The Bitter Fruit of Poor Choices

This morning during my Bible reading I read Proverbs 1.  Starting with verse 20 Solomon personifies wisdom as a woman who is pleading with people to follow her, yet people did not listen to her.  Instead they followed their own desires.  Thus Solomon has Wisdom saying; "That is why they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way.  They must experience the full terror of the path they have chosen" (verse 31; NLT).

Our life experience has taught us that there are consequences to our actions.  There are both positive consequences and there are negative consequences.  We would love to live in a world where we would only experience the joy of the positive consequences while being insulated from the negative consequences of our choices.  I would would love to be able to eat whatever I want and enjoy the taste of good food and not have to deal with the negative consequences of heartburn and weight gain.  Choice always involves consequences.

There is a part of me that wonders why God doesn't save us from consequences of bad choices.  Let's face it our lives are vastly more complicated because of bad choices that were made, not only by ourselves, but also by other people.  We are not immuned from the "bitter fruit" of unwise living.  Part of the explanation for that is found here in Proverbs chapter, we need experience the full terror of the path that has been chosen.  That is the only way that we will come to realize that there is a better way to live, that the world is not what it should be, and that there is hope.

While we live in this world there is no escaping the "bitter fruit" of poor choices and unwise living, but there is a way to live with hope.  That requires us to follow Jesus and fight against that bitter fruit.  We seek to rescue people out of the darkness, to bring healing to their lives, and to help them discover the hope that is in Christ Jesus.  The bitter fruit doesn't have to be our main course, instead we can discover the delicious fruit of a Spirit led life, and that will make all the difference in our lives.

Momentum in Our Finances Part 3

(I am teaching three sessions at a local Christian Conference called Momentum on March 19.  The first session deals with our finances and using them for God's Kingdom.  I have broken the talk up into 5 different sections.  This is part number 3.)

In these uncertain economic times, when prices get higher and our bank accounts get lower, it is important to trust God.  Only by trusting God can we experience momentum in our finances.  What do I mean by that?  When we trust God we discover the freedom to use our financial resources for the glory of God's Kingdom.  What does it look like to trust God with our finances?  Let me give you two thoughts.

The first thought is: We are called to be stewards. We are the recipients of a number of great blessings from God. Paul wrote:

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. (Romans 12:6-8; NLT)

The apostle Paul tells us that God has given each of us gifts and our responsibility is to use those gifts to the best of our ability. Peter has this same thought in 1 Peter 4:10-11:

God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen. (NLT)

In essence this is what stewardship is all about. Stewardship is the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care, and that is exactly what the two apostles tell us to do with the gifts that we are given, which includes our money.

The key to this is remembering that the things in our possession are ultimately not ours, but they are on loan from God, for everything is His. It is up to us to use what we have been given for His purposes. Now stop and consider for a moment what that means, not only for your money, but all your possessions. Yes, some of these things are necessary for life, but that doesn’t give us the freedom to be wasteful or sinful with what we have. The bottom line is that many of us struggle with our finances because we forget that we are just stewards of God’s resources.

That is why the #1 thing we must do when it comes to being good stewards of God’s financial resources is to live by a budget. What happens when we don’t live by a budget, and I know this from personal experience, is that our money slips through our fingers in small but non-essential purchases. A budget gives us the ability to direct our money to go where we want it to go, in a prayerful and thoughtful way, rather than letting it go through impulse or immediate gratification.

If we are going to be good stewards of God’s resources not only do we need to live by a budget, but we also need to avoid debt. The major contributor to our present economic crisis is debt. We are under the false impression that a healthy economy requires many consumers, and that even if people go into debt in order to consume it is a good thing because the money that will flow from the consumption will cause job creation.

One of the reasons we know this to be false is because a lifestyle of credit and debt is unsustainable. We cannot continue to spend tomorrow’s money today without having to face the consequences of those decisions. Debt is what happens when we see ourselves as consumers rather than stewards. As God’s people we are called to avoid debt. Consider this from Proverbs: The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender (Proverbs 22:7; ESV). In other words when we are in debt, when we have used money that was not in our possession, our time and money belongs to the person who lent us the money, and usually the privilege of borrowing comes with a fee (interest). How much of your monthly budget goes to pay-off past obligations that you are now responsible for?

Debt restricts how we can use the financial resources God sends our way. No wonder the apostle Paul wrote: Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law (Romans 13:8; NLT). Now we might want to justify ourselves and say that we need to have credit in our society, but that just isn’t the case. Yes, much of our society is now built on the assumption of people using credit, but we do not have to live that way. In fact, what God wants us to understand is that good stewards refuse to go into debt, let alone allow the debt/credit cycle be a way of life.

