by Vance Huston

What kind of promises have you made for the future? Promises and intentions are profitable ONLY if they are good ones and ONLY if they are kept.

These from the Psalms will be profitable if we keep them faithfully.

1. I will take heed to my ways. Psalm 39:1 contains this precious resolution. Timothy was admonished to take heed to himself (1 Tim. 4:16), and Paul challenged the elders of Ephesus to take heed unto themselves (Acts 20:28). All are called upon to take heed lest we fall (1 Cor. 10:12), to our thoughts, words, deeds, attitudes, priorities, and affections.

2. I will put my trust in God (Psalm 56:3, 11). "I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from when cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord" (Psalm 121:1-2).

3. I will praise God (Psalm 119:7). A trait that hopefully will always describe us is that we are a people that worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh (Phil. 3:3). Let us never turn our backs on the assembly (Heb. 10:25). God is truly worthy to be praised.

4. I will be obedient to God: "I will keep thy statutes" (Psalm 119:8). "I will delight in thy commands" (Psalm 119:47). I will meditate on thy precepts (Psalm 119:93). Nothing can replace the desire to know and obey the will of God.

5. I will be thankful: "At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee" (Psalm 119.62). It is vital that we remember what He has done for us, with a heart filled with thanksgiving.

What are your "I wills"? Make good ones. Keep them!

Condensed from The Voice of Truth International, vol. 38, p. 65-66. Used with permission of the editor.

by Mike Benson

Those of us who graduated from the sixth grade long ago can still learn. Read the following and see if you don't gain some insights:

"Last fall I divided my sixth-grade Sunday-school class into three groups for an interesting contest. As my twelve-year-olds gathered in three circles on the floor, I explained that there was only one rule in our competition: Each group had to put together a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle without talking.

"I poured the contents of the puzzles on the floor in front of each group, warning them again that they could not talk. The first group went immediately to work, promptly setting up the top of the puzzle box, which gave everyone a clear view of the picture they were trying to put together.

"The second group tried to do the same thing, but they didn't know that I had switched the top of their puzzle box with the top from another puzzle. I had deliberately given them the wrong lid. Not knowing that, they set up their box top to use as a guide to assemble their puzzle and went swiftly to work.

"As the third group gathered around the pile of pieces I had poured on the floor, the kids were dismayed to discover that I had given them no box top whatsoever to use as a guide. They started to protest, but I reminded them that there was to be no talking!

"What followed was fascinating.

"The members of Group One were somewhat frustrated by not being allowed to talk, but they still made steady progress because they had a correct picture or plan to work from. Everyone in that group got motivated as the outline of the picture started to emerge.

"It didn't take the members of Group Two long to realize something was wrong. They kept trying to use the box top picture in front of them, but nothing seemed to work. And since they couldn't talk together, their frustration level soared.

"One boy waved his hand in the air and acted as though he was about to burst. I relented and allowed him to whisper in my ear, 'Mr. Rainey,' he muttered, 'you gave us the wrong picture. It's the wrong lid -— it's just not there!'

"I smiled, patted him on his shoulder, and said, 'Shhh, no talking.'

"As I turned away, others in his group looked at me with pleading eyes, wondering what they could do. Their puzzle just wasn't coming together.

"But Group Three really captured my attention. Because the group had no picture at all to go by, each kid was doing his own thing. There wasn't even an attempt at teamwork and, of course, there was no progress.

"Some members just sat individually, randomly searching for two pieces that seemed to fit. Two of the boys were so bored they started launching puzzle pieces like miniature Frisbees across the room. Others just lay there with their eyes closed. Hopelessness hung in the air.

"After letting them work a little longer, I called a halt to the competition and explained what was going on and then I made my point: you can't live life without a plan" (Dennis Rainey, "The Master Plan for Oneness," Lonely Husbands, Lonely Wives, 117-118).

Observations:

1. God has given us a box-top.

   And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,'" and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate (Matt. 19:4-6; cf. Gen. 2:18, 21-24).

   2. Every marriage needs this "guide" (i.e., box-top) in order to bring order out of chaos (2 Pet. 1:3; cf. 1 Cor. 7:2; 6:13; Heb. 13:4; 1 Thess. 4:3).

2. Husbands and wives can only find true joy, stability and intimacy when they pattern their lives after the divine plan (cf. John 10:10; cf. Eph. 5:22-33; Titus 2:4-5).

by Barry Newton

How should a Christian wife respond to an abusive husband? Does “turning the other cheek” mean that a disciple should quietly accept abusive situations? For those who seek to do God's will, questions like these deserve a reliable compass from scripture.

The Right Starting Point - God’s Compass

As with other questions about living, the greatest and second greatest commandments chart a reliable path to God’s answer. Regardless of the situation, the most important directive for any human being is to love God which includes obeying how God wants us to treat others. The second most important obligation for God’s people is they should love others in the same way they love themselves. Matthew 22:37-38

Love - Understanding Where the Needle Points

The New Testament’s exhortation to love our spouses, neighbors, ourselves and even our enemies entails actively seeking someone’s well-being. While it will not always be easy to seek someone's well-being, the decision to act with such a love can even operate in the most hostile of environments where other forms of love, such as friendship or passion, will have evaporated.

The Two Basic Responses - True North or Something Else

A victim of abuse has two choices: either respond with love or with something that is not love. An unloving response can lead in many different directions.

One response common to humanity is to seek revenge. The bitter resolve, whether yelled or quietly sworn, "I'll get you back for this" is never an option for those seeking to do God’s will. Dishing out personal retribution violates obeying how God wants us to respond to others since God declared, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” Romans 12:19 Similarly, Jesus banished any form of personal retaliation when he taught to “turn the other cheek.” Matthew 5:39.

Turning the other cheek obviously rules out revenge. But is this also an insistence that we passively accept all of the abuse others might enjoy dishing out? No. In response to the principle of seeking just retribution (Matthew 5:38), Jesus’ teaching replaced enforcing one's own justice and revenge with a loving response. To respond with love eliminates striking back. As Jesus demonstrated through several examples, a loving response does something good for the perpetrator! Matthew 5:39-42 The principle of love involves “do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21, 17

Jesus did not teach passivity toward evil. Being passive is incompatible with the goal of love since there is a final day of judgment coming. In view of God's judgment upon all evil, to passively accept abuse fails to seek an abuser’s well-being.

Putting Love Into Practice - Knowing How To Walk North

In some situations, knowing how to love in an effective manner requires wisdom. Paul prayed that the love of the Philippians would be guided by knowledge and depth of insight. Philippians 1:9

What tools might God use in a victim’s hands to seek the well-being of an abuser? Will the abusive individual be open to spiritual counseling? Will acts of kindness be understood as showing a better way or will they mistakenly be interpreted in a manner to reinforce sinful behavior? Will the person fail to be transformed short of physical separation or civil action? Knowing how to help an abusive person can be challenging. What is clear is that God's people are to love even their enemies and love is not passive.

by Warren Baldwin

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

That verse in one of the mainstays of our faith. Ask someone to quote a verse from the Bible, and John 3:16 is sure to be one that gets quoted. It is transferable to any situation, quotable in nearly any context.

We live in a world of selfishness -- people making decisions to please themselves. People choosing a course of action that makes them feel good, whether in financial profits or sensual pleasures.

John 3:16 says, "Not so with God. Not so with Jesus. When God saw it was necessary to do something drastic to save his children, he wasn't thinking about his own pleasure. He was thinking about the needs of the people he loved. So he gave his son. And Jesus was thinking, 'The cross is not an exciting way to exit this world. It is harsh, it is painful. But if that is what my Father says is necessary to save these people, I'll do it. Not my will, but thine be done.'"

Romans 8 says that the cross clearly demonstrates Jesus' love for us. "While we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly." He didn't wait until we somehow "got better," and then died for us when we were good ole folks. No, Jesus died for us when we were still rascals.

The cross is God's sign, the cross is Jesus action. That love for others and sacrifice for the needs of others is still greater than self-satisfaction achieved in profits or pleasures.

Does anybody today ever hear that message? Does anyone ever sacrifice themselves for others anymore? Does anyone ever risk their security and their lives for the sake of someone else?

And the answer is ... yes.

Adam Cohen, 19, Jonah Richman, 18, and Jordan Satin, 19, sacrificed themselves for the sake of someone they loved.

On August 12, 2003, their friend, David Altschuler, 18, slipped off a ledge in the Adirondack State Park of upstate New York and fell into a swirling fury of water. The water at this spot was particularly furious because it was at the bottom of a waterfall. The water would churn and froth. It was very aerated, meaning the water did not provide the buoyancy it normally would, making it was harder to swim or stay afloat.

Into this turbulence fell David. He didn't have a chance. But his friends, Adam, Jonah, and Jordan couldn't stand idly by and watch their friend drown. So they jumped. That's right, they jumped. They didn't fall in. They didn't slip. Risking their own lives, all three teenagers jumped right into the fury of the water to try to rescue their friend. They didn't. And they didn't even save their own lives. All four young men drowned.

