The Fear of the Lord

The continual awareness that God is watching and weighing every one of my thoughts, words, actions and attitudes.

What is the measure of a man?

I recently spoke with a friend who attempted to restore an errant
brother, who began using controlled substances and pursuing divorce.

He first went to his brother, with no results.

In light of Matthew 18, he attempted to garner a friend or other member of the brother's church, but they made excuses to keep from getting involved.

It reminded me of the king, in Matthew 22, who had a wedding feast for his son.  When servants were sent to gather the guests, they went their way, one to his farm and another to his business.
It is interesting that many young men enjoy movies such as Gladiator and Braveheart.  They identify with the hero and visualize or act out fantasies of valor and bouts of manliness.

We've all seen the email "forwards" with imagined stories of terrorists bursting into a church and threatening to shoot those who won't deny Christ.  The sender makes it clear that they would proclaim the Savior even in the face of death.  But the reality is they shrink in fear at the thought of confronting a brother. They see themselves as the hero in stories of great and noble conquests - - but can't manage to meet the basic requirements of a Godly man.  

Confrontation is difficult.  It is costly.  It is time consuming.
Seldom do THOSE stories of valor get retold.  There is hurt and remorse involved.

It most often makes the confronter look bad - - especially in the eyes of those who lack the fortitude to do likewise (or follow the Biblical command).

But, it is the true measure of a man, a man of God.

Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are
spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one
looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted.  Gal. 6:1

Deference

Limiting our freedom in order not to offend the personal taste of those we are serving.

PTSD and the child

The other day, I watched a fascinating show called "Hog Genius", National Geographic, on the Discovery Channel.

Scientists found that Swine are closely related to humans in many ways and that the brain and their reactions to stimuli are similar to humans. That being said, they used pigs to test learning and responses to stress.

They found that the animal can problem solve better than dogs or primates however, when stress is introduced, they were unable to cope or solve problems.

This was illustrated by placing it in a large tub of water with a platform submerged, just out of sight. The pig would swim around the tub for a short time, bump into the platform and be able to climb to safety. Ten minutes later, it was reintroduced into the tub and immediately swam to the platform, showing that learning took place.

A stressed animal, however, panicked when introduced to the water and swam without purpose. It was then drawn to the platform by the scientist in order to teach it where to swim, to safety. Ten minutes later, the stressed pig was reintroduced into the tub. He panicked and failed to find the platform.

Scientists referred to this as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the means they used to produce this stress in the pig was, of all things, to wean him from his mother prematurely. As a result, it was unable to cope with normal life stressors having been taken from the basic nurturing that an animal needs.

If the findings are accurate in this well funded study, what affect does removing a child from his mother and placing him in daycare have on a child?

O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, Or in things too difficult for me.

Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me.

O Israel, hope in the Lord From this time forth and forever. Ps. 131

Bring Forth Fruit

Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea, and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? "Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance; Matt. 3:5-8

In these verses, there is an interesting point that John makes. Many were coming from all around the area and being baptized. The Pharisees and Sadducees were also but they are rebuked by John because they did not bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance. What was the fruit in keeping with their repentance?

I have heard that it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22) or works that were evidence of repentance. It is, rather, confession. Those in the district were coming out and were being baptized as they confessed their sins. The Pharisees and Sadducees came too but were stopped short. John said to bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance. That did not mean that they had to leave and then come back after they changed or brought evidence of change. It only meant that they needed to confess their sins, at that exact moment, which they were unwilling to do.

Repent is to rethink and agree on, i.e., “I agree that this is in violation of a holy God.” Confession is to verbalize that agreement - - the “fruit” of repentance..

Pride keeps us from confessing.