Building a Sturdy Character: A Mystery?

“Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.” -Luke 6:47-49

Most people, if you asked them, would say that they would love to have a better character. Wouldn’t you? Some disagree about how to do that. Some doubt if it were even possible. Others wonder how to achieve such a thing, if it were possible. Jesus tells us that it is possible and He tells us how. It’s actually quite a simple recipe that He gives us. It’s no mystery.

Jesus teaches us that character building is like building a house. It takes time to develop, but everyday it will grow if we follow His plan. Then if done rightly, it will stand the tests of various temptations and hardships in this life. The result will be very rewarding! It is achieved by both hearing God’s word and by choosing to believe and to obey it. We have to put it into practice. We should hear and obey God’s word. Do whatever He says! Seek to do it and strive to do it. Pray to do it and take steps to do it. You and I have to be wise. We need to make a choice today and every moment to fill ourselves with Christ’s word and to practice it. In the end we will be blessed by a strong and better character which is more like the character of Jesus.

If we do not obey God’s word (in anything) then we are sowing weakness into our character (just like building upon the sand) which later will reveal itself when the storms of temptation arise in our lives. The weakness of our character will surely show itself when put to the test! When the floods arise our house will fall because it is weak and poorly built (if we have failed to obey God’s word). “The fall of it will be great” Jesus says. How sad and terrible such things will be? How embarrassing and shameful to have a house so poorly and unwisely built that it collapses when the pressures and temptations arise upon us.

But how wonderful it would be if our house stood firm under pressure! For example, how wonderful if our testimony was like that of Joseph who was tempted by Satan (through a married woman in that case, see Gen. 39) and who stood victorious for God! Joseph did not arrive there by accident. Rather, it was by decision after decision every day (little though they may have seemed) that Joseph was able to have a house/character built upon the solid rock of God’s word! By choosing to obey God’s word time after time (rather than lust or some other thing) in the seemingly little things of daily life Joseph was able to develop a pure and holy character that loved righteousness and repulsed evil. We, through Christ, His word (both hearing and choosing to obey), and prayer can be overcomers even like that! Through Christ we can have the victory! Let us seek God daily and choose to obey His word. Also keep in mind that Joseph did not put himself into temptations way or go looking for trouble. He was there by necessity as a slave, just minding his own business and doing his daily work. That’s when Satan brings sin a looking for us! When it tried to take him he knew the best thing was to RUN away! It is manly and Godly to run away from sin when the temptation seems overpowering. Sometimes that is the best thing! Let us not be foolish. Build on the rock as Christ Jesus taught us to do and you will be blessed with more of His strong and righteous character!

Prayer and Decisions – The Example of Jesus

“And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;” – Luke 6:12-13

Jesus had been busy preaching and building up His public ministry work for lost humanity. Although He was indeed the Son of God, he was also the Son of Man. He keenly sensed His need for reliance upon the Heavenly Father and for the wisdom that only the Great God of Heaven could reveal. As Christ entered human flesh he also became subject to the dependence of human beings upon the power, strength, and wisdom of God the Father. Jesus knew that they only way to tap into this power was through prayer! Sincere, earnest, heartfelt, humble, passionate, persevering prayer. Christ often spent whole nights in prayer as He needed strength and wisdom for the activities of the next day.

When it came time for choosing His twelve disciples who were to become the apostles or messengers of the gospel to the whole world, Christ felt the need for much prayer! He chose these 12 men from among those who had begun to take an interest in His work, and who had a heart to follow Him, and even Judas.

Christ prayed for wisdom all night long. And then, knowing that He had received from the Father what was needed, he begun the work of choosing His 12 disciples from among the others. He chose the men who were later going to spearhead the carrying of the gospel to the entire world and begin His church upon the earth. What an important task to be done, and what a terribly important job of selecting these men.

