Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. Since the very beginning,
man has tried to place the blame for his sin and fault on someone
else. The Lord Jesus dispelled the
notion that we can blame anyone else for the things that we do.
If a man ever had just cause to hit somebody in the mouth,
it would be immediately after he was hit in the mouth by that
person, would it not? Yet the Lord said, turn the other
cheek. When we're in a bad mood, we can easily find someone else's
error that put us there, can't we? If things don't go as planned,
someone else can take the blame very easily in our own mind.
If our husband or our wife doesn't act exactly like we think they
should, or does something we don't like, our flesh says we
have a right to be angry. But do we? There is only one
person in all the earth over whom we are to exercise complete
control. Each morning, when we look in
the mirror, we see that person. If we become angry with our spouse
or neighbor, even though their actions may be provocative, we
are totally accountable for how we respond to that provocation.
It is incorrect to make the statement, well, she or he made me mad,
so she or he is responsible for my acting the way I did. Are
we not admonished to exercise self-control regardless of the
situation? The primary goal of our flesh
is to seek its own happiness. Because of this, the error arises
in the thinking of men that this is also the primary goal of the
Lord in working with His children. Now there is abundant scripture
to indicate the great benevolence that the Lord is determined to
show to His own, and He has indeed set forth the truth that all
things work together for our good. However, the chief purpose
of the Lord in dealing with His children is to see them conform
to the image of His Son. In fact, they are predestined
unto that very result. Their happiness in this world
is secondary to that purpose and is a result of that work
performed in them by His Spirit. He is indeed designed that they
should be ultimately happy, but not until he has achieved in
them his perfect work. Satan thought that he would bring
heartache upon Job in order to destroy him. Little did he know
that God had ordained his very orchestrations in order to bring
Job to a place he wanted him to be. Job was a righteous man
because the Lord deemed him so, but he was not a perfect man.
It was the Lord's intention to bring him to a place of fully
understanding who he was before God and who God was before him. The Lord accomplished that very
purpose, ultimately bringing Job to a place of repentance
and worship. As Job confessed, I have heard
of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself and
repent in dust and ashes. In the course of that journey,
the Lord brought men into Job's life who were by Job's own description
miserable comforters and physicians of no value. In some ways, they
added to Job's grief as they sought to straighten him out.
But through this buffeting, the Lord was working to humble Job's
heart. I am convinced that the Lord
brings people, sometimes husbands or wives, into our lives who
sometimes vex us and cause us unhappiness for the same purpose
of bringing us into conformity to Christ. We often find ourselves
fighting against those persons when in reality the Lord has
designed our confrontations with them for our benefit. If a man
or woman smites us, this may be verbal, we are not to rise
up in anger, even though it is justified according to our flesh,
but are to submit ourselves to them. The Lord designs to work
in us humility rather than vengeance. This really aggravates our flesh
because vengeance is much more satisfying and yet is the source
of much of our discontentment. We must forever abandon the idea
that it is the fault of others that causes us to act and react
as we do. All men, especially God's children,
are personally accountable for every action and reaction that
they have. We can make every excuse we want
to, but the bottom line is we are accountable for our actions
regardless of the actions of others. We cannot disregard the
teaching of Christ because it is not convenient, nor can we
justify ourselves for actions and attitudes that are not in
keeping with the example He has set for us. We must bid vengeance
adieu, for it belongs to the Lord. He that is of a proud heart
stirreth up strife, but he that putteth his trust in the Lord
shall be made fat. Why do you not rather take wrong?
Why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Do
you rejoice in the commandments of him who suffered for sinners
as a sheep before her shearers, opening not his mouth? For a
free CD containing 15 of these radio broadcasts, send an email
to forthepoor at windstream.net.