Benefits

Benefits of Chastisement

Deuteronomy 11:2

"And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,"

A person would rarely think that chastisement could be a blessing. The word "chastisement" means, to rebuke or reprimand severely. Chastisement normally brings thoughts of bad connotations. It normally brings thoughts of some time in your life when someone chastised you for something you did.

However, God shows us that chastisement is not a bad thing. In fact, when you look at the verse above, you realize that God chastises those who have a relationship with Him. You must understand that there is a difference between chastisement and judgement. A person who has no relationship with God will never receive chastisement, they will only see the judgement of God. On the other hand, a person who has a relationship with God can be chastised and judged, but God's first action is always chastisement. You find that there are benefits to God's chastisement.

First, God's chastisement allows you to see His greatness. In other words, God chastises you when you place something or someone above Him. One of the purposes of chastisement is to get you to keep a right perspective of yourself, others and God. God should always be the greatest in your life, and any time you lower your estimation of God, He must chastise you so that you can see His greatness.

Second, God's chastisement allows you to see His mighty hand. Why would a person lose a proper estimation of God? Because they forgot how mighty He is. Unfortunately, God must constantly remind us of His might so that we don't lose proper perspective. When you forget how mighty God is, then He must chastise you so that you don't hurt yourself.

Third, God's chastisement allow you to see His mercy. There are times when God's chastisement comes after we know we have done wrong. It is in these times when God chastises us to remind us that He still wants to keep a relationship with us. His chastisement is more to help us remember His mercy than it is to correct us. The reason being is because when we know we have done wrong, we have probably already corrected ourselves to the point that we will wonder if God still wants us. So, God must bring us in for chastisement for the sole purpose to remind us of His mercy.

What a wonderful reminder of how to act when we chastise those whom we lead. Whether you are a parent, pastor, boss, management or leader in a church ministry, you should use chastisement for the sole purpose of bringing a person back to where they should be so that you can continue having a good relationship. The purpose of chastisement should not be to hurt, but it should be to keep a good working relationship with that person.

If you are the beneficiary of chastisement from authority, don't take it as a personal attack. Realize that authority must chastise you at times when you do wrong so that your relationship can continue. Don't let chastisement seem evil to you, but take it as a sign from authority that they love you and want the best for you. Your perspective of chastisement will determine how you take it. So, keep the proper perspective so that you don't become bitter, because the next step after chastisement is judgement. Allow chastisement to build your relationship with authority, so that you can live a productive and happy life.

Disloyalty

Managing Disloyalty

Numbers 16:26

"And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins."

Disloyalty never makes sense. Disloyalty is normally caused by a jealous follower who wants the position of the leader without paying the price of that position. They want everything handed to them without having to earn it. Literally, it is a lazy, selfish person who desires the position that is not rightfully theirs.

Unfortunately, we learn how to deal with disloyalty through the life of Moses. Moses was one of the greatest leaders you will learn about in the Scriptures. He was the epitome of how a leader should lead. You would think that everyone would be pleased with his leadership, but we find this was not the case. Korah gathered a group of people against Moses and told him in verse 3, "...Ye take too much upon you,..." Korah thought that Moses didn't have the right to lead the way that God told him to lead. Korah's disloyalty affected several people and their families, because they eventually lost their lives. When studying this story, God shows us how to manage the sin of disloyalty.

First, leaders should deal with disloyalty promptly. God did not wait for the disloyalty to work its way out. I have found many leaders make the mistake of thinking that the disloyal person will eventually come around, to their own detriment. When you see disloyalty, you must deal with it immediately. The longer you allow disloyalty, the more time you give to the person who is disloyal to influence more innocent people.

Second, in person you must approach the disloyal person about their disloyalty. Moses didn't send Joshua or some other person to deal with the disloyalty, but he went himself to deal with it. Leaders must not be afraid to deal with disloyalty face to face. If you have done nothing wrong, then you have nothing from which to hide. Many leaders won't deal with disloyalty because they don't like confrontation, but as a leader you must confront the disloyal person about their disloyalty so that you can quickly squelch its roots.

Third, you must deal with disloyalty to the degree of the disloyalty. Because Korah's disloyalty was very open, God dealt with it in an open manner by killing Korah and his followers. The more open a person's disloyalty is, the more open you must be in dealing with disloyalty. If you catch disloyalty before it becomes public, then you can deal with it in a private matter; however, when a person is publicly disloyal, you must then deal with that person in a public manner. This will show others that disloyalty will not be tolerated at any level.

Last, followers must not associate themselves with a disloyal person. God told everyone to get away from Korah and his followers. He told them not to "touch" anything that belonged to them. When you see someone is disloyal, you must stop having any association with them. You may think you can handle their disloyalty, but it will eventually affect your spirit, which will eventually affect your actions.

Christian, be careful that you don't get caught up in the sin of disloyalty. Disloyalty is like leprosy in that if it is not dealt with it will spread, and if you come into contact with it, you will be affected by it as well. If you will learn to always keep your eyes on God and follow Him then you will find that you will never be caught up in the sin of disloyalty.

