What Is Good?

Galatians 6:9 (ESV) ⁹ And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Okay, so we are supposed to do good but what is that? Can we really have a definition of what doing good actually is?

Some will say doing good is helping others. Yes, that is good. Many people need help. God has called us to the task of helping others no matter what their situation may be. I am distressed when Christians decide to condemn others when they really need help. They condemn prostitutes and shut them out of  their churches. They rail against drinking with such vehemence that no alcoholic would dare think the church would help. Helping people means you have to do hard things. It may mean confronting someone you love about his sin. It may mean withdrawing fellowship from someone who will not repent. It may mean cleaning up the alcoholic and walking with him through numerous failures. It may be showing a prostitute the love of Jesus rather than what she has been selling as love.

In the beginning God created all things good.

Genesis 1:31 (ESV) ³¹ And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

We do good when we join God is setting things to the way He intended them to be. Thus, we disciple people to know and obey God because that is what He intended for His people. All of our teaching and healing joins God in setting things back to His intention. Our quiet time each day keeps us the way He intended. Leading others to Christ heals the relationship between them and God. This is the relationship He intended to have with them.

Do you remember when the rich, young ruler called Jesus "good?" Remember how Jesus responded.

Luke 18:19 (ESV) ¹⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

The young man wasn't simply saying that Jesus did good, he was saying that Jesus was good. The full implication of this is that Jesus is the Messiah. He is the One who is setting things back to the way that God intended. God is the only One good for He is the only One who is in His full intention. Jesus wasn't denying that He was good. He was making an important statement about what good really is.

So, my understanding of good is setting or keeping things as God intended. Why would I ever get weary of this? Because I am trying to do this work of God on my own!

Thus, Paul told believers:

Philippians 2:13 (ESV) ¹³ for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

God must work within us if we are to continue doing good.

Now, isn't this how God intended things to be?

Living to Go Home

Everything in my senses says that the earth is my home. I have no memory of living any other place. All that happens to me here appears to be permanent. Everyone I know came from this place. I have no experience of visiting another place. The place I call "home" is vague at best. I continue to act like the earth is home.

But it isn't. It is a interim place of being no matter how hard or how long I want to hold onto it.

Life has four stages. Everyone goes through them. First, we exist in the mind of God. He already knows all about us even though our existence is not yet known to ourselves.

Psalm 139:16 (ESV) ¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

We only existed in the mind of God. There was nothing else. We could have only been known to God if we came into a corporeal existence. God had a plan.

Then, we were conceived. It was here that our bodies were formed. It is here that we became physical. Our existence is known to us through those who bore us. Our existence is vaguely known to us through the birth experience.

Psalm 139:13 (ESV) ¹³ For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

If we could have been as self-aware of ourselves as we are right now, we would have resisted being born. We didn't know the world on the outside. We had everything we needed in our mothers' wombs. We did we need to leave? God had a plan.


We were born and we grew. The memories of the womb have faded. At some time we came to know Him. He told us that He has another place for us. He promised to walk beside us. He did. It was His plan.

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV) ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  

Even though God kept telling us about His plan to bring us home with Him, we started to believe that this earth was our home. We were glad and we wanted to enjoy this earth. In fact, we would like to stay here forever.

2 Kings 20:1-6 (ESV) ¹ In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’ ” ² Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, ³ “Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. ⁴ And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: ⁵ “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord, ⁶ and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.”

But even though we might pray to live longer, God does not extend our lives forever. He has something better for us.

Now the questions are thus: At what part of the life we have already lived lacked the presence of God? When did we leave His love? When did we leave His care? When did He stop having a plan for our lives? Why should we believe that the God who knew us before we were born, knitted us together in our mothers' wombs and walked beside us all the days of our lives is going to leave us when we die?

Now, shouldn't we live like this isn't our home?  Our living has very little meaning if we live like this earth is all there is for one day we will take our last breath and we will never enjoy another thing on this earth. We will never have any satisifaction in what we have done if this is all there is.

We must live lives that will lead us to our true home like those saints of old who lived by faith.They lived with only the promise of Jesus. We live with Jesus.

Hebrews 11:13 (ESV) ¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

And living with Jesus is the only way to live to go home. This is God's plan.

Is "Stupid" Contagious?

So, I am making my way through the Atlanta Airport between terminals. It requires going up and down some steep and reasonably long escalators. I start down one of the escalators and see someone who has stopped at the end of the escalator to look at a map. There are hundreds of people about to crush him if he doesn't get out fo the way. A couple of bumps from others and he realizes what he has done and gets out of the way.

