“Am I My Brother’s Keeper?” – Part 1

Bible Text: Genesis 4:9-13

9 Afterward the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?” "I don't know, Cain responded. Am I my brother's keeper?"

10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground!

11 Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s blood. 

12 No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”

13 Cain replied to the Lord, “My punishment is too great for me to bear!

INTRODUCTION:

God asked Cain a very simple question, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?” and Cain, knowing the answer already, gave a rather flippant response, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” Not surprising since Cain had just committed the first murder in world history and the victim happened to be his own flesh-and-blood, Abel, his brother. So, Cain chose to give God an ‘attitude’ when put on the spot. He rudely replies, “How do you expect me to know where he is? Am I my brother’s keeper? Am I supposed to follow him around every minute and know where he is? He’s not MY responsibility!” Now, to me, that is callous!!!

“Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

What is the definition of ‘keeper’? Does it mean that we should be responsible for another person? Does it mean, like Cain imagined, “following him around all day and trying to keep track of what he does?” What does the word ‘keeper’ mean to you? And who is our ‘brother’? A sibling or family member or a Christian brother or anyone as used in the sense of neighbor in the story of the Good Samaritan? Are we commanded in the Scripture to be our brother’s keeper?

The idea of a keeper is one who guards, watches over, protects, and oversees another person or thing. We see a bigger sibling watching over the little ones while they play; guards and protects them from harm – falling, fighting, rough play, etc; and ensures that everyone gets home safely. Being a keeper does not mean minding other people’s business or helping people to cover up their wrongdoing in order to keep them out of trouble. It is also not about doing for people what they should do for themselves like making their own decisions.

Cain’s attitude was arrogant, selfish, and insensitive toward his brother. He didn’t want to be bothered by anyone over his brother’s whereabouts. But Apostle Paul says in Philippians 2:4, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”

To be continued next week…

Gracefully Seasoned Words – Part 2

Words can hurt us.

“The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts” (Proverbs 18:8).

Words enter into our inmost parts. To be great teenagers, living for Jesus, we must abstain from gossip, name calling, cursing, swear words, mocking words, and sarcasm. It can be very tempting at times and we want to act out, we want to scream, we want to cave in and lash out at individuals or situations. And sometimes we do. Maybe we say something negative about someone but it is something small and we try to justify it and tell ourselves “It’s no big deal, it’s just a small word and it won’t really hurt at all.” Then we wake up the next day and we feel horrible about what we said. Sound familiar???

Maybe the world’s temptations are too strong at times and we cave in completely and gorge ourselves with profane words and unbecoming conduct. It may feel great at the time but then it sets in and we realize that we have just hurt our witness and we cannot perform as we need to as Christians.

Careless words hurt us and our testimony. How can we expect to do God’s will if we are corrupting ourselves with harmful words? If we cannot control our words, we are deceiving ourselves and our walk with Christ is worthless.

And what about the words we tell ourselves?

Prov. 16:24 says, “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones”.

Some of us beat ourselves up verbally don’t we? We beat ourselves up with negative thoughts. “I’m fat, I’m unattractive, I’m stupid, I’m a horrible person”. What kind of words do you speak to yourself? Are they words of encouragement and self-esteem? Do your words reflect the fact that God created you in His image and that He loves you? If not, they should. Don’t speak down to yourself or others. This will hurt you more than you may realize at the time.

Words can hurt others

Leviticus 19:16 says, “‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the LORD”.

And no matter what the world tells us about how words don’t hurt anybody, I think common sense should tell us otherwise because words can hurt others. A friend responds with hearsay; a neighbor offers details; a coworker swears it’s true!

Gossip and slander can ruin friendships, by placing doubt in our minds; it can ruin reputations and tear apart lives. Gossip can have devastating lifelong effects on lives.  Gossip builds as sparks of rumor, innuendo, and half truths leap from ready mouths to eager ears. The dancing flames of gossip entice people to gather around its hot, tantalizing fire. Like a glowing ember in a forest of dry trees, the fire of gossip is far from harmless. One dropped spark from its fire has the potential to set off a blaze that sears a person’s dignity and reputation.

