Dying To Self

Bible Reading:  Colossians 3:1-13

Key Verse: Verse 3 – “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”

Key Words: For ye are dead

A Sunday School teacher was teaching their Sunday School class to see if they understood the concept of getting to heaven.

He asked them, “If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale and gave all my money to the church, would that get me into heaven?”

“NO!” the children answered.

“If I cleaned the church everyday, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into heaven?”

Again, the answer was, “NO!”  He was just bursting with pride for them.

“Well,” he continued, “then how can I get into heaven?”

A five-year-old boy shouted out, “YOU GOTTA BE DEAD.”

Not only do you have to be dead to go to heaven, you have to be dead to self to stop all the fussing, fuming, and fighting.

So many believers today have never died to self and their own self-will.  As a result, many churches are full of fussing, fuming, and fighting.

                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse           

What to do: 

✞ As a believer, dying on earth results in going to heaven; dying to self on earth allows heaven to live in you today.

Mistreatment

Bible Reading:  Matthew 5:33-42

Key Verse: Verse 39 - “But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

Key Words: turn to him the other also

We often find ourselves fighting mad because of the mistreatment of ourselves or others.  Now, I will admit to you I hate to see people mistreated, but I’m at the age where I think I have a better understanding of the subject.

Jesus was mistreated and said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Jesus taught others in regard to being mistreated in the Sermon on the Mount.  He said such things as “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and perscute you.”

A nurse in a serviceman's hospital complained to the chaplain that she had been rudely treated by some of the patients.  He answered, “Thank God for that!” “What do you mean?” she inquired in astonishment.  “Well,” he explained, “if you are holding a glass and someone knocks against you, you can only spill out what is inside!  When people misjudge and persecute us, we soon reveal what is in our hearts.  If we are Christ-filled and governed by the Holy Spirit, we will manifest the gentleness and meekness of our Savior.  In fact, God often allows us to be pushed around and mistreated so that unsaved men may be astonished at His grace as we overflow with love and forbearance.”

 Quite a thought, isn’t it?

                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Remember, you can only be as strong as your fruit of temperance.

My Own Enemy

Bible Reading:  II Samuel 12:1-13

Key Verse: Verse 7 - “ And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;”

Key Words: Thou art the man

 Have you ever noticed that the one thing we can’t stand about others is often our own weakness?  David became filled with anger when told by Nathan that the poor man’s lamb had been stolen by the man with many lambs, but David had just stolen Uriah’s wife.  Peter could not stand acts of cowardice, but when pressed on the night of Jesus’ arrest, he cowardly denied Christ three times.  Jacob battled with the deceitfulness of Laban, but it was he who deceived his own father, Isaac.

There is an old adage that states, “I have met the enemy, and it is I.”  Today is a day of self-centeredness.  It is easy to see the faults and weaknesses of others and still never see our own.  A lady, after one of our morning services very bluntly stated that the one thing that she could not stand in preachers was bluntness.

Solomon said in Proverbs 26:16, The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit, than seven men that can render a reason.  Most people never see their own weakness.  They justify them away with ten-cent excuses.  Today, would you begin to pray for God to reveal your character flaws to you, and when He does, will you be willing to correct them?

Don’t try to hide your weaknesses, everyone else already sees them.  To accept them is to accept second best for your life.

Note: When David saw David, he repented.  When Peter saw Peter, he repented.  When Jacob saw Jacob, he repented.  When I see me, what do I do?

 

                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse                                        

What to do: 

✞Ask God to allow you to see yourself as He sees you.

Their Attitude

Bible Reading:  Psalm 103

Key Verse: Verse 14 - “For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.”

Key Words: he remembereth that we are dust

I, on occasion, will tell our teachers to handle each student as if their mother was standing there watching us because how we handle others will go a long way in reaching them for Christ.

Douglas Twitchell writes:  Last fall my friends Ben and Melissa added a little baby girl to their family. I was excited for the news, and waited impatiently for the day they would invite me to come see little Ziva. As we were sitting around chatting, and watching the baby doing baby-ish things (that is to say, not much of anything but make faces and noises), Ben said, "Do you want to hold her?"

