Accepting the Instruction of Others

Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. | Proverbs 19:20-21 (ESV)

One of the worst mistakes we can make is to turn away from wise instruction. There are many excuses we make for rejecting the wise counsel of others, but the passage above makes it clear that accepting instruction is a gateway through which wisdom is gained. The reality is that even if we don't care for the messenger or their method, the message given to us by others is an important component to our personal and spiritual growth.

Therefore, instead of shrugging off the instruction of others, Christians should be quick to listen and pray. Even if the instruction is critical or unfair, there may be tidbits of information that God is trying to help us see in the criticism and/or instruction we receive from others.

Below are (5) reasons why we reject wisdom. These are areas that we need to be aware of and make war against, if we desire to gain wisdom and please the LORD.

Pride:

This is one of the most intrinsic of all of man's sins. Pride manifests itself in many different ways (i.e. self-righteousness, self-pity, self-centeredness etc) and is typically the root behind most sinful behaviors. The main destructive force behind pride is that it elevates self above God and others. A natural consequence of pride is that we begin to reject the instruction of anyone who doesn't meet our expectations or anything that feels like criticism instead of praise.

Pride goes before destruction,
     and a haughty spirit before a fall. | Proverbs 16:18

Defensiveness:

This is closely tied to pride. Whether it's self-centeredness or self-pity, when we listen to the instruction of others through the earphones of defensiveness, we begin to reject the wisdom as a mans of protecting our own ego. Defensiveness is one of the most destructive forces at work in relationships. It places us in a position of self-preservation and places others in the position of offenders. In turn, we become victims of the victimizers and we naturally reject anything that others say as we internally build our argument, defending our choices as just, fair, and good.

But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger | James 1:19

Impatience:

Impatience is another manifestation of pride. When we are not patient and graceful in listening to the instruction of others, we are not engaged in what they are truly trying to share with us. We cannot learn from those who we do not take the time to listen to. Many men could have been spared destruction if they were intentional about listening to and applying the wisdom of others.

Also, impatience is a direct rejection of God's timing. Scripture tells us that God, who began a work in us, will continue his work in us until it is completed at the day of Jesus Christ. This means that on this side of heaven we are always a work in progress. Impatience reveals an unwillingness to accept the progressive sanctification that God promises his children in his word.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. | Philippians 1:6

Indifference:

Indifference to instruction is extremely destruction. A man who rejects wisdom, because of laziness or indifference, is robbing himself of the wisdom God desires him to receive. Again, pride plays a role in indifference. When we become satisfied with the status quo we are ultimately shaking our fist in contempt at the work of the Holy Spirit. If we're not growing, we're dying. That's our reality. Either we're active in our pursuit of wisdom or active in sins destructive work in our lives. There is no neutral ground. There's no such thing as treading water in sanctification.

Oswald Champers said, "It is a most disturbing thing to be hit squarely in the stomach by someone being used of God to stir us up— someone who is full of spiritual activity. Simple active work and spiritual activity are not the same thing. Active work can actually be the counterfeit of spiritual activity. The real danger in spiritual laziness is that we do not want to be stirred up— all we want to hear about is a spiritual retirement from the world."

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. | Hebrews 10:24-25

Contempt:

Contempt is defined as feeling that [something or someone] is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn. Again, the root of this line of thinking is pride. When we treat instruction or the person giving it with contempt we are ultimately setting ourselves up to fail. If accepting instruction is the pathway to wisdom, then rejecting instruction must have the opposite effect.

The reality for many people is that they reject horizontal instruction (i.e. criticism from other people) because they deem that person "unworthy" to share truth with them. We judge people based on their shortcomings and therefore convince ourselves that we don't have to listen to their instruction. But if we're only willing to receive instruction from those whom we see as "worthy" then because all men are sinners, there will always be a reason for us to reject the admonishment of others.

Paul didn't say, accept the admonishment of those worthy of giving it to you. To the contrary, he simply said admonish one another in all wisdom. This means that regardless where a person is at in their own faith walk (or battle with sin) as long as they are doing so from the word of God...all of our brothers and sisters in Christ bear the responsibility and authority to give us instruction. And we bear the responsibility of allowing them the ability to do so.

One of the most prideful choices we can make as Christians, is to deny a person the ability to speak truth into our lives because we don't consider them worthy enough. Proverbs 16:5 tells us that those who are arrogant in heart are an abomination to the LORD...be assured, [they] will not go unpunished.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. | Colossians 3:16 

How to Eliminate the "What About Me" Attitude.

