Did You Ask First?

Week 9: Helping Others

Did you ask first?
Proverbs 17: 8-9

Have you ever gotten a gift that was just ‘not you’? Feels awkward, doesn’t it? I mean, you are supposed to appreciate gifts, not feel guilty that you don’t like them. I remember a birthday present I received recently. I don’t eat sweets. I never have. But, for my last birthday, I got an expired box of candy.

If you want to help others don’t be afraid to ask God and them what would help. Respecting what others need and producing resources to meet that need promises reward.

I want you to practice being proactively gracious, today. Don’t make assumptions. Ask what people need. If you are married to them, I’ll give you permission not to demonstrate your total ignorance. So, remember some things they really love and graciously provide it for them.

Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

Week 9: Helping Others

Love your neighbor as yourself.
Leviticus 19: 18, Mark 12: 29-31

How are you going to bless others today? Think of the people you usually see in a given day. Start at home and walk through the day. Think of everyone by name. If you don’t know a person’s name, humble yourself and find out what it is. Pay attention. You already know your name.

Now, list those people here. Pray for them and jot down at least one way you will show them God’s goodness today. David said, “[I had fainted], unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living” (Psalm 27: 13KJV).

Selfish in a Good Way - the Golden Rule

Week 9: Helping Others

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Matthew 7: 12 (The Golden Rule)

Actually, Jesus shares this rule or principle with his disciples in reverse of the way we say it. Jesus said in every situation ask yourself what would you want.

Then go do that for others, not in the particulars of your tastes and preferences but as close as you can determine, in theirs. Do you want to eat spaghetti at our house? For whom are you cooking? That will determine whether you get Mama’s spaghetti or Daddy’s spaghetti.

Blessings are better with a background check. So if you want to do good; first ask yourself, “Who am I really doing this for?” Well, take some time and answer your own question.

Watch Out!

Week 9: Helping Others

Do not give the benefit of your doubts to the one who wants to bend or break the rules.
Proverbs 1: 10

The worst thing you can do for people is reward them when they do the wrong thing. This is why we were taught you don’t get anything by grumbling or complaining. You don’t get good things when you’ve done bad things. Ill-gotten gain will eventually become ill-gotten pain.

What kind of behavior do you reward? Are you behaving so as to be rewarded? Rewards are a good thing. They help us catch a lot of bad things and put them in their place. And, they encourage us to keep on doing the good. List what behaviors you reward. What bad behaviors have outlived their benefit and need to be put down?

Listen to People

Week 9: Helping Others

Listen to people.
James 1: 19

Bless someone today. Listen to them. Keep your attention focused on what they say. Make your eyes look for the story in their eyes. Incline your head their way. Keep your chin up. Don’t look at the floor or the wall paper. Look at them. Be a calming presence.

Imagine the scenario where you will need to remember these words today. Do you know the person? Do you know the situation? Prepare yourself. Listen to God. What is God saying right now?

Be Led by the Spirit

Week 9: Helping Others

Be led by the Spirit.
Romans 8: 14

Any help you give outside of the Spirit will eventually be you just doing stuff. Eventually, everything that is not Spirit-originated is cut down and thrown into the fire. Who is setting the course for your actions today? What does your help produce long term?

As you think on those questions, intercede for your children. Ask God to help you parent them so their strongest desire will be to be a friend and disciple of Jesus. If you don’t have children, pray for your parents. Ask God to honor and bless them today. Ask God for specific ways you could honor them.

Norman Ramsey

PS
I pray for you all to have a Happy Thanksgiving. As Karen has had to care for her parents, absence really does make the heart grow fonder. I give the Lord thanks for my wonderful wife. I thank Gof for my children, too; all grown, but still growing. I thank God for the ministry to which we've been called: to faithfully pastor Laurel Hill UMC, to write songs and books that stir the heart to follow God, and to begin the video ministry of the Two-Minute Drill and awaken people to the pathway of grace!

Learning How to Add and Subtract

Week 8: Helping Yourself

Learn how to add and subtract before you multiply.
Proverbs 6: 6-19, James 4:13-17

I pray you won’t need today’s proverb as badly as I do. I like to dream up great schemes of activity. No, let’s be honest. I like to scheme up great outcomes. Karen, my wife, says I am great from A to Z but I have problems with A to B. She’s right. I have to constantly remind myself of what I need to do today instead of imagining what will come my way three months or three years from now. It’s an old habit.

I’ve always wanted to multiply first, to extrapolate great successes out of my dreams and musings. This is all well and good if…if I add and subtract what is necessary or unnecessary to do today.

If you’re like me, make sure you stop and get directions from God about your journey through the day. If you are happily not like me give God praise for the steady and additional progress you will make today.

Occupy This!

Do not carry on with people who want to carry off what belongs to others.
Proverbs 1: 10-19

It is important that we remember this proverb in light of those who want to occupy our energy and passion these days. Always find out to whom or what your friends are rooted. Don't you become attached to anything that springs from a bad root.