Should we not follow the example of Christ? Oh, let us pray! Let us pray earnestly for the Lord’s wisdom and guidance for our lives and for His work! Before making those critical decisions of life let us bow before the throne of the Almighty God of Heaven and Earth and pour out our hearts to Him for wisdom! Let us linger upon our knees before the Lord, talking with Him sincerely. Let it not be a surface work merely, or just a short uninterested few lines, but rather a season of heartfelt and sincere prayer. Praying about a job? Praying about a move? Praying about a spouse? Consider well our need for God’s incredible wisdom and let us seek it earnestly!

The Love of Isaiah 54 – God’s Incredible Love!

The love expressed in Isaiah 54 is none other than the incredible love of God! This chapter pictures the love of God that never gives up until the very end! Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon for us. Though His people were barren, yet He had mercy on them. Though He was angry at His people and cast them away for a time, yet in His love and by His mercy He reached out to gather them again. To seek them and draw them with His love again, if only they might repent of their sins and be saved at last! This is the incredible love of God that is seeking out after us! He longs for us to be saved and for none to be lost, if there is any chance possible (2 Peter 2:9; Ezekiel 33:11). The choice of course lies within us to respond to His callings, and to, by His power, be overcomes together with Christ Jesus!

Just take a moment to read through Isaiah 54 and meditate upon the incredible redeeming love of God!

“Sing, O barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.

Meditation: Though it seems like you have no hope in life, but only trial, sadness, or hardship, yet God has many blessings for you, and so many things for you to simply enjoy and rejoice about. Therefore, rejoice!

² “Enlarge the place of your tent,
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
³ For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants will inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited.

⁴ “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame;
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.
⁵ For your Maker is your husband,
The Lord of hosts is His name;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel;
He is called the God of the whole earth.

Meditation: God and His holy presence is our greatest blessing and fulfillment in life! Seek Him! We need not be ashamed when we have the Lord on our side! Don’t let present circumstances beat you down because God will be the One who will bring blessings to you! They are now, and they are coming, even more so! Never be disheartened but only rejoice in the Lord!

⁶ For the Lord has called you
Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Like a youthful wife when you were refused,”
Says your God.
⁷ “For a mere moment I have forsaken you,
But with great mercies I will gather you.
⁸ With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;
But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,”
Says the Lord, your Redeemer.

⁹ “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me;
For as I have sworn
That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,
So have I sworn
That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
¹⁰ For the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”
Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

Meditation: Incredible love of God! Incredible mercy He has shown us!! Though it may all appear to you so hard now at this time. Though it appears that you may have been forsaken or forgotten about, yet the Lord has NOT forgotten you! He thinks loving and tender thoughts of you. Even if He had been angry at your sin, yet He has not removed His covenant of peace from you! He has remained faithful in His untiring and relentless love for you! Though floods come, and mountains crumble, though the earth shake or your heart be troubled with deep sorrow, yet the God of love and peace stands calmly and firmly by in His covenant of peace which He will not remove! Only seek Him more!

¹¹ “O you afflicted one,
Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.
¹² I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
Your gates of crystal,
And all your walls of precious stones.
¹³ All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children.
¹⁴ In righteousness you shall be established;
You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
¹⁵ Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.
Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.

¹⁶ “Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an instrument for his work;
And I have created the spoiler to destroy.
¹⁷ No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.

Meditation: Though we have been afflicted and tossed by hardships, though comforts have seemed to escape from us and to leave us barren, though enemies have sought to slay us and made grave attacks upon us, though we have felt hurt or in pain, yet God says, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” If a “tongue rises against us in judgment” to condemn us for our faults, yet God says, “You shall condemn” that tongue. As the servant of Christ Jesus this blessing is yours because our righteousness comes not merely from ourselves but from Christ Jesus! “Their righteousness is from Me, says the Lord!” God will establish, bless, comfort, and enrich us fully through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior! Blessed be His name!