I said, "Well, yeah!"

I have to admit, it had been a long time since I'd held a newborn in my arms; most of my friends have passed the age when they're adding children to the family, so opportunities to hold newborns are few and far between for me.

As I cradled Ziva in my arms, I thought, How different this is from the way I hold my nephew who is four years old! Little Ziva is so fragile compared to Elias!

And I remembered a word that crops up in the Bible from time to time: gentleness. Colossians 3:12 tells us to clothe ourselves with gentleness. Galatians 6:1 instructs us that when we confront someone caught in sin, we must do it gently.

And what does that tell us? It tells us that, like newborn babies, human beings are all fragile. Not, in most cases, physically fragile, but spiritually fragile and emotionally fragile. How we treat one another is a reflection of our understanding that, as Psalm 103:14 says, we are formed from the dust of the earth, and there is nothing more fragile than that. 

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; For He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.

Maybe remembering this will help some consider and even stop all their fussing, fuming, and fighting and be forgiving.

 

                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞People can be fragile; handle them with care.

Hateful

Bible Reading:  Titus 3

Key Verse: Verse 3 - “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.”

Key Words:  hateful, and hating one another

Hateful just means that one is full of hate.  The word means to detest, to persecute, actions done with an attempt to harm one physically, emotionally, or even to harm their testimony.

Do you know of others that carry the venom of hatred with them, ready to strike out at those whom they hate?

One of my grandsons got what looked like a wadded up piece of foam, brought it to our house, and told us it was a fish.  It wasn’t like any fish I had ever seen…the instructions simply said “place in a container of water” which we did; and sure enough, after a few minutes that foam began to unwrap and take on the shape of a fish!  We took it from the bowl we had it in and placed it in a bathtub full of water and left it there.  After a few hours, that little piece of foam had swollen into a pretty good-sized fish.  As I stood and thought about that “fish” I began to think about those who let a little thing, a little word, a little act sit and soak in the heart and before long, it has grown from envy or jealousy to disrespect, and from disrespect to anger, and from anger to bitterness, and from bitterness to hatred.

Today, there will be dozens of people who will read this devotional who are letting this envy, jealousy, resentment, anger, and bitterness soak in their heart and before long, they will have a heart full of hatred.  What a shame!

 

                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞Ask God to give you victory over hatred.  Remember, your hatred may or may not destroy the ones you hate, but it will certainly destroy you.

Anger

Bible Reading:  Romans 12:9-21

Key Verse: Verse 19 – “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”

Key Words:  Vengeance is mine

When we become angry with others we tend to do one of three things.  Some repress their anger, still others suppress anger, but the vast majority resort to a third solution–they seek revenge.

Have you every hungered for a little sweet revenge?  I read recently about a story that took place in 1992.  Lady Sarah Graham Moon, at the age of fifty-five, was dumped by her British aristocratic husband.  She sought to get even with him in the following ways.  First, she poured gallons of paint on his cherished BMW while it was parked in his girlfriend’s driveway.  A week later she cut four inches off the left sleeve on thirty-two of his tailored suits, $1,600 suits I might add.  The following week she gave away sixty bottles of his finest wine.  Her actions did not go unnoticed, she caught the attention of the press and became somewhat of a celebrity.  One lady wrote her to share how she had cleaned the toilet with her unfaithful husband’s toothbrush, then watched with glee as he brushed his teeth.  Of course, none of these can compare with the revenge of Vera Czermak.  When she learned that her husband had betrayed her, Mrs. Czermak became suicidal and decided to jump to her death from their third floor apartment in Prague.  Surprisingly, she survived the jump because she landed on her husband who was leaving the apartment on his way to work.  She lived, he died.  She was charged with murder and is now serving time in prison.

Oh, by the way, Mrs. Moon was sued by her husband and won.  Vengeance really does not pay.  Remember, we said we usually do three things with our anger: we repress it, suppress it, or attempt to get revenge.  But there is another thing we can do with anger which is far better, and that is confess it (I John 1:8), and I have found that confession has far better consequences than the other methods of handling our anger.

