Category: Strength for Today

Helping the Poor

Leviticus 25:53
“And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight.

Helping the poor has always been one of the ways God blesses an individual. Having poor people in a society is not a present day problem, but it is an every generation problem. You are always going to have poor people in your society. The treatment of them may determine whether or not a person has God’s blessings on their life and ministry.

In Leviticus 25, God showed the children of Israel how they should treat the poor. In those days, a poor person would often become a servant to a person to whom they owed money. It was not the same as we would think of slavery, though at times it turned into that, it was more like a person being employed by someone. God showed in this chapter how the poor should be treated. Let me show you what God teaches about helping the poor.

First, don’t treat the poor in a severe manner. The verse above says, “…the other shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight.” In other words, just because you have the power to hurt the poor, you are not to do so. Just because a person is poor does not give you the right to take advantage of them. It can be tempting at times to take advantage of them because they don’t have the power or the resources to defend themselves, but you will be fighting against God if you do so.

Moreover, you are to treat the poor with dignity and respect. God reminded the children of Israel that they were slaves in the land of Egypt, and He wanted them to remember how they felt when they were slaves. Likewise, if God blesses you and increases your finances, you should never forget what it was like when you were poor. Be careful not to treat the poor in a severe way just because you know they can’t do anything to hurt you.

Second, give the poor a chance to work themselves out of their situation. When a poor person had a bill to pay, they worked for the individual until they paid their bills. I believe God is teaching that you should help the poor by showing them how to make a living through work. There is nothing wrong with giving money to the poor, but that is only a temporary reprieve. The best way you can help the poor is to teach them how to make a living so they will never have to be dependent on others. Teach them how to use their money wisely.

Third, give the poor hope that they can get out of their situation. God set up the year of jubilee to give the poor hope to get out of their situation. In the year of jubilee, all debts were forgiven and every servant was to be freed. God didn’t want the people to have no hope that they couldn’t get out of their situation. Always give the poor hope that they can get out of their situation. Show them the light at the end of the tunnel. When they have hope, they have motivation to work themselves out of their situation.

Always remember that you do have it better than someone else. You may not have much money, but you do have more money than someone else. Learn to treat those who are poorer than you in the right way, and God will be sure to help you. God says in Proverbs 19:17, “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.” If you have pity on the poor by treating them right and teaching them how to work themselves out of their situation, God promises to reward you for your efforts.

Using a Faulty Compass

Leviticus 18:24-25
“Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.”

I remember a story from years ago how Dr. Lester Roloff and Dr. Jack Hyles flew to a revival meeting together. Dr. Roloff flew his own plane, and Bro. Hyles rode with him on the trip to their meeting. Somehow Bro. Roloff got off course on his flight. He couldn’t figure out why his instruments were not working. After much analysis he found out the cause of his problem. He had a small metal can on the dash of the airplane, which altered the heading instrument. The instruments worked off magnetic headings, and with a metal can on the dash, the compass gave him a false reading. Literally, the faulty compass led them off course.

There are many in Christianity today who use a faulty compass to measure morality. They look at how wicked the world is, and they surmise that they are not as bad as the world. Their compass for morality becomes the morality of the world. The mistake they make is that they should be using the Scriptures as their moral compass. It really doesn’t matter what the world will and will not justify, the only thing that matters is what the Scriptures say.

In Leviticus 18, God sets the moral compass for the Christian. Though these moral laws were initially given to the children of Israel, God never changed them. God expects the Christian to live by these laws of morality. When you read the list of sins God doesn’t want us to commit, you will see some very disgusting sins. In fact, God says that these sins are the very sins that caused other nations to fail. These sins eventually led to their destruction. This list includes the sins of adultery, sodomy, prostitution and many other horrible sins. The nations before Israel legalized these sins, and their acceptance of them led to God’s judgment. God commanded Israel not to use these other nations as their moral compass.

