Do We Really Have to Worry

Please read Philippians 4:1-9. Worry is assuming responsibility that does not belong to you. If anybody had an excuse for worrying Paul did. His Christian friends at Philippi were disagreeing with one another. There was division among the believers at Rome. Added to these burdens was the possibility of his own death. Paul did not worry, instead, he took time to explain to us the secret of victory over worry. What is worry? It means to be pulled in different directions. The Old English root means to strangle. Spiritually, worry is wrong thinking and wrong feeling. If we are to conquer worry and experience the secure mind, we must meet the conditions that God has laid down. First, right praying. Paul does not write, pray about it. He is too wise to do that. He uses three words to describe right praying. Prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving. When we find ourselves worrying, we must get alone with God and worship Him. Adoration is what is needed. We must see the greatness and majesty of God. The bigger our God the smaller our problems. We must realize that He is big enough to solve our problems. We need to remember that "His ways are not our ways." There is supplication, an earnest sharing of our needs and problems. This leaves no place for half hearted, insincere prayer. It is not a matter of carnal energy but of spiritual intensity. There is appreciation, that is giving thanks to God. The Father enjoys hearing His children say thank you. Ten lepers were healed and one came back to say thanks. The percentage is no higher today. We must talk with God about everything that concerns us and Him. This is a major step toward victory over worry. Remember Daniel, he spent the night with the lions in peace when the King could not sleep. The first condition for victory over worry is right praying. Second, we must think right. Peace involves the heart and the mind. "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is fixed on You, because he trusts in You" (Isa. 26:3). Paul spells out in detail the things we ought to think about. We must think about whatever is true. Less than 10% of things people worry about are legitimate. Satan is a liar. He wants to corrupt our mind. The Holy Spirit controls our minds through truth. Whatever is honest and just. This means worthy of respect. We are not to let dishonorable things control our thoughts. Whatever is pure, lovely and of good report. Pure refers to moral purity. Lovely, is that which is beautiful and attractive. This is speaking of the Lord Jesus. Of good report means worth talking about. Whatever possesses virtue and praise, that which motivates us to do better. It will be worth commending to others. Right thinking is the result of daily meditation on the Word of God. Third, right living. We cannot separate outward action and inward attitude. Sin always results in unrest, and purity ought to result in peace. Paul balances four activities "Learned and received" and Heard and seen." It is one thing to learn truth. It is quite another to receive it inwardly and make it a part of your inner man. Facts are never enough, we must also have truth in the heart. Paul not only taught the Word but he lived it. We must learn the Word, receive it, hear it and do it. The peace of God is one test of whether or not we are in the will of God (Col. 3:15). If we walk with the Lord, then the peace of God exercises its influence over our hearts. When we disobey, we lose that peace. There is no need to worry, for worry is sin. With the peace of God to guard you and the God of peace to guide you, why worry? Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

The Beginning of Wisdom

“Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:20-21). Many times I have uttered the words "I wish I had known as a youth what I know now." May I take a little time to share some insights I have received from the Word and Godly men and women over the years. The Proverbs tells us listening to "The instruction of a father (4:1) will spare a child heartache and misery. The instruction we receive has a powerful influence on us in life. The Proverbs give us insight into life by stressing the importance of "Seven things the Lord hates" The sin of a "Proud look" (6:16-19) is where He begins. Of all the sins mentioned in the Bible pride naturally comes first, for it precedes all other sins (see Genesis 3:5). A smirk on the lips is a sure sign of pride in the heart. The sin of pride is the root of which all other sins are the fruit. All sin involves selfishness in some form or another. Pride consists essentially in sinful self esteem, delighting in the thought (typically false) of ones superiority over others. The other six deadly sins are manifestations of hatred against ones neighbor and four consist of displaying falseness and malice proceeding from the mouth. By not restraining our speech we can lose some of the effectiveness of our witness for Christ. We ought to be instruments of blessing to others. The older I get the less I talk and the more I listen. According to Ecclesiastes 5:3 we can detect the voice of a fool by his multitude of words. We all reveal our heart by what we say. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:23). Have you ever noticed you can evaluate yourself by taking note of the things people come and talk to you about? Are your ears receptacles for gossip and garbage? Jesus said "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things....by your words you will be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned" (Matthew 12:35,37). The things that we see and hear, especially if they are evil, are stored in our minds and are often used by Satan to tempt us to sin. I am learning to "Bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." If we refuse to control our thoughts, in time they will control us. I am learning that I can plan until the cows come home (I grew up on a farm), but if God isn't in it, it won't work. Life is getting too short to do anything but His will. Every morning I turn my life over to God and tell Him its His His world, its His plan, I am His child and I will do what He wants. The Lord is teaching me that prayer accomplishes more than any thing I can do. Preaching may touch the heart of men, but prayer moves the hand of God. I believe the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man still accomplishes a great deal. I used to come to the end of my rope and tie a knot and hang on. Then I took over, and came up with my own plans. Lately the Lord has been saying "Forget the knot, let go and I will catch you." He is God and I am not. His purposes still stand, and He still "Works all things together for good to them who love Him." Thanks for listening to a guy who is perhaps to soon old and too late smart. I thank God that I am His and He is mine. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