Masked Men

Where you understand that God is aware of all of your sinful rebellion and has loved you anyway, you have been set free to not pretend you're more than you are. If you don't get Jesus, like you don't get that he knows, you don't get that all the thoughts of your mind, all the desires of your heart are known by him, and he loves you anyway…you don't get that…you will be forced to pretend you're more than you are, and that's exhausting. It's exhausting.

There's this weird thing that happens in church life, all churches everywhere, it doesn't take you long to put on the "clothes" of the church you worship at. You understand what I'm saying? I'm not talking about how we dress, because we're all over the map here. I'm saying it doesn't take long to go,

"Oh, I need to have my Bible. It probably needs to be in ESV. I need to have a journal, take some notes. I need to learn certain phrases: It's okay to not be okay, gospel-centered, worship, community service. I need to learn phrases. I need to learn at what part of the song we raise our hands. I need to learn…Do I pat my chest? When do I do the pat-chest thing?" 

Then to begin to mimic the actions of a congregation and, in so doing, to compare yourself spiritually with the Joneses to where you measure up, and where you feel you're not measuring up, you just pretend that you are, and so you tend to regurgitate truth rather than walk in it.

Source: Affections Matter - Matt Chandler

The Authority of Scripture Over Our Lives

"All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work." | 2 Timothy 3:16-17

With those verses in mind, listen as Matt Chandler shares an always relevant truth from Acts 20:26-31:

A Walk Through Holy Week - Post #3

Today is "Holy Wednesday" also knows as "Spy Wednesday" by many, because the dark and secret plot to kill Jesus is starting to take shape. Yesterday, the chief priests, scribes, and elders were humiliated by Jesus, who compared them to wicked tenants in the parable he told in the temple (Matt. 12:1-12). The hatred in their hearts towards Jesus was growing stronger and stronger as they sought ways to defame him and minimize his influence over the people. However, their efforts continued to fall short, and because they feared an uprising among the people Jesus continued to gain favor and converts. Something had to happen to stop Jesus. These men needed a different way to get to Jesus that could be done secretly. They needed a closer connection to him. They needed a spy.

Enter Judas Iscariot. Judas was one of Christ's twelve disciples. He traveled with Jesus throughout his ministry and was very close to him. But he was also caught up in a grave sin, one which would eventually lead to his own demise. He was the treasurer and "keeper of the moneybag." But the Bible also said that he was a greedy man who was dishonest and a thief. One piece of evidence occurred when Jesus was reclining at a table in the house of Lazareth, Mary, and Martha. Mary approached Jesus, and began to wash Christ's feet with expensive perfume and dry it off with her hair. It is in this story that we get a clearer picture of Judas' heart and motives:

Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the money bag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.” | John 12:1-8

In John's gospel we are told that Judas' concern was not for the poor (as he claimed), but was instead concern that he wasn't able to embezzle money from the sale of the expensive ointment which was being "wasted" on the feet of Jesus. John surmised that Judas' heart was hardened by the sin of greed and the evidence we have in scripture, shows that Judas was willing to do anything to fulfil his desire. Even betraying the Messiah. And in the gospel according to Mark, there is no subtle transition between the exchange Judas had with Jesus while Mary was washing his feet and his effort to fulfill his greedy passions.

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him. | Mark 14:10-11

And just like that, the evil plotters had their spy. One of Jesus' inside men was willing to betray him for the small price of (30) pieces of silver, the going price of a slave in Jesus day. Game. Set. Match. Or so they thought. Little did they know that their actions were simply a small piece of a much greater story God had begun to tell before the foundations of the world. Christ came to earth to die for the sins of the world. Those plotting against Jesus needed someone (like Judas) to turn Jesus over to them and for it to be done in secrecy so it wouldn't start an uprising. However, God knew the evil in their hearts and the evil in Judas' heart as well, and he used the sinful desires of these men to accomplish his plan of redemption. And once again we see, what men mean for evil, God will use for good...to accomplish his holy purposes.


Why the Insult of Betrayal? (David Mathis - DesiringGod.org)

Why would God have it go down like this? If Jesus truly is being “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23), and his enemies are doing just as God’s hand and plan “had predestined to take place” (Acts 4:28), why design it like this, with one of his own disciples betraying him? Why add the insult of betrayal to the injury of the cross?

We find a clue when Jesus quotes Psalm 41:9 in forecasting Judas’s defection: “He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me” (John 13:18). King David knew the pain not just of being conspired against by his enemies, but betrayed by his friend. So now the Son of David walks the same path in his agony. Here Judas turns on him. Soon Peter will deny him, and then the remaining ten will scatter.

From the beginning of his public ministry, the disciples have been at his side. They have learned from him, traveled with him, ministered with him, been his earthly companions, and comforted him as he walked this otherwise lonely road to Jerusalem.

