Good and Evil

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

Your Response to Good and Evil

 

Amos 5:14-15

"Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph."

According to the verse above, God makes it very plain that there is good and evil. The day in which we live seems to deny the fact that there is such a thing as evil, but whether or not people want to admit this doesn't change the fact the evil exists. However, your response to good and evil will highly determine your success in handling situations. Let me give you several ideas on how you should respond to good and evil.

First, make clear lines in everything that you do. You must not allow gray areas in life. Gray areas tend to lend towards chaos and disorganization. There must be a right way and a wrong way in everything that you do. There is a right and wrong way in handling leadership responsibilities. There is a right and wrong way in how to discipline. There is a right and wrong way on how to live. There is a right and wrong way to everything you do. Therefore, be sure to make clear lines in whatever you do as either the right or wrong way.

Second, look for the good and not the bad in everyone. You will see that God commands in verse 14, "Seek good, and not evil..." If you want fulfilling relationships, then you need to seek the good in every person. If you don't want to live your life second guessing the motives of people, then you will need to make it a point to look for the good in every person. It's not hard to find the wrong, but you will have to purposely seek the good in people. Don't be anxious about finding out the evil about people and the situations in their lives, but be anxious to hear the good about them.

Third, be wise in your knowledge of good. A couple of times in the Scriptures God commands us to be wise concerning good and simple concerning evil. Again, God commands to "Seek good, and not evil..." We are too interested in investigating why something is wrong when we should investigate why something is good. If you will learn why something is good, then you will easily ascertain why something is evil.

Last, be consistent with your dealings of right and wrong. What I mean by this is you need to be consistent on how you treat wrong actions. In verse 15 it says, "...establish judgment in the gate:..." This is teaching us the importance of punishing evil and rewarding good when they happen. When someone does wrong, even if they are family or someone close, you need to be consistent in your punishment of that wrong. If you would punish one person one way and your family another way, then you don't truly hate evil. A hatred of evil will cause you to punish wrong in a consistent manner no matter who commits that wrong. If you truly hate evil, then you will punish wrong consistently.

Your response to good and evil will display how good of a Christian you are. The closer you get to becoming like Christ, the more you will have a hatred for evil. Work hard at being proper and consistent in your treatment of good and evil.

Price tag

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

Your Price Tag of Love

 

Hosea 3:1

"Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine."

The Book of Hosea is a love story, but not the normal type of love story. This love story was filled with heartache, disappointment, and shame, and was about the undying love that Hosea had for his wife. Can you imagine how Hosea must have felt when his wife left him, not just for another man, but she left him to live a life of prostitution? If she left him for another man that would have been hard enough to carry, but to leave him to sell her body to lustful men was a blow that would be hard for anyone to take. Yet, though she left him, he still loved her to the end and proved it by buying her back to be his wife when she was being sold as a slave.

Love, is one of the most costly things for which you will pay for in life. Most people don't know that there is a price tag on love when they choose to love someone. Though the price tag of love is great, if you will pay the price, you will enjoy a great relationship in the end. Let me show you several things that are included in the price tag of love.

First, love hurts. When you choose to love someone, you need to expect that you will be hurt by them at sometime in your life. To expect that someone will never hurt you is unrealistic. Everybody is a sinner, and sinners will do things that hurt those who love them the most even though they may not purposely try to do this. When you choose to love someone, don't think that you will go unscathed, for there will be a time when you will be hurt by them.

Second, love is disappointing. There will be times when the one you love will disappoint you, but true love will continue to love that person. Just because they disappoint you should not stop your love for them for if it does then you never truly loved that person. Just think how often we have disappointed God, and yet He still loves us. When someone disappoints you, don't let that disappointment stop your love.

Third, love can be shameful. Imagine the shame that Hosea felt when he faced others who saw his wife on the street corner selling her body to lustful men. This was certainly a shameful feeling. However, his love for her did not waver even though he was shamed. True love is not dependent upon whether or not someone will shame or embarrass you. There will be times when you will have to carry the shame for the one that you love, but it is worth it when you can restore the fellowship in that love.

