Week 13 continued. QV

Faithfulness-undaunted commitment to purpose and people.

1Ch 28:20  …the Lord God, even my God, will be with you; He will not fail you, nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord. 

1. Firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty.
2. True to the facts, to a standard, or to an original.
3. Steadfast in affection or allegiance.

Firm: faithfulness is the opposite of duplicity, that contradictory doubleness of thought, speech, or action that Paul says we will avoid when, …all of us are united in the faith and in the full knowledge of God’s Son, and we attain mature adulthood-the full standard of development in Christ.  Then we will no longer be little children, tossed like waves and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, or by clever strategies that would lead us astray. Eph 4:13-14 ISV   God is eternally firm in His laws and His promises, and He wants to teach us how to do it.  (Lots more on Ephesians in future lessons.)

 True: faithfulness is not situational.  God has set standards that do not vary with the day, year, or century.  Mark 12:29-31  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, “Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength:” this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this; “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.

 Steadfast: Ruth 1:16, 17  And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave you, or to return from following after you: for wherever you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge: your people shall be my people, and your God my God: where you die, will I die, and there will I be buried.  The LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part you and me.

 Notice that Paul is describing an atmosphere in which the Church can flourish and grow in stature and wisdom.  An atmosphere charged by kindness, and goodness, and faithfulness.  Even when we fall short, even when we miss the mark, God does not.  He simply rewrites the lesson plan, and re-teaches the lesson-as many times as is necessary for us to learn-because God is faithful.

•   The Church does not flourish when it neglects its God-given duties in favor of comfort or convenience.
•  The Church does not flourish when its members are easily swayed by “modern” thinking.
•  The Church does not flourish when it has no chosen path to follow.

 Keep the faith, baby!  The Rev’d and Hon. Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

Goodness-Motive & Manner      Clean, Fully-ripened, Ready for use.

God is good (all the time)

Motive: it matters why we do things. 

            A young man regularly attends church (a good thing).

            He actually has little interest in God; church is where the better class of girls are (not so much).

             A woman considers stealing jewelry from a department store, but chooses not to (a good thing).

            She chooses not to because she notices a security camera trained on her (not so much).

 Goodness is doing the right thing for the right reason.  Both motive and manner are clean (Kosher-God approved).  It is the outworking of the word tel’-i-os, complete (in various applications of labor, growth, mental and moral character, etc.)  It is ripe, of full age, and ready for God’s use.  Jas 1:27 ISV  A religion that is pure and stainless in the sight of God the Father is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

 Manner: it matters how we do things.

Goodness is the result of intensive training.  Michael Jordan loved baseball but decided early on to follow his older brother into basketball.  As a 5-11, skinny sophomore, he was cut from the high school varsity basketball team.  He chose not to give up.  He played junior varsity, and mounted a basketball hoop over his bed.  The summer before his junior year, he grew to 6-3 and began his path to super-stardom.  By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.  Michael Jordan is good at what he does.

1Timothy 4:7 says, in part, “…exercise thyself unto godliness.”  The word we translate “exercise” is the Greek word gumnazo? from which we get gymnasium.  It is to train for the games.  Olympic figure skaters are generally young, and yet they choose to train 4 to 6 hours every day before and after school.  Many leave their families to live with their coaches.  They know that to win the gold medal they have to be very good.

Discipleship is the process by which we take on the attributes of God that are humanly attainable.  Luk 6:40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one when he is perfected shall be as his master.  True discipleship is not like modern classroom learning.  It involves joining oneself to a teacher, a master in the art we want to learn.  It is not easy; the path may not always be obvious, but the end result is that the disciple becomes like his teacher-a master at what he does.  Remember; “Wax on, wax off.”

 We are learning from God, and God is good (all the time).

Kindness–God’s unexpectedly pleasant assistance.

And whoever merely gives a cold drink to one of these little ones in the name (authority) of a disciple, truly I say to you, in no way will he lose his reward. Mat 10:42  (Lit) 

Sometimes that cup of cold water turns out to be a cup of hot coffee, And what we’re asked to do is to pour it…and to listen.

Sometimes we Christians in our enthusiasm think we were asked to save the world, When what we were asked to do is to go into it and tell God’s story to people in need of good news.

Anxious activist forget that just listening is an act of compassion.

Driven disciples forget that just listening is an act of faithfulness.

Guilty givers forget that just listening is an act of stewardship.

Since we, the church, have a tendency to be driven, anxious, and guilt-ridden perhaps we should read the direction again, pour a cup of hot coffee, call it discipleship, and listen in His name.

God is disposed to help even (especially) when we are not.  One of the names given to the Holy Ghost is the Helper (Paraclete, one called alongside).  When we hold the door for someone whose arms are full of packages, we are emulating God.  God’s kindness in not given grudgingly, but pleasantly-He likes doing it.  One of the reasons kindness makes it to Paul’s list of nine is that we aren’t disposed to give it…pleasantly.

