(May 7, 2010)

Prayer House News!

It's Friday! You know what that means!

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Be Not Offended!

continued from yesterday

Proverbs 18:19 An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city and disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.

This verse really says it all. Just think of the comparison here. A fortified city was considered impenetrable. The weapons of their day did not have the power behind them that today’s weapons have. They had rocks and arrows and swords, and probably a few catapults at best. So a fortified city was about the best example you could give as something strong and determined.
Now I want us to look at the same verse from the KJV which most of the scholars believe is a proper, if not better, rendition of this verse.

Proverbs 18:19 A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle. KJV

It is very difficult to win the heart of an offended brother. It would be easier to penetrate a fortified city. But then it gives the reason why. It’s because their own arguments are like the bars of the castle. In the KJV version it uses the word contentions. Their contentions are like the bars of a castle. When we contend for something – what are we doing? We are arguing, we are asserting, we are insisting upon. So the arguments and insistence of the offended person becomes the very bars that keep him in his prison. He cannot get free because of what he contends for.

So here is the question. What right do we have to contend for anything other than our faith? On Monday night of Family Camp the speaker, who is a missionary in Argentina, Rocky Grams told of a time when they were being robbed. They were held at gun point for an hour and ten minutes while they watched the thieves take everything of value in their home.

They even watched them load their car on a flatbed. Later as Sherry Grams was beginning to complain to God about her loses – God stopped her and said everything they took was a gift to you. It was not yours. What right do we have to contend for anything? If she would have insisted on the return of all of her goods she would have put herself in a prison of self-pity and her own contending would have been the bars of her prison.

There is one last thing I want us to consider yet. In the last two verses of this chapter Jesus gives us some life changing advice.

Matthew 11:29 "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

Once again Jesus sets the example of what each of us should be. He literally says here, “learn from me, I am gentle and humble in heart.” We know what it means to be humble. It means to be low, not rising far from the ground. There used to be a certain sect of monks who would always walk with their hoods over their heads looking down. If any of them actually looked up and looked around that was considered worldly. I think that’s kind of extreme but it does make a good point. Too many of us get into trouble because we won’t assume the humble position of looking down. We lift our heads and look at all things without any reserve.

But then he also said he was gentle. Learn from me, I am gentle and humble. According to the Greek, the gentle person is one who is of a mild disposition. When their feathers are ruffled they look the other way and walk away with their heads down. They do not exemplify the spirit of this world by looking up – or the rising up of their spirit. They are not easily offended subsequently, they are free. They are not in a prison of anger or rage – held their by their own contentions.

Is there something in your life that Jesus wants you to simply lay down? Are you contending for something that is not necessary? Are you discontent?

END

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Medication: A Merry Heart

Parents evolution

My wife and I are both the youngest child. Combine that with our own experience as parents and we often satirically talk about how things change as you have more children:

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Feeling the Baby Move - First Child: I placed my hand on my wive's tummy every chance I could for two months waiting for that first time when I could feel the baby move. Hours upon hours I waited until that magic moment when, I felt this little movement. We called all of our relatives to tell them about the blessed experience.

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Second Child: When it first happened, my wife called me at the office. I quickly ran home and felt the baby move. We included the experience in all of our letter to our family.

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Third Child: She told me the baby moved. I told her I would check it our during the next commercial break. I missed out because her mother called on the telephone so I went on watching Monday night football. By the end of the third quarter, I finally felt the baby move.

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Fourth Child: We were in bed and I was trying to sleep. I turned to her and said "Can't you make your tummy stay still? I'm trying to sleep." When it became clear that the baby would be jumping around for a while, we called the pizza man for a delivery.

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The Trip to the Hospital - First Child: Every time we felt the slightest B&H contraction, we rushed to the hospital. I would carry my wife to the car and lay her down in the back seat surrounded by pillows.

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Second Child: We timed the contractions. By the time she had three in thirty minutes, we rushed to the hospital. She sat in the front seat, with it leaned back and a pillow behind her head and another at her feet.

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Third Child: I came home from the office as soon as she started having regular contractions. When they were five minutes apart and hard, we went to the hospital. I gave her a pillow to hold along the way.

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Fourth Child: When she called me at the office and told me that she was having contractions hard and five minutes apart, I told her to drive to the hospital. I would meet her there as soon as I finished the set of correspondence I was working on. I reminded her not to forget the pillows.

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The First Step - First Child: My wife grabbed the camera. I grabbed the Video Camera. My wife took four rolls of film. We immediately ran out to the one-hour developing place and had all four rolls developed with double prints. We had the best picture blown up to 24" X 36" and framed. We hung it up in the entry hall. I had a professional studio turn the four hours of video I taped into a one-hour documentary complete with voice-over by a local anchor-man.

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Second Child: We took one roll of film and five minutes worth of video. The next day we took the film and had it developed by a twenty-four hour developing center. I took the best picture and put it into my wallet.

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Third Child: We couldn't find the video-camera and we only had five shots left on the roll of film. We took all five shots but I don't remember if we ever got the roll developed.

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Fourth Child: I quickly got up and grabbed the camera. I placed it up high so the child wouldn't grab it.

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The First Time the Child Fell and Got a Cut - First Child: My wife and I frantically ran over to the child. We swept him up and rushed him to the emergency room. No stitches were needed but we spent the night with him in his room just in case the bleeding started again.

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Second Child: We walked over to her, picked her up and quickly bandaged her up. We spent the next two hours rocking her in the living room to comfort the pain.

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Third Child: I told my wife that if he was still crying in a couple of minutes, we should go over and make sure he isn't hurt too badly. When he didn't stop crying, we bandaged up the cut and laid him in his bed for a while but we went on about our business.

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Fourth Child: Put a bandage on the cut and told him it'd get better after he stopped crying.