Vitamins for the Soul.

Grace has been defined as unmerited favour. The greek word that underlies almost every instance of the word in the AV text is also translated favour. It carries with it the idea of thankfulness and gratitude that allows God's character to be reflected in the life of the one receiving the favour.

Dr. Henry Cloud has an excellent book that discusses the subject - Integrity. In it, he uses the example of a parent and child relationship.
"To achieve is the child's responsibility, but to empower the child is the parent's responsibility. So, instead of just setting the standard, the parent of grace gives support, coaching, teaching, structure, modeling, help and consequences to empower the child to get there. Those are things the child cannot provide and so are 'unmerited' they are given without being earned, and that is grace. But, grace is not removing the standard."

I highly recommend the book and Dr. Cloud's other material. I'm not usually an advocate of anyone operating with a degree in psychological training. However, I first read this book about a year ago and am on my second go around.

When I read the quote above I think of character development in terms of nutrition. Take, for instance, the diseases of scurvy and rickets. Almost all disease stems from a lack of something in the diet.

Scurvy is a lack of vitamin C. It once afflicted sailors on long voyages. Fresh fruits and vegetables will prevent scurvy. Scurvy is characterized by swollen and bleeding gums with loosened teeth, soreness and stiffness of the joints and lower extremities, bleeding under the skin and internally, wounds are slow to heal, and anemia. Connective tissues cannot form properly.

Rickets is a condition where the bones are softened and easily fractured. Deformity often results. Insufficient vitamin D is the primary cause. It can easily occur in breastfed babies when either they or their mother do not have adequate exposure to sunlight.

The church is the body of Christ on earth. In Galatians chapters 5 and 6 we are given the format of how to help others grow and restore them to fellowship. If you look, it teaches we are to shed some things, share some things, and shoulder some things. The word Restore is a medical term and refers to setting bones.

"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." Galatians 6.1

For people to grow they must have plenty of fruit in their diet. The fruit allows the body to keep out infection. They also need plenty of exposure to Son-Light to develop a strong backbone for convictions and well formed limbs to handle the challenges life will present.

Those more mature are to model Christ-like behaviour. You cannot give what you do not possess. God sheds grace upon believers and as we receive that in gratitude, His light is reflected upon others. The fruit of His Spirit can work in their lives and give them what they need to meet the demands of reality. When a Christian doesn't do this, disease enters the body.

We need to examine ourselves regulary to see if those around us are malnourished because we are not reflecting God's grace. We must ask ourselves, if those around us seem to be falling short, could it be that we are now giving them a diet of the fruit?


"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." Galatians 5.22-23.

Initially and Eventually

I have a mentor that once shared a simple yet illuminating concept with me. It is the idea of Initially vs. Eventually. In evaluating goals or beliefs, time will be the most accurate test. I may tell you I want to lose weight. Initially, you will believe me if you feel I have integrity. If I continue to eat 2 boxes of doughnuts and chase them with 2 liters of coke every day and never exercise, you will eventually know that I am lying to you or deceiving myself. Correcting poor eating habits and being faithful to exercise would tell you I mean what I say.

Thinking in these terms of Peter and Judas it is easy to imagine the following scenario. Initially, both Peter and Judas seemed to be authentic disciples of Christ. Eventually, however, the true state of their hearts was revealed.

Given their track records up to the evening of the last supper, the average person would have most likely pegged Peter to be the traitor. He was always shooting his mouth off and being corrected by the Lord. Then there was that occasion when Jesus rebuked him with 'get thee behind me Satan.'
Judas on the other hand was trusted to carry the money. Oh, and he was always thinking of what the scripture saith.
The Scripture, however, tells that Judas heart was not right. He loved to curse.

"As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones." Psalm 109.17-18

And make no mistake about it -- this is Judas for the Apostle Peter cites this passage as referring to him. The psalm gives several insights to Judas' character.

"For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take." Acts 1.20

While Peter did curse to deny the Lord, it was on his third attempt to distance himself from the Master. I know that he is always painted to be the foul mouthed cussing sailor, and he likely was; but he did not immediately yield in reflex to this. In a final desperate attempt to convince those around he was not a follower of Jesus, profanity was employed.

Now you may be asking, ' What in the wide world of sports does this have to do with the start of this post?' I'm glad you ask. We all need to check ourselves every once in a while. If we say we are believers, do we have congruence between our words and our walk? Do they fit?

The tongue is just an easy way to detect problems early on. The sins of the tongue are numerous-- everything from lying to verbal murder. Profanity crude humor etc... These all reveal what is on the inside.

"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians 4:29-32

"But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." Colossians 3.8-10

"O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Mark 12.34

"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." Luke 6.45

I hear so many "christians" that think it is no big deal to speak profanities. Also -- crude, sexual humor that makes sin seem so light and 'no big deal' are met with applause. Tolerating even enjoying these in personal selections of entertainment is even more common.

Initially, all those professing seem sincere. Eventually, many are revealed to be posers and players. We should all check ourselves every now and then. We should ask ourselves: Will my EVENTUALLY match my INITIALLY??

Beginnings

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? - Psalm 11.3

God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. -Romans 3.4

Truly, foundations are critical to any structure. Without proper foundation the greatest of all designs will weaken and fall. Their integrity compromised, they cannot withstand realities' rigors.

While perspective may be relative and reality may seem to vary from one view point to another, there is one viewpoint that is absolute in importance. All other 'truths' may be situational or depend on man's whim. The Bible - God's Word - separates itself as unique and superior to all else.

The challenge is to grow and have our perspective move into congruence with God's revealed Word. The degree to which we are in alignment with His revelation is the degree we are living in reality and not fantasy or denial.

All perspective is biased. There are always assumptions prior to examination. Faith is the stuff gaps in understanding are filled with - mortar or bondo- depending on how you use it. I am a Christian that seeks to keep my bias bibliocentric.

This does not mean that I believe that truth cannot be and is not illustrated in the natural and secular worlds. On the contrary, these realms are full of just such examples and displays of principles. If there is a discrepancy though, the Bible is the - canon - the yardstick that other teachings must align with. This is because it has withstood stood against superstition and ignorance for millennia. So called science has opposed it on practically every front and eventually after the Bible has been vindicated, the Academia claim to discover the truth of reality and deny or ignore there were ever any arguments. Among other things, it's intended that we explore a few here.

I have learned that many things in life -- you either see or you don't; and for most people it is a matter of the belief -- choosing how the facts are interpreted, not the facts choosing the belief. The Fundamental Christian and the Ardent Atheist will use the same data and same facts to espouse totally diametric points of view. Many sit on the fence and are too scared or just plain lazy to make a commitment. Some, however, are just looking or have not yet seen the importance of consciously deciding their position.

I hope these posts will serve to help educate those looking, disturb the lazy and complacent, and create friendship among many.

Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. - Proverbs 27:17