Month: April 2021

Shut Up. And Shut Up Fast.

Posted on by Michael Wine

If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth. For pressing milk produces curds, pressing the nose produces blood, and pressing anger produces strife. Proverbs 30:32-33

It is foolish to exalt oneself. Don’t listen to the lies of our age that say it is wise to exalt yourself. To puff out your chest, to brag about your achievements, to show off. How easily we slip into the trap of boasting, trying to lift ourselves up in the eyes of others.

Going hand in hand with self-exaltation is devising evil. This is not the sin done in a flash of emotion in the moment. It is the cold, calculating intent of the evil doer. The one who lives in a constant state of doing evil because that is his way of life. If we exalt ourselves, we are similar to that kind of person.

How can that be? Surely a little bragging is different than a serial bank robber (for example)?

They are similar in two connected ways according to this verse.

First, they are similar in how they are perceived by other people. The writer says that these two behaviors are like the pressing of milk to get curds, or the pressing of a nose to get blood. They press, agitate, and stir up the anger of other people.

If you go around exalting yourself, people get angry. Similarly, if you spend your days planning evil, people will get angry.

The second similarity is that these two behaviors both cause a similar response from others – “strife.” It’s simple if you think about it. If you stir up the anger of others, the response you will get is backlash, drama, gossip, retaliation, and pain.

That’s it. Nothing good will happen.

So, what is the solution? Easy – shut up! He says, “Put your hand on your mouth.” Stop talking. Hide. Draw no attention to yourself. Shut up and shut up fast.

Where would you be without Jesus?

Posted on by Michael Wine

 “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” Mark 5:19

This is what Jesus said to a man whom he had just saved from a legion of evil spirits that were possessing him. After he cast them out into a herd of swine, and had been told to leave by the citizens of the nearby town, the man he had saved begged to come with Jesus.

Instead of allowing this newborn Christian to be close to his Lord, the Lord sent him out. Jesus didn’t just save the man so that he could sit in comfort next to Jesus for the rest of his life. He saved the man so that the man could go on a mission for Jesus.

And what was the mission that Jesus gave? Put simply, it was to spread the word about Jesus to his friends back home. And look at the two highlights Jesus put in, to make sure these elements were included in the story, “tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

The story is not how the man found his way to Jesus heroically even though being oppressed by a legion of demons. It is not a story of the triumph of man at all. It is the story of the power and mercy of Jesus to save sinners. The story is about how great Jesus is! And this greatness is on display in the power He uses to serve sinners and in the mercy He shows towards them.

What did that man do?

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. Mark 5:20

He obeyed the command!

Not all of us have a testimony so spectacular as this man’s. I wasn’t saved from a legion of demons. Hopefully you weren’t either.

But we all have stories that magnify the power and mercy of Jesus, don’t we? Where would you be right now if Jesus hadn’t found you, if He hadn’t had mercy on you and saved you from sin? It makes me want to examine my life from this perspective: what are all the circumstances, events, people, and places in my life that were necessary for me to have the faith in Jesus that I do?

Jesus did them all. He arranged my life just so, to save me, to give me faith in Him, to have mercy on me. He saved my parents before I was born, and planted them in Christian communities. He allowed me to be born, the sixth child of my parents, after a period where they had thought they were done having children. He helped my parents be consistent with reading the Bible to us, taking us to church, and disciplining us.

At church, He gave me godly teachers, good friends, and chances to learn and memorize the Bible. And he has done so much more for me than this though all my failures and sin. He’s never left. He’s been merciful. I’m a Christian because of Jesus.

Real Freedom

Posted on by Michael Wine

Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter. Mark 3:28

Jesus said that. When I read it recently I just had to pause and reflect on the incredible implications of what it means.

It means no matter what you’ve done, or what you’ve said, there is forgiveness in Jesus for all sin.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

You simply need to acknowledge your sin, admit it, and ask Jesus to forgive you. He will! And not only that, He will change you completely.

So why not do that? Why not stop what you are doing, and just confess some sin to Jesus? It’s useless weight dragging you down. The more you hide it and hide from it, the heavier your soul gets until you can’t do anything for God at all.

Confessing sin isn’t about checking a box, or keeping an arbitrary rule. Confessing sin is about getting rid of that weight and living in the real freedom of forgiveness. The truest freedom is the freedom of forgiveness from our sin.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

P.S. – In the next verse in Mark 3 Jesus talks about the infamous sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This passage can easily cause us to begin to doubt, and wonder about whether or not we have committed this sin. It isn’t my goal to discuss this sin here. But if your takeaway from this passage is that you might not be forgiven, you have totally missed the message of verse 28. There is total forgiveness in Jesus for all of your sins!

If There Is Any Excellence

Posted on by Michael Wine

Usain Bolt running at 27.78 miles per hour.

The writing of Fyodor Dostoevsky.

The insights and depth of Augustine of Hippo.

The Great Pyramids at Giza.

The 51 mile long artificial waterway of the Panama Canal.

The amazing system of roads, streets and highways in the United States.

The extent to which Jesus healed people from their diseases.

The inerrant and completely accurate Word of God contained in the Bible.

Think about these things. Philippians 4:8

Why did God make clouds?

Posted on by Michael Wine

Have you ever gazed up into the cloudy sky, as I am now, and wondered why God made the clouds?

They obviously give rain to the earth, watering it and providing for His creatures that He made.

But why did He specifically choose clouds to do this? Why not some other way? Why make a world so dependent on water to begin with?