                                                                                                    Dr. Mike Rouse                        

What to do:

✞Remember, you may get even but you will also reap whatever you sow.

Stubborness

Bible Reading: Philippians 4:1-10

Key Verse: Verse 2 – “ I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.”

Key Words: be of the same mind 

No doubt Euodias and Syntyche were at odds and from all appearances neither was about to give in.  More conflicts grow and explode because of pride and stubbornness than any other reason.  As you read Philippians 4 it becomes obvious that these two were rejoicing in fighting one another, but not the Lord (verse 4).  When this happens, hang on, the ride is about to get rough.  Let me assure you that there are no winners in a war of stubbornness!

In the summer of 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died as they were hurled into the icy waters below. News of the disaster was further darkened when an investigation revealed the cause of the accident.  It wasn’t a technology problem like radar malfunction—or even thick fog.  The cause was human stubbornness.  Each captain was aware of the other ship’s presence nearby.  Both could have steered clear, but according to news reports, neither captain wanted to give way to the other.  Each was too proud to yield first.  By the time they came to their senses, it was too late. 

What a shame! 

                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:  

✞Pick and choose your fights carefully.  Ask yourself how many will be hurt from your stubbornness.

They Make Dirt

Bible Reading: Proverbs 26:20-28

Key Verse: Verse 20 -  “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.”

Key Words:  where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth

The word talebearer is mentioned five times in the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 11:13, “A talebearer revealeth secrets.”

Proverbs 18:8, “The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.”

Proverbs 20:19, “He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.”

Proverbs 26:20-22 which we used as our Bible reading for today.

You kind of get the idea that a talebearer is bad news.  They cause a lot of fussing, fuming, and fighting.

R. G. LeTourneau was for many years an outstanding Christian businessman—heading a company that manufactured large earthmoving equipment.  He once remarked, “We used to make a scraper known as ‘Model G.’ One day somebody asked our salesman what the ‘G’ stood for.  The man, who was pretty quick on the trigger, immediately replied, “I’ll tell you.  The ‘G’ stands for gossip because like a talebearer this machine moves a lot of dirt and moves it fast!”

 That’s a talebearer!!

                                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Silence is golden.

Labels

Bible Reading:  Acts 24:1-7

Key Verse: Verse 5 – “For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes:”
Key Words: a pestilen

t fellow

The Apostle Paul had many labels attached to him, one of which was “a pestilent fellow.”  Don’t you just love labels?  As a matter of fact, let’s play label.  It seems to be one of the most popular games people play.  The rules are easy to remember.  Any number of people can play.  But the game is especially appealing to those who are scorners, fault-finders, and those who tend to love to criticize.

Now labels may vary.  There are “temperament” labels; for example, “She’s choleric,” “He’s moody and hot-tempered,” etc.  There are “emotional” labels: “He’s neurotic,” “She’s a nervous person,” “He’s a perfectionist.”

But my favorites are the “spiritual” labels: “He’s a dictator,” “She’s a Pharisee,” “He has no standards,” “He’s too strict.”  You know those spiritual labels.

Now to be completely honest about it, it is occasionally helpful to lick a label and stick it on.  It saves a bundle of time and it can communicate a fairly clear picture.  However, it is important that we guard against using a wrong label that could be dangerous and damaging.  If you label Exlax chocolate candy, that is bad; so get those labels right when you label people.

Now the danger in playing label is that you set yourself up as judge and jury declaring that your third-hand information is correct.  Now when that happens, the game of label is over and now you begin to play the game of slander.  Pasting labels on people, churches, and schools with only partial facts, feeling and opinions is not only unfair in the game of label, it is also un-Christian, and often causes fussing, fuming, and fighting!

Those who really enjoy the game of label are either immature spiritually or they are unsaved.  As a matter of fact, they are the only ones who play the game.  Oh well, I don’t like the game of label anyway, so I don’t think I’ll play.  How about you?

                                                                                                 Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Labels can well cause some fussing, fuming, and fighting.  Be careful with those labels!

Assuming

Bible Reading:  I Samuel 1:1-18

Key Verse: Verse 14 – “And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.”