Fourth, love may be spurned. Hosea's wife actually left him, but though she left and probably told him that she didn't love him when she did, he still loved her. One of the things you must understand about love is that there is no off switch to love. Though someone may spurn you and be hateful towards you, true love continues to love that person.

Fifth, love has no degree at which it will stop to restore a loved one. The undying love of Hosea was seen when he made a bid for his wife to bring her back home. True love will continue to do everything it can to restore fellowship with the one it loves. Love will be willing to look over the wrong so that it can have the one back whom it loves.

Christian, the only way you will have this true love is to focus on the object of your love and not on the benefits or actions of the one you love. Every parent, spouse, child, friend and Christian needs to know that your love will go through these stages. My question for you is this, are you willing to pay the price tag of love? If you are, then you will have fulfilling relationships.

Weary

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

Weary in Praying

 

Daniel 10:12

"Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words."

Daniel had many great attributes that could be written about, but maybe the greatest attribute was his prayer life. When you read the Book of Daniel, you see that prayer was a mainstay in his life. In fact, when his enemies wanted to find something with which to destroy him, they knew that if they made a law not to pray that they could finally have him killed. Though Daniel was a great prayer warrior, even he had times when it seemed that his prayers were not answered. However, though it seemed that his prayers were not answered, he continued praying until the answer came through.

One of the hardest things to be consistent with in the Christian life is your prayer life. It takes work to pray. There are many people who spend time daily in the Scriptures who's prayer life is hit and miss. The reason is because praying goes against the desires of the flesh. To be consistent in prayer, you constantly have to crucify your flesh. Therefore, because of the difficulty of a consistent prayer life, many will stop praying for a request if they don't get an answer within a "reasonable" amount of time.

Let me encourage you that God hears your prayer. Notice in the verse above that Daniel's prayers were heard the first time he prayed. Though at times you may think that God does not hear your prayers, you must place your faith in the fact that God says that He hears your prayer. Matthew 7:7-8 says, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." If God said that He would give us what we ask, then that would mean that He must hear us when we pray. Though you may not think that God has heard you, rest in His promises that your prayers are being heard. Just because you don't feel that your prayers are not being heard does not mean that God doesn't hear them. God's promises are not based upon how you feel, they are based upon the fact that God said He would do it.

Furthermore, you must not give up hope that your prayers will be answered. You will notice in the verse above that though Daniel's prayer was answered, it took several days for the answer to be delivered. The Devil will do anything he can to keep the answers to your prayers from getting to you. That is why you must not give up. Keep praying until the answer comes. You may think that it is worthless, but God has heard your prayer and the answer is on the way. He promised that He would not only hear your prayer, but He also promised that He would answer it.

What prayer are you growing weary in waiting for? God promises that He will come through if you don't quit. Galatians 6:9 says, "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." If you will keep on praying, you will reap the results of your prayer. Whatever request you have stopped praying for, let me encourage you to pick it up and keep on asking because the answer is on the way.

Promotion

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

An Unorthodox Way to Promotion

 

Daniel 3:30

"Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon."

Being promoted is one of the most sought after things by organizations and people. Organizations want to be promoted to a higher status in the minds of people, many churches seek to be recognized nationally, and many people seek to become famous or have higher position in their jobs. However, the way to promotion will be acquired in an unorthodox way. Let me explain by telling you two stories.

The first story is about the Prophet Balaam. In Numbers 22, Balak was afraid of God's people. He heard the stories how God delivered Israel from Egypt, and he knew he would soon face these people. He sent his servants to Balaam to ask him to come and curse Israel. He promised Balaam wealth and promotion if he would come. Balaam first refused the invitation, but eventually he compromised and went to curse God's people. Through a series of God's intervention, Balaam realized the error of his way, but he still went. Once Balaam was in the presence of Balak, he blessed Israel several times to the point that Balak ran him out of town. Though Balaam thought he would get promotion and wealth through compromise, the only thing he got was the back door.

The second story is about the three Hebrew children. Nebuchadnezzar built an image and commanded that all people bow down to the image when they heard the music play. When the music started, everyone bowed down except for the three Hebrew children. Nebuchadnezzar gave these three young men another opportunity to bow down to his image, but they refused and eventually were thrown into the fiery furnace. After a few minutes, Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnaced and noticed that the Son of God had come to help deliver them from the fire. The uncompromising stand of the three Hebrew children resulted in their promotion. If they would have compromised, they would have been like everyone else.