But now, as Jesus’s hour comes, this burden he must bear alone. The definitive work will be no team effort. The Anointed must go forward unaccompanied, as even his friends betray him, deny him, and disperse. As Donald Macleod observes, “Had the redemption of the world depended on the diligence of the disciples (or even their staying awake) it would never have been accomplished” (The Person of Christ, 173).

As he lifts “loud cries and tears” (Hebrews 5:7) in the garden, the heartbreak of David is added to his near emotional breakdown: “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9). He is forsaken by his closest earthly associates, one of them even becoming a spy against him. But even this is not the bottom of his anguish. The depth comes in the cry of dereliction, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

But more remarkable than this depth of forsakenness is the height of love he will show. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends, even when they have forsaken him.

A Walk Through Holy Week - Post #2

As Jesus and his disciples made their way back to the temple in Jerusalem on Holy Tuesday, they passed the fig tree he had cursed the day before. Peter noticed that this fig tree was withered and mentioned it to Jesus. Jesus took the opportunity to share a truth about faith, forgiveness, and prayer. Pressing on towards the temple, Jesus and his disciples were met by the chief priests, scribes, and elders who asked Jesus by what authority he was doing these things. Knowing the purpose of their question Jesus said to them,

Mark 11:29-30

“I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.”

After careful deliberation, knowing that Jesus' question had placed them in a conundrum, the chief priests, scribes, and elders decided to avoid giving an answer to Jesus' question. Because of their avoidance of his question, Jesus refused to answer the question they had raised.

Mark 11:31-33

[31] And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ [32] But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. [33] So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Jesus then proceeded to teach through a very pointed parable (Mark 12:1-10) about a man who planted a vineyard, invested into it, and then leased it to tenants and left for another country. The vineyard flourished and when harvest time came the land owner sent a servant to the vineyard to gather some fruits. Instead of giving the servant fruit from the vineyard, the tenants beat him and sent him away empty handed. The land owner then sent another servant and he too was mistreated. This continued, with the landowner sending servants...and each time the tenants either beat or killed the servant. Finally, the land owner sent his son, saying to himself...‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So the tenants killed his son and threw him out of the vineyard.

Then Jesus asked and answered the following question (Mark 12:9-11) of those whom he was teaching (including the chief priests, scribes, and elders):

What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this Scripture: 

“‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

Jesus' question, from Psalm 118:22-23, was already known to be a messianic passage. Therefore those listening knew what Jesus was saying in his parable. The stone refers to the Messiah (i.e. Jesus) and the builders are the leaders of Israel. The word, rejected, echoes the theme of the persecution of the prophets of God (Neh. 9:9–35; Acts 7:1–53) by Israel and it's leaders. What Jesus is saying is that the "faithful" in Israel will accept the Son as the rightful messenger, heir, and cornerstone of the messianic kingdom (Jer. 31:26; Zech. 4:7) while the others will reject him. He is also saying that the vineyard, which is the inheritance of Christ, will now be given to others (i.e. Gentiles) because Israel (the tenants) has rejected their God (the land owner) seeking only his blessings (the vineyard) instead of a relationship with him.

Upon hearing these words, the anger and hatred of the chief priests, scribes, and elders towards Jesus grew. They wanted to arrest him (and more than likely kill him) but they were fearful because he was growing in popularity and influence among the faithful in Israel. So, instead of arresting him...they sent Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians to try and trap Jesus in an intellectual debate with questions about taxes, marriage, and the greatest commandment. But Jesus answered each question with wisdom, truth, and grace...gaining favor among the people and gaining hatred from those who sought to destroy him.

With another tension-filled day behind them, Jesus and the disciples begin to head back to Bethany. They stop on the Mount of Olives to rest, giving them a wonderful view of Jerusalem as the sun begins to set behind it in the west. The disciples marvel at the size and the grandeur of these impressive buildings, but Jesus tells them that a day is soon coming when not a single stone will be left upon another. He goes on to explain that his followers will experience increasing persecution and tribulation, leading up to the final Day of Judgment. But their task is to remain vigilant and persist in faith.

Tuesday is now done. But Friday is coming. This is not the flannel-board Jesus some of us learned as children. This is the real, historical Jesus: fully in control as he responds with grace and truth to traps on all sides. He knows what he is doing. And he knows what is coming. Every word and every step is for the fame of his Father’s name and the salvation of those willing to pick up their cross and die with him. [1]

 [1] The Escalating Conflict - DesiringGod.org

Three Lies Porn Will Tell You

Statistically speaking,over 50 percent of the men reading this post have had exposure to pornography recently...Here are the three lies porn will tell you.

Read the article here: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/whole-life/3-lies-porn-tells-you