Jim Wilson's Blog, page 14

Two Assignments for Christians

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness,righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord” (Ephesians5:8-10).

This verse tells us what you were and what you are, and fromthis we have two assignments:

1. Live like what you are (goodness, righteousness, and truth).

2. Find out what pleases the Lord.

How do we live like children of the light? By grace! We aresaved by grace. We live by grace. We are forgiven by grace. We obey by grace.

How do we find out what pleases the Lord? First, want toknow what pleases the Lord. Second, read the Bible looking for truths to obeyby grace. Third, pray for spiritual acumen when you are reading the Bible.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the SamePage Summer Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily readingplan, please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading withus.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Set Our Hearts at Rest

This is a chapter from The Heart byBessie Wilson. You can find The Heart on Amazon, Audible,ccmbooks.org/bookstore, and the Canon+ app.

“This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and howwe set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemnus. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything” (1 John3:19-20).

What is it that helps us set our hearts at rest in Hispresence? The preceding verse (verse 18) establishes the context: “Dearchildren, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”The immediate context is that if we see a brother in need and we have no pity,the question is, “How can the love of God be in us?”

Years ago, just after Mother’s Day, a friend (the wife of apastor) told me that her young daughter had defied her and gone to a publicpark. She was wondering how to handle this when the child returned. My friendhad been folding clean laundry and was about to take it to her daughter’s roomwhen she remembered the loving card received on Mother’s Day. She put it on topof the laundry, took it to the room and handed the card to the daughter withsome remark to the effect that the card was not true, and she was returning it.It was an object lesson that words of love should be followed by action. Ibelieve that it spoke to the child’s heart for her to see that her disobediencecontradicted her words of love. (Is this why we have difficulty finding a cardto express our love on special occasions, birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine’sDay, etc.? We know our performance has not come up to our words.)

Rereading the phrase, “whenever our hearts condemn us,” we seethe necessity of examining our own hearts. When, during such self-examination,we find that our heart condemns us, two things must be considered. Does myheart condemn me because I have sinned? If so, sin must be confessed andforgiven on the basis of 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithfuland just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”This means real guilt for a specific sin of thought, attitude or deed.

Does my heart still condemn me? Here we need to evaluate withthe Lord’s help whether we are experiencing false guilt, a sort of confused,uncomfortable feeling of not making the grade and not knowing why. Perhapsverse 18 will provide some clue. Am I loving with words or tongue but failingin my actions and in truth? If my walk does not correspond to my talk, then Ineed to get back to evaluating by the Lord’s standard. He says we can set ourhearts at rest in His presence if we check ourselves by His standard. Forexample, do I say I respect my husband but by my actions and words go againsthis wishes, denigrate him before the children or friends, act independently ofhis desires and undermine his authority in the family? Many of us would have toconfess real guilt in this matter.

If, however, my respect for my husband is obvious to childrenand friends, I do not act independently, and I reinforce his authority, then myheart can be at rest in His presence. Remember God is greater than our heartsand He knows everything, so He is to be consulted as to whether, in His sight,I am loving in actions and truth.

Let’s use the same example in light of the husband’sresponsibility. Husbands, do you say you love your wife but stand by idly whenyou see her struggle with the children, the laundry and the meals (andsometimes no money)? Do you discipline the children and teach them to honortheir mother? Do you express your love and appreciations for her willingness todo without by telling her what her skills are worth in the present-day marketand how much you would like to give her things of value? It does not mean givingher a gift you cannot afford, but she will find that the thought itself is agift. The television or newspaper should not be a barricade behind which a mancan hide while the “little woman” words herself into a resentment. “Cherishingyour wife” as Ephesians 5:25 (KJV) says is to hold her dear by taking greatcare of her as a loved possession. 

Try this self-evaluation in His presence. It is a humblingexperience but rich in benefits.

- Bessie Wilson

This post coordinates with today's reading in the SamePage Summer Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily readingplan, please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading withus.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Resurrection: The Blessed Hope

Jesus said,

“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all whoare in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done whatis good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to becondemned” (John 5:28-29).

This teaching in the New Testament is not taught often in theChristian churches today.

Here is Paul’s teaching on the same subject:

“I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and bloodcannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit theimperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but wewill all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the lasttrumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, andwe will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with theimperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable hasbeen clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then thesaying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up invictory’” (1 Corinthians 15:50-54).