“Out from there” to Go into God’s Blessings

²³ Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers.” – Deuteronomy 6:23

The Bible says that God brought His people out of the land of Egypt, where they were slaves, so that He could bring them into the promised land. God is in the business of relocating His people for their own good. Sometimes by wandering, or by inheritance, or by chance we could find ourselves in a place where God does not want us to be. That could be a place where we live, a place where we work, a relationship we’re involved with, a sinful thought process we have, or something else. God wants to bring us out of the bad place to bring us into the good place.

“He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in…” God has to do a work of removing us from our present harmful situation, so that He can bring and lead us into the wonderful things that He desires for our lives. There first must be a work of detachment before there can be a work of reattachment to something which is far better for us. God has our best interests in mind.

We simply must be careful though to ensure that we are not found to be fighting against God! Sometimes we are so busy trying to hold onto the things that we’ve grown accustomed to (although they are not really best for us, and possibly not even good). God may be trying to remove us from those hurtful things so that He can bring us into the promised land–something far better! Let us not be content to stay with something that is hurtful to our spiritual life, or retarding our progress in usefulness for God’s kingdom (as long as leaving it is in harmony with God’s commands and will for our lives). Let the bad things part, that God may fill us with the good. And let us not argue with God like many of Israel, who though they were taken out from a bad place, let their minds linger there. Many tried to hold onto what had appeared to be the benefits of Egypt, while forgetting the harmfulness of that land, and even God’s promise to fulfill with something better. Let us not doubt God’s promise or become discouraged in the way from there to the new place where God is leading. Though the journey may seem difficult, the place where God is leading us well surely be worth it!

The Curse of Bitter Water

^“23 ‘Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall scrape them off into the bitter water. ²⁴ And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her to become bitter.” “²⁹ ‘This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself,” -Numbers 5:23-24, 29.

In the days of early Israel, after God had brought them out of Egypt, He gave them many Laws and statutes to guide them in the ways of righteousness and truth. At the head of spiritual, social, and moral leadership was the priesthood. They were to do the work of judging and evaluating all serious matters among the people. Their judgment was to be based upon the Laws and guidelines the Lord had given through Moses. Among those laws was an established law to deal with the issue of jealousy, from a husband, and marital unfaithfulness on the part of a wife. The entire law is found in Numbers 5:11-31. Obviously men were held to strict sexual integrity within the nation as well (Deuteronomy 22:22-24), but this law in particular deals with the woman.

This law was a way to deal with a husband’s aroused suspicion of jealousy of an unfaithful wife, and to decipher whether someone had been faithful or not. Essentially, if the husband became jealous or suspicious of his wife being unfaithful to him then he could take her to one of the priests of the nation, bringing a certain offering, and the charge of suspicion against his wife. The priest would take holy water and mix it with some dirt. The woman would hold the husband’s offering in her hand and the priest would take an oath from the woman while pronouncing a curse through this “bitter water.” The woman was to agree fully to the curse and to solemnly and sincerely swear in her oath that she had not been unfaithful to her husband.Then, the woman was to drink the cursed “bitter water” with the understanding that if she was indeed innocent and telling the truth, that she would be set free and would be without harm. But, if she had been lying, unfaithful, and had sworn falsely, then she would incur the curse of the bitter water. In this curse, her belly would swell up, and her thighs would “rot,” most probably with some horrible form of disease (whether an STD, leprosy, or another).

This law served an important purpose and provides a number of lessons for us. First, God expects marital faithfulness and honesty from both partners in a marriage (both before and after their marriage). Secondly, jealousy is a serious issue in a marriage and should be resolved. Thirdly, we should “be sure your [our] sin will find you [us] out” (Numbers 32:23).The wisdom and implications of this law are clearly evident. First, one should fear to transgress against their spouse lest they should be put through such a process and found guilty. Secondly, one should never give behavior that would arouse suspicion or jealousy in their spouse – they should “avoid the appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22) lest their behavior arouse suspicion and give reason to lead to such a trial. Thirdly, under such an oath, one should fear to lie and then be found out by their own confession (if guilty). Fourthly, if they were truly innocent it would be known and the matter would be settled forever, but if they were indeed guilty and had lied about it (under oath) then their wickedness would still be found out and they would suffer the additional punishment of a swollen belly and a diseased and rotting crotch – truly a just punishment for such a sin or crime.