Counting

Principles of Counting

Numbers 1:19

"As the LORD commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai."

You will notice that when God told Moses to count the children of Israel, He told him to count those who were "able to go forth to war." Were these the only people in the nation of Israel? Not at all! There were other men who could have been counted. There were women and children who were citizens of Israel who could have been counted. Did God not count the others because they were not important to Him? Not at all! Every person is important to God.

So, for what purpose did God only counted those who were "able to go forth to war?" God was showing that when counting you would be wise to know how many producers you have. The men who went to war were the producers for Israel. They were the ones who defended the land from their enemies. They were the ones who would plant crops in the fields. An organization or a country will fail without producers. Your producers will be the ones who will make or break your organization.

One of the mistakes I see pastors make when counting their church attendance is that they make a big deal out of their Sunday morning crowd. There is nothing wrong with this, but the fact is the Sunday morning crowd is not the crowd that produces. In all reality, the Sunday morning crowd is probably the crowd that takes. I am not saying this crowd is not important, but what I am saying is that this crowd does not show the strength of a church. I often tell pastors that the crowd they need to keep a close eye on is their Wednesday evening crowd. Most of the people who come to Wednesday night services are the ones who help strengthen the church. A pastor would be wise to make more of the Wednesday night crowd than their Sunday morning crowd. What is the benefit of counting the producing crowd?

First, it gives you an honest knowledge of the state of your flocks. Proverbs 27:23 says, "Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks,..." Every church leader would be wise to know how many producers he has in the church. A person who invests would be wise to know which investments are the ones that produce. An organizational leader would be wise to count their producers. This will let you know the strength of your organization. Your producers are the foundation of a church, organization or an investment.

Second, it shows where your focus should be. If you don't know who your producers are, then you could likely waste time on those who will waste your time. Those who are not producers certainly need time, but a leader should spend more time building the producers for they build that for which you are working.

Third, it motivates others to work harder. When followers know that you are interested in the producers, then that motivates them to become a producer themselves. It gives people a clear vision of what they should become.

If you are a leader, don't count to get the big numbers, but count to find your producers. The amount of your producers show the strength of your organization. If you are not in the producing crowd, then work hard to become a part of that crowd so you can help your church or organization. If you are part of the producers, then make it your goal to bring others into this crowd. This benefits you and the organization for which you work.

Trespassing

No Trespassing

Leviticus 6:2

"If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour;"

It is humanly impossible to live life without one day wronging someone. Though we may never initially do this, we often find that we have done something against someone. Whether intentional or not, we must get right with the one whom we wronged if we want God to bless us.

God dealt with this issue when He told Moses how to offer a trespass offering. It's interesting that God calls it a trespass offering because that implies that we infringed on someone else's property or rights. You will notice that God says, "If a soul sin,..." God does not excuse anyone from trespassing against another. He simply deals with the issue of wronging someone else. It doesn't matter if they wronged you, what matters is that you did wrong to someone else. God was dealing with the issue at hand, and you are the issue.

Furthermore, God indicts us even further by saying, "...and commit a trespass..." God is teaching us that when we do wrong, it is nobody else's fault but our own. When you do wrong, you chose to do wrong. When you infringe on another's rights, by choice you infringed on their rights. If you are going to right a wrong against someone else, then you must come to grips with the fact that you chose to do the wrong. You must not blame anyone else, you must take full responsibility for your own actions. So, how do you right a wrong when you have trespassed against someone?

First, admit to the one whom you wronged that you have done wrong. In verses 3-5, you will see that before the trespass offering was to be offered, they had to go to the person whom they trespassed against and get it right. By going to that person they were admitting their wrong. Christian, you will never right a wrong until you admit to the one whom you wronged that it was your fault. It may not be easy to look that person in the eyes, but you must go to them if you want to get it right.

Second, restore to the best of your ability what you took from them. God commanded in these same verses to restore what they took from the one they wronged. You must find a way to restore what you took from the person when you wronged them. It may not always be easy, but you must find a way to give back to them what you took from them.

Third, restore more than you took. God said they were to " add the fifth part" to the one they took from. In other words, your restoration should make them better off than they were before you committed the trespass. Anything less than this will not be accepted by God.

Finally, after you have done these things, then ask God to forgive you. You will notice that each of these areas were to be completed before they offered the trespass offering to God. God is teaching that He will not forgive you until you get right with the one whom you wronged. You can ask God to forgive you when you wronged someone, but if you haven't got right with the person, then God won't forgive you. God wants you to understand that you can't be right with Him if you are not right with the one whom you wronged.

Have you wronged someone and have yet to get right with them? Christian, you will never experience God's forgiveness until you get right with those who you have wronged. If there is someone that comes to mind whom you have wronged, then don't let this day end without attempting to get that wrong right. God's forgiveness is predicated upon you getting right with others. If you are right with others, then you can get right with God.#edit

Which Side

Which Side Are You On?

Exodus 32:26

"Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD'S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him."

