By Dr. George Crabb, D.O.

Pain and stress are a necessary part of life. They are warning signals indicating that something is not right, that something needs to be addressed. This includes emotional pain as well as physical pain. There is nothing more private than an individual’s pain and stress. No one else can truly understand the pain or stress you feel. The American society in which we live is probably the most “pain-conscious” on the face of the earth. Americans have come to believe that they deserve to have total relief from all pain and stress. Because of this cultural belief, the non-medical use of prescription medications (including pain killers and sedative hypnotics) has increased dramatically over the past several years. Individuals take the medication for the feeling the drug gives them, the euphoria or the “high.” An addiction to prescription medication is a real addiction that is increasing daily in the number of those held in its bondage.

Many people, young and old, are turning to prescription medications, including pain killers and sedative hypnotics, because they assume they are safer than street drugs and because they come from a doctor or health care provider. This gives the individual a false sense of security. However, these drugs are just as dangerous as the other street drugs that are out there. Another reason for their increased proliferation is that the individual feels they cannot get addicted to them like the street drugs. This is another lie. Many of the prescription medicines people take non-medically are just as addictive, if not more so, than many of the street drugs. Individuals who use pain killers to initially treat physical pain, at times, find themselves starting to take the drug to satisfy emotional and psychological needs. The person proceeds down the road of addiction to that drug, and they have a compulsive need to use the medication for non-medical purposes. The drug is being taken because of its mood-altering effects and not to relieve the physical pain.

All pain medications have an opiate base. These include Tylenol #3, Vicoden, Lortab, Lorcet, Norco, hydrocodone, OxyContin, oxycodone, Percocet, Percodan, Demerol, Morphine, Darvocet N-100, fentanyl, Duragesic patch, Dilaudid, hydromorphone, Ultram, Ultracet, tramadol, and the like. The most common opiate-based street drug is heroin. All opioids are derived from opium, or they can be synthesized in the laboratory with opiate-like effects. Opiates attach themselves to an opiate receptor in the brain called the “mu” receptor. When an opiate attaches to this receptor, it blocks the perception of pain by increasing the level of a particular neurotransmitter called “endorphin.” The elevated levels of endorphins in the brain tissue not only diminish the perception of pain, but they also stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain thus giving a “good feeling,” a “euphoria,” or a “high.” The latter is that to which an individual can become addicted.

I had a patient in the hospital who was addicted to OxyContin. He told me that he could be happy sitting in a trash can in the dark somewhere as long as he had his pills. He went on to tell me that when he had the pills, he felt like a king. He then explained that when he woke up everyday, he snorted 30 – 40 mg of OxyContin just to feel “normal.” This is a major risk associated with any of the opiates. It is “tolerance.” Tolerance happens very quickly with the opiate-based medications. It takes more drug, more often, to get the same effect as a smaller dose, less frequently taken, originally would give. Individuals who begin taking 1 – 2 pills a day can quickly advance to 20 – 30 pills a day. I have witnessed some individuals who were taking more than 50 Vicoden a day in the short time of just six weeks. This addiction is a gripping one that takes the individual to destruction quickly.

Coming off of prescription pain killers is a difficult and painful task. Many will experience the following: insomnia, anxiety, diarrhea, restlessness, sweating, chills, muscle and joint pain, runny nose, backaches, irritability, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite, weight loss, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, low-grade temperature, and many more. Many people, as they go through this withdrawal, describe it to me as their worst nightmare. Individuals can find assistance for their withdrawal through a properly trained physician. By assisting them, it allows them to initiate their walk with God sooner; thus their road to freedom is started sooner.

While I am happy to say that overall drug use among teenagers is down, the non-medical use of prescription medications among their population has increased. This trend has been one of the most significant developments in substance-abuse trends in the recent years. One in five teenagers has abused Vicoden, and one in ten has abused OxyContin. Both are abused for non-medical purposes. Before closing this article, I want to describe a trend that is transpiring amongst our young people. A study conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in 2004 found that teens would gather up prescription medications, get with other teens at “pharming parties,” and trade for other prescription drugs. At some parties, teens bring whatever prescription medications they find in their parents’ or grandparents’ medicine cabinets. They throw all the medications into a bowl, pass it around, and then take whatever they want. This is called the “salad bowl.” Unfortunately, I have pronounced several young people dead because they did not know what they were taking. How tragic!

