Following the Shepherd

When we were in Israel a few years ago I experienced a Biblical principle in a real-life experience.

A shepherd had a flock of sheep and goats. I wanted to pet them, but when I called them they ignored me completely. The shepherd saw that I was trying to call them over to me and said something in Hebrew, they all rushed to him who was beside me. They did not recognize my words but they did not hesitate when he called to them.

Believers ought to be excited about hearing from the Holy Spirit.

When the shepherd was ready to leave he began walking away and the sheep and goats ran to be close to him, they were so close to him that he had to walk straight ahead as they clamored to be next to him. It was clear they really loved that shepherd.

God gave me a real-life experience that day to demonstrate the principles in His Word.

John 10:11-15 "11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters the flock. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me, 15 just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep"

We have a lot of hirelings in the pulpits today who are more concerned about the stability of their jobs than they are about the spiritual well-being of those they serve.

Many if not all of these shepherds wouldn't serve if they were not paid. They would not be interested in being one elder among other elders who are not paid, and yet this is the model of the first-century church gathering.

When popularity and salary are a goal there cannot be honest and strive to remain entirely Biblical. Many preachers I used to like are getting off into strange teachings and entertainment to draw people. They know, and rightly so, that if they do not follow the Christian culture their church flock will dwindle down so much that they will not have enough money to pay their salary.

Also, often these hirelings are not chosen from among the people they serve, they have been living somewhere else not knowing the people who hired them. They are hired based on their words and the testimonies of others from far away, not on their demonstration of a Christlike life.

When we do not do things God's way the efforts deteriorate the church's resolve to obey the Word of God. Soon "methods" and "tactics" are employed to keep the people in the pews.

There is another problem, the hirelings compromise so much so that the gatherings are barely recognizable to Christianity as described in the Bible. There is far more of God's word that is disobeyed than is obeyed. Everything is deemed not important if it is not the gospel message. To ignore any of the Words of Christ, is to deny Jesus Christ. He is the very essence of His Own Words.

Obedience to the Word of God is an essential part of the born-again believer, not that anyone is saved by obedience but that obedience is an outcome of the salvation experience. We are commanded to obey, why then do so many think they can ignore and even twist what is in the Word? Here is why!

2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"

Reject Modern Wives Tales to Follow Christ

1 Timothy 4:7-8 “…7 But reject irreverent, silly myths. Instead, train yourself for godliness. 8 For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life and for the one to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance."

So many people who love to boast about exercising use this verse in first Timothy to say the opposite of what God said here. God said exercise is of “little value”, but those caught up in the fad of exercise are saying it is very important. This is common in our Christian culture, taking two words out of context to make it say what they wish to believe, making their view opposite of what God actually said.
We see no examples in the Bible of men of God exercising on a regular basis. We see soldiers who are working to be strong to be able to fight wars but the men of God who brought the gospel walked everywhere. Walking to get somewhere is far different from stressing muscles in all parts of the body to make them stronger.
I once heard it said that in order to build muscles one has to make small injuries in the muscle so that when it heals it is stronger. In other words building muscles is building scars.

 
One of the clues that the whole exercise craze is not of God is how important the seculars make it. They are stressing their bodies every day by running miles or using weights, in their mind making themselves live longer.

 
God says; “Deuteronomy 5:33 “You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.”

Proverbs 16:31 “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.”
Our culture teaches people to exercise, die their white hair and figure out ways to become wealthy with big titles and revered by men. This is the opposite of what God teaches in His Word.

 
Proverbs 10:27 “The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.”

Who are we trusting when we place our trust for health in exercise….the answer is clear, we are trusting in our own ability to do physical things rather than developing the spiritual inner man, which is far more valuable than the physical body.

 
Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”

No where in the scriptures does God say to exercise every day to live a longer life. I am convinced that when the entire godless culture is obsessed with something it is likely the opposite of what God deems important.

