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.

Let Others Know You Love Them

Bible Reading:  I Corinthians 13

Key Verse: Verse 8 - " Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

Key Words:  Charity never faileth 

On this Valentine’s Day it is wise for each of us on this day of “self-gratification” to remember that love, real love doesn’t focus on self but on the one they love.

William Gladstone, in announcing the death of Princess Alice of the House of Commons, told a touching story. The little daughter of the Princess was seriously ill with diphtheria. The doctors told the princess not to kiss her little daughter and endanger her life by breathing the child’s breath. Once when the child was struggling to breathe, the mother, forgetting herself entirely, took the little one into her arms to keep her from choking to death. Rasping and struggling for her life, the child said, “Momma, kiss me!” Without thinking of herself the mother tenderly kissed her daughter. She got diphtheria and some days thereafter she went to be forever with the Lord. Real love forgets self. Real love knows no danger. Real love doesn’t count the cost. The Bible says, “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it” (Song of Solomon 8:7).

                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Every day we should let our spouse know that we love them.

It is Dangerous to Fall in Love with the World

Bible Reading:  I John 2:15-20

Key Verse: Verse 15 & 17 – " Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever...”  

Key Words:  Love not the world 

Becoming attached to this world is a dangerous thing. Let me explain with an illustration:

Dr. George Sweeting wrote in Special Sermons for Special Days: “Several years ago our family visited Niagara Falls. It was spring, and ice was rushing down the river. As I viewed the large blocks of ice flowing toward the falls, I could see that there were carcasses of dead fish embedded in the ice. Gulls by the score were riding down the river feeding on the fish. As they came to the brink of the falls, their wings would go out, and they would escape from the falls.

“I watched one gull which seemed to delay and wondered when it would leave. It was engrossed in the carcass of a fish, and when it finally came to the brink of the falls, out went its powerful wings. The bird flapped and flapped and even lifted the ice out of the water, and I thought it would escape. But, it had delayed too long so that its claws had frozen into the ice. The weight of the ice was too great and the gull plunged into the abyss.”

The finest attractions of this world become deadly when we become overly attached to them. They may take us to our destruction if we cannot give them up. And as Sweeting observed.  “Oh, the danger of delay!”

                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse

 What to do: 

✞It’s always wise to obey God and “love not the world.”