Don’t fan the flame of gossip by repainting it. If the information concerns something that needs your attention, get the facts and take necessary and appropriate action. Carefully keep sensitive matters concerning others on a need-to-know basis, respecting privacy as you would like them to respect yours. Luke 6:31 says, “Do to others as you would have them do to you”. Avoid the hot glare of Gossip. Instead stand in the cool light of truth. Words hurt. They not only hurt us and others, but most importantly they hurt God.

Words can hurt God

Proverbs 6: 16-19 says, “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers”.

When we look at Proverbs 6, we see that having a lying tongue and being a false witness is listed among some things that the Bible tells us the Lord hates. Lying is the conveying of a false statement—information deliberately given as being true. It is also “anything meant to deceive”—deception. Satan is the author and father of “the lie” (John 8:44). Lying is definitely against God. How could a lying tongue not hurt God?

It is difficult for me to understand how we can pick and choose God’s Word and only apply what we want to our lives. How can we say with complete confidence that we please God when we are only obedient in the areas that we choose to be obedient in? We cannot pick and choose what we want to follow when it comes to God’s instructions. It’s simply all or nothing when it comes to serving our Lord.

Teenagers, God calls gossip a sin. For something that the world tells us is so small and harmless, God tells us differently. Gossip violates God’s command to treat others the way you would like them to treat you. Slander” is a word that has an interesting origin. It comes from the word “Devil.” According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, slander means “malicious talk; to spread damaging information; to defame; to speak ill of.” Is it no wonder where slander derives its name? Slander is the work of the Devil, and those who slander are on his team. In fact the Bible says that Satan is called the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev. 12:10). Are you an accuser of the brethren too? If so, even though it may not be your intention, you are being used an agent of the Devil!

According to scripture, any Christian whose mouth is out of control does not have a right relationship with God. James 1:26 says, “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless”. “Gossip” is derived from the idea of “whispering.” Gossip” means “To indulge in idle talk or rumors about others; spreading of sensational stories.” Gossip is a close cousin to slander, and God’s Word places both in the same cupboard as murder and other wickedness - sins worthy of death.

Let me ask us teenagers, as a Christian do you occasionally slip up and commit a murder here or there? Or how about theft - do you occasionally burglarize a home or steal things from the store? You may think this is silly to ask. Of course, a Christian lifestyle doesn’t behave that way. But how about gossip or slander?

Do you engage in idle talk or rumors about others? Do you participate in bad-mouthing or spreading rumors about others? According to the Bible, which sin is less severe? Murder or gossip? I’m sure you get the message. Paul said, BOTH are sins equally worthy of death. I’m sure that you realize that anything which is placed in the same category as murder must be a serious sin - something that should not be taken lightly. But unfortunately, Christians do not usually consider gossip and its related activity as sin.

What we must realize is, gossip is more than a little bad habit. Gossip is wicked and sinful - it is a disease of corruption from the mouth. Gossips use their mouth as a weapon - a weapon which is always aimed at people to fulfill Satan’s desires to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). “With his mouth the godless destroys his neighbor” (Prov. 11:9). Gossip is an enemy to God and everything called holy -- a cancer which spreads a deadly infection to the body of Christ.

Closing: 

Words can and do hurt all the time! The truth is, words hurt, don’t they? They hurt us, others, and they hurt God. All throughout Scripture we read about how our careless words can affect all of us in a negative way. I believe that God is speaking to us today, His message rings load and clear in our ears. He desires us to be obedient and to guard our lips as we can all agree, Words are dangerous and hurtful. We must no longer indulge in them.

Gracefully Seasoned Words – Part 1

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Colossians 4:6).

We have known about and used salt like forever. We use salt as a seasoning to give flavor to foods and as a preservative to prevent food from going bad. Apart from being used in food, salt has been very useful for household cleaning and even in beauty and healthcare.

