Victory is sweet, isn't it? As Wide World of Sports told us every Saturday there is "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." I doubt that any of us revel in a loss. We always want our team to be on the winning side. But, sometimes winning can be defeating.
This year in the NCAA basketball tournament the Kentucky Wildcats came into the tourney undefeated. Many prognosticators and predictors picked them as the eventual winners. Many of those filling out brackets picked them to win. I mean, how could they lose! They were undefeated. But, yesterday's victory is no guarantee of today's victory. Each game is played individually. And, each day is lived separately.
Spiritually we can become complacent in our battle against sin. We win a victory today and are tempted to believe that we will always gain victory over that sin. We implement biblical principles and find the joy in beating down the urge to go against God's will. Yet, we often find in real life that we fall just as hard later for the same sin we beat. Why is that?
David was learning many good and lasting lessons in his young life as he was being pursued by murderous King Saul. He fled from place to place to escape these murderous attempts. One day, hiding in a cave, with King Saul totally vulnerable, David chose to let him live. He wouldn't be controlled by bitterness, anger of vengeance. What a great victory was found that day in David's life. What a testimony to his men, and to us, that we too do not need to be controlled by our feelings. He found his victory in trusting God's will and timing.
However, as we move on in David's life we find that his victory in the cave didn't guarantee his victory in the plain! David will be disrespected by a man named Nabal and he will not handle it well. Nabal, whose name means "fool," lives up to his name. But, as David seeks to act out on his own foolish plan, God intervenes by bringing Nabal's wise wife into the picture. Abigail is the most wise person in this account. Without her counsel and confrontation of David, he would have done something he would have lived to regret.
Be reading 1 Samuel 25 to get your heart prepared for our study in the life of David. We will look at the ways we can respond to what life brings. Join us either live or via our live stream.
What a crazy picture, right? Have I lost my mind? Have I misread my calendar? Could it be Thanksgiving Day already? What happened to our summer vacation? What happened to Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, July 4th, and Labor day? I must be really confused.
Well, not exactly. I’m just trying to get your attention! Do I have it yet? For the next few minutes please give me your undivided attention.
We have so relegated giving thanks to a day on the calendar that sometimes we have forgotten that we are to be thankful all the time. Every day of our life should be a day of thankfulness. Regularly and continually we should be offering our praise to God, our Heavenly Father. Thanking Him should be more than a yearly exercise.
And, even more forgotten is that giving thanks isn’t designed just for the good things in life. Of, believe me, we are to give God thanks for all those “good and perfect” which come down from Him. But, thankfulness should emanate from our hearts even when things are not as we expected. Difficulties as well as blessing are to be received with a heart of thankfulness.
Maybe the most familiar account in the Word of God concerning thankfulness or the lack thereof, is the account of the ten lepers. Luke 17:11-19 records this event. Jesus gave healing to ten desperately needy lepers. Yet, when the healing was received only one returned to give Him thanks. Is 10% really the right percentage of thankful people? Shouldn’t it be 100%?
What about us, do we give God thanks everyday for every thing? Sunday morning we will look at this important subject as we continue to proceed through the Book of Ephesians. Come to worship with us.
Bacchus was the god of wine. He was also known as Dionysus. He was seen as the god of the grape harvest which led to the fermentation of the wine. He provided for his “worshippers” a frenzy or ecstasy that brought them back time and again. Ephesus was one of the centers of the worship of Bacchus. Historians tell us that the celebrations associated with Bacchus were so out of hand that the Roman Senate forbid these celebrations! Now, that is saying something.
This detrimental and debauched lifestyle was normal fare for the citizens of Ephesus. They were known as partiers who knew how to have a “good time.” Even associated with their worship of the goddess Diana, Bacchus would provide a better time.
And, it was out of this kind of lifestyle many who made up the Church in Ephesus were saved from. These former drunkards and abusers were now being taught a new way to live. The Apostle Paul comes to this topic in Ephesians 5:18-20. He will call the believers to be controlled by something new, or rather Someone new. He tells them to stop being controlled by the provisions of Bacchus. Rather, be controlled by the Holy Spirit Who was given to each believer.