We here at Reformers Unanimous understand that there is real pain that you may be experiencing inside. This pain is deep and devastating. This pain is crying out to be relieved. But, my friend, this pain cannot be medicated with a chemical or a drug, whether it is obtained on the street or from your trusted physician. This pain that you are debilitated by can only be medicated by the Messiah, Jesus Christ. He, alone, can take your pain and give you a peace that will pervade your life. Allow us at Reformers Unanimous to introduce to you your Answer, your Hope, your Pain Reliever, the Redeemer – Jesus Christ.

Click Here to purchase the New Topical Booklet “RX” mentioned in this mornings blog for only $4.00 + S&H

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In the language of the New Testament, the word compassion comes from the word sumpathes, from which we get our word ‘sympathy or sympathetic’. Compassion is rooted in a word that means ‘to experience pain together’. Someone said it this way, “Compassion is your pain in my heart.” When you and I have sympathy for someone, we feel their pain. Sympathy, or compassion, is an emotion.

Compassion is oftentimes mistakenly identified as love, though is it not like agape love. If you say of someone in a relationship, “Oh, I don’t love them anymore,” what you probably mean is “I no longer have compassion for them. I have no more feeling in my heart for their pain.” But, we mistakenly call it love. In fact, oftentimes people confuse being in love with having compassion. Compassion is an emotion that one has for someone. The Bible says agape love is a love that never fails. Agape love is not an emotion; it is a decision and a commitment. When you love someone, you may not have compassion for them, but you may still (and you ought to still) have a commitment for them. In other words, “I am still committed to monogamy in our relationship. I’m still going to be responsible to my duties.” But, it’s nice when there is feeling that goes along with it.

Compassion is used directly forty-one times in our English Bible. The first time it is used is along a river in Egypt where Pharaoh’s daughter is bathing and finds a little ark, or boat, floating down the river. When she opened the lid on that little boat, there was a baby in there, and the baby began to cry. Of course, we all know this was the baby Moses. The Bible says, “And when she had opened it she saw the child and behold the babe wept and she had compassion on him and said this is one of the Hebrew children.” She suffered with him. That’s actually how that word is translated in Romans 8:17, “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him (sumpathes), that we may be also glorified together.” In I Corinthians 12:26, the same word is translated all members suffer with it. “And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it (sumpathes); or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.”

Sympathy or compassion is when someone is hurting, and we hurt with them. I want you to understand with this exhortation of how to have compassion one of another, which is extremely important because usually when there is stress in a relationship or stress in your life, one of the first things to go is your compassion, because you don’t feel like being nice. You don’t feel like being kind. You don’t feel like being gentle. You don’t feel like being sacrificial. But you must remember, compassion is not a feeling! It is imperative that you and I learn how to have compassion when we are under stress in our relationships.

Over the next several Mondays, we are going to discuss this topic of compassion, its qualities, and how we can show compassion to those around us. First of all, I want you to notice that compassion is measurable. In Psalm 78, the Bible says, “God is full of compassion.” That is a measurement. If you and I are going to be like God, you and I are going to have to be filled with compassion. The Bible says concerning Jesus, that He was “touched with the feelings of our infirmities.” That means that He has compassion for us. You wonder, “Does anybody care?” Well my friend, you can be sure of this: Jesus cares for you. That’s why the Bible says, “Casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you.” He has constant fullness of compassion for you and me. Remember, no one has more stress on His shoulders than Jesus. We sing that little song, “He’s got the whole world in His hands,” but He’s got more than that! He’s got it all in His hands; and yet, He has the time to have compassion on us. Our Lord is full of compassion. In fact, Psalm 86:15; 111:4; 112:4; and 145:8 all tell us of that very fact.

You may be full of compassion. If you are there, that is wonderful! What a blessing! However, you may be only half-full of compassion; and yet, some of you may have only the fumes. Your “compassion tank” may be on “E” and the lights are blinking, and you are barely sputtering along. How does this happen? The reality is that our circumstances and stresses of life can diminish our compassion and bring us to a place where we are numb to people’s pain. Now, let me tell you, this is not a good way to live. However, it is highly possible to do the right thing and not have any feeling in it at all. It is done all the time. People pretend to care, when really there is no genuine care at all. But this I know, you don’t have to get too close to a skunk before you can smell it! It is despicable when people pretend like they care when they really do not. Compassion is a measurable emotion. How does your compassion measure up right now?

