The purpose and reason for having close friends

Bear one another's burdens and, thus, fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2)

A few years ago, I worked for a corporate vice-president, his first name was Ted.  One day, Ted sent an email message to his team, stating that he was taking some personal time off and would not be available for at least a week.  Later, we found out that Ted, living in Chicago, traveled to a suburb of Philadelphia, to be with a close friend named Joe who was dying of cancer.  Ted said that he simply believed that he needed to be with Joe and his family during Joe's final days and to help however he could.   

We all reach the age where life starts to become a little more unpredictable.  Although we hope not, our aging can produce quick and unexpected health issues.  Our families are expanding and with more loved ones in our lives, the greater the possibilities of something unexpected happening to those we care about the most.  And, of course, we all are aware of our own mortality and that becomes more and more realistic the older we become.

I hope that whoever is reading this can think of people with whom you are truly close friends.  As close and good friends, established over many years of investment of time and effort you will encourage one another as whatever might happen to any of you or a loved one, you will have one another to lean on, to bear one another's burdens and to be available, if and when needed, to help you get through a crisis.  

None of us should ever face any of the follow examples alone or even with only your spouse:

-- you have heard bad news about your health 

-- you are living your final days and need family and friends with you

-- someone very close to you is dying or has died

-- one of your loved ones is going through a terrible crisis

-- you are facing major surgery

-- you have experienced some kind of sudden loss

-- you need help from one or more friends with a problem you are facing 

These are just a few examples when we need family and friends to help us get though life's crises.  And, yes, while we each have family members to count on,  we can also count on one another too.  Sooner or later, each of us is going to face a crisis and can we count on our friends to help bear our burdens?  Just think about who are the "Joe's" in your life with whom you would not hesitate to spend time and money (e.g. get on an airplane to travel where you feel you are needed) in order to be at the side of that person(s).     

May each of us do our part to bear one another's burdens and, thus, fulfill the law of Christ!

Generosity

Acts 2:44-45 (NLT)

And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.  They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.

Frankly, these verses have always troubled me because I wondered if the Bible is advocating communism or socialism?  Perhaps some Christians might believe that is exactly what these verses are teaching.  However, I personally like what Warren Wiersbe wrote -- “These verses (Acts 2:42-47) are a beautiful description of what life will be like during the kingdom age.  Acts 2 is a message to the Jewish people, so do not read into these verses truths that were not revealed until later (Paul’s epistles).  The church does not meet in the Jewish temple, nor is it required to practice communism.”[1]

All the verbs of these two verses (“met”, “shared”, “sold”) are in the imperfect tense, that is, action verbs that describe what is ongoing.  Therefore, what was sold and what was shared in those days were done from time to time as the need developed, not in total. 

However, these verses do remind me of one of the most troubling verses (at least for me) in the entire Bible.  In Luke 14:33, Jesus said “So, therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”  I have never quite come to terms with this teaching with respect to what it really means to me (and you) today.  Most interpretations of this verse seem to say that one is being obedient to this verse if one is willing, if necessary, to give up everything.  However, I am not convinced about this interpretation.  In any case, believers in the early church were being obedient to this statement of Christ.  Think about what Luke 14:33 means to you.   

The main teaching of Acts 2:44-45 is Christian generosity.  Generosity is following Jesus’ teaching of Acts 20:35.  Our willingness to be generous has always been a challenge, but especially so in these tumultuous economic times.  Generosity is not only referring to money, but also to time and energy.  Being generous is being a good Christian steward.  Are you a generous person?  As the old saying goes, your checkbook (and charge cards) declares the extent of your generosity.  Review the following two quotes and determine where you stand.  How generous are you? 

“God judges what we give by what we keep.” — George Mueller

“The world is full of two kinds of people, the givers and the takers.  The takers eat well, but the givers sleep well.” — Modern Maturity

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[1] Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament, Chariot Victor Publishing,1992, pp. 282-283. 

The Lord will give you the desires of your heart

Psalm 37:4 (NIV)
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.  

There are two key words here, the verb “delight” and the noun “desires”.  The word “delight” has an element of “joy” in the original Hebrew.  What in your life delights you?  I admit that when I think of the delights of life, I think of certain foods, good coffee, my cozy home, working in my home office, walking in the woods, playing golf, my love for my wife and children and grandchildren, and so forth.  What are the delights of your life?

The Bible says here that you are to delight yourself in the Lord.  How?  You can measure your delight in the Lord by how you would answer these questions, each of which start with the words, “Do you look forward to and enjoy………”:

·  Spending time in His Word?

·  Studying His Word?

·  Applying His Word?

·  Attending church?

·  Interacting and spending time with other believers?

·  Your quiet time that includes Bible study and prayer?

·  Serving the Lord in ministry by serving others?

·  Sharing your faith with others?

·  Being obedient to what His Word teaches?

There has to be genuine delight---happiness, cheerfulness—with all of these attitudes and actions before the Lord will fulfill His promise.  And what is His promise?  At first glance, this verse seems to be stating that the Lord will give you what you desire to be or to have.  No, that is an incorrect interpretation.  What the verse is really stating is that the Lord will incorporate into your heart—your mind, emotion and will—what those desires ought to be.  This word "desires" means “requests”.  What are the requests of your heart?  Does this not really mean what are the prayers of your heart?   The desires of your heart (Note:  it does not state the desires of your flesh) that the Lord puts there will not be selfish or self-serving, but will be unselfish, putting others’ needs first, and being humble.  Indeed, the initiative you show to delight yourself in the Lord will be continued through the Lord perpetuating your desire to delight in Him. 

