I paid for university by working for a man in our church who owned a landscape company.  I worked for him in the summers between university terms.

Bill Davies mentored me.  Whether he was trying to or not, whether I realized it or not, he mentored me.  I learned from him valuable life lessons that have served me well.

I recently reconnected with him: we reminisced, we enjoyed each others’ company and we prayed together.  He sent me a text after our time together and offered me the following life lessons he has extracted from his decades of journeying with Jesus.  It is my pleasure to now offer them to you…

1. Sometimes God will have to knock the stuffing out of us before we learn that He desires us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand.
2. He who desires to live a life pleasing to God purifies himself because God is pure. Sanctification comes by a concerted effort of seeking God to deal with our personal sins. Unless you purpose to be holy, and consider righteousness a pearl of great price, it’s not going to happen.  Pursuit is the proof of desire.
3. My practice has been to wake up before dawn to spend an hour or so reading the scriptures and worshiping Him. It’s like a tithe of the first fruits of my day to Him. It’s the anchor of my day and without it God becomes distant. When we give God our best, he is no man’s debtor and we won’t be disappointed.
4.  I make it a habit to always be prepared to give account for the hope that lies within me. At any time I try to be prepared to give a sermon on a current word from God.  It seems that there’s always an opportunity to share it, as long as it’s a fresh word.
5. There are 3 people groups in the OT that are repeatedly mentioned as being important to God. If it’s important to God, I need to make it important to me. The “fatherless, the widow, and the sojourner”. To bless those is to incur God’s blessing. In business it’s a secret weapon for success, and a guarantee against insolvency.
6. In a race, second place is the first looser. Para-church will never substitute real church. Church is God’s plan A for the world, and He doesn’t have a plan B. This is the bride of Christ we’re talking about, so if I want to get along with God, I better be nice to His girl! Learn to love and serve His church and never bad mouth her.
7. Always own the property you conduct your business on. Any long term investment should always have property as a base. Implement “The magic of compounded interest” and you change from being the victim to being in the driver’s seat.
8. When you go to sell your business, if it rotates around you and your personality, you have nothing to sell. The size of your business is limited to your ability to delegate responsibility and to release the authority to accomplish it. A poor delegator is a poor businessman.
9. Risk taking is a godly characteristic and life style. Gambling is for fools. The degree of risk you take is a direct function of the degree of the potential profitability.
10. By far the most valuable asset you have as a businessman is your integrity. Your good reputation can be lost by a split second decision, and take years to regain.
11. If it doesn’t work at home, it doesn’t work. Many have shipwrecked their lives by not paying attention to their home base. At the end of our lives, no one regrets not spending more time in the office.
12. I’m a full time minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ through business. Being a Christian businessman is every bit as much a holy vocation and calling of God as being a pastor.
13. It’s not about me. It’s all about the lord Jesus. Deviation from that will get us into all sorts of trouble. The ditches are full of people who were deceived by man-centred versions of the truth.
14. A silent witness is for deaf people. For the rest of the population, we use words. Unless of course I’m ashamed of Jesus? We will be required to give account for the words we should have spoken, but didn’t. If we’re not pointing people to Jesus, just where are we pointing them?

Thank you Bill!

Proverbs 1:20-23

“Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square; on top of the wall she cries out, at the city gate she makes her speech: “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings.”

Do you take any medication?

I do.  I have a genetic condition I inherited from my mother.  In fact, it was this condition that killed my mother when I was 9 years old.  It’s called FH – Familial Hypercholesterolaemia.

According to Wikipedia, FH is “…a genetic disorder characterized by high cholesterol levels, specifically very high levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL, “bad cholesterol”), in the blood, and early cardiovascular disease.  Since individuals’ with FH underlying body biochemistry is slightly different, their high cholesterol levels are less responsive to the kinds of cholesterol control methods which are usually more effective in people without FH (such as dietary modification and statin tablets). Nevertheless, treatment (including higher statin doses) is usually effective.”

In light of this I am on a high daily dose of Crestor, which is a statin medication.  My daily Crestor pill keeps me alive.  It has some side effects such as memory loss, muscle aches, some muscle cramping and potential liver damage, but it keeps me alive.

I talked with my doctor about some of the side effects – particularly memory loss – and he said this,

“Well, you can take the pill and suffer some side effects like memory loss.  Or, you can not take the pill and suffer some side effects like death.  Which would you prefer?”