Servant Evangelism, “We just want to show you God’s love in a practical way.”

Every person on Planet Earth has at least one thing in common.  Regardless of creed, geography or age, we all want to leave the world in a better state than the way we found it.  Kindness is certainly one constant that has proven throughout history to be a power that affects all who are touched by it.  As we make ourselves available to be conduits of kindness and love begins to flow through us, an atmosphere is created that changes all around us.  Steve Sjogren

Rom 12:10  Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another;  One reading of Eph 4:32 is “Be useful to each other, sympathetic, freely rescuing them, even as God, for Christ’s sake, rescued you.”

 Various “Random Acts of Kindness” groups propose deliberate projects designed to foster kindness: Going out in public and smiling at three people, etc.  What do you think?

 If you have trouble being kind to strangers, start with someone you know.  Preferably someone you genuinely and truly dislike.  After all, you have heard that it was said, “You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”  But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you will become children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and he lets rain fall on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they? And if you greet only your brothers, what great thing are you doing? Even the gentiles do the same, don’t they? So be perfect, (complete, mature, ripe) as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Mat 5:43-48  ISV

Peace-God’s gift of a radically settled heart

 shalom (Hebrew)

 eirene  i-rah’-nay  (Greek)

To set at one again, the mending or rejoining of what has been torn apart.  This is not a goal; this is God’s gift-the starting point of our relationship with Him and each other.

 Peace of the body.  1Co 12:27 (BBE) Now you are the body of Christ, and every one of you the separate parts of it.  The gift of God is that we are invited to be in Jesus. 

• In Him as He is crucified. Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
• In Him as He is raised in glory. 2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
• In Him as He rules. Rev 2:27 And he that overcomes, and he that keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron… (Literally, “He will shepherd them with an iron staff.”)

Peace is what Jesus leaves within His eternal body to allow it (us) to rule with a single voice. 

Peace of the soul.  The soul is that part of us that relates to other souls-to humans in general and in particular to those humans who have been raised with Jesus-new creatures.

Peace is what Jesus leaves within His eternal body to promote health, strength, and unity.  Rom 14:19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.  Rom 12:18  If it be possible, as much as lies in you, live peaceably with all men.

 Peace of the spirit.  The spirit is that part of us that relates to other spirits.

Jesus, through His death and resurrection, made, and continually makes, peace between us and the Father.

Rom 5:1  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Eph 2:14-22  For through him (Jesus) we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father. So then you are no more strangers and sojourners, but you are  fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone; in whom each several building, fitly framed together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.

Joy- extraordinary enthusiasm for being alive.

 Joy is not happiness. Happiness rises and falls with circumstances.  CF: Love and fondness vs. joy and happiness.

Joy is khar-ah’ ; cheerfulness, that is, calm delight, gladness.

 The Holy Spirit is the source of joy.  The Spirit (par-ak’-lay-tos; One called alongside. An intercessor, consoler: - advocate, comforter) is not bound by time-He is here with us now, called alongside to show us the triumph of the Kingdom.

• We have Joy because the Father has allowed us to be in Jesus-to die with Him to our sin nature, and be raised with him a new creature, a member of a new race. 2Co 8:2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.
•  We have Joy because, while still in our fleshly bodies we are covered within and without, like the Ark, with the gold of God’s nature. We are filled with the provision of God, the law of God, and God’s delegated authority. Rom 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
• We have Joy because the Spirit already sees the victorious end, and some of that rapture oozes through to us.  Luk 6:22-23 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.  Jud 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.

Joy brings health to the Kingdom.  Even the human body responds to it by strengthening its immune system.  Like your mother told you, saying “thank you” can go a long way! A research project on the Psychology of Gratitude found that experiencing gratitude and other positive emotions can have benefits ranging from personal and social development, to individual health and well-being, and community strength and harmony.[1]

Did you have a good day? Write it down! New findings suggest a link between writing about positive experiences and living a longer life. Other studies have shown that keeping a “gratitude journal” where you write down 1-5 things for which you’re grateful, will also make you happier, more joyful, and less stressed.[2]

In addition to French fries and smoking, being stressed can also lead to hypertension and coronary heart disease.[3]

1Co 12:27  Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

[2] “Positive Emotions in Early Life and Longevity: Findings from the Nun Study.” Deborah D. Danner, David A. Snowdon, and Wallace V. Friesen. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

[3] “The Dangers of Chronic Stress.” By Michael Craig Miller, MD. Newsweek, October 2005.

We will try to finish “Love” from the Week 6 notes.

Please refer to the notes for Week 6.

Memorial Day took us all in our own directions.  Class canceled.