09/08/10

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” (Psalm 14.1a)

Because my father’s work place was near our elementary school (and because I loathed riding the school bus), he would take my brother and me to school in the mornings.  This may sound as strange to you as it did to me at the time, but the last words my father would say while we were getting out of his 64 Chevy pickup were, “Be smart.”  Not “Be careful,” or “Be good,” but “Be smart.”

Although that baffled me for many years, I believe I finally have a handle on what he meant.

Most of my life has been dedicated to teaching.  If any of my teachers are out there reading this, please don’t have heart failure when I say that I really enjoy studying.  I really enjoy learning truths that I had not previously known.  I delight in solving questions and having answers.

That alone does not make someone smart nor does it keep someone from being a fool.

One of my pet peeves is when someone asks a question and then argues with the answer.  If you want an answer, accept it.  If you don’t want an answer, don’t ask it.  But, to ask someone for an answer only to argue with the answer is futile at best and foolish at least.

So what does all this have to do with “being smart?”  Being smart implies not only a good, working knowledge of facts, but it also implies the ability to apply those facts in practical applications (a definition of wisdom). Being smart suggests that a person is open to instruction and is willing to change when previously unknown truth is introduced. Being a fool implies just the opposite – having such strong opinions that the truth cannot bring about change.

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.”  The fool ignores instruction from those who are wiser and more experienced.  The fool hears truth but disregards it.  The fool has access to truth but does not apply it to his life.  In essence, the fool is not being smart.  How foolish it is to hear truth from the Creator God, written in His Word to us, and not apply it personally to our lives.  How foolish it is to know what God says, and walk away without taking care to obey it in every particular. It is as if we have walked into His presence, asked a question, and then argued with His answer.

Some mornings when I ready myself for the day, I can almost hear my father say, “Be smart.”  When I have my daily moments with my Lord, I can almost hear Him say, “Be smart.”

As you prepare yourself for the day, take the advice of a loving Father and “Be smart.”

Rev. John H Hill

09/01/10

How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?  How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? (Psalm 13.1, 2)

One Sunday morning while the husband was in the car waiting impatiently, (intermittently laying on the horn) his wife appeared at the doorway with a half-clad baby in her arms. She leaned through the door and yelled, “How about you coming inside and finish getting the baby ready and let me honk the horn a while!”

We have all from time-to-time become impatient. During most road trips, the children’s favorite question is: “Are we there yet?” Even the ability to wait patiently for Christmas morning to arrive for the opening of presents increases with maturity. As we grow and mature, our patience level should increase – I say should because some people simply grow older without maturing.

A mark of true maturity is one’s ability to trust those of greater maturity.  When I was a small child, I would wait only because my Dad told me to wait and I knew the consequences for being openly impatient.  On the outside I was waiting, but on the inside I was a bundle of nervous energy ready to spring.

In life there are many situations, people, and environmental problems that test our patience. When carefully considered, our ability to be patient in and through the problem rests upon our ability to trust.  By trusting in self, we are limiting our ability to handle the situation. By being impatient with God, we limit our ability to see His awesome hand in working things out for the best.  (We also show our lack of trust by our impatience.)

Once we have done all we can do and exhausted all available options, there is nothing left to do but to be patient and watch God work.  Haven’t you marveled when you have observed how wonderfully God works things out?  Hasn’t it amazed you to see what God has done by answering in a fashion you never dreamed of? We should be quick to remember that man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.

He is still the same God – He is faithful when things are good and when they are bad.  The same God who answered decisively in the past is the same God who will amaze you with your current problem.  Be patient – God is working.

Rev. John H Hill

08/25/10

Micah 6.8, “He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

We live in a world of high-speed information.  Things that, during my childhood, would take days to transmit around the world now are transmitted in seconds – almost instantaneously.

Not more than 10 years ago, when I would work up a word-study devotional, I would lay out numbers of volumes of commentaries and dictionaries as reference tools. Today, all of those tools are on my hand-held device that I can take anywhere (among other study helps it includes 18 translations, 12 multi-volume commentaries, and 16 dictionary/word studies).  Information is available – exceedingly and abundantly available.

