Jaime Escalante was a teacher of calculus. He believed that low income students were capable of learning this higher math. He instructed the students that were to come to the class that they had to be dressed in a white shirt, a dress code demonstrates a seriousness to learn.
One young man came to the first class without a white shirt. He was dismissed from the class for this infraction. He begged the teachers promising to return next time with the white shirt. Mr. Escalante ignored his begging and told him to leave the class.
That class was one of the most successful classes in the Los Angeles area, all the students did very well.
The lesson behind this scenario is that strong rules and self discipline are the necessary elements for learning and accomplishment.
Setting the example for standards in the class were established in the very first class with the one disobedient student who thought there was no need to follow the rules.
One lax and disobedient student had the potential to bring down the standards for the entire rest of the class. While making the disobedient student leave might have made some people angry, thinking he should have another chance, it was the right decision to set the tone of self discipline for the entire rest of the term in that class.
Galatians 5:9 "9 A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. "
We don't have to look very far to see what happens when sin is allowed to continue in the church or in the culture. The churches as a whole have tolerated and winked at sin for the past 40 years and now we have people in them who are angry when anyone is disciplined if it ever happens. Those who point out sin are accused of judging as though something was wrong with that.
The lack of discipline and the lack of understanding of the seriousness of sin shows the climate of our culture as a whole. Sin has become blatant without any sense of shame.
Jeremiah 6:14-15 "…14"They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace, peace,' But there is no peace. 15"Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down," says the LORD. "
Our culture attempts to heal people superficially through the softening of standards to spare hurt feelings, in so doing they have managed to cause sin to grow and fester beyond cure.
Proverbs 27:5
"Better is open rebuke than hidden love."
Men are called to live with their wives in understanding, treating them like the "weaker vessel", in the original language it means, "delicate pottery." Women are to be listened to as a counselor to the men, that's what "helpmeet" means. She is to counsel him and he should be listening as well as protecting her. When he legitimately disagrees with her counsel then she is to obey his decision as long as it does not disobey God.
You will never get away from injustice in this life, men and women alike are acting badly toward one another. Only those who "walk" daily with Christ can understand the relationship as partners, neither one lesser than the other, but both pulling in the same direction as "yoked" oxen do, they must be equally matched to be able to pull together properly.
This is why God said that believers are not to be unequally yoked. Two oxen pulling together must be a matched pair, each one of the same mind and goal. If we are in disagreement about the way in which we should walk, then we will be working against one another instead of together for a common goal.
Married couples are not called to walk in tandem with one another, tandem being one behind the other, but rather they are to work side by side "yoked", beside one another, pulling together.
Gossip reminds me of the analogy I once heard. Take a feather pillow to the top of a windy hill, slit it open and allow the feathers to fly. After a little while try to go and gather up every feather, it cannot be done. Once the gossip is out, there is no stopping where it goes.
2 Corinthians 4:4
"4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
Is there anyone who doubts that the devil is twisting minds to believe things that are not true, things that deliberately causes conflict and contempt in the hearts of one person against another?
We know that the best way to make a person weak is to isolate them from any form of encouragement or accomplishment.
The devil will send people to negate everything you do, everything you believe and everything that glorifies God. Even when something is good and righteous the devil will send ungodly people to accuse us of things, while lying against our character.
If you have not yet experienced this in your walk with Christ, you will at some future time be called to endure such things. We cannot become steadfast and strong without the trials that test us.
James 1:12
"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."
1 Peter 5:10
"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."
Romans 12:12
"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."
John 16:33
"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Just as an athlete practices enduring sweat and exhaustion to strengthen his muscles, so too does the Christian need to encounter all kinds of trials to gain wisdom and spiritual prowess.
Exodus 14:14
"The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
When we are in the place where we think we can no longer stand another trial or rejection, that is when God does our fighting for us.
If we are to become strong and resolute, we must endure the uncomfortable life of the believer as ordained of God.
James 1:2-8
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ..."
God's standard of peace if far different from that of the world.
Luke 12:50-53
"51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.
52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.
53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”"
God's peace is predicated on mankind loving Him, His principles and others.
How do we love others? We love others by introducing them to Christ that they might become born again and then to His principles that make for a holy life.
The world hates God's kind of love. They relish in their own glory and independence from Him. Their glory is not God, but themselves.
The mantra, "you must love yourself first before you can love anyone else", is exactly opposite of what Christ teaches in His Word.
We cannot possibly love others until we deny ourselves to love Christ.
Matthew 22:36-40
"36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 This is the great and foremost commandment.
39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Philippians 2:3-4 "3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.…"
Just for Your Information: There are no verse that command us to love ourselves! Why? Because we are all born loving ourselves too much. If we love others the same way we love ourselves, that would be a mountain of love, so much so that our focus would not be on ourselves at all.
An old saying:
"One of the elements of holiness is the absence of self awareness."
Collage fosters adherence to the "powers that be", rather than independent research and thinking. Those who teach in most of the colleges today are liberals and hell bent on the belief in evolution, the power of the mind and self exaltation.
