INTRO.- Some more quips and quotes, which give us some insights into life and perhaps some wisdom for daily living.
- How to handle a bad temper. Be like a kettle – sing when you boil.
Temper is something that most of us have (even a little or a lot) and we have to learn to deal with it. Some people used to recommend that a person count to ten before they blew their top or something along that line.
I think this quip is very good, however. There is nothing like singing praise to the Lord to change your tune in life. And the same holds true for anger. Sing when you boil.
Acts 16:25-26 “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open and everybody’s chains came loose.”
Before Paul and Silas were imprisoned they were first stripped and beaten. Acts 16:23 says they had been severely flogged. How would you feel if that had happened to you? Don’t you think you’d be just a bit angry? Maybe a lot angry? Most of us would have been. And it may be that Paul and Silas were somewhat angry too, but they devoted themselves to prayer and praise. And that’s when good things started to happen.
How to handle a bad temper. Sing more praise to God. Get away immediately and start singing gospel songs and no telling what it and God will do for your spirit.
- There was a time when people ordered steak rare. Now they order steak rarely. Why is that? Cost.
- The trouble in life is that by the time you know how to play the game, you’re too old to make the team.
Much truth in that statement. Why is it that it takes us all so long to learn certain things? And why is it that God wastes energy on young people? Why not give some to us senior citizens? Or as some say, “Why waste youthfulness on youth?”
- When a fellow starts living within his means, folks wonder what else is wrong with him.
Living beyond our means is not good, but that’s the American way. I figure the Joneses will always be ahead of us so why try to keep up with them.
Also, I have heard that some Christians believe that since Christ is coming back very soon they subscribe to the philosophy of: Charge your cards to the max because you won’t have to pay them off! Not sure I agree at all.
- The biggest shortage of all is the common sense shortage. This may be true. An old southern gentleman has a simple philosophy for life. Fill what’s empty. Empty what’s full. And scratch where it itches. That’s common sense.
- Unless you have never been tempted, don’t pass judgment on someone who has yielded. We shouldn’t pass judgment on anyone for any reason. We have no right to do that, because we are not God, but we humans are notorious for doing it. We like to play God and that’s what got Satan, the beautiful One, into a lot of trouble.
Matt. 7:1 “Do not judge or you too will be judged.” What you dish out is what you will get.
Matt. 7:3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye, and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”
Was Jesus trying to be funny or what? One thing for sure, He was trying to drive home the point that when we judge others for their mistakes, wrongdoing, etc. we are guilty of far worse sins.
- The trouble with being punctual is that, 9 times out of 10, there is nobody there to appreciate it.
Being punctual. What is that? It’s called being responsible, which is something the Christian should be. Being at work on time. Working a full schedule, a full 8 hours or whatever. Keeping your word.
- Some people have to moonlight just to see daylight. Have you been there and done that?
ILL.- When I was 18 years old my dad was very sick and in the hospital. He was only 53 at that time. Mom wasn’t working either so I took on a second job to help out. I worked 40 hours a week at a grocery as a stock clerk. And then I went to work for my girlfriend’s father who had an ornamental iron business. I was a sander and painter. He did the welding. I worked 7 days a week but it didn’t hurt me at all. And it also didn’t hurt me to contribute to the family needs.
Hard work or extra work never hurt anybody. I realize that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, but it’s also true that idle hands (and minds) are a devil’s workshop. Work is profitable and it also keeps us out of trouble.
- Those who have a right to boast don’t need to.
Why is this true? Generally, when someone does a good job it’s rather obvious. They don’t need to talk about it.
However, when someone does a good job they need to be commended for it. But we also need to praise the Lord who is behind all the good that comes from our lives.
If Bill preaches a good sermon, the Lord be praised. If I preach a good sermon, it’s a miracle!
God is the author of good in our lives regardless of the good we do. Two Scriptures to remember: I Cor. 1:31 and I Cor. 10:31.
1:31 “Therefore, as it is written: Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
More proverbial wisdom.
I. DISCIPLINE
13:24 “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.”
ILL.- Someone said, “The handwriting on the wall usually means that someone’s going to get a spanking.” It should mean that or something similar.
ILL.- I never did write on the wall when I was a child. Not as far as I know, but I did put something else on the wall when I was a youngster. My three-year older brother made me mad about something and I threw a tomato at him and guess what? I don’t remember what I got for that deed, but I’m sure it wasn’t something I wanted.
ILL.- Someone asked a little boy his name and he replied, “Willy don’t.”
ILL.- Someone else said, “Everything in the modern home is controlled with a switch except the child.” Wow! So true. And I believe in the switch. I believe in discipline in some form or another.
ILL.- I recall the old story about the little boy who cussed a lot. His mother tried everything under the sun to stop him from cussing, but nothing seemed to work. One day the little boy and his brother came to breakfast. The mother asked the first little boy what he wanted for breakfast. He said, “I want some of those blankety-blank Post Toasties.” Well, the mother just hauled off and backhanded the little boy into the floor.
She turned to her second son and asked, “And what would you like for breakfast?” He said, “I don’t know but I sure don’t want Post Toasties.”
While this story is humorous, I do not believe in that kind of discipline. In some rare cases, maybe, but most of time, no.
Loving discipline is a must. Abusive discipline is horrible. And we’ve all heard stories about abusive parents.
ILL.- I heard that one man told how his father beat him with a 2 X 4. That was a horrible thing to do. And I’m sure that he may well have suffered terribly in life from that.
ILL.- Preacher Vance Havner said, “Some time ago a school principal said to the teachers, ‘Don’t tell them students to obey. That’s out. Tell them to cooperate but not obey.’ Now cooperate is not the word my daddy used when I was growing up. IF I HAD NOT COOPERATED, HE WOULD HAVE OPERATED, YOU CAN BE SURE OF THAT.”