Just as an aside, since this reality isn't something we consider, is that credit also inflates prices.  In other words the easy availability of credit makes things more expensive then they need to be. The reason it does this is because easy credit creates artificial demand. That is in part what happened to the housing market, easy credit was extended to people which enabled more people to buy houses, which created what seemed to be this huge market for houses, so existing house prices skyrocketed in value and new homes were built to satisfy this apparent demand. The reality was that there wasn’t enough real money to support that demand, and thus you had the housing market bubble burst. The best thing to do is buy with your savings, which is the essence of free market capitalism.

God has given us the gift of wealth and we are to be good managers of that wealth. That means we are to use it for His purposes first and foremost and it also means that we should not be wasteful of it. Our money ultimately isn’t ours, but it is a loan from God. May we manage it well.

Guard Your Heart

If we are going to remain healthy we have to take care of our hearts.  A person’s heart, according to the Bible, is the seat of his emotions and his thoughts.  In western culture we have usually equated our hearts with just our emotions, but to the original readers of the Bible they understood the heart to be person’s true self.  It is what motivates you to act when no one else is watching. That is why it is so important for our hearts to be healthy.  Consider what Erwin McManus wrote: “When your heart is sick, it can spread everywhere.  Like a cancer, despair in the human soul can cause all kinds of malfunctions” (Uprising; p. 133).

Having a sick heart makes life more difficult and can ruin our lives.  To have a sick heart means that we will be depressed, anger, confused, and fearful.  Rather than living a life of hope our life will be full of despair.  A sick heart will keep us from experiencing the life God wants us to enjoy.

Proverbs 4:23 reads: Guard your heart with all vigilance, for from it are the sources of life (NET).  Solomon tells us that the condition of hearts is very important, so important we have to guard them.  This is what we fail to do.  I believe we are good at making sure were are studying the Bible, worshipping, have fellowship with other Christians, and even serving in some capacity.  Our hearts become sick not because of a lack of good, but because of the presence of bad.

In other words our hearts become sick because we do not guard our hearts like we should.  We allow too much of the bad into our lives.  Whether this is in the form of images we allow into our minds through the various types of visual media, continuing habitual sin, or spending time with people who drag us down.  When we don’t work at guard our hearts they get damaged or they get sick.

So how do we guard our hearts?  

 6 Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. 9 And what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these things. And the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:6-9; NET).

We guard our hearts by faith.  The most basic way we demonstrate our faith in God is through prayer.  Prayer is trusting God to work our worries and problems out for good.  Sometimes all we need is to acknowledge our problems so we can get a proper perspective on things.  Other times we need God’s supernatural intervention.  Pray helps guard our hearts.

We guard our hearts by thinking good thoughts.  When we put garbage into our hearts our hearts will be consumed by garbage.  We have to be vigilant with what we are fueling our thoughts with.  We can’t concentrate on the things of God if our minds and hearts filled with junk.  Take note of what you are putting in and make changes.

The heart is important, essential, to our health.  We need to work hard to guard our hearts from damage and sickness. When our hearts our healthy then our lives, no matter what the circumstances are, will always have hope.

Point to Ponder: Our hearts become sick not because of a lack of good, but because of the presence of bad.

Passage to Remember: Philippians 4:6-9

Question to Consider: What are you filling your heart with?

Living God's Best

We cannot see into the future. There is just no way to accurately predict what will happen in the future and if the plans we have worked so hard on will happen. Life is too unpredictable to be positive that the life we are working to create is actually the best life we could enjoy.

Relying on just what seems best to us does not mean we will enjoy the best life God has planned for us. The life God has planned for us has nothing to do with income and possessions, and everything to do with purpose and significance. We can give our lives away chasing after the "American Dream" and in the end look back on our lives and be disappointed. Regret occurs in our lives, not because we didn't buy the right things, but because we didn't pursue our purpose.

Here is the shocker: the best life is found on the most difficult path. We need to remember that Jesus did not die to make our lives comfortable and secure, rather Jesus died to make us truly alive! There is a huge difference between existing in the "good life" and living the "full life." Don't merely opt for what seems most advisable and desirable to you, but pursue what God offers, even if it takes you very far from home.

Proverbs 14:12 reads; There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death (NLT). In life we all have a path that seems to be right, that seems to be the path of good, but which only leads to regret and death. With our limited knowledge we can spend a life time trying to "live life to fullest" and in the process waste that life we wanted to cherish.

