Everybody's Human

As my friends know, I am far from perfect.  I stumble.  I fall.  And I disappoint God.  And when I do, I ‘m reminded of the consequences, because God’s Spirit reminds me: “Ritchie, you’re doing it again.  Stop!  Stop before you really do damage to your relationship with God.”

Everyone – no matter how spiritually mature he or she is, no matter how firm his or her commitment to God’s ways – stumbles and makes mistakes and disappoint God.

The greatest men in the Bible were human – they made mistakes like we do.  My favorite example is David.  He was so close to God that God said; “I have found David … a man after my own heart, who will do all My will” (Acts 13:22).

David was special in God’s eyes, so you might get the idea that that he was perfect.  But he wasn’t.  You know the story.  David committed murder to cover up the sin.  He wasn’t perfect.  He was human like the rest of us.

Peter was one of the disciples who was close to Jesus.  But he denied Christ three times.

Thomas the disciple was so dedicated to Christ that one time when Jesus said, “I’m going to Jerusalem to die,” Thomas said, “I’ll go with you, Lord” (John 11:11-16).

But, after Christ’s resurrection, Thomas said, “I’m not going to believe Jesus came back from the dead till I can put my fingers into the nail holes” (John 20:25).

These are prime examples to think about.

All of us, regardless of the face we wear to services, regardless of how we stick our chest out and say: “I’m a pretty good Christian” – we all stumble at times.  We all disappoint God.

What are the results of stumbling and falling out of line with God?  Read for yourself how David, Peter and Thomas reacted in II Samuel 12:13-16, Luke 22:61-62 and John 20:24-28.  Think how they must have felt.

Remorse, regret, guilt and alienation – that’s happens in your life when you turn your back on God.  I guarantee that if you knowingly reject God’s way and go your own way, immediately He’ll seem a million miles away.

I’d venture to say you’ll have a hard time praying.  You might even feel that you can’t pray.  I know I can’t pretend that everything is fine when I know I’ve let God down.

And then there’s guilt.  Some people live a lifetime crippled by the weight of guilt.  I know from personal experience that you can reach a stage in your life that you think so little of yourself that you don’t care what happens.

What a difference between that attitude and the excitement God puts in your life when you follow and obey Him.  You know He’s got great things in store for you in His family.

How can we regain that close relationship with God?

It is fortunate that God’s word tells us how.  God know our weaknesses, so He has a perfect plan for helping us deal with mistake and restore our relationship with Him.

Though we hate to admit it, we all play destructive games – even with our Creator. These are sad, desperate attempts to cover up mistakes and sins in our lives.

One “game” is rationalization.  One way people rationalize is to say “Well, God, the reason I did that is because everybody’s doing it.  And since that’s the case, I’m sure you don’t mind too much.”

Sound familiar?  Don’t play that game with God.  When you commit a sin, be man enough or woman enough to say; “Alright, I admit it.  That was a big mistake.  It’s black and white.”  That’s the beginning of the real way out.

Another game people play involves a flippant attitude about God’s laws and love.  People say, “Oops!  I blew it but God understands.  He will let it go by.  He’s an all loving god, isn’t He?”

Oh yes, God is loving.  And God understands.  But God wants us to learn repentance and overcome our mistakes.

The Bible says, “Be holy, for I am holy” (I Peter 1:16).  Remember Revelation 2:26, “And he that overcomes and keeps my word until the end, to him will I give power over the nations.”

So, don’t rationalize.  Don’t be flippant with God’s mercy and love.  And, don’t crucify yourself with guilt.  Christ died for us our sins and we can’t add anything to His perfect sacrifice.

Here’s what to do instead:

Confess our sins to God in prayer.  There’s a great promise in God’s word, read I John 1:9.

Admit that we are wrong.  We chose that course of action.  No one forced us to sin.  We’re not victims of circumstance.  So admit that we chose the mistake or sin we’re confessing.

