“The meek also shall increase their joy in The Lord.” Isaiah 29:19

Meekness is not a momentary decision, but a way of life. It is an intentional daily decision to set our own desires aside and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit within us. Someone has described biblical meekness as “putting the bit in your own mouth and handing the reigns over to God.” It is an humble attention to and acceptance of the will of God.

Meekness is often mistaken for weakness, but those two things are much different.  Where weakness is a lack of strength, meekness actually a show of great strength under God’s control. Meekness without God might very well be weakness, but in God’s hands it is powerful beyond understanding. Cultures have turned on the meekness of great men and women. Hearts have been changed.  Circumstances have been controlled. Pain has been alleviated.

Meekness is a balm that heals when revenge cannot.  Meekness is great faith, great commitment, and great determination to follow in the steps of Christ.  Christ did not
weakly go to the cross, but in meekness.

He faced it accepting the will of the Father.  We too, are required on a daily basis to live a meek life before God. When he requires sacrifice, meekness trusts completely and gives willingly. When he demands obedience, meekness ignores selfish desires, crucifies personal ambition, and performs joyfully the good will of God.  When we desire to do what would please us, meekness allows us to do what is pleasing to God.

It is for this reason that the joy of the meek will continually increase. The meek can find comfort in personal circumstances that the weak cannot find. The meek’s happiness is not derived from fleeting popularity; their fulfillment does not come from public success; their pleasure is not obtained in vengeance or revenge. The meek know when to advance and when to step back.  The meek will stand strong they should and not just when it feels good.

D.L. Moody was the most famous evangelist in the world in the late 1800s. People came from around the world to attend his Bible Conferences in Northfield, Massachusetts. One year a large group of pastors from Europe were among the attendees. They were given rooms in the dormitory of the Bible school. As was the custom in Europe, the men put their shoes outside the door of their room, expecting them to be cleaned and polished by servants during the night.

Of course there were no servants in the American dorm, but as Moody was walking through the halls and praying for his guests, he saw the shoes and realized what had happened. He mentioned the problem to a few of his students, but none of them offered to help. Moody gathered up the shoes and took them back to his own room where he began to clean and polish each pair. Moody told no one what he had done, but a friend who interrupted him in the middle of shining the shoes and helped him finish the task later told the story of what had happened. Despite the  praise and fame he received because of God’s blessing on his life and ministry, Moody remained a humble man.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God and King of Heaven, had the right to honor, praise, and worship. Yet to be our Saviour, He laid all of His privileges aside and became a lowly servant. We often hear people talk of living as Jesus lived, and while He truly is the model for us to follow, many who speak of following Him are unwilling to give up their rights and reflect His humility. We will never be like Jesus unless we are humble and lowly.

The meek find their joy in The Lord- in their trust of The Lord.  As the meek trust God more, the more they have of Him, the more they have of Him,  the more they know of Him, the more they know of Him, the more their joy is increased, and the more their joy is increased, the more they understand the difference between weakness and meekness- the more they understand how to be strong but not wrong.

Without Christ we will always be confused about meekness truly is.  Without Christ we will constantly be guessing what to do in any given situation.   It is thought by many that meekness robs us of nobility, but I would say that it is the very essence of nobility.  Nothing more noble has ever been done than Christ’s humble sacrifice on the cross.  Nothing has taken more strength.   God did not say the weak would inherit the earth, but He did make another promise. I think we all know what that was.

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.” Hebrews 10:25

Most of us have a need for some type of community. We may feel the need to isolate at times, but we will eventually desire some kind of interaction with others. Many studies have found that suicide rates, child abuse, criminal activity are all greater in neighborhoods where there is a lack of positive community involvement. Even in prisons, whether it be during war or in the penal system, one of the worst punishments for most prisoners is solitary confinement. As one writer has said, “Isolation is a health hazard.”