I think a good example of this is Ernest Hemingway. From the time of his boyhood in Oak Park, Illinois, to those teenage summers in northern Michigan, he went after everything that life offered. He became a reporter for the Kansas City Star, served as an ambulance driver in World War I, spent years in Europe, and was intimately involved in the Spanish civil way. In whatever Hemingway did sports, warfare, romance he went for all of it. And, of course he was brilliant. He was a man who did it all.

Carlos Baker wrote these words about Hemingway's final moments:

Sunday morning dawned bright and cloudless. Ernest awoke early as always. He put on the red Emperor's robe and padded softly down the carpeted stairway. The early sunlight lay in pools on the living room floor. He had noticed that the guns were locked up in the basement. But the keys, he well knew, were on the window ledge about the kitchen sink. He tiptoed down the basement stairs and unlocked the storage room. It smelled dank as a grave. He chose a double-barreled shotgun with a tight choke.; He had used it for years of pigeon shooting. He took some shells from one of the boxes in the storage room, closed and locked the door, and climbed the basement stairs. If he saw the bright day outside, it did not deter him. He crossed the living room to the front foyer, a shrinelike entryway, five feet by seven, wit oak-paneled walls and floor of linoleum tile, He slipped in two shells, lowered the gun butt carefully to the floor, leaned forward, pressed the twin barrels against his forehead just above the eyebrows and tripped both triggers (Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story).

Hemingway is an extreme example, not only in the way he ended his life, but also the gusto that he what he wanted. For all his effort to live life Hemingway seemed to have missed it. His life ended with depression and illness that made life seem not to be worth living any longer.

When we live our lives by doing what we think is best we end up missing the best God has planned for us. Instead of finding life we only discover death. Life is only found in listening to God and following Jesus Christ. One of my favorite verses is Acts 20:24. Here Luke is explaining about the Apostle Paul's decision to go to Jerusalem, even though all of Paul's friends and companions have told him not to go. They know that what waits Paul in Jerusalem is nothing but persecution and prison. Paul reminds the Ephesian Elders, who are with him, all that he has done and the mission God has given to him. Then Paul says; But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus‚the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness and love (NLT). The value Paul found in life did not come for his ambitions and desires, but rather it was found in his relationship with God. It was this relationship which gave Paul's life meaning, the reason he had endured hardships in the past, and the reason he headed off to face persecution now. Paul lived his "life to the fullest," not doing what seemed best to him, but doing the work God had given him to do.

You can try to find the "good life" by doing what seems best to you, or you can find the "full life" by following Jesus. Those are your two options, but know before hand that only one leads to true life. Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me (John 14:6; NLT).

Guard Your Heart

If we are going to remain healthy we have to take care of our hearts.  A person’s heart, according to the Bible, is the seat of his emotions and his thoughts.  In western culture we have usually equated our hearts with just our emotions, but to the original readers of the Bible they understood the heart to be person’s true self.  It is what motivates you to act when no one else is watching. That is why it is so important for our hearts to be healthy.  Consider what Erwin McManus wrote: “When your heart is sick, it can spread everywhere.  Like a cancer, despair in the human soul can cause all kinds of malfunctions” (Uprising; p. 133).

Having a sick heart makes life more difficult and can ruin our lives.  To have a sick heart means that we will be depressed, anger, confused, and fearful.  Rather than living a life of hope our life will be full of despair.  A sick heart will keep us from experiencing the life God wants us to enjoy.

Proverbs 4:23 reads: Guard your heart above all else,for it determines the course of your life (NLT).  Solomon tells us that the condition of hearts is very important, so important we have to guard them.  This is what we fail to do.  I believe we are good at making sure were are studying the Bible, worshiping, have fellowship with other Christians, and even serving in some capacity.  Our hearts become sick not because of a lack of good, but because of the presence of bad.

In other words our hearts become sick because we do not guard our hearts like we should.  We allow too much of the bad into our lives.  Whether this is in the form of images we allow into our minds through the various types of visual media, continuing habitual sin, or spending time with people who drag us down.  When we don’t work at guarding our hearts they get damaged or they get sick.

So how do we guard our hearts? 

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:6-9; NLT).

We guard our hearts by faith.  The most basic way we demonstrate our faith in God is through prayer.  Prayer is trusting God to work our worries and problems out for good.  Sometimes all we need is to acknowledge our problems so we can get a proper perspective on things.  Other times we need God’s supernatural intervention.  Pray helps guard our hearts.

We guard our hearts by thinking good thoughts.  When we put garbage into our hearts our hearts will be consumed by garbage.  We have to be vigilant with what we are fueling our thoughts with.  We can’t concentrate on the things of God if our minds and hearts filled with junk.  Take note of what you are putting in and make changes.