Sometimes, it’s hard to do.  I say; “Yes, God, I agree that it was sin but it sneaked up on me.  I never really chose that.”  Then I have to stop myself and say, “Admit it, Ritchie, you chose that path.”

That kind of admission exposes the darkness to light.  God’s word says we should walk in light (I John 1:5-7).  This means being honest with God.

Apologize.  Be willing to say, “I’m sorry, please forgive me.”  That’s easy enough, isn’t it?  We don’t have to do penance.  We don’t have to pay money.  We don’t have to hit our head against the wall to prove how sorry we are.  God will forgive us if we ask Him.

Finally, plan to forsake that particular sin forever.  Get rid of it.  Plan not to be a part of that sin again.

What are the results of dealing with sin this way?  Beautiful peace of mind, relief, a clean feeling that can’t be duplicated or matched.

God forgives and forgets, read Psalm 103:12.

Paul says that after we confessed our sins and God has forgiven us, we should put the past behind us and run full speed toward what God has for us in the future, read Philippians 3:13-14.

My prayer is that we all will press on toward our final goal.  Leave your mistakes behind and press on.

Never Say Never

I’m sure that you have heard this piece of sage advice: “Never, say ‘never.’”  Or we may have had the situation that as soon as we say, “Everybody knows that …” or “it always works to ….,” some smart aleck will come along and prove us wrong.

And in light of this, I’ve wondered if the apostle Paul knew the chance he was taking when he, under God’s inspiration, issued the command in Philippians 4:6 (read).  Everything?

I know that when I read this statement in the Bible my subconscious response is “It can’t mean everything!  Some things aren’t spiritual enough to be prayed about and others are too insignificant to bother God with.”

Maybe that’s what went through King Ahaz’ mind when God gave him a Philippians 4:6 kind of command in Isaiah 7:11.

But Ahaz refused (Isaiah 7:12).  Now that’s what we’d call audacious.  God comes to him with a direct order and Ahaz says no.  I wonder how Ahaz would have reacted if one of his subjects had responded like that to his commands.

King Ahaz probably felt justified however, because he had what he saw as a real good reason “to not bother the Lord with anything like that.”

I know that at a time in my life I tried not to ask God for anything.  In some way I thought this showed I was humble.  But according to God’s response to Ahaz, He would have been much more impressed with humility that showed itself in obedience to His request.  Read Isaiah 7:13.

It’s interesting that the Lord rebuked Ahaz for not asking; while nowhere in God’s Word do we see anyone rebuked for asking too much.  Rebuke is given to those that ask for the wrong thing but not for asking too much.  God means what He says when He tells us to pray about everything.

And “everything” includes all our physical, emotional and spiritual needs, as well as all those things we are concerned about and all our desires.  Read Psalm 37:4.

If you have access to a copy of Mr. Herbert Armstrong’s autobiography, read the chapter on “Astounding Answers to Prayers.”  These are lessons for us to learn from; Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong had needs.

In deep earnestness and absolute faith he prayed – asking God to heal his wife and put iron in her blood and give her needed strength.  He asked God to send food and fuel and some money for the hospital bill for the delivery of their child.  He also asked God for a new coat.

Asking God for these five things had taken less than a minute but God answered just as quickly.  Mr. Armstrong was living two scriptures, Matthew 6:8 and Philippians 4:19.  We do need to ask, to communicate.

Failing to communicate, even in small matters, causes problems – between a husband and wife, parents and children, employer and employee.  And especially in our day-to-day lives when we fail to communicate with God.  Many times we don’t have because we fail to ask, read James 4:2.

This reminds me of a story about a group of “Christian” women discussing a Bible passage that gives a bleak picture of what we often do instead of praying to God for what we want and need.  The verse was: “You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot have.  You murder and covet and cannot obtain.  You fight and war” (James 4:2).

These women concluded that none them had killed anyone or started any war to get what they wanted but their list of “what we do to get what we need instead of praying” looked and sounded something like this: one nagged her husband for what she wanted; another admitted she complained a lot about all those things she needed; another criticized those who had what she didn’t; one just worried about it; one had taken on a time consuming second job to get more money for her needs.