For instance, salt is used as a stain remover, to clean stains and rust from household appliances; to alleviate sore throat when gargled as salt water; to relieve tired feet after a long, stressful day by soaking the feet in warm salt water; to remove odours from hands, cutting boards, and garbage bins.

From our Bible text above, it seems that salt can do the same for our conversation - remove stains, promote beauty and health, and eliminate odours. For our speech to be gracious and seasoned with salt, our words should express respect, tolerance, thankfulness, and kindness.

Words of Respect, not Insult

Teenagers are universally renowned for disrespectful behaviour. In words and deeds, an angry and corky teenager spews disrespect without reservation. Why is this so? Do you know that just as we can control our salt intake, we can also control the kind of words we say especially when we are angry or hurt. Disrespectful words are unbecoming of us as children of God and bring more hurt and sadness and makes everyone silly and miserable.

Proverbs 15:1-2, “A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing, but the mouth of a fool belches out foolishness”.

Words of Tolerance, Not Judgment

It is so easy for teenagers to find fault in others, but to extend grace to them, even when ours is worse is difficult. We are intolerant to our differences, so we hate and bully others. The language of love and friendship is tolerance rather than judgment. Tolerance is a divine quality. God is patient, kind and tolerant unto us, so we should do likewise to others. We should be willing to make allowances for one another rather than imputing all sorts of opinions and prejudices on one another’s action. Then our words will carry the grace of sympathy and the salt of empathy.

Ephesians 4:2, “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love”.

Words of Thankfulness, Not Complaint

We are so easily dissatisfied. At school, we complain about our teachers and fellow students and at the workplace, we complain about our bosses and colleagues. We grumble behind someone who is going too slowly, and in front of someone screaming impatiently behind us. One would have thought that the only reason we should complain is when we are ill or hurt or offended or facing loss. But God calls us to more:

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your heart to God” (Colossians 3:16).

Words of Kindness, Not Bitterness

Sometimes, the conversations we hold with our friends and/or colleagues tends to quickly degenerate into uncouth words, tirades, gossip and backbiting - something unedifying. In many cases, we forget that there are other people, outside our group, listening to our conversation. The Bible admonishes us thus;

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:29-32).

The world is full of lies and deceit. We see it on every corner, every channel we turn to on the television, and we also see it creeping into our own lives as well. But when we give our lives to Jesus, we give Him everything and this includes our tongues as well. How can we be an effective witness for Christ if we are deceiving ourselves with our own words?

James 1:26, “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless”.

To be continued next week…

RENEW YOUR MIND

BIBLE TEXT: EPHESIANS 4:17-32, CEV

¹⁷ As a follower of the Lord, I order you to stop living like stupid, godless people. ¹⁸ Their minds are in the dark, and they are stubborn and ignorant and have missed out on the life that comes from God. They no longer have any feelings about what is right, ¹⁹ and they are so greedy that they do all kinds of indecent things.

^20-21 But that isn’t what you were taught about Jesus Christ. He is the truth, and you heard about him and learned about him. ²² You were told that your foolish desires will destroy you and that you must give up your old way of life with all its bad habits. ²³ Let the Spirit change your way of thinking ²⁴ and make you into a new person. You were created to be like God, and so you must please him and be truly holy.

²⁵ We are part of the same body. Stop lying and start telling each other the truth. ²⁶ Don’t get so angry that you sin. Don’t go to bed angry ²⁷ and don’t give the devil a chance.

²⁸ If you are a thief, quit stealing. Be honest and work hard, so you will have something to give to people in need.

²⁹ Stop all your dirty talk. Say the right thing at the right time and help others by what you say.

³⁰ Don’t make God’s Spirit sad. The Spirit makes you sure that someday you will be free from your sins.

³¹ Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don’t yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. ³² Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ.

INTRODUCTION

We have been told that our attitude has to do with the way we think, feel, and behave. Those are the reflections of our attitude. How do we come about our thoughts, feelings and behaviour? From the things we hear, see and experience. Our passage above describes the life of the unbeliever, which should be the old life of the Christian, and then goes further to spell out the rules for the new life.

