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Spitting In God’s Face

Read Proverbs 17

Featured Verse: Proverbs 17:5

“He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.”(Proverbs 17:5)

Contempt for the Creator—really?

Yep!  That’s what the Creator says in the Operator’s Manual for Planet Earth—the Bible. It says that when we look without compassion at those who are trapped in a cycle of economic despair or who have suddenly fallen into financial ruin, or act as if they deserve what they are getting due to their own poor financial management, we come dangerously close to spitting in the face of God.

In fact, there are an astounding number of places in the Bible warning us that those kinds of attitudes have no place in the community of Christ.  Rather, we have been called to lift up the downtrodden, we are to bear one another’s burdens, and we are to strengthen the weak and love the unlovely.  Not only that, but Jesus himself said that the defining mark of his followers would be that they have a full-throttled love, one, for God, two, for one another, and three, for a hurting world.  And guess what?  Two out of three don’t cut it here!

It’s not that we have ignored the hurting, the fallen, or the poor entirely. We do a pretty good job of giving to disaster relief, sending our unused clothing to thrift stores and donating canned goods to shelters.  That’s not the problem; it’s the attitude with which we do it.  You see, we engage the hurting but we don’t empathize with them very well.  We open our wallets, just not our hearts. Yet the Bible tells us that God is on the side of the poor and the downcast.  And, in fact, to ignore their needs or to judge them is to show contempt for God himself:

“You insult your Maker when you exploit the powerless; when you’re kind to the poor, you honor God.” ~Proverbs 14:31

“It’s criminal to ignore a neighbor in need, but compassion for the poor—what a blessing!” ~Proverbs 14:21

“Mercy to the needy is a loan to God, and God pays back those loans in full.” ~Proverbs 19:17

Jesus said it this way in Matthew 25:40, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

So the bottom line is this:  We had better guard our hearts and watch our attitudes very carefully when it comes to the poor and hurting.  We, as individual believers and corporately as churches, need to develop a sensitive heart and a willing response. Compassion is the rightful domain of Christ’s community and we need to seriously up our game when it comes to care and involvement with the less fortunate.

Why is this such a big deal to God?  Five reasons.

One, God is on the side of the poor.

Two, not to take their side too is inviting the judgment of God.

Three, taking care of what God cares about invites God to take care of what you care about.

Four, care and involvement with the poor will nourish your spirit and transform your own character

And five, expressing God’s heart for those trapped in misfortune will exert the awesome, life-changing power to lift a person out of their despair—something that may never occur without your helping hand.

“Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.” ~Mother Teresa

Winning At Life:

In the Incarnation, Christ left his glory to enter into our poverty. We have been called to the same kind of incarnational living.  So here’s the $64,000 question:  What about your attitude, your schedule and your spending patterns needs to change to fully, personally and practically exude the Incarnation in your world?

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The Success Formula

Read: Proverbs 16

“Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16:32)

I just did a Google search using the word “success” and came up with 990,000,000 hits.  In case that didn’t sink in, that is nine hundred ninety million.  Come on people, we can do better than that!  I was hoping for a cool billion!

Obviously, everybody wants to be successful.  When you ask kids what they want to be when they grow up, not a one of them will ever say, “I want to be a failure.”   Of course, they want to be successful; they are just like you and me.  It’s an incurable drive, which is why, from the beginning of human history, an extraordinary amount of thinking and planning and effort have gone into achieving success. We’re just simply feeding the success beast within.  Thousands of books have been written about the secrets of success. Tens of thousands of people attend expensive seminars on how to be successful year in and year out.  A mind-boggling amount of brainpower is exerted every second of the day on Planet Earth to unlocking the secrets of success.  And to be sure, much of what has been written, offered and exerted is quite good. Yet the truth is, there really is no secret to being successful. It’s more of a recipe, really, a formula that anyone can follow to achieve success in their life. Are you ready for it?  Here it is:

Find out what God wants—then do it!

That’s what Solomon is saying: “Put God in charge of your work, then what you’ve planned will take place.” (The Message)  Other Biblical writers have said the same.  Consider the following:

Moses:  “I am about to go the way of all the earth, so be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go.” (I Kings 2:2-3)

Joshua: “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:8-9, NLT)

King David: “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”  (Psalm 37:4-6)

Jesus Christ: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  (Matthew 6:33)

So what is the recipe for success?  Simply this:  Make your highest priority taking care of the things that God cares about, and God will take care of the things you care about.