I’ve chosen the former option.  Chances are, without my medication I would have suffered a heart attack already and died.  I have a 50% blockage in one artery and a 20% in another – which has not progressed thanks to my medication.

So, it is fairly accurate to say that my medication keeps me alive.

Recently I was spending time with a man who was suffering a number of ailments – you may be familiar with these:  Hopelessness, despair, loneliness, apathy, self-hatred, resentment, jealousy, anger, rage, lust, etc.  These feeling are merely the symptoms of poisonous lies he has believed.  I have no doubt many of you can empathize with his struggle.  I know I can.

If left untreated, these ailments will kill him.  He will die to all the life Jesus has for him.  He will not experience all that his heart longs for; all that for which he was created.  Though not physical, it is a life and death situation for this man.  These ailments will poison all his relationships: with God, with himself, and with others.

It is no different for each one of us.  We battle lies that have been sent from the pit of hell to steal, kill and destroy us.  Lies that, if we choose to believe them, will keep us trapped in despair, hopelessness, loneliness, lust, hatred, jealousy and the like.

However, there is a medication we can take that will combat these ailments.  The medication we have access to will cure us of these things.  We can be free from that which poisons us and the accompanying emotions they create.

What is this miracle medication?

Truth.

It is Truth, made digestible by the redemptive work of Jesus and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, which sets us free from the poisonous lies of our spiritual enemy and their horrendous side effects in our lives.

So, we all suffer from the same condition caused by believing that which is not true.  The lies are poisonous and will kill us if we don’t take our medication.  Truth is the medication that sets us free from the infection of the lies.  And, the medication is readily available to us all.  So, the question really is,

Do you take your medication?

Do you marinate in the Truth?  Do you read, memorize and meditate on the Word of God?

“Devotions” are not meant to be a cute little religious duty we perform to put a check on our Godly score card.  Devotions are a life and death exercise designed to digest lifesaving doses of the Truth to rid us of the poisonous effects of believing the lies of our spiritual enemy.  Lies that are sent to deceive us from the Truth of God’s heart for us and for this world.

I implore you, set aside time to marinate in, memorize and meditate on scripture.

Take your medication!

John 8:32

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Hebrews 4:12

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

2 Timothy 3:16

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

“My lord, Gandalf the Grey is coming… He is a herald of woe.”, whispers the deceiver.

“The courtesy of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Théoden King.”, replied Gandalf.

“He is not welcome.”, continues the deceiver.

“Why should I welcome you, Gandalf Storm crow?”, inquires the fully deceived King Théoden.

“…Late is hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear.  ‘Lathspell’ I call him – ill news is an ill guest.”, boldly accuses the deceiver.

“”Be silent! Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm!”, rebukes Gandalf

And the fight is on…

This powerful scene is taken from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

This scene depicts the incredible power deception has over a once vibrant King Théoden.  Théoden has become a mere shadow of his former glory because he’s chosen to listen to the deceptive words of Wormtongue.  Wormtongue was sent by Théoden’s enemy to destroy him and his kingdom from the inside out – through deception and lies.

Gandalf is Théoden’s greatest ally.  Following a quick fight with Wormtongue and his henchmen, Gandalf is the one who sets Théoden free from the curse of Wormtongue’s deception.  However, prior to Théoden’s deliverance he believed Gandalf was not friend, but foe.

This scene is such a powerful depiction of the battle you and I face every single day.

We have a spiritual Wormtongue sent to deceive and keep us from the Truth.  Our enemy’s battle plan is an assault of deception and lies to captivate our hearts and minds so we don’t live in Truth.  And it is the Truth that sets us free.

Why does Jesus say it is Truth that frees us?  Because it is lies that have captivated mankind.  Revelation 20:3 tells us that Satan’s objective is to deceive the nations.

Do you notice the subtlety of Wormtongue’s deception?

He calls Théoden’s greatest ally a “Herald of Woe” and “Lathspell”, and says that Gandalf is not welcome.  Basically he is saying that Gandalf is bad news.  Whenever Gandalf shows up bad things happen.  “Lathspell” means ‘bad or ill news’, the opposite of “Gospel”, which means ‘good news’.

This is such a clear demonstration of our spiritual enemy’s strategy of deception and lies.  His objective is to convince us to believe lies that separate man from God, friend from friend, family member from family, husband from wife, and children from parents.