How’s that for an updated version of James 4:2?

Why pray about everything?  Why beat our prayers real fine?  Do it because praying opens us up to God.  And that opening up (real communication – one on one) allows Him to enter our current situation to purify our motives and to give us His true perspective.

Read I John 1:7.

Walking in the light isn’t hard.  It just means keeping the lines of communication open to God, so He’s free to put His finger on anything that displease Him and needs to be changed.  The “how” of that openness with God is to pray about everything.

We need to pray as David, “Hear my prayer, O Lord.  Give ear to my supplication.  In you faithfulness answer me.  And in Your righteousness” (Psalms 143:1).  He will respond.

The Neglected Gift

When was the last time you encouraged someone on the job, at school or at church?  Think now.  Be honest with yourself.

The sulfuric acid of discouragement is much more freely dispensed today than the soothing salve of an encouraging word.  Encouragement is one of God’s most effective antibodies to ward off infection in a family, on the job, at school or in the Church.

Mark Twain once quipped, “I live off one good compliment for a week.”

Christ was the master encourager.  He encouraged the full potential of people, clearly communicating that their interests were His interests.  His encouragement knitted the disciples together.  He encouraged Mary and Martha at Lazarus’ death.  The most encouraging thing is that Christ is guiding us toward becoming perfect in every way just like Him and God the Father (Matthew 5:48).

The apostle Paul’s letters throb with encouragement, strong words to prod us in our understanding of God’s grace as in II Corinthians 6:1 (read).

In Colossians 3:21, he particularly exhorts fathers to beware of discouragement.

God’s Word, both Old and New Testaments, encourages us to encourage each other.

Perhaps you could benefit from the following examples in a personal Bible study as I did.

Encouragement glorifies God.  Read Romans 15:5-6.  When we encourage each other, we are fulfilling God’s ultimate purpose in creating us.  Encouragement is part of God’s character and should be ours also.

Christ also had encouraging words with in John 14:26 He promised the Holy Spirit when He left the earth.  It is called the “comforter”, which is the same word for encouragement.

Encouragement is commanded by God.  Read I Thessalonians 5:11.  The apostle Paul had one important concern that was constantly on his mind – to do all he could when he could to build up the Body of Christ – certainly a prime example for us.

And knowing he could only do so much as an individual, his strategy was to transfer this concern to others, to encourage every other Christian to develop the same concern for all (Colossians 2:2).

The basis Greek word for encouragement used in I Thessalonians 5:11, appears in several forms in the New Testament.  At times the word is translated “to exhort, to admonish, or to teach,” at other times “to beg, entreat or beseech.”  It is also translated to “to console, to encourage, to comfort.”

For example Paul, giving the qualities for eldership in his letter to Titus, emphasized that an elder (read Titus 1:9).

As well, when Paul, Silas and Timothy ministered to the new members in Thessalonica they dealt with each one of them as, read I Thessalonians 2:11-12.

Additionally read Hebrews 10:24-25.

Encouragement deters getting off the track.  Read Hebrews 3:13.  Paul insists that this be daily and especially on the Sabbath.  Repeatedly.  Mark Twain might have lived off a compliment for week but being encouraged every day would have made him seven times stronger.

Preventive maintenance isn’t just a good idea for cars and machines but critical for smooth running relationships.  No doubt, if the word no were censored from some peoples conversations, the silence would be deafening.

An encouraging word would get more mileage than a “no.”  Silence is not encouragement, a word of appreciation is.

We all need to be doing as Paul exhorts in I Thessalonians 2:10-12.

Encouragement is a way of life.  When was the last time you called someone that you know is going through a trail of sort and said, “Just thinking about you and wanted to let you know that I am praying for you and I am here if you ever need me.”   This person may have a cardiac arrest but take the chance.

Do you buy cards for others to send at random to offer them encouragement?