God also shows how to keep from committing these sins. When you look at the beginning of the chapter, you will find that God uses the word “nakedness” several times. God told Israel in order to avoid these horrible sins you go to the root of the problem and avoid seeing nakedness in your personal home and society. “Nakedness” is defined as anything above the knee. This was not just a command to the women, but also to the men. God told them that they would be able to keep morality in their nation and homes if they would avoid seeing “nakedness” at home.

Christian, don’t use the world as your measuring stick for morality. The world is a faulty compass. Just because you are home doesn’t make it right to be indecent. You need to make sure that your children are always decent. Decency should be expected in your home. This keeps the home from losing its morality. I am not just talking about decency in what you wear, but I am also talking about decency in what you see. Be careful that you don’t have one rule for decency in what you wear, but another rule for decency in what you see.

Just because your measure of decency is not as bad as the world’s, it is still wrong if your measure of decency doesn’t match God’s compass for decency and morality. I encourage you to take a good look at what you allow yourself to see and wear. Always remember that the world is a faulty compass by which to measure your decency and morality. Decency and morality should only be measured by the true compass of the Word of God. If your compass is different from God’s Word, then you have a faulty compass. A faulty compass in life will lead you to an undesirable destination. Let God’s Word be your compass, and It will lead you to the destination of decency, morality and true happiness.

A Sacred Position

Leviticus 8:2-3
“Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread; And gather thou all the congregation together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.”

In the Scriptures, the office of the priest was a very sacred position. There were several qualifications a person had to meet before they could be a priest. In the verses above, God set aside Aaron and his sons to fill the priesthood. When this great event happened, God told Moses to gather the congregation so they could see the great detail God had for the priest. This event was to show the children of Israel the sacredness of this position.

Though today the office of the priest in the tabernacle has been done away with, I still believe that we can look at that position and realize it can symbolize the office of the pastor. Though the Scriptures teach that every believer is a priest, and that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost, I also believe that God wants us look at this illustration and see how we should treat the office of a pastor.

The priest was the representative of God to the people of Israel. Likewise, the pastor is the representative of God to the local New Testament Baptist church. Because of this, I believe we should not treat that position lightly. Let me give you some thoughts about how we should treat this position.

You will notice that God wanted the congregation to see the ordaining of Aaron and his sons. I believe this was to show the families of Israel how important the position was that Aaron and his sons held. The office of the pastor should not be treated lightly. Just like it was the responsibility of the parent to bring their child to see Aaron ordained as priest, I believe you also should make sure your child understands the sacredness of the office of pastor. Parents must be careful about tearing down their pastor with words. So many parents wonder why their children have no respect for the church or the pastor, but they tore him down every Sunday on their way home from church. What do they expect? You must make sure that your children hear you saying positive things about your pastor. Pray for your pastor with your children. Let your children hear you praise the sermons the LORD gave him. Let your children do special things for their pastor. I am not trying to lift up a man, but I am trying to lift up the position. Every Christian needs to be careful to treat the office of the pastor with the sacredness it deserves.

Furthermore, pastors should not take their position lightly. You should not use your position to abuse people. You must understand that when you abuse your position, you turn people off from Christianity because in their mind you represent God. Many people don’t separate the actions of their pastor from God. Though this is wrong, this is simply a fact. As a pastor, God will hold you accountable for how you treat your position. God killed Nadab and Abihu when they didn’t treat their position and duties as they should, and God will hold every pastor accountable for how he conducts himself in the sacred position.

Finally, let’s be careful not to attack every preacher for the actions of a few. Though a few men may have abused their position, most men of God treat their position with dignity and respect. Be sure that your family understands the importance of this position by how you treat your pastor and honor his position. The best way to do this is to daily pray for your pastor with your family.

I Can’t Believe You Would Do That

Exodus 32:21
“And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?”