The old school was firm discipline of a child. The rod, the switch, the board, the paddle, etc. And most of the time, it worked. It worked on us. But the trend today is completely different.
ILL.- One time while serving at the Gasconade Christian Service Camp near Waynesville, MO, I saw something that helped to prove the importance of loving discipline.
The children in camp were in grades 5 and 6, I believe. There was one little boy who was so mean that everybody was ready for him to leave camp the next day. He would sooner spit on you and kick you in the shins as look at you. And he kicked me several times. So I just avoided the boy. I didn’t want to have anything to do with him. I hoped that he would go home.
One day while we had rest period I was in the boys’ cabin, lying on my bed resting. Suddenly, one of the faculty members came in with that little boy. He took him to his bunk, turned him over his knee and spanked him. The boy rose up and tried to hit the faculty member. That man turned that boy over his knee a second time and spanked him. By then the boy was crying. Then the man said to him, “I want you to understand why I spanked you. I did it because I love you, I care about you and I don’t want you to be a naughty boy, etc.”
Amazingly, that boy was a different boy the rest of the week! He started acting decent to people and of course, he couldn’t get away from that faculty member. They became best buds, so to speak.
Careful, loving discipline makes a difference.
13:24 “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.”
Prov. 19:18 “Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.”
Prov. 22:15 “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.”
Prov. 23:13-14 “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.”
Prov. 29:15, 17 “The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.”
“Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul.”
II. GULLIBILITY
14:15 “A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.”
ILL.- Shortly after Calvin Coolidge’s marriage, a door-to-door bookseller sold Mrs. Coolidge a book called OUR FAMILY PHYSICIAN for eight dollars. Afraid of telling Mr. Coolidge about her purchase, she left the book lying around on the coffee table without saying anything about it.
Mr. Coolidge never mentioned the book but one day his wife glanced inside the cover and there on the flyleaf her husband had written: “DON’T SEE ANY RECIPE FOR CURING SUCKERS.”
There are a great many suckers in the world when it comes to believing certain things or certain people. And we’ve all been taken in at some time or another.
ILL.- Someone wrote an article entitled, “Help for the Gullible.” The author wrote, “No one is giving away money or anything else of value. The Sucker does not accept this, since the chance of unearned bonanza is what appeals to the Sucker. My excitement rose recently in a Radio Shack when the salesman said I had $400 to spend on anything I wanted. Of course, I knew it was a scam, but the gullible person still feels the excitement.
“All I had to do was chain myself to some satellite service to the tune of thousands to get this unearned bonus. Smithsonian told me that I had been specially selected (no doubt as a scholar or professional) to receive a FREE Smithsonian membership. All I had to do, it turned out, was to subscribe for a year at the usual price. You may find it entertaining to find the catch in every such offer of something for nothing. This pervasive practice is probably quite successful, however, since the true American Dream is Something for Nothing.”
Nowhere are people more gullible than when it comes to religion.
ILL.- Someone said, “You can fool some of the people some of the time; some of the people all the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time. All of this may be a practical bit of wisdom for the politicians or the business executive, but when it comes to religious deception, the masses are universally gullible.”
ILL.- In Brisbane, Australia, a 30 year-old man named Douglas Birch dabbled in the cult of Yoga until it cost him both his feet. Believing that he had heard the voice of the Yogi commanding him to do so, Birch stood barefooted in a bed of hot coals until his feet were cooked to the bone. Then he crawled a good distance to a road, where someone took saw him and called an ambulance. After his feet were amputated Birch told a friend, “I am through with that stuff. I can now see how silly it was.” Silly? It sounds worse than silly. Sounds like stupid and simple to me.
ILL.- The University of Washington researchers said, “The benefits of TM (transcendental meditation) may simply be due to the extra sleep a practitioner gets.”
Merv Anderson said, “The normal gear for the mind of Western man (meaning us) is over-drive. I suggest that’s why a giggling guru from India has been able to turn something called TM into a multi-million dollar success story.”
It’s called gullibility. It’s called being simple.
14:15 “A simple man believes anything.” Some people are quick to believe anything and almost any so-called religious speaker or preacher.
How do we avoid being taken to the cleaners by people, religious or otherwise? We stick to the Word of God. We read the Word of God and listen to God’s wisdom. And we listen and learn from those whom we trust.
Eph. 4:11-12, 14 “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
14 “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.”
Heb. 13:9 “Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace…”
II Tim. 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Acts 17:11 “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”
We need to check everything out with the Word of God. Heaven and earth will pass away but the Word of God will not. Mark 13:31.
ILL.- Before going to Europe on business, a man drove his Rolls-Royce to a downtown NY City bank and went in to ask for an immediate loan of $5,000. The loan officer was quite taken aback, and requested collateral. "Well, then, here are the keys to my Rolls-Royce", the man said. The loan officer promptly had the car driven into the bank’s underground parking for safekeeping, and gave him $5,000.
Two weeks later, the man walked through the bank’s doors, and asked to settle up his loan and get his car back. The loan officer checked the records and told him, "That will be $5,000 in principal, and $15.40 in interest." The man wrote out a check, thanked the loan officer, and started to walk away.
"Wait sir," the loan officer said, "while you were gone, I found out you are a millionaire. Why in the world would you need to borrow $5000?” The man smiled. "Where else could I securely park my Rolls-Royce in Manhattan for two weeks and pay only $15.40?"
“A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.”
CONCLUSION------------------------------
Good advice, good wisdom from the good Word of God. Always think about what you are doing. And always get your thinking from God’s Word. The world is deceptive, but God is truthful, loving and gracious.