The heart is important, essential, to our health.  We need to work hard to guard our hearts from damage and sickness. When our hearts our healthy then our lives, no matter what the circumstances are, will always have hope.

More Nuggets of Wisdom

Today I want to finish up with wisdom I have gleaned from the book of Proverbs.

A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash. (Pr. 15:14; NLT)

We live in an age where we have so much information at our fingertips. The sad reality is that most of us would rather feed our hearts the trash of entertainment rather than on God’s wisdom. I believe that if the ancients had the chance to evaluate our culture they would condemn us as fools because we have refused to take the time to educate ourselves.

Fear of the LORD teaches wisdom; humility precedes honor. (Pr. 15:33; NLT)

Since we are limited in our understanding we have to have the humility to defer to a greater authority. For the Christian we acknowledge that authority to be God. What I have discovered is that as I surrender my life God and follow Christ Jesus the greater I understand the world and my place in the world. Obedience to God provides me with the wisdom I need to live life.

The LORD demands accurate scales and balances; he sets the standards for fairness. (Pr. 16:11; NLT)

This reminds us that our faith in God is to influence every area of our lives. What is fair isn’t determined by what other people, but it is determined by God. One of the things that God demands from us is that we are accurate in our dealings with other people. Don’t try to cheat or mislead others, rather we are called to be honest and to live with integrity.

A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered. (Pr. 17:27; NLT)

It isn’t about how long we can talk or how many pages we can write, but wisdom is about making things understandable. For me, the goal of preaching isn’t about filling up a certain amount of time, but making God’s Word understandable and applicable. A person who is wise doesn’t get angry when he is questioned or a different opinion is offered. Instead he remains calm and gives a full hearing to what is being said before responding to it. That is something I need to work on.

Loyalty makes a person attractive. It is better to be poor than dishonest. (Pr. 19:22; NLT)

In this culture of consumerism this one is very important to remember. We use to value loyalty, but no longer, yet, we still long for people to be loyal. We want our favorite player to remain loyal to our team rather than jumping ship for more money somewhere else. We want our spouse to remain loyal to us, rather than to be on the look out for something better. Loyalty will set us apart and make us people others want to be around. In that same light, people will value you if they know they can trust you. Riches may earn you favor from other people, but integrity will earn respect from others.

The LORD is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices. (Pr. 21:3; NLT)

We need to be reminded that what God expects from us are not church attendance, singing praise music, giving, or devotional reading. Yes, these things are good things, and in many aspects they are essential things, but what God is after is a transformed life. It is through the transformed life that He is able to touch the lives of other people. The best evidence that God is working in the world is the visible difference He has made in our lives.

There are many other nuggets of wisdom found in the book of Proverbs, I have only highlighted a handful of them. I hope that I have reminded you that this book of the Bible is very useful in our desire to become the people that God created us to be. It offers us the wisdom we need to successfully live as God’s people in the world.

Nuggets of Wisdom

Today I would like to share a few of the proverbs that have stood out to me as I continue to read through the book of Proverbs.

Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil. (Pr. 4:25-27; NLT)

Here we are reminded that it is important for us to keep our eyes on our goal and to remain on the path that leads to our destination. What is our goal? It could be phrased in different ways, but I think it is best described as becoming the person God created us to be, and that can only be accomplished through faith in Christ Jesus. We must keep our focus on Jesus and the way He wants us to live life.

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment. (Pr. 9:10; NLT)

This one has proven to be true in my life. The more I follow Jesus the more the world seems to make sense. I am not saying that I understand everything, but what I am saying is that what God is up to in this world continues to become clearer and clear. As we begin to understand what God is up to, then it is possible for us to join Him in what He is doing.

The godly care for their animals, but the wicked are always cruel. (Pr. 12:10; NLT)

You can judge a person’s character by the way they treat animals. This truth has been made more real to me over the past year because of my dog Barkley. The reason why I walk him and play with him, even when I don’t have the time, is because I want to provide for him a good life. A person pursuing the heart of God will treat all of creation with the right amount of respect.

Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave. (Pr. 12:24; NLT)

Being a leader takes work. Last Thursday, April 16, I took my nephew Alexander out for supper. I did this because I wanted to affirm the decision he made in February to follow Jesus. One of the ways I encouraged him was to point out that he was a natural leader (like his parents), and I told him that he needed to continue to work at being a good leader by providing a good example for other to follow and by reading. Good leaders aren’t just born, they are developed through hard work.

Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble. (Pr. 13:20; NLT)

The direction of our lives are often determined by the people we choose to associate with. You can’t hope to be wise and respected if you hang out with fools and scoundrels. If we hope to be mature Christian people, then it is essential that we spend time with people who are mature in their faith.

Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty! (Pr. 14:23; NLT)

It is one thing to dream and to boast about those dreams, but it is another thing to actually do the work to achieve those dreams. You gain no profit from a dream. Profit comes from the result of the hard work that is required in achieving that dream. I had better quit talking and get to working.

There are many more nuggets of wisdom contained in Proverbs (I will share some more tomorrow), and what I have been continually hit with as I have read through the book is who relevant they continue to be. These are bits of wisdom that generally apply to everyone regardless of the time or culture in which they live. We would all live better lives if we would take the time to apply some of this wisdom to our lives.

Essential for Wise Living

{Proverbs 2:1-8; ESV}

My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.

Today I started to read through Proverbs as part of my devotional reading in the morning. One of the key aspects of Proverbs is the idea of wisdom. Solomon describes this reality in Proverbs 1:2 when he says that the purposes of these proverbs is to teach people wisdom and discipline. I thought it was a good idea to gain a proper perspective of what wisdom means.

I did a quick word study on wisdom, and this is what The New Bible Dictionary (electronic edition) says about wisdom: Basically, wisdom is the art of being successful, of forming the correct plan to gain the desired results. Its seat is the heart, the centre of moral and intellectual decision (cf. 1 Ki. 3:9, 12).

A key part of wisdom then is understanding the destination. You can’t have a good plan for being a successful if you don’t know what it means to be successful. A good plan depends on understanding the goal.

When I played basketball for Nebraska Christian College (1992-1996) we were successful. We won the NBCAA Division 2 National Championship in 1993 and 1994 and held the number one ranking for much of 1995. One of the things Coach Lahm did at the beginning of each season is to have us understand what our goals where and what it took to reach those goals. So our goals were to win so many games, to win the conference, and to go to the National Tournament. In order to achieve those goals Coach identified different areas that we needed to focus on in order for us to be successful. We understood that we had to shoot a certain percentage from the free throw line, to out rebound the other team, and to keep the turn overs under 12 a game. If we did these things we would put ourselves into the position to win the game, and thus be successful.

That is what wisdom looks like in life. It is about identifying what the goal is, and then forming the steps that are necessary to achieving that goal. Wisdom understands that children don’t natural grow up to be responsible and God fearing people and that there are intentional actions that must be taken to make that goal a reality. Wisdom understands that a successful and life long marriage depends on more than just meeting the right person, but it requires intentional effort to develop the character needed to love and be faithful to your spouse.

The Christian realizes that ultimately the wisdom we need for life comes from God. We discipline ourselves to the study of God’s Word so we can know He has already told us, we cry out to God in pray to help us understand how the knowledge we find in His Word applies to our lives, and ask God for the strength and support we need to make the necessary changes to our lives. We cannot live the life God created us to life apart from the wisdom He offers to us.

Living Life to the Fullest

We cannot see into the future. There is just no way to accurately predict what will happen in the future and if the plans we have worked so hard on will happen. Life is too unpredictable to be positive that the life we are working to create is actually the best life we could enjoy. It is for this reason why think it is important for us to consider the words of Henry and Richard Blackaby in their book Hearing God’s Voice:

People who make decisions based merely on what seems most advisable to them will inevitably choose something inferior to God’s best (p. 5).

Relying on what seems best to us does not mean we will enjoy the best life God has planned for us. The life God created us to enjoy has nothing to do with income and possessions, and everything to do with obedience and sacrifice. We can give our lives away chasing after the American Dream and in the end look back on our lives disappointed. Regret occurs in our lives, not because we didn't buy the right things, but because we didn't live the right way.

Here is the real shocker about life: the best life to live is found on the most difficult path to travel. Jesus did not die to make our lives comfortable and secure. Jesus died to make us truly alive! There is a huge difference between existing in the good life and living the full life. Don't merely opt for what seems most advisable and desirable to you, but pursue what God offers, even if it takes you very far from where you wanted to be.

One of the best know Proverbs reads; There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way that leads to death (Proverbs 14:12; NET). In life we all have a path that seems to be right, that seems to be the path of good, but which only leads to regret and death. With our limited knowledge we can spend a life time trying to live life to the fullest and in the process waste our life. What a tragedy that would be!

I think a good example of this reality is Ernest Hemingway. From the time of his boyhood in Oak Park, Illinois, to those teenage summers in northern Michigan, he went after everything that life offered. He became a reporter for the Kansas City Star, served as an ambulance driver in World War I, spent years in Europe, and was intimately involved in the Spanish civil way. In whatever Hemingway did—sports, warfare, romance— he went for all of it. And, of course he was brilliant. He was a man who did it all.