Promotion must not be sought after. One of the differences in these two stories is one sought promotion while the others sought to do right. One coveted money while the others desired God's blessing. When you seek promotion, you will do anything to get it.

Moreover, compromise never gives promotion. You will often hear people say that if you will compromise in a few areas that you will be able to get promoted. This is a lie of the Devil! Compromise has never brought promotion, and if it does, it will change who you are and you won't like what you will become. An uncompromising stand will always cause you to stand out above the crowd. Compromise will always cause you to be like everyone else, and those who are like everyone else never get recognized.

The only way you will be promoted in whatever area you are in is to stand by your principles, even when the threat of persecution is there. You must remember that principles never change, and you must be moved by principle and not by promotion. Principles will always bring persecution, but also principles always bring promotion. Remember, according to Psalm 75:6-7, promotion comes from God. God is not going to promote someone who compromises; He is going to promote those who stand by principle.

Churches who seek to be a mega church must compromise in order to become that. The church that God blesses is the church that does right and is not worried about how big they are. He looks at the church who stands by principle, and that is the church that He promotes. Likewise, the Christian who stands by principle and never compromises is the Christian whom God will use and promote. Stop seeking promotion through compromise and seek to do right through principle. It is the latter that God will use to promote you.

All the time

Click here to read the Old Paths Journal.

Keeping God Good All the Time

 

Psalm 77:9

"Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah."

Psalm 52:1 says, "Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually." You will notice that it says that God is good all the time. However, in the verse above it seems that the psalmist forgot this verse when he said, "Hath God forgotten to be gracious?" In one psalm we read that God is good, and when you find the same person who said God was good almost questioning the goodness of God. It can almost seem as if God's goodness is fickle. Yet, when you read the remainder of the psalm you see that the psalmist took three steps to get himself out of the funk of questioning the goodness of God.

Face it, there are times when you boldly say that God is good all the time, and then there are times when you struggle with saying and believing God's goodness. When times are going well, it is easy to proclaim God's goodness, but when times are unsettled, it is certainly difficult to see God's goodness through the hardships. However, you cannot allow yourself to stay in the doldrums of self pity, and you must get yourself back on top side if you are going to continue to help people and be positive about life. There are three steps you can take to help you get through those tough times when you doubt God's goodness.

First, remember the works of God. Psalm 77:11 says, "I will remember the works of the LORD:..." You will see that the psalmist decided to remember what God did in the past. Too many people stop remembering God's past works and only dwell on what is happening in the present. You must always remember that the goodness of God is not dependent upon your circumstances. While you think God is not being fair, or that He is not being good to you, there is someone else who is proclaiming the goodness of God. Remember, you don't know the whole picture, but you must take time while you can't see the whole picture to remember what God has done for you in the past. You will never be successful at this until you start writing down and recording when God is good to you. It is when you are going through the tough times that you go back to your records and read the good works of God from the past.

Second, meditate on the works of God. Psalm 77:12 says, "I will meditate also of all thy work,..." Meditating is thinking. In other words, to meditate on the works of God is to think about the works of God. What I do in this step is I take God's good works that I remembered and begin to talk to Him about those works. I talk out loud to God about what He did for me. I find this helps to heal my doubts of God's goodness. Christian, if you will take the time to meditate and talk out loud to God about what He did for you in the past, you will find that God will begin to talk to you again. God gets excited when people talk to Him about the good that He has done.

Third, talk to others about the works of God. Psalm 77:12 continues when it says, "...and talk of thy doings." You will find that when you tell others that God is good, even when you are doubting His goodness, it will have a way of bringing you around to believing He is still good. Many times when a preacher is preaching on the goodness of God, he is talking himself into believing God's goodness because he is going through rough times. Every time he is done preaching, the preacher has talked himself out of his little pity party by telling others of God's goodness. Talking of God's works will help you to overcome your negative thoughts concerning God's goodness.

God is good all the time, but when you feel He is not good, you must take these three steps to get you through your rough time. Eventually you will see God's goodness, but until then, keep believing His goodness by remembering, meditating and talking of His works.