 
1 Kings 3:14 “And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

Those who think they will lengthen their days by exercising will discover eventually that it did nothing to lengthen their lives. They have a certain number of days given by God and they cannot lengthen their days by their own efforts.

Job 14:5 A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.

Perhaps that video of a Chinese doctor talking about exercise that is not only not necessary but suggests that one will live longer by eliminating unnecessary stress from their bodies and taking more naps carries more weight than the modern obsession with exercise.

 
It is my humble opinion that exercise on a regular basis, the stressing of muscles and the extreme pumping of the heart is actually shorting lives rather than extending them. Perhaps this exercise mentality is causing more harm than good. It would be shortening lives not because we can change our number of days but because when we don't trust Christ He sees this and knows our trust in our own efforts. He has already decided how many days we get and what illnesses we will have.

 
The people I have known who lived long lives did not exercise, they went about their normal daily tasks and this was enough to make them healthy. It was their attitude lacking stress emotionally that seemed to carry more weight than any form of exercise.

 
If the culture is obsessing over anything, exercise, holidays, wealth or anything else we can be sure God has an opposite instruction concerning these things.
In Greek, the meaning “exercise” has more to do with mental training. In order to exercise for competition, one must mentally train, they must be diligent and focused, it isn’t about the exercise itself as much as about the mental training involved in doing a difficult thing.

 
Determination, abstinence from certain foods and absence of marital intimacy are mental disciplines in order to be able to train the body to do certain things. This takes a lot of work, even though it is of little value, says God. It isn’t the exercise itself that is spoken of here, it is the mental gymnastics of denying the body things to carry out the discipline of exercise for competition. God says this is of little value compared to the spiritual and emotional gymnastics that must occur for a man or woman to become godly. We must train ourselves in the Word of God to be Spiritually strong as we know God’s Word and obey it, this brings Spiritual and emotional strength no matter what is happening to the body. We can be Spiritually strong while living in a wheelchair. We can be Spiritually strong no matter the condition of our bodies.

 
Sadly, those who are focused on physical health and virility are often if not always Spiritually dead. Their focus is so much on their bodies they don’t have time to develop good character. While some would say I know of a man who has physical prowess as well as godliness, I suggest that these situations are rare because the more we focus on Christ and His wisdom the less we will be thinking about the physical body.

 
1 Timothy 4:6-10 “6 In pointing out these things to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the good doctrine which you have been following. 7 But stay away from worthless stories that are typical of old women. Rather, [c]discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; 8 for bodily training is just slightly beneficial, but godliness is beneficial for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. 10 For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all mankind, especially of believers.”

We can see how worldly-minded Christians have changed God’s Word to fit their mindset in following the false instructions of the world.

 
Those who love the things of the world, their pride and their boasting about their bodies and its activities will not be able to wrap their mind around the way God thinks, they will argue to defend their desired belief, they have been “brain-washed” or “indoctrinated” to believe things that are not true and in the process are doing more damage to their bodies. They will not add one day to the days God has given them and they may even be making themselves less healthy.

 
Satan is very clever to convince those he wishes to destroy to live exactly the opposite of what God teaches. He also knows that those who are convinced of these worldly belief systems will boast about themselves as well as pressure others to do what they do.

 
We are living in a narcissistic world, narcissists are not happy doing what they want, they must have followers. The world is full of narcissism as a cultural bent, they must demean those who do not do as they do.

 
I cannot tell you the number of times worldly Christians attempted to convince me I needed to exercise. Those who did so have had heart attacks, I have not yet had one. They have told me I must believe in “self-esteem” while they walk in arrogance. They don’t have the ability to think for themselves or self-reflect or they would see that their desire for self-esteem has caused pride in themselves. And, possibly their extreme focus on exercise has caused physical problems.
So very many things Christians have adopted as important are not at all and even detrimental to the Christian walk. The less we are like the world, the more we trust in Christ and desire His wisdom the more we will be out of sync with the rest of the culture, even Christians.

