Scripture
Be known to everyone for your consideration of others.
~Philippians 4:5, REB
Quote
Stubbornness will come to a bad end; it brings a load of trouble.
~Ecclesiasticus 3:26
The bible is a book but not merely a book: it is God’s instructions on how to live. God’s motivation for giving us these instructions is His love: no one is more concerned about your happiness than He. Mark my word, no disobedient soul is happy. God endowed you with a special gift called conscience and it will never allow you to be happy as long as you are living in rebellion against Him. Guilt is as real as fear and both are destructive to peace and contentment. I enjoy reading new translations of the bible. Joe David gave me two new ones more than a year ago and I am just now getting started in one of them–The Revised English Bible [REB]. When reading new translations, I like to begin with Philippians and this week I noticed a hive of Bees in chapter four.
The first Be is BE HAPPY. Paul said to the Philippians, “I wish you joy in the LORD always.” I like happy people and so do you. We tend to avoid unhappy folks because they are looking for a place to dump and we don’t want to be dumped on. Two is BE CONSIDERATE. This one is hard to practice. We must give preference to others. In other words, we must put their interest above our interest. Three is BE CALM. Anxiety destroys our peace. We must learn to rest in the LORD by casting our cares on Him. Four is BE PRAYERFUL. Paul said, “Don’t worry about anything but pray about everything.” Five is BE AT PEACE. This blessed peace which we all covet comes only when we commit our way to the LORD and wait patiently on Him. Anxiety, fear, covetousness, envy, jealously are all enemies to peace. The last one is BE POSITIVE. It take zero energy and effort to be negative. Why do people enjoy raining on your parade? It is because they are unhappy themselves and they are too lazy to do anything about it. There is never just one of these types in a Baptist Church–there are always a few and I call them the “Cold Water Committee:” they oppose without reason because it is their nature. They are not looking for a solution but they are quick to tell you their yours will not work. They are usually the reason it will not work because they intend to do everything possible to see that it doesn’t. Dr. Landrum Levell once said, “Any Jackass can kick a barn down but it takes a skilled carpenter to build one.” All these Be’s are in chapter four of Philippians: check it out.
Lord willing I will be going to Fort Benning today for Jake Moorehead’s graduation. We are very proud of Jake. We enjoy great freedom due to our military.