The whole 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians is on theresurrection from the dead, all 58 verses.

Here are two other texts on resurrection:

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformedabout those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest ofmankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again,and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleepin him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are stillalive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precedethose who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down fromheaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with thetrumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that,we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in theclouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Thereforeencourage one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will behas not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall belike him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in himpurify themselves, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).

All of this is what is called “the blessed hope.”

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to allpeople. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, andto live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, whilewe wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God andSavior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from allwickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager todo what is good. These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourageand rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you” (Titus2:11-15).

 

This post coordinates with today's reading in the SamePage Summer Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com.We would love to have you reading with us.

 

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Closed Eyes

Have you ever noticed that you have told the gospel withgreat clarity (with or without apologetics) to a very intelligent person andthat after you have finished this clear presentation, he had no idea what youwere talking about?

Here are a few biblical reasons why this is:

“The person without the Spirit does not accept the thingsthat come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannotunderstand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (1Corinthians 2:14). They cannot understand because they do not have the Spirit.

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers,so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory ofChrist, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). They cannot see becausethey have been blinded by the evil one.

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, butpeople loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyonewho does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear thattheir deeds will be exposed” (John 3:19-20). They love darkness to hide theirsin.

Jesus opened Nicodemus’ eyes (John 3:1-12) before He gavehim the gospel (John 3:13-18). Jesus opened the eyes of the woman at the well(John 4:7-15) before He gave her the gospel (John 4:16-26).

This post coordinates with today's reading in the SamePage Summer Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily readingplan, please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading withus.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Grace More Abundant

“But where sin increased, grace increased all the more”(Romans 5:20).

My extra-biblical reading does not follow any pattern, butthere is a lot of history in it. The history includes ancient and modern, Asianand European, African and South American. Whenever or wherever history occurs,it is a story of increasing sin. This would be depressing if it were not forour assurance that grace increases all the more. A history book can glorify theactions of men so the sin does not sound as bad. That, however, is onlysugar-coating the story. The real blessing is that God assures us that graceis more abundant than sin.

In addition to reading history, I find another reminder ofthe increase of sin. That is my daily contact with people who are in sin oraffected by the sin of others. Again, I am grateful for the over-abundance ofgrace. It is this over-abundance of grace that gives us victory and triumph.

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us intriumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of himeverywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are beingsaved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death todeath, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for thesethings? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word; but as men ofsincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ” (2Corinthians 2:14-17).

 

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

He Calls the Stars by Name

“He determines the number of the stars and calls them eachby name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit”(Psalm 147:4-5).

These are two of many verses which speak in a limited way ofGod’s unlimited power and knowledge. Here are a few more:

“By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starryhost by the breath of his mouth. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded,and it stood firm” (Psalm 33:6, 9).

“He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds andthe waves obey him!’” (Matthew 8:26-27).

God commanded the inanimate. There were no ears to hear, novolition to decide, no reason to consider, and yet the stars, the wind, and thewaves obeyed.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So

“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemedfrom the hand of the Enemy” (Psalm 107:2).

“And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he mustbe kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he mustgently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading themto a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escapefrom the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2Timothy 2:24-26).

“When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the controlof righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things youare now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have beenset free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads toholiness, and the result is eternal life” (Romans 6:20-22).

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared intheir humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power ofdeath—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held inslavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15).

When we are freed from sin, the devil, and the fear ofdeath, we are to say so. Paul’s conversion is recorded in Acts 9. He testifiesto this in Acts 22 and Acts 26. In other words, there are three accounts of hisreceiving Christ. It must be important.

Have you written your testimony of how and when you were setfree from sin? Have you given copies of your testimony to believers andunbelievers? It makes no difference whether you were three years old or sixtyyears old. It was still a great deliverance.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Declaring God's Glory

“Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all theearth. Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples”(Psalm 96:1-3).

Sing, praise, proclaim, and declare. In order to declare Hisglory, we have to know what it is. Words alone will not do it. Experience willbe part of it.

“Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory arein his sanctuary. Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to theLORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring anoffering and come into his courts. Worship the LORD in the splendor of hisholiness; tremble before him, all the earth” (Psalm 96:6-9).

Splendor, majesty, strength, glory, worship, and holinessare a few of the words. Ask for the experience.

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How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

More Life (Are You Afraid of Death?)

