Goliath. Most people know the story of David and Bathsheba. Fewer people know the story of David, Nabal, and Abigail.
It concerns those times when we un grateful or even feel insulted or not appreciated.
 
In this story we see a surprising response from David which we may not expect from a man after God’s own heart. But thanks to the wisdom of a godly woman, David comes to his senses and calms down. The story can be read in 1 Samuel 25:1-38. (click on verse to read)

Rabbi Moshe P. Weisblum wrote  It is basic human nature to want to feel appreciated, acknowledged and grateful for a job well done, for our efforts, our time, our talents, our skills. A simple thank you goes a long way.”    

When was the last time you said to yourself, “I did so much for so-and-so, but it seems like they don’t feel appreciate it?,” or “This relationship seems like a one way street. There’s no reciprocation.” Sometimes in our personal life, we may feel unappreciated by our own family members, wives, husbands, parents, siblings, and children. Even friends and acquaintances sometimes seem to take our friendship for granted. The same is true of bosses and co-workers. And sometimes it can even be a fair and generous boss who is not appreciated by his or her employees. Do you know someone who has ever felt underappreciated? It happens more often than not.

The feeling of being used and unappreciated is a painful feeling. Like David it can change and mess with our head if we are not careful. Every day we encounter people who need encouragement: A caregiver drags with exhaustion. A single parent feels lost. A spouse who feels unappreciated. A newly hired worker is discouraged because of his mistakes. A widow faces the raw wounds of her grief. A store clerk wonders if human  courtesy exists. Mom’s and dad's that simply feel used by their kids. The words we speak to those around us are so very important and are a way to show Christ’s love and give support to those who are in need.

What about you? Are you good at telling others how grateful you are? I’m not just talking about thanking God. Today I would like to focus more on how well we show our gratitude towards those around us. Like Nabel, if you ask most people if they are ungrateful, they will probably reply, “Of course not!”  However, this attitude is so ingrained in some of our lives, we are blind to it and do not see how ungrateful we really are.

But how can you tell if you are ungrateful? Are there things that identify an ingratitude attitude?  And if so, what can you do about it?

Webster’s Dictionary defines “Ingratitude” as: “Forgetfulness of, or poor return for, kindness received.” It can also be defined as not appreciating or valuing what you have, or have been given. Unexpressed gratitude is also ingratitude!”

What about an example of Ingratitude in Christ’s Day   Most are familiar with the many Bible accounts of Christ’s miracles. He walked on water, turned water into wine, fed thousands of people from a small amount of food, cast out demons and healed many people. But, although He healed many, how many do you think actually came back to thank Him?

Luke’s gospel records one such miraculous healing. In this account, Christ healed ten lepers. 

Luke 17:12-19
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosymet him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Between these lines I can almost hear how sad Jesus was. Of the ten lepers, only one returned to thank Christ. Think of that statement. Only one of the ten thanked Him for healing them of an awful disease! Even though Jesus’ reaction was not quite the same as David’s, it obviously hurt when those people did not come back to say, “Thank you.”

All too often the sad reality is that we do not realize how much our lack of gratitude can affect others.

How many of those people around us feel unappreciated by their own family members, wives, husbands, parents, siblings, and children, even our friends or acquaintances that we come in contact with.  And what kind of effect is it having on their heart?

What kind of effect does it have on you? 

What I am proposing today is that we need to Encouraging Others by showing our gratitude:

#1) Ask God to show you those who are overwhelmed—the single parent, the abandoned spouse, or stressed out father who needs a word of hope, or a friend who feels weighed down by their spouse’s infidelity or their parent’s impending death. Bring them a flower or a cup of coffee and tell them, “I know this is a hard time, but never forget that I’ve got your back and I am praying for you.”
When we see a young mother trying to deal with tired, whiny children. Give them a hug and encourage them and let them know, “You’re doing fine. With little kids, some days are hard. But you’re a great mom.”

#2) Affirm the caregivers. Try to understand the physical and emotional drain that often accompanies such a responsibility of taking care of one’s elderly and sometimes sick parents or loved one.  Watch for chances to tell caregivers, “I know it’s not easy, but God can see what you do for your loved one and is very pleased.”

#3) Be sensitive to the needs of the grieving long after a death. I still feel sad at times at the loss of my dad. And we need to realize the even though a friend who may have experienced such a loss can paste a smile on their face and say they are ‘OK’, realize that they may still be hurting, lonely, and sad in the inside.

#4) Show appreciation and gratitude to those you work with everyday. The grind of the workplace needs the oil of kind and affirming words like: “I appreciate your diligence what you do here.” “I’m really glad that you are here. It makes a real difference.” “Thanks for helping me out here”. “Good work.”

#5) Spread the fragrance of Christ through appreciation and gratitude to people in the service industries. Thank, and even tip those who do those menial tasks for you; Waitresses, check out lady, garbage man, mailman, paper boy, etc. Let them know that they are appreciated!

#6) Build up your family members with public and private words of affirmation. “Thanks for working so hard on the yard.” “I appreciate you doing so much around the house.”  “Wow, you are a great bargain hunter.” “Thank you so much for filling the gas tank for me.” “I’m so blessed to have you as a child.” “Mom, dad, I can never say thank you enough.”  Whatever it takes, show your gratitude regularly. It will pay of in the long run.

#7) Also it good to Remember Your Spiritual Family Thank those who do their best to serve Christ in some manner. Satan seems to work overtime to discourage them. If someone goes out of their way to serve or does something special in their service to Christ encourage them and show your appreciation.

Don’t underestimate the power of encouragement. Sometimes it won’t cost you anything but your kind words. But other times it takes a bit more effort to lift someone up after they get feeling unappreciated and discouraged.  Abigail made a serious effort to pick David back up and show her appreciation.

Let encouragement and sharing you gratitude become a lifestyle.

Proverbs 15:4 says 
“The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life,”

And 25:11 says 
A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”

And of course Hebrews 10:24-25 that says,
“consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

My encouragement today is that you make it a daily practice to spread the fragrance of Christ’s love to others through showing your appreciation to those you come in contact with.  Don’t make the mistake of becoming an ungrateful person.

For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566

From Jim McGuiggan... All Israel will be saved (2)

All Israel will be saved (2)

Whatever we make of Romans 11:26 we need to remember that it is Paul's triumphant assurance that God is faithful to his commitments. Chapters 9—11 have many difficulties but there's no doubt about what Paul's means to say: In the face of much that bewilders and behind much that has a God-denying look there is a God who can be trusted to keep his promises. Some have looked at 9—11 and walked away fuming. When Paul is done writing it he bursts into praise that just won't be kept imprisoned (11:33-36). Maybe if we knew what he knew and saw what he saw we'd burst into praise as well. "Qohelet" in Ecclesiastes 1 watches the sun rise and set, rise and set, rise and set. "See," he said, "everything is empty and pointless. Nobody cares. There's nothing but the same old same old." Jesus saw the sun rise and the sun set, rise and set, rise and set. "See," he said, "how kind the Holy Father is. He makes the sun to rise on the righteous and the unrighteous." They both saw the same thing...and yet, they didn't, did they? We read Romans 9—11 and ponder. Paul's reads it after he has written it and burst into praise and says to his secretary, "Add this, 'Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God'..."

Paul believed that God hardened Israel (11:7-10,25). Certainly Israel herself was in on the hardening process but Paul, following prophets before him and guided by God to see the present correctly, doesn't mince words. God blinded Israel and bowed their back. See The Hardened Heart in the Exodus lessons. But it wasn't the whole of Israel that was hardened; it was part of Israel. And the part that was hardened was not the righteous because God doesn't harden the hearts of righteous people. He hardens only those who are committed to unrighteousness and even then it is for a specific purpose. Hardened Israel had no grounds for complaint. It wasn't that they were righteous and God hardened their hearts against him. Their history revealed a pattern of apostasy and unrighteous behavior and when the Messiah appeared that bent for resisting God bottomed out and Israel suffered awful loss (11:12). What Israel (as a whole) had wanted they missed, but the remnant got it (11:7). They weren't blinded. They weren't hardened. They didn't suffer loss. They, and Paul was one of them (11:1-2) were proof that God hadn't rejected the children of Abraham through Jacob. It's nonsense to think that in Palestine that the bulk of Israel rejected Christ. James reminds Paul in Acts 21:20 of the many thousands of Jews that believed. In the scattered countries of the world the masses would not have heard of Jesus and therefore did not reject him. But that's another discussion.

