IBC Bremen Sermons

John 20:17 - Following in Your Father's Footsteps

Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
(John 20:17 ESV)

Jesus describes after His resurrection the fact that He will return to His Father. He calls God His Father, but also our Father. It occurred to me that Jesus is essentially following in His father's footsteps.

Have you ever heard of a son who follows in what the father does? A father is a carpenter and so the son learns to be a carpenter. The son is following in the father's footsteps. The son is following the father's example.

What do we mean when we say that someone is following in their father's footsteps? It means two things. First, it shows the relationship of the father to the son as one who sets an example. The father steps forward and blazes the path for the family to go. The father leads the family by setting his steps first.

Second, it shows the relationship between the child and the father, as the child follows the father's example.

Every child will learn from the father's example - good or bad. You see it when you look at how the children act. You can spot whose children they are, not just by how they look, but also by how they act.

Fathers are expected to teach the children by example. Most people think that you should tell children what to do. That is just the first way of teaching. But the better way of teaching is to set the example. You model the behavior and the child learns it. This is an important way to teach because it says to the child, I will love you by showing you how to act. It is also important because it forces the parents to act mature. If you lead a poor example, or a bad example, your child is going to learn it. Even if you tell your child not to do it.

Of course, every Christian father walks in the direction that God shows him. So our earthly fathers, while they may be setting the example for their earthly families, are doing so by following God's example.

A Christian father can only set the example for his children when He is following the example of His Heavenly Father. So the Heavenly Father sets the example for the earthly father. And the earthly father sets the example for the children.

This is important because in today's world, most children don't have a good father to follow.

This leads me to think of a very difficult problem: How hard it is to follow in God the Father's footsteps when our father's example is not good?

When I follow God's footsteps for me as my Heavenly Father, will it be the same as when I follow in my own father's footsteps?

God's example is perfect. He shared that perfetion with His Son Jesus. Jesus mirrored exactly what His Father does, and we as Christians have seen it. So when Jesus was following the footsteps of His Heavenly Father, He was in essence the perfect mirror.

This is not the case with our earthly fathers. We are all marred by sin. This sin is like a mirror that is dirty and full of smudges.

Jesus was able to follow God's example without getting any dirt on His Mirror – Himself. Jesus was never once stained with sin. However, all of us get dirt on our mirrors and we need to clean them. That is the first step. We need to get out mirrors cleaned.

THIS IS CALLED CONFESSION OF OUR SINS AND OUR NEED FOR A SAVIOR

But Jesus never looked to someone else to reflect. Jesus always reflected God His Father. Jesus always has His mirror pointed to His Heavenly Father – God. The same must be true of us.

We must believe that God is our Heavenly Father and that Jesus is His Son. We must turn from examples that we like to follow, and start to follow the example of God in Jesus Christ. This means that we have to keep our mirrors turned to Jesus.

THIS IS CALLED BELIEVING IN JESUS AND COMMITTING TO JESUS IN REPENTANCE

You see, this is where our example follows our direction. When I keep my mirror in God's direction, then I can follow His footsteps. When I don't keep my mirror in God's direction, then I will be following someone else's footsteps.

Now we all follow someone's footsteps. Even if we say we follow our footsteps, or blaze our own trail, we are following someone's footsteps. God wants you to follow His footsteps. This is what the ascension shows us. Just as Jesus follow's His Father's (and our Father's) footsteps, we too need to learn to look to God and follow Him. We follow God when we follow Jesus. Just as Jesus mirrors God's example, we too need to point our mirror to God and His direction for our lives.

HOW DO I FOLLOW IN MY HEAVENLY FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS

1. I watch what the Father does.

Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.
(John 5:19-20 NKJV)

2. I mimic the Father's behavior.

I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father."
(John 8:38 NKJV)

And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."
(John 12:50 NKJV)

I have revealed (mimicked) Your name to the men You gave Me from the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
(John 17:6 HCSB)

3. I follow the Father's interests.

The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.
(John 3:35 NKJV)

And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."
(John 8:29 NKJV)

4. I go where the Father leads.

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God,
(John 13:3 NKJV)

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
(John 15:10 NKJV)

Why did Jesus do all this? Why did He watch, mimic, follow and go where His Father's footsteps took Him? Jesus did this because He knew that His Father loved Him.

"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.
(John 10:17 NKJV)

"As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
(John 15:9 NKJV)

That same love – the love that Jesus knew from His Heavenly Father – Jesus shares with us all. If you don't know the love of a father, or if you think your mirror is dirty, or if you think you can't follow the footsteps of your own father, then consider Jesus. Look to Jesus and His Father – God. He will share with you the love that you need. Everyone needs a father. Everyone needs a loving father to follow. Follow in the footsteps of God the Father today.

End with the song (read as a poem) Footsteps of Jesus

1975 Baptist Hymnal, #325

Sweetly Lord, have we heard thee calling, “Come, follow Me!”

And we see where thy footprints falling, lead us to thee.

Footprints of Jesus that make the pathway glow;

We will follow the steps of Jesus wherever they go.

Though they lead over the cold, dark mountains, seeking His sheep,

Or along by Siloam's fountains, helping the weak.

If they lead through the temple holy, preaching the Word,

or in homes of the poor and lowly, serving the Lord

Then at last, when on He sees us, our journey done,

we will rest where the steps of Jesus end at His throne.

Footsteps of Jesus that make the pathway glow;

We will follow the steps of Jesus where ever they go.

Posted by Unknown at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments

Characteristics of a Good Christian Mentor

1 Corinthians 4:14-21

The theme verse that describes Christian mentoring is in verse 15:

For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
(1 Corinthians 4:15 NKJV)


There are six characteristics of a good Christian mentor in these verses. These characteristics are necessary when a Christian takes the opportunity to disciple someone younger in the faith than themselves. I like to use the word MENTOR to describe this.

M - Matures the relationship with the spiritual child with trust.

I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you.
(1 Corinthians 4:14 NKJV)

There are going to be times when you mentor another Christian, you will need to be able to say hard things so that they may grow.

So many people walk around making bad spiritual decisions and, amazingly, the other Christians around them all stand back and watch as mistakes are repeated again and again. We need someone who loves us enough to come to us with the hard truth - “That relationship is destructive,” “Your anger is inappropriate,” “You seem to be pulling back from your church family.”

Some people who do talk about what someone is doing wrong go about it in the wrong way. They may talk about the person in order to justify their own sins. They may talk the hard truth to others, but not to that person. Our desire cannot be to add shame to their name, but rather to see their behavior changed and their relationship with God redeemed.

Many times we say these hard things when we have not been allowed to say them. Let me explain what I mean.

Just because someone has the authority to say it does not mean that s/he has the right to say it. When you mentor someone, you can only correct them after you have built trust with them. Otherwise, it is just judgmental criticism that will do no good. I have seen Christians say hard things to one another. Perhaps they were right in saying it. But it went wrong because there was no trust. These things may need to be said, but the person never deserved to say these things.

So the first basic characteristic and rule in mentoring is trust. You can only mentor someone who will trust you. Trust is the first characteristic that is required. Why? Without trust, you are not allowed to say the hard things that need to be said.

If you as a spiritual child have given your trust to your mentor, then you give the mentor the rights to say the hard things that need to be said. If you are a Christian, and you want to disciple other Christians, you first need to build trust. Otherwise, what you say will come across as criticism, judgmentalism, and as fake Christianity. This is very unloving.

You can't correct someone who doesn't trust you. You can't trust someone if you have not built up a relationship.

This leads us to a second characteristic of good Christian mentoring.

E - Encourages the spiritual child through love.

I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you.
(1 Corinthians 4:14 NKJV)

You can build a relationship when you encourage the spiritual child through love. The best way you can start to mentor someone is to encourage them. Christian mentors should be the first to share and speak words of love, encouragement, and compassion to those they disciple.

N - Navigates the path of mentoring with experience.

Therefore I urge you, imitate me.
(1 Corinthians 4:16 NKJV)

What an amazing statement! Paul says to the Corinthian church, "Imitate me!" Yet a mentor has to be willing to set the example for the spiritual children that they mentor.

We must be able to say to those we mentor, “Don’t just do as I say; do as I do.”

"I am not going to just talk about prayer. I am going to show you how a man of God prays."
"I am not going to just say you should forgive others, I am going to show you by forgiving others."
"I am not going to just tell you to share Jesus with others. I am going to show you how I share Jesus with others."

But navigating the path with experience is not just about setting the example. It is not just saying: "Do as I do and follow me in this." It also includes letting the other person know that you screw up, you make mistakes, and you are learning too.

Too many Christians tell other people to "do as I say" but they never admit that they also are experiencing difficulties in their lives. How much that could other young Christians when you let other people know that you have made mistakes and that you have to grow in certain areas as well. There are no perfect Christians. A perfect Christian is a dead Christian. There are blameless Christians - Christians who have grown in character to the point where no one can really say anything bad about them. They have a good reputation with others. They live a life that others want to follow. But we are all growing.

Therefore, we cannot expect anyone we mentor to go to levels of maturity that we have not experienced ourselves. This is a good question for us to ask ourselves: if my spiritual child becomes as mature as me, how far along will they be toward being like Jesus?

T - Takes the initiative in helping the spiritual child develop and grow.

...I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord....
(1 Corinthians 4:17 NKJV)

Being a good Christian mentor means taking the initiative to see that the young Christian develops and grows. A baby cannot develop and grow all by themselves - they need initiative from the parents. So it is the same with young Christians in the faith. The mentor needs to introduce the young Christian to other influences that will help them grow.

It may be introducing the spiritual child to a relationship with another mature believer. It may be opening the door to a great book. In any case, a spiritual mentor is looking to expand his spiritual child’s world of influence.

O - Offers to share Biblical wisdom.

...who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.
(1 Corinthians 4:17 NKJV)

There is no substitute for a solid grounding in the Word of God - the Bible. Mentoring is about developing a relationship and friendship, but it is not only about that. There must be a passion for spiritual maturity that comes from the Word.

This is why trust, and your own spiritual growth are important. Because many times a spiritual child will come to you and ask questions. For example: "Why does God say this in Genesis 6?" "Where did Cain get his wife?" "Can a Christian fall away?" "How do I get to know the love of God in Christ Jesus more?" These and many other questions need answers. They will require that you lead that person to look in the Word of God to find answers. You won't know the answer to every question. As a matter of fact, some questions don't need answering. By the way - Cain got his wife in the land of Nod, but that doesn't matter because they all died before the flood.

As you grow, you will be able to help someone by offering Biblical wisdom - wisdom that you have learned.

R - Recognizes the need to use discipline when necessary.

Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?
(1 Corinthians 4:18-21 NKJV)


There is a time in which we have to practice the use of the four R's in discipling other Christians that we mentor:

Respond
Rescue
Rehabilitate
Restore

You don't want to look at discipline as something that promotes bad responses. Instead, you want to encourage good responses. Paul talks about using a rod, but he would like to use love. He knows it is important to respond.

Sometimes, the spiritual child has gotten themselves in a situation where they have sinned. Or perhaps the spiritual child has fallen into a temptation. You have to help them out of the problem before you can correct the situation. Many Christians want to stand and judge someone when they have done something wrong. But they need to rescued first.

After they have been rescued, then it may be time to rehabilitate the spiritual child in Christ. This will require repentance from sins. This will require learning new habits. This will require that the spiritual child in Christ grows by changing some parts of their life.

But most important, discipline is ultimately about restoration. You want that spiritual child in Christ to learn and then get back to doing what God wants them to do. Jesus did it with Peter. He saw Peter deny Him three times. So Christ restored Peter three times. Jesus did respond, and He did rescue and He did rehabilitate Peter. But most importantly, Jesus restored the relationship with Peter. What was the question that Jesus asked Peter three times? "Do you love Me?"

When there are times of discipline, it need to be in words and acts of love, not with a rod and whip. Love restores best.

With whom are you willing to go through all of this? With whom are you willing to mentor? There is at least one person out there who needs you as a mentor. Look at the Christians around you whom you have started to build trust.

Posted by Unknown at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments

The Power of the Mom Influence

Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.
(Romans 16:13 NKJV)

"An ounce of mother is worth a ton of priest."
- Spanish proverb

"I cannot tell you how much I owe to the solemn word of my good mother."
- Charles Haddon Spurgeon

"My mother said to me, "If you become a soldier you'll be a general; if you become a monk you'll end up as the pope." Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso."
- Pablo Picasso

I am quite certain that everyone in this room was influenced by our mothers. Good or bad, Mother's Day reminds us of their contribution.

Every mother has an influence. They are in a unique position to share and impart into everyone in our lives good things.

Prayers are said

Emotions are shared

Security is provided

Skills and manners are taught

Faith values are transferred

A mother has a special sphere of influence. She can impart love, the most basic and important value that Christians should learn and share.