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Matt was a young man of seventeen whom I first meet in my medical clinic in 1996. His mother brought him to me to address his drug use. Matt had been smoking, drinking, and sniffing glue since junior high. He then graduated to marijuana and a “little” cocaine in his early high school years.  He had recently dropped out of school because he could no longer “make the grade.” His girlfriend had turned him on to crystal methamphetamine (ice) within the past two months. The change in his behavior alarmed his mother and resulted in a visit to my office.

Matt told me that after using ice, he was not the same. He thought that his brain had been damaged and wondered if I had any medicine to “fix it.” He promised me he would never use it again, but he did. In fact, he started to use it more and more until he lost his job, his girlfriend, and his mother threw him out of the house.

I saw him one other time soon after these events transpired. Something was dramatically different. His short term memory was gone. He would forget what he was talking about in mid-sentence. But, what concerned me the most was this penetrating paranoia that permeated his being. He was hyper-vigilant, scanning the waiting room, as he paced the room like a caged animal. He kept mentioning to me that “people” were out to get him.

I called his mother, and together we made every attempt to help Matt. Unfortunately, to no avail. Approximately three weeks later, his mother called me and informed me that Matt had found a gun and killed himself at age of eighteen.

This is a tragic story, but not an isolated one. Matt was a real person who learned the devastating consequences of ice use. This is a drug that is highly addictive and highly destructive. It is sweeping across our nation and will be knocking at the door of your RU chapter or church if it hasn’t already. Let me describe this drug they call, “Ice.”

“Ice” is ‘crystalline methamphetamine hydrochloride,’ and can be smoked or injected intravenously, whereas plain methamphetamine powder is snorted or taken orally. The ice form of the drug gives a more intense high, or “rush,” than the powder form of the drug. It is many times more addictive than the powder form. The powder form is frequently cut or diluted with other harmful substances, but ice crystals are usually pure drug, which is much more potent and destructive. The high is longer lasting than either cocaine or meth powder. Ice is by far the most addictive substance known to man. Almost nobody, like Matt, tries ice just once.

The high Matt and others received from ice gives them a sense of energy and alertness, competence and intelligence, power and control. Loss of appetite, hyperactivity, and endurance are common as well. Matt would go days without feeling tired or needing to sleep or eat. The euphoria is associated with delusions of power and invincibility.

The long-term consequences of ice or methamphetamine abuse include memory loss, hallucinations, delusions, panic, and rage. The later stages of addiction are characterized by a form of dementia – mothers abandon their babies, teenagers shoot their parents, families are destroyed, and communities are crippled. Addicts are unable to hold a job or care for their families; they are consumed with their drug use and cannot do anything else.

The real harm with ice is not only its highly addictive potential but its neuro-toxicity (neuro – brain, toxicity – damaging.) Ice is much more toxic to brain cells than cocaine. As devastating as the crack cocaine problem has been, ice promises to be much worse. Ice addicts sustain significant brain damage. Matt suffered from ‘methamphetamine psychosis’ with severe paranoia. He felt as if the whole world was “out to get him.”  Homicide, trauma, and suicide (as was the case with Matt) are the most common causes of death for ice addicts.  Within five years, 90% of addicts are either brain-damaged, dead, or in prison.

Ice is burning down homes (meth labs), destroying families, polluting the environment, and corrupting our neighborhoods. Ice is destroying our workforce and flooding our prisons, hospitals, and rehab centers with brain-damaged people. It is infiltrating our schools and churches and killing our young people. It is an epidemic that will touch millions.

We must kneel before our God and ask for His grace to help those in need, then stand and demonstrate the compassion of Christ to them. There is no answer to the ice epidemic outside of Jesus. The medical field can offer assistance in dealing with the complications caused by the damage done to the physical body (and this can be extensive); but the Answer is the TRUTH. We must reach out and freely offer to them the “Cure” which is Christ. The addict needs to exchange the methamphetamine for the Messiah!