Then, when walking through the terminal I hear the beep-beep-beep of a cart taking passengers to their gates. The cart is being led by a person on a cell phone, talking away as the driver honks the cart's horn. The person on the cell phone is completely oblivious to the cart and continues to walk and talk.

I begin to think: "Is stupid catching?"

Honestly, it isn't uncommon for me to see people doing incredibly stupid things. They drive the wrong way down streets, wear their shirts inside-out and wander the aisles of grocery stores trying to remember why they are there. They forget that their bicycles are attached to the tops of their cars and try to enter parking garages. They go the wrong way through the drive-thru at Chic-fil-a because the restaurant has two drive throughs and they can't reach the window from the one with the shorter line if they went the other way. They tell long stories at funerals which have nothing to do with the deceased. They tell it because it reminds them of a joke that they wanted to tell.

Okay, but I don't think they are stupid. I believe they aren't thinking. I believe they have so much on their mind that they aren't aware of what they are doing. Yet, I also believe it's catching. More and more people aren't thinking. They are distracted from what it important.

Satan distracted Adam and Eve in the Garden. He could get them to disobey God if he change their focus from the God they knew to the god satan made Him out to be. Martha was distracted by all her preparations for a meal although she was in the presence of the Lord Jesus. She missed the most important thing for something that just seemed important.

Nothing has really changed. People are still being distracted. They still fail to notice the really important things that go on. They do not see the consequences of what they are doing.

My first reaction is to tell car manufacturers to place a sign on the dash of every car made: "Think about what you are doing right now." However, I'm afraid it would cause people to think about the sign and forget that they are driving. 

Maybe we should all put signs on our bathroom mirrors:"What will I do that will give God glory today?" Maybe that would cause us to think about everything we do.

Think. It isn't that hard once you think about it.

Genesis 3:4-5 (ESV) ⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Luke 10:40 (ESV) ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”

The Need to Be

Nehemiah 1:1-4 (NIV)
¹ The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, ² Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
³ They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire."
⁴ When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 

I have heard several sermons from Nehemiah. Most of them are given by preachers who wanted to build something new. They built new sanctuaries, new family life centers and new fellowship halls. They used the words of Nehemiah to motivate the people to act. This was their first step.

But Nehemiah's first step wasn't hearing of the walls being torn down or that the gates were burned. His first step was who he was. He wasn't looking to do something great or even to make his name great. He was a man of faith who sincerely cared for his people. He knew that the condition of Jerusalem would profoundly affect the worship there even if the Temple was rebuilt. So, he didn't need to be guilted or motivated to act. He did so because of who he was.

That is something that we preachers often forget. We hire consultants to tell us how to raise the money so that we can build. We hardly ever recognize who the people are. We hardly ever depend upon who they are. We think that we have to make them feel guilty or inspire them to build when they should want to join in with us because of who they are.

Of course who you are shouldn't stop at building church structures. It should be a part of sharing your faith, confessing your sins, worshiping regularly, having a quiet time, reading, studying and teaching the scriptures, giving to those in need and anything else it takes to make disciples for our Lord. These things should always come our of who we are.

It also should make us look at what we are doing and ask, "Does what I am doing indicate who I want to be?" If not, we aren't who we think we are. Wanting to be someone doesn't make us that person. We have to act if we are to be. Eventually we will be and not have to think about our acting.

Recently someone told me that I needed to change the titles to my blogs so that I could get more traffic. I thought about it. I am not good at writing titles. That doesn't mean I shouldn't try to do a better job but I don't necessarily want more traffic. I really want to help people who are serious about following the Lord. I want them to give God glory with the way they live their lives. Reading a blog won't do that if that isn't a desire that is in their hearts. I am someone who isn't that concerned about the traffic. (though I admit that I was at first) I am someone who wants to join people in living gloriously victorious Christian lives. I am someone who does not have to be motivated in helping people do so. I really don't have time to seek those who really don't care so that I can feel good about how many people have read my blog.

I write this blog because this is who I am. It is not something I do apart from that. I really don't need the motivation of more people reading it. I wrote this blog until this is what I became. How different would my Christian life be if that were true in other things? I mean, what if I was a person who so naturally gave to others that I didn't have to think about it anymore? What if I was a person who naturally had a quiet time with God each day without having to force myself to do so?

My goal is to be. I get to that goal by doing until I am. Then, I don't need anyone who needs to tell me what I must be doing. I will do because I am. Nehemiah fasted and prayed until he was one who would rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem. He was a Jew who loved his people first. He was a builder of walls and gates second. 

He did what he was. I have a feeling that most people won't understand this.

