TO FILL A LITTLE SPACE

When you speak to a group of people, or just to a single person, do you aim at their heart, or just their mind? More than likely, this will depend on the nature of the occasion and on the topic of the conversation. It will also vary in accordance with the presence or absence of passion in what is being shared, and the body language employed.

At an informational meeting, a political rally, or at a scholarly lecture, it is to be expected that the speaker is aiming at the minds in the audience and, in most instances, at their will as well. A preacher, a politician, a success motivator, a sales person, among others, generally wish to prompt the hearers into meaningful action!

The same may also happen in a one-to-one interaction, such as when a parent or teacher is informing and challenging a small child or a young person. Here, the expectation is a concrete, significant motion, a change for the better, a new, meaningful posture manifested by the one being approached.

In brief person-to-person encounters, some expert has identified three basic types of communication which frequently occur. One is “hello” talk, where nothing of real import is shared; it’s just a passing greeting, which often includes a comment relating to the obvious, such as a word about the weather. It’s quickly over!

Next, the exchange may be slightly prolonged, as it entails “head” talk, when persons may share their views about a current moral theme, a political issue, a national or international event, or something else which, for a few minutes, engages the minds of the participants in the conversation.

Best of all is when, other than the previous two, the individuals chatting advance into “heart” talk. Here they become more personal, and courageously remove the masks they normally wear, to deal with matters more essential and unique to each. These are issues which unveil some aspect of the inner self, with the intent of positively affecting each other for the better!

Heart or mind are never to be viewed in terms of one being inferior or superior to the other. Both are important, and each can equally become the channel through which a life can be significantly impacted and even permanently transformed.

At certain times one may exclusively aim at the heart and from there influence the mind and the will, just like at other occasions, or due to the nature of the discussion, one’s mind is addressed first, causing the heart to be meaningfully impacted as well!

Regardless of what the ultimate results will be, it’s imperative that God’s people diligently follow the biblical prescription which challenges: “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Colossians 4:6). Moreover, we are to speak the truth in love, while imparting joy and hope whenever we can, since life on earth often robs one of perennial peace.

As a member of the human family, you were created by God for fellowship. It was never the divine intention to put you in solitary confinement, anywhere in the world. All humans are social creatures, shaped by their Maker for communication and communion! Bible-wrought connections, particularly, exist for mutual human benefit. Christians, especially, are called to practice the communion of the saints as they connect with, and relate to, fellow believers.

Christian psychologist Larry Crabb has cogently shown that “loving God and loving others lie at the core of God’s intentions for his people.” In the same vein, pastor Wayne Cordeiro observed that “winning at life means having great relationships. And having a great relationship requires a strict regimen of nurturing those relationships. Fruitful relationships require high maintenance!”

Unfortunately, some individuals neglect approaching or befriending other persons for fear of rejection, or based on any other illegitimate excuse. The sad consequence is that if you cut yourself from fellow humans, you shall miss what is coming to you through them, while preventing them from benefiting from what you also can impart to their life. As the late Morton Kelsey put it, “a church is an actual rescue station dedicated to saving men and women from disaster.” This applies both to members of the community of faith as to others still outside the fold.

It has been affirmed for quite some time, that Christianity is not a solitary religion, a reality the Bible so abundantly confirms! Although God calls His followers one by one, He also immediately places them in a spiritual family where each is empowered to become an agent of His for the benefit of other lives who need to be affirmed and touched. Each Christian can be a hospitality center where one is!

If you are to connect with anyone, the initiative must be yours, even though others shall also seek you out and be open to your influence in their lives. This is facilitated by your cordiality, your friendly disposition, by being visible, accessible, and reachable. In all this, there’s no price tag for caring; God desires all His redeemed to operate in that fashion, sharing the positive abundance of their own heart to fill the heart of another!

Addressing the heart of another is discerned without any accent. It’s the clearest form of communication, understood by everyone to whom the speech is directed. What is equally amazing is that sometimes you can address a human heart without a single word being uttered! Even so, the eloquence is real, and the effect is profound!

Some people can spontaneously radiate joy, and manifest the presence of God in their lives anywhere they pass and wherever they settle! Regardless of their surroundings, or the circumstances of any moment, they can be a source of encouragement and blessing to many around.

Nevertheless, beyond a contagious presence, it’s imperative you make specific connections with persons who can significantly profit from your impact on a continuing basis. Sadly, some people appear incapable of saying “hello” and some who actually verbalize it, do not know how to proceed beyond that initial, cordial greeting.