The hardened were those who were lost before Jesus came along. It's a serious mistake to think that the hardening made them unbelievers. No, they were hardened because they were already unbelievers. With the coming of the Christ the plot thickened and revealed the hidden depths of Israel's lostness. This isn't anti-Semitism. Paul's quarrel with Israel is a lover's quarrel. And it isn't anti-Gentile to say that Gentile hands were covered with the blood of the Jewish Redeemer. Romans 11:32 says that God concluded all humans under sin that he might have mercy on them all. But we need to make up our mind to this: those that are hardened are unsaved! It isn't that unbelievers can't turn back to God and be saved—they certainly can (11:20,23). But while they are hardened in unbelief they are unsaved! Putting it in terms Peter used in Acts 3:22-23, those who reject the Messiah are cut off from among his people. However conciliatory we wish to be we're compelled to say that those who reject Jesus Christ as Lord are lost.

That means that Paul does not see a problem when he asserts that "all Israel will be saved" while equally insisting that "some of Israel will not be saved." But it is Israel he has in mind, ethnic Jews, not a non-ethnic, cosmopolitan community called "the church". When he says all Israel will be saved and some of Israel will not be saved he is talking about ethnic Israel!

The hardened are unsaved and it was God who hardened them. And why did God harden Israel? He hardened them that through them he might bring fullness of blessing to the Gentiles (11:12,30). And why did he bring fullness to the Gentiles? That Israel might feel the loss of their blessings and turn back to God in Christ (10:19-20, 11:11,14 and 15:27). When did God harden Israel? More than once, as the prophets testify. But in Paul's era it centers on the rejection of Jesus Christ to whom Israelites and Gentiles were privileged to look for salvation (see 15:8-12).

But what is Gentiles "fullness"? It can mean the "full number or complement" and that's how the NIV and the RSV render it. But it has many and various meanings. In 11:12 the NIV renders the same word as "fullness" (no word of "full number") and the RSV renders it "full inclusion". Paul uses the word (pleromati) in 15:29 to speak of the complete richness of Christ's blessing. The RSV leaves it as "fullness". I think the "fullness" of the Gentiles in 11:26 is the spiritual wealth with which God will bless the Gentiles. 

Note the contrasts in 11:11-12.  We have:

Jewish fall—Gentile salvation

Jewish fall—World riches

Jewish loss—Gentile riches

Jewish loss—Gentile fullness

There is nothing about "numbers" in the section. There is plenty about loss and gain and impoverishment and fullness. God hardens unbelieving Israel and it results in the crucifixion of the Messiah and that opens the door for rich Gentile blessing.

©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... The Virtue Of Gentleness (Philippians 4:5)







                     "THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS"

                      The Virtue Of Gentleness (4:5)

INTRODUCTION

1. Among several general exhortations which Paul includes in this last
   chapter of his epistle to the Philippians, we find the following
   admonition:

    "Let your gentleness (moderation,KJV) be known be known to
    all men. The Lord is at hand." - Php 4:5

2. The virtue referred to in this verse is a very important one, and well
   worth the time in this lesson taking a closer look at it.

[We begin by noticing...]

I. THE NATURE OF THIS VIRTUE

   A. DEFINITION OF "GENTLENESS"... (from Barclay)
      1. The word epi-ei-kei-a is one of the most untranslatable words in
         Greek
      2. The difficulty can be seen by the various translations given it:
         a. Patience (Wycliffe)
         b. Softness (Tyndale, Cranmer)
         c. The patient mind (Geneva Bible)
         d. Modesty (Rheims Bible)
         e. Forbearance (Revised Version)
         f. Moderation (King James Version)
         g. Sweet Reasonableness (Matthew Arnold)

   B. DESCRIPTION OF "GENTLENESS"... (from Erdmans)
      1. It describes that courtesy and graciousness which should
         characterize a Christian gentleman
      2. The term indicates something of "the power of yielding"
         a. The ability to give way to the wishes of others
         b. The poise of soul which enables one to sacrifice his own
            rights, not by necessity, but out of generosity and sympathy
      3. It is the opposite of stubbornness and thoughtlessness
      4. It was embodied in the man Jesus Christ - cf. 2Co 10:1

   C. "GENTLENESS", THEN... (as defined by Pulpit Commentary)
      1. Is the opposite of contention, rigor and severity
      2. Is the spirit that enables a man to bear injuries with patience,
         and not demand all that is rightly his due, for the sake of
         peace
      3. A good example of where this virtue is to be applied is seen in
         1Co 6:1-7 (note the willingness to be defrauded enjoined by
         the apostle Paul)

[Perhaps with a better grasp of the nature of this virtue, let's now 
examine...]

