I was talking with a buddy of mine about the use of poison gas in Syria by its President Bashar al-Assad. He said, “Good! I hope they all kill each other”. I looked at him and asked if he knew that 1400 hundred people had been killed in that attack including over 400 women and children. He just shrugged and said that the world will be better off without Muslims in it.
Last week I received a letter from a friend whose life was dramatically and radically changed by Jesus Christ. She’d been a drug addict extraordinaire and her life had been ravaged by that lifestyle, but she found God and He transformed her life.
She read my book and began corresponding with me and I sent her many letters of encouragement for several years. Things really turned around in her life and soon she began working in a ministry and began leading literally hundreds of people to the Lord. I would occasionally send her a case of Bibles and my books for distribution to the folks, (mostly drug addicts and prostitutes) for whom she ministered.
So I quit hearing from her until just the other day. She wrote and informed me she now had an accounting position and was working to build some retirement income. She’d quit “working for God” and completely abandoned her work in the ministry. She no longer reads Words for the Day or has much of anything to do with spiritual matters and is focusing entirely on her job.
Her letter was very bitter and she criticized her mother, her fellow employees, her boss, her former ministry and other ministries in the area. After her extended rant she asked me some business advice on how to handle a dispute at work with a fellow employee.
I responded that I was VERY disappointed to see that she no longer “worked for God” and had turned to the secular world to find peace. I told her that she would not succeed with that approach no matter how much money she might make. I mentioned that the spiritual void in her life is no doubt affecting her attitude and frustration level. I went on to say: “That is not to say that you cannot have a good career; it is to say that you cannot find the peace, joy, and love that you seek aside from staying very close to Jesus Christ who helped you get off the street”.
She wrote me back that she could not find a ministry to work in because they were all filled with hypocrites and self-serving people who were essentially idiots. She went on to say that she didn’t feel she was being “called” to the ministry.
Hmmm . . .
I responded: “I don’t think you are ready for the ministry. You’re a very negative person and obviously are carrying around a bunch of baggage. You seem to think the worst about people and it’s a real and serious problem for you. I recommend that you devote several hours per day and study the life of Jesus and how He has real compassion for people and overlooks their faults and weaknesses and is unconcerned about anything aside from finding a way to help people. I would ask that you try to emulate Him as best you know how.
I said, “You need to memorize 1 Cor. 13:4 and practice repeating it throughout each and every day:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Jesus, according to the Bible, is love. If you want a ministry, then you need to emulate Him. You talk bad about your mother, your co-workers and boss, every ministry of which you are familiar, and practically anyone you encounter. I suppose I’m next, but that’s okay. I’m praying for you anyway and hoping that God will remove the bitterness that you feel towards just about everything and everybody.”
This morning I hope you aren’t in the foul mood that my two friends are in. Jesus is not about bitterness, hate, or strife. The Bible tells us that God is love and we should emulate Him. Chill out and look for the good in life. It’s there if you’ll just look around.
Football season has begun and it won’t be long before the weather cools down enough for fall fishing to reach its peak and then hunting season will be underway. The beautiful sun shines through the trees in the morning and God’s work is illuminated for all to enjoy.
We conducted three weddings at Honey Lake this weekend and there were hundreds of smiling faces walking around the property with people laughing and enjoying life. Maybe you need to go somewhere quiet and tranquil away from the hustle and bustle of this life. I recommend a place where you can enjoy God’s handiwork. I marvel at the fact that God has allowed me to live here at Honey Lake for a while. I cannot imagine that it is not a very special place to Him too and I can feel His love everywhere I go on this property.
I don’t want anyone to die from poison gas and I don’t want to be bitter at anyone. I just want to serve God and hope He will fill me with His love. I’m not perfect, but God is and the Bible states that He is love. That tells me that I need to draw as close to Him as I can and allow that love to permeate my being.
1 John 4:8
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
September 3, 2013 – Click here to listen