Your minister delivers a helpful sermon.  Do you take a minute to go up to him after services and express encouragement?  Every minister, teacher, writer knows the discouragement of pouring themselves out to an audience and not receiving a single encouraging comment.

Don’t forget to be a light in offices, stores and at school.  In our working relations we should try to remember that the girl at the next counter, the man at the next desk or in the adjoining office is a human being first of all and after that a salesperson, an accountant or department head.  And all human beings hunger for encouragement.

If it is difficult for you to encourage or compliment others and enjoy their successes or sympathize in misfortune, take a close look at your personality.  Why is this true?

Some people cannot compliment or encourage others and enjoy their success because they had always been the center of attention themselves.  They want all the attention.  This of course, represents a serious spiritual problem.  Reread Philippians 2:1-5 and meditate on it every day.

Before we do anything else today, let’s commit ourselves to becoming encouragers, making our home, job, school and church that special place where “never is heard a discouraging word.”

Please Forgive Me

Children learn most of their attitudes at home.

Little sister Amy breaks her brothers Frank’s favorite toy. He screams, “I’ll never forgive you!”

So next time she might be the victim: her favorite doll comes to grief. How does Amy react? Exactly as her brother did. More than likely at least one of their parents had set a bad example for them.

Frank is just like his dad. He never says he’s sorry. Not for anything. And he never says, “Forgive me,” to anybody, either.

It’s predictable, unless he changes; young Frank is heading for a life of alienation from others. He’ll pay a high price for being “just like his dad” in this respect.

To deliberately choose not to forgive, as a way of life, is rank disobedience to God’s way. The apostle Paul wrote (read Ephesians 4:31, 32).

Are we practicing this in our daily lives? If not, such disobedience with will exact its own toll.

Our minds are constantly absorbed with thoughts. The Bible makes that clear and tells us the end result “For as he thinks in his heart so is he” (Proverbs 23:7), “So is he,” present tense. We are what we are thinking at any given moment. Think about that a second. Are your thoughts positive or negative, forgiving or unforgiving, right now?

That scripture means that if we dwell on negative things for long periods of time we will act negatively. The one who will not forgive but nurtures thoughts of how someone mistreated him or her (whether true or not), can’t give his or her mind and heart to the productive thought and activity God commands.

Well might we heed and obey Paul’s counsel concerning the control our thoughts. Read what he was inspired to write in Philippians 4:8. When our minds and hearts are filled with these pure thoughts, there’s no room for detrimental, unproductive thinking. But, we must work at it. It’s not easy to constantly control our thoughts.

To be sure, there are instances of people driven by negative feelings to achieve goals. “The only thing that kept him going (after some bitter experience) was his hatred; it just drove him.” This can happen. But ultimately the person will be driven to emotional disaster.

Hatred and bitterness are poisonous venom to the human heart and mind. They finally cost more than one can afford to pay.

“I’m not going to humble myself and go and say I’m sorry,” Sue told her friend. “Why should I? And anyway, if I do, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Ever said that? I have. This can be true. Some gloat over the one who seeks forgiveness from them and never let them forget, in the manner of one who still owes a debt.

God is able to deal with the person who does not graciously respond when someone says, “Please forgive me.” And meanwhile He blesses the one who is willing to humble himself or herself and ask forgiveness.

God’s word tells us (read Luke 14:11).

All of us can easily wrong others, even the ones we love most. And others can commit wrongs against us, wrongs that need our forgiveness.

But a true Christian knows how to forgive. He or she wants to forgive, wants to straighten out the relationship, repair the wrong and give up any desire for resentment or punishment.

God’s Word says when God forgives our sins He remembers them no more. Even though He has the power of complete and instant recall, He completely forgets them and never brings them up again. What an example of the kind of forgiveness we should be practicing in our lives.

Here is a questionnaire for checking your forgive-and-forget quotient. Ask yourself these questions:

-Can I sincerely say I’m sorry?

-Am I too quick to judge?

-Am I really hurt or offended?

-When offended do I try to understand and quickly forgive?

-Can others see Christ’s example of perfect forgiveness and forgetfulness in me?