 
The world hates someone who will not agree with them. The world hates anyone who does not say what they say, and do what they do. Even if we never say anything about our beliefs they will pressure us, we will say “no thank you”, which is enough to make us their enemy.

 
John 15:18-25
Disciples’ Relation to the World
18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they followed My word, they will follow yours also.
21 But all these things they will do to you on account of My name, because they do not know the One who sent Me.
22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have [b]sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
23 The one who hates Me hates My Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have [c]sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.
25 But this has happened so that the word that is written in their Law will be fulfilled: ‘They hated Me for no reason.’”

When we are completely focused on gaining wisdom from the Holy Spirit we will be “radical outsiders” to just about everyone, we can count this joy that we do not have to fall in line with the world, we are content to walk humbly with our God.

The Condition of the Heart of Man

There is a condition in the heart of man that plagues many who have not fully submitted to Christ. Having the desire to obey God enough to appease him, and yet not choosing to look deeply into His Word for clear direction on the course of our lives, these people go along as though they have obeyed when they really have not.

When we were raising children, often I was seen as mean and harsh, because I required obedience immediately and correctly. Often I was met with defiant facial expressions and partial obedience.

Hebrews 12:6 “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines and He scourges every son whom He receives."

A good example to demonstrate how our children defied our authority without actually refusing openly, is in the following story:

I told our son to take his coat up to his room, he balked, gave a disapproving look on his face, picked up his coat, and began up the stairs as slowly as he could go. When he reached the top of the stairs, he opened the door of the room he shared with two other brothers, tossed the coat in, closed the door, and walked away, feeling very proud of himself that he could “say” that he obeyed, but in fact, he did not.

The coat was to be hung on the back of a chair or in the closet. It was not obedience to throw the coat in the room to lay in the middle of the floor that others would have to walk around it or do the job of hanging it up for him.

The amusing thing about the partial obedience was that it would have taken two more steps and 10 seconds to do the job properly, but because there was rebellion in the heart of the child, he was determined to deliberately deceive, lying that he had obeyed, when in fact he defiantly did what he knew would anger his mother.

A mother’s anger in a case like this really has more to do with the hate and rebellion of the child than a coat laying on the floor. A child that does things with the intent of frustrating others, has a mean-spirited heart.

Covert aggression is the tactic that leads many people to harm those who have done nothing to them. These people will do things for their friends, in a “halfway” manner, while at the same time claiming to others that they blessed those they actually harmed.

When a child is told to weed the garden, the child may do half the garden or do such a terrible job that it appears as though it was not done at all, then we know we have a lazy and disobedient child. Unfortunately, I know adults who act the same way.

A child must be trained to love to work and to do that work as unto the Lord. Often when I was teaching my children to work, I would watch them and even work with them, so that they would be seeing what a finished product should look like. Spending time with them, showing them what you have done and would do, what you are teaching them to do. To tell a child what to do and then leave them to themselves, without checking their work after, is training the child to only be concerned about being able to “say” they did the work, even though their work is shoddy. We are to teach our children to be excellent in their work.

How many times has God told us to do something and we do it for a while, or only enough to say we did it, but in fact we never obeyed. God expects us to obey fully. When He tells us to weed the garden, then we should do our best to take out all the weeds, not only the big ones that can be seen but also the little ones that will eventually turn into big ones.

IN the physical world, we should be working hard, sweating, and toiling to produce work that can be seen by the world as “excellent.” In so doing we are glorifying God.

1 Corinthians 6: For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

In our spiritual lives, we should be confessing to God and others the needed change in our hearts, and asking God to change us.

We can weed a garden ourselves and produce good results, but our spiritual life must be handled by God. When we try to change ourselves we become self-righteous and our fruit will rot eventually.

When God changes us, then the change will be real and permanent.

Too many people are attempting to mold themselves into what they think God wants, in the very attempt, they are defying God’s mandate to trust Him.

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

In the Spiritual we confess and ask God, in the physical we do our best and trust God to give us the strength to do it.

