Want to Help a Friend with A.N.T.S.? Then REACH, THROW, AND GO

Mike Hosey, An Elder

If you’ve lived in the south for any length of time, you know what mire is.  You may not know it by that name, but you do know what it is.  Mire is mud.  It’s not just any mud though.  It is a mud that is like a soupy, slimy clay.  And it can be very difficult to deal with. In fact, one year I had my septic field repaired and mire was a big problem.  The field had originally been placed in a not-so-good spot in my yard.  It was a bad spot to put a septic field because it was mirey, which keeps water from flowing away from it, which in turn clogs the septic field.  Anyway, the contractor broke his backhoe trying to dig out the old septic field (so that he could put a new one back in the same bad place), and it took him multiple days to do what should have probably only been a few hours. By the way, that field failed a couple of years later --- due to placement. The thing about mire is that you can get stuck in it.  And sometimes the more you struggle against it, the more stuck you get. If you get too deep into it, you almost always need help getting out. This is why David uses it as an illustration in Psalm 69:14-15. He knew that if he didn’t get help from God, he’d be stuck for a long time.

When a person gets Automatic Negative Thinking Syndrome (A.N.T.S.) in their head, those A.N.T.S. will influence a person’s brain and lead him or her right into the mire where they will struggle, and where they will almost certainly need help getting out.  When you see a person struggling in that place, you should do your best to reach out to them.  This is, afterall, what God did for you (John 3:16).  You can REACH out to them with physical help and assistance, and by modeling positivity and a true walk of faith (Matthew 5:16, Ephesians 5:1).  But sometimes that doesn’t work. The person doesn’t want to take your hand, and continues to wallow in the mire.  At this point you need to THROW them a line. You do this because you don’t want to risk getting caught in that mire yourself.  Prayer is an especially good idea here.  You keep your hand on the rope, by keeping them in prayer, so that your mind stays focused on them, and so that you fulfill God’s will that we pray for one another, and for the lost (1 Timothy 2:1-4). You remain ready to pull them in if they decide to take your line.

Sometimes, unfortunately, this doesn’t appear to work either, and the person seems too willing to stay in their negativity, and refuses to see the truth of God. It is here that it might be best to GO (Matthew 10:8-14).  This keeps you from the mire, and allows you to focus your energies elsewhere.

A Few Ways to Get Rid of A.N.T.S.

Mike Hosey, An Elder

If you’ve ever been around a negative person, you know how taxing they can be.  They will drain the life blood right out of your veins, and then complain about how pale you look. You’ve met these people. They whine about everything, and there is always a grievance with someone or something. These are not critical thinkers with a constructive heart. They’re just critical, or they tend to see doom and gloom everywhere. But before you start praising me for spotlighting them, know there’s a bit of them in all of us.  We all can forget our Queen’s English and start jabbering in Whinese, so I thought I’d give you some tips on how to get the positive back in your life.  And don’t complain, it will take work regardless of how big or small a whiner you happen to be.

1).  Take a look at your heart: Negativity is a matter of the heart. Luke 6:45 tells us so.  It also tells us that positivity is a matter of the heart. It is, afterall, out of the heart that the mouth speaks. This means we must daily submit our hearts to both the spotlight and cleansing powers of God. For example, a really good question to ask yourself the next time you feel an urge to complain about something or someone, or to doubt an outcome is, “Is God really in control? (Romans 8:28)”  If your heart is right with God, you can start at Romans 8:28-29 to reorient your mind (Romans 12:2). If it isn’t right with God, then get with fellow positive Christians and recharge your faith.

2).  Taking control of your thoughts will affect your heart:  Philippians 4:8-9 tells us that if we think right thoughts, and behave in right ways, that the God of peace will be with us.  And everyone knows that being around the God of peace changes hearts! Every good Christian demolishes ungodly arguments and pretensions by keeping his or her thoughts captive to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

3).  Negativity is contagious (and so is positivity): Negativity spreads between people like a disease (1 Corinthians 15:33, Proverbs 22:24-25). In fact, consider the story of Joshua and Caleb (Numbers 13:1-33 and Numbers 14:1-4) to see how that works. The reverse of this is also true (Proverbs 12:20). So show love to negative people, but don’t make them regular company. And if they’re in the way of a plan that God has for you, then, like Joshua and Caleb, move on without them if necessary.

Does Your Well Have Ants?

Mike Hosey, An Elder

My house is usually watered by a well and a pump.  That system pulls refreshing, cool, aquifer water from about 90 feet below my property and deposits it into a giant, ugly, blue, upright tank sitting in my south lawn.  The tank becomes pressurized as it fills with water, and that pressure then pushes the water into my house, where I use it for bathing, drinking, cooking, cleaning -- and frankly -- a lot of things that are absolutely essential for a healthy life.

Perhaps you noticed that I said I usually get my water from that system.  That’s because sometimes the system fails.  Every year or so, I get a bunch of ants around that well, and for some reason, they crawl into the pressure switch.  That’s a switch that turns on when the pressure in the tank gets too low to push water into the house, and it turns off when that pressure is just right, so that the tank always has the right amount of life giving water in it.  It’s automatic -- which makes life a lot better.  But when those ants get into that switch, their bodies get caught between the switch’s metal contacts, so electricity stops flowing to the pump, and the pump stops pulling water into the tank, and I no longer get water in my house.  As you might imagine, this becomes a problem pretty fast! In fact, it was from this repeated experience that I learned really well how much water means to the operation of my family.   I seriously like to bathe (especially in Florida) every day. I don’t want to wallow in the filth that I often pick up just by being in the world.  So Thank goodness those ants aren’t automatic like the pump!

But they’re not automatic because I now diligently make my yard poisonous to their presence!

Sometimes, though, we get A.N.T.S. in our life.  That is, we get Automatic Negative Thinking Syndrome.  When we choose to focus on the negatives in our situations (and it IS a choice) rather than see the positives, our negative focus can eventually become automatic.  At that point, you’ve got ants in your spiritual well and pump.  The flow (Psalm 1:3) to your spiritual house dries to a trickle, and you no longer have water for bathing, cooking, cleaning – or frankly – a lot of things essential for a healthy life!

This is why it is important to discipline our minds to see the good that God has put in our lives, and in the world around us (Philippians 4:6-8).  Doing this makes your mind and spirit poisonous to A.N.T.S.

Eternity or Eternal Life?

Mike Hosey, An Elder

The standard definition for eternity is usually some variation of infinite or unending time. And while this definition works in most ways that we apply it in our everyday speech, it is inadequate by itself for helping us understand what the bible really speaks of when it teaches about eternity.

Eternity in the bible is always seated in the midst of eternal life and eternal death. For instance, the bible tells us that Jesus came to give us eternal life (Romans 6:23), but it also tells us that those who never allow God to change them will have an eternal death – a second death after their physical body dies (Daniel 12:2, Matthew 25:46, Revelation 20:14).

The second death is one in which a person has eternal separation – that is an infinite and unending time – from the presence of God. They are never to have God again, which means they are now separated from everything that makes life worthwhile, because God is the source of all good things (James 1:17).

But those who submit their will to God and allow him to change them have eternal life (1 John 5:13). Notice how that verse is in the present tense: so that we may know that we have eternal life. The moment that Jesus becomes your Lord you have an unending, infinite life. You will be eternally paired with God, the source of all good things! The interesting part of that truth, though, isn't just the “eternity” aspect of it, