Behave!

Behave Yourself

Psalm 101:2

"I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart."

Right behavior is no mistake. People who have the right behavior have it on purpose. You are not going to act right on accident, you are going to act right on purpose. It is when you don't do things on purpose that you end up doing the wrong things.

The Psalmist said in the verse above, "I will behave myself in a perfect way." You will notice that he decided he was going to behave himself, but he also purposed that he was going to have the right behavior. In other words, he had a plan on how he was going to behave right. In the next few verses you will find what he decided he was going to do to have the right behavior.

First, he decided he was not going to be in the place where wicked things would be shown. Verse 3 says, "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes:..." You will not behave right if you are watching the wrong things on television. You will not behave right if you are looking at the wrong websites. If you want to have proper behavior, then you must decide to never allow yourself to be in places that show the wrong things.

Second, he purposed to be around the right people. Verse 4 says, "...I will not know a wicked person." You will have a hard time behaving right if you are around people who don't behave right. You won't behave right by being with people who run to the bars and live in the party scene. You won't behave right when you sit in church with the people who are constantly doing wrong. You won't behave right by going to the restaurant with your work associates who live a wicked lifestyle. You must be around people who do right if you want to behave right.

Third, verse 5 shows us that you must have the right conversations if you want to behave right. You are not going to behave right when you are around the gossips. You are not going to behave right when your are around those who talk dirty. If you want to have the right behavior, then you must be around those whose conversations are glorifying to God.

Fourth, verse 6 shows us that you must serve the LORD to behave right. The best way to live right is to do right. When you are doing right, you won't be doing wrong. One of the greatest reasons you need to be involved in your church is to keep yourself from sin. You have a better chance of staying away from sin by serving the LORD.

Fifth, verse 7 shows that right behavior comes from having the right friends. This is somewhat akin to being around the right people, but it is stronger in that your friends are the whom you invite to your house. Your behavior is as good as your weakest friend. This is why it's important for you to be careful about your friends. Having good friends will help you to live right.

Last, verse 8 shows that dealing with your sin quickly will help you to behave right. Christian, you cannot allow sin to continue in your life and it not affect you. Sin is like cancer, if it is not dealt with immediately it will eventually control you. If you want to behave right, then you need to get rid of any sin in your life.

How you behave is a choice. It is a choice to do the things mentioned above. Your behavior will be determined by how well you implement each of these things in your life. If you find that your behavior is not what it should be, then it is because you are not doing one of the things mentioned above. On the other hand, if you want your behavior to continue to be right, then guard each of these areas so that you don't end up having the wrong behavior.

Upside Down

Upside Down Leadership

Isaiah 3:12

"As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths."

One of the greatest quotes that Dr. Lee Roberson would often say is, "Everything rises and falls on leadership." Dr. Roberson knew leadership principles very well. He built the great Highland Park Baptist Church which in its heyday was the largest independent Baptist Church in the world. He understood that leadership must take responsibility and lead if they want their organization to succeed.

In the verse above, we find that one of the reasons Israel fell was that their roles of leadership were upside down. Everything needs leadership, but having the right roles of leadership is as important as the leader leading. You will notice that the roles of leadership were reversed in that the children and women were leading instead of the men. You will see that the result of upside down leadership was that the people erred from the truth and the old paths were destroyed.

I find that we seem to have upside down leadership in our present day society. God intended for men to be the leaders in the home, church and society. When you look at the home, God said that the husband was to lead, then the wife was to follow the husband, and the children were to be obedient to both dad and mom. Likewise, men were to lead in the church. Throughout the Scriptures you find that women were not to preach or lead, it was the men who were to lead. I know this is not popular in our society, and I know this will probably get some who read this upset with me, but it is very clear in the Scriptures that men are to lead in the church. Likewise, if the husband is to lead in the home, then that would mean that the men are to lead in society. Anytime you reverse these roles in any place, you will have error, confusion and compromise.

Men, it's time you step up to your obligation and lead. One of the reasons the women have to lead is because men have neglected their obligation, and somebody had to step up and lead in the home and society. If the husband won't lead in the home, then somebody has to take the lead and make decisions. Stop letting society shame you into not leading in your home. God's Word is always right, and God commands the husband to be the leader in the home. Likewise, men need to step up in the church. There are many churches where the ladies have to take leadership roles because the men sit in the pews and do nothing. Don't get upset with women leading if you are not doing your part of leadership.

