Jim Wilson's Blog, page 16

Comprehensive Imitation

“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, orseen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you”(Philippians 4:9).

This is comprehensive: everything you have learned,received, heard, or seen.

Paul said something similar to the Corinthians:

“I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as mydear children. Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you donot have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through thegospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I am sending to youTimothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you ofmy way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere inevery church…Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave toeveryone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to winthe Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though Imyself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those nothaving the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free fromGod's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. Tothe weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men sothat by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of thegospel, that I may share in its blessings…Do not cause anyone to stumble,whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—even as I try to please everybody inevery way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that theymay be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1Corinthians 4:14-17, 9:19-23, 10:32-11:1).

In each case, Paul requires imitation of himself as heimitates Christ.

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

Teaching Obedience & Learning to Obey

“Then Jesus came to them andsaid, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore goand make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father andof the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I havecommanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’”(Matthew 28:18-20).

It is relatively easy toteach and to learn the commands of God. These commands are made up of sentencesthat can be memorized. The Christian church has been teaching the commands forcenturies.

I will now misquote verse 20:"and teaching them all of the commands I commanded you."

Here is it corrected:"teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Icannot teach obedience to commands as easily as I teach commands. Butthat is what we are told to do.

How can I teach obedience? Bybeing obedient myself.

Paul did not hesitate toteach obedience this way:

“Even though you have tenthousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ JesusI became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me.For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who isfaithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus,which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church” (1 Corinthians4:15-17).

Paul was an example to beimitated. Timothy was an example to be imitated. These examples agreed withPaul's teaching. His teaching could teach commands. His example couldteach obedience.

“Do not cause anyone to stumble,whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—even as I try to please everybody inevery way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that theymay be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1Corinthians 10:32-11:1).

Paul gives the command (verse32); then he gives himself as an example (verse 33); then he gives a reason forhis example. After that, he gives a command to follow his example, which isimitating.

Do you want to learn to obey?Follow an example who obeys. Do you want to teach obedience? Be an example ofobedience.

“Oh, that their hearts wouldbe inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might gowell with them and their children forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:29).

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

Prayer for Repentance & Revival

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, becausethey were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said tohis disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lordof the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field’”(Matthew 9:36-38).

Even without a revival, the harvest is plentiful. Theshortage is in harvesters. More people apparently are ready to enter thekingdom than there are people ready to help them in. The instruction is to praythat God would send more people as workers into the harvest field.

To pray that prayer should not be too difficult to do.Please pray for the many Christians who are living mediocre Christian lives.They might have many unconfessed, willful sins and also hidden, greattransgressions.

“Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not ruleover me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression” (Psalm19:13).

Please pray for the overwhelming convicting power of theHoly Spirit.

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me awilling spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, sothat sinners will turn back to you” (Psalm 51:12-13).

When we have the joy of the Lord’s salvation returned to us,then we will teach transgressors the ways of the LORD and sinners will repentto God.

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

Don't Worry

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat’ or ‘What shallwe drink’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things,and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdomand his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matt. 6:31-34).

This has been a favorite portion of Scripture for over fortyyears. It tells us, in effect, that God made us with stomachs. He knows we needfood. He made us without fur. He knows we need clothes.

The pagans do not seem to know this about God, so theyworry. Do we want to copy the pagans when we know God?

There are two requirements laid on us:

·      Don’t worry. Worry is sin, for it is unbelief inGod’s faithfulness.

·      Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.This is trust in God’s faithfulness.

For more on this subject, read my book How to Be Free from Anxiety, available on Amazon and ccmbooks.org.

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

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).

 

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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