However, with God’s aid you can become a sign of His presence, of His joy, and of the hope that He wishes to impart to many. He puts persons in your daily pathways so you can affect several in a positive, godly fashion. After all, as Earl Palmer reminds, “Christians are Christians twenty-four hours a day.”

If your life appears unsatisfactory to you, could it be that you are living it from the wrong script? Maybe you were handed unrealistic expectations from others, or were presented an inadequate map which somebody else outlined for you and you never checked its validity.

What you’ve needed all along is a sharper understanding of the wonderful design God has for you, to ensure a productive life of genuine satisfaction in all your endeavors. If that is still undiscovered, be sure you find out soon and learn from it, and cautiously follow all the instructions!

A possible hindrance to your fuller enjoyment of life, often relates to allowing yourself to be conditioned by circumstances, and then spending your days bemoaning your chosen plight.

It is essential that your life be examined on a regular basis to confirm that you are in the right road, making adequate progress, reaching the goals you set up in advance, and being well-positioned gradually to reach your destination.

Remember always that the examined life is graded daily with appropriate rewards. The unexamined life will only bring failing grades! It is sad, but true, that while Christians have been challenged to soar like eagles, many unfortunately prefer the rat race, which does not promote one’s well-being nor offers the best, coveted prizes.

Life on earth does not usually advance on an easy road; there’s much, all along, that is good and noble but which is also mingled with bad, undesirable elements. You can distinguish between them and make the appropriate, urgent choices at the suitable moment. What is not easy is not necessarily wrong, just as what becomes difficult is not to be viewed as unimportant.

Humans are offered manifold benefits in life, but trials and tragedies can’t be ignored either, nor dismissed. Yet, the tests of life do not as much build character as they reveal it. Author Rubem Alves reminds us that “problems, suffering, frustrations are part of life. It is not possible to avoid them. But it is possible to suffer them wisely.”

You treat yourself best when you studiously avoid what can harm you, and one easy way to promote that is never to add burdens you need not carry. The difficulties accompanying your earthly journey can be faced victoriously, and many of them may be made better on account of your inner attitudes and, most of all, in taking advantage of an absolute reliance on the power of God and His all-sufficient grace!

The Lord Almighty repeatedly shows that there can be no peace, no happiness, no health for those not aligned in obedience to fulfill what He commands. He expects your consistent refraining from all else that is contrary to His perfect will. The removal of undesirable elements from your life won’t ever guarantee an easy path, but shall truly ensure a more satisfying trajectory! As philosopher Peter Kreeft recommends: “The God-shaped vacuum in us is infinite and cannot be filled with any finite objects or actions.” Therefore, diligently pursue all that God offers for your earthly pleasure, aware of far greater bliss awaiting you in the life eternal, where righteousness dwells!

An idea should not be discarded merely on account of being old. A writing need not be bypassed or forgotten based on its antiquity. No person deserves to be overlooked or dismissed simply because of advanced age!

Quite often, many things acquire greater value precisely because of vintage, its enduring nature! Several ideas and ideals still help humankind today, after centuries of being tested in the world. Much literature of ages past still contributes to instruct, enlighten, and delight newer generations of readers.

Representatives of varied positions in society continue to labor and retain their impact and fame far beyond a retirement they preferred to ignore. This is especially true in academia, science and technology, literature, the arts, law and politics.

There’s a lot in the world that is not necessarily bad or useless, based simply on the calendar. This applies both to what is chronologically old or of recent origin. What is old is not automatically inadequate, just as what is new does not necessarily equal genuine improvement of what it is replacing.

Most imperative in life is all that God has bestowed on the human race as irrevocable and unchanging. People need a reliable moral and spiritual compass to prompt them forward in life in the most satisfying and God-honoring manner. God’s laws are eternal, and cannot be forsaken or replaced by a mere human wish or whim. Because “the Word of the Lord stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8), the writer of the book of Proverbs urged God’s people to “not remove the ancient landmarks which your fathers have set up” (22:28).

Through the ages, any attempted substitution of divine standards has only ended in disaster and failure, producing disharmony in human lives and in the world. What is eternal can be meaningfully adapted at any age to what is unique to that era, without losing its essential elements and power.

In lesser issues one can also observe attempts at revamping what is old, though it rarely produces or provides a superior replacement. In fact, most often the contrary is what occurs!

Personally, I am open to innovation and frequently I welcome change, insofar as the basic, the true, the vitally essential are not necessarily tampered with nor removed. Daily I benefit from improved objects and products, from new inventions and creations which have come to make life easier, more productive, even more exciting!