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“How art thou fallen from heaven O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations.” (Isaiah 14:12)

“Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there’s no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.” (John 8:44)

Lucifer went from being the “son of the morning” to becoming the “father of lies.”  How did this happen? This is a startling and vivid picture of the danger of losing the truth.  Before God created the world, He made the angels.  Above all the angels were three archangels—Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer.  Each of these glorious beings had a responsibility to lead other angels in praise and worship and service to God.  When God named them, He picked names with meaning.  Michael means “who is like God?” Gabriel means “strong man of God.” And Lucifer means “light-bringer.” God called him the “son of the morning” or a morning star, which is very significant because that is one of the names of Jesus.  (Revelation 22:16)

We are still dealing with Lucifer’s loss of trustworthiness, loss of transparent honesty, loss of integrity and character, and the sin he brought into the world through Adam even today.  The repercussions of the absence of truth in a person’s life last far into the future.  Before you give up truth, consider the consequences of dishonesty, the consequences of lying, the consequences of deceiving others, the consequences of playing the life of a hypocrite. It will destroy everything good and beautiful in your life.  And, you will not be able to limit the fallout—allowing the truth to flee from you will damage your family and those around you, perhaps for many generations to come.

If truth forsakes you, you are already on the way to a destiny of destruction. This drastic transformation is not just limited to the devil—it will happen in your life if you let truth run away.  Many a man and woman of character have forfeited integrity and honesty as the truth forsook them. The question then is, “What happened to Lucifer to so transform him?” The answer is found in Isaiah 14.

For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.  Isaiah 14:13&14

Notice that his problem started in his heart.  The loss of truth, the loss of honesty, the loss of integrity always starts there.  The person who trusts his heart is incredibly foolish.  Why? Because your heart is deceitful above all things, the Bible says, and desperately wicked. (Jeremiah 17:9)  You cannot follow your heart. You can follow the word of God. To keep the truth, we must follow what God leads us to do by His Spirit and by His Word. Notice the five statements Lucifer made:

1. I will ascend into heaven.
2. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
3. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides in the north.
4. I will ascend above the height of the clouds.
5. I will be like the most High.

Now what is, “I will”? It is a statement of ambition. Now, ambition is a wonderful blessing.  It is a part of the character of God; and because we were made in God’s image, we have ambition as well. The problem comes when ambition goes awry.  All sin is an aberration or a distortion of something that God made good.

The thing that destroyed Lucifer was pride.  He was filled with pride over his own achievements, his own abilities, his own accomplishments, and his own God-given nature. The success that Lucifer achieved within God’s rules and God’s will led him to believe that he did not need God.  He forgot that everything he had was a result of God’s design.

That began the decision making process to take his ambition and extend it outside of God’s will; and when that happened, Lucifer lost his integrity. If we allow pride to grow in our hearts, we will lose our integrity also. Every good thing that you have and every good thing that you do is a direct result of the goodness and grace of Almighty God.

The loss of truth from your life and the horrible consequences that follow begin when your ambition is twisted and you start taking credit for accomplishments and achievements that ultimately belong to God. That is how the son of the morning became the father of lies. And it will devastate your life if you do not guard against it.

Have a wonderful day IN the Lord!
Dr. Paul A. Kingsbury

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Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of they tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Psalm 51:1, 2 & 7

Last Monday, we discussed the “cleaning agent” that is better than Tide.  But, the best laundry detergent in the world cannot remove the stain of sin. It takes the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son.  That is the process David describes in Psalm 51.

The idea of purging appears again in Isaiah 1:25 where God says, “And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:” Purging was not only used by the person who did the laundry; it was referred to as a process used by refiners as well. Malachi 3:3 says, “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” When the Bible talks about purging something that is unnecessary or something that is impure out of our lives, it illustrates it with the process by which gold, silver, and other precious metals are purified.  Ore, dug out of the earth, has impurities and less valuable metals mingling with the gold or silver.  That must be removed before it is valuable and useful.  Because God is filled with mercy and truth, He places us in the crucible of affliction and turns the heat up on our lives.

When God turns up the heat on your life and puts you under pressure, the dross comes to the surface.  Have you responded to something and been surprised by what you said or did?  Put in the right situation, you will say things that you never though you would say.  Where does that come from?  It comes from the inside heart of man having been brought to the surface by pressure.  We tend to think that if God loved us, He would not allow us to experience so much pressure; but in reality, God’s love is why He puts us in those situations.  God, in His mercy and in His truth, is so committed to seeing us be pure and clean and white that He brings the pressure.  God wants to bring the dross to the surface so that we will deal with it and remove it from our life.

We see the concept of purging again in an agricultural setting.  Matthew 3:12 says, “Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Wheat is a wonderful and useful grain, but it comes encased in chaff which is completely worthless.   The process of purging the wheat removes that which is unnecessary and unproductive so that only the good remains.  In Bible times, wheat was threshed—literally beaten with sticks to knock the chaff loose.  I am sure that if a grain of wheat could talk, it would have said something like, “Whoa! I don’t like this winnowing.  It hurts when those sticks hit me.  Somebody make this stop!”