Know who you are running with and know who you follow. If they don’t help you maintain or improve your character, or if you cannot in someway do the same for them, you probably need to consider other friends. “Don’t drop to their (lower) level. Let them come up to yours.” That was the spoken expectation we all received as children.

The unspoken expectation was far higher. God has his eye on you. We would hate for the pleasure and favor of the Lord to turn into displeasure and disfavor.

How will we conduct ourselves as Christian gentlemen or gentle ladies this day? How will me make sure we do not carry on with those who want to carry off what belongs to others?

Ready to Make Adjustments!

Week 8: Helping Yourself

Always be ready to make adjustments if needed.
Proverbs 12: 24-28

As a fifteen year old, our rural, county, All-Star team won the district tournament and headed off to play in the State Tournament. Every one of us, including some of the coaches, was excited and fascinated with all the things we got to do. We all got to play and exhaust ourselves in the first Olympic sized pool we had ever seen.

Our first practice, meant to prepare us for our first game in the tournament became a contest between the coaches over who could best tweak the new-fangled pitching machine. Our batting practice became a lesson in self defense as 100-mph fastballs were sent our way.

The next day, tired from the pool and afraid from the pitching machine we faced our first opponent. We could not have been more unprepared. The pitcher was a southpaw who threw the prettiest and most devastating round house curveball.

No one on our team got a hit until through Daddy’s insistence I choked up halfway up my bat and hit the ball before it broke. A few minutes later I scored our only run of the tournament.

How about you? Are you always ready to make adjustments or do you need to proceed in ways that confirm your stubbornness and pride? Are you a pleasant and happy person when getting advice or correction? What needs to be adjusted?

Can't Say Anything Good?

Week 8: Helping Yourself

If you can’t say anything good, say nothing at all.
Ephesians 4: 22-32

Do not try to help yourself by hurting others. Do not comfort yourself by condemning others. There is a bashing and blaming epidemic going on in our land. Do not be infected by it.

I have found that most negative aspersions arise not from wisdom or knowledge but from a lack of understanding of another person’s life and heart. Galatians 6: 1 says, “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.”

Don’t talk ugly. It puts you on the wrong spiritual end of things. Is there a conversation where you need to rein in your tongue and get back to where you belong? Do you need to close up shop on anything you’ve been talking about? Is there anyone who would be better served held up to the Lord in prayer rather than how you’ve been holding them up to others?

Clean Up after Yourself

Week 8: Helping Yourself

Clean up after yourself.
Isaiah 62: 10-12

I am still working on this one. I remember the admonition Matt Furey gave that he received from a noted Chinese and Taoist author and teacher, “In discipline lies freedom.” Do you believe that? The Bible says, whomever God loves, he disciplines. Why does God do that? One reason is so we will know we are his. If I recognize this it stands to reason I will discipline myself.

Another reason God disciplines us is to shape our souls into becoming a beautiful and functional dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. Everybody knows you clean up when someone is coming over. What needs to be cleaned up in you knowing that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is aiming to stay with you today?

Pornography Is Trash.

Week 8: Helping Yourself


Pornography is trash.
Proverbs 6: 25-26

Throw trash away. Do not ogle or fantasize about spending time in or with the trash. I had to learn this directly. I had snuck home a magazine from a friend at school and hidden it between my mattress and box springs (a mistake for someone whose bed was made by their mother). We were watching Night Stalker when I heard my whole name called out. I went into my parent’s bedroom and was confronted about the magazine. “What is this?” my daddy asked. I was speechless. My daddy wasn’t. “This is trash” he said. “Throw it in the trash barrel and burn it up.”

Have you got any trash lying around that needs to be disposed? Some of you carry guilt like receipts in your pockets. You are never going to use them for anything good so throw them away. Treat yesterday’s wrongs like old receipts you don’t need to keep. Throw them away and don’t spend good money today on trash.

If It Starts to Rain, Y'all Come In

Week 8: Helping Yourself


“If it starts to rain, y’all come in.”
Proverbs 22: 3, 27: 12

One of the most enduring memories of childhood was watching the storms come up out of the west and south. Our front porch afforded us a perfect view. You could see and smell the rain coming. You could feel the shifts in the air.

We were allowed to stay outside and watch until the rain joined us on the porch. Lightning was the only thing that sent us in earlier. What can you learn from this proverb?

Know your limits. Know when to come in off the porch and out of the rain. Know when to cut your losses and keep yourself from ending up all wet. Know when to admit to yourself, or others, that the rain has joined you on the porch. What do you know?

Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover

Week 7: Developing Character

Don’t judge a book by its cover.
I Samuel 16: 7

Always judge people by the content of their character. Do not be moved by the color or the curvature of a person’s skin. A girl might be as pretty as a picture but remember she is still a girl, a person not a thing. Love keeps things personal. Lust turns a person into a thing. Met any good objects lately? I hope not. Met any good people lately? I hope so.

The devil’s way of doing things will always downplay the individual unless they fit into a demographic or demagogic image. The devil’s way is to highlight an image above the substance beneath. Your way is to highlight the substance. How will you treat people so that they and others recognize they are substantial?