God's Word on That

  • The Wisdom of Kindness

    Wisdom has two parts: having a lot to say and not saying it.

    The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere (James 3:17). If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him (James 1:5). Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom (Colossians 3:16).

    What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?

    Kindness costs nothing yet is the most precious gift.  Kindness has a beautiful way of reaching down into a weary heart and making it shine like the rising sun.

    As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Colossians 3:12). As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: … in purity, understanding, patience and kindness (2 Corinthians 6:4, 6).

    Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone (1 Thessalonians 5:15). The Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone (2 Timothy 2:24). Make every effort to add to your faith … kindness (2 Peter 1:5, 7).

    Kindness is difficult to give away because it keeps coming back. Kindness always pays but it pays best when not done for pay.

    A kind man benefits himself (Proverbs 11:17). Blessed is he who is kind to the needy (Proverbs 14:21), for whoever is kind to the needy honors God (Proverbs 14:31). He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord and He will reward him for what he has done (Proverbs 19:17).

    Be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32).

  • God’s Power is Available

    Pain or pleasure – what does it matter as long as we stay in His presence? Nothing is more acceptable to God, nor more beneficial in this world, than being willing to suffer. Mature love is to enter into God’s purposes with no thought of cost.

    His divine power has given us everything we need for life (2 Peter 1:3). That He might display His power in us (Romans 9:17) and that by His power He may fulfill every good purpose (2 Thessalonians 1:11).

    Faith must be tested, because it can only become an intimate possession through conflict. You know that God’s power is very great for us who believe. Our job is to believe God can do His job.

    Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus (Colossians 3:17) according to His power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20).

    Whether God asks us to do something difficult or simple, it doesn’t matter because He will do the work behind our faith. The Lord doesn’t reward talent and results as much as motives and faithfulness. In every situation be strong in what God has taught you, and be of good courage knowing He fights with you. “Be all you can be!”

    Join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God (2 Timothy 1:8).

    God always guides those who bloom where they are planted. He who trusts in the Lord has a diploma for Wisdom granted by Inspiration.

    The power of God is there for the asking.

  • Look Beyond the Hurting

    No matter what its source or intensity, there is something about suffering that simplifies life.

    I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:10-11).

    If you’ve never tasted bitterness, sweet is just another pleasant flavor on your tongue. You cannot be blessed without blessing, and in order to bless you must succor, and you cannot succor until you have suffered.

    For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lies, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. You know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings (1 Peter 5:9).

    To grow a crop, you know you need a little manure and digging and weeding – and lots of hard work. Perspective is the value of distance; so step back from the details.

    We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance (Romans 5:3) for we are co-heirs with Christ Jesus if indeed we share in His sufferings (Romans 8:17). Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18). Rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed (1 Peter 4:13).

    Trials are only designed to bring us to a level of trust and experience with God that we would never have known otherwise. God puts us up against the Red Sea to show His power to us and through us.

    Suffering can offer insight and perspective.

  • Don’t Allow Discouragement

    Saints with thin skin become distracted, and shortly after discouraged. God has not equally distributed gifts or talents or intelligence, but He has equally distributed Himself.

    Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9).

    Faults committed in the simplicity of good intentions will be of service if they produce humility and make you of less and less account in your own eyes. All our falls are useful if they strip us of a disastrous confidence in ourselves while not taking away a humble and saving trust in God our Father. For discouragement is not the fruit of humility but of pride.

    Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the Lord is finished (1 Chronicles 28:20). Do not be discouraged. Go out and face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you (2 Chronicles 20:17). Act with courage, and may the Lord be with those who do well (2 Chronicles 19:11).

    If some emotion too nearly like the old fallen nature should come up in you, do not be discouraged. Keep going straight ahead. Quietly bear the humiliation of your fault before God without allowing self-love to be distressed at the betrayal of its weakness. Proceed confidently, without being troubled by the anguish of a wounded pride that cannot bear to see itself imperfect. Your fault will be of service in causing you to die to self and to become nothing before your God.

    “Be strong and courageous.” Courage is the ability to face unpleasant situations of all kinds

    God doesn’t abide discouragement. He always makes a way.

  • Progress Is Relative

    Do not think that I have come to abolish the law (Matthew 5:17).

    Although Christ Jesus left all the “Thou shalt not…”s in the Moral Law, He made it clear that no one could be His disciple by merely avoiding the omission of wrong acts.

    Do we, then, nullify the law by faith? Not at all! Rather we uphold the law (Romans 3:31).

    The role of the law was to point out the way to holiness, and in so doing pointed out man’s sin tendencies! Man must have a law to live by, since our tendencies are always to look out for self above all other things. But the commandments in the Old Covenant Law only sufficed for dealing with external acts.

    “You have heard that it was said… But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:43-44).

    Jesus redirected the commandments of the law into the heart instead of the head. We are to think of the other person first, not just what is “right” and “wrong” according to the written code; not just following rules but living with a direction. Then He summed it all up in a new commandment.

    A new command I give you: Love one another (John 13:34).

    Here is the whole Christian ethic in a nutshell. All of our relationships are to be governed by love for those we relate to [on any level]. But just as before, none of us can do this with any degree of success under our own stream.

    The Counselor, the Holy Spirit… will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said (John 14:26). When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth (John 16:13).

    If we learn to rely entirely on the indwelling Spirit of Christ to supply the loving-kindness and concern for others which we know we lack, we will be amazed at how many good things God can accomplish for others through us.

    The question that really matters isn’t whether we are farther along than others, but how far we ourselves have progressed since yesterday.

