October 16, 2012
“He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)
Who was the greatest prophet who ever lived? Who was the greatest man who ever lived? According to Jesus the answer is John the Baptist (Luke 7:28; Matthew 11:11). Having studied the Scripture for six decades I find that answer to be intriguing because very little space is given in the Bible to record this man’s life and ministry.
As I meditate on the Scriptures that describe him I have come to a conclusion about his greatness. At least one key to his greatness was that he accepted the limits of his limitations and the responsibility for his ability.
As we attempt to discover who we are and what God wants to do through our life it is a good rule of thumb to accept the limits of our limitations and the responsibility for our ability. When a degenerative disease of the spinal cord took away my physical abilities, it was critical for me to accept my increasing limitations and continue to be responsible for my abilities.
After about two years of illness when the acceptance came, it was so profound I decided it was a form of inner healing. Using speech recognition software on my computer I received the grace to write about ten thousand pages of what I call a Mini Bible College. These 782 studies of the Bible have been translated into twenty eight languages in sixty countries.
It fills me with grateful worship to realize that the formula for greatness I have learned from John the Baptist has guided me to the most important work I have done for God and Christ.
Are you willing to accept the limits of your limitations and the responsibility for your ability?
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Posted by Dick Woodward
October 12, 2012
“Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.” (Matthew 7:26)
As we apply the previous formula for living blog, Jesus is clearly teaching that if we base our belief system on His teachings we will have a rational belief system that can weather the storms of this life. When a counselor is disputing the belief system of a depressed person, a favorite disputation question is: “What are you telling yourself about the fact they you lost your job that has you so depressed?” That is the question you should ask yourself when you are experiencing irrational emotional consequences like depression.
The medical director of a large mental hospital for the entire state of Virginia told me the purpose of psychiatry is to find the unconscious explanation for the conscious behavior of people. He lamented the hard reality that so often today the psychiatrist is a pharmacologist who medicates the person’s depression without ever getting to the cause of the depression.
The word “psychiatry” means “the healing of the soul.” Was there ever a greater healer of the soul than Jesus? I’m convinced that Jesus was the greatest Psychiatrist who ever lived. I also believe that the values and the teachings of Jesus will give us the healthiest belief system for living we will ever discover as we pass through this world.
However, it is critically important that we implement that belief system as we respond to the storms we encounter. In this era we have gone bonkers over knowledge. According to Jesus, it is not the knowledge of His teaching but the application of that belief system that builds the house that survives the storms.
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Posted by Dick Woodward
October 10, 2012
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.” (Matthew 7:24 NLT)
There are about 75 different approaches counselors can use as they help people live their lives. One of these approaches tells us that living is as simple as ABCD. The letter A represents adversity or the problem that a person may have. B represents the belief system of the person with the problem. C stands for the emotional consequences the person is experiencing because of their problem. And D describes the role of the counselor.
Because the economic downturn in America and elsewhere has put many people out of work and forced them to abandon their career, many counselors are hearing people say their adversity is that they have lost their jobs. Since they get their worth and their identity from their work the emotional consequences for them is serious depression.
These people are saying their adversities are leading directly to their emotional consequences; however, the ABCD approach purports this is never true. Rather, it is the way people process their adversity through their belief system that causes their irrational emotional consequences. The basic idea is that if you have an irrational belief system, you will have irrational emotional consequences. The therapist is a Disputer who challenges the irrational belief system of the client.
The counselor would dispute that belief system with statements like “We are not human doings but human beings. We should not get our worth or our identity from our work.”
I like this approach for two reasons: I hear Jesus saying the same thing in the verse above and you can use this formula to be your own best counselor.
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Posted by Dick Woodward
October 6, 2012
“… the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” . (Acts 5:32)
The purpose of a compass is not just to give us knowledge about where we are when we are lost but to also guide us into the way we need to go. If you think about it – a compass is worthless if we do not comply with what our compass shows us.
In the Gospels Jesus introduces the apostles to the Holy Spirit. He tells them the Holy Spirit will guide them into all truth. He calls the Holy Spirit the “Paraclete.” This word means: “One who comes along side us and attaches Himself to us for the purpose of assisting us.”