Has someone you loved and respected ever done something that you couldn’t believe? That is exactly what Moses felt about Aaron when he allowed the children of Israel to build a golden calf. While Moses received the commandments from God on Mt. Sinai, Aaron was supposed to care for the children of Israel. Because Moses had been on the top of the mount for so long, the children of Israel asked Aaron to build them a new god. The new god he built was a golden calf. When Moses came down from the mount, he saw the people dancing naked around this calf. Apparently, Moses thought the people must have forced Aaron to do this because he said, “What did this people unto thee,…” Moses never thought that Aaron was capable of committing this great sin.

The older I get, the less I am surprised when good people fall in sin. I have watched people who have a great respect for someone excuse someone’s sin away, or cover their eyes when they compromise. In their heart they are like Moses, they don’t believe this person whom they love and respect would ever do what they were accused of or what they actually did. Let me give you some thoughts about this subject.

First, anyone is capable of any sin. You must realize that everyone is a sinner. Because everyone is a sinner, then that means everyone is capable of committing any sin. Just because you love and respect a person does not put them above sin. If I were to tell you some of the things I’ve heard good people do, you would be shocked. At best we are all sinners; therefore, we are all capable of committing any sin.

Second, nobody made them commit their sin or compromise. Let me make this clear, everyone has a will with which they can do whatever they want. Nobody makes a person commit sin. When they sin, they chose to sin. Don’t fall for the trap of blaming their sin on health or tough circumstances. Everyone chooses to sin; therefore, it is their own fault.

Third, don’t justify their sin when you find out about it. Herein is one of the greatest mistakes I see people make. Because we love someone dearly, we will justify their sin and make it sound as if their sin is not really a “bad” sin. Let me make this clear, all sin is bad sin. In our attempt to justify in our minds why someone committed a sin, we will water down sin for the sake of keeping a person on the pedestal we set them upon in our minds. The worst thing you can do is to justify a person’s sin. When you justify sin, you are setting them up for greater sin.

Last, realize everyone is human. I make this statement for two reasons. First, don’t build anyone so big that you will fall for the trap of excusing their sin away. Second, when someone you dearly love and respect sins, don’t attack and kill them, rather try to restore them. If you are not careful you will lose faith in people, and become suspect of everyone. That is not a good attitude to have. If you will realize people are human, then that will keep you from setting them higher in your estimation than you should, thus keeping you from trying to destroy them when they fall. Just remember, sin affects everyone, including you.

Three Keys to a Happy Life

Exodus 22:1
“If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.”

Happiness is not a possession that can be bought or obtained, but happiness is a result of actions performed. This world is constantly trying to find the key to happiness, but they avoid the very thing that tells how to have happiness which is the Word of God. The world often thinks that happiness is obtained through possessions, when the Scriptures teach that happiness comes as a result of doing something right. You will notice the difference between the two ways is that the world’s way to obtain happiness is through selfishness, and the Scriptural way to obtain happiness is through unselfishness.

In the Book of Exodus, God gives the laws by which man should live. God wants man to be happy, so He gave them laws by which to live so they could have happiness. If anyone should know how we can be happy it should be God, because He is the One Who created us. God categorizes His commandments into three areas, which in these three areas are the three keys to happiness. Let me show you these three keys.

The first category of laws that show the keys to happiness are the laws of spirituality. God teaches in His Word that you will never be happy without having a right relationship with Him. The laws of spirituality are simply laws which show how mankind can have a right relationship with God. You can try every other way to be happy, but you will not find it until you make sure you serve the LORD. You may think that God has too many rules by which to live, but those rules are the very key to having a right relationship with Him. If you want true happiness in your life, then you MUST make sure that your relationship with God is right.

The second category of laws that show the keys to happiness are the laws of morality. These laws show you how to live with yourself. Being moral is more than just being right with God. Morality is living in such a manner where you can live with yourself. The laws of morality are there to help you to not to have regrets later in life. Christian, the Devil may try to trick you into believing that losing your morality is where you find true happiness and fun, but the Devil never shows what the person’s life is like when the season of sin is over. Living a moral life is important so that you can be at peace with yourself. If you live an amoral life, you will find that regrets will constantly nag you for the remainder of your life. If you want true happiness, then you must live a moral life.