How's Your Love Growing

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:9-10). Paul is praying that the saints love would "Abound more and more" The love spoken of here is not "Affection," but a sober kind of love that places high value on a person and actively seeks that persons benefit. Paul's desire is this love will be present in growing abundance. This love is not affection, but behavior, behavior that is both pure (coming from a right motive) and blameless (moral purity). Paul is not scolding them for something they are not doing. He is encouraging them to keep it up and all the more so. Paul now prays a second thing. He is praying that along with their ever increasing love, they may experience an ever-increasing knowledge (of God and his will) and moral insight. This is not knowledge about something, but rather the kind of innate knowing that comes from experience or personal relationship. Paul's desire for these believers is for ever-increasing knowledge and moral insight so they may be able to discern what is best. Because in the Christian life, some things matter and others do not. What counts is "Faith expressing itself through love" (Galatians 5:6). Someone said "The good things in life are the enemies of the best." I was in a barber shop recently and observed a mother instruct the barber on how to cut her sons hair. The good barber did exactly what the mother asked him to do. She then went to the manager of the place and complained about the hair cut and refused to pay for it. I believe everyone gave a sigh of relief as she and her son walked out the door. Before we come down too hard on this mother, how many of us are short changing others in key relationships? Are we trading the best for something good? I don't like the lesson this mother taught her son, however I like even less what I teach others when I skim key relationships in my life (called family). How's your love growing? Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

Good Deeds and Faith

The business world talks about the platinum rule which is "Treating others as they want to be treated." This is a slight variation of the "Golden Rule." "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the prophets" (Matt. 7:12). God clearly operates on a principle of reciprocity; we must do good to people in advance of their doing good to us, trusting God to reward us later. How we treat others reveals our character. This passage picked up the title "The Golden Rule" from a sermon preached by John Wesley in 1750 A.D. He was making reference to a Christian Roman emperor who over a millennium earlier, allegedly engraved the saying on his wall in gold. We as believers have a moral responsibility to recognize how we ought to treat every other person. When we treat others (such as waitresses, store clerks, the elderly or children) the way people of higher status treated people of lower status in Jesus' day, we invite God's judgment against us. We will not warrant God's mercy should we be insensitive and demean another human being on account of social status. Jewish tradition declares that the sage Hillel, who taught before Jesus did, had a good grasp of this rule as being a summary of the law. The story is told about a Gentile who approached both Hillel and his rival sage, promising each that he would convert to Judaism if the sage could teach him the law concisely. Hillel declared, "Whatever you do not want someone to do to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Law; the rest of it is just explanation." Jesus said "Love God and love your neighbor on these two commandments hang all the law and prophets." Jesus was saying the law simply pointed out violations of love. True servant-hood is revealed when we have the best interest of others in mind. A practical application of this would be avoiding the temptation to negotiate the lowest price for services and goods, but agree to a price that is fair and still honors the vendor for his service or product. The way we judge people will reflect on the way we treat them. However our Lord has a warning. "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Matt 7:2). What is distinctive about the principle as it appears in Matthew is its relation to the day of judgment. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.