The problem in Christianity today is not that we need more commentaries, more seminars, more translations of the Bible, or even better teachers and preachers.  We don’t even need more churches or better and more improved methods. What we need to do is to put into practice the things we do know.  Micah wrote, “He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee…” “He hath shown thee…”  Someone once said that the truly blind person is the one who is not willing to see.

So what has the LORD (Jehovah) shown (“made conspicuous”) and what is it He requires?

He requires us to “do justly.” This means we are to have a right judgment over all situations.  So often we allow feelings to creep in and blur our spiritual vision.  The one who puts his faith in Christ for salvation is allowed no such faltering – feelings have never been and never shall be a faithful guide. Only the written Word of God as applied by His Spirit can be trusted for accurate judgments.

He requires us to “love mercy.” One commentator says this means, “A kindly abatement of what we might justly demand, and a hearty desire to do good to others.” Even though the line is straightly and distinctly drawn concerning God’s will and His requirements, we are to show mercy – an extension of God’s own mercy laced with His loving-kindness.  Mercy should be the first thing on the Christian’s mind – prior to judgment (getting even).

He requires us to “walk humbly (in lowliness of mind) with…God.” We are not required to exact payment on God’s behalf, but to lead people to the One who can bring about real change in their lives.  The believer is not to strut about proudly concerning his Christian life, but to live in meekness and holiness realizing that each of us is a sinner deserving the worst; however, God, in His mercy, offered each of us a way of salvation – a way we neither deserved, nor could obtain without help – His help.  All of our boasting is in what God has done – not in our own accomplishments.

But, you know that.  We all know that. We need no one to tell us. We simply need to do the right thing.

Rev. John H Hill

08/11/10

There has never been a more urgent need for proper foundations.  Foundations are those things upon which the superstructures of life are erected.  Without a proper foundation, there is no stability and certainly no integrity of structure.

In ever sports rule book, there is a chapter on definitions.  Unless an official knows the definition of a “horse-collar” tackle, his enforcement of the rule will be, at best, hap-hazard. Unless an official knows when a player becomes a shooter, he cannot properly and consistently enforce a penalty awarding free throws.

Many people have gone away from the foundations of the Christian faith.  While many still use the name Jesus, that name may not mean what the Bible expresses.  A recent fad of wearing a WWJD wrist band was a statement – but, not everyone was saying the same thing. It is not uncommon at our church for young people to come to our Wednesday teen groups or children’s ministries who have only heard the name Jesus used as an expletive.

So, who is Jesus?

The Bible states with conviction that He is the “Word” of God who was in the beginning with God. (John 1.1-5) It further states that He is God manifested in the flesh – co-existent and co-equal in every respect with the Father and Spirit (John 10.30, “one” = “of one essence, one and the same”). The expression “was in the beginning with God” requires the Jesus was already there, not that He was the first of Creation. Paul writes and expresses the fact that all creation was brought about by Him (Colossians 1.16, 17)

Not only is/was He God; but, He became (was made) flesh. (John 1.14) The author of Hebrews expresses this clearly when he writes, “a body hast thou prepared me.” (Hebrews 10.5) Thus, Jesus was not the “only Son” or the “unique Son” (as some modern translations maintain), but He was the “only begotten” Son of God.

The word “begotten” carries the idea of being physically born.  That is exactly what happened when the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and she conceived (Luke 1.35) – Jesus was physically conceived and was born.  Jesus, God from eternity past, received a body of flesh through which He would perform the work of the Sacrificial Lamb – the shedding of His blood in payment for sin.

This foundational truth is only one of many required for a proper understanding of the Bible. When Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14.6), that is exactly what He meant. When Luke recorded the words, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4.12), that is exactly what he meant.

Smudging foundational truths into a dingy gray only weakens the structure of the Gospel. When discussing Jesus, lay proper foundations – know of whom you speak.  Accept no fuzzy conversations, but stand firmly on the foundational truths of God’s Word.

Rev. John H Hill