I was in the discipline of "Child Development" in college for two terms at Oregon State University, just long enough to show me how silly education in the human services industry was. There was never a sense that God should be incorporated into our counseling, only that we should be teaching others to place their trust in themselves. The principles of God were not a part of the training in any form.
I spent enough time arguing with my professors at 18 years old that I could not get a good grade or report from them. It was interesting that they would not encourage us to think for ourselves, we must adopt their thinking to get a grade that would land us a job, and yet their assertions were not based on definitive scientific research, it was all subjective anecdotal observations rather than actual scientific testing. It also had it's roots in the Darwinism that suggested that humans were nothing more than animals reacting to stimuli.
Helping people, in the minds of secular psychologists has more to do with empowering them to seek their own glory, than ever submitting to a God, to Whom they would be accountable.
Even the believers of our day who were raised in public institutions are incensed that they would have to be accountable to anyone. Those who would set rules and boundaries are disdained and maligned at mean spirited.
This was a huge problem in the raising of children. One woman's testimony is a familiar one to many.
The schools were training the children all day long to think of themselves first, ignore what they didn't like and fight for their freedom to be whomever they chose to be.
When they returned home from school and Mother required them to put their coat away, do their homework while limiting their television watching, they became enraged. They could not display openly their rage, (because there would have been punishment) at the authority figure who was "ruining" their "self esteem", so they used covert, rejection and dismissiveness to display their anger.
When Mother attempted to engage them in prayer or Bible reading they appealed to their Father to let them off the hook and so he did. Having been raised in a family that had virtually no rules, as many children in his generation were, to force anyone or require obedience was thought of as over bearing or mean. So a few times like this was enough to show Mother that she could not influence her children in the ways of the Lord by force, she ceased her attempts at spiritual education and gave it all to the Lord.
Mother began to pray that the Lord would save my husband, then one day that happened. Unfortunately by the time he became a Christian it was too late, the children had learned complete rebellion against their Mother, demonstrating their contempt in covert ways, until they became adults when they no longer felt a need to be covert, the ways became blatant, without restraint. The rejection was complete and empowered by other extended family members.
This story could have been written by many Mothers, it is common and devastating to the lives of the children and heartbreaking to the Mothers. We are living in very difficult times, if you are a Mother who has a story just like the one here, you know exactly what all this feels like.
A Mother who has determined to live her life with Christ, one who has no family support or the love of her family, can be strong in spite of all of it, even walking joyfully without the support. Christ is the support of a believing Mother.
Remember too dear ladies, you not only have Christ, but you have other daughters who are not of your own fold. There are spiritual daughters who love you right here on facebook. You cannot hug them in person, nor can you have tea with them in your presence, but you will one day be with them in heaven for the sweetest reunion ever!
When we no longer place our trust in man or families, we are free to be who God made us to be, we are free from the bondage of family tradition and counterfeit relationships based on artificial love.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God. who loved me and gave himself for me.
Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—
1 John 4:9-11 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
God Loves and Cares For Us
Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Job 34:19 who shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?
Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Psalm 136:26 Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.
Romans 5:2-5 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Colossians 2:6-7 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
Hebrews 12:28-29 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.
Matthew 22:36-40
"36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and [a]foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
We cannot claim to love God when we do not love His principles. We cannot claim to love God when we fight and argue against truth.
When we fight with a fellow believer over truth, negating the Word of God to justify sin, then we neither love God or love our neighbor or our brother.
Those in the church tend to makes the rules go beyond even what God instructed, thinking we are holier than He is.
No body repents in hell, those that will not repent here will not do it there. They remain bitter and angry not sorry for a thing they have done.
The "gnashing of teeth" we read about in the Word, that occurs in hell does not have to do with pain, it has to do with hate and intense anger, they gnash their teeth in anger at God.
In the middle east anger was expressed in the grinding and gnashing at teeth toward those they hate.
Matthew 12:41-43 "…41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness. 42 And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.…"
The wailing is the expression of the pain, but the gnashing of teeth is the expression of deep hatred for the One Who sent them to hell.
Those who pretended to love God but demonstrated their contempt for Him by rejecting most of the Word of God while claiming they believe it, will be many who are in hell, now there's frightening thought!
Mathew 7:21-23 "21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"
One has to wonder why someone would claim to believe the Bible while accepting so much hypocrisy in their life, discounting the very Scriptures they claim to uphold, is an interesting question. Holding onto the cultural beliefs that comfort them while affording them the acceptance of others in the culture is the reason so many believers do not stand for righteousness as they claim.
1 John 2:3-5 "…3 By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. 4 If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him:…"
It is vitally important that we evaluate our own walk while asking for wisdom, to be able to continue in cleansing and spiritual growth.
We wonder sometimes how so many Christians can remain spiritual babies their entire life while fighting against the Word of God, even while claiming to love it. The cultural Christianity we see all around us serves only to negate the Word of God thus negating the Word, Christ Himself.