II. THE DISPLAY OF THIS VIRTUE

   A. IT IS TO BE A PERSONAL QUALITY OF ALL CHRISTIANS...
      1. Notice that Paul says "Let YOUR gentleness..."
      2. Elders especially must display this virtue - 1Ti 3:3
      3. So also should teachers - 2Ti 2:24-26 (not the same word used
         here, but the same idea)
      4. Indeed, ALL Christians are to display this virtue - Tit 3:1-2
      5. For good reason, for it is a part of that "heavenly wisdom"
         which comes from above - Jm 3:17

   B. IT IS TO BE KNOWN TO ALL MEN...
      1. This is the difficult part of the exhortation
         a. It is easy to be considerate, kind, and gentle toward some
            persons
         b. There are others, however, toward whom it is difficult to
            show a spirit of gentleness
      2. The hard task, and the real test, is to display this
         "gentleness" or "sweet reasonableness" toward...
         a. The unkind
         b. The thankless
         c. The perverse

[But as we continue on with our text, there is good reason to do so...]

III. THE REASON AND MOTIVE FOR DISPLAYING THIS VIRTUE

   A. "THE LORD IS AT HAND"...
      1. This may possibly mean "the Lord is nearby"
      2. Or it could refer to either meeting the Lord at death or at His
         final coming, both events are always imminent!
      3. He who is our Judge is ever watchful, ever aware of our conduct
         and treatment of others
      4. One day we will have to answer to this Judge!

   B. THE DANGER OF NOT DISPLAYING "GENTLENESS"...
      1. If we are not gentle in our treatment of others, do we expect
         Him to be gentle in His treatment of us?
      2. Remember the "Parable Of The Unforgiving Servant"? - Mt 18:21-35
      3. Also, James warning in Jm 2:13

CONCLUSION

1. The display of this virtue has great advantages...
   a. It can contribute much to the comfort of life and the peace of
      society, by reducing friction between people - e.g., Pr 15:1
   b. It can contribute to promoting the gospel of Christ (as we
      demonstrate by our example the "gentleness" found throughout the
      gospel message)

2. Are we a "gentle people"?  May we ever be, for "the Lord is at hand"!

Speaking of the Lord being at hand, are you living a life pleasing to
Him...?

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

From Gary... A change of venue













Today started out bad; I overslept, forgot to take clean-up bags with me for the morning dog walk and missed Bible Class.  But, the morning dog-walk was cool- about -  58 degrees and even this afternoon it barely reached eighty.  First time I was really able to wear long pants all day long; WOW!!!  This afternoon's walk was warm, but there was a refreshing cool breeze, which was a pleasant surprise!!!  On the way home, I realized how the seasons had changed, but it is nothing like I remember from up-state New York. When I saw the picture at the top, I realized how much I missed something like this.  No, that is not quite right - how I long to see this one more time!!!  Then, I remembered how the exiled Israelites felt in Babylon.  I couldn't remember exactly where that was in the Bible, so a quick search found this passage in the Psalms...

Psalm 137
  1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down.
Yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
  2 On the willows in its midst,
we hung up our harps.
  3 For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs.
Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy:
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
  4 How can we sing Yahweh’s song in a foreign land?
  5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill.
  6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you;
if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.


You miss what you really love!!!  It took exile and servitude among the pagans for God's chosen people to appreciate what they no longer had.  This morning, just before the sermon, I looked around and saw some empty seats and it suddenly dawned on me how many of my fellow Christians had fallen asleep (died) over the past few years.  Funny thing is, it didn't make me feel bad at all, just sorry they were not around to fellowship with anymore. I will just have to wait until I transfer my membership to heavenly rolls in order to see them again.  Lord in heaven, help me to keep my eye on the prize and remain faithful until, I too pass the way of all things and see them again.  You know, it just occurred to me... I wonder if there are seasons in heaven?