Monday, February 28, 2011

The Litmus Test of Joy - a SENSE of Humor!

We introduced the need for joy in my last posting. But how can I tell if someone has joy even when they are going through a difficult time? One litmus test that shows joy is a SENSE OF HUMOR. Psalm 126:2 says, "Our mouth was filled with laughter!" Read below the following thoughts on laughter. Ask God to keep within you a SENSE OF HUMOR even as you go through the hurts of life and ministry.

"Work hard and have a sense of humor!" (Mother Theresa)

"Scientists have found that laughter has a profound effect on virtually every important organ in the human body. Laughter reduces tensions, relaxes tissues, and exercises most vital organs. it results in a beneficial effect on us mentally and physically." (Executive's Digest)

"I think it is just as sacred to laugh as it is to pray, or preach, or to witness." (Charles Swindol)

"Love may make the world go round, but laughter keeps you from getting dizzy." (Barbara Johnson)

Be sure to read my other blog at www.folkslisten.blogspot.com. You can leave a comment at either blog or email me directly at skdistler@gmail.com.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Joy in the Bible

When we go through difficult times in ministry or in life, it is easy to lose sight of our joy. But joy is very important. In the Bible it is almost always associated with salvation.

Joy is seen in the Old Testament - "The joy of the Lord is my strength" (Nehemiah 8:10).

Joy is seen in the teaching of Christ - "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full" (John 15:11).

Joy is also seen in the New Testament. There are some 15 different words translated joy, joyful, joyfully, joyfulness, joyous, or gladness. These words are used at least 70 times. Over 25% of these occurrences are in the book of Philippians. So if you are a pastor or ministry leader that is hurting, pour into the book of Philippians. Get a "joy transfusion" by reading this four chapter book in its entirety once a day for 30 days straight. You will be reminded that joy is never to take a break in our lives as taught by both Paul and James in the verses below:

"Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS" (Philippians 4:4).

"Count it ALL joy when you fall into trials" (James 1:2).

Be sure to read my other blog at www.folkslisten.blogspot.com. You can leave a comment at either blog or email me directly at skdistler@gmail.com.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Replacing Resentment

Over the last several posts we have looked at the need to "put away" resentment toward those who have hurt you as seen in Ephesians 4:31. But in in verse 32 we learn that we also need to replace that resentment with a few things such as:

Kindness - Doing things that are useful and helpful to those who have hurt you.

Tender-Loving Kindness - A little boy was once asked what the difference was between kindness and tender-loving kindness. He said that if he was hungry and you gave him a piece of bread, that would be kindness. But if you spread some jam on that bread, that would be tender-loving kindness.

Forgiveness - We have already defined forgiveness in earlier posts. But maybe you are thinking, "that person doesn't deserve my forgiveness!" You might be right. But the root word for forgiveness in the original language is where we get the word "grace" (getting something we don't deserve). Let me ask you something. Did you deserve the forgiveness of God? Absolutely not! So you too are obligated to forgive those who have hurt you - even if they don't deserve it!

Be sure to read my other blog at www.folkslisten.blogspt.com. You can leave a comment at either blog or email me directly at skdistler@gmail.com.

Monday, February 21, 2011

The Levels of Bitterness

We saw in our last posting that Ephesians 4:31 tells us to "put away" or abandon all resentment. We also stated that the Apostle Paul listed 6 levels of resentment that grow like building blocks. The first 3 levels are all inward while the last 3 levels are all outward. In the last post we examined level #1 which was bitterness. Today we see the remaining levels.

Level #1 - BITTERNESS

Level #2 - WRATH - This is a hot anger or passion that you feel inwardly that comes and often leaves very quickly. And if you don't "put away" resentment at this level it moves on to level 3.

Level #3 - ANGER - This is an internal smoldering or a deep, subtle feeling. It is the strongest of all inner passions. Now, instead of a passing passion, it becomes an abiding condition of the mind. You can't stop thinking about how much that person has hurt you and your thoughts are almost always centered on revenge. If you don't "put away" resentment at this level it moves on to level 4 which now becomes outward in nature.