The Bible has a lot to say about our need to belong. God said at the very beginning, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” (Genesis 2:18) Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” Since we are part of a body, we should work in conjunction with one another so that the body can function fully. It would be foolish for one part to say to another “I don’t need you,” or even for it to say, “You don’t need me.” Our bodies are remarkable. Each part contributes in some way to the rest of the parts. The body might still function if one part is missing, but not as fully as it could. When we lose a limb or sight or even an organ, our functioning is affected. We either have to replace that part or another part of the body has to pick up the slack.

When my brother was playing football at U of O he had to have a muscle removed in his leg after an injury. It was the muscle that controls up and down foot movement (like tapping your foot). The doctors said that he would have “flop foot” the rest of his life. Well, miraculously, the other muscles in his foot took over that missing function and he is fine now (not as good as before, but fine). The other muscles in his leg took over the job of raising his foot. But now the other muscles in his leg must do double duty. Because they must do their own job and something else, they fatigue faster and hurt sooner. Also, since that muscle is gone, his nerves are more exposed and if he is hit on the leg it is incredibly painful because there is no muscle to protect it. Again, he functions, but not at full capacity- not as he was intended to function.

The verse in Hebrews encourages us to regularly gather together with other believers. This isn’t just a nice idea. There are very practical reasons for doing so. We all have gifts. By sharing our gifts with others we can build others up and encourage them. We, in turn, are built up in our faith by being with others who believe. Like my brothers leg, if we do not share our gifts with others, the slack will have to be picked up somewhere else by someone else. A muscle that is not used atrophies and will eventually die. When that happens, the muscle is useless and that part of the body is left to try and function without or until something else takes over. Both the muscle and the body are lesser for it.

We can believe that we do not need Christian fellowship, but according to God’s Word that is a mistake. Paul compares us to the body for a reason. It would be selfish if my right arm had a mind of its own and just decided it didn’t want to be part of me any longer. It would not be good for me or my right arm. Both would be left crippled. We can always say we don’t need anyone else, but what about those who need us? What about the encouragement others may need that only we can fulfill? Christians who live in isolation often atrophy and through time become weak and sometimes even useless. Being a functioning part of the body strengthens us and we become more and more useful to the rest of the body.

As Christians we can have much of our need for belonging met in God, but we also need the fellowship and the encouragement of others. Jesus is our all, but sometimes it is just good to be around someone with skin on. So let us avail ourselves of the opportunity to fellowship with others so that we can be functioning at our full potential in the Body of Christ. We are meant to complement each other, which means to make complete. Let’s do everything we can to make the body as full functioning as possible. The world certainly needs to see Christ’s church strong and whole in these uncertain times.

“Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.” 1 Corinthians 16:13

What is courage? Courage has been defined as bravery, but that is a pretty simplistic definition. Some have tried to explain it in a little more detail. One writer defined it as fear “that has said its prayers.” Mark Twain said, “Courage is the mastery of fear, not the absence of fear.” A courageous person is not someone who is fearless. (That is, in most cases, a stupid person.) A courageous person is someone who can control his or her fear and then do the right thing. It is overcoming the fear that we naturally have.

We see courage on display among those who are first responders. Certainly the soldiers serving our country display courage every day. These kinds of people tend to go toward danger rather than away because… well, because that is what they do. That’s their job.

Besides the courage fire fighters and soldiers show, there are other kinds of courage, too. There is moral courage, which is the ability to do right in the face of opposition or discouragement. We are faced with these kinds of situations much more often than we are faced with saving a child from a burning building. Everyday we will be tested to do the right thing and tempted to do the wrong. Having moral courage means being honest and having integrity. It means that we don’t cheat on the test, on our taxes or on others. Moral courage is honoring others by honoring our word, even when we don’t feel like it. It is saying our yes, is yes, and our no, is no, and not turning a yes into a no just because it is convenient for us.

