Attributes

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Attributes of a Just Man

 

Proverbs 20:7

"The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him."

One of the characters you read about in the book of Proverbs is the just man. When talking about the just man, God is referring to one who lives right. In other words, he is one who abides by the laws of the land. He is one who abides by God's laws. He is one who is right with mankind. Certainly our present society needs people who will be just. When you study the just man, you will see three of his attributes that will help you in your daily life.

First, the just man listens to instruction. Proverbs 9:9 says, "...teach a just man, and he will increase in learning." Here is someone who doesn't close his ears to the instruction that comes his way, but he is one who learns through instruction. You will never learn the laws of God without listening to the laws of God. You will never learn the rules of society unless you listen to the instruction of one who teaches those rules.

It is highly important that you learn to be a listener. You will learn more through listening than you will through speaking. It is often said that the reason God gave us two ears and one mouth is so that we will listen twice as much as we speak. Life should be a classroom from which we learn. The only way you will learn is to be a person who listens to the instruction that comes through authority and correction.

Second, the just man lives honestly with others. It says in the verse above. "The just man walketh in his integrity:..." What God is saying is that the just man is one who is ethical with others. Ethics is simply treating others in the same manner that you would desire for them to treat you. Now you must understand something about ethics, you are not ethical with others so that they will be ethical with you, but you are ethical with others so that you can have God's blessings upon you. Furthermore, you shouldn't expect others to live according to your ethics. It is God Who rewards you for how you live. The just man is honest with how he treats others so that he may have the blessings of God upon his life.

Last, the just man always gets back up after failure. It says in Proverbs 24:16, "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again..." The just man is one who never lets failure stop him. You need to emulate this attribute in your life. You will have failures in life, but when you fail, you need to learn to get back up. Don't let the taste of failure stop you from getting up and trying again. God knows you are not going to be perfect, but He expects you to be like the just man and get up and try to be perfect.

Does your life emulate the just man? Each day you should live your life trying to learn from instruction, treating others the way you would want to be treated, and trying again after failure. Every day will hold the opportunity to do all three, so don't fail in any of these areas and you will find yourself pleasing God as did the just man.

Backsliden Children

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Dealing with a Backslidden Child

 

Judges 14:5

"Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him."

One of the worst things to see is a parent who is brokenhearted over their child who is backslidden. Often parents will ask me how to deal with their child who has gone wayward. Samson's parents can certainly understand the feeling of dealing with a wayward child. Here was a young man who had all the potential in the world to do something for God, and yet he wasted his life in sin. Though you may feel for Samson's parents, you will see that they made a bad mistake by condoning his sin in an attempt to get him back. As bad as they wanted him to come back to God, they should have done right, even if he wouldn't have agreed with them. Let me give you several helps on dealing with a backslidden child.

First, never support their disobedience. Often parents will feel guilty if they don't support their child, but you must realize that you can only support obedience. For example, if your child is getting married and they are planning to have alcohol at the reception, you should support them by being at the wedding, but don't go to the reception. You would be supporting their disobedience if you went to the reception. They need to understand that you will never support disobedience no matter what the event may be.

Second, find the good that they do and praise it. Though your child may be doing wrong, I would imagine there is something that they are doing right. Find the good that they are doing and praise that good. Remember that the Scriptures say in Romans 12:21 that you "...overcome evil with good." Your child still needs to see that you still notice the good that they do.

Third, don't preach, but pray. What I mean by this is there are many parents who think they need to preach at their children every time they are around them in an attempt to get them right with God. The only thing you will do by preaching at them is to run them away. Praying for them will do more to bring them back than preaching at them will. They expect you to preach at them, and because of their backslidden ways, they will give you more reasons to preach. Pray for them and let God do the work in their heart.

Fourth, don't bargain right to get them to come back. Often parents will compromise something in an attempt to get their child back. Christian, never let down in one area thinking that if you do they will come back. You must realize that truth must always be obeyed. Don't let your heart make the decision, but let truth decide how you live. If they can get you to compromise in one area, then they will justify what they are doing by thinking that truth must not be that important to you if you will change.

Fifth, don't sacrifice the other children for one. This is tough, but when you allow a backslidden child to do wrong under your roof, you are ruining your other children. There will be times when you will have to ask a backslidden child to move on for the sake of saving your other children.

Last, love your backslidden child. They need to know that you love them for who they are and not for what they do. That is how God loves us. When you love them where they are and not for what they do, that love will convict them in a greater way. It is amazing how love can many times preach the loudest sermons to the backslidden.

Parent, don't ever give up in your desire to see your backslidden child get right with God. Do right and trust God that He is dealing with their heart. You are not the first one who has had a child disappoint you, so don't second guess yourself and keep doing right.

Too Many

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Too Many for God

 

Judges 7:2

"And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me."

In the verse above, God made a statement that could almost seem to contradict what He says in other parts of the Scriptures. Of course, the Word of God never contradicts Itself, but this statement could almost be taken that way if you don't look at it in its context. God said, "...The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands..." God told Gideon that he had too many people, not that God couldn't work with that amount of people, but that God enjoys working with the remnant crowd or the smaller crowd. God knows that when He takes the remnant and they win that He will receive the glory for the victory.

Christian, this should encourage you. You may not think that you have much to offer God, but let me remind you that God is the God of the little things. It is often with the little things that God does His greatest work. When you think you have no talent and that God could not use you, that is when God steps in and can use you in a great way. God doesn't always look for the talented, but He often uses those who don't have much talent to give.

God used David who was the least likely in his family to be the one whom God would use. God used Moses who had a speech impediment that would seem to hinder him from doing anything great for God. Look at the disciples whom Jesus chose. Most of His disciples were not men of great talent or influence, but they were common men who had great weaknesses. However, God used these men in spite of their lack of talent. There are many in the Scriptures who had nothing to offer, but He chose them and used them in a great way in spite of their weaknesses.