That’s his promise, not mine.

“Success lies, not in achieving what you aim at, but in aiming at what you ought to achieve, and pressing forward, sure of achievement here, or if not here, hereafter.” ~Robert Forman Horton

Winning At Life:

Take time today to run each of the things in which you are striving to be successful through the filter of the verses mentioned above.  Are they aligned with God’s truth?  Are they what God wants?  Are they kingdom focused?  If not, I think you know what to do.

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The Essential Mastery

Read: Proverbs 15

“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1)

This will be the toughest assignment you will have today, but hands down, it’s the most important. It could be that relationships will be helped or hindered based on your success. It might be that witnessing opportunities will appear or disappear commensurate with your mastery of this mission. It is likely that the door to greater opportunity will open or close depending on how well you do. It might even be that your destiny will rise or fall relative to your ability to gain the upper hand in this task.

I am talking, of course, about the use or misuse of the words you speak today! Your tongue is, in reality, the rudder to the ship of your life, and the direction you take will be determined by how well you control it. Seriously, you and I must tame our tongue or we are likely to shipwreck our life sooner or later! If you think I’m overstating the power of your words, take a moment to read James 3:1-18 and Matthew 12:33-37. Here is the truth you will discover in these passages:

Mouth mastery is basic training for believers. Master it and you’ll move on to your Divine destiny. Flunk it and you will be held back from the life of impact God envisions you to have.

For sure, perfectly controlling your speech is tough work, but the payoff will be immense. Think about the personal power of the one whose tongue has been brought under control by the Spirit-formed heart:

Conflict is diffused! Proverbs 15:1 says, “A gentle answer turns away anger while harsh words fuel the fire.” Proverbs 15:18 tells us, “A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.”

Knowledge is distributed! Proverbs 15:2 says, “The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of a fool gushes folly.” Proverbs 15:7 reminds us, “The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools”, while Proverbs 15:14 follows with, “The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.”

Life is dispensed! Proverbs 15:4 says, “The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.” Proverb 15:30 offers this reminder: “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.”

Just think, if you can control your rudder today, and develop a track-record of rudder control, then you can initiate peace, instill knowledge and instigate life! Now that kind of personal impact is worth the effort!

 “A man finds joy in giving an apt reply—and how good is a timely word!” ~Proverbs 15:23

Winning At Life:

If you work next to someone, give that person permission to remind you every time you utter a negative, harsh, coarse or foolish word. Agree to pay them $5.00 for every infraction. If you work alone, ask the Holy Spirit to be your accountability partner…and just pay me the $5.00 every time you blow it. And if you’re tempted to fudge the results, remember, the Spirit knows!

 

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For All You Type A’s

Read: Proverbs 14

“Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.”(Proverbs 14:4)

If Garfield said it, it has to be true: “A clean desk is the sign of a sick mind.” Right?

Of course, most of us neat and orderly Type A personalities would say to that one, “put the cat back in the bag.” But, reluctantly and grudgingly, I have to admit that there is a truth hidden in Garfield’s reasoning.  Maybe he’d just read Proverbs 14:4—my paraphrase,

“When the bull is not in the barn, it stays nice ‘n’ tidy,
 but if you want a cash crop, you got to put up with a stinky stall.”

 Yeah, Garfield, life gets messy! As much as some of us would like to control everything that goes on in and around our lives, keeping things as neat, orderly and sterile as an operating room, we can’t.  Sometimes things happen beyond our control.  Have you noticed that life spilling out beyond the boundaries seems to be the rule rather than the exception?

So what is Solomon saying?  Forget about order? Don’t sweat staying within the borders? Don’t worry about the details?  I don’t think so.  Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, was no doubt a very orderly, strategic person.  Just look at the details of the Temple he designed and built.  It was grand beyond description.  Solomon was a man of great planning and execution.

But he had also come to understand that surprises, messes and interruptions were not only to be expected in life, they often became life’s little serendipities.  The unexpected pleasures and great discoveries in life are often unplanned, even when we guard our lives so tightly trying to prevent them.  But, “it” happens!

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul would say it this way:  “For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) So instead of ruthlessly trying to eliminate the unexpected and strategically avoiding the out-of bounds in our lives, Solomon says we should embrace them as necessary to a growing, fruitful, joyful life.

A consistently clean room means the child has gone away to college.

A marriage without heartache means that a husband and wife no longer share the same bathroom.

