The Destructiveness of Gossip

Today’s morning Spurgeon devotional discusses Leviticus 19:16-17:

Leviticus 19:16-17 NIV

(16)  "'Do not go about spreading slander among your people. "'Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the LORD.

(17)  "'Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt.

Spurgeon correctly notes that three are affected by gossip: the speaker, the listener, and the person being spoken about. I was reminded this past weekend that three is a sacred number in Christianity so his listed three persons had additional meaning for me.

It’s human to err and human to gossip but we don’t have to give into our baser nature. In my middle years I am more aware of my faults and put more effort into combatting them. As far as gossiping, yes, I made some big blunders in my youth. The one that changed my ways was when I was working in Chicago and a co-worker told me something crazy her husband said that she just couldn’t understand why he said that. She specifically asked me NOT to tell my husband.

I could not offer her an immediate explanation for her husband’s behavior so told her I’d think about it and get back to her. After a couple days, I still couldn’t figure out what his deal was and wondered if it was simply a “guy” thing. I then made a choice to break my promise and ask my husband what he thought foolishly assuming he would never meet either of them.

Well, as luck would have it, my boss threw a party at her home and guess what happened? Yep. Ron made a crack about the topic (to this day, I don’t remember exactly what the “it” was) and he gave his wife a look, she gave me a look, I gave Ron a look. She never spoke to me again. And, I deserved it.

So, I word of advice from someone who suffered from her own folly: keep promises and divulge nothing until death parts you from this earth.

Amen.

How will Jesus Call My Name?

In C.H. Spurgeon’s July 15^th evening devotion, he made an interesting point about Easter morning: Jesus got Mary Magdalene’s attention using only one word, her name. Immediately she knew it was He.

I wondered for the first time how Jesus would call my name. I am a mixture of six nationalities and was born in America. Would it be in Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, Italian, French, Portuguese, German, Polish, Spanish or American?
   
Source:
Spurgeon, C.H. (1994). Morning & Evening: Daily Readings. Scotland, UK: Christian Focus Publications

Praying the Right Way

There is some Christian conversation on whether one has to pray or not. Some feel that God already knows so in the (in)famous retort of Gilda Radner “Why bother?” Prolific author CH Spurgeon, one of my favorites, (AKA The Prince of Preachers), is on the Yes side.

My concern is that many who do pray don’t have the proper approach. They either ask God to take some bad thing away or to give them some good thing. Presbyterian publication These Days hits the nail on the head: 

• “do not tell God what (you) must have; “ask what God would have (you) do.”
• “do not tell God the direction God should take; “ask God to guide (you).”
• “do not hold up to God (your) dreams and visions; “ask God to grant (you) dreams and visions.”
  (“These Moments”, Sylvia Cleland. October, November, December 2010)

The Christian Bible endorses bringing all things to God in prayer (Philippians 4:6; Proverbs 3:6; Ephesians 6:18; 1 Timothy 2:1). Thus, the framework these intercessory prayers should take is to ask God to help you through whatever circumstance you are in.

Some suggestions on how to approach this are as follows:

• Instead of Saying: I can't take this any more. Say: God, please give me the strength to cope with this.
• Instead of Saying: Let me win the lotto. Say: God, please give me the means to meet my obligations.
• Instead of Saying: I can't stand that person/those people. Say: God, please give me tolerance of others.
• Instead of Saying: That person's doing something wrong. Say: God, please show them the way to enlightenment.
• Instead of Saying: Why is this happening to me? Say: God, please show me the way to enlightenment.
• Instead of Saying: Why is it always me? Say: God, please show me that I am not alone and will overcome.
• Instead of Saying: I feel broken inside. Say: God, please show me how to become whole.
• Instead of Saying: I feel despair. Say: God, please let me feel hope.
• Instead of Saying: I can't forgive… Say: God, please show me how to forgive.
• Instead of Saying: I can't forget… Say: God, please help me find peace.
  Source: old chain e-mail

Hourly Struggles

Have you ever felt that evil was winning? That no matter what you did, you ended up on the wrong end of the stick? You probably already know that you aren’t alone. For decades, no matter how good I tried to be, no matter how persevering, I just seemed to lose in the end.

My spiritual journey has many gaps as well as the normal ups and downs. This may seem like an oxymoron, but I was raised Catholic by non-believers. I hung in there until Confirmation. Then, in my early 40s, I found Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church and have grown spiritually over the last ten years. What I learned is that my childhood wish that things would keep improving until I died was really a “childish” wish.

The reason why became clearer as I read CH Spurgeon’s devotion for the morning of March 2^nd: “We are engaged in a great war with the Philistines of evil.” The Christian Bible never promises a trouble free life. In fact, it says just the opposite: “In the world ye shall have tribulation.” (John 16:33) The evil of the world will plague mankind until the Second Coming of Jesus. This plague comes from within as well as from without. Being left alone is also a long-held desire for me. Spurgeon’s evening devotion for February 20^th warned me that evil comes even in solitude.

What I also learned is that I should not try to avoid temptation. The first reason is that unless I have achieved a mature holy spirit, I will be an easy pawn for Satan. The second is that there are things to be learned from trials that can be shared with others. This works for me because I don’t feel I wasted my suffering. The third reason is that earthly imperfections need to be weaned out of me if I want to go to Heaven.