In the old life, the following was predominant;

§  Useless thoughts

§  Ignorance

§  No relationship with God

§  Hardness of heart - stubborn

§  Ungodliness

§  Wickedness (and given to indecency)

§  Rudeness

§  Telling of lies

§  Laziness

§  Stealing

§  Obscene conversation

§  Blasphemy, etc

The old life is described as the old attitude. This old life is not in agreement with what the Almighty God desires from us and that is why Apostle Paul spent time to teach the people of Ephesus about Christ and the new way of life. The old way could not bring us salvation, redemption, and divine reception. It was a worthless life; a meaningless life; and all because of our attitude.

The main cause of that old attitude is the wrong beliefs we have about life. We see life through the things we believe and experience and these control our conduct and behaviour. What we believe becomes very powerful because they determine what experiences we will have in life.

Take for instance, a situation where you had a bad experience, may be a bad relationship. As you dwell on it and listen to other people’s stories, you begin to form an attitude of “all men/all women are the same”. Over time, you find yourself going from one bad relationship to another - just to further confirm your thinking that all men/women are the same.

Job 3:25, NIV: “What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me”.

Any situation in life, whether good or bad, has to do with the focus of our attitude. In order to embrace the new life, Apostle Paul calls us to abandon the way we used to think and to depart from the way we used to behave;

Ephesians 4:22-24, NKJV: 

“²² that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness”.

To change our old attitude, we need to change what we believe – in our minds. The power to change our minds is in the word of God. Let us ponder over a few areas;

1.            "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." (Proverbs 23:7). The Bible is telling us that “we are what we think”. Your thoughts reflect who you are and show in your behaviour. In reality, no one really knows what you are thinking, except you and God. To change your attitude is something that only you and God can work out — it has to take place inwardly – the renewing of the mind.

Proverbs 4:23, NIV: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

2.            “If you faint in the day of adversity, Your strength is small.” (Proverbs 24:10). How do we react to difficult situations, trials and tribulations? We grumble and complain and murmur… we put the blame on someone or something… we lament and go into self-pity… then we turn to prayer and fasting. Our reaction is our attitude to our faith.

Romans 8:28, NKJV: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose”.

It will serve us better to take all our matters to God first and then calmly, go over the situation to discover the hidden lesson.

Philippians 4:6-7, “⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”.

3.            Galatians 5:19-21, "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God".

What is our attitude to sin? Some of us do not take sin seriously. We justify sin - “I had to drive against traffic to get here on time”; we condone sin – “it was just a small lie”. Were we to appreciate the enormity of harm that sin does, we would wage war against it. How do we react when people point out our errors? We deny… argue… defend… and even insult them. In some cases, people leave the church. Not because they will change but just to avoid people poke-nosing in their affairs.

Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

CONCLUSION

Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”. Apostle Paul is encouraging us to have the type of attitude that Jesus had toward God’s will and toward people. Jesus did not throw his status around, despite his divinity; he submitted himself to God’s authority. He was disciplined and obedient. He trusted God to provide for him; and he ‘went about doing good’.

The mind of Christ was not full of mischief, selfishness, wickedness, greed, lust, fraud, ignorance, fear, disrespect, ingratitude, irresponsibility, etc. Without the mind of Christ, we cannot make progress, whether spiritually or physically. It is only the mind of Christ that can get us into heaven.

Philippians 4:8, NIV: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things”.

Let us Arise and Shine – Part 2

Song:

Give me oil in my lamp

Keep me burning

Give me oil in my lamp

I pray

Give me oil in my lamp

Keep me burning

Keep me burning till the break of day.

Types of Light

1.  The Match Light: The match light refers to the kindle that is gotten from striking a match stick. A prominent feature of this light is that it actually lights up, glows a little but just as quickly, goes out. It is not a reliable light for lasting illumination. Likewise, the lives of some believers whose ‘lights’ possess negligible staying power. The match light reminds us of the ‘Parable of the Sower’(Mark 4:1-20). Jesus describes what happens in v.15, “These [in the first group] are the ones along the road where the word is sown; but when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them”. In the same way, the influence and excellence of the match light is fleeting, not enduring.