Carlos Baker in the his biography about Hemingway wrote these words about Hemingway’s final moments:

Sunday morning dawned bright and cloudless. Ernest awoke early as always. He put on the red "Emperor's robe" and padded softly down the carpeted stairway. The early sunlight lay in pools on the living room floor. He had noticed that the guns were locked up in the basement. But the keys, he well knew, were on the window ledge about the kitchen sink. He tiptoed down the basement stairs and unlocked the storage room. It smelled dank as a grave. He chose a double-barreled shotgun with a tight choke. He had used it for years of pigeon shooting. He took some shells from one of the boxes in the storage room, closed and locked the door, and climbed the basement stairs. If he saw the bright day outside, it did not deter him. He crossed the living room to the front foyer, a shrine like entryway, five feet by seven, wit oak-paneled walls and floor of linoleum tile. He slipped in two shells, lowered the gun butt carefully to the floor, leaned forward, pressed the twin barrels against his forehead just above the eyebrows and tripped both triggers. (1001 Great Stories and Quotes; p. 124)

Hemingway is an extreme example, not only in the way he ended his life, but also the gusto on how he pursued the life he wanted. For all his effort to live life Hemingway seemed to have missed it. His life ended with depression and illness so severe that it made life seem not to be worth living.

When we live our lives by doing what we think is best we end up missing the best God has planned for us. Instead of finding life we only discover death. Life is only found in listening to God and following Jesus Christ. One of my favorite verses is Acts 20:24. In this passage Luke explained the apostle Paul's decision to go to Jerusalem, even though all of Paul's friends and companions told him not to go. They know that what waited for Paul in Jerusalem was nothing but persecution and prison. Paul called Ephesian Elders to remind them about all that he has done and the mission God has given to him. Then Paul says; 24 But I do not consider my life worth anything to myself, so that I may finish my task and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God's grace (NET). The value Paul found in life did not come for his ambitions and desires, but rather it was found in his relationship with God. It was this relationship which gave Paul's life meaning, the reason he had endured hardships in the past, and the reason he headed off to face persecution now. Paul lived his life to the fullest not by doing what seemed best to him, but by doing the work God had given him to do.

You can try to find the good life by doing what seems best to you, or you can find the full life by following Jesus. Those are your two options, but remember that only one leads to true life.

6 Jesus replied, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6; NET).

• Point to Ponder: The best life to live is found on the most difficult path to travel.
• Passage to Remember: Proverbs 14:12
  
• Question to Consider: How are you trying to live the good life?
  

Guarding Your Heart

If we are going to remain healthy we have to take care of our hearts. A person’s heart, according to the Bible, is the seat of his emotions and his thoughts. In western culture we have usually equated our hearts with just our emotions, but to the original readers of the Bible they understood the heart to be person’s true self. It is what motivates you to act when no one else is watching. That is why it is so important for our hearts to be healthy. Consider what Erwin McManus wrote: “When your heart is sick, it can spread everywhere. Like a cancer, despair in the human soul can cause all kinds of malfunctions” (Uprising; p. 133).

Having a sick heart makes life more difficult and can ruin our lives. To have a sick heart means that we will be depressed, anger, confused, and fearful. Rather than living a life of hope our life will be full of despair. A sick heart will keep us from experiencing the life God wants us to enjoy.

Proverbs 4:23 reads: Guard your heart with all vigilance, for from it are the sources of life (NET). Solomon tells us that the condition of hearts is very important, so important we have to guard them. This is what we fail to do. I believe we are good at making sure were are studying the Bible, worshipping, have fellowship with other Christians, and even serving in some capacity. Our hearts become sick not because of a lack of good, but because of the presence of bad.

In other words our hearts become sick because we do not guard our hearts like we should. We allow too much of the bad into our lives. Whether this is in the form of images we allow into our minds through the various types of visual media, continuing habitual sin, or spending time with people who drag us down. When we don’t work at guard our hearts they get damaged or they get sick.

So how do we guard our hearts?

6 Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. 9 And what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these things. And the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:6-9; NET).

We guard our hearts by faith. The most basic way we demonstrate our faith in God is through prayer. Prayer is trusting God to work our worries and problems out for good. Sometimes all we need is to acknowledge our problems so we can get a proper perspective on things. Other times we need God’s supernatural intervention. Pray helps guard our hearts.

We guard our hearts by thinking good thoughts. When we put garbage into our hearts our hearts will be consumed by garbage. We have to be vigilant with what we are fueling our thoughts with. We can’t concentrate on the things of God if our minds and hearts filled with junk. Take note of what you are putting in and make changes.