-Do I make it easy for others to forgive me?

If we score low, we should work on it with God’s help.



Remember he or she who genuinely forgives has grasped the deeper meaning of love. “You are kind and forgiving, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you” (Psalm 86:5).

Practice saying to those in your life: “Please forgive me.”

Living to Bear Fruit

I read when Henry Longfellow was well along in years – his head white as snow, his cheeks read as a rose – a friend and admirer asked him how he kept so vigorous and continued to write so beautifully.

Pointing to a blooming apple tree, he said: “That apple tree is very old but I never saw prettier blossoms upon it than those it now bears. The tree grows a layer new wood every year and I suppose it is out of that new wood that those blossoms come. Like the apple tree, I try to grow a little new wood each year.”

Are we as God’s children striving to just live or do we live to bear fruit?

Read what Paul wrote in Philippians 1:22.

Read Christ’s warning in Matthew 3:8, 10. Our lives should show the fruits – the proof of changed hearts.

But how does one become a fruit bearer?

First he or she has to come under the control of the vine dresser. Read John 15:1.

John explains that the vine dresser (God) cuts back the vine that’s producing fruit. It seems strange to cut it back when it’s producing but He prunes it to make it produce more fruit.

Let’s look at this principle of pruning or cutting back.

We want peaches, so we plant a peach tree. Now, if we just plant it, water it and fertilize it, do you know what will happen? Yes, it will grow.

The first year it will send up branches and leaves. The next year it will send up more branches and leaves. The following year it will send up a lot more branches and leaves. That’s not what we wanted.

To make the peach tree produce peaches, we have to go in and selectively cutoff certain of the branches so that more of the tree’s energy is directed into producing fruit, not just leaves and branches.

Our lives are the same way. If we just take our lives, live them as they come to us, what are we doing? We have this activity, that activity, going here, going there. First thing we know, we are all leaves and branches – and no fruit.

Just as we have to prune a fruit tree to make it produce, we have to prune our lives to produce fruit.

The easy thing when we prune a tree is to see the dead braches. It’s easy to snip them out. But where we really get into problems is when we have four healthy, vigorous branches and we have to thin three out because there’s room for only to produce good fruit.

This is also where we run into problems in our Christian lives. We don’t like to prune off extra branches that produce some fruit.

Here are some guidelines for pruning a tree or for pruning our lives to produce fruit.

Prune for fruit. Seems obvious but not always is it so. Our whole purpose as Christians is to produce fruit. Make sure that we prune to produce the most important fruits – love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance – the fruits of the Spirit.

We each have jobs. We all must contribute and produce fruit in our local church. Here we have to crop back certain activities so we have enough time, enough reserve left to do what we’re really good at and what we can contribute to the Church, to our job or to society as a whole. Helping other people is also a fruit we want.

Prune for strength. Our strength, first and foremost, is our relationship with God. We need to prune our activities back so we can have time for prayer, Bible study, meditation and making His word and His way of life a part of us.

I am the classic example of someone who has produced fruit but let my relationship with God deteriorate. So we not only have to prune for fruit but we have to prune for strength. This applies to our relationship with God, our mate, our family and friends.

Prune for beauty and balance. I have seen fruit trees that are productive and the fruit beautiful but they look grotesque and ugly. They have been pruned only for strength and fruit production.

We need to consider beauty and balance in our lives as well. We can be producing so much that we neglect our health. And we can’t be produce anything when we are sick. We have to be balanced and include time for maintaining good health.

Each one of us is different. If we don’t understand our strengths and weaknesses and where we best produce fruit, we may cut out the wrong activities and end up just like that peach tree, with little or no fruit.

Seek counsel from the ministry, ask God for guidance daily. We have to understand ourselves. We have to know what we can do well and what we can’t do well. We shouldn’t prune by looking over at our neighbor and saying, “Aha, he or she cut out that activity, so I’m going to cut that activity too.”

Prune with knowledge, know where you are going and know what to cut out. With careful thought and counsel your life will be a balanced, fruit producing whole.