Jesus tells them that if they will love Him and keep His commandments He will ask the Father to give them the Holy Spirit (John 14: 15, 16). So many believers miss this. The operative word when it comes to implementing salvation is “believe.” But the operative word when it comes to knowing God through the Holy Spirit is “obey.”
In profound simplicity the hymn writer expressed it this way: “But we never can prove the delights of His love until all on the altar we lay. For the favor He shows and the joy He bestows are for them who will trust and obey. Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.”
Jesus said it even more simply and profoundly when He offered this invitation: “Follow Me and I will make you.” (Matthew 4:19) That’s why the last point on this compass is the most critical of all.
Are you willing to comply with what your compass shows you?
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Posted by Dick Woodward
October 5, 2012
“‘Who told you that you were naked?’ the LORD God asked.’” (Genesis3:11)
We have confessed, climbed and conserved to apply the jet pilot’s compass. We must now apply the most critical points on his compass and ours. Just as the jet pilot must communicate with his carrier, we must communicate with God.
We all know that we can communicate with God through prayer. In the familiar story from the book of Genesis we learn that God communicates with us and He wants us to know that He communicates with us.
In a psychiatric hospital a man told his psychiatrist that he was Napoleon. The psychiatrist asked him “Who told you that you are Napoleon?” The man responded, “God told me.” The man in the next room shouted, “I did not!”
In Hebrew the question God asked is literally: “Who made you know that you were naked?” You may be uncomfortable telling people that God told you to make a decision like a career change. Would it be more comfortable to say God made you know that you were to make a certain decision? Do you believe God can make you know what He wants you to know and do?
It is exciting to know that we can communicate with God through prayer and even more exciting to know He communicates with us. Just as the last two points on the pilot’s compass are the most critical, it is critical for us to be in two-way communication with God.
God communicates with us in many ways but the most important is when we are reading His inspired Word. We should open the Bible with this prayer: “Let all the voices be stopped. Speak to me Lord, Thou alone.”
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Posted by Dick Woodward
October 4, 2012
“Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.”
(Psalm 139: 23, 24)
Applying the compass of a jet pilot to our personal compass of life we next need to ask what it means to conserve when we think we may have lost our way. The familiar prayer of David in Psalm 139 is one answer to that question. We can assume that David is facing challenging decisions about the way he needs to go. We might also assume that he is aware of what this translation lists as his ‘anxieties.’
He is asking God to take the lid off his mind, heart, thoughts and motives along with his anxieties and show him what should not be there because he wants to walk with God in the everlasting way. By example and precept David is teaching that we should be conservative when our anxiety is letting us know that we have lost our way.
We should not make big decisions when we are down or on an emotional high. We should move ahead steadily when what God shows us under the lid of our heart and mind is in alignment with His will and the way He wants us to go with Him.
My friend, the squadron commander, told me about a rookie pilot who radioed his carrier: “I’m lost somewhere over the South West Pacific Ocean but I’m making excellent time!” When we know we are lost that’s not when we are to be making excellent time. That is the time for us to be conservative and pray this prayer of David.
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Posted by Dick Woodward
October 3, 2012
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is…” (Colossians 3:1)
To follow up on the application of the second point of the jet pilot’s compass to our own compass of life we must ask: what does it mean to “climb?” Since we are all different it means different things for different folks. For me personally it means to get deeply into the Word of God. A holy man named Thomas a’ Kempis wrote in words of his century that he found spiritual retreat and peace in ‘a little corner with a little book.’
For you climbing could mean meeting with a mentor if you are blessed to have one. Ideally every believer should have one but realistically very few actually have a mentor or a disciple maker. If you are a spiritual person a short or long private retreat could be a good way to climb. While solitude works for some, a small group could work for others. Simply being with spiritual people is moving in the right direction.
If you love worship music, getting immersed in meaningful worship music is a good way to climb. This of course could happen in corporate as well as a closet worship experience.