Level #4 - CLAMOR - This word speaks of a shout or an outcry. Now you have public outbursts against that individual that are seen by others. This is illustrated by the Pharisees and Sadducee's "clamor" seen in Acts 23:9. If you don't "put away" resentment at this level it moves on to level 5.

Level #5 - SLANDER - This is speech made with the intent to injure. Now we say hurtful things to or about the person you resent. This word is also translated "railing" and describes words said to Jesus while He was on the cross. If you don't "put away" resentment at this level it will move on the 6th and final level.

Level #6 - MALICE - This is a general term for vicious behavior. At this level you do evil things to the person that you never thought you had the capability of doing.

But once you have "put away" resentment, you must also replace it with something else. We will talk about that in my next post.

Be sure to read my other blog at www.folkslisten.blogspot.com. You can leave a comment at either blog or email me directly at skdistler@gmail.com

Friday, February 18, 2011

The Seed of Bitterness

In Ephesians 4:31, we are told to "put away" resentment. The idea is to "take-up" or to "remove" something. This involves total abandonment. We are not just to keep our resentment toward those who may have hurt us under control - we are to put it away - abandon it. And this is written in the imperative mood making it a command rather than an option. In other words, to be in the will of God you must "put away" all resentment in your life that you have toward others.

Paul then gives us 6 levels of resentment. These are like building blocks. If you don't "put it away" at level one - it moves to level two. If you don't "put it away" at level two - it moves to level three (and so on). The first three levels are all inward. In other words, it is possible to get all the way to level #3 and keep it all inside of you. But the last 3 levels are outward. You can't get to levels 4, 5 and 6 without others seeing it in your life.

Level #1 is BITTERNESS. This describes a smoldering resentment or a grudgeful attitude. It can be very small. Hebrews 12:14-15 calls it a "seed of bitterness". Sometimes you don't even know that a seed is even there. This is that little feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you see or hear about a certain individual. It's easy to just brush it off as no big deal. But one thing we do know about seeds are that they grow and some of them can grow very big. We learn in Acts 8:21-23 that bitterness may start as a seed but it can grow into a deep, inner agony in your life and the lives of those around you.

Bitterness is just level #1 in the 6 levels of resentment that we are to "put away". We'll see the remaining levels in my next posting.

Be sure to read my other blog as well at www.folkslisten.blogspot.com. You can leave a comment at either blog or email me directly at skdistler@gmail.com.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Forgiveness and Patience

We saw in the last blog posting that forgiveness is not forgetting. We saw from 1 Corinthians 13 that forgiveness is choosing not to use the pain of past hurts as a weapon today or in the future. This ties in closely with another description of love found in 1 Corinthians 13. The very first descriptive phrase about love in this chapter is this:

"Love is patient!"

This word, "patient", describes someone who has been wronged, has the power and right to retaliate, but chooses not to do so. In other words - they forgive.

I think a great human example of this in Scripture surrounds the Christmas story. Mary is espoused to be Josephs' wife. This means that they were legally married but were not allowed to consummate that relationship sexually. In fact, in the very conservative area of Nazareth it is doubtful that they would have even been allowed to have been alone together. So imagine the surprise on Joseph's face when he learns that Mary is pregnant. I guarantee that his first thought was not, "I bet this is some kind of virgin conception."

Think about it. In Joseph's mind there was only one plausible answer - Mary had wronged him in the deepest of ways. And according to Old Testament law, Joseph could have called for Mary to be stoned. He had been wronged (or so it seemed) and he had the power and the right to retaliate. But what did Joseph do? He chose instead to put Mary away quietly. he decided to end the espousal in a way in which the reason didn't even have to be made public. Joseph exhibited a love that was patient. That, to me, is a beautiful picture of forgiveness.

Be sure to read my other blog at www.folkslisten.blogspot.com. You can leave a comment at either blog or email me directly at skdistler@gmail.com.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Is Forgiving Forgetting?

I ended the last series of posts on the pit of betrayal by talking about the most important element of healing from such a wound - the need to forgive. But what exactly is forgiveness? I have found that most people have a distorted view of forgiveness. The reason for this is because just about every one of us grew up being taught this:

FORGIVENESS is FORGIVING and FORGETTING!