How many situations do you know of where this is happening right now?

I know of numerous situations in my circle of relationships where Christians are believing deceptive spirits sent from the pit of hell to destroy them.   I can see the deception, others can see the deception, but they don’t.

However, we have the answer.  We have the antidote.  We have the weapon that will set captives free from the prison of lies and deception – Truth.  Our only hope of gaining victory over the relentless assault of deception and lies waged against us is the Truth.

We must marinate in, memorize and meditate on scripture.  We must choose to ingest the Word of Truth to combat the lies of the great deceiver.  It is only Truth that sets us free from lies.

We must also choose to walk in humility with other people of the Word.  Why?  Because we all have blind spots and need the help of allies who love us enough to point out what we are not seeing.  We need allies who can help us see the Truth, as well as the deception we may be embracing.

Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth, and, therefore, in his name we have power over deceptive spirits.  In His name we can pray against the deception in which people are trapped to enable them to see the Truth, and then choose to embrace it.

I love what Gandalf says to Théoden after he has set him free,

“Your fingers will remember their own strength better if they grasped your sword.”

May we be men who fully grasp the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and wield it well.

2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

1 Timothy 4:1

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

2 Corinthians 11:3

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

John 8:32

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

He stood there talking with his best friend Jenny.  They weren’t bothering anyone, they were simply standing chatting in the shade of a large canopy of trees on the dirt road on the way home from school.

Then the bullies arrived.

They mocked him and threw things at him, all because he wore braces on his legs.

He had weak legs as a young boy so the doctors fitted him with metal braces to help his legs grow true.  However, they were very cumbersome and prohibited him from moving at anything but a very slow, awkward, methodical gait.

However, this day all of that would change.  As the bullies moved in for the kill like a pack of wolves, Jenny turned Forrest around, gave him a shove forward and yelled,

“Run Forrest run!”

Forrest obeyed.

He took off as fast as his feeble legs could carry him.  He hobbled down that dirt road with an uncoordinated intentionality.  But something happened as he set himself to move forward.  Something transformed in him as he forcefully chose to move in spite of his limitations – his limitations became less limiting.  In fact, eventually his legs braces blew off and he shot forward running at a pace he had never dreamed possible.

He became a “running fool” as the townsfolk called him!  He ran everywhere.  He couldn’t be stopped.

This scene from the movie Forrest Gump recently came to mind as I had the pleasure and privilege of praying for a young man struggling with a number of things, including complacency.  He realized he needed to repent from the lies that he had believed.  He had given the enemy legal right to imprison and limit him in various ways.

He also realized that he has the authority to reject the strategy of the enemy set against him, by stepping into his God-given authority, and by beginning to feed on the Truth.  However, he is battling complacency in regard to all of this…

Complacency is defined as, “a feeling of pleasure or security, while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation or condition.”

I define it as an attitude of, “I don’t really care to change.  I’m fine”.  It can come across as an unwillingness to move forward.

Complacency is a little bit like Forrest Gump’s leg braces: it inhibits you from moving forward out of your current condition into one of greater freedom.

The young man we were praying for saw his need to move forward out of his current situation.  He wanted to choose to go deeper with Jesus and change what he believes, and how he lives, but complacency was restricting his moving forward like leg braces.

As we prayed and talked through his situation we realized he needed to learn a lesson from Forrest Gump…

Just take a step forward.  You may not be able to begin running right away, but you can take a step forward.  You can choose to care enough to take a step, then another, then another, then a bigger step, and another bigger step.  And the next thing you know you’re further than you thought you would be and you’re moving with a determined strength you never thought possible.

Are you like my friend, do you battle complacency?  Do you lack motivation to change your situation?  Are you apathetic and afraid about your ability to move forward in your relationship with Jesus, or your wife, or anyone else?

Think of Forrest Gump.  Think of a hobbling little boy sick and tired of being bullied, who is willing to put one foot in front of the other with a bold determination motivated by an intense desire to move to a different place and move away from that which is oppressing him.

Be like Forrest and take a step forward, no matter how awkward it may feel.  Then take another, and another.  As you move forward into the Truth, complacency will begin to break off you like Forrest’s leg braces.

Run Forrest run!

John 8:32, 36

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Proverbs 1:32

“For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;”

Philippians 3:12-14

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”