The heart is important, essential, to our health. We need to work hard to guard our hearts from damage and sickness. When our hearts our healthy then our lives, no matter what the circumstances are, will always have hope.

• Point to Ponder: Our hearts become sick not because of a lack of good, but because of the presence of bad.
• Passage to Remember: Philippians 4:6-9
• Question to Consider: What are you filling your heart with?

Pleasure as Worship

The world is full of broken lives. They are broken, not because of pain, but because of pleasure unrestrained. My heart breaks to think about the number of people who are stuck in bad relationships, in addictions, and with broken hearts because they did not have the strength to put pleasure where it belongs. We live in a country where pleasure and freedom and promoted without regard for whose lives might be destroyed. Consider what Ravi Zacharias wrote in Cries of the Heart:

“Neither the Supreme Court nor law can change the wills that are determined to market their products that offer pleasure without restraint and destroy people without apology” (p. 123)

When pleasure is pursued unrestrained the result is broken lives. The reality is that we never have the option of only breaking our own lives, but we also end up breaking the lives those around us as well. While this is a terrible reality there is very little we can do about it. We can’t control what other people decide to do.

The number of abortions in this country is a direct reflection of people unwilling to put the pleasure of sexual intimacy in its proper place. To them sex is all about pleasure and it is to be enjoyed whenever. A life is created and because there is no commitment beyond that of pleasure, the baby is killed. No Supreme Court ruling can change the fundamental problem of an inaccurate view of pleasure.

God desires us to have pleasure and to experience joy. That is one of the reasons He gave us all the different senses that we have. The ability to touch, smell, taste, see, and hear all bring pleasure into our lives. God wants us to experience life with our senses, to find pleasure in His creation.

Pleasure is ultimately a pathway to God. Why? Pleasure is a pathway to God because it gives us a foretaste of the life God wants us to have. It also stands in stark contrast to the evil and pain in the world around us. Pleasure helps us understand that we were made for another world.

There is a danger of equating the feelings of pleasure with our relationship with God. The majority of people don’t even realize this is what they do. They have just bought the lie that the most important thing in life is to feel good, to experience pleasure. Anything that is painful is bad and is to be avoided at all costs. Pleasure in exalted and used as a way to escape the pain, and God is ignored.

As Christians we shouldn’t think pleasure is evil or sinful. Just because something feels good doesn’t mean that it is wrong! When put in their proper context the pleasures of life bring us closer to God. This is how twisted Satan gets us to think. He helps the world glorify pleasure above all else, and he gets Christians to feel guilty about the pleasure in their lives. The next time you are having a good time, wherever it is, doing whatever, use it as a time of worship. Thank God for the experience, for the people with you, and for giving you life.

It is up to us, as followers of Christ, to show the world the real purpose pleasure serves in our lives. King Solomon wrote:

The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like complete darkness. Those who follow it have no idea what they are stumbling over. (Proverbs 4:18-19; NLT)

We cannot stop people from destroying their lives with pleasure. That is a choice they have to make. We can worship God through the pleasure He gives us through our lives. Turn your times of joy into times of worship. Let the world know how much pleasure you have in your life.

• Point to Ponder: Pleasure is ultimately a pathway to God.
• Passage to Remember: Proverbs 4:18-19
• Question to Consider: What part does pleasure play in your life?

The Process of Spiritual Maturity

It is essential that we strive towards spiritual maturity. Our faith cannot, and should not, remain static. There needs to be growth in our faith and our understanding of who God is and what His will is. When we do not grow and we are content with remaining we are we miss out on the life God wants us to live.

The Apostle Peter was very aware of the importance of spiritual growth. In 2 Peter 3:17-18 writes:

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (NASB).

If we are not engaged in spiritual growth we face the danger of losing our faith, being led astray, and living in error. With the constant changes that we face in life the faith that was able to get us through in the past will not necessarily be the faith that will get us through the future.

The writer of Hebrews shares a similar sentiment when he wrote:

Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God (Hebrews 6:1, NASB).

Growth is to be expected in our walk with God. We cannot remain the same and remain with Jesus. Either we are moving with Him or we are allowing ourselves to be left behind.

If spiritual growth is so important how do we make it a part of our lives? The entire Bible is filled with instruction and example of how we can make this growth a part of our lives. Today I want to share with you a little bit of what the Apostle Paul told the Colossians about spiritual growth.

{6}Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, {7} having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. {8} See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary teachings of the world, rather than according to Christ (Colossians 2:6-8; NASB).