Nevertheless, I also keep on returning to those values which do not pass away, those ideas which have molded individuals and societies in the past, which still maintain their luster. Those precepts retain clarity and simplicity along with the positive impact that stems from their appropriate application. What many individuals had achieved at the peak of their earthly trajectory never lost their significance just based on the passage of years. Instead, they remain as sources of blessing, inspiration, and challenge to each new generation!

The Bible ascribes paramount significance to wisdom! From the earliest books of the Old Testament, into the Book of Revelation, numerous allusions are made to wisdom and significant illustrations of its benefits are also shown.

One grouping of books in Holy Scripture is classified as “Wisdom Literature” among which is the book of Proverbs that recognizes wisdom as an indispensable component of a life well lived, leading to genuine individual satisfaction! Wisdom is of divine origin. It’s God Who defines what it is and what it does; wisdom is not what humans devise and designate as such!

American philosopher Robert Nozick has rightfully concluded that “the person who lives wisely connects to reality more thoroughly than someone who moves through life spoon-fed by circumstances, even if what these try to feed is reality.”

Wisdom is something that, once partially acquired, will cause its seeker to want more and more, and rightfully so! Wisdom is not attained through the accumulation of years, even though the older one is, the probability of being wiser is greater. Neither is wisdom the result of the acquisition of knowledge, or at least it cannot be equated with the completion of a curriculum, or a number of books read. In my years in the world I’ve encountered a great number of intellectual derelicts - people with academic credentials or a heavy baggage of book knowledge, and yet display a lack of genuine wisdom in daily life!

God’s Word introduces King Solomon as the wisest man who ever lived. It is also interesting to observe that what he had asked God the most was for wisdom, which the Almighty was ready to provide. And along with wisdom, there also came multiplied benefits into his life and labors!

Wisdom is not synonimous with wealth, academic achievement, nor with any specific vocation or profession. I have known many poor, simple, uneducated individuals who manifested high levels of wisdom, far greater than others from whom that was always expected.

At the beginning of his epistle, St. James challenges all readers with the invitation: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). And the book of Proverbs recognizes that “blessed is the man who finds it” (3:13) since wisdom is better than gold (16:16). The author further acknowledges that “wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore, get wisdom, and in all your getting, get understanding” (4:7).

Those redeemed by Christ, enjoy an advantageous posture, to the extent that each remains fully attached to Him “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). If you are a child of God, Paul also urges consistent study of the Holy Scriptures “which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 3:15).

The lessons which life would teach us, come not only once, but many times, and in different ways; sometimes, because we are slow learners but, also, to reinforce and expand the instructions we continue receiving! Getting wisdom ever demands the manifestation of understanding as a consequence. As a child, Jesus also grew in wisdom. We, no less, are urged to follow the path of wisdom as long as we live!

Life on earth will never be easy! The reality of sin is not only to be found in humans; it has also invaded every other facet of created reality. Its effects are of cosmic proportions! Even people who might dispute the magnitude of sin in the world are, nevertheless, aware of its presence at least in some quarters around the globe.

The child of God, while not denying the continuing devastation sin persists to make in the universe, has a hope beyond this earthly life. Because of that assurance, one can face each new day, and even the distant future, with positive anticipation.

It is only the one who understands God’s revealed designs, and believes His promises, who can truthfully affirm, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6).

The passage of a new day, a new week, or a new month, never alters that fact. Neither does one’s entrance into a new year, a new century, or a new millennium. God remains unchanged! And “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Much around us may and does change, but God’s purposes remain unaltered; His Truth is marching on, and His perfect will shall come to pass in every situation, however great or small! This applies to individual lives as well as to the conduct of nations, and to the unfolding of human history and every aspect of creation!

A favorite hymn of mine proclaims in one of its lines that “the changes that are sure to come, I do not fear to see.” Such should, indeed, be the perpetual posture of every child of God under all circumstances. Even in the midst of inevitable trials, Christ’s redeemed can remember that “God is our refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

With the Sovereign God as our guide, with the assurance of His promises, and with the availability of all His resources for our pilgrimage on earth, we may move through life with confidence, with uplifted head in any situation. He will meet our every need, He will rescue us from trouble, and He will take us home to Himself at the time of His own appointment.

From such solid foundation, it is expected of us that we confront present and future without fear. While we don’t know what tomorrow holds, we most assuredly know Who holds the future. Emmanuel has only the best for those whom He has redeemed and called unto Himself!