Wandering from Who We Should Be

1 Timothy 1:5-7 (ESV) ⁵ The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. ⁶ Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, ⁷ desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

I don't like horror movies. I say this because I have watched a few and so I generally stay away from them. However, there is one element in each of the ones I have watched: There is a time when the person who is to be victimized feels perfectly safe. The audience is made aware that something ominous is lurking nearby by the music or by watching the horror slowly creep up on the unsuspecting person. The audience is lured into the fear that is unknown to this one who because she feels so safe goes about her business with complete ignorance that her life is about to be taken.

I am not saying that Christian life can be like a horror movie but I see many believers who are unaware that their actions are taking them to destruction. They even think they are doing what is right when they are walking completely away from their Lord. They slowly wander away from their Lord without recognizing what it is doing to them. Some of them become heretics who are fully confident that they are right but have totally missed the true meaning of the things they are teaching. They lead others away by their own clever words which pull their audiences into their own deception.

What causes this? It is a desire to be revered as one who teaches the Word without continuing to keep a pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith. I have seen many preachers and professors who because of their great intellects have constructed convincing arguments which pull others away from their own pure hearts, good consciences and sincere faith. They have much to say but none of it turns people back to faith. They are wordsmiths which entertain but have said very little if anything at all. They are like satan who challenged God's Word in the Garden.

Yet, they see themselves as the most spiritual of all people. They are frequenctly loved by those who listen to them. They have a following of disciples who wish they could gather such a following. They have such confidence and intellects few others will wish to challenge them.

Many of these people go into the professional ministry. They wish to be teachers of God's Word and so study it without godly discernment because they have not carefully watched their own hearts. Seventy percent of preachers admit that they do not read or study God's Word outside of their own preparations for sermons. Thus, they have messages for their congregations without listening to the messages that God has for them apart from their congregations. Their own hearts are suseptible to wandering. Their own faith becomes insincere for their lack of connection with their Lord causes them severe doubts. They continue to speak confidently but do not understand what they are saying. In fact, they may not even truly believe what they are saying.

But the root of this is where they are leading their congregations and who they continue to be. They no longer understand their charge is a love that issues from a pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith. Therefore, they do not hold onto it for themselves. The literal translation is that they "having missed the mark" have "turned aside" to "vain words."

Yet, there is no one to whom most preachers are held accountable. No one in their congregations asks them if they have prayed, been in God's Word or have taken the time to listen to God each day. The congregations measure attendance, the building and maintaining of structures, programs and how much money there is in the bank. The preacher is deemed successful if he can gather a crowd who gives so that the congregations feels secure and proud. Most of the people do not have a taste for the Word of God and do not notice that they receive very little of it. They love the stirring speech and hope that nothing ever changes that.

It is no wonder that 1,500 ministers leave their positions every month. Many of them are forced out by congregtions which do not recognize godliness. Many others leave because they have forgotten why they are doing what they do.

Last Friday my dad had quadruple bypass surgery. He felt chest pain for a few days before he relented and made the trip to the ER. The images taken of his heart revealed these blockages. My daughter who is an MD upon looking at them said that they had been there for some time. No one knew because there had not been any previous images taken. I wonder if there are people who are walking around with spiritual heart problems but don't know it because they have not examined their own hearts.

If you are in the ministry take a moment and examine your own heart. It is still pure? Do you have a good conscience? Can you be characterized by a sincere faith if a spiritual MRI could be done? Do you really love the Lord Jesus?

If you aren't would you take a moment to pray for those in the ministry? Pray that they will show their love for Jesus as they speak with others. Maybe you are close enough to one of them to share your prayers and write a note of encouragement.

But never stop with what you can do for others. Examine yourself. Do you have a pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith? Is your love for Jesus overflowing onto others?

The Aim of Our Charge

Last night I read: "The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." (1 Timothy 1:5 ESV) This is the description of a disciple. The disciple is pure in heart because he has given it to his Lord. He has a good conscience because he is forgiven. He has a sincere faith which requires his actions because disciples do the commandments of Jesus. Faith is not something that is believed without actions. It requires actions or there is no sincere faith.

From these traits spring forth love. I, like many other people, have gotten this wrong over the years. I have told people to love Jesus and they will start doing what pleases Him. This says that doing what pleases Him causes us to love Him.

My former understanding comes from the language of this world. It says that you feel love and do what the one you love wants. If you don’t feel love you don’t do anything. This is a great way to break up a marriage, isn’t it? You don’t feel love so you do nothing your spouse enjoys. Your spouse, then, doesn’t feel love and does nothing too. Instead, think of having a pure heart, good conscience and a sincere commitment to your spouse. From this love will come.