    Living by the Spirit of God is enlightening. He guides us in the direction we should go.

  • My Thoughts and My Words

    Lord, in the quiet of this morning hour I come to You for wisdom, peace and power; to view the world through love-filled eyes, finding Your image in every human guise. Silence my tongue to all that is unkind; let only thoughts that bless be in mind. Let me so kindly be, so full of cheer that those I meet feel Your presence near. So clothe me in your beauty, Lord, I pray, that my life may reveal You [to] all this day. (Christian morning prayer by Ella Syfers Schenck)

    Prayer isn’t about expecting something specific from the Lord, but of releasing something to Him that was already out of your control anyway.

    Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 4:6-7 TLB)

    Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you (Romans 12:3).

    Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about. (Philippians 4:8)

    Jesus, You are my Lord and Savior. I am Your child, liberated and depending on Your power. So this is Your day, to be used for Your glory. Work through my eyes and mouth and thoughts and actions to carry out Your victories this day.

    May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts be pleasing even to You, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:14).

    Thoughts and words – two sides of the same coin.

  • Because He First Loved Us

    Love the Lord your God with all your heart [emotionally], and with all your soul [spiritually], and with all your mind [mentally], and with all your strength [physically]… Love your neighbor as yourself [practically/socially]. There is no commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:30-31)

    Love for God is a deliberate setting of your will to carry out His commands at any cost. It is not a sweet emotion that falls on you in a special moment of spiritual piety. This kind of love is a fixed attitude of the heart delighting to accomplish His purposes no matter how challenging. This kind of love is truly what He deserves. Think of all His love He bestows on us…

    In love, [God] predestined us for adoption to son-ship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will (Ephesians 1:4-5). Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:4-5). And I pray that you, being rooted and established in [this] love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:17-19).

    To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices (Mark 12:33).

    For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). No eye has seen… no ear has heard… no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9).

    May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance (2 Thessalonians 3:5).

    His love should compel us to love.

  • Our Compassionate Father

    Whether the sun is shining or whether it’s pouring down rain; whether the morning is bright or gray and overcast – God’s promise is the dawn itself. Every morning the Lord comes through with His encouraging message, “We are still on speaking terms, you know. I’m here. I haven’t moved. Let’s go together today…”

    His compassion never ends. It is only the Lord’s mercies that have kept us from complete destruction. Great is His faithfulness; His loving-kindness begins afresh each day (Lamentations 3:22-23).

    Because of Your great compassion You did not abandon them in the desert… In Your great compassion You gave them deliverers… In Your compassion You delivered them time after time (Nehemiah 9:19, 27, 28).

    If God watched over the children of Israel in their wilderness wanderings, we can expect no less of His compassion toward us.

    Your compassion is great, O Lord (Psalm 119:156). Have compassion on Your servants (Psalm 90:13), according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions (Psalm 51:1).

    Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion? (Psalm 103:4) As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him (Psalm 103:13). The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion (Psalm 116:5). The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made (Psalm 145:9)

    The Lord is full of compassion and mercy (James 5:11). Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Compassion and the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3).

    God’s lights in our dark nights are numerous as the stars, if only we will take time to look for them!

    God waits for us every morning, waiting to accompany us on our day’s journey.

  • Spiritual Over Natural

    Natural must be turned into spiritual by sacrifice – or a tremendous divorce will be produced. God doesn’t order this, but permits it. God ordered the natural transformed by obedience. It is sin that made natural necessary to be sacrificed. We go wrong because we stubbornly refuse to discipline ourselves physically, morally, and mentally. (Excerpts from “The Great Divorce” by C. S. Lewis)

    If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me (Mark 8:34).

    Unless we are willing to postpone gratification and patiently seek higher goals, we will be slaves to our whims and appetites and the perilous consequences they bring. Self-denial refines the soul, sharpens the senses, strengthens the will, and tempers the desires.

    You are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God (1 Pet 2:5). Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – for this is your spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1).

    Good manners are made up of petty sacrifices.  It is very important to remember: Sacrifice is the currency of the kingdom.

    We all have gone through many trials, but never to our detriment – always to our betterment. Remember this next time you doubt. Every time you face suffering, yes, you are on trial; but so is the Almighty One. He must come forth also, for His name is at stake in your life.

    Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased (Hebrews 13:16). Live a life of love – just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us – [do it] as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2).

    Give yourself away! Usually we only sacrifice ourselves one teaspoon at a time.

    Sacrifices take us into the spiritual world.

  • Building Ourselves Up

    The most influential person who will talk to you all day is you — so you should be very careful about what you say to yourself.

    Build yourself up in your most holy faith (Jude 1:20). The word of His grace can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified (Acts 20:32). Try to excel in gifts that build up the church (1 Corinthians 14:12). Encourage one another and build each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

    Your Christian walk is the direct result of what you believe about God and yourself. Our sense of the presence of God is often in inverse proportion to the pace of our lives. We will benefit from our faith in proportion to how much we are willing to put into it. Your willingness to grow is what makes you successful. “Motivation fuels that attitude that builds the confidence necessary to sustain the persistence.” (Zig Ziglar)

    For You have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord; my confidence since my youth (Psalm 71:5). Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God (2 Corinthians 3:4). In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence (Ephesians 3:12). We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first (Hebrews 3:14)

    Therefore, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10:19) let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:22).

    Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us (1 John 5:14). So we say with confidence: The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid (Hebrews 13:6).

    Let us work on building confidence in our faith, and to teach others to do so.