You know the story very well. Moses spent forty days and nights on the top of Mount Sinai receiving the commandments from God. While he was at the top of the mount, Aaron and the people were in the valley building and worshipping a golden calf. When Moses came down from the top of the mount, he saw the people naked and dancing around the golden calf. When he saw this, he became angry and threw the tablets of stone on the ground and broke them. It is always good to see that there are people who get angry with sin. Moses' action towards sin should be a lesson to everyone.

However, the truth I want you to see comes from the verse above. After Moses confronted Aaron, he then stood in the gate and drew a line to decide who was on the LORD's side. He told them that whoever was on the LORD's side should come to him in the gate. Moses was forcing people to choose sides. He was not worried about offending people by forcing them to make a choice; rather, he was forcing them to make a decision of whether they would serve the LORD or the golden calf.

One of the dangerous movements infiltrating our churches is one where you don't force people to choose sides. They simply don't want to offend anyone with truth. Instead of making truth clear, they muddy the waters and tell people that they need to decide what is right in their own mind. Their feeling is that they don't want to make people feel uncomfortable to the degree that it will run them off. Even if they must compromise who they are and what they believe, forcing people to make a choice will not be something they will do.

Let me make this very clear, the Scriptures will force people to make a choice. For instance, you make a choice of choosing Christ to be your Saviour to go to Heaven, or you choose another path that will send you to Hell. God is for people making choices for whom they will follow. God is not concerned with how uncomfortable it will make people, rather He is concerned that truth is made plain.

Truth will never be that light on the hill if we don't force people to choose sides. I know there are some who are uncomfortable reading this, but if we don't make our choices clear then truth will fail to be a part of our society. You may not like the Scriptures telling you how to live and dress, but that is all a part of choosing sides.

In order to make a decision then clear lines must be drawn. Moses drew a clear line for those who were on the LORD's side, and you must make a clear line for people so they will know which side is the LORD's side. Don't be afraid to define sin. Don't just tell people not to sin, but tell them what is sin. When people clearly know what is right and wrong, then they must make a choice as to which side they will be on. When you create gray areas, then people can't make a choice. It is imperative that people understand what is right and wrong.

Christian, don't flinch when preachers declare what is right and wrong. As long as they show you from the Scriptures where something is right or wrong, you should not fight against them. Drawing clear lines simply helps you to know which side you are going to follow. I challenge you to always choose the LORD's side. It may not always be popular, but it is always right. When you go to work or school, choose the LORD's side at all times. In your home, choose the LORD's side with what you watch and do. Everyone around you should know whose side you are on. Do they?

Thou shalt not

Thou Shalt Not

Exodus 20:4

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:"

One of the common complaints you hear in Christianity is that people say they get tired of all the rules in the church. You often hear people say that they don't like the preacher telling them how to dress, where they can go, with whom they should be friends, etc. Many people who have dropped out of church tell me that the reason they stopped going to church was because they didn't like the preacher always telling them what to do.

Several times in the Scriptures God says, "Thou shalt not..." In fact, two hundred and forty times God says this in the Scriptures. This is just one of the phrases God uses to show us what not to do. If you are not careful, you will allow this phrase to be the thing that drives you away from serving God; however, I believe if you looked at this phrase in a different light you would realize that God's rules are not so bad. Let me show you some perspectives you should keep about the phrase, "Thou shalt not..."

First, "Thou shalt not..." reveals your heart. You can tell a whether a person is rebellious by what they do when they are told not to do something. You will hear people say, "I'm not going to let them tell me what I can't do!" There are many people who take it as an honor badge to rebel against God's commandments. You have some who say that you are going to run off people by telling them what not to do. Well, apparently God didn't get that memo, because two hundred and forty times He commands us not to do something. Rules don't run people off, rules only reveal that the heart already ran off. It simply reveals to authority the heart of an individual. Don't be afraid of the rules God has set in place, for they are partly there to reveal an individual's heart.

Second, "Thou shalt not..." shows you what you can do. If God is telling us what not to do, then He is also revealing what we can do. Too many people look at the negative side of the statement when they ought to see that there are many things God allows us to do. It is not keeping you from doing things, it is only showing you what you can do. God is simply giving you clarity by telling you what not to do.

Third, "Thou shalt not..." protects you from harm. Sadly, the people who look at the negative side of this command don't realize that God is keeping someone from harm. God tells us not to do something because He knows if we do it that it will hurt us. When my parents told me not to play with the electrical plugins in the house, they were not being hateful, they were simply keeping me from hurting myself. Christian, God is not being hateful by telling you not to do something, instead He is revealing His love towards you by keeping you from hurting yourself.

Fourth, "Thou shalt not..." keeps God's blessings upon your life. If you will obey this command, then you will keep God's blessings rolling into your life. Obedience is the key to the blessings of God. You discover the fountain of God's blessings by learning what not to do.

Let me encourage you not to look at the commandments of God in a negative light. Don't let the Devil snooker you into the feeling that all the rules God set in place are grievous. Instead, look at the rules in a positive manner and see that God is truly trying to give you His blessings if you will obey Him. If you will look at it in this light, then you will find that serving God truly is the best life to live.