Furthermore, God can use the church that doesn't seem to have much to offer God. I know there are many church members in smaller churches who think that nothing great can come from their church. Christian, let me remind you that most great men of God did not come from large churches, but they came out of a smaller church. You may think that the mega-churches have more to offer, but when you read the story above you will realize that many times the mega-churches are "too many" for God. Not that God can't use the mega-church, but He will often choose to use a church of your size to do great things.

When God made the statement, "...The people that are with thee are too many for me..." He was simply reminding us that He often works with the remnant. Don't lose your faith in the fact that God can save your nation. You may think that there are not many who stand for truth, but God doesn't need many to do a great work. In fact, God will use a remnant to do a great work for Him.

Will you be part of the remnant that God will use? The best way to be used by God is to jump in and do your best with what you have. God doesn't ask for you to have talent or great numbers to be used, He just asks for you to surrender to His will and allow Him to work through you. Great movements always start with one person. Be that one who doesn't wait for the many to do something for God, but is part of the few who jumps in and serves Him with what they have. It is always through the few that God does His greatest work. Though you may not have great talent or a great crowd with you, just do your best and God will do the rest.

Value

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Leadership's Value

 

Judges 3:29

"And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man."

In the sports world the value of a coach is often debated. There are those who think the players are more important to winning a championship than the coach, and then there are those who feel the coach is the key to winning a championship. However, when you look at any championship team, you will always see a great coach leads that team.

In the verse above, you have the story of Ehud leading Israel to victory. For many years the Israelites were in bondage to the Moabites. Eglon was the leader of the Moabites at this time. As long as Eglon was alive, the Moabites had the strength to subdue Israel, but within the hour of his death, you will read that Israel subdued Moab. In the verse above, you see that Eglon had great warriors in his army. Yet, these great warriors were not able to bring victory to Moab without their leader. It was their leader who channeled their strength to overcome armies.

Dr. Lee Roberson, who was a great church builder of the past century, often said, "Everything rises and falls on leadership." The value of leadership in a person's life or in an organization or church cannot be stressed enough. It doesn't matter how great an organization is, it will fail without the proper leadership. Every great church or organization acquired their status because of one leader. The reason it is important for every Christian to treat their leaders in a proper manner is so that they can reach the potential that God has for them.

Understanding that leadership's value is great, you need to learn not to fight the leadership in your life. Too many people often question and fight leadership's decisions when they need to learn to follow. I have learned by experience that God often gives leaders a special wisdom to lead. Therefore, it would be wise for you not to fight your leaders.

Moreover, allow leadership to lead. Leadership is only as great as its followers. Maybe the reason we don't have many great leaders today is because we don't have many great followers. Your leader can only lead you if you will follow. I'm not talking about following someone into error, but as long as leadership doesn't contradict Scriptures, you need to learn to follow.

Furthermore, pray for God to protect your leaders. You must understand that the Devil is after your leaders because of their value in your life. You should daily ask God to protect them from sin and harm so they can continue to lead you where God would want you to go. A few minutes in prayer every day for your leader may go a long way in helping them to properly fulfill their role in your life.

Finally, pray for God to give your leaders wisdom. Leaders make many decisions every day that will affect your life. With this in mind, you should realize the importance of them having God's wisdom. Ask God to give your leaders the wisdom they need in leading you so you can reach your fullest potential.

A leader's value in your life if very great. God has placed you under the leadership you need so that you can reach your fullest potential. You will only reach your potential if you learn to follow the leadership that God has given you.

Confined

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Confined and Expansion Needed

 

Joshua 19:47

"And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father."

Have you ever felt confined in your Christian walk and wanted to do more for God? That is how the children of Dan felt with the inheritance they received from God. Their families were growing, and they felt confined in the portion given to them. So instead of complaining about what they didn't have, they stepped out to conquer in their attempt to acquire more land for their families. In order for them to expand, they had to be willing to fight.

Growth is one of the most important elements in the Christian life. However, one of the mistakes that many people make is they focus on growth itself instead of the principles of growth, thus leading to compromise. Instead of focusing on growing, if you would just apply the principles of growth, then you would find that growth is the byproduct of those principles. Some of the principles of growth that you need to apply are found in the verse above.

First, don't complain about what you don't have. The children of Dan didn't complain about not having enough land, instead they did something about it. Too many Christians complain about not growing when they need to realize that their lack of growth is their fault.

Second, don't expect growth as a handout. We live in a handout society that expects something for nothing. There is nothing free in life. God is not just going to give you growth because you want it. Like the children of Dan, you must step out and start doing something to see your growth. Too many people sit in the church pews waiting for God to grow them when growth occurs through activity. Until you step out and start applying the principles of growth, then you will never see the growth you desire.

Third, you must fight to grow. You will notice that the children of Dan had to fight a battle to get their growth. Growth is not free, there is a price to be paid for it. You will have to battle yourself and the Devil in order to grow. In other words, you will need to have some fight in you if you want to grow. Passive Christians never grow. You must be willing to fight through trials, obstacles, criticisms and the desire to quit to acquire growth.

Last, growth takes patience. Don't immediately expect to get to your final desired destination of growth. It will take patience. Be patient with yourself as you grow, for growth is not an immediate process. Don't get down on yourself and beat yourself up because you are not where you would like to be. God is pleased with you if you are growing.

So, you feel confined and need an expansion in your Christian life? Then step out and start applying the principles of growth. It will take some fight to get there, but as long as you apply the principles of growth, then you will find the byproduct will be the expansion and growth you desired.