It also takes courage to follow Jesus Christ. We are living in an ABC culture today: Anything But Christ. People are fine with whatever we believe, unless we say, “I believe in Jesus Christ, and I believe the Bible is the Word of God.” Suddenly we will have joined group of backward intolerants who at the best are laughed at and at the worst become public enemy number one. It takes courage to stand up for Jesus Christ. In some countries it takes the kind of courage we see in first responders because in the foreign field, many are truly running toward danger. Here, in most cases, we merely face discomfort. Of course, in some cases people might face job loss or public ridicule or more. But let’s face it, bullying is not the same as bullets.

We need more moral courage today or we will find ourselves in the same place that the rest of the world is in. Courage starts in our daily lives with the little things. I used to tell the athletes I coached that they needed to work as hard as they could in practice because victory over the little things in practice when there was no opponent prepared them for victory over the bigger things when there is an opponent. If we cannot stand for right in the face of little opposition, how will we ever stand against the real enemies.

A boy was trying to impress a girl he liked by saying, “I will climb the highest mountain, swim the swiftest river, and cross the driest desert for you, and I will come over tomorrow if it is not raining.” Can we show great things for God in great trials, if we struggle to do simple things for Him in everyday life? We all want to believe we are courageous, but courage is action, not just belief. We must stand firm in the faith. We must be courageous. We must be strong. That’s our job.

We make decisions every day and we would like to make decisions that are compatible with God’s will. But how do we know God’s will? I believe that about 99.9% of God’s will can be found in the Bible. If we think we have found God’s will but our decision is contrary to the Word, we can be assured that it is not God’s will. But it is not that easy! What about things that are not spelled out for us. What if we are trying to decide what job to take, which house to buy, or even where to put our money, can we really find places in the Bible that can help us?

When making decisions like this, the first thing we should do is to see if our decisions will be compatible with God’s Word. If the decision would result in a compromise of a Biblical truth, then it would not be a good decision. Let’s say we were considering taking a new job, but that job would greatly interfere with our ability to spend any time at all with our kids. Because there are many verses in the Bible that point to importance to family, we might see this as an indication that that job might not be God’s will and thus not to our advantage.

So where do we find these very helpful verses? All through the Bible! Let’s just take a look at five verses from 1 Thessalonians and look at how many valuable aids Paul has left us if we are trying to determine God’s will. If we are making a choice and that choice will violate one of the following instructions, we should think twice before making it. Let’s look at 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18.

“Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Take a moment to think about these clear and powerful exhortations concerning the will of God for believers. These exhortations express the specific will of God in relationships with others, with ourselves, and with the Lord. Packed into these short verses are patterns of life and behavior which will receive His blessing in these relationships.

“Warn them that are unruly…”  When we know people who are idle, undisciplined, pleasure seeking, they need to know the danger they are in. Watching silently as people destroy their lives is not in the will of God. Other parts of God’s Word show us how to approach them; these words just tell us we should.

“Comfort the feebleminded…” We should comfort people who are disheartened, disoriented or confused. We should come alongside them with brotherly affection, encouraging words, and prayer.

“Support the weak…” Our natural tendency is to despise and neglect weaker people, to stay away from them since they have nothing to offer us, can damage our reputation and often require a long-term time commitment. Jesus says find them and lift them up whenever we can.

“Be patient toward all men…” We must realize how patient God is with us, and that “patience” is the first thing that love is. See 1 Corinthians 13:4 for confirmtion! Patience means waiting in love and hope, with prayer, for people to see what they need to see, do what they need to do, change how they need to change.

“See that none render evil for evil…” We should not allow evil men in this world to corrupt our own behavior and character. This is a constant temptation throughout life because evil people are everywhere, including the church. It is easy for us to compromise our own faith because others do it. We need to stay strong in light of worldly influences.

“Follow that which is good…” Doing good of every kind is our lifelong mandate as believers; there are millions of ways to obey it. (unfortunately also as many ways to disobey it) God’s will for us to do good toward all men – even those who don’t deserve it!

