Choosing Whom to Love

We have all heard that love is a choice. Spiritual growth leads to a level of life in Christ where we experience forgiveness, joy unspeakable, and the glory of God's presence. Loving Christ results in obedience, and obedience leads to worshiping God and loving others. We become peacemakers. We learn to endure in doing good. We stop "returning evil for evil" and, rather, we "return good for evil." The fruit of the Spirit characterize our lives. We begin choosing for God rather than against God. Even as we choose to love, we recognize the unseen spiritual powers that oppose us (Ephesians 6:12). They will counsel us to lash out, hate, hold grudges, seek revenge, push people away, and do all kinds of nasty things that hurt relationships. When we recognize that such thinking is the essence of spiritual warfare, we can begin to deal with it in the Lord's power. We also will find comfort, even healing, in our lives. The choice to love proved to be healing and transforming in Andy's life. He looked angry enough to spit bullets. As he told his story, I could understand his frustration. An injustice had occurred against his son, and it included verbal and physical abuse. But Andy's response was also excessive. He was full of anger, perhaps even hate. Rather than love and forgive, Andy sounded like he was ready to level the offender. "Last Sunday afternoon at church, while my wife was at a ladies' function, this idiot was watching the kids while they played in the gym. My son stepped outside the door to get a drink of water. My boy was unaware that he needed permission to get a drink of water. "Then this guy in charge grabbed him by the arm, dragged him back into the gym, and threw him down on the bleachers. He then proceeded to give my son a tongue-lashing in front of the other children and refused to let him get up for the next two hours. The guy even refused him permission to use the bathroom "I called him on this after the next service. This man then blasted me about what a creep my son was. "Last week four other people who had the same problem with the man-a true idiot-called to offer their sympathy. The grapevine works quite well at our church. I really want a piece of this guy. What should I do?" I don't normally give advice on how to take people down, so I quickly decided to move the conversation in a new direction. I told him I have experienced similar problems over the Years, so I could in part identify with how he was feeling. It was then I brought up the subject of forgiveness. I explained how Andy's bitterness was not only obnoxious but hurting him. Given time, it would "defile" or "stain" others around him, including his own son (see Hebrews 12:15). Andy trembled a bit. I wondered if he actually sensed the serious nature of his bitterness or if he wanted a "piece of me." But he nodded agreement: he became calm. Then the Lord granted him grace to forgive. The bitterness was swept out of his heart and it was replaced with the love of God. His twelve-year-old son found it quite easy to forgive the same man. Four years later, Andy wrote and explained what he did after he left the office. Dr. Copley, "I began praying for the man I was previously bitter towards. The Lord prompted me to pray that he would develop a love for children. Last Wednesday evening the same man gave a testimony in prayer meeting. He told how the lord had given him a deep love for children. That love became so strong that he and his wife chose to have a child of their own. He went on to tell about the blessings his little son had become to him. He is truly a changed man, and so am I. I am learning that the very thing God wanted to use to bless and strengthen me-my son-the devil tried to use to make me bitter. Andy had learned that the grace of God is greater than any sin. I believe the thing that is killing many believer's testimonies today is bitterness. When a believer is bitter, his attitude has the effect of saying to the enemy, "I have an opened a door of my life to you, so come and influence me." The Lord's answer to bitterness is always forgiveness. This is a sign post of love. Forgiving others when they despise us (or despise those we love) is supernatural. And it comes from having an agape love that will love others no matter what. Ultimately, giving love-and forgiveness-is a real choice each of us must make nearly every day. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

Called to Mimic

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children” (Ephesians 5:1). I remember seeing two Mime's perform. To my delight, I watched them communicate quite effectively without ever saying a word. A Mime is one who acts a part with gestures and actions. They don't use words, they use actions to express their message. The word "Imitators" in our verse means "Do as I do." What the Apostle is saying is "Don't talk about His love, walk in His love, live it, express it. Don't tell everybody you have it, show them that you have it. Do as God does. Mime. In other words, live it out before the world." This is a command calling for divine imitation to be our way of life. We are to "mimic" God's attitudes and actions through the power of the Holy Spirit. Mimes let their actions speak in place of their words. This doesn't mean that we are never to speak. It does mean that our actions give credibility to our words. Do you remember the old saw "What you do speaks so loud I can't hear what you say". I remember meeting an extremely over weight man who managed a health club. He was really pumped up about their exercise programs and he talked long about the health benefits made possible through membership in his club. I'm sure he has good management skills, he certainly was excited, however his physical condition did not make for good advertisement. Jesus gave us a similar charge in the Sermon on the Mount. He told us to "Love (as our lifestyle), our enemies and to pray (as a lifestyle) for those who persecute us so that we my be sons of our Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (Matthew 5:44). As God's children we should be like our father, and love should meet love. We were born with Adam's depraved nature and we were fully deserving of the wrath of God. Now we are in Christ, empowered by His Spirit and motivated by a desire to walk in a manner pleasing to our new Father, God. (John 8:44). Imitation can be costly. In the early church, when a man gave his life to Christ, he often had to leave his job because it conflicted with his profession of faith. The same thing happened to F.W Charrington, the heir to a fortune made in the liquor industry. As Mr Charrington was walking by a tavern one night, he notice a woman waiting outside the door. A man, who was obviously her husband, came out, she tried to restrain him from going back in. With a savage blow of his fist, the man knocked her out. At which point he walked back into the bar, totally oblivious to his bleeding wife, who was lying on the street. Mr. Charrington looked at the name above the tavern door and saw it was his own. He said "with that one blow that man did not only knock his wife out, he also knocked me clean out of that business forever." He gave up the fortune he might have had. (From Morning Glory, July 26, 1993). Imitating Christ, can be costly in another way. Jesus told us that those who hated Him would also hate us. Some people hate Jesus because He is righteous and holy and they are not. His life exposes the corruption in their life. We are to be salt and light. Salt poured into an open wound will always bring a reaction. Light shining in darkness exposes what is going on in the dark. When we live like Christ we will receive some of the wrath of a world that hates righteousness. The Louvre in Paris is perhaps the most famous art museum in the world. It displays originals by such masters as Delacroix, Michelangelo, Rubens, da Vinci, Ingres, Vermeer, and many others. Since 1793, the Louver has encouraged aspiring artists to come and copy the masters. Some of our most famous modern artists have done that and have become better painters by copying the best the world has ever known. An article in the Smithsonian magazine tells about Amal Dagher, a 63 year old man who has been duplicating art at the Louvre for 30 years. Dagher remains in awe of the masters and continues to learn from them. He said, "If you're too satisfied with yourself, you can't improve." Like the Louver copyists, we'll never reach perfection before we get to heaven. Even so, we must resist the temptation to be satisfied with our present imitation of Jesus. We need to keep looking to Him, learning from Him, and asking for His help. To become like Christ we must learn from the Master. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

Living a Pure Life

The Scriptures make much application of the truths they teach. Paul's Epistles give us the teaching in the first half of the book and the task in the second half. Christian duty always follows Biblical Doctrine. In II Corinthians Paul tells us to separate ourselves from evil, and He will be a Father to us and we will be His sons and daughters. Then He says “since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”- 2 Corinthians 7:1. When we accepted Christ He declared us to be holy and righteous before Him. He put on shoulders the robe of His Righteousness. At Calvary all our sins were washed away. On the basis of this truth we can "purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit." How do we do that? By our choosing to walk in the Word, and live out the truth of the Word. The Word takes root in our hearts and is manifested in our walk. Continually drinking from the Water of Life will produce Christ likeness as we "Work out what the Holy Spirit through the Word works in. An experiential knowledge of the Word gives us the power to "Prefect holiness out of reverence for God." How can we live a holy life in a polluted world? By taking Jesus words seriously when He said "You are clean through the Word's I have spoken to you." As the old Hymn writer said "When we walk with the Lord in the Light of His Word, what glory He sheds on our way." How are you and the Scriptures getting along? Are they close friends or distant relatives. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.