The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1).

The apostle Paul wrote to the churches in the region of Galatia, communicating with them concerning the importance of restoring a sinning believer. Recently I read the words of a service man graduating from basic training. He stated, “I will never leave an airman behind!” Every branch of our military is trained to fight to protect our homeland and citizens, and servicemen vow never to leave a wounded fellow soldier behind. There is a tremendous lesson for believers in such a vow. What do we do when someone that we love and know in our local church, sins and shows no repentance? In our verse for today Paul presents the strategy for reaching that person. Spiritual believers in the spirit of meekness must seek to reach that brother or sister and restore such a one. The reason for a meek and quiet spirit in approaching this sinning believer is the very real possibility that we likewise could be tempted in the future. Great care must be exercised in this matter. However, wouldn’t it be something if spiritual believers, those truly grounded in the Word, really sought to restore those overtaken in a fault?

For today: We must be careful how we are living and how we are treating even those who are overtaken in a fault!

“The grass withers, the flower fades: but the Word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8).

Josiah stood in the library with his grandfather Raymond. “You surely must love books, Grandpa,” Josiah said. “I’ve never seen as many books as you have in your library. I can see that some of the books are really old, Grandpa. Do you still read them?” Josiah continued. “Well, my dear grandson, to tell you the truth, it’s been quite some time since I’ve read some of them. They are very much out-of-date, I suspect,” Grandpa said as he chuckled. Actually, friends, as we think about it, many publications become slightly outdated soon after being published. Some of the statistics, research, predictions, and descriptions written by highly professional people simply become out-of-date. Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM, once said, “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” He made this statement in 1943. Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp. once said, “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” He made this statement in 1977. A Western Union internal memo in 1876 stated, “This telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” We smile at all of these outdated and inaccurate statements. It is just a good reminder to us that everything around us becomes outdated, except for the Scriptures, the precious Word of God. His Word stands forever. It will never be outdated!

For today: Invest time reading the Scriptures and then intentionally obey the Scriptures. Your convictions will be out-of-step with the world but never outdated!

“The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will” (Proverbs 21:1).

If you have been reading Dr. Mike’s Daily Prescriptions the last few days, you will remember how the church of Troy and Louise prayed that the Lord would change the hearts of their belligerent, arrogant, and ungodly neighbors. I left you yesterday with Troy saving the lives of these neighbors who, in the middle of the night, were sound asleep as their house was on fire. These neighbors had no working smoke detectors, and if it had not been for Troy who came back home in the middle of the night from his work, they surely would have perished. Troy risked his own life by smashing out the window in the back of the neighbors’ home, enabling him to gain entrance. Through the smoke and flames Troy was able to awaken the occupants and lead them to safety. The fire had such a head start that by the time the fire department arrived, the house was nearly engulfed. Louise brought blankets to wrap around the shivering neighbors. Troy and Louise seized the opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ. Even though these neighbors at best had been miserable and at the worst actually broke the law, the Lord used this terrible situation to change their hearts. Troy and Louise invited them to come and stay with them for the next few days until they were able to secure temporary housing elsewhere. Troy led the way to buying clothes for the neighbors who came into their home dressed only in their pajamas. Louise organized a fund at the bank and solicited much in the way of funds for the family who had very inadequate fire insurance. The outcome was a very great change of heart for the next door neighbors. It was not long before they came with Troy and Louise to their church service. The hostility was gone. God brought a great change of heart to those neighbors. Whose heart needs changing in your personal life? Is it yours? Or is it the heart of another? Hopefully it will not take a situation like this to bring about that change.

For today: I want to keep my heart soft and tender so that the Lord can easily direct my steps. How about you?

“The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will” (Proverbs 21:1).

Did you have a chance to read yesterday’s Dr. Mike’s Daily Prescription? If not, let me briefly catch you up-to-date. Troy and Louise live next door to belligerent, arrogant, and hard to be around neighbors. Their horrible actions seemed to stem from Troy’s friendly gesture of trying to witness to them and invite them to church. Rather than simply saying, “No thank you,” these neighbors turned hostile and even dangerous in their actions. Troy and Louise enlisted the help of their church family to be specifically praying for the neighbors. One of the dear prayer partners, an elderly man named Arnie, often prayed that the Lord, Who holds the king’s heart in His hands, would likewise turn the hearts of these neighbors as only He could do. Days turned into weeks, and nothing seemed to change next door. That is, until that terrible day in February. Troy returned to his home around 2 o’clock in the morning from his shift at work. To his horror he saw smoke billowing from his neighbors’ home. Dialing 9-1-1 on his cell phone to report the fire, Troy ran into the neighbors’ yard and broke the back window. Without even thinking twice about it, Troy climbed through the broken window and into the house, alerting the neighbors, and helping them to safety. Louise brought blankets to wrap around the shocked neighbors. Although the fire department was very quick in their response and very professional and fighting the fire, the next door neighbors’ house was heavily damaged. You may find it hard to believe what Troy and Louise did next. Come on back tomorrow, and I will conclude the story of the king’s heart and the next door neighbors!

For today: The events of your life may not be as dramatic as a house fire next door. However, God does want you and me to make wise use of the opportunities that come our way.

“The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will” (Proverbs 21:1).

Troy and Louise felt like they could not take very much more of this situation. Their next door neighbors never were easy to be around. But lately things seemed to be going from bad to worse. It all started one Saturday afternoon nearly a year ago when Troy, out of concern for them, tried to witness to them and even invited them to come to church with them the next day. The neighbors took offense to this simple gesture of friendship and concern and decided that they would make life miserable for Troy and his wife, Louise. Instead of simply saying, “No, thank you,” these neighbors became belligerent. They damaged Troy’s property. They tossed garbage over the fence onto Troy’s yard. No one actually saw the criminal activity happen, but Louise’s car was keyed, leaving deep scratches along one side, and it was probably caused by the neighbors. Law enforcement tried to intercede but to no avail. Finally Troy enlisted the help of their entire church family. The church began to pray. Several asked the Lord to bring a change of heart into the lives of the next door neighbors. One faithful elderly prayer partner named Arnie prayed, “Lord, if you could change the heart of the king because it was in Your hand, these neighbors of Troy and Louise are nothing too hard for you. Please Lord, please change their hearts.” Want to know what happened? Be sure to come back tomorrow and we’ll continue the story. But for today, be assured that the heart of the king is in the Lord’s hands.

For today: I can rest content knowing that “the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord” and He can surely turn it!