Key Words: How long wilt thou be drunken

Eli made the same mistake so many people make: he assumed Hannah was drunk.  He based that not on fact but sight.  So often division occurs in our home, church, and place of business because people assume.

Reminds me of the following story.

The photographer for a national magazine was assigned to get photos of a great forest fire. Smoke at the scene hampered him and he asked his home office to hire a plane. Arrangements were made and he was told to go at once to a nearby airport, where the plane would be waiting. When he arrived at the airport, a plane was warming up near the runway.  He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, “Let's go! Let's go!” The pilot swung the plane into the wind and they soon were in the air. 

“Fly over the north side of the fire,” yelled the photographer, “and make three or four low level passes.” 

“Why?” asked the pilot. 

“Because I'm going to take pictures,” cried the photographer. “I'm a photographer and photographers take pictures!” 

After a pause the pilot said, “You mean you're not the instructor?”

Assuming causes many problems, not only for the one the assumption is against, but also for the one doing the assuming.

Don’t cause rifts by assuming!!  It may come back to haunt you!!

 

Dr. Mike Rouse                                                           

What to do: 

✞Remember, assuming you know does not make it factual; but assuming you know and spreading it makes if “frac”tual.

Love Never Fails

Bible Reading:  I Corinthians 13:1-8

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

If love never fails, then maybe we should all reconsider our love because today many homes, churches, and friendships are falling apart.

Lou Nicholes writes:

“I once had a pastor who was having trouble with one of his deacons.  He came to my house one day and wanted me to come to a meeting and take sides against the deacon.  I told the pastor I could not do that because I didn’t have any problem with the deacon. The pastor became very angry and said he would have nothing more to do with me and further more he would tell every Christian leader in the area what a terrible person I was, which he proceeded to do for several years.  We were sitting in his car and when I suggested that we pray together about the matter, he said he would not pray with me and for me not to tell anyone he wouldn’t pray.  Then he told me to get out of his car and he spun out of the driveway throwing gravel all over me and my house.  When he got to his office he called me and said he meant every word of what he said.  Thinking he had just had a bad moment we continued to attend his church but when our family would leave the services he would turn his back on us so we felt it best to find another place to worship.”

What a shame!  How the Spirit of God must grieve over  our lack of true love!!

                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞If your love is failing you may want to re-think “ love”…if you truly have “charity.”

Windbags

Bible Reading:  Jude 1-16

Key Verse: Verse 16 – “These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.”

Key Words:  walking after their own lusts

Religious windbags, you know them, they are the ones at work or even at church who claim to be full of the Spirit but really are only full of hot air.  Beware of the person who boasts about his achievements for God and his own holiness.  That person, according to Jude 16, is a spiritual windbag, for the true mark of holiness is a deep consciousness of our own failures and shortcomings.  The nearer we walk to the Light, the more personal defects we see.  God said concerning Job, “That there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil” (Job 1:8).  Yet Job said of himself, “I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

There is little that is as displeasing to God as a self-righteous, complacent person.  The Pharisee in Luke 18 boasted of his own goodness and said, “I thank thee, O God, that I am not like other men.”  His boasting was a stench to God.  But remember the poor publican beating on his breast, cried, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.”  When a person is filled with the Spirit, there is humility.  When a person is filled with himself, he is only full of hot air.

It is not nearly as important what you’ve done for God as what God has done for you!

A careless word may kindle a strife,

An evil word may wreck a life,

A bitter word may hate instill,

So, Lord, make my words your will.

                                                                                                                 Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞Choose your words carefully.

My Response

Bible Reading:  Ephesians 4:25-32

Key Verse: Verse 25 – “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.”

Key Words: putting away lying

When we think of specific sins any number of things can come to mind.  Why, there is adultery, fornication, covetousness, stealing, cheating, laziness, worry, gluttony, profanity, idolatry, rebellion.  The list goes on and on, but to me the most despicable of all sins is lying.  The reason that I believe that lying is so despicable is that of all sins committed against me, lying is the only one which will not bring me sympathy or prayers, but reproach.  If I commit adultery, fornication, covetousness,  if I steal, if I am lazy, if I worry, if I commit gluttony, profanity, idolatry, or even if I rebel, I deserve reproach–I bring that on myself.  Now if someone cheats me, curses me, or steals from me, that usually will bring sympathy from others, but now when someone lies about me, that is usually a different story.  When someone lies about you, you are basically defenseless to defend yourself because for some strange, perverted reason, the vast majority of people believe the lies they hear.  For example, Jesus was lied about and the masses believed the lies and cried out, “Crucify Him!”  Naboth was lied about and, again, the lies were believed.  Paul was lied about and even called a pestilent fellow in Acts 24:5.