Purging is the result of God’s mercy and truth.  I am convinced that much of our praying is spent asking God to take away things He has sent into our lives to make us more like His Son.  The next time you endure painful circumstances or difficult situations, instead of trying to get out, look for something God is trying to purge from your life to make you more valuable and useful to Him.

Have a wonderful day IN the Lord!
Dr. Paul A. Kingsbury

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Good morning to all!  I want to continue to share with you some of the privileges of being a child of God.  When we’re born for the first time, it is not with divinity in us.  We are sinners and a part of a family with the devil as our father.  The devil is the spirit of bondage.  He wants to make a slave of you as well as wreck and ruin your life.  He uses fleshly pleasures which are fleeting.  With our new adopted family, we have a new Father.  We are no longer in bondage and fear, left to wonder if our needs will be met.  For many people with adult salvation coming out of a troubled background, whether it’s the absence of a father or abusive parents, there is a lingering skepticism.  Last week, we discussed the importance of being adopted into the family of God and the first privilege of being a child of God; personal leadership of the Spirit of God in your life.  In this blog, we will evaluate two more privileges of being God’s child; consistent undying love, compassion, and protection of God; as well as the assurance we belong to the Lord.

It is a great privilege to have a compassionate Father Who loves and protects His children.  The word “father” for some people has a negative connotation.  When you became saved, you were placed into a family with an absolutely perfect Father.   Through the Spirit of adoption, we are not taken in as slaves, but as sons and daughters.  I like how the Scriptures demonstrate how wonderful and personal this relationship is.  For example, in Romans 8:15, “Whereby we cry, Abba Father”; the Bible refers to the cry of a child.  The cry of your children even amongst a large group is easily identified.  This is how it is for our heavenly Father.  He is so close, personal, and loves you so deeply that He hears your cry regardless of any situation or circumstance.  Why should we linger on serving the devil and sin when we’ve been adopted into a new family?  We don’t have to work there any longer.  Nor do we have to be a slave to the devil anymore.

Another privilege of being a child of God is the assurance that we belong to the Lord.  Romans 8:16 says that the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit which reveals that we are the children of God.  He’s the Spirit of communication.  However, He does much more.   Our relationship and the knowledge of Him comes froma desired revelation through the Spirit of God.  In John 14:7, Jesus declared to His disciples that when the Holy Spirit would come, He would be the Spirit of truth.  He also said that the world would not receive Him, but you are going to know Him and He’s going to be in you.  How do we know Him?  How is His word illuminated to us?  That is a ministry of the One who bears witness.  He carries a testimony.  The Spirit of God is the One Who internally explains how God the Father and the word of God operate.

As we read the word of God, the Spirit guides and directs us.  As we learn more about spiritual things through the ministry of the Spirit of God, He bears witness.  He’ll guide us into all truth and alert us to danger ahead.  God knows what’s waiting in the future. This exemplification lies in 1 John 4:6:

The privileges of being a child of God are designed to lead us to a life of fulfillment in Christ.  Next week, in the last selection in this series on privileges of being a child of God, we’ll discuss the last two privileges:  ultimate gain through Christ and the glorification of God. Let’s appropriate our adoption into God’s family and appreciate all its benefits, that we may live victorious Christian lives.  Spend some time today to bask in God’s mercy and undying love for you!

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Imagine that you’ve been invited to meet with the President of the United States in the Oval Office. You’d likely look forward to your appointment with great excitement. Now imagine that someone much more exciting – the God of the universe – wants to meet with you personally. This scenario is true; God really does want to meet with you, and He wants to do so every single day through a private quiet time alone.

I have had the privilege of traveling for several years, training good lay-people in local churches to start the Reformers Unanimous Addiction Program. I never teach on the “It’s Personal” Daily Journal without seeing many tears. I sense hearts being turned towards Him. Just yesterday, I received a call from a Pastor in Florida, where I had been a few weeks prior. He shared with me that the church members who were involved in their addiction outreach were experiencing revival! He contributed it to their participation in the RU Daily Journal. In fact, he told me how his wife, a 29-year old Christian, testified on Sunday night on the effect the journal was having in her own life. I can verify here testimony and place before you hundreds that would say the same thing. However, I wonder how many started journaling and stopped? I wonder how many more started but now, just pencil whip it, to “get it done”?