Now there are two problems with this statement that we all learned as kids. First, it is not Biblical. You will not find anywhere in the Bible where it teaches that forgiveness is forgetting. And second, it simply isn't possible. Can you really forget the times people in your life, especially those closest to you, hurt you? I don't think so. So if forgiveness is not forgetting, than what is it? 1 Corinthians 13 gives us the answer.

In this great love chapter (in which the context is love in the church, not love in marriage) Paul gives us several descriptions of love. Each of them are actions, not feelings. And about halfway through the list he writes,

"Love keeps no record of right and wrong."

This is describing someone who keeps a ledger of what is owed them so it can ultimately be repaid. Love doesn't do that. Love does not keep a mental record of what someone has done to hurt you in order to pay them back when the opportunity arises.

You see, forgiveness remembers. But forgiveness does not remember in order to use the past hurt as a weapon in the future. Forgiveness says that even when I remember the hurtful pain of the past, I will not use that remembrance against the person who inflicted the pain on me. Oh, I will be tempted to - probably many times and for many years. But every time the memory of my past hurt tempts me to seek some type of present revenge, I will say NO to that temptation. This is forgiveness.

Be sure to read my other blog at www.folkslisten.blogspot.com. You can leave a comment at either blog or email me directly at skdistler@gmail.com

Friday, February 11, 2011

The Most Important Aspect of BETRAYAL

In this final posting on lessons of betrayal from the life of Joseph in the book of Genesis, we reach the most important aspect of dealing with betrayal. Read the following words closely as Joseph reveals himself to the very brothers who years earlier, out of hatred and jealousy, had pushed him into the pit of betrayal. Genesis 45:4-5, 14-15 says:

"Then Joseph said to his brothers, 'Please come closer to me.' And they came closer. And he said, 'I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.' Then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. He kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him."

WOW! Do you see the main aspect of dealing with betrayal in those verses? It can be summed up in one very critical word and that word is FORGIVENESS. You will never experience total victory over the wounds and scars caused by betrayal until you FORGIVE those who hurt you.

The problem is that most people have a very warped view of what FORGIVENESS really is. So in my next series of posts here at "Hope for Hurting Pastors" I am going to write about what true Biblical FORGIVENESS really looks like. If you are a pastor or ministry leader that has found yourself pushed into the PIT of BETRAYAL, whether it be recent or way in the past, these next few posts will be must-reads for you!

Be sure to also read my other blog at www.folkslisten.blogspot.com. You can leave a comment at either blog or email me directly at skdistler@gmail.com.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The BLESSING of BETRAYAL - part 3

In the last two posts we have seen two BLESSINGS that can come out of BETRAYAL. Now let me add a third and final blessing. The first blessing centered around a PLAN. The second blessing centered around PEOPLE. The third blessing centers around PASSION. And by passion, I am speaking specifically of the passion of Christ.

When we think of the passion of Jesus we think of the scourging, the crown of thorns, the crucifixion, and the spear. And all of these were very big aspects of His passion. But there is a part of the passion of Christ that is easy to gloss over without a lot of thought or emotion. Matthew 26:4-50 says this:

"Immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, 'Hail, Rabbi!' and kissed Him. And Jesus said to Him, 'Friend, do what you have come for.' Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him."

Part of the passion of Jesus was suffering betrayal. And if you have ever found yourself pushed into the PIT of BETRAYAL than suddenly this part of the passion of Jesus takes on a whole new meaning and intensity. Before Jesus was crucified for me, before He was scourged for me, He was first betrayed for me. Jesus knows full well how deep the wounds of betrayal go. And one of the ways that God can turn BETRAYAL into BLESSING is to give you a new appreciation for this aspect of the passion of Jesus. If you know what the sting of betrayal feels like, you will come to love Jesus even more for His suffering betrayal for you.

Be sure to read my other blog at www.folkslisten.blogspot.com. You can leave a comment at either blog or email me directly at skdistler@gmail.com

Monday, February 7, 2011

The BLESSING of BETRAYAL - part 2

In our last post we saw from the life of Joseph in the book of Genesis that one of the 3 ways that God can turn the PIT of BETRAYAL into the PALACE of BLESSING is through His PLAN! Today we see that the BLESSING of BETRAYAL can also be seen through PEOPLE!