So what are we to do when people lie about us?  Let me suggest four things. #1 - Take the high road.  Don’t respond in kind.  Two wrongs never equal a right. #2 - Pray for those who are both spreading the lies and for those who are believing them (Matthew 5:11, Luke 6:22, I Peter 4:14). #3 - Rely on your testimony.  The greatest of all testimonies is when the lies people are telling about you are unbelievable because of your testimony and integrity. #4 - Always remember there will always be those who believe every lie they hear, don’t focus on the liar or those who believe the lie.  Keep your eyes on Jesus.

In life if someone for some reason chooses to lie about you, remember you have no control over them, but you can control...1) your response, 2) your attitude, 3) your testimony.

Now, go out and do right and live for God, and God will take care of all the details of life in the sweet by and by.

                                                                                    Dr. Mike Rouse 

What to do:

✞Apply the four principles found in this devotion.

The Power Of Words

Bible Reading:  1 Corinthians 15:33-45

Key Verse: Verse 33 – “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” 

Key Words: evil communications

Daily air raids were taking a heavy toll on Japan during the summer of 1945; defeat seemed imminent.  On July 26, Allied leaders issued the Potsdam Agreement: “We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces.  The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction.”  But the offer was also in some ways generous; it allowed Japanese soldiers to return home without imprisonment.

Emperor Hirohito believed the Potsdam peace terms “were the most reasonable to be expected.”  But Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki disagreed; he felt Japan still had some negotiating leverage with the Russians.  Soon, Suzuki was telling reporters that Japan must mokusatsu the Allied offer.

Mokusatsu literally means “to kill with silence.”  Suzuki later claimed he had meant “no comment.”  But the Japanese news agency, Domei, quickly translated the word as “ignore.”  With this, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was virtually inevitable.

Just a week later, on August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay took off on its fateful mission.  At 8:15 A.M., bombardier Major Thomas Ferebee had his target in his sights: the Aioi Bridge crossing the Ota River in Hiroshima.

About a half mile from his target, the crew of the Lonesome Lady, which had been shot down just ten days earlier, were being held as war prisoners along with fliers from two other American planes – at least 10 GIs in all.

Although the solid brick of their cells managed to withstand the awesome initial blast, only three of these prisoners are known to have survived the explosion.  Navy pilot Normand Brissette and the Lonesome Lady’s gunner, Ralph Neal, stayed nose-deep in a cesspool until the flames died down.  As soon as they emerged, they were recaptured by the Japanese.  During the next days each suffered acutely with oozing sores and constant vomiting, the result of radiation exposure.  Both men died slow and horrible deaths.

The third American who survived the explosion died as a scapegoat for the bombing.  History doesn’t record his name, but an eyewitness called him “the handsomest boy I ever saw.”  He was tied to the remains of the Aioi Bridge with a placard that said: “Beat This American Soldier Before You Pass.”  Besides these military prisoners, more than 3,000 Japanese-American civilians were stranded in Hiroshima when the war began.  Of those who survived the blast, perhaps 1,000 returned to the United States.

The story of any single person who endured the atomic attack on Japan is appalling.  If we then consider statistics in light of these scenes of individual agony, the extent of human suffering begins to stagger the mind: the two bomb blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed 300,000 people.

Think of it.  The evil communication of one man using one word, mokusatsu (ignore), resulted in the death of thousands.  Never think that your words are not important for words are powerful, and they either bless or curse!!!  What a responsibility we have to use our words with great care and caution.

Be careful what you say and how you say it.

 

                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞Make sure your brain is in gear before putting your mouth into action.