What would a church look like which was full of people who had a pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith? It would have people seeking new ways to serve their Lord. They would seek Him, listen to Him and go do what He called them to do. They would bring souls to Christ on a regular basis. They would never seek their own gratification. They would be so in love with their Lord that every contribution was truly for His glory. They would wake up each day amazed that the Lord would inhabit someone like them. They would be full of gratitude and see God’s gifts to them in each day. They would be full of life. And their love for others would be legendary.

I realize that the ones that read this blog are probably already doing the things that I encourage here. This means that you probably have a testimony about your love for Jesus because you have a pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith.

There are many people who attend our churches who are not like you. They don’t know the joy that can be found in these things. They are depending upon loving before being. They do not realize that you have to be before you love. The non-believer cannot love Jesus for he doesn’t know Him. He must commit his life to Jesus to fall in love. The believer will not love Him without commitment either. I guess we have our work cut out for us. This is the calling of those who love Him.

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

What to Do When You Must Make an Important Decision

Proverbs 12:15 (ESV) ¹⁵ The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

2 Timothy 3:7 (ESV) ⁷ always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

I have a friend who hasn't read a book since he graduated from seminary over twenty years ago. He is listening to no one. He is making his decisions without borrowing any of the experiences of others. He believes his way must be the best way since he doesn't know any other way.

I have a friend who is a voracious reader. He reads a book every day. Unfortunately, I believe he lacks discernment. Everyone can't be right. Each book should give new knowledge. Some will contradict others. Knowing so many methods of doing something will not make you wiser. It will confuse you. You will end up running from one method to another. You will confuse others when they don't know which way you are going.

Both of these are extreme. One is wise in his own eyes. The other lacks discernment. The Bible supports neither. Wisdom is the ability to know when to continue to listen. Wisdom must listen but it does not listen without coming to the knowledge of the truth.

The past couple of years I got bids on two projects that I needed done around my house. I got three to four bids on each one. There were hundreds of companies. On the first project, I used the Internet to determine which ones I called. I called four but one did not bother to deliver a bid. I chose the company based on its size, the interview with the representatives and just my own "gut" feeling. I was disappointed in the results.

I used Angie's list on the second one to determine which ones to ask. I wanted to use one with an A rating. I read the reviews. I called four (one did not bother to call me back), set up times for the estimates, spoke to each representative, read the contracts and decided. I was very happy with the work.

Can you see the difference? One involved doing what I thought was right without listening to others. The second involved listening to others. Of course, it is possible to get good results without listening to others but the odds certainly favor listening.

If I had gotten a bid from every company without discernment I would still be getting bids and I would be very confused with which is the best company. I wanted a company who would do the job right with a reasonable price. I would have known neither with too many bids.

Can the same be said for faith? Is it possible that by listening to too many people that you will become confused? Is it possible that by refusing to listen that you will make a terrible faith decision? Of course. There is a time to listen and a time to decide.

Let's say a young lady and young man are dating. Each one needs to discern if he/she should continue to date. Each one needs to decide if he/she should get married or if marriage is in the future. There is a time to listen to godly people who will help in that decision. Emotions can make people blind. True wisdom will listen to godly people early in the relationship before things get so that the ears no longer hear what they don't want to hear. Yet, that does not mean that everyone needs to be asked. Look long enough and you will find someone who disagrees with every other person.

Listening should be a part of each of our decisions. The person who refuses to listen finds himself in places that he doesn't want to be. He finds himself in circumstances which could have been prevented. He finds himself in crises which will take tremendous efforts to recover from. It takes a thimble of water to put out the spark that would have burned down the forest. It takes a little listening to avert the problem that will take many years for recovery.

But who and how many you listen to is just as important. Here, it takes discernment. From where does the wisdom originate in those you seek advice? Do these people display godliness in their own lives? Do they speak of their own experiences?

I have had men come to me for advice on what to do when their wives have asked for a divorce. Of course, I ask them why. Many times the men are honest and give me significant reasons their wives are seeking to leave them. I then ask my next most important question: "Who is your wife listening to?" The road to recovery will be much harder if the wives are listening to other divorced women. Most of them have justified leaving their husbands and will transfer their "wisdom" to anyone who will listen. They also will make the divorced life look much better than it actually is.

Unfortunately, I hardly ever get to talk to the wife. She has probably already made her decision before she has asked her husband for a divorce. She's looking for justification, not reason.

Be very careful before making significant decisions. The Bible is a very practical book. It speaks of terrible decisions made by those who did not listen and to those who listened to the wrong people. Ask the Lord to lead you to those whose advice you really need..

God will always lead you if you will just listen.