Furthermore, ladies need to submit to the leadership role of men. This does not mean that a lady is a second-class person, it simply means that God chose the man to be the decision-maker, and you need to follow the man's leadership decisions. Follow his decisions with your spirit as well. You may follow him physically, but you also need to follow him with your spirit. There is nothing worse than watching a woman give an attitude when her husband tries to lead. You will destroy your home if you don't follow him with your spirit as well.

Finally, stop allowing the children to lead. Our society has become one that looks to the children for leadership when the adults are to be the leaders. Parents need to stop letting their children lead in the home and start leading themselves. Pastors need to stop letting their children influence their direction and start leading their children themselves. Adults in society need to take the leadership and stop letting the children dictate what direction their nation should go.

Anytime you turn the roles of leadership upside down you will have problems. The reason compromise is prevalent in our day is because of upside down leadership. I challenge every person to stay in their role of leadership so that the old paths are preserved.

To the swift?

The Race Is Not to the Swift

Ecclesiastes 9:11

"I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."

The verse above should be an encouragement to the average person because you don't have to be the best to win. Let's face it, most of the people who make up this world are just average people. Many times average people believe that life is stacked against them, but that is not true. There is a way that even the average can win.

The verse above says, "the race is not to the swift,..." You don't have to be the fastest, you just have to outlast the fastest person. If you will keep going when the fastest person quits, then you can still win the race. This verse says, "nor the battle to the strong,..." Again, you don't have to be the strongest, you just have to outfight the stronger person. The verse above is simply teaching that you don't have to be the fastest, strongest, smartest, richest or the most skilled to win. Talent is not what wins in life, normally it is the person who simply outworks all of these.

Christian, most of the people whom God used in the Scriptures were average people. Gideon was an average person when his brethren cast him out when he was young. David was such an average child that when the man of God came to anoint a new king that his father and the man of God did not think he was good enough to be the next king. Moses was not the most eloquent speaker of his day for he had a speech impediment. Paul was not the physical specimen that would draw the attention of the crowd. The disciples of Jesus Christ were not the most educated men in their day. Yet, all of these were used by God to do great things, and all of these were highly successful people.

Most of the time you will find that those who win are not those who are the most talented, but those who win are those who outwork everyone else. You don't have to be the best to win, all you have to do is work harder than the best. It is amazing how the hardest workers seem to be the luckiest people in life. If you will decide to outwork those who are the most talented, you will find that you can succeed and end up the winner.

Preacher boy, you may not be the best preacher out there, but you can still build the largest church if you will work harder than every other preacher. Sunday school teacher, you may not have the best personality or be the most educated, but you can build the largest Sunday school class if you will outwork every other Sunday school teacher. Student, you may not be the gifted student, and good grades may be hard to come by, but you can be the top of your class if you will out-study every other student. Whatever your situation is, you can end up on top if you will work harder in that area.

I simply want to encourage you to remember that the race is not to the swift, the race is to the one who will keep on running when others quit. When the smartest stop studying, you keep on studying. When the richest stop earning, you keep on earning. When the most skilled stop working, you keep on working. If you will outlast and outwork everyone else, you can be the winner. Stop whining about everybody else being better than you, and suck it up, decide to work harder, and you will see success. You can be a success, but you will only be a success, not because you are the best, but because you outwork everyone else.

Eye trouble?

Correcting Eye Trouble

Job 31:1

"I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?"

The eye is certainly an important part of the body. The eye can keep you from danger. The eye allows you to enjoy seeing the beauty of creation. The eye can perceive the emotions on someone's face. The eye makes it easier to read a book. The eyes are also a part of the beauty of a person. Yet, when the eyes go bad it can certainly change your life.

I have been privileged all these years to have good eyes. It is amazing because everyone in my family has glasses. For many years, and even to this day, people wore glasses to help them to see clearly. Then, I can remember when contacts came out and how many people started wearing them. The contacts made it easier to be more active without the concern of breaking your glasses. Now, they have laser surgery to correct eye problems. It is amazing to hear those who get their eyes corrected talk about how much clearer they can see things.

However, there is an eye trouble that is more serious than your physical eyes, and that is spiritual eye trouble. When your spiritual eyes go bad, it will affect your life. Job understood the importance of the eyes and said that he made a covenant with them so that he would not "think" about a maid. He was saying that he wanted to be careful that he didn't look at a woman indecently because he didn't want it to affect his mind.

It is highly important that you be careful not to allow yourself to see people dressed indecently. In the world of technology in which we live, it is so easy to see things that you should not see. Christian, this will affect your mind. This will affect how you live. Men and women alike need to be careful about seeing people dressed indecently. For instance, be careful about watching people commit sin on the television. Be careful about watching programs that show people dressed indecently. Be careful about going to websites where people are scantily dressed. Whatever your eye sees it will cause your mind to think about it.

Furthermore, married people need to be careful about whom they look at. If you are married, you should never look at the opposite gender with wrong motives. You promised your spouse that you would keep yourself for them and them alone, that includes whom you look at. One of the reasons Job made a covenant with his eyes was so that he would not think about a maid because he was married. Married couples should be careful about looking at someone with wrong thoughts. Make a covenant with your eyes to never look for someone else. Make a covenant with your eyes to think only about your spouse.

Why is this so important? Jeremiah tells us in Lamentations 3:51, "Mine eye affecteth mine heart..." Whatever you look at will affect your heart. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." The heart dictates what you do in life; therefore, it is highly important to protect what your eyes see. If you look at people dressed indecently, it will eventually cause you to commit physical sins. If you look at another person with wonder of sinful intentions, then you will eventually commit those things.

Christian, the best way to correct your spiritual eye trouble is to make a covenant with your eyes not to allow them to see things that are wrong. David said in Psalm 101:3, "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes:..." Make that covenant right now that you will not allow yourself to see things that you should not see. Be careful that your eyes only see the things that would be pleasing to God, your spouse or your parents.

Breaking Point

Your Breaking Point

Job 13:15

"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him."

When a person is being interrogated by an enemy, many times they will perform horrible acts upon them to bring them to the breaking point so that they can get the information from them that they want. When you hear of the horrific acts that were performed upon the martyrs, a person can only admire that these people moved their breaking point past death. These martyrs, with the help of God, trusted that God would help them endure the suffering of their death. They truly proved that they had no breaking point in this life.

The verse above is interesting in that Job was saying that he had no breaking point. You must understand that everything had already been taken from him but his life. Job had lost his wealth, transportation, job, children, friends, health, and his wife had given up on him and told him to curse God so he could die. Yet, in all this Job did not break and continued to trust God. Job affirmed in the verse above that it didn't matter what else could be placed upon him, he said that he would trust God to his death. He understood that the only thing left was his life, and he made it clear that even if he lost his life that he would not break and stop trusting God.

Christian, what is your breaking point? Could you lose all and still serve the LORD? That is what Job did. Even when it came down to his last possession, his life, he still made it clear that he was going to trust God. Too many Christians break and stop serving the LORD because they think it's too tough, yet you can look around and see that there are others who have lost more than they who are still serving the LORD. You must decide that there is no breaking point to your trust and service to God.

Will you allow finances to be your breaking point? When finances get a little low, do you start griping and quit on God? Christian, when you lose it all financially God can still take care of you, and He will if you continue to trust in Him.

Is family your breaking point? Job lost all of his children and even his wife, yet he continued to trust God. When your family turns on you, are you going to continue to serve the LORD? There must come a point in your life when God becomes greater than family. This doesn't mean that you don't love your family, but family will turn on you at some point because they don't understand why you would serve God in the manner that you do. Don't let family be your breaking point.

Furthermore, don't let possessions be your breaking point. Too many Christians are so wrapped up in possessions that when God takes them away they quit on God. Don't let that be your breaking point. If you lose your transportation and home, keep serving the LORD. If you lose some of your prized possessions, keep serving the LORD.

You may wonder how you can lose all and not break. The answer is that you must focus on the Person you will never lose, God. When everything else is gone, God will still be there. That is how you keep from breaking when you lose it all. When family forsakes you, God is there. When health is gone, God is there. When finances have flown away, God is there. When everything in this world seems to be gone, you can count on the fact that God will still be there. If you keep your focus on God and not on possessions or people, then no matter what comes your way you will continue to serve the LORD. Keeping your eyes on God is the only way you will keep you serving the LORD when you lose it all.