We recognize mothers of physical children today. But in some sense, every woman can share what I call that “Mom influence”. Rufus' mother shared her influence with Rufus, a physical son, and with Paul, a spiritual son.

You might be thinking: “Why does Paul write about Rufus and his mother?”. This verse has an interesting history.

Paul calls Rufus, “chosen in the Lord” which means that he became a Christian. How did Rufus come to Christ? Scholars point to another verse in Scripture that also has the name of Rufus.

Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.
(Mark 15:21 NKJV)

Mark according to tradition wrote his Gospel in Rome, and therefore some scholars believe that there is a link between Rufus the son of Simon who carred the cross of Jesus, and the Rufus that Paul greets in the book of Romans.

Simon had no interest in Christ when he met Jesus. But Simon was forced to carry Jesus' cross and that experience changed his life. Simon came home and told his family about Jesus. It is very possible that this testimony changed his family forever. For we see that Mark identifies two sons of Simon as his children. These names come up again in the New Testament. When they do come up, it has to do with infleunce.

In Romans 16:13, Rufus, son of Simon, is described as the son of a woman whom the apostle Paul considered his surrogate mother. Put the pieces together and it's obvious that when Simon returned home, he told his wife about Christ and the crucifixion. She became not only a godly woman, but an influence to Paul. Simon told his sons Alexander and Rufus about what he had witnessed, and they became two of the greatest believers in the first-century church. The surprising embarrassment Simon endured that day turned out to be a great good for Simon and for his family.

So one man, influenced his family and they became Christian. Simon's wife, who had children, influenced her own children as well as other people.

So a mother's influence can be given to two groups of children: physical children and spiritual children. The Bible gives examples of both.

the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things-- that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.
(Titus 2:3-5 NKJV)

The Bible shows in Titus that women who are married should love their husbands and love their children. This illustrates to us that mothers of physical children should share their “mom influence”. But this verse also says that there will be women who can share that “mom influence” with younger women.

So you can share that “mom influence” with physical children if you are a young mother with a new-born baby, a mother with grown children, or a grandmother.

This even says that you have that “mom influence” if a Christian woman is married to an unbelieving husband.

If you are a Christian woman who works with children, students, or even the elderly, you too can share that “mom influence”.

All Christian women will share that “mom influence” with someone.

Moms, who are the children you are influencing? Moms, are you instilling the value of love to your children? Ladies, are there people to whom you can mentor like Rufus' mother did for Paul?

Ladies, you need to know today that you make a difference in the lives of everyone you touch. When you change that diaper, when you help with the homework, when you cook that meal, when you teach that Bible lesson, every action you do influences someone else. You are impacting other people. We celebrate that influence today. But we at IBC Bremen also want to challenge every Christian lady today to consider how you can influence others in their spiritual walk.

Every lady here can influence another person in positive ways. You can make a difference. You can share with them the love of Christ and pass that on to the next generation, and the one after that, and the one after that.

Look at the people around you, in your sphere of influence – whether that is a schoolroom, a boardroom, or the living room. Make a resolution today that you will continue to use the power that God has given you to influence others for God. Whether that is sharing a prayer, a scripture, a testimony, or a meal, think of every act of influence as an act of love for God. Paul said this to Titus, that women should love their husbands and their children with God's love. He knows because he learned it from his spiritual mother – the unnamed mother of Rufus. We don't even know her name, but we see the result of her influence. Rufus's mother influenced her son, her spiritual son Paul, and even generations of Christians. We wish the same will be true for you. Happy Mother's Day

Posted by Unknown at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments

How to Overcome a Critical Spirit
Numbers 13:16-33

Near the end of C. S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia" Aslan the Lion takes Lucy, Edmund, Peter and everyone to the New Narnia--to what we would call "heaven" or the New Creation. It is a place of astonishing light and beauty; a place where every blade of grass seems to mean more and where every creature sings for the sheer joy of the Creator. It is a place where everything is just so real in depth and color that the mere sight of a daisy takes your breath away and makes you weep for the sheer beauty of the thing.

But then, in the midst of all this splendor, the children see a group of dwarves huddled together convinced that they are sitting in the rank stench of a barn--a place so dark that they cannot see their hands in front of their faces. Lucy is so upset that the dwarves are not enjoying the New Narnia that she begs Aslan to help them to see. Aslan replies, "Dearest Lucy, I will show you what I can do and what I cannot do." Aslan then shakes his golden mane and a sumptuous banquet instantly appears in front of the dwarves. Each dwarf is given a plate heaped with juicy meats, glistening vegetables, plump grains of rice. Each also receives a goblet brimming with the finest wine anyone could ever imagine.

