Results of Maturity

Bible Reading: II Samuel 9

Key Verse: Verse 1 – "And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake?”

Key Words: I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake 

Jonathan had been a close friend of David’s down through the years, and now both Jonathan and his father King Saul had died in battle with the Philistines.

After David became king he desired to show kindness to anyone in Saul’s family.  There was one who he could show kindness to, the son of Jonathan, Mephibosheth, who was lame from an accident. David did show kindness to Mephibosheth but it was because of Jonathan that Mephibosheth received kindness from David.

One stormy night an elderly couple entered the lobby of a small hotel and asked for a room. The clerk said they were filled, as were all the hotels in town. “But I can’t send a fine couple like you out in the rain,” he said. “Would you be willing to sleep in my room?” The couple hesitated, but the clerk insisted. The next morning when the man paid his bill, he said, “You’re the kind man who should be managing the best hotel in the United States. Someday I’ll build you one.” The clerk smiled politely. A few years later the clerk received a letter from the elderly man, recalling the stormy night and asking him to come to New York. A round-trip ticket was enclosed. When the clerk arrived, his host took him to the corner of 5^th Avenue and 34^th Street, where there stood a magnificent new building. “That,” exclaimed the man, “is the hotel I have built for you to manage.” The man was William Waldorf Astor, and the hotel was the original Waldorf-Astoria. The young clerk, George C. Boldt, became its first manager.

            Kindness does pay.

                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse 

What to do:

✞We will choose today to be kind or unkind and then we will see the result of our actions. Which will you choose?

Giving

Bible Reading: Acts 20:28-38

Key Verse: Verse 35 - “I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Key Words: It is more blessed to give than to receive. 

I could give one testimony after another of how God has blessed my wife and me. I believe because of our faithful giving of money, time and energy to the Lord’s work.

I have a plan for how much we give; it goes like this. I will never give more to pay any bill than I give to God. Then if I have a big mortgage payment, I pay it and we give more than that to God in one tithe. My number one financial output   goes to God.

A mother wanted to teach her daughter a moral lesson, She gave the little girl a quarter and a dollar for church. “Put whichever you want in the collection plate and keep the other for yourself,” she told the girl. When they were coming out of church, the mother asked the daughter which amount she had given. “Well,” said the little girl. “I was going to give the dollar, but just before the collection the man in the pulpit said that we should be cheerful givers. I knew I’d be a lot more cheerful if I gave the quarter, so I did.”

I can almost assure you the little girl was a Baptist.

                                                                                     Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Most every person at some point in their ministry is accused of always asking for money. My response to that is always, “Well if you’d give it voluntarily, I wouldn’t have to ask for it!” So remember it’s more blessed to give than to receive.

 

Being Responsible

Bible Reading:  Luke 15: 11-21

Key Verse: Verse 21 - "And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.”

Key Words: I have sinned 

To me there is something refreshing about hearing someone say…I have sinned, or it’s my fault, or I did that!

I guess it’s refreshing to me because I hear it so seldom.  Normally we hear… It’s not my fault or they made me or I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to do that.

Taking responsibility for our mistakes; how refreshing!

Prussian king Frederick the Great was once touring a Berlin prison.  The prisoners fell on their knees before him to proclaim their innocence-except for one man, who remained silent.  Frederick called to him, “Why are you here?” “Armed robbery, Your Majesty,” was the reply. “And are you guilty?” “Yes indeed, Your Majesty.  I deserve my punishment.”  Frederick then summoned the jailer and ordered him, “Release this guilty wretch at once.  I will not have him kept in this prison where he will corrupt all the fine innocent people who occupy it.” 

                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse 

What to do: 

✞If you take responsibility for your wrongs, mark yourself as a part of a small group of people.

 

Excuses

 Bible Reading:   Luke 14: 15-24

Key Verse: Verse  18 - "And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.”

Key Words: And they all with one consent began to make excuse 

Nothing makes us look as bad as ‘excuses’.

Here according to a Bits & Pieces article are the top ten excuses as to why people didn’t do their job.

1.       I forgot.

2.      No one told me to go ahead.

3.      I didn’t think it was that important.

4.      Wait until the boss comes back and ask him.

5.      I didn’t know you were in a hurry for it.

6.      That’s the way we’ve always done it.

7.       That’s not my department.

8.      How was I to know this was different?

9.      I’m waiting for an O.K.

10.   That’s his job-not mine.

Deion “Prime Time” Sanders, once an outfielder for the Atlanta Braves and cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons, is the only athlete to have hit a Major League home run and scored an NFL touchdown in the same week.  Sanders grew up on the mean streets of Fort Myers, FL., where exposure to some would-be athletes spurred him to make a success of himself.  He explains: “I call them Idas. ‘If I’da done this, I’d be making three million today.  If I’da practiced a little harder, I’d be a superstar.’  They were as fast as me when they were kids, but instead of working for their dreams they chose drugs and a life of street corners.  When I was young, I had practice; my friends who didn’t went straight to the streets and never left.  That moment after school is the moment we need to grab.  We don’t need any more Idas. 

                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse 

What to do:

✞Do what you are supposed to, where you are supposed to; when you are supposed to and do it that way all the time – with no excuses.

 

Disagreeing Without Being Disagreeable

Bible Reading:  Acts 15: 36-41

Key Verse: Verse 39 - "And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and

sailed unto Cyprus;”

Key Words:  And the contention was so sharp between them 

If the Lord was to line all the believers up in a straight line both Paul and Barnabas would be so far ahead of me that I would never see them.  But with that said, I can’t fathom these men of God having such a sharp contentious disagreement.

Disagreements come because two or more people see things differently and both demand to have their own way.

I do believe that Satan and the world smile with delight at believers arguing and belittling one another.

The two key elements in solving a disagreement are humility and more humility.

Although George Whitefield disagreed with John Wesley on some theological matters, he was careful not to create problems in public that could be used to hinder the preaching of the gospel.  When someone asked Whitefield if he thought he would see Wesley in heaven, Whitefield replied, “I fear not, for he will be so near the eternal throne and we at such a distance, we shall hardly get sight of him.”

                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse 

What to do:

✞It’s always best to disagree without having a disagreeable spirit.

Communication

Bible Reading:  I Corinthians 15:26-34

Key Verse: Verse 33 - "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”

Key Words: evil communications corrupt good manners 

We are told to speak the truth in love.  I’ve often said you can say pretty much everything you need to if you say it in the right way, at the right time, and in the right place.

A tip about communication is this – to make sure that we are not the problem.

Let me explain.

A man was having difficulty communicating with his wife and concluded that she was becoming hard of hearing.  So he decided to conduct a test without her knowing it.  One evening he sat in a chair on the far side of the room.  Her back was to him, and she could not see him.  Very quietly he whispered, “Can you hear me?”  There was no response.  Moving a little closer, he asked again, “Can you hear me now?”  Still no reply.  Quietly he edged closer and whispered the same words, but still no answer.  Finally he moved right in behind her chair and said, “Can you hear me now?”  To his surprise and chagrin she responded with irritation in her voice, “For the fourth time, yes!”  What a warning to us about judging! 

                                                                             Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞It’s always wise to make sure that the communication problem is not on “our” end.

 

If You are Backing Up You are Going in the Wrong Direction

Bible Reading:  Jeremiah 3:11-25

Key Verse: Verse 11 -"And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.”

Key Words: The backsliding Israel hath justified herself 

These are the keys to identify a backslider according to Proverbs 14:14. First, you can tell because they are filled with their own ways. (They see nothing wrong with what they are doing.) Number two, the backslider is satisfied with where they are spiritually.

If you’re not moving forward spiritually then you are a backslider.

Jeremiah says the end result of the backslider is they will lie down in shame and will be put to confusion.

John Charles Ryle says of backsliding: “It is a miserable thing to be a backslider. Of all unhappy things that can befall a man, I suppose ‘backsliding’ is the worst. A stranded ship, a broken-winged eagle, a garden overrun with weeds, a harp without strings, a church in ruins – all these are sad sights. But a backslider is a sadder sight still. That true grace shall never be extinguished, and true union with Christ never be broken off, I feel no doubt. But I do believe that a man may fall away so far that he shall lose sight of his own grace, and despair of his own salvation. And if this is not hell, it is certainly the next thing to it! A wounded conscience, a mind sick of itself, a memory full of self-approach, a heart pierced through with the Lord’s arrows, a spirit broken with a load of inward accusation - all this is a taste of hell. It is hell on earth.”

                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse 

What to do:

      ✞Return to God, where you are always accepted.