2.   The Candle Light: The light from a candle burns, illuminates the room, provides visibility but extinguishes as soon as the candle itself burns out. There are believers whose ‘lights’ have limited capacity – only as long as the candle lasts. Mark 4:16-17 describes the candle light thus: “In a similar way these [in the second group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy [but accept it only superficially]; ¹⁷ and they have no real root in themselves, so they endure only for a little while; then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they [are offended and displeased at being associated with Me and] stumble and fall away”. The candle light lasts as long as conditions remain favourable; it is limited also.

3.  The Torch Light: The torch is an electrical device which derives energy from a battery powered by another light source. Its light is only as sustainable as the source of its power. The ‘light’ of the believer (how bright they shine) is only as effective as their source of power. Some sources of human power include fame, fortune, wealth, and status. Enduring light does not depend on any of these for when people are stripped of these sources of power, they become ordinary mortals that they truly are!!!

Other lights include sunlight, moonlight, starlight, emberlight, etc, but the ultimate light that the world needs is Jesus (John 1:1-9). His light has the capacity to displace every kind of darkness on the battlefield. When there is darkness, it speaks of night time, poor or no visibility, little or no activities, unpleasant situations, etc (John 9:4). The light of Jesus shines at all times and liberates one from the darkness (Ps. 30:5). We are the carriers of His light!!!

The Importance of Light of Jesus

1.     His Light helps us to see. God gave us the sun by day and the moon and stars by night. The light of Jesus guides us out of darkness (Luke 1:76-79). We are where we are today because we have found our way out of the darkness of ignorance, fear and sin through the light of Jesus.

2.    Light eliminates darkness. Light brightens the environment, every nook and cranny and leaves no place for darkness (John 12:46). Darkness has no hiding place where there is light. The moment light beams in any environment, darkness unravels and flees.

3.     His light guides our faith. In the struggle against darkness, it is the light of Jesus that can see us through the difficulties, enticements, distraction and distortions of this world. His light points us to the pain hidden in that pleasure and the falsehood in that favour.

4.      His light exposes every evil. Evil thrives where there is darkness because that is the cover it needs to perpetrate harm. But when the light of Jesus shines, evil has no hiding place. The light of Jesus uncovers the act, art and intent of evil with information, knowledge and power (John 8:12).

5.      His light brings about boldness. Psalms 27:1 says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation, so why should I be afraid? The Lord protects me from danger, so why should I tremble”? With the light of Jesus, the believer becomes fearless and confident because His light is full of unfathomable power.

Why do people live in darkness?

1.      There is darkness in the heart of man – like forces attract. And because some people do not respond easily to change, they prefer the ‘familiar territory’ which, of course, is enmeshed in darkness.

2. Darkness provides a hiding place. Many people are so afraid of the embarrassment of exposure of their unwholesome deeds. So, they prefer the darkness to conceal them.

3.    Darkness gives one fake confidence (Eph. 4:17-19). Those who get involved in the occult and other unsavoury groups often confess that their association emboldens them to do strange things they never thought they were capable of (John 3:19-21). The distinguishing factor between them and the believer is the Source of Power!!!

Conclusion

1.      1 Thessalonians 5:5-6, “For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. So, be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be sober”.

2.      Romans 13:12-14, “¹² The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. ¹³ Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy.¹⁴ Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires”.

3.      1 John 1:7, “⁷ But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin”.

4.      Ephesians 5:8-9, “⁸ For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!⁹ For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true”.

Divine lights shine out on all sides – like a “city on a hill”. They are prominent and influential. They become an example to others because they affect lives, for good, through their deeds. They carry the light of Christ (John 10:10) – the light that transforms lives!!!

Song:

I have the light of God in me

I have the light of God in me

I have the spirit of the Son of God

I have the light of God in me