But when the dwarves dive in and begin eating, they start gagging and complaining.

"Doesn't this beat all," they lament. "Not only are we in this stinking stable but now we've got to eat hay and dried cow dung as well!" When they sip the wine, they sputter, "And look at this now! Dirty water out of a donkey's trough!" The dwarves, Aslan goes on to say, had chosen suspicion instead of trust and love. They were prisoners of their own minds. They could not see Aslan's gift of the New Narnia for they would not see it. Aslan can but leave them alone to the hell of their own devising.

First of all, we should remember that the anticipation of this moment is high. Ever since God promised to give Abraham the land of Canaan way back in Genesis, the whole Bible has been building to this point in Numbers 13. The entire story of the exodus from Egypt had as its goal the conquest of Canaan. This is the promised land of milk and honey toward which Moses has been leading the people all along.

We enter this story on the end of a personal story of crticism for Moses. Moses has been criticised personally by a family member and this personal criticism spreads to the nation.

It is hard to deal with criticism. Most people don't like it, but some people like to use it. There are two avenues of criticism:

1. The first avenue of criticism is the outlook of other people and how they direct it at you. This is seen when we ask the question: “Am I being criticized?”

Moses saw this avenue of criticism in Numbers 12. Miriam, his sister was starting to have problems with Moses and his family. Miriam and Aaron complain about Moses' wife. Interesting, because the criticism is a form of prejudice. Miriam and Aaron criticized about Moses and the fact that he married a dark-skinned woman.

Then Miriam criticizes the leadership of Moses. Miriam begins to complain and say that God is leading through other people.

Of course God is not going to put up with this time of criticism. And Moses shows us clearly a good way to deal with this type: pray and ignore it. Moses acknowledged that it was a sin, and therefore he prayed for his sister. But then he ignores it.

What do I mean? Moses continues to listen to God and not to the people who are criticizing him.

Now before I go on, we need to distinguish TWO FORMS OF criticism.

Destructive

A good example of destructive criticism would be if your boss told you something like, "How could you make such a stupid mistake, what were you thinking? I don't know why I hired you in the first place."

Or a critical husband would say the same to his spouse. “I can't believe you did this. What were you thinking? I don't know why I married you in the first place.”

This is not helpful because the criticism was general, negative. It merely condemned him.

Destructive criticism is not very useful. It may inform you that you made a mistake, but if no remedy is suggested and no show of confidence that the mistake can be rectified is made, then the net effect on performance will be negative.

How to handle it:
Simply ignore it and turn it into something positive. This what Moses did. He simply ignored the critical comment and then went on.

Constructive

Let's take our previous example of negative criticism. Instead of saying, "How could you make such a stupid mistake, what were you thinking? I don't know why I hired you in the first place," a model boss would be more positive and say something like, "Thanks for the report, I can see you put a lot of effort into it. However, I was hoping you could touch it up a little by summarizing it more and adding some graphs. The content is solid, but if you could make those small changes, I would really appreciate it."

A model husband could say: “My love, could you tell me why you did this?” Never make statements that could jeopardize the marriage relationships. Never be so critical that you point out the way to destruction. Instead, be helpful and loving and try to show how you can work together to find the solution.

Why is this criticism good, and why should you handle it with a positive attitude?

How to handle it:
Realize that the feedback is positive. Make sure that you understand the feedback and ask questions to ensure that you know exactly what needs to be done to improve, whether that is work or your relationship. And ultimately, thank the person for their constructive feedback.

2. The second avenue of criticism is your outlook and how you direct your comments to other people. The question being asked is: “Am I being critical?”

As Christians, we have to avoid the sin of being critical. But we speak destructive criticism in very subtle ways. We grumble, we complain, we become sarcastic. We talk about what we should have all the time. We talk about what someone else has that we don't have. When we talk in such negative ways, we run the risk of becoming more destructive in our relationships. We will start to hurt other people that we love. When we talk critically all the time, we will hurt someone else. In the New Testament, it is called “judging one another.”

Therefore, let us no longer criticize one another, but instead decide not to put a stumbling block or pitfall in your brother's way.
(Romans 14:13 HCSB)

How do I stop criticizing others and putting stumbling blocks or pitfalls in other people's way?