This same theme of delighting yourself in the Lord is also found in Job 22:26 and Isaiah 58:14, both passages of which affirm that taking delight in the Lord follows your attitude and actions to be obedient to Him.  All these passages state that if and when you delight yourself in the Lord, He gives something to you.

Again, what are your delights?  And, what are the desires of your heart?  Is the Lord involved in both?

When your faith is challenged

Mark 4:35-41 (NIV)

That day when evening came, He said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd behind, they took Him along, just as He was, in the boat. There were also other boats with Him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?”  He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to His disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey Him!" 

I think of this story when I think about Jesus’ suffering and death at the hands of the Jewish leaders and the Romans.  If Jesus had control over the weather, He had control over whatever was happening to Him at the cross and could have stopped things at any time.  Yet He didn’t.  I know that every time I experience severe pain, I think of the far worse pain that Jesus suffered that He could have stopped it, yet did not.  The human mind cannot comprehend any of this.

The phrase “they took Him along, just as He was” intrigues me.  Maybe scholars know what this meant, but I have no idea.  Yet, there must be significance to this observation.  What might you think?

Have you ever been in a boat on the open sea when a storm hit?  The only time I have ever experienced this was one time on a Caribbean cruise.  Even on a huge ship, I felt uncomfortable to the point of fear.  Indeed, reading about rogue waves hitting a cruise ship in the Mediterranean Sea and killing some tourists is a scary thing.  To be in a small boat during a storm has to be immensely terrifying.  Any of us would have acted just like the disciples.  Yet Jesus was disappointed in their fear.  The Scripture seems to be saying that they became even more fearful because Jesus rebuked them as He rebuked the storm. 

One of the great learning points of this passage is the fact that even the strongest Christian today is like these disciples in two ways---no matter how much faith you think you have, that faith will be challenged from time to time and you will learn that it’s not as strong as you thought.  Also, sometimes, through stormy circumstances in your life, you will question who Jesus really is.  It is reassuring even to the strongest believer that these moments of doubt will occur; yet they can and will be overcome.  Indeed, perhaps the greatest learning point from this story is that if Jesus has the power to calm the wind and waves, He most definitely has the power to help you overcome any storm going on in your life.  The question is, do you have the faith to believe that He can and will?    

The relationship of wisdom and patience

Proverbs 19:11 (NIV)

A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.

“Patience is the companion of wisdom” (St. Augustine).  Proverbs 19:11 declares that wisdom gives patience.  Wisdom and patience go together.  You really cannot have one without the other.  Think about someone you believe is wise.  Is not that person also patient?  Or, think of someone you believe has patience.  Does not that patience make you believe that person is wise?  Is it possible to be wise, but not patient?  Is it possible to be patient, but not wise?  Is it possible to have either without great faith?  Think about it. 

Patience mainly comes from enduring trials in life.  James 1:3 says that trials/troubles test your faith and this will give you patience.  If you too think of yourself as impatient then perhaps you too have not suffered enough.  Oh, you think you have, but perhaps not really.  Have you had faced near death experience?  Have you experienced the death of a close loved one?  Have you lost everything and had to start over?  Have you suffered one major disappointment or failure after another?  These questions relate to harsh examples of trials people face in life that, in turn, develop patience.  James 1:4 says that patience will make you perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  Wow, that’s quite a promise. 

The specific patience that this proverb is referring to is the kind of patience that enables you to control your temper.  The Hebrew word used for patience here is “aph” that means, interestingly, “nostril, nose, face”.  When you get angry and lose your temper, think about what happens to your face.  It gets red and nostrils flare due to vasoconstriction of your facial blood capillaries.  Wisdom enables you to control that temper and tendency to get angry.  And what makes you angry, what tests your patience?  What is the Bible saying here?  It’s when you are offended.  It’s when someone sins against you.  It’s when someone curses you, gets angry at you, lies to you, treats you terribly, ignores you and does not do what you ask………whatever might cause you to lose control of yourself. 

Wisdom will enable you to develop patience so that you are not so easily offended.  Where does wisdom come from?  Again, refer to James, this time James 1:5:  “If you lack wisdom, ask God for it”.  Think about it.  If someone offends you, if someone commits a transgression against you, your human reaction is going to be anything but wisdom and patience.  But, if you ask God to give you wisdom, what happens?  Something supernatural happens such that you do not react impatiently and say or do something that you will later regret.  Both wisdom and patience are supernatural---spiritual---gifts from God and the fallen human beings do not naturally have these gifts.  They come from God and it takes time for these spiritual gifts to become part of your Christian personality.

The next time you say to yourself, “I wish I had more patience”, remember to ask God for the wisdom that enables you to learn patience.  Note that you do not ask for patience from God, you ask for wisdom.  Also remember that it takes faith to ask for wisdom because James 1:6 says that you must ask for wisdom in faith without any doubting.  May you have the faith to ask for wisdom and may the wisdom you receive produce a divine patience that makes you a beautiful person to those around you.  Indeed, it is to your glory—your beautiful inner character that faith and wisdom produce—when you are patient and overlook an offense.