The third category of laws that show the keys to happiness are the laws of civility. These laws show you how to live with others. In Exodus 22, God goes into great detail on how to treat others right. This is simply being civil with each other. When you treat others right, you will find that you can happily live with others.

Summarizing the keys to happiness simply comes down to this, having a right relationship with God, others and yourself. You will find that these three keys result in happiness. If you get one key wrong, then all keys will be wrong. All three must be right to find true happiness in life.

Keeping Your Salvation Fresh

Exodus 13:3
“And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten.”

The greatest day of anyone’s life is the day they were born again; the day they accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. Once you get saved, one of the greatest tasks you will have is to keep it fresh each day. You don’t ever want your salvation to become stale. I have watched many Christians let their salvation become stale when they could have kept it fresh and exciting. Let me show you several things from Israel’s deliverance from Egypt that will help you to keep your salvation fresh.

First, remember the day you got saved. In the verse above it says, “Remember this day,…” Do you remember the day you got saved? I remember that day very clearly. It was June 21, 1973. My dad was out soul winning, so that night my mother gave the family devotions. I asked my mother after the devotions were over, “Mom, can you show me how I can go to Heaven? I don’t want to go to Hell.” She sent my brother and sisters to bed, and she showed me that night how to get saved. After she was done showing me the Scriptures on salvation, I knelt beside the couch and received Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour. I love telling this story because it was the night that changed my life. You should regularly remember the day you got saved and rehearse it to everyone you can.

Second, remember from whence you came. Israel was delivered from Egypt and their bondage. They should have rejoiced in their deliverance. Likewise, you were delivered from the bondage of sin. Though I was saved at a young age, I constantly remind myself from what I was delivered. If you were saved from a rough, sinful background, it shouldn’t be hard to remember from whence you came. If you are going to keep your salvation fresh, you need to remember what it was like before you got saved, or what it would have been like if you didn’t get saved.

Third, remember the blessings that salvation brought. Israel received many blessings by being delivered, and you received many blessings by being born again. Christian, look at everything God has done for you since you’ve been saved. If you are going to keep your salvation fresh, you need to remind yourself of the blessings you received from salvation.

Fourth, talk about your salvation to others. In verse 8, God told Israel to tell their children about the deliverance. If you want to keep your salvation fresh, then tell others about your salvation experience. One of the reasons you should be a soul winner is so that you can tell others about this great experience in your life. Every time you witness to someone, you should tell them how you got saved. This keeps your salvation fresh.

Last, regularly sing about salvation. In Exodus 15:1, Moses sang a song of deliverance. It is important that you listen to the right music, for whatever music you listen to is the same music you will sing. Every time you hear a song on salvation, it should excite your soul.

Christian, salvation is the greatest thing that will happen to your life. Don’t let your salvation get stale! Keep it fresh by regularly following these steps. You will find that keeping your salvation fresh will help you to enjoy serving the LORD.

You’re Being Watched

Exodus 2:12
“And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.”

Quite a few years ago, our family took a vacation to a theme park in Florida. We were looking forward to having a few days away from everyone, and just being able to spend time with each other. While walking at the theme park, I heard my name called. I thought, “Who in the world would know my name here?” My wife and I turned around and there was a young lady who went to our church who was on vacation at the same place. In a place where I thought nobody would know me, there was someone there who was watching.

Imagine if at the theme park my wife and I decided to let down our standards. Imagine if we decided to drink beverages that were against the Scriptures. Imagine if we were listening to music to which we shouldn’t be listening. If we were doing something that we were not supposed to do, this young lady would have seen this, and it could have caused her to lose faith in Christianity. Though we didn’t think someone was watching, there was someone there watching us.

In the verse above, Moses thought nobody was watching when he slew the Egyptian. It says that Moses looked both ways before he slew this man. What Moses didn’t understand was that someone is always watching. When he thought he covered his tracks, there was still someone who saw what he did.