Often our physical work is a demonstration of our inner spirit. If we are lazy in the physical realm, then we are also spiritually lazy.

Knowing and saying the right things does not prove our condition, actions show more who we are than words and knowledge.

James 2:14-26

“14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,

16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?

17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

“18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!

20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?

22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?

23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.

24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.”

“25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?”

We are justified by faith alone in Christ, then we will see the fruit in our attitudes and our physical work as we pray for continual cleansing.

Hebrews 10:14 “For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are being sanctified. (cleansed) .”

Faith First then the Work Follows! Then the Lord continually prunes us, removing the deadwood, so that the tender plant is able to grow strong new growth.

"Cold and Timid souls Who Neither Know Victory or Defeat"

Perhaps this quote from Teddy Roosevelt could apply to the Christian walk. Courage has diminished in our day, the courage to speak the truth and live the truth of the Bible. Perhaps because faith has diminished so had courage in direct proportions. Pay close attention to the last phrase of Roosevelt's quote; "so that his placed shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory or defeat."

The quote by Teddy Roosevelt:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Real Love!!!!

When God has given us an understanding of what love really looks like according to the scriptures we are so blessed to learn it. However, knowing what God's love looks like we realize how ugly the world is around us.

The world does not understand what God's love looks like, we know this because He placed His own Son on the cross to die a brutal death for all of mankind and all anyone has to do is trust in Him, but instead they mock, reject and demean Him.

We see this same devilish mentality in churches today. Those who love the Lord, and want to live according to His principles are also mocked, rejected, and demeaned.

John 15:18-21

Disciples’ Relation to the World

18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.

19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.

20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they followed My word, they will follow yours also.

21 But all these things they will do to you on account of My name, because they do not know the One who sent Me.

We ought not to be surprised when the world hates us, but we do become astonished when those who say they are Christians reject the Bible as the authority even while saying they love it. The proof of the assertion as true or false is in the reaction when giving the scripture that negates their desired belief system.

We have to remember that it was the religious leaders who rejected Christ. They knew a messiah was coming but they expected him to be a political leader. Just as many church members today are looking to political leaders more than they are looking to Christ to rule their lives.

When a group of Christians spends more time preaching politics than they speak of Christ we have reason to worry about them.

John 18:36

"Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”

No political system of this world can offer more than what Christ offers. No political system is ever going to save one person from hell. They have all been corrupted all have placed their trust in a political system instead of Christ. If it were not true then the politicians would be preaching the gospel to a nation that claims to be Christian. They do not preach the gospel, if they did they would find themselves voted out or ousted from office immediately.

In these last days, anyone's only hope is Jesus Christ, nothing else will do..

Micro-Expressions Explain Why We Sense Something is Off

I have encountered friends or family members who would roll their eyes or make a grunting sound as though in disapproval. Without any strong gestures, there were facial expressions and head movements that demean.

 
I have learned that only 7% of communication is words, and 93% is non-verbal. Part of the reason for these non-verbal expressions it to be able to deny it because we cannot prove it. I also think other reasons are that the person expressing themselves non-verbally doesn't even know their feelings are leaking out through their face or head movements.

Narcissists hate honest communication, if things are open and honest they cannot get away with demeaning non-verbal communication because you have asked them to explain their expressions.

 
I have also encountered someone who was laughing while I was talking when there wasn't a joke or reason to laugh. It was as if they wanted to make me feel silly for the things I was saying that was not silly at all.

When asked why she was laughing she said; "I don't know", which is also an indication that the laughing was mocking. No one laughs without a reason. If what I said was funny she would have told me what she thought was funny, not "I don't know."

 
Those who will not communicate openly and honestly are hiding aggression.
I am convinced that often people who hide their real selves are not able to completely hide when they communicate in non-verbal expressions. There is also such a thing as micro-expressions in which the face does things that are so subtle that we pick up on them but aren't sure what we are seeing.