One thing is clear, God has an imagination that is beyond compare. Clouds were His idea. He didn’t see something like a cloud and think to Himself, “Oh, that’s good! I’ll use that in my world.”

No, He just popped it into existence from nothing but pure imagination.

Besides His imagination, I also notice that God built the world in such a way that parts of His creation care for other parts. The clouds give rain. The sun gives light. Both are required for plants to grow. Plants produce oxygen for humans to breath and are food for them to eat.

Humans take care of everything really. God made us to be able to do that. And through all this God is pleased. He likes it when His creatures share in His work of tending His world.

Seven tips for memorizing the Bible

Posted on by Michael Wine
  1. Understand what it means. It is far easier to remember a Bible verse when you get it. When you fully grasp the idea that the writer is trying to communicate, and are able to apply that truth to your own life in specific ways, you have hidden the anchor of truth in your heart that the words of the text are attached to.
  2. Repetition is the mother of memory. It really is. There are some fun tricks to make it easier, but unless you repeat it over and over again, you won’t remember the words.
  3. Read the verse out loud. It is also helpful to read it a number of times using different intonations to hear the verse differently.
  4. Use rapid glances, don’t stare at the verse. When you are first starting to memorize a verse, read it through a few times. Then, every time you read it don’t retain eye contact with the text. Read it out loud, while taking quick glances, and try to use your memory to fill in the gaps when you aren’t looking.
  5. If you are memorizing a long passage, focus on a few verses at a time. Break it up not by number of verses, but by logical chunks so that you can get the whole flow of thought. When you are memorizing these chunks, focus heavily on the beginning and end of the sentence or paragraph. These will serve as links to connect one chunk to another as you continue.
  6. Experiment with when you memorize. Try sitting down for ten minutes at a time and focusing on it. Another way is to print the passage and hang it somewhere you pass by often. When you see the sign, pause for a minute or two to memorize.
  7. Say the passage reference with every repetition. You can say it at the beginning or at the end. The important part is saying the reference. This way, even if you forget all the exact words, you should still remember the reference to allow you to review later.

Deciding to Delight

Posted on by Michael Wine

I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. Psalm 119:16

I will delight. Here, the writer decides to delight. Typically we think of delight as something spontaneous. We express our delight when we taste a delicious bite of chocolate cake.

However, just because there are sources of spontaneous delight, we cannot then say that delight is only spontaneous. When you choose to enjoy your kids, that is a decision to delight in them.

When you have the option between reading a novel, or watching a movie, whichever choice you make is a choice to delight in something.

In your statutes. He chooses to delight in God’s word and specifically his words of law about how to live life. Have you ever sat down to read your Bible and felt like something was missing? Maybe you are waiting for spontaneous delight to strike instead of choosing to delight in the word.

When we determine to find joy in the word, we hunt for it. We pay closer attention. We seek it out and don’t stop until we find it.

I will not forget your word. This is another choice. A determination. And it is an important one too. How many times have you sat down to read your Bible, been blessed and encouraged, convicted or comforted, only to walk away and not think about what you read for the rest of the day?

It is not enough simply to choose to delight in God’s word. We must also be determined to remember what we have read. To hold it in our heads and let the words of God do their work throughout the day, not just in our quiet time.

Whatever is Commendable

Posted on by Michael Wine

The good reputation of another.

Discussing how skilled one of your coworkers is with another one of your coworkers.

A well managed home, with a happy marriage and well behaved children.

When you finish what you start.

Getting good grades at school.

Winning a game by playing fairly and as hard as you can.

Playing a game as best you can, even if you loose.

Not giving up, despite failures.

Telling the truth.

Think about these things. Philippians 4:8

Think about what God says, and look and what He does.

Posted on by Michael Wine

I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. Psalm 119:15

I will meditate. Meditation and “mindfulness” are popular in our world today. Many secular writers are advocating it as a way to get rid of stress, anxiety, and “bad feelings.” Yet thousands of years ago, the biblical writers used this idea of meditation. This is not a new word. It comes from the Bible. If anyone should meditate, it should be the Christian.

On your precepts. On. That is the word that is missing from today’s meditation practices. The way to meditate today is to focus… on nothing. To try to clear your mind of all thought and exist in the moment. I’ve tried this. It’s actually impossible. And, of course to modern meditation practitioners, the impossibility of the task is the whole point. It’s not about being successful in clearing your mind of all thought. Instead, it’s about the process of repeatedly pushing those pesky thoughts away. This is not the biblical concept of meditation at all. The writer here says that he will meditate ON God’s precepts. He will not think about nothing. He will think about the most valuable things there is to think about – God’s words.

And fix my eyes. Focus. Attention. Single-mindedness. That is what is needed. The refrain of the culture today is to have an open mind, to explore, to drift. People should, say our modern sages, follow their hearts, emotions, inclinations.

On your ways. On again. Without God, humans may never be certain that they are focusing on the right things. What really is the right way to live? Someone who claims not to believe in God has no basis for morality or how to live rightly in this world. He has to make it up as he goes, hoping that it is correct, yet never sure. But the one who looks to God for clear direction on how to live does have confidence and certainty that he is going the right way.

In summary, while the world says to meditate by thinking hard about nothing, and to follow our own hearts, the Christian must reject this. We must think long and hard about what God says. And focus not on our own feelings but on what God does – how He acts.

And, if we compare these two approaches to life, we can see that the modern approach comes naturally when God is removed from the picture. When man is lifted up as the god of this world, and the true God is ignored, even such basic things as how we think and how we act are drastically changed.