Keeping a journal allows the individual to review their thoughts, moments of clarity, and assist them in developing Spirit-led insight. Daily journaling is a very powerful tool to keep one in the reality of HIM. I often teach how the journal, when approached properly, will give you a “fresh” awareness of God’s presence in your life. Have you had one lately?

Those appointments with God should be a source of great joy for you. But unfortunately, quiet times can sometimes seem too intimidating to schedule or maintain regularly. Here are some ways you can enjoy your appointments with God; I can promise you they will be more enjoyable than with any President:

* Seek God Himself rather than anything He might give you. Know that God will meet you where you are and reveal much about Himself to you if you’re sincerely seeking Him.
* Listen carefully for God’s voice, which you’ll recognize better and better the more time you spend with Him. Wait expectantly in silence for a while for the Holy Spirit to speak. Resist the outside pressure and listen for the inside persuasion.
* Write down your thoughts, feelings, and prayers in the journal during your quiet time to more clearly express them. Read through your Journal often.
* Think about how much God loves you, and expect to be blessed as a result of spending time with Him. View your quiet times as cherished meetings with someone you love.
* Realize that the more time you spend with God, the greater the intimacy you’ll develop with Him. Although the idea of a daily quiet time might seem awkward at first because you might not know what to say or how to recognize God’s voice; after a while, you’ll look forward to the appointment because it will be like meeting with your best friend.
* Listen to the Daily Journal CD again. I promise you there are parts you have forgotten. This will refresh your look at particular section in your journal time.
* Set aside a consistent time every day to meet with God. Choose a time at which you’re most alert and can block out distractions. I believe God always ask us for the “first.” He made it plain to give him the first fruits of our income, the first day of the week, etc. Many times, the mentors from the pages of God’s Word spoke of the first part of the day.
* Designate a special place in which you can meet privately with God. The place can be either indoors or outdoors, such as a home office or in the woods. I suggest you have several places, as to eliminate all excuses. If you are traveling like I do extensively, look for a place as soon as you are at the location you will be sleeping. Prepare to go there when you awake.

Remember: the best evidence of the value of a Quiet Time is remembering the day you skipped it.

Have a wonderful day IN the Lord!
Benjamin R. Burks

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Recently, we have discussed the reasons for painful chastening from the Lord.  As a matter of review, allow me to reiterate…No matter who you are, whether you are saved or unsaved, life is difficult.  If you are unsaved, your life is difficult because you do not have the Lord Jesus Christ in your life.  If you are saved, your life is difficult because you do have the Lord Jesus Christ in your life.  If you got saved thinking your life would not be difficult any more, you were wrong.  Whether you are saved or unsaved, life is difficult and full of trouble.  Now, for the unsaved, there is no hope.  At the end of the road is Hell—a lake of fire forever and ever.  For the saved, we can look forward to a better land.  But, throughout life, we are going to be dealing with pain and struggle and difficulty; and for those of us who are saved, the chastening hand of God.  In Hebrews 12:10, we see three purposes that lie behind the chastening we receive.

First, chastening is for pleasure.  “For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure.” Now at first glance, this seems to be rather strange.  In fact, chastening someone for pleasure sounds sadistic and sick.  But, God is not evil and sadistic.  He does not take pleasure in the fact that we are being chastened; but rather, the pleasure is because He knows that chastening has divine blessing and benefit as its end result.

Secondly, we discussed that chastening is for profit.  “But he for our profit.” Personal profit or benefit is only realized following pain.

Today, let us look at the third reason for painful chastening.  Chastening is for partaking of God’s holiness. “That we might be partakers of his holiness.” God saved the best reason for last! We see the word “partakers” twice in this passage; here in verse ten and also in verse eight.  Though the same word is used in English, two different ideas are being expressed.

In talking about the chastisement every Christian experiences, the word means “one’s share as a participant.”  We are chastened because we have not yet attained perfection.  We are going to be in “Adversity University” until we have breathed our last breath and God takes us home.  The word “partakers” in verse ten is different; in fact, it is the same as in Acts 2:46 where it is translated “to eat.”

Here is the distinction between the two words.  Everyone who gets saved is invited into the training camp.  They have a share of chastisement as a participant in the family of God.  But only those who endure chastening get to sit down with the Lord and eat.  Every believer is a partaking in His chastening; only those who endure are partakers of His holiness.  When we are faced with adversity, we must run to God in faith.  If we do not, we will quit.  It is a tragedy to partake of the chastening without partaking of the holiness.  That means we have suffered without gaining the purpose and benefit that was the intended purpose of our chastening.

An improper response to God’s chastening will leave you thin and spiritually emaciated.  When Karen Carpenter died in 1983, most of us had never heard of anorexia.  It is a disorder that makes people quit eating.  Refusing to endure chastening affects you the same way—you are giving up spiritual food.  It will wreck and ruin your life.  I have observed many Christians who lost their spiritual vitality during a time of adversity.  They either ignored what God was doing, or they got angry at God and turned away from Him.  Both are improper responses.   They failed to see what God was trying to do in their lives.  Ultimately, the best and greatest profit of chastening is that it allows us to be partakers of Christ’s holiness.  This means that we take on the very nature of Christ.  When something is referred to as holy, it carries the idea of being perfectly cleansed.

Think about the way a washing machine works.  Open the lid while a load of clothes is being washed and look at it.  There are clothes and water and soap in the machine, but they are not just sitting there.  They do not get clean by simply being in the water.  A washing machine has something that moves them around—an agitator.  You will have to hold the little button down to watch it work with the lid open, but what you will see is the clothes are bouncing up and down, pulsating and spinning around.  Do you have any agitations in your life?  They are there to move things around so that you can be a partaker of His cleanness and holiness.  God knows that without something to stir us up, we will not become more like His Son.

For the process to work though, you have to stay in the machine.  The agitation may be painful, but it is necessary if you want to partake of Christ’s holiness.  If things are difficult and agitated in your marriage, stay in.  If you are having a tough time at work, stay in.  If there are troubles at your church, stay in.  That agitation has been put in your life by God for a reason.  If you get out, you will miss it.  If we endure chastening, then one day we will be all cleaned up and presented to the Savior as a bride, spotless and white.  Why?  Because we made the decision, “I’m going to endure chastening.  I’m going to stay in the washing machine and endure the agitation.  I’m not going to quit.  I’m not going to give up. I’m not going to stay out just because things are tough.  I’m going to stay in.”  Enduring chastening is easier if we keep in mind the purposes God has for having us go through it.

My friends, if you have endured chastisement, or if you are in the midst of it as you read this blog…don’t quit!  Remember, it is for His pleasure, for your profit, and it will result in a partaking of His holiness!

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II Kings 5: 1-14

Whatever is not of faith is sin; and faith is integrally linked to recognition of, and conformity to, the Word of Truth. Are we walking by faith, allowing the Word to lighten each step of our pilgrim pathway; or by sight, trusting the frailty of the flesh and the foolishness of self? Are we seeking to please ourselves or our Lord? Elisha and Gehazi illustrate these two different options left to every servant of God. Today, we look at Elisha; and in two weeks, we will look at Gehazi.

He was not well known or highly regarded by the dignitaries (vv. 5-6), but certainly was known as God’s man by a “little maid” (vv. 2-3). A faithful servant of the Lord today is not out to please men or impress the religious masses; his desired recognition is among those who are themselves seeking to walk according to Truth – God’s faithful remnant.

God’s power and glory (v. 8), not Naaman’s honor or self-aggrandizement (vv9-12), was Elisha’s concern. He wanted all to know that there was, in fact, a God in Israel; and that there was still a prophet of God who stood uncompromisingly as his servant. Elisha’s desire was to honor his Lord, not bring attention to self by trying to dazzle Naaman and his cohorts with a sensationalized or colorful ministry. Unpretentious, humble service is the crowning mark of the selfless servant.

Elisha was also careful as to how his ministry was perceived by others; he refused their gifts (vv. 15-16). A clear testimony, honoring to God and honest before men, was far more important than personal gain. Nor did he seek self-vindication when he was misrepresented by Gehazi before Naaman (v. 22). God’s judgment, not his own wrath, was pronounced by Elisha. God will set things straight and administer justice in the end (vv. 25-27). Until God finally sets things straight, we are to obey our Master’s commandments whether the immediate consequences might be favorable or not.

Our motivation for ministry must be pure and selfless, too. We must constantly guard against the temptation to trim the message or let down the Biblical parameters for faithful ministry in an effort to enhance our image or broaden our fellowship. God’s glory is the issue here, not our popularity. If we are identified with Truth in every way possible, then we will necessarily be out of step with this current evil age. God is seeking workers today who are willing to bear his reproach. Let’s all be selfless servants!

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