“Rejoice evermore…” This is sometimes a tough one to get a handle on, but we know that Jesus has rescued us from an eternity unspeakable misery and pain to everlasting joy and pleasure. This constant reality in our lives can give a reason to rejoice even when the woes of this world attack us.

“Pray without ceasing…” Some of us might find the idea of praying constantly just a pipe dream. The Lord, however, is wide open to communication with Him 24/7, why not continually include Him in your words and thoughts? He should never be far from our minds and we should continuously look for reasons to speak to Him.

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you…”; Before we pray, before we work, before we travel, we should be do so in the spirit of thankfulness. Gratitude can change our whole approach to everything. Thankfulness to our Redeemer in all things lets Him know that we know who is in charge and what He has done for us.

The will of God is not so hard to figure out when we realize that these kinds of statements are all throughout the Bible. Just obeying these exhortations in these verses can give us direction in many, many decisions. Wherever the Lord calls us, He calls us to live out these things. God’s Holy Spirit inspired these words, and He alone gives us the power to carry them out. Our part is to believe and act, and He then will direct our paths.

“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying around the death of Jesus in our body, in order that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are continually being handed over to death because of Jesus, in order that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal flesh.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-11)

“Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

If the truth were ever told about the effect that doubt could have in your life, the above verses hit the nail on the head.

I’ll tell you something else that’s true about doubt. It is expected in the life of every believer. So don’t be discouraged when doubt comes your way. It’s never a permanent condition, and the irony of doubt is that it always brings with it an opportunity to grow closer to God.

I don’t like the feelings I get in my gut from doubt either. I was embarrassed, for example, to admit in a column I wrote several years ago that a friend’s brush with death actually got me to wondering if there really was a heaven. Fortunately, it forced me to re-think my beliefs, and reminded me that only God could console me from the emptiness and shame that came with that experience.

No, doubt will never give you the confidence you need to ride out the storm of confusion that it inevitably brings, but God will reward you for enduring that storm.

Those doubts I had about heaven years ago continue to strengthen my faith today because I searched my heart and answered some tough questions about what I believed.

It has been said that to believe with certainty, we must begin with doubting. That’s a spiritual truth that was played out in the Bible through an encounter that Jesus had with one of his own disciples, Thomas.

Thomas was not present when Jesus first appeared to the disciples after the resurrection, so he didn’t believe his friends when they told him they had just seen Jesus. “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it,” he told them. (John 20:25)

A week later, Jesus came to his disciples again, and this time, he went straight to Thomas. “Put your finger here,” he told Thomas, “see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20:27)

Did you hear what Jesus said? “Stop doubting and believe”, but not before he told Thomas that it was okay to touch and see. To believe with certainty, we must begin with doubting.

Bill Gaither was once so plagued by the confusion that doubt brought his way, he wrote a song about it, but not until it forced him to answer some tough questions, too. Read the lyrics and think about his advice.

I believe. Help thou my unbelief.
I take the finite risk of trusting like a child.
I believe. Help thou my unbelief.
I walk into the unknown, trusting all the while.
I long so much to feel the warmth that others seem to know.
But should I never feel a thing, I claim Him even so.
I believe. Help thou my unbelief.
I walk into the unknown trusting as a child.

There are so many infinately deep and difficult questions about God that we will be confronted with during our lives that there invariably be moments of doubt. “How can this all be?” might race across the screen of our mind at times.

But here is the truth. Don’t leave the theater with that on the screen. Deal with the doubt by going to the Word, not setting it aside. Deal with the doubt by talking to those who you trust. Deal with the doubt by fervently praying about it. Deal with the doubt by revisiting your past confidence. Deal with your doubt by actively dealing with your doubt. Don’t let doubt become the reality of your spiritual life.

Doubt is focusing on what is around us rather than on Who is in us. Focus on Him. I believe. Help thou my unbelief.