Christian, let me remind you that someone is always watching what you are doing. You may think you have outsmarted everyone, but there is someone who is watching. In the most unexpected times don’t be surprised if someone catches what you are doing.

Parents, let me remind you that there are little eyes that are watching you all the time. Your children see what you are doing. You may think that you are being inconspicuous, but they eventually are going to catch what you are doing. This is why it’s so important that you do right at all times. If your children catch you doing the wrong thing, you may cause them to quit serving God.

Preachers, someone is watching you at all times. If anyone should realize that someone is watching, preachers should realize this. There are far too many preachers doing things that they shouldn’t be doing. You must realize that someone is always watching, and you shouldn’t do something that may cause someone to question your actions.

It doesn’t matter who you are, someone is watching. You may think that you are the most insignificant person on Earth, but someone is watching. Will that someone who is watching you be disappointed with your actions? You should always live your life in such a manner that someone is going to catch you.

Let me ask you, would you want someone to catch you with the actions you’ve performed in the past week? You are always on display, even when you think that you are all alone. Live your life in such a manner that you would never be embarrassed if you got caught. If you live your life this way, then you will never have to look over your shoulders hoping that someone won’t catch you.

Your Past Doesn’t Equal Your Future

Joshua 2:1
“And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.”

When reading the story of Rahab, you are reminded that this lady had a bad past that I’m sure she wished she could change. It says in the verse above that she was a harlot. The two spies needed a place to hide, and she was willing to let them hide in her house. This act by this lady was brave for the fact that she risked her life so they could live. If her countrymen would have found out that she hid them, they would have killed her and her family. This act of bravery changed her future. Though she had a bad past, one act changed her from being a harlot to being a deliver.

You must always remember that your past doesn’t have to equal your future. You may have had a dark past, but your future does not have to reflect it. You have a choice to change your future by the decisions you make. You can continue to go down the same path and allow your past to dictate your future, or you can look at your past and tell it that it is no longer going to influence your future.

In order for this to happen, you must first accept that your past is over. Stop allowing your past to beat you up. Just like this lady couldn’t deny her past, you can’t deny yours, so don’t allow it to influence your future. Learn from the actions of the past, but don’t let them dictate your future. The only one who wants you to let your past dictate your future is the Devil because he is the accuser of the brethren. Don’t let his accusations from your past destroy your future.

Moreover, take action right now to change your future. Don’t wallow in the mire of the past, and pick yourself up and realize that God has a great future for you if you will obey Him. God is the only One Who can change your future. Everyday He gives you opportunities to change your future, but you must decide to listen to His voice. Whenever God speaks to you, listen and obey what He says.

Furthermore, the best way to influence your future for good is to invest your life in helping others. Though this lady had a past, she didn’t use it as a crutch to stop her from helping others. Instead, she launched out on the command of God and helped the spies. If you let the fear of what others will say about your past stop you, then you will never be able to help others. You must realize that God can use your past as a tool to help others. Nothing will allow you to change your future for the good like trying to help others through their tough situations in life.

Do you find yourself allowing your past to influence your future? Decide at this moment that your past does not equal your future. Step out by faith in God’s Word and believe that He can use you in spite of your past. Find someone whom you can help. The best way to find that person is to get involved in your church’s soul-winning ministry. Every time you lead someone to Christ, you now have someone whom you can help to disciple. This will change your future forever, but you must make the choice to do so. Decide right now you are going to make your future brighter by reaching out to help others.

Not Included in This Deal

Deuteronomy 29:9
“Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.”

Every time you see a sale that sounds too good to be true, you always have to read the fine print to find out what is not included in the sale. The sale may not include the product for which you are looking, and you should find that out before you go to make a purchase. Though the sale may be a good deal, it is always good to find out what the sale does not include.

In the verse above, God promises that if a person keeps His promises, then they will “prosper in all that ye do.” This is quite the promise! God is saying that if a person keeps His commands that they will flourish, succeed or get ahead in everything. This is a promise you can take to the bank. This is a promise that every Christian can claim.

