Thursday, March 6, 2008

Guarding Against Infection

I am feeling down today. Physically depressed. Each day this week, I have had less strength than the day before. My blood counts are low. I am running a low-grade fever. I am tired.

The nurses have cautioned me to avoid any contact with people that are sick. I am quite vulnerable to infection right now.

Spiritually, we must always be on guard against things that infect our soul. We are always vulnerable to wordly influences. How easily our minds can be filled with thoughts that turn us away from God.

That is why Paul cautioned us in Philippians 4:8 to dwell upon things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, and worthy of praise.

Today's beatitude . . .

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5

Meekness is often confused with weakness. Meekness is better defined as strength under control. It is a strength produced in believers who are under the control of the Holy Spirit.

Meekness is where humility and self-control meet. - John MacArthur

A person who is meek is satisfied with what God has given him.

A man who is truly meek is a man who is always satisfied, he is a man who is already content. - D. Martin Lloyd-Jones

A person who is meek does not insist upon his own rights, but readily gives up his own rights to serve others and to glorify God.

Jesus said that the meek shall inherit the earth. Lloyd-Jones comments that there is both a present and a future reality here. There is the present reality that the person who is meek already has everything he needs because he is satisfied with what God has given him. But there is also the future reality that the man who is under the control of the Holy Spirit will receive salvation and inherit eternal life.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, Jim and family, this is Tommy Kilgore in Atlanta writing. Since we have heard about Jim's condition, my family has been praying for yours. I'm Lay Director for NGWTE #129 March 27-30and have had my team of 70 guys (a lot of them former Mountain View folks, including Stuart Greene as Head Spiritual) praying for Jim and family for weeks now. We love you and we will be praying for you every day! Much love to the family, Tommy.

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