A ministry that doesn’t have to clean up the after-effects of sin means a church without sinners.

A life without relational disappointment means love never ventured.

A perfect world means you’ve lived in the safety of suburbia so long that you’ve forgotten the opportunities God has for you to change a lost and hurting world.

Yeah, life gets messy!  So why not jump in with both feet and enjoy the mess.  Get out of your comfort zone! Get involved. Get your hands dirty. Be useful. It won’t hurt you!  In fact, you might find an unanticipated dimension of life that leads to incredible fulfillment.

 “Just remember what God did with a whole lot of chaos.”

 Winning At Life:

Make a list of five things that are irritating you at the moment.  Now, beside each one, write a sentence prayer expressing gratitude to God for how he is going to use these “messes” to bring about good in your life.

 

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The Practice of Hope

Read: Proverbs 13

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12)

Hope is an incredible motivator in life, a powerful sustainer of love, and unquestionably, the most effective instigator of spiritual growth. On the other hand, the loss of hope is arguably the greatest devastator of life a human being can experience.  That’s how profound powerful hope is.

The Contemporary English Version translates our proverb this way: “Not getting what you want can make you feel sick, but a wish that comes true is a life-giving tree.” That’s so true, isn’t it?  We’ve all been there—the loss of a job, the breakup of a relationship, the crushing of a dream—it takes your legs right out from under you. It tempts you to give up, shrink back, curl up in a ball and just quit on life.  There is no pain quite like the loss of hope.

On the other hand, when you have hope you can survive and actually thrive through just about anything. When hope is stoked, even when what you’re hoping for is still a far off expectation, suddenly there is energy, drive, focus, and patient endurance.

That’s how powerful hope is, and that’s why we’ve got to practice it.  Huh?  Practice hope? Yeah, that’s what the Bible says.  I Thessalonians 5:8 says we’ve got to exercise hopefulness…we’ve got to practice being hopeful…we’ve got to put on hope:

“But since we belong to the day let us be sober and put on the breastplate
of faith and love, and, for a helmet, the hope of salvation.”

You see, hope is not just some vague and lofty concept; it is actually a very practical thing. Just like a football player puts on his helmet for the game, or a soldier puts on his helmet for battle, we’ve got to put on the helmet of hope, particularly the hope of our salvation, because it is what enables us to endure life’s battles and come out victorious at the end of the day.

So how can you literally put hope on as a helmet?  First, quit being passive about hope.  It’s not just going to happen for you, you’ve got to practice it.  How? By, secondly, developing and nurturing patterns of thinking that are founded in hope. The fact is, not only are there ways of thinking that will kill hope, there are ways of thinking that produce hope.

Let me illustrate:  Suppose you were to receive a phone call today from an old friend who enthusiastically says, “I have good news. You can take a 7-day trip to Hawaii with my company that won’t cost you a dime. We have room for two more…but here’s the catch: we leave tomorrow evening at 9:00 PM. The boss is taking us on his private jet, and we’ll be staying at his beachfront villa in Maui.”

You tell him you’ll call him right back, and the minute you get off the phone, you and your spouse, who was listening in, start thinking and planning. Out comes the pen and paper, and you begin to prioritize what you need to do to make this happen.  Then you call the friend back, and tell him you’re in.

Now here’s the deal: I’ll guarantee that you will begin to ruthlessly align your life over the next 24 hours to pull this off. Am I right?  You see, the hope of Hawaii tomorrow will change the way you live today.

There’s something even better and more permanent that Hawaii.  It’s called heaven.  The most important hope of all—the hope of your salvation—is promising you a better tomorrow.  So start aligning your life today for eternity with Jesus—and be ruthless about it—and watch what hope will do for you!

It is what Christians were meant to do, by the way!

“We have this hope as an anchor of the soul, firm and secure.” ~Hebrews 6:19

Winning At Life:

For the next seven days, right before you go to sleep and then again when you first wake up, think about what heaven will be like.  That’s practicing hope.

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All Creatures Great and Small

Read: Proverbs 12

“Good people are good to their animals; the ‘good-hearted’ bad people kick and abuse them.” (Proverbs 12:10, MSG)

What I love about the Bible is that it leaves no stone unturned as it digs into my life.  Now to be honest, I also don’t like that at times—but I’m grateful that it does.  God cares about my life—all of it. Yours, too!  Jesus said in Matthew 6:26, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

The main point is that if God cares and provides for even the birds of the air, how much more will he care and provide for me, the highest of his creation.  But don’t miss the lesser point as well:  God cares and provides for the birds of the air. They are his creation, too, as are all animals.  As the poet, Cecil Frances Alexander, wrote,

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Now here’s where the digging gets a little personal.  When I mistreat, neglect or abuse an animal, I am not only disrespecting their Creator, I am offending him.  Why?  Aren’t they just dumb animals?  Are they not created without an eternal soul, and thus not truly valuable in his eyes?

Yes, they are just dumb animals—yet he still cares for them.  They have his life within them, and above all else, life is sacred to the Life Giver.  Does that mean we should treat animals on the same level as human beings, become vegetarians, never wear leather or take some far out position as some with extreme views have done?  Not at all.  God himself has provided that certain animals were “good for food” and clothing, or to be used as “laborers” to help man accomplish his task.  But he also declared some to be off limits.  And some he has created for human companionship, for comfort and joy.  But toward all animals, no matter what their created purpose, God has put his stamp of life upon them, and thus he forever established the sanctity of life.  God cares about even the animals—and so should we.

Though we in the protestant, evangelical tradition do not venerate the saints, we do honor their lives and respect their tremendous influence upon the civilization of the world.  Francis of Assisi was one of those whose contribution we admire.  Francis is known as the patron saint of animals and the environment.  Many legends have sprung up around his life, one of them from his death.  It was said that on his deathbed Francis thanked his donkey for carrying and helping him throughout his life, and his donkey wept.

Though Francis’ treatment of animals might have been greatly exaggerated, his attitude toward the created world was simply the conventional Christianity of that era. It’s too bad that has diminished in our day!  To Francis, God created and provided for all life, and therefore all creation was to praise their Maker.  And as the highest of God’s creation, man was to assist the Creator as a steward of the earth by providing and protecting that which could not provide and protect itself.

The Humane Society has established an annual “Be Kind To Animals” week.  As Christians, we are obligated to that every moment of every week for all of our lives.  Animal kindness is simply Christianly.

“What can be seen on earth points to neither the total absence nor the obvious presence of divinity, but to the presence of a hidden God. Everything bears this mark.” ~Blaise Pascal

Winning At Life:

Take five minutes to read the following article on St. Francis of Assisi: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2007/sept13.html

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Prepare To Die!

Read: Proverbs 11

“Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.” (Proverbs 11:4)

I’ve done a lot of funeral services in my time as a pastor, and I’ve never seen a grave with an attached storage unit.  The fact is, was and always will be, you can’t take your stuff with you when you die.  That’s what Proverbs 11:4 is saying.

The only thing that will serve you well at the moment you breathe your last is righteousness. Your money won’t do any good, the car you drive will go to somebody else, your clothes will be taken to Good Will, your family will move on, and your friends will go back to your house after the funeral and eat chicken.  Sorry to put it so bluntly, but “them’s the berries”.

Years ago I came across a great little parable that reminds us of this sobering reality. There was a very rich man who, knowing he would die soon, had all his assets converted into gold bars. He then put them in a big bag on his bed, draped his body over the bag of gold, and breathed his last. When he woke up, he was at the gate of heaven.  Saint Peter met him at the gate and with a concerned look on his face said, “Well, I see you actually managed to get here with something from earth! But unfortunately, you can’t bring that in.”

“Oh please, sir,” said the man. “I must have it. It means everything to me.”

“Sorry, my friend,” said Saint Peter. “If you want to keep that bag, then I’m afraid you’ll have to go to, you know, the other place. You don’t want to go there, believe me.”

“Well, I won’t part with this bag.”

“Have it your way,” returned Peter. “But before you go, would you mind if I looked in the bag to see what it is that you’re willing to trade eternal life for?”

“Sure,” said the man. “You’ll see. I could never part with this.”

Saint Peter looked in the bag and with a puzzled look on his face said to the man, “You’re willing to go to hell for…pavement?”

It’s all just stuff, friends, worthless in heaven. Only the righteousness you have by grace through Christ will help you on the day of your death. (Luke 12:13-23) Try focusing on what righteousness calls you to do—and prepare to die!  Death won’t be so bad when it finally shows up.

“When it comes time to die, make sure that all you have to do is die.” ~Jim Elliot

Winning At Life:

Write out the eulogy you would want someone to deliver at your funeral.  Now, go live that way!