As you read through the story of Joseph as he goes from the PIT to the PRISON and ultimately to the PALACE, you see numbers of people that Joseph was able to impact. These included but were not limited to:

Potiphar
Potiphar's wife
Potiphar's household
The jailer
The cupbearer
The baker
The other prisoners
Pharaoh
Pharaoh's household

Think about this! These were all people that Joseph never would have met - never would have come in contact with - had he not got pushed into the PIT of BETRAYAL! What a BLESSING that BETRAYAL can be as God uses it to bring into our lives people that we can impact because we ourselves got pushed into the PIT of BETRAYAL!

So if you are a pastor or ministry leader that has found yourself lying in the bottom of the PIT of BETRAYAL, take heart! Take your eyes off of yourself and look at the people that God has and will bring into your life for you to impact - people that you otherwise would never have met had you not got pushed into the PIT of BETRAYAL! Let God use your ministry in their lives to turn your BETRAYAL into BLESSING!

Be sure to read my other blog at www.folkslisten.blogspot.com. You can leave a comment at either blog or email me directly at skdistler@gmail.com.

Friday, February 4, 2011

The BLESSING of BETRAYAL - part 1

I've been posting about lessons we can learn from Joseph's experience in the pit of betrayal. From the story of this Old Testament Patriarch we learn the amazing principle that God can turn BETRAYAL into BLESSING. And from this story I see three ways that this can happen. The first blessing deals with a PLAN!

As I have stated several times, few wounds go deeper than those caused by betrayal. But even when we find ourselves pushed into the pit of betrayal, we can know that God is at work - He has a plan. For Joseph, this plan would take him from the PIT to the PALACE as ultimately he would become the 2nd highest in command in Egypt - only Pharaoh himself would be greater in power. And in this position Joseph would be used of God to save Egypt and the surrounding peoples (including his own family) from a devastating famine. That is why years later Joseph could make the following statements when reunited with his brothers, the very ones who had pushed him into the pit of betrayal:

"Now don't be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life." (Genesis 45:5)

"Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to a Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt." (Genesis 45:8)

Even while Joseph was experiencing the horrible pain accompanied by betrayal, God had a plan for him. And it is the plan of God that turns BETRAYAL into BLESSING. Joseph went from the PIT to the PALACE. And if you are a pastor or ministry leader that has found yourself pushed into the pit of betrayal - take heart! God has a plan for you too! God will turn the betrayal you have experienced into a blessing.

But remember, before Joseph went from the PIT to the PALACE - he first had to experience the PRISON. And so might you! Your painful experience may be far from over but stay faithful my drear friend. I believe that God has a plan for you and His plan will ultimately turn your PIT of BETRAYAL into a PALACE of BLESSING!

Be sure to read my other blog at www.folkslisten.blogspot.com. You can also leave a comment at either blog or email me directly at skdistler@gmail.com

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Far-Reaching Wounds of Betrayal

I have said it in just about each posting so far dealing with the pit of betrayal, but let me say it still again. No hurt goes deeper than the wounds caused by betrayal. And those wounds don't just affect the person on the receiving end of the betrayal. It affects others as well. A husband who betrays his wife hurts more people than just his wife. A friend who betrays a friend hurts more people than just his friend. And if you are a pastor that has felt the sting of betrayal, than you also know that the betrayal directed toward you has most likely hurt many other people as well.

Joseph's brothers pushing him into the pit of betrayal didn't just hurt Joseph. In Genesis 37:33-35, after Joseph's brothers killed a goat, sprinkled its blood on his coat, and gave it to their father to convince him that Joseph was dead when they really had sold him into slavery, the Bible says, "Then he (Jacob) examined it and said, 'It is my son's tunic. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!' So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, 'Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.' So his father wept for him."

If only we could catch a glimpse of the future before we pushed someone else into the pit of betrayal! Maybe if we could see the numbers of other people our act of betrayal will hurt, along side of the person who is the focus of our actions, we would think twice before acting. The wounds of betrayal are far-reaching. They affect more people than simply the person who gets pushed into the pit. That's another lesson we learn from the story of Joseph.

Be sure to read my other blog entitled "Folks, Listen" at www.folkslisten.blogspot.com. Feel free to leave a comment at this blog or email me directly at skdistler@gmail.com.