Our major job as Christians is to produce fruit. Study Matthew 7:16-20 and John 4:36. How are we doing? The abundance of our harvest in the future depends in a large measure on the quality of our pruning now.

The Subtle Flaw

I’m sure you have heard the story (or a variation) of the teacher that placed an unsuspecting frog in an over sized beaker of water. Under the beaker he placed a Bunsen burner with a low flame so that the water heated slowly.

The temperature rose so gradually that the frog was not aware of the change. Eventually the frog was dead, boiled to death.

The change occurred so slowly the frog never tried to jump out.

This displays a profound principle, one that should remind us of the frog the rest our lives. The principle, a real law in a word, is deterioration, the silent toll of ugly creeping decay.

The first 11 chapters of I Kings give us a living lesson of the slow, unrecognizable to himself, deterioration of a great man.

Blessed with royal blood and an abundance of intellect, Solomon was a natural for the throne of David. As heir apparent, he was taught at the feet of the prophet Nathan, groomed and prepared through his mother, Bathsheba, refined under the eyes of David and matured by the hand of God.

No doubt about it, the mark of experience, and the seal of approval was upon him. Though he was young when his father died, he was thoroughly prepared to reign over Israel.

David’s gifted son for the first few years of his kingship characterized the attitudes and acts of wisdom, loyalty, diplomacy, faithfulness and efficiency.

First of all, “Solomon loved the Lord” (I Kings 3:3) and walked in His ways. Solomon achievements, power, international influence and wealth were noting short of remarkable, review I Kings 4:29-31; 10:23-24.

He sought wisdom, happiness and pleasure. He was the wealthiest man who ever lived, no doubt a multi-billionaire by today’s standards. Solomon, as this world would look at it, really had it made.

Slowly, imperceptibly, things began to change. Solomon began to allow some compromise to enter his life. He allowed himself to wander into a bit of pride, then lust, idolatry and licentiousness. He became unreasonable, even cynical of things he once held in high esteem.

Layers of dust collected in the majestic temple he built to honor the almighty God who gave him so much. The king turned his attention to another pet project: the building of unusual edifices for the gods he and his pagan wives were serving.

Solomon simply drove too fast and traveled too far. Solomon forgot who gave him everything he had. He forgot to check his character deterioration level.

The finish of his now sordid life came prematurely. His so-called success story became a sad story. We know because all he did and the wisdom that God granted him, is preserved for our learning.

Read what Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 2:26. He left a nation confused, in conflict and soon to be fractured by war.

Remember the frog. Deterioration is never sudden. No garden all of a sudden becomes over grown with weeds. No building all of a sudden crumbles. No marriage all of a sudden breaks down. No strong nation all of a sudden becomes an average power. No man or woman all of a sudden becomes immoral or base. No Christian all of a sudden squelches God’s Spirit.

Slowly, ever so slowly, certain things are accepted that once were rejected. Things once considered harmful are now secretly tolerated. Little by little we let down.

At the outset it appears harmless, perhaps even exciting but the wedge it brings leaves a gap that grows wider as moral corrosion joins hands with spiritual decay. The gap becomes a deep ravine. That “way which seems right” slowly becomes, in fact, “the way of death.” King Solomon wrote that in Proverbs 14:12. He ought to know.

Read what Paul had to say about this matter in I Corinthians 10:12. Be careful about changing standards or priorities to correspond with personal desires. We need to be cautious about becoming inflated with thoughts of our own importance.

Be alert to the pitfalls of misguided prosperity and success. God grants riches and success, be patient. Stay balanced in all things. Ask God daily to give His wisdom and understanding. We must keep our eyes on the goal. Don’t compromise God’s law.

Remember Solomon, who deteriorated from a humble young man of wisdom to a vain fool in a rather brief span of years. Be on guard. Don’t become complacent. Watch and pray. We must not take our calling lightly.

The memory of the frog should keep us out of hot water. We all will do well to remember the principle of deterioration.