GIVE & TAKE OF RESPECT: Titus 2:2

"Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance." Titus 2:2

I have been involved in Scouting with my youngest son for the last five years. At one event I observed a Boy Scout in his mid-teens showing a Cub Scout in about second grade how to raise the flag. It was good to see the way the older Scout addressed the younger scout. You could see the way the Cub Scout looked up to the Boy Scout and I was impressed with the manner in which the Boy Scout taught him to participate in a flag raising ceremony, respectfully. 

I have worked with students and parents as a teacher and administrator for twenty three years. To earn people's respect is more than just holding a title. People won't respect you if you do not keep your word. People won't respect you if you treat them like you are better than them. Let me tell you, kids know whether you actually care about them or not. And they will let you know fairly quickly. After working in one South Central school for about seven or eight years a fellow teacher noted that my door didn't get tagged while everyone elses did. I earned the communities respect by treating them with respect, which wasn't always easy. 

I am being respectful? Are my actions worthy of respect or are they suspect? In the end I think it all boils down to being Christlike. If I am seeking to be Christlike I will be respectful and respectable.

Father, help us to be servants of Christ and to be Christlike in our actions. Praise be to you in us today!

CONTROL YOUR INTAKE: Titus 2:2

"Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance." Titus 2:2

I find it interesting that the list for older men is longer than the list for younger men (see verse 6). Maybe that is because older men set the example for younger men to follow. 

The first characteristic  that I as a man should seek is to be temperate. In the Greek it is a word that can be translated sober. I take it to mean that I need to govern my intake. Whatever that might be I need to be vigilant as to its role in my life. 

Of course when you say sober you think of alcohol. I am going to say this as I  see it. I have seen people who "don't drink, don't smoke, don't dance and don't run with those who do" act in some very ungodly ways. I have see people who do all the above act in some very Christlike, gracious and giving ways. The issue is who controls your heart and mind. If alcohol, drugs, pornagraphy or something else controls you, that is your master. If the love of Christ controls and compels you, Christ is your Savior and Lord. 

In reality it is a simple issue. Does it control you? I mean does it move you to decide? When I am making the basic decisions of my day is the desire for something else distracting me from choosing wisely? I need to be in control of what I let influence me.

To be temperate, or sober is to have a clear head when living your daily life. 

Father, help us to be temperate and let you control our thinking. Help us to look to you as we live our daily lives in this world but not of this world. Praise be to you in us today!

ACTIONS THAT SPEAK: Titus 1:16

"They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good." Titus 1:16

You have heard the old saying, "Actions speak louder than words." As Christians our actions are our testimony. My pastor speaks about having a redemptive conversation each day. I would like to suggest that every interaction is a possible redemptive "conversation". Jesus told us that if we want to be great in his kingdom we should be the servant of all. So, whatever you do today remember that it can be used by the Spirit of God to draw people to Jesus Christ. 

Who will you interact with today? Remember, even the simplest action can be redeemed by Lord.  

Lord, may our actions to God and bear witness to our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Open our eyes to see you working in and through us today! Praise be to you in us today!

HOLD ON BECAUSE THEY'RE HOLDING ON TO YOU: Titus 1:9

"He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it." Titus 1:9 

My faith, my holding on to to Christ as he holds on to me, not only helps me abide in Christ but those in my circles of influence, starting with my family. 

In my school district there has been this infestation of "coaches" for about the last decade. There is nothing more nullifying than a coach who couldn't teach trying to tell other teachers how to do their job. In the same way my wife and children are not going to hear me if I am living a godless life yet talk like I am a saint. 

Now, I must offer a disclaimer. In Ephesians 5:21-33 Paul tells wives to submit to their husbands and husbands to love their wives. Please notice that it does not say submit when your husband is Christlike or love your wife when she is loveable. It also does not say you are free to not submit or love when your spouse is un-Christlike. My point is that perfection is not what is being taught. Faith relies on the cross because we need mercy, grace and forgiveness. 

My children need me to encourage them to follow Christ when everyone else is not. My children need me to help them refute the lies taught to children about the origin of man and the reality of our Creator, Savior, Father and Friend. We don't need to be brilliant apologists of the gospel, we just need to point our families to Christ.

Father, help us to follow you as parents and spouses and to encourage our children and spouses to trust in you. Praise be to you in us today! 

Thank you for the sacrifice...

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

Jesus Christ gave the greatest sacrifice and gives the greatest freedom. Those who follow that example are remembered today.

Thank you, Father, for the men and women of this country who have given their lives that we may enjoy the freedom to worship you as we see fit. 

The Gettysburg Address: 
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. - Abraham Lincoln

GOD'S LOVE, DAY OR NIGHT: Psalm 42:8

"By day the LORD directs his love,

     at night his song is with me - 
     a prayer to the God of my life."
 Psalm 42:8  

In the middle of a prayer of longing comes a reminder of the truth: God is directing his love toward you. It is so easy to focus on the feeling of aloneness, isn't it? That is the result of sin, being without hope and without God in this world. 

A very good friend of mine had a very difficult time dealing with the death of his mother. For years he struggled with it. I tried to be empathetic. My biological father had died just after my aunt. My buddy was angry with God for taking his mom. It was hard because he just wouldn't come to grips that everyone dies. In his mind if God loved him he would not have let his mother die. Finally, he came to the place where he could grieve and move on in the knowledge that God loved him.

Sometimes we are in the midst of a "Where are you God?" time. If you are remember that it is not about your feelings, it is about the truth of God's love. The truth is that God directs his love toward us and day or night his Presence is with us. 

Father, thank you that by day you direct you love toward me and at night you put a song in my heart. Help me to live by faith in that truth. Praise be to you in us today!

GODLINESS IS THE END GOAL: Titus 1:1

"Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness." Titus 1:1

The playoffs are coming up for my son's little league baseball team. We have great pitching, but, our hitting has been a weakness. So, we have been spending more time in the batting cages. The goal: to get a lot of hits and score a lot of runs. 

Godliness is the desired effect of the knowledge of the truth and faith.  Although it may not always seem easy to be godly, it is fairly straightforward. To be godly is to be Christlike. To be Christlike is to be loving. Think for just a moment of a few things you will encounter today...how can you do that in a Christlike way? 

Lord Jesus, help us to treat people like you would treat them and to act with integrity and honesty, unlike many around us. Praise be to you in us today!