What is the practical solution to this? I must continue to study scripture and mature spiritually so I can put the whole armor of God on “for the arch-deceiver will seize [my] first unguarded hour to make [me] his prey.” (February 20^th)

God’s Plan in Trials and Tribulations

I had been feeling set upon the week before I got to CH Spurgeon’s devotional for the morning of May 22^nd. I had made a pack with myself to read some religious material each day instead of the giant cram sessions I am famous for. As age proceeds, I don’t have the energy or attention span that I did when my steel trap mind wasn’t rusty.

His first sentence said eloquently what I was whining about to myself all week: “Changeful experience often leads the anxious believer to inquire ‘Why is it thus with me?’” It’s been a long time since I had a true “pity party.” Pastor Spurgeon’s writings have been having a calming effect on me so this is what just what the doctor ordered. I mean, God.

He digs a bit deeper “Is this part of God’s plan with me?” he rhetorically asks his audience. He answers himself with a resounding Yes. Over the centuries, hundreds if not thousands of religious leaders and counselors have tried to explain this answer. I’m sure most people heard of Kushner's book “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.” Spurgeon is one of the few I’ve read that hits the spot for me. The old English works for me though it might not for others. He simply says “These trials are for the testing and strengthening of your faith…they are winds which waft your ship the more swiftly towards the desired haven.”

He concludes with this lovely verse “Oh, think not, believer, that your sorrows are out of God’s plan; they are necessary parts of it. “We must, through much tribulation, enter the kingdom.” Learn, then, even to ‘count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.’”

Source: http://www.gospelweb.net/MESpurgeon/MESpur0522.htm

Child of THE Light

Bill Crowder uses the film Chariots of Fire to introduce the Apostle Paul’s sports analogy that Christians are running a race (Our Daily Bread, June 13, 2010). Olympic sprinter Harold Abrahams only entered races he knew he would win. Second place was not an option. His girlfriend makes the obvious point: he can’t win if he doesn’t enter the race.

People must choose to enter the Christian race but once they do, they must be aware of some gotchas. In the movie, the trainer made another subtle tactical point. He shows Abrahams a replay and pauses where the leader looks back as he neared the finish line to see how close the competition was. The trainer informs Abrahams that those two seconds cost the leader the race.

Like the Corinthians of Paul’s time, I entered the Christian race for the eternal crown. But, how many times have I looked back at all the bad things I did? Too many. Reading Crowder’s devotion made it clear I wasted seconds, hours, days looking back instead of looking forward with my eyes on the prize. Will I come in second in the most important race of my life?

My answer comes from a very old source. The Bible assures me of two things. First, nobody is perfect and second, if I truly repent, God will forgive and forget. This means that to be an effective Christian, I have to stop my instant replays and “ease on down the road.” To shore up my daily resolve to leave the past in the past, I read a lot of devotions and other religious literature.

In particular, 19^th century preacher, C.H. Spurgeon’s January 5^th evening devotion (Morning & Evening) offers me hope that, as a child of the light, God “looks on that light with peculiar (i.e., particular) interest….” Even though I continue to grieve over my “inbred sin,” God does not see “the cloudiness and gloom” in my “soul.” Instead, “the Lord sees ‘light’ in my “heart.” Why? Because He put it there!

The Bible also tells me that I am not the final judge of myself. (Good!) In fact, humans are not even on my heavenly jury. Spurgeon also makes the point that it is “Better for the judge to see my innocence than for me to think I see it.” It is better that God sees my light than I see it. After all it is God’s grace that preserves my light, not anything I can do. Works of my flesh do not free me. Thus, my anxiety is unnecessary. I can rest in God’s grace, not in my instant replays.

Heavenly Father, I want to feel your grace flow through my body. I want to win the race and win your eternal crown. Please forgive me especially in the times when I do know what I do. Amen.

Too Busy for God?

My daily train-to-work reading often involves RBC Ministries Our Daily Bread devotions. In April of 2010, writer Dennis Fisher asked “Is your life too busy?”

My gut reaction, like most Americans, was Yes. Even my “retired” friends have as many or more commitments than when they were working full-time. But, as I thought about my schedule, I had to wonder whether that was really true. Regardless of the details, do I, as Mr. Fisher states, use that as an excuse to avoid spending time with God or in Godly pursuits?

Even if I did use it as an excuse, Fisher shows us there is no excuse and easily counters our daily grind with a quotes by C.S. Lewis: “no one was busier than Christ” who listed several ways Jesus was busy. For the practicing Christian, he echoes the sentiments of our February Lecture Series speaker, Rev. Earl Palmer, and our senior pastor, Rev, Ted Wright who lamplight us to Jesus as our model. For them, leadership and mission, respectively. For Fisher, handling a heavy workload:

“Our model is the Jesus . . . of the workshop, the roads, the crowds, the clamorous demands and surly oppositions, the lack of all peace and privacy, the interruptions. For this . . . is the Divine life operating under human conditions.” (ODB, April 29,2010)

Further, Jesus continued to work “after hours.” How did our God who became man cope with these demands? By finding a quiet place to pray. Something we all can do.

During one such prayer session, God gave Jesus another assignment, more work, not less! But, His strength was in knowing He was doing His Father’s work and that the Holy Spirit would tend to Him.

Prolific writer pastor C.H. Spurgeon in his February 12 evening devotion calls us to remember John 14:16 - when Jesus returned to Heaven, he left us, yes even today, with the Holy Spirit indwelling in us. We are not alone. We don’t need a super satellite receiver to hear what God wants us to do. We need but only listen.

Heavenly Father, touch each of Your children today and awaken the Spirit within, give us peace in our circumstances and the wisdom to see Your will in our daily activities, and the strength to do what you want, not what we want. Amen.