Though this is a great promise to claim, there are some things that are not included in this promise. Many people like to take these promises as if everything is going to be smooth, but that is just not the case. There are many prosperity preachers who use verses like this to encourage their flock, but because they don’t tell them what the promise does not include, many walk away disillusioned about Christianity and God’s promises. Yes, this is a great promise to claim, but there are some things this promise does not include. Let me show you what this promise does not say.

First, it does not say that you won’t have hard times. All this verse says is if you keep God’s commandments you will prosper. On the way to prosperity there are going to be hard times. Yes, I want to enjoy the prosperity, but you won’t enjoy the prosperity without hard times. Too many Christians want the prosperity without the hard times, but the hard times is what makes the prosperity so good. You must realize that between the time you start keeping God’s commandments and the fulfillment of prosperity that there are going to be hard times.

Second, this promise does not say that you won’t have heartache. Again, you are going to have heartache along the way. Those who have obeyed God’s commandments and realized the fulfillment of His promises experienced heartache along the way. I have read about many men in the past who saw God prosper their ministries, but they also experienced heartache on their way to God’s blessings.

Third, this promise does not say that everything will come easily. Christian, you must stop looking for the easy way to prosperity and understand that it takes old-fashioned hard work. Sadly, we have become very lazy in Christianity. If it is not easy, then we tend to quit. We want the prosperity to come easily, and God never promised it would be easy.

Simply put, God only promises to prosper you if you keep His commandments. When you face hard times, heartache and difficulties, you must keep on going. Don’t quit before God blesses you with success. There is always going to be a struggle on the way to God’s prosperity, but you must not quit obeying His commandments just because times get tough. Are you about ready to give up? I challenge you to realize that there are difficulties along the way to prosperity, but God promises to bless you if you simply won’t quit.

Direction is More Important Than Results

Deuteronomy 13:1-2
“If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;”

Several years ago I had a conversation with an individual about a pastor’s direction. This person told me that God had to blessing this pastor’s ministry because of the results. He told me that this pastor had more results than many other preachers and that the Holy Spirit of God was mightily using him. I responded by telling him if results are the indicator of whether we should associate with someone, then we need to start following liberal preachers because their results are tremendous. I told this individual that you don’t measure someone by their results; rather, you measure them by their direction and that for which they stand.

God deals with this very subject in the verses above. He told Israel that just because a prophet gave a sign and that sign came to pass doesn’t mean that they should follow him. God told them that they should determine whether to follow a prophet by where they stood on the commandments of His Word. God reminded them that a prophet may have signs, but that his direction may lead them away from God to follow other gods. God wanted Israel to determine whether to follow someone by their direction of where they stood on the Scriptures and not by results.

Every Christian must be careful about following preachers who are seemingly good men. There are many preachers whom society would call good preachers, but they are not worthy of following because their stance is different than where the Scriptures tell them to stand. By societies measurements these men are good men, but by God’s measurements these men are false prophets.

Just because a man has great results doesn’t give you the right to follow their ministry. You must understand that the Devil also has power to produce results. You may recall that when Moses and Aaron showed signs to Pharaoh that his false prophets were also able to produce signs and results.

Results should never be the indicator of whether we should follow an individual. If results determine whether we should listen to and follow an individual, then that would mean you shouldn’t follow many of the Old Testament prophets, for many of them did not have great results. Though they didn’t have great results, they did stand where God wanted, and they did prophesy the truth according to the Word of God.

Let me give you a friendly reminder not to throw your loyalties to preachers just because they have great results. Rather, choose to follow men who stand true to the Word of God. Rather than looking at a person’s results, look at where they stand and the direction they are headed, and if these are different from what the Scriptures teach, don’t follow them. Direction is always more important than results because direction determines destination. Use this principle not only in the area of preachers, but also in friendships, associations and choosing a church to join.