Here is the statement I want you to remember:

You can be someone who steps forward. You can look at the positive and the good and how something could be.

Now most of us are people who do just the opposite:

You can be someone who shrinks back. You look at the negative and the dangers and how something can't be.

Let's first compare and contrast the spies and their accounts:

Here’s what we see in this account. Two men were positive; ten men were negative. Two men saw the possibilities; ten men saw only the obstacles. Two delighted in where God was leading; ten despised what God was doing. Two wanted to go forward; ten wanted to go back. Two were freed by faith; ten were imprisoned to fear. Two wanted to reach out; ten wanted strike out. Two were filled with confidence and optimism; ten were filled with doubts and questions. Two wanted to follow God’s appointed leader; ten wanted to kill him. Two were willing to trust God; ten were ready to trash God. Two held tight to God’s promises; ten totally ignored them. Two men glorified in God’s power; ten grumbled in their own self-pity. Two magnified God; ten murmured against him. Two men saw the glass half-full; ten saw it half-empty. What you see is what you get.

You know what the danger is when you act this way?

DANGERS OF A CRITICAL SPIRIT

1. Your attitude is contagious. Miriam's critical spirit in Numbers 12 spread like a plague to other people within 40 days. One personal critical comment in Numbers 12 exploded to thousands of people making critical comments about the mission by the end of Numbers 14.

2. Your critical attitude leads to grumbling.

   Psalm 106:25 describes this incident and says, "They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the Lord."

And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?"
(Numbers 14:2-3 NKJV)

And even if there are valid issues or concerns involved, grumblers very seldom take them directly to those who could help resolve of solve them. For grumblers are really not concerned about solutions, they simply want to stir up dissension and discord. That is why the Bible associates grumbling and murmuring with unbelief and disobedience. For grumbling and murmuring flow from a heart that is not submitted to God. It always reflects a lack of faith.

3. Your faith becomes too small. The people could not imagine how they could live in the Promised Land. God said to take it. God said they will live there. But the people could not believe it. Their view of present things was crowding out their faith in God.

4. Your opportunities will be missed. The people missed out on something great. They missed out on God delivering on His promise in their generation. When you stay critical, you will start to miss out on what God wants to deliver to you in your generation.
   

But overcoming this critical spirit means that we have to learn to have faith and step forward. It will require that I think and talk differntly about other people and things.

FOUR WAYS TO LEARN TO STEP FORWARD AND OVERCOME MY CRITICAL SPIRIT

1. Stop walking through life like a whiner.

Philippians 2:14 simply says, "Do everything without complaining or arguing..." That’s good advice for each of us. Don’t walk through life chronically discontent with everything. Such a life is an insult to God.

2. Work to see the positive in each situation and each person.

and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: "The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.
(Numbers 14:7 NKJV)

3. Trust that God wants to help you overcome your critical behavior.

If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, "a land which flows with milk and honey.'
(Numbers 14:8 NKJV)

God will delight in you. God does love you. God does not walk through eternity critical of His children. If that were so, then the “gift of God” would be an insult. God want to delight in you. He want to help you. But you have to stop thinking that way. Part of the reason many Christians are critical is because they believe God is critical. God is not critical. God is loving. God looks to the good of your life. Yes, there are times when God is sad, and even angry at how we behave. But that does not mean that God hates you and I. God continues to show us, even in this passage, that He loves us and wants to help us. God will delight in you.

4. Teach others to be encouraging.

This is the opposite lesson from this chapter. Miriam was critical on an individual basis, and this led to a whole group of people who were critical of Moses, the mission, and even God. One person, and then eventually 10 people taught other people to be critical. It may have been subtle, but it was taught. The same can be true with us.

The only way we can overcome a critical spirit is to teach others not to be critical. This means that we need to hold our tongues sometimes when we want to say something about someone in public or in groups. We are teaching others when we share our criticisms. We need to stop saying the critical and start talking the encouraging.

Here is my challenge to you: Make it an effort to stop criticizing. Actually count how often you criticize your spouse, your children, your friends, your church, your leaders. You may be surprised to see how often you complain and grumble. Stop it for a week. See how much better your relationships will be because you held your tongue. Then for every time that you wanted to say something negative or critical, speak something encouraging. THAT will not be easy, but it so necessary when trying to love others.

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