Conditions To Forgiveness

Bible Reading:  Matthew 18:10-22

Key Verse: Verse 22 – “Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”

Key Words: seventy times seven

Have you ever studied from God’s Word the conditions to forgiveness?  It is quite an interesting study.

• The condition to forgiveness with God is confession.  I John 1:9; Proverbs 28:13; Psalm 51.
• The condition to forgiveness when someone has damaged your testimony is confrontation.  Luke 17:3; Matthew 18.  There are those who take these verses to mean rebuke all sin, and that’s not the case at all.  It’s personal.  “If thy brother trespass against thee.”  The word trespass is the same word James uses in James 1:8 for double-minded.  The idea is someone has caused others to question your integrity, your testimony.
• In Ephesians 4:32 there appears to be no condition attached at all to forgiving others.  The principle here is don’t hold on to a grudge or you’ll end up grieving the Holy Spirit.  

The only person who doesn’t have to forgive is the person who doesn’t need forgiveness.  You know, I don’t think I’ve ever met that person.

In his book. Lee: The Last Years, Charles Bracelen Flood reports that after the Civil War, Robert E. Lee visited a Kentucky lady who took him to the remains of a grand old tree in front of her house. There she bitterly cried that its limbs and trunk had been destroyed by Federal artillery fire. She looked to Lee for a word condemning the North or at least sympathizing with her loss. After a brief silence, Lee said, "Cut it down, my dear Madam, and forget it." It is better to forgive the injustices of the past than to allow them to remain, let bitterness take root and poison the rest of our life.

 

                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞ Ask God to give you a spirit of forgiveness.

Peacemakers

Bible Reading:  Genesis 13:8-18

Key Verse: Verse 8 – “And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.”

Key Words: Let there be no strife

In Jesus’ first public message, He says “Blessed are the peacemakers.”  From our Scripture reading today, we see several things that are required to make one a peacemaker.

First, there must be more of a desire for peace than a desire to have your way (verse 9).

Secondly, a peacemaker is not afraid to fight (see Genesis 14).  They simply pick and choose their battles very carefully.

Thirdly, they defuse the situation by using a soft voice (verse 8).

Fourthly, they are humble.  Abraham, being the leader, was humble and gave up his right to possess any land he so desired.  A peacemaker must be humble.

Reminds me of a story of two men who met on a narrow mountain road, one going north and the other going south.  To fight was not an option.  They could both tumble off the side of the mountain to their death.  To back up is not an option, too many miles to re-walk.  So one lay down and let the other step over him; and they both went on their way.

The moral of the story is two-fold.  First, if two people fight over an issue, both are going to be seen as wrong…and they are!!  Secondly, if one backs up he is seen as compromising.  The only answer is humble yourself and lay down.  Remember, blessed are the peacemakers for they are the ones whose Christianity really shows.

 

                                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞Be a peacemaker or you’ll be known as a troublemaker.

Strife

Bible Reading:  Genesis 13:1-7

Key Verse: Verse 7 - “And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.”

Key Words: And there was a strife

The word strife means to contend with, to be at odds with.

Let’s face it, as long as there are people and as long as we have to be around them, there will be strife.

There are sixty-six books in the Bible and you find people striving with one another in twenty-one of the sixty-six books.

Strife is the result of two individuals or groups of individuals who are bent on getting their way because they are convinced they are right!!

Strife on the job will affect job performance.

Strife at church will affect the moving of the Spirit.

Strife at home affects the entire family.

All because someone wants their way, usually in the name of God.

Entering a department store, a little old lady was startled when a band began to play and a dignified executive pinned an orchid on her dress and handed her a crisp hundred dollar bill. She was the store’s millionth customer. Television cameras were focused on her and reporters began interviewing. 

“Tell me,” one asked, “just what did you come here for today?”

The lady hesitated for a minute, then answered, “I’m on my way to the Complaint Department.”

Isn’t that the way it usually is?  The same people who are a blessing to us are the ones we are at strife with, usually over issues that, as we say in the country, aren’t worth a hill of beans.

 

                                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞Don’t fool yourself.  If Jesus isn’t the focus of your issues, you’re wrong.