Call of the Wild - Lesson 4 - Blind, Deaf & Dumb

Reputation

This group of girls was teasing their friend because she was a virgin.
They were making fun of her, as if something was wrong with her.
They wanted her to be just like them.
They girl went on for quite some time quietly absorbing their cuts.
It was tough.
She at times started to even doubt herself
And her rigid stance on abstinence.

When she felt she had listened to them long enough
And knew the path the Lord had for her was correct and they were wrong.
She proudly and authoritatively spoke to her accusers.

‘At any given moment I could become just like you.’
‘But you could never become just like me.’

It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and only a moment to tarnish one.

Any additional comments or personal testimonies on reputation?





(Flies and) Insects

For sheer variety and abundance, insects rank among the most successful animals on Earth.
About one million species of insects have been identified so far,
which is about half of all the animals known to science.

Insects are often regarded as pests because some bite, sting, spread diseases,
or compete with humans for crop plants.

“Insect," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2005http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.


Any putrefaction spoils perfume;
and so a foolish act can ruin our character if
we have the reputation of being wise and good.

In an unguarded moment how many have tarnished the reputation
which they were many years in acquiring!
No one can be said to be safe,
till we are taken to the paradise of God.

The higher a man's standing and reputation,
the more injurious to himself and others is the exhibition of folly.
A little foolishness may overshadow great wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 10:1, ‘Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.’

How can we guard ourselves from dead flies?





Just as dead flies would destroy the precious perfume,
Even so minor faults will spoil a fine character.
Rudeness, irritability, disrespect, stinginess, egotism,
and a thousand other injurious flies have often turned
the wonderful perfume of a Christian's life into a fatal odor
to those who are around us

Let us pray for grace to avoid the smaller errors,
for fear that they do us and the gospel serious harm.
When a thing is really good it is a pity to spoil it by a small neglect.
By little things men are made or ruined as to their influence.
Be it our duty to watch against the little flies.

So let me ask again, in a slightly different way…

How are we to watch against the little flies in our own lives?





Now let’s talk about Goats


GOATS, which are naturally quarrelsome, lascivious, and excessively ill scented,
were considered as the symbols of riotous, profane, and impure men.
In scripture they represent all who have lived and died in their sins.
The goats devastate a field of all its vegetation.
Goats have to be driven while sheep follow the shepherd.

I believe our character separates us from others.
We are to be in this world but not of this world.

The Lord often refers to us as sheep.
If we are not acting as sheep we are supposed to be.

SHEEP, which are considered as the emblems of mildness, simplicity, patience, and usefulness,
Are to represent the genuine Disciples of Christ.


Matthew 25:32-33, ‘And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:’
‘And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.’

The right hand is a place of honor.
As the left hand is a place of dishonor.
Sheep – righteous.
Goats – wicked.

Here on earth we are mixed together,
but the keen eye of the Great Shepherd will detect our real character
and place us in one or the other of the two flocks
into which all mankind will be divided.

There will be no middle company,
we shall be placed either with saints or sinners in that day.

My question to you is which do we now belong?





Now let’s talk about Mules


If men can rule the animals,
Don’t you think that God will bridle and tame us?
These animals will only act by force and constraint.

Consider the causes why a broken leg is incurable in a horse or let’s say a mule.
When it is easily curable in a man.
The beast of burden is incapable of counsel to submit himself to the master;
and therefore unable to take the doctors advice
and stay off it for some time leave it in a cast and relax
this animal does just the opposite.
And has to be ‘put down.’

But a man willingly resigns himself to be ordered by the surgeon,
Preferring rather to be a prisoner for some time,
Than to remain a cripple all his life.

Psalm 32:9, ‘Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.’

Isn’t it easier to listen to the master?
Allow Him to lead and go where he asks us or tells us?
He will not send us into danger.

So why do we fight His lead?





As we are forgiven we should be tender in heart,
and fear to go astray again.
Why do we need the Master to use rough means to keep us out of mischief,
we ought to be sensitive to the faintest touch of the Lord's hand.

Proverbs 26:3, ‘A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back.’

Your thoughts here…





James 3:3, ‘Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.’

Please give us some practical advice
as to how we can better control ourselves
so the Lord doesn’t have to intervene…





What about the Swine

Swine denote those who would trample the precepts under feet;
men of impurity of life; corrupt, polluted, profane, obscene, and sensual;
who would not know the value of the gospel,
and who would tread it down as swine would pearls.



Matthew 7:6, ‘Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.’

Trample them; as things to them valueless.
They would turn from the pearls in rage to attack the person that handed them over
Because they were offered something they cannot eat.

How do we treat some of the blessings the Lord gives us?





My wife told me there is a song that states something to the effect of…
Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers…

How should we look to whatever is offered to us from the master?





In conclusion

So what are we to do?

Maintain our reputation, our testimony…
It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and only a moment to tarnish one.

Work on eliminating those deadly flies in our lives…
Even so minor faults will spoil a fine character.

Keep good company and remain at the right hand of the Master…

Be sensitive to the faintest touch of the Lord's hand.

Trust what the Lord hands us as being good and what we need,
Even if it is not what we want or asked for.

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