Ageless Axioms
The death of Pope Francis and the election of a new Pope has focused the world’s attention on Catholicism. History’s pages are replete with remarks by some more renowned followers of the faith considered worthy of all ages. These ageless axioms are worthy of universal acceptance not only because of their literary worth, but because of their lifestyle merit. Age has not diminished the truth
they encapsulate. Consider these and how they relate to you. Are you a living embodiment of any of them?
Augustine of Hippo (though technically late antiquity, his influence dominated the medieval church):
“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”
Thomas Aquinas (13th century, Dominican friar and theologian):
“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”
Bernard of Clairvaux (12th century, Cistercian abbot and mystic):
“What we love we shall grow to resemble.”
Anselm of Canterbury (11th century, monk, philosopher, theologian):
“I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand.”
Meister Eckhart (13th-14th century, German Dominican friar and mystic):
“The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me.”
Francis of Assisi (13th century, founder of the Franciscan Order):
“Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.”
St. Bede the Venerable (7th-8th century, English monk and historian):
“Unfurl the sails, and let God steer us where He will.”
Bonaventure (13th century, Franciscan theologian, called the “Seraphic Doctor”):
“In everything, whether it is a thing sensed or a thing known, God Himself is hidden within.
Peter Abelard (12th century, philosopher, theologian, and priest):
“By doubting, we are led to question; by questioning, we arrive at truth.”
Catherine of Siena (14th century, Dominican tertiary and Doctor of the Church — again, not a priest but hugely influential):
“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”
Hildegard of Bingen (12th century, Benedictine abbess, mystic, and composer):
“The soul is kissed by God in its innermost regions.”
Thomas à Kempis (15th century, priest and author of “The Imitation of Christ):
“Without the Way, there is no going; without the Truth, there is no knowing; without the Life, there is no living.”
Hopefully readers will find those good axioms by which to live.
Faith Overcomes Worry – Part Five
Matthew 6: 25 – 34
One Christian described the difference in his life as being as simple as the letter “l.” Worry, he said, happens when I am in the world and peace is mine when I am in the Word.
For spiritual victory and in order to win over worry we must get in the Word and get the word in us.
“The care (pressures) of this world…choke the word,” said Jesus. Program your mind with such Bible facts as:
“My God shall supply all thy need…” Phil. 4:19.
READ: Phil. 4: 6-7.
Yet another appeal to let your mind marinate in God’s word is found in verse 8 = READ.
You cannot apply Bible truth to life and worry. Each is excluding the other. Which prevails depends upon your will.
Peace and courage dispel anxiety and worry.
We with Jesus are like two mountain climbers at a perilous point before the summit. Jesus is ascending first. He has reached the summit and from that lofty vantage point of safety shouts, “I made it. You can make it too. I will help you.” Our victory is sure in Jesus. He has won the war.
The battle of New Orleans pitted the rag tag forces of Andrew Jackson coupled with the pirates of Jean Lafitte against the mighty British army that had defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Both forces fought valiantly. However, what happened on the Chalmette Battlefield that day would not have changed the course of the war. The war ended before the battle was fought. Word of the British surrender had not reached the battlefield. Victory was assured by the American forces because they had won the war. They fought valiantly because to them their battle was of importance.
Jesus has won the victory for us. We can engage in our mopping up action one battle at the time with confidence. Don’t worry about it.
He, the ultimate overcomer, is the overseer of the overcomers.
He is the enabler of the unable.
The outlook is good because the outcome is assured.
Faith in Jesus and compliance with His encouragement can prevent worry and empower any person of faith to find peace that passes understanding.
Faith Overcomes Worry – Part Four
Matthew 6: 25 – 34
Worry finds its origin in the painful events of the past,
Its occasion in some physical weakness or need in the present.
And its opportunity in some fear of an unknown future.
Thus, the web of worry is seen to consist of three strands. It consists of past events we long to live over or try to live down. The second strand is the uncertain future regarding which we have no confidence. The third strand is the present which is paralyzed by absorption with our past and apprehension related to our future.
It has been estimated that people worry about the following:
Things that never happen = 40%
Things that can’t be changed = 30%
Needless health cares = 12%
Petty miscellaneous worries = 10%
Legitimate concerns = 8%
Mark Twain once observed, “I am an old man and I have seen a lot of troubles, but most of them never happened.”