Many and frequent will be the trials and tests inflicted on God’s children. Yet, all that He assures us in His Holy Word should impel us to move on courageously, in total dependence upon His aid, especially while we navigate in total darkness, cumbered with a load of care, even when close to despair! Our very present help in trouble, and out of trouble, is ready to succour His own, and whisper “Peace, be still!”

There are situations in life which are difficult to resolve. Even then, they are not impossible to eradicate. People cannot hold on to past miseries and expect a joyous present.

Garbage cannot be accumulated for years without causing toxic, even fatal, effects on one’s self and on others. People cannot hold on to bad memories or to accumulated resentments and still demand happiness now. That won’t ever happen! The retention of poison anywhere shall always adversely affect the surrounding environment.

A wise individual fully recognizes that there comes a time when the only sane attitude is to exclaim: “Enough is enough! I must move on without being bound to all the extra baggage which I’ve allowed to accumulate in my life; the toxic levels I have permitted to develop are truly killing me and adversely affecting some of my relationships.”

Any advance in life requires a final farewell to what cannot contribute to a healthy and meaningful present or future. Many times, even good things have to be left behind in favor of something much better which can contribute to a progressive life of meaning. Nobody can advance in any endeavor while chained to anything, especially to unpleasant experiences of the past. The secret is to let go!

Many Christians sin repeatedly by holding grudges, by accumulating resentments, by retaining hatred to individuals and situations which caused them distress in the past. If retaliation and a spirit of unforgivenness prevails, nothing shall ever be resolved, and the misery one already experiences shall only retain its grip and augment its intensity.

God is never pleased with such attitudes; He will not aid a disobedient child who refuses to forgive and move forward in life. As Frederick Buechner stated, “our unforgivingness is among those things about which we need to have God forgive us most.” So, why remain in shackles for so long when true freedom is what Christ offers so abundantly to His redeemed?

There needs to be a greater sense of urgency in dealing with these matters, by people prone to choose slavery instead of the enjoyment of the full liberation Christ already secured for His own! Nothing shall ever be resolved when a spirit of vengeance, accusation, fault-finding prevails. What one inwardly wants to see resolved will simply increase its hold on the person dominated by self-righteousness.

Sadly, some people also go to their grave with unrevolved issues which never required resolution to start with. Many fail to recognize that sometimes the obvious is not the actual. Furthermore, one’s point of view depends on one’s point of viewing. That’s why a child of God must be led by the Holy Spirit only, and not by one’s irrational thoughts and ungodly, self-serving suspicions and expectations!

As St. Paul admonishes, “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good…Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…Repay no one evil for evil. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men…Do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord…Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:9, 14, 17-19,21). Make these your aim!

When human speaks to human, there are times when the one talking will say to the other, “please sit down before I tell you something.” But when God addresses us, we’d better stand up, for His speech is often a call to action - a challenge to meaningful activity which requires our careful attention and prompt response.

In the ages when God spoke through His prophets, or any other of His earliest human agents, He would allow a comma after the message of each. Gradually, He would amplify that communication in a new pronouncement from another envoy, or provide an additional dimension not present in the previous proclamation.

However, when He spoke in and through Christ, He put a period - an exclamation mark, at the end of the message. Christ’s life, work, and word is final and complete; nothing can be added to it! Nothing can supercede it! He is the Word of God!

Such is the reminder we find in the very first two verses of the epistle to the Hebrews: “God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:1-2).

Everything God has stated since creation was and remains fully valid, and retains complete finality. Yet, “when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law…” (Galatians 4:4). “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation”(Colossians 1:15). “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).

Christ came, lived, and acted as “prophet, priest and king.” Where the ministry of all His predecessors was only preparatory, His mighty words and works are final and decisive, never to be repeated, much less superceded.

Jesus is the Word of God Incarnate, and the message He brought to earth in His own flesh and via His verbal pronouncements, represents God’s updated, final Word for the human race from Christ’s first Advent till the end of the age. It cannot be modified, amplified, nor substituted. It can only be trusted, lived out, and proclaimed in the fullness of the power of God’s Holy Spirit!

All God’s utterances, whether in His written Word or through His Incarnate Word, are final and shall come to pass, as several others already did. Many manifest the love of God in several instances, just as some others also convey the non-negotiable wrath of God toward His adversaries.

How comforting it is to know that we don’t follow cunningly-devised fables. Instead, we operate with clear guidelines, for God has spoken, and His Word is clear, decisive, and final! “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8). This divine Word should prompt God’s redeemed into obedient action in the world until Christ returns!

Those who are acquainted with the life and work of the late G.K. Chesterton, may recall the time when he sent a note to the editor of a British newspaper in response to a survey appearing in that periodical. The question posed was “What is Wrong With the World?” Chesterton’s brief, but insightful reply was simply, “It’s us, Sirs!”