The county sheriff said, ""They didn't stand a chance. No one, no matter how strong a swimmer. They were doomed from the moment they hit the water."

Why do it? Why risk their lives for someone else who was dying? Well, the boys aren't here for us to interview and ask. But I'll bet there are a couple of reasons.

One, love. These three guys simply loved their friend. Family and friends later said that any of these four guys would have died for the others.

Two, selfishness does not have to reign in our hearts. It didn't with these guys. The spirit of sacrifice for others is still around.

I can't help but think of a verse in first John that parallels John 3:16: "This is how we know what love is: Christ Jesus laid down his live for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." Incidentally, that is 1 John 3:16. A good verse to memorize. A good verse to live out in our lives.

by J. Randal Matheny

In his practical letter, James entertains such a philosophical question as, "What is your life?" (Jas. 4:14, ESV). But his interest is not philosophical. He demonstrates by the question/1 that life is short and we cannot assume we'll be alive tomorrow. James questions our assumptions about how life really works and of what it actually consists.

The nature of the essence of life is a frequent subject in the Bible, as we might expect. As Moses winds down his series of farewell sermons, he too addresses the issue.

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them" (Deut. 30:19-20, NASU).

By his phrase, "this is your life," the embattled leader points up at least three qualities that make up what life is, or should be.

1. Your life is CHOOSING GOD.

The old adage, "Life is what you make it," is close to being true. Life is, truly, as you choose it.

God made man a being conscious of himself, his surroundings, his social relationships, and the invisible realities beyond his senses. He created man with free will, with the ability to choose for himself. With that, he became a creature capable of love and righteousness, capable of true interaction with his Creator.

The story of man is the history of his choices. Recognizing that, Moses urges Israel to choose rightly, wisely, godly. Their choice must be for faithfulness, loyalty, constancy.

"The making of a decision, however, involved more than simple affirmation; it involved a whole way of life based upon that decision."/2

Choice is not God, but choice certainly brings one to God and to life in and with God.

2. Your life is RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

To choose life is to choose God. The atheist is a fool, says the Psalmist, because in his struggle against God he admits by his negation that he is overpowered by the existence of God.

The English Standard Version translates our key phrase here as, "he is your life."/3 God is your life. The NASU margin says that it is literally, "that is your life," and P. C. Craigie so translates it, apparently referring to the choice.

In the end, both translations are correct. The choosing puts one in relationship with God, who gives life and makes life what it ought to be. Perhaps the ESV wanted to get away from the idea of life depending upon any action of ours and point directly to God as the source of life.

However that may be, Moses' phrases, "by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him" all point to our relationship with God and to what must be its necessary basis.

In the New Testament, the same truth is evident.

John writes of Jesus, "In Him was life" (John 1:4a).

Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).

True life is surrendering to God and to being found by him.

3. Your life is RECEIVING THE PROMISE OF GOD.

God had promised to make of Abraham a great people and give him a special land in which to dwell. Moses now reminds Israel that God is fulfilling his promises, but their enjoyment of its fulfillment depends upon their faithfulness.

The New Testament makes use of the language of inheriting the land and spiritualizes it for the church of God. "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth," Jesus proclaimed. Inheriting the earth in this beatitude is on the same plane as receiving the kingdom of God, seeing God, and being called the sons of God, among others.

In Ephesians 6:3, Paul apparently reinterprets the promise attached to honoring one's father and mother, of living long on the earth, in spiritual terms.

The land promise was restricted to Israel under the Old Testament. Now, Christians await "new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells" (2 Pet. 3:13).

In Christ we have, says Peter, "precious and magnificent promises" far greater than the Israelites could ever imagine (2 Pet. 1:4). These promises, the greatest of which is to "become partakers of the divine nature," compel us to add every divine quality to our faith (vv. 5-9). Thus, the promises entail the very nature of what our life is all about.

Summing Up

There seems to be a subtle difference between saying "this brings life" and "this is life." The latter might be well expressed by the popular phrase, said perhaps by one out on the lake fishing or stretched out in a hammock, "This is the life!" The act engaged in supposedly expresses what it means to truly live.

Similarly, we may say that, in the very act of choosing God, of relating to God, and of receiving the promises of God, this is the life. This is what it means to be alive.

Choose life; choose God; choose his promises. This is YOUR life.

1/ The NASU text takes the question as part of a statement: "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow."

3/ Also, ASV and AMP; NIV: "For the Lord is your life;" RSV/NRSV: "for that means life to you." Clyde M. Woods comments, "Less likely is the older rendering, 'he is your life' (Living Way Commentary, vol. II [Lambert Book House, 1974], p. 288).