Our Lord said, “I will never leave you, nor” (Heb. 13:5). Worry responds, “I know you haven’t yet, but you might this time.”
Regarding the future, come what will — Jesus will come with it.
The expression “good cheer” means to have “courage.”
Jesus said we should observe the birds and look at the lilies. The God who is taking care of them will take care of you.
God spends more on bird food each year than the total U. S. Federal budget. The world’s bird population is estimated to be over 100 billion and God feeds them all day long every day. He is not going to overlook you. God is going to take good care of the birds because He knows His insect world would consume the human population in less than a day were it not for them.
“Said the Robin to the Sparrow,
I would really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so.’
Said the Sparrow to the Robin,
‘Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no heavenly Father.”
Such as cares for you and me.” Elizabeth Cheney
Faith Overcomes Worry – Part Three
Matthew 6: 25 – 34
In athletics it is said that the best way to get injured is to try to take it easy, to reserve yourself, and not go all out. The same is true of the Christian. The Christians who live an O & O life, that is out-and-out life for Jesus’ will be admired even by his or her critics. The one the world laughs at is the one who tries to compromise with it.
If we are going to have tribulation, pressure, there must be something good about it. What?
An experiment conducted by the National Institutes of Mental Health may help our understanding. They constructed a large comfortable cage that could contain 4,000 mice easily with an abundance of food and water. They adjusted the temperature to “mouse comfort.” They put in four adult couples and sat back to take notes over a period of time.
Predictably there was a mouse house explosion. In two years there were 2,000 mice. Unpredictably, after that it was all downhill. In four and a half years, this mouse colony living in an ideal environment had died out. Why?
The last 1,000 mice born were large and beautiful, but passive, withdrawn, and lacked initiative. They never even left their nests and refused to relate to each other, even sexually. In mouse utopia they dealt with their boredom by turning off. Without a challenge they lost their drive and ambition.
The world’s pressure can be a stimulus to our spiritual growth if we allow it. It can be a matchless motivation. The challenges enable us to struggle and grow.
To cope creatively the Christian must realize he or she is “in Christ” and “in this world,” and use the world’s pressure in a positive way. That is, as a stimulus to spiritual growth.
Don’t be surprised by pressure, you are going to have it. The world is going to get you going and coming. It seems we are like the parachute jumper whose chute wouldn’t open. On his way down he passed a fellow going up and shouted, “Do you know anything about parachutes?” He shouted back, “No, do you know anything about gas stoves?”
If you are going to have pressure you might as well use it to your advantage. Let it bring you resourcefully to Jesus.
Don’t just acknowledge your inability to handle some issues, also acknowledge the capacity of Jesus to help you handle every issue.
Faith Overcomes Worry – Part Two
Matthew 6: 25 – 34
Worry is savaging our society. It is killing our teens in large numbers. It is dividing families and disrupting homes. Like a guerilla warrior it slips into and divides them. It is something needing a Biblical answer.
Jesus told a parable of a sower. Some of the seed sown fell among thorns. He said these are persons who hear the word “and the care of this world…choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.”
The simple solution to the problem of worry is the application of Scripture to daily circumstances. Have you reached the point where you are willing to subject your mind to the authority of Scripture? That is, are you now willing to obey the Word you say you believe? If you will put your mind under the control of God’s Word, that means apply it, you will no longer have a divided mind. That means worry will have been replaced by stability.
Christianity is not just a religious experience. It is additionally a system of interpreting the events in an unreligious world.
Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you might have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
He has provided the potential of peace while warning of the certainty of tribulation. Therefore, don’t live in denial, expect it.
We tend to be shocked when everything doesn’t go our way. It appears many seem to think that salvation is supposed to immunize them from adversity and exempt them from problems. Jesus made it quite clearly “you will have tribulation.”
The word rendered “tribulation” literally means “pressure.”
The text notes that we Christians actually live in two spheres. One is “in Christ.” The other is “in the world.”
To live “in Christ” means to establish a lifestyle based on His teachings. They are summarily spoken of as “These things I have spoken to you.”
To live “in the world” means to encounter the opposition afforded by a world order, not under His will. This world order puts pressure on Christians to try and squeeze them out.
Jesus offers His follower’s a “faith dome” which is a defense against worry. In faith ask for His resolution of any issue that might attack you with the warhead of worry.