Many people climb by reading the great old souls who have left us with their great expressions and “how to’s” of worship by example and precept. Getting deep into devotional classics is a good way to climb. I must repeat, however, that for me nothing replaces the Word of God for climbing.
The first letter of John tells us to track with the attributes of God. According to John if we look where the love is, where the life is, and where the light is we will find ourselves climbing big time.
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Posted by Dick Woodward
October 2, 2012
This week I’m blitzing daily blogs to unpack each point of yesterday’s Jet Pilot’s Compass for you. The first point is: CONFESSION…
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
In the original Greek language, what we translate as confess is a compound Greek word: to say and the word for sameness. It literally means to say the same thing God says or to agree with God. If you know the Word of God and are in the Spirit enough to be convicted by the Holy Spirit, you can know what God says and how He feels about what you have done.
Your confession is to agree with Him. Our responsibility is to agree with Him. He does all the rest.
He knows when we are lost. Because He loves us He very much wants us to agree with Him that He might recover us and lead us into the green pastures and still waters that lead to a table of provision and a full cup that never empties. That’s why He wants us to confess our sins and start climbing in the right direction spiritually.
He is not a divine policeman with a huge club just waiting to crack us over the head when we step out of line. The ministry of Jesus is summed up in the Gospel of Luke this way: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (19:10). That Gospel shows us in beautiful ways the blessings that came into the lives of lost people because Jesus found them and led them to the blessings of salvation.
Agree with Him and He will guide you to the blessings He has just for you.
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Posted by Dick Woodward
October 1, 2012
“… God called to the man, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)
When we know we could get lost we make sure we have a compass with us. Jet pilots fly so far so fast they must have a compass to use immediately when they think they are lost. A squadron commander I knew taught his pilots to use this five-fingered compass: “CONFESS, CLIMB, CONSERVE, COMMUNICATE and COMPLY.”
They were to immediately CONFESS when they thought they might be lost. Then they were to CLIMB because communications are better and they burn less fuel with altitude. Next they were to pull back on the throttle to CONSERVE fuel. The final two points on their compass were critical: to COMMUNICATE with their carrier and then COMPLY with that communication. He promised that if they faithfully implemented the five points on this compass they would see the red light on their carrier called the “meat ball” that guided them to a safe landing.
If we realize we have lost our direction in life we must confess that we are lost. Then we should climb, or do whatever we can do to get close to God. This could be having a private spiritual retreat or seeking out spiritual people. We should not make big decisions but conserve when we have lost our way. The last two points on our personal compass are also critical: we must communicate with God and comply with what we believe He makes us know we are to do (John2:5).
If we will faithfully implement the five points on this compass we will see the “meatball” of His will that will guide us to green pastures in this life and to a safe landing in the house of the Lord forever.
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, Faith in God, Finding our way, Genesis, Genesis 3, knowing God's will, personal compass, Seeking God, Spiritual Compass | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
September 28, 2012
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53: 6)
A police officer on a motorcycle noticed a large enclosed truck driven down Sixth Street in Los Angeles, California. The driver stopped every few blocks, got out, and beat all around the sides of the truck with a large baseball bat. After observing this for some time, the officer flashed his lights and ordered the driver to pull over. The policeman said to the driver, “Mister, as far as I can tell, you’re not breaking the law. But I just gotta’ know, what are you doing?”
The truck driver explained, “Officer, this truck here has a capacity of five thousand pounds. But, you see, I’ve got six thousand pounds of canaries. So, I gotta’ keep a thousand pounds of canaries up in the air all the time!”
Perhaps you are up in the air about what you must believe to know that your sins are forgiven. Isaiah told us in the verse above that if we confess that we are included in the first and last all of his verse then our sins are forgiven.
As a seminar for baseball umpires concluded, an old veteran umpire said, “The way I see it, some are balls and some are strikes, but they ain’t nothin ‘til we call ’em!”
I have just thrown you a strike. I have shown you how to know your sins are forgiven. But like the old umpire said, what I have shown you isn’t anything until you call it something.
What do you call this Good News from Isaiah?
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: confessing our sins, confession, faith, Forgiveness, Isaiah 53, Jesus Christ, religion, The Good News | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
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