Areyou fearful of death? Or ready for it? Or glad for it? Most people just ignoreit, knowing it’s going to happen, but not now and not soon.

Sometimeswe don’t have a choice. On September 26, 1950, when I was 22 years old, I waswith the Navy in the Sea of Japan off the coast of Korea. The gunnery officerspotted some box cars on a railroad siding near the shore. The captain decidedto close the range and destroy them with gunfire. We were at battle stations.My battle station was in the gunnery plotting room one deck below the main deckon the port side of the ship. I was the officer in charge of gunnery plot. Ireceived a telephone call from my boss, the gunnery officer. He ordered me upto the main battery director above the bridge, where he was stationed with therange finder. I objected, because we were at general quarters (preparing forbattle), and it is a court-martial offense to leave your battle station whenthe ship is at general quarters. He ordered me to come up anyway.

Ileft the chief petty officer in charge of gunnery plot and went up to see him.When I arrived, he had no idea why he had ordered me up there. I told him Iwould be back in gunnery plot, and he could give me another call if heremembered. He said, “You stay here.” So I stayed there with nothing to do.

WhileI was there, we struck an underwater mine on the port side, directly underneathmy battle station. The explosion obliterated gunnery plot. The man I left incharge was killed. Only one man was pulled out alive. The rest of the men werekilled instantly.

Thatevening, after we partly recovered from the explosion, the executive officercame to me. He said, “We are going to bury the chief petty officer at sea.” Theother men who were killed could not be recovered from the damaged part of theship until we reached port. He said, “Mr. Wilson, you’re the Christian on thisship. You will conduct the funeral.” I was only 22 years old. I was in chargeof the funeral for the man who died in place of me. I have never forgottenthat. At 22, I was very conscious of death.

Thenext ship I was on was hit by gunfire; one man was killed, and he was standing notfar from me. That made me think of death. It also made me realize that I wasnot afraid. Many years later, I was reading the diary of the ship’s captain. Hesaid, “Wilson is not afraid under fire.” Although I didn’t think about it much,I knew I wasn’t afraid, because I saw people who were, and they acted verydifferently. But I hadn’t realized other people could see it.

Manyyears later, I had quadruple-bypass heart surgery. I was not afraid to diethen, either. I am now 91.*

Myfavorite passage of Scripture is Psalm 91. I can identify with it, includingthe last line, which speaks of long life.

Whoever dwells in the shelterof the Most High
    willrest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is myrefuge and my fortress,
    myGod, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you
    fromthe fowler’s snare
    andfrom the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers,
    andunder his wings you will find refuge;
    hisfaithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night,
    northe arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    northe plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
    tenthousand at your right hand,
    butit will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes
    andsee the punishment of the wicked.

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    andyou make the Most High your dwelling,
no harm will overtake you,
    nodisaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
    toguard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands,
    sothat you will not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    youwill trample the great lion and the serpent.

“Because he lovesme,” says the Lord, “I willrescue him;
    Iwill protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    Iwill be with him in trouble,
    Iwill deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
    andshow him my salvation.”

(Psalm 91)

Godhas given me long life. Being 91 years old, I am close to dying again. I am notfearful of it. It is a given. I am not anticipating it, either, so it willprobably catch me by surprise. I want to say it again: I am not afraid to die.The reason for this is that since I came to know the Father through the Sonwhen I was 20 years old, I have been sure of my salvation. To die just meansmore life.

*Written June 2019. Jim Wilson received his promotion toglory in 2022.

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How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Simplicity

“Oh, that you would bear with me in a littlefolly—and indeed you do bear with me. For I am jealous for you with godlyjealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as achaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eveby his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that isin Christ” (2 Cor. 11:1-3).

St. Paul was concerned about people deceiving other people awayfrom the simplicity that is in Christ. All (or at least most) denominations ofthe Christian church have made salvation in Christ a little more complicatedthan the Bible makes it.

Rather than drawing attention to all of these complications, Ithought I would go through the Gospel with simple, biblical words.

God

God is.

God is love.

God so loved the world.

The world was the object of His love.

The expression of His love is giving.

What He gave was His only-begotten Son.

He gave what was most valuable to Him.

Sin came into the world through man.

All men have sinned.

The soul that sins shall die.

The son of God died for sinful man.

The son of God rose from the dead to justify sinful man.

The sinful man who believes in the Son of God is saved.

Written June 1, 2018.

This post coordinates with tomorrow's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships