Are You a “Yes, Butter?”
“THEREFORE, TO HIM WHO KNOWS TO DO GOOD
AND DOES NOT DO IT, TO HIM IT IS SIN.” (JAMES 4:17)
Are you a person who upon hearing a statement often agrees with it, but responds, “Yes, but….”? If so, you are a yes “But ‘er.” If so, read once more the above text. “Yes, but ‘er”is the expression of a hesitant person.
By agreeing with a statement and offering an excuse for not doing it, you are conflicting yourself. If you agree that it is right, offering an excuse for not complying with it does not make the ‘er a legitimate reason for not doing it. “Yes, but… people” are defeatist. Their favorite sport is introducing obstacles. They are good at making up excuses, while concealing their own thoughts.
Excuses for not doing what is right are:
“You just don’t understand.”
“Someone told me I didn’t have to.”
“That is just too difficult.”
“You don’t always do it.”
“I didn’t think it was important.”
There is never a legitimate excuse for not doing what is right. If you do the right thing and things go wrong, be sure you don’t go with them.
William Penn said, “Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.”
Other sage wisdom is “Never do wrong in order to be able to do right.” Doing a bad thing for a good end just sullies the good.
Doing the right thing even when no one is looking is easy if you remember that you are not in this life alone and that your task is to please God… not people.
You know you have done the right thing when you have peace about doing it.
Don’t be afraid to do the right thing if you value your integrity, but if you do, be prepared to take abuse from those who have no integrity.
We often have the choice between saying “yes, but” or “yes and” it’s your choice.
“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
(Colossians 3:17)
Worry Doesn’t Work
Let’s simply let God’s Word be our Post for the day. Pause before reading further and open your mind to this, His vital teaching.
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit1 to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”
1Matthew 6:27 About 18 inches
Laws of Nature and Nature’s God
Christianity is more than personal piety – it is a comprehensive worldview. That worldview is as natural in the faith community as gravity is in the physical world. It is inherent in Christianity, yet exists apart from Christianity. It is a part of Christianity though Christianity is far more. It is Natural Law. For ages it has been known by various names: Practical Reason, First Principles, Traditional Morality, and more recently simply as Tao.
Examples of Natural Law and Christianity running on parallel tracks are: private property rights, standards for social decency, values of compassion, mercy, kindness, forgiveness, prohibitions against lying, murdering, cheating, and stealing. These are but a few of the parallel truths. Many persons not of the faith community advocate Natural Law. It is the source of all value judgments. It predates Christianity and exists in non-Christian societies.
Much of the writings of Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates are based on them. Roman Emperor Cicero (106 – 43 BC) wrote of them saying, “true law is right reason consonant with nature, diffused among all men, constant and eternal.” He wrote of its benefits being “the safety of citizens … and the tranquility and happiness of human life.” He also wrote of true justice as being rooted in divinely-established universal principles, that is Natural Law.
John Adams, in the Federalist Papers argues the Laws of Nature and of nature’s God are the same in this statement: “In the Declaration of Independence the Laws of Nature are announced and appealed to as identical with the laws of nature’s God, and as the foundation of all obligatory human laws.”
The next time a new Jurist of the Supreme Court is nominated, observe the fight by the left to avoid the appointment of one who believes in the Laws of Nature.
Often today when a Christian advocates a Natural Law in the public arena it is shouted down under the guise of separation of Church and State. Humanists have made great progress in recent years by defying Natural Laws regarding marriage and sex in general.
This modern translation of God’s Word speaks of Natural Law in these words: “When outsiders who have never heard of God’s law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God’s law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God’s yes and no, right and wrong.” (Romans 2:14,15)
Laughter Is the Best Medicine
“A MERRY HEART DOES GOOD LIKE A MEDICINE,
BUT A BROKEN SPIRIT DRIES THE BONES.”
Proverbs 17:22
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven … a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 4
There are some things too serious and somber to be laughed about. It is sometimes inappropriate to laugh. Make your list of things that are inappropriate, but be cautious not to make that list too long.
Got a problem you can’t seem to solve? The next best thing to solving a problem is finding humor in it.
“All things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Do you believe that? If so, act like it.
The more secure you are in your beliefs, the easier it becomes to see the comic side of life. Let out a loud laugh coming from the depth of your soul and thank God He is your best friend.
“…a broken spirit dries the bones,” means stress saps the immune system. Feelings are chemical; they can kill you or cure you.
Laughter is an instant vacation. Along life’s pathway steal a little victory by laughing at defeat. Laughing ignites a chemical reaction in the body. Dopamine, Serotonin, and Endorphins are chemicals responsible for your happiness. Many situations, such as laughter, can trigger these neurotransmitters. They reduce stress hormones that can, over time, damage the brain (such as cortisol and epinephrine).
Modern brain imaging offers insights and shows that “laughter is the best medicine” isn’t just a cliché. It works.
Laughter triggers the release of endorphin and serotonin, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. They promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain. The absence of them causes depression. Negative feelings also have a chemical effect.. Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones.
Learn to laugh at trouble. If you don’t, you won’t have anything to laugh about when you get old.
Often an opportunity to laugh is a choice, a mind set. The more negative you are the more negative associated brain chemicals there are, and that causes you to become even more negative. The more negative you become, the more chemicals there are. It is a bootstrap effect. Consider these contrasts.
“For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.” (Proverbs 15:15 NLT)
“But the one who rules in heaven laughs.” (Psalm 2:4) If God laughs, that is reason enough for us to laugh. Ask yourself this question: “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again.” (Psalm 42:5)
“A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.” (Proverbs 15:13 NLT)
Put on your happy face and see how it helps you.
The Beatitudes Part 8: For Goodness’ Sake
Note: This post is part eight in a series of eight posts on the Beatitudes.
FOR GOODNESS’ SAKE
MATTHEW 5:10
“BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE PERSECUTED FOR
RIGHTEOUSNESS’ SAKE, FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN”
Jesus Christ, speaking virtually in the shadow of the cross, said, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own, but because you are not of the world, therefore, the world hates you. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (John 15:20)
A program as radical and revolutionary as Christ has proposed in these Beatitudes will face opposition. The total discipleship He requires is sure to evoke sharp opposition. In light of this, it seems strange to frequently hear Christians with whiny voices say, “It isn’t easy being a Christian.” The Christian way is so different at its core that it is sure to incur the wrath of the world that resents it.
Yet, of such persons Christ said, “Blessed,” that is, happy, joyous, to be congratulated. This beatitude forcefully dramatizes the fact that the kind of happiness of which Christ spoke was not dependent on circumstances, but character.
The Greek word translated persecuted, dioko, means to put to flight. It literally means to harass. Imagine, “the harassed shall be happy.” Notice, they don’t harass you because they hate you. It is for “righteousness sake.” It is Christ in you that the world hates. We should love and pity anyone who hates Him.
You are blessed when you decide to live in harmony with God’s holy will for you and resolve to fulfill it against any odds. It should be remembered, however, that there are persons who can’t tolerate people who God considers “righteous.”
Unlike the other seven Beatitudes, this one does not deal with the internal character of the individual believer, but with the conditions that can be expected. He changes from “those” to “you.” In Vs. 11, it turns to use “you.” It is as though He is saying “My followers in every generation may suffer persecution.” Persecution became so consistent that by the end of the first century the word for witness and martyr were the same.
Paul wrote of “Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed we entreat.”
(I Corinthians 4:12)
Reviled: Affronted to your face, openly snubbed, insulted, or jeered at. An all-out verbal assault on your values.
Persecuted: Harassed, annoyed, tormented, or involved in severe punishment. It involves physical, emotional and economic hurt.
Defamed: Behind your back people have said all manner of evil against you falsely. It means to slander, maligning one’s reputation, clouding one’s motives.
How are we to respond? Jesus said when you are persecuted “rejoice.” The Greek word is chairo, which literally means “to be really glad.”
Then the text says “be exceedingly glad.” The Greek word agalliasthe for “glad” means “to run, jump, skip, and shout for joy.”
“Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” The Kingdom of Heaven is not so much a region as a reign.
The way to heaven is through heaven, and all the way to heaven is heaven, and only the heavenly enters heaven.
Then all reviling, persecution, and maligning will seem so inconsequential.
Buckle up!