In our day we are being told that a “teetotaler,” one who completely abstains from any use of alcoholic beverages is out of step with modern culture. More and more Christian voices are calling for a relaxation of of the old “legalistic” stance against the moderate use of alcohol. Is this a good step? Is this the path we as believers should be taking?
I believe not. Call me “old fashioned” or “stuck in the past,” but I still believe the path of total abstinence is the best way to live. Sunday we will approach this very controversial subject as we enter the passage in Ephesians. We will look at what Paul is saying to his original readers and to us today.
As you try to answer this question for yourself may I ask you one thing? If I never drink, will I ever have to worry about drunkenness or alcoholism? I think the answer is obvious, isn’t it? Come Sunday so we can study this important subject together. Let’s choose wisely.
Ok, how many of you know what this picture is? Go ahead, raise your hands. Wow, I can see that many of you are old like me!!! For you younger people, it is a picture of a punch card which was the way we “communicated” with a computer before the days of our keyboard! It was labor intensive and not particularly reliable. One wrong punch and your whole job was simply “punched out.” But, done properly the data inserted would result in some kind of information in the end.
Today, although we don’t deal in pouch cards any longer, we are dealing with data all the time. In fact, some have said we live in the era of knowledge overload. But, as a dear friend once said to me (Ok, Ken Renfro, you’re in my blog! :-)) we are NOT in the knowledge overload era, but rather the data overload era. He caused me to think of the difference between mere data and useable knowledge. If you don’t believe me, the next time you google something, look at how many “hits” it gets. Will you ever get to number 1,325,432? NOOOOOO! So, you have been overloaded with data.
Today, spiritually speaking, we are in the data overload era. Today we are hearing voices from many sides. King Solomon said this over 2800 year ago, “Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.” Can I get an amen from all students? Publishers are publishing more and more books that can be described by King Solomon’s favorite word; vanity.
Paul admonishes us to walk in wisdom. Wisdom is knowledge properly applied to life. Knowledge is making sense of data. God isn’t interested in how much data we have stored in our brain. He is interested in how much knowledge we have that can be translated into wisdom. Certainly we need data so we can form knowledge. But, just having facts at our fingertips isn’t enough. It’s like the child in AWANA who memorizes words to pass a section and get “shares” so they can “buy” stuff in the AWANA store, and the person who memorizes a verse and uses it in a real life situation.
Sunday we will seek to finish the section Paul began by saying, “…walk…” He has instructed us to walk in love, walk in light and finally walk in wisdom. Read through Ephesians 5:1-17 before coming to church on Sunday to prepare your heart for our study.
I’ll be prepared to preach the passage, will you be prepared to hear?
Don’t you just love the commercials that ask, “Got milk?” They show a person eating a delicious looking cookie and then looking for a cold glass of milk. Not finding one the person almost chokes on the delicious cookie. The message? Milk is the most import part of eating a cookie!
So it is with life. In our world, a premium has been placed on the acquisition of knowledge. Over the past 100 years or so we have been told that the more education you receive, the smarter you will be. More and more emphasis has been placed upon getting a degree. At one time an 8th grade education was thought sufficient, and a high school diploma was better. Then, it was the high school diploma that was sufficient, but a college degree was better. Now we have come to a place where even a Ph.D degree doesn’t seem to be enough.
Yet, with all the education being “eaten” in our culture, it seems we have less and less of what is really important; wisdom. After spending multiple years to acquire knowledge, we will be very disappointed when we come to realize education isn’t enough. Knowing how or what just isn’t as important as knowing when. Applying our knowledge at the right time is more important than randomly applying our knowledge. Wisdom teaches us that principle.
Yet, even more important than wisdom alone is Godly wisdom. We’ll call that “Wisdom 2.0″ Wisdom 1.0 is the wisdom man dispenses. Yet, it needs updating and replacing. On Sunday we will see in Ephesians 5:15-17 that aspect of walking in our everyday lives that requires God’s wisdom. Read Ephesians 5:1-17 in preparation for our study.
For you younger people, it is a picture of a punch card which was the way we “communicated” with a computer before the days of our keyboard! It was labor intensive and not particularly reliable. One wrong punch and your whole job was simply “punched out.” But, done properly the data inserted would result in some kind of information in the end.