Let’s take a moment and examine what Paul wrote about spiritual growth:

First we need to be consistent - Vs. 6
Faith is the key. We came to salvation because we trust that Jesus would take away our sins. We grow spiritual because we trust Jesus to lead us, to take us, to the life God created us to live. With out this faith in Jesus, a living and active faith, then we cannot hope to grow. If we are not willing to be consistent in our trust, the fact that we trust Jesus to take away our sins but not to lead us, will mean that we will be stunted in our maturity and our relationship with God.

This consistency is seen in our obedience. Are we willing to follow Jesus wherever that might take us? Will we risk our lives, careers, and reputations for the sake of the Gospel? By being obedient we demonstrate that we trust Jesus, and thus God, will do the right thing.

Second we need to be concrete - Vs. 7
Remember Jesus told the parable of the wise man and the foolish man? The point of the story was the fact that we need to firm foundation to build our lives on. The wise man is able to survive the storms because his house is built on the rock, and the foolish man is destroyed because his house is built on the sand that is washed way with the water.

Being concrete is all about holding on to truth. Jesus’ teachings are a firm foundation because they are truth. We receive truth through instruction, reading, relationships, and experiences. When we are constantly seeking the truth and then applying that truth to our lives we can be certain our foundation is secure.

Third we need to be cautious - Vs. 8
It is so easy to be led astray by something that sounds good. Proverbs 14:12 reads; There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (NASB). What seems to be right and what sounds good are not the best indicators of what is the truth. We can get very lost following what seems to be right to us.

This is about influence. Who will we allow to influence us? What type of media will we use? Is their message in agreement with the message of Jesus? The best way we can safe guard ourselves from being led astray is to know and hold on to the teachings of Jesus. Only when we are familiar with the truth will we be able to identify the lie.

Spiritual growth is essential for our relationship with God. We need to remain consistent in our faith, we need to be concrete in our belief, and we need cautious about our influences. Through this we can set ourselves on the path of spiritual maturity and continue our quest to become the people God created us to be.

Good Thinking

For as he thinks within himself, so he is. ~ Proverbs 23:7a (NASB)

We are what we think about. If you are constantly thinking about how everyone is stupid but you there is little doubt that you will be an arrogant fiend. If you are always thinking about how the world has "cheated" then you will be a bitter person. If you are spending time thinking about how much so and so harmed you I think it is safe to say that you will be a hateful individual.

What we choose to think about affect our moods and our actions. A person cannot spend hours watching "sexy" movies without it playing a part of what he/she thinks about. Those thoughts will eventually be played out in their actions, one way or another. Perhaps that is one of the reasons Jesus said;

"You have heard that it was said, 'shall not commit adultery'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:27-28; NASB).

Murder is an extension of the hate we have stored up in our hearts through our constant thinking hateful thoughts. Adultery is the result of lustful thoughts that have been fantasized about in our hearts. When we are not careful about our thoughts; they eventually become actions.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is and excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things (Philippians 4:8; NASB).

There are three types of thoughts we need to have in our lives:

1. Profound Thoughts (whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right)
Profound thoughts are those thoughts which deal with the bigger issues of life. Thoughts about doctrine, what we believe, who God is, God's law, and the testimony surrounding Jesus are thoughts which we need to think about from time to time. One reason is that it will help us understand God's word better, because the Bible is what motivates these thoughts. A second reason is that it helps us to distinguish between the truth and Satan's lies. Thinking profound thoughts prepares us for the temptations we will face.

2. Precious Thoughts (whatever is pure, whatever is lovely)
Precious thoughts are those that deal with our memories and the love relationships we have in our lives. Thinking about these things changes our moods, for they deal with things that are close to our hearts. They help us remember what are really important in our lives. When I remember the good times of the past I am reminded that the bad times of the present are only temporary. When I think about the loved ones in my life I remember that I am not alone and that I am cared for. Thinking precious thoughts keeps our hearts healthy.

3. Positive Thoughts (whatever is of good repute, excellence and worthy of praise)
Positive thoughts really deals with what we put into our minds, what we allow to generate the thoughts we have. If we fill our minds with movies, songs, TV shows, books, etc. that are dark in outlook we will develop a dreary view of life. If we fill our minds with violence and gore we will become desensitized to the suffering of others and be a little more aggressive in our behavior. If we fill our thoughts with hope and love then our lives will be filled with those same things. It is so crucial that we monitor what we allow into our minds. Life is negative enough as it is, so we need to be more intentional about filling our thoughts with things that are positive. Positive thoughts brighten the outlook we have of life.

"The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fill his heart" (Luke 6:45; NASB).

Ultimately the person we are is determined by what we spending our time thinking about. What are you thinking about?