 
Have you ever felt like something was "off" and uncomfortableness comes over you but you just can't put your finger on what you are sensing?

 
When we study the micro-expressions we can see that we are actually seeing something almost on a subconscious level or better put, a spiritual level that no one else can see.

 
I have had a very strong sense that something about someone was off but did not avoid them until I prayed, then God showed me what was wrong in a more dramatic way. Those who are deceptive can be very sly in the way they express themselves. Sometimes it helps to ask questions, "what did you mean by that" or "why did you do that."

 
An angry person who is hiding will become angry at our attempts to get to the bottom of things in honesty. A humble loving person will explain to you what was happening and even be pleased that you cared enough to ask.

 
Angry people cannot tolerate any level of accountability or any attempt to understand them. They want to hide and are deeply agitated when someone discovers the real them.

 
A humble person is blessed by those who want to understand them. Openness and honesty are preferable to the person who loves God and others.

 
John 13:34-35
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another."

Loving godly people don't mind being vulnerable in conversation. They do not feel threatened by questions or disagreements.

 
Hebrews 10:24
"And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds."
Those who love God love the brethren so much that they want to walk in honesty, openness, and vulnerability to one another.

Words or Lifestyle?

Words mean very little, we can say anything we want but if the lifestyle does not match what we say then we are lying.

Our culture seems to think that an idea in the head and words expressed are enough to prove something is true.

Evidence is not very important to most people anymore. This is why conspiracy theories are so exciting, the desire to believe adventurous things takes over while rational and reasonable thinking is set aside. Those who have been sucked into the vortex of conspiracies through internet media are often unable to come out of it. There is a sort of dopamine that occurs every time the researcher hears more conspiracies.

Feelings dominate our culture now far more than reason. We see this in church gatherings often.

People will defend their desired belief without Biblical evidence even becoming hostile when Biblical evidence is used to support the truth.

2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"

God said this would happen in these last days. Attitudes would be selfish, superior acting and full of anger continually.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 tells us the attitudes and mentalities of the end-times church.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 “3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, [a]haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of [b]godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these.

There is such a thing as love bombing in which the people of the church treat us with love and kindness in the beginning of the relationship to win us to them. We experience this kindness as long as we become like them. As soon as we disagree using the Bible as the standard we become their enemy and the “mean cycle” begins.

Matthew 23:15 "… 15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are."

James 3:14-15

"But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic."

Sadly once we have been pegged as the “trouble maker” by speaking the truth from the Bible, there is no chance to return to the kindness and respect that once was shown.

If we remain in these apostate groups we will be continually intimidated to become like those who love their worldly thinking. They will begin by ignoring us, then eventually they will move to shun us with angst every time we speak the truth, and the final step is to rage at us so that we will leave.

When the group think gets to the point of being in solidarity in their anger and rage there is only one thing to do and that is to depart. Loving them more, putting up with the anger only causes us to become silent about the truth of the bible, this has no value at all. The more we are silent the more we become like those who spurn God’s teachings, at the very least we will not have any companions or influence. The worst that could happen is that we change our ways to be like them endorsing their rebellion.

14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together, or what does light have in common with darkness?

15 Or what harmony does Christ have with Belial, or what does a believer share with an unbeliever?

16 Or what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,

“I WILL DWELL AMONG THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM;

AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

17 Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord.

“AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN;

And I will welcome you.

18 And I will be a father to you,

And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,”

Says the Lord Almighty.

The idolatry in an apostate church is not physical idols but idolatry of self. Self is on the throne and supported by every other attendee. The only solution is to leave and pray for God to show them the truth.

It is important that we are in one accord with those we fellowship. No group will think exactly perfectly alike but when there is love everyone is allowed to have their say and on non-essential things we can love those who disagree with us.

When the love is removed over disagreement it was false love based on being just like them. True love listens, discusses using the Bible and treats others with respect.

1 Corinthians 13:4–8a "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth."