"They (Christians) are always content, always pleased with what they have: it pleases them, because it pleases God: so that while their heart, their desire, their joy is in heaven, they may truly be said to 'inherit the earth.'” - C.H. Spurgeon "The meek already inherit the earth in this life, in this way. A man who is truly meek is a man who is always satisfied (cf meaning of makarios, blessed, as fully satisfied independent of one's circumstances), he is a man who is already content." - D. Martin Lloyd-Jones
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Here are some powerful thoughts by John MacArthur on how to instill Biblical meekness in our homes: "You can ask yourself this, do I respond humbly and obediently to the Word? That's a test of meekness. Another one is, am I angry when God is dishonored rather than when I am dishonored? Am I more concerned about God being disgraced than my own shame? Am I more concerned about God's purposes not being fulfilled than mine? Do I always seek to make peace? Do I always defer to someone else? Am I more concerned about others than myself? Do I receive criticism well and love those who give it? All of those are evidences of meekness. And if I see those in my life then God in His might grace and power has brought me to a place of meekness and He has blessed me by bringing me into His kingdom and make me...making me an inheritor of all that His Kingdom involves on this earth and in the glory to come. A final thought. Meekness in a word is to be finished with myself for good. That's it. I'm nothing but a sinner with no rights and no power and I subject myself gladly to God's will that I might be made happy and that I might inherit all that He promises to those in His kingdom. It's the end of me." "Meek" is a word that needs explanation - today's definition is not the definition at the time of Christ. "I'm confused," you say. "I thought a Christian parent was to be strong and upright, firm and steady - but here Jesus Himself is saying we are supposed to be meek? I can't fathom having to be mousy and quiet, especially in today's world." Well, let's see the difference between today's use of the word as opposed to the Biblical definition of the word "meek." Yes, today the word meek means overly submissive and almost cowardly. That is definitely not the definition Jesus meant. The best way to describe it is to use a verse from Proverbs 25:28: “He that has no rule over his spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls.” It means a city that has no control is dangerous. There is no safety, no order, no boundaries. That gives us insight on what meekness really means, and what it has to do with us. The best way to describe meekness is to think of a thoroughbred in the starting gate of a race. He is pure power, energy ready to be burned. However, he needs a jocky to control him and keep him on the right course. That's power under control. A city needs control. A thoroughbred needs control. Power needs control. A nuclear facility has to have limits and safeguards. So does the Christian. Letting our anger unleash is dangerous, and so is the lack of control on our speech. Being under control is letting the other person get in front of you in line ... let someone else get accolades, honor, or prestige. "...give preference to one another in honor..." (Romans 12:10). Being under control is putting our ego away. It's also important to understand in terms of self-discipline in your personal relationship with God the Father. Do you put your self under control to actually make a time to spend in God's Word every day, so that He may teach you? Do you take time to put yourself under control so that you may pray and talk to God and pour yourself out before Him? The meek shall inherit the Earth. We will be able to have an outreach to all corners of this globe as well as know that in eternity, we will get to enjoy the New Earth. In light of the recent weeks of terrorism, political anger and global conflict, I found that our look into Jesus' teaching on peace to be of utmost importance in our home. I want you to read the following part of a John MacArthur sermon with a mind that I am not going cliche on you... this world really does need salvation. Follow his points - I added the italics and bold in his message: It's always amazing to me when I see on the television these criminals...and I'm thinking particularly of the young man in ...Springfield, Oregon who killed those students and teachers. And immediately the solution was that he's going to be under immediate psychiatric care because this is a troubled young man. Hey, we live in a world full of troubled people, not all of them get a gun and shoot each other. Some do. But we live in a world filled with troubled people. ...We're in a world of conflict...marriages disintegrating, families flying apart, people unable to get along with each other at all levels. We've got a lot of troubled people with no peace. And the solution that best in our culture seems to be..."Well, we'll get them in to some kind of psychotherapy." But they're not the peacemakers, those people. We can commend them for efforts to help folks sort of modify their behavior, but they're not the peacemakers. What the young boy in Springfield, Oregon who killed those people needs is salvation. That's what he needs. He needs to repent of his sin and his hatred and his bitterness and his hostility and his evil intent and his murderous behavior and embrace Jesus Christ and God can bring peace to his heart. Do you believe that? That's the gospel. Paul was a murderer and he became a peacemaker. What those people in Northern Ireland who keep blowing up each other need is peace in the heart that only Jesus Christ can bring. They don't need to sit down at a table and conciliate again, they need to be saved. The most important thing going on in Northern Ireland right today, the most important thing going on up there is not going on in the city hall of Belfast, and it's not going on in the councils of England, as the Parliament meets, it's going on in the churches that preach the gospel. That's the only hope of peace in the heart. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." - Jesus Almost twenty years ago, I was a member of a North Carolina church whose pastor was caught red-handed in a deep and serious sin. While the deacons were mulling the gravity of the situation and the steps to take, a member of the church came to visit me at my home during the course of the first week. While my wife Jill took the lady's two middle school boys into another room, I sat down with her at our dining table. She launched right in, obviously upset. "This must stop," she said. "There should not be this... this agitation. We need peace within the church." "What do you mean by 'peace'?" I asked her. She waved her hands in the air. "I don't want any confrontation, any conflict. We should all be at peace." I looked past her, into our living room. Her boys were literally jumping on our sofa and wreaking havoc with the furniture. She glanced at the behavior and ignored it. As I got up to go in and stop the wreckage and correct those boys, a suspicion entered my mind: she didn't want to discipline her boys because that was considered conflict to her. Neither did she want justice to be done in the church because the emotions were of the utmost to her. Peace at any price. My suspicions were true. I discovered that her home life was a disaster; her husband was cheating on her, and though she knew it, she didn't want a confrontation. Her kids totally dominated her every waking second. She refused to deal with any type of sin because she believe that peace was merely the absence of high emotion and loud noise. But is that what peace is about? When Jesus says "Blessed are the peacemakers," is He merely telling us to remove any conflict? Some people believe that peace is simply where there is no conflict. But ... I find that in an empty house. I find that in an abandoned amusement park, or a bankrupt factory. I find that in a cemetery. No... peace is not merely the absence of something. Jesus said something needs to be added, to fill a Christian, and the Christian's home. We will talk more about this later... We finalize plans. We finish up a project. We come to an agreement. People sigh relief. "It's settled, then!" And we Christians can also be relieved from our stress knowing that God's Word is firm, settled not just on Earth but in Heaven. Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides. They continue this day according to Your ordinances, For all are Your servants. - Psalm 119:89-91 "The Bible ... shall outlive the days of heaven, run parallel with the life of God, with the line of eternity." (Trapp) Strong, like a foundation that will never move! We stress about family matters, raising our kids, paying bills on time, getting the best education, repairing broken appliances ... and we can feel very unsteady. That's when we lean in and grasp the security of God's leading the most. As a child, I remember the uneasiness of uncertainty in the household. When things were firm, we all had a new courage and a security we craved. As a child of God I feel the same way. Each week we face new challenges and even trials, but God's Word is our Light ... a Light that never goes out! Within Dennis Rainey's Family Living website, I found some fine points in the devotional 10 Principles to Keep Christ at the Center of Your Home by Mary May Larmoyeux. Especially significant was point #10: Remember that the Master of my home [the Lord] will return. "May I be aware each day that my house ultimately belongs to the Lord. Jim and I may live in our new house for a year, decades, or more. We can consider it ours, or remember that it is ultimately the Master’s. One day the Lord will return and ask how we used His house. Will it be a haven for the weary? Will we tell others about Jesus within its walls? Will we be found faithful? Will we fulfill the purpose God has for our home?: "It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Therefore, be on the alert — for you do not know when the master of the house is coming…” Mark 13:34-35 “The greatest legacy one can pass on to one's children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one's life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.” - Billy Graham
"A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living." - Chuck Swindoll "Every house should be the house of God, and there should be a church in every house." - Charles Spurgeon "In addition to teaching your children throughout the day, you must set aside specific, planned times to worship the Lord and learn His Word together. Conducting family devotions requires planning and diligence if this godly practice is to develop and be maintained in your home." - John Broger Our study on Sunday will talk about the awareness of over-emotion in the seeking of the Holy Spirit by some people. At salvation we are baptized with the Holy Spirit, yet there are some who will go to a service and seek to use music or a form of emotion to bring the Holy Spirit into them, as if it were a continual penetration and gushing into the soul. That's not consistent with the Scripture, as we shall see. If a Christian family relies on emotion and events, it can exhaust and even frustrate the home. Yet, we want the Holy Spirit to guide our household, right? Ephesians 5:18 gives us the key: "... be filled with the Holy Spirit..." The Greek construction is such that it would be correct to say "...be being filled with the Holy Spirit..." And the word "filled" is not meaning filled as in a glass of water. It means filled as if a sail was being filled with wind in order for it to move along. We want that wind of the Holy Spirit to move us along every day, every hour as we are blessed by God. How do we do this? As we said earlier (2 Cor. 3:18) by concentrating and learning about Christ, and the Holy Spirit will transform us into His image. A consistent and careful study of the picture of Christ, rather than a one-time emotional blast, is what God wants us to have in our home. |
AuthorWe have numerous authors helping contribute to this section. The author's name will be included at the end of his or her devotional. Archives
January 2018
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