The same God who opened the Red Sea for His people to cross, who turned Moses’ staff into a serpent, who brought water from a rock in the desert, and turned a rebellious Mariam [Moses’ sister] into a leper for one week, was no God to fool around with or be careless before. The potency and power behind the curse was real, and not merely a bluff from men to scare people into confession. The truth would indeed be uncovered no matter what!

From this law, let us take the following lessons: (1) Don’t sin – run from it! (2) Don’t even give a reason for doubt or suspicion – avoid the appearance of evil and show your faithfulness. (3) If you do mess up in your life, don’t hide it from those who need to know – confess it and deal with it. That is the only possible way for healing (See James 5:16; 1 John 1:9). Sin and unfaithful lifestyles will eventually lead to our total ruin. Lying or adding sin up sin will only make matters worse, so don’t! Sin will eventually be found out; and even if no human being ever discovered it, we can be sure that God has already known about it and judgment for it will surly come if it is not reconciled (See Proverbs 28:13; Isaiah 1:16-20).

When God Stops Listening

⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. ¹⁰ Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, The alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother.’ ¹¹ “But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. ¹² Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. ¹³ Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts.” -Zechariah 7:9-13

God is very “slow to anger,” “of great kindness, or compassion,” and “of great mercy” (Psalm 145:8). But there comes a limit to the Divine forbearance. God will not allow people to transgress His holy laws of love and righteousness continually without impunity. As people persist in evil, refusing to hear or obey His voice, then finally the time will come when God will no longer hear their voice or prayer. Such is the teaching of these verses in Zechariah. After all, if we’re not going to listen to God, then why should He listen to us? Other places in the Bible confirm to us this solemn truth.

“The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.” (Proverbs 15:8). “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” (Proverbs 28:9). In 1 Peter 3:7 the New Testament speaks about living lovingly and righteously with our spouses so that “your prayers be not hindered.” In the Old Testament we also have the example of King Saul’s life. He started out well, but then went into a path of transgression that led him farther and farther away from God. He basically refused to listen to God’s voice, and just continued walking in his evil ways. Finally it was said that when he inquired of the Lord “the Lord answered him not…” (1 Samuel 28:6). When there’s no other way to get our attention, then God moves to stronger measures. Plug your ears to God’s holy law and truth for too long, persist in that, and God may just show us what it is like when no one listens to our voice. For such evil persisted in, God says “…when you make many prayers, I will not hear…” (Isaiah 1:15). But is there any hope for those of us who fear, “What if we’ve gone too far?” “Will God ever hear my prayers?” “Is there any hope left for me?” “Can I still repent?”

The answer to these questions is, “Yes!” We can repent, humble ourselves before God, start listening to His voice, and He will hear us. That is the promise of His incredible mercy!! Isaiah 1, verses 16-19 continue the story and show us the incredible hope that we can have from God, even in such a situation!! “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, ¹⁷ Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. ¹⁸ “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. ¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land;”

Let us close with the following promise from God,  “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). Let it be so with us, that we would listen to God and humbly obey Him. Then we can be sure that our prayers are heard on High! “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16).

Revelation Series Update! (studied through lesson 4 now, and...)

Hey just a quick update! Currently teaching through the book of Revelation in our Bible class! We've studied up through lesson 4 now, but only finished the first chapter! We took our time to study through chapter one slowly just to make sure everyone could spend more time getting to know Jesus - the main person of Revelation - before moving into the messages from Christ to the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3.

You can print the PDF notes and listen to our audio lessons to study along with us as we go through the book of Revelation!! Simply go to our Revelation page!

God Bless,

Ben B.