The majority of people, however, never acknowledge that anything is wrong with them. They prefer to find fault in somebody or something else instead, while complaining endlessly about what they sense to be out of place, needing correction.

A graphic example pertains to a town vagabond of long ago. On a certain day, while he slept on a park bench, some naughty children smeared limburger cheese on his beard. When he awoke, the smell was intolerable. He started complaining aloud to all passersby about the horrendous odor in the air. He picked up a rose, smelled it, and found on it the same bad smell; everything around him stank! He could not imagine that he was the source of it. It was much easier to blame anything or anyone else than to recognize himself as the cause.

Because of sin’s damage in the world, every unregenerate human is a cesspool; each one lives with the constant need of cleansing and of multiple repairs in the structure of one’s being. Only those who open their all to Christ become new creatures which, more consciously, can tackle the necessary schedule of ongoing amends throughout their earthly pilgrimage.

People want to change everything “around” them but seldom “within” themselves. Yet, the wise and healthy human attitude is always to look inside one’s self in any situation, long before attributing any irregularity to someone or something else.

Repentance and faith are the necessary ingredients for anyone to commence a new life and follow the agenda of periodical improvements. Life is better enjoyed by repentant people - those who repeatedly show readiness to mend their ways with God’s available assistance. This discipline is to continue throughout everyone’s life journey!

To the extent one is diligent in regular, personal inventories, any needed repair can more easily occur, once the problem is detected and acknowledged. That’s why the Bible invites individuals to confess their own sins, not the faults of anybody else. Scripture is also clear in that “every man shall give an account of himself to God,” not of anybody else, cf. Romans 14:12.

Look at the perspective G. K. Chesterton offered: “When a man really tells the truth, the first truth he tells is that he himself is a liar.” Humans consistently fail to recognize what they truly lack, what wrongs they’ve made, what needs to be set right in the very fabric of their being!

It’s often when individuals assume everything to be in good order that key essentials are still lacking. Humans are fragile, and in perpetual becoming, needing continued repairs even while the edifice of their life is being erected. God is the only master-builder and He alone furnishes the needed tools for successful construction and periodical betterment!

Americans, more than any other people on earth, are very concerned with personal image. This can be good and healthy in many situations. The problem, though, is that quite often more emphasis is given to outward appearances than to inner reality!

The presentation of self in one’s personal projections, no doubt, should be an object of people’s serious considerations. It makes a difference how one appears to others, how a person interacts with another, either positively or negatively.

God’s redeemed, of all people, should consistently strive to be at their best in all situations and in their dealings with fellow humans. Not only to those we view as superiors, but to family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, even strangers. It is imperative that anyone having anything to do with us may always extract only the best from us, rather than the ugly which also resides in every human but which must be kept hidden, and gradually extinguished.

That’s why I am suggesting to myself and my readers: “Wake-Up Your Sleeping Beauty!” Mixed with undesirable qualities which we can easily display in many situations, are also positive characteristics which must surface with greater frequency. There is a sleeping beauty within all humans which can be stimulated to rise up and be more graphically evident through the faces, words, and dispositions of people.

This inner beauty is not dependent on cosmetics, or anything else added to one’s make-up. Instead, it refers to one’s personal cultivation and display of “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report” (Philippians 4:8).

When God’s people are imbued with divine resources, a new radiance emerges and is reflected on individual countenances. The very beauty of Jesus and the aroma of Christ should be manifested in each of His disciples at all times, wherever they are, and under whatever circumstances they may be found!

As Pastor Rick Warren put it in one of his books, “You can’t change your feelings directly, but you can change them indirectly by changing your thoughts and your actions.” Another perspective is also offered by the late Dr. Charles L. Allen, who said: “Burdens do become blessings. Crosses are changed into crowns. Tragedies lead to triumphs. Suffering can become salvation and sorrow strength.”

Till the end of one’s days on earth, life shall continue to hurl its varied indignities at every living human. They are not intended to defeat anyone, unless one chooses to feel and remain vanquished! One’s inner strength, expressed outwardly in manifold, awakened positive qualities, can lead to sustained triumph with God’s unfailing, loving assistance!

Don’t maintain dormant what God desires to see dominant in your daily experience, to ensure greater radiance amidst the inevitable trials and genuine victories over every foe! Wake-up your sleeping beauty, and join the apostle Paul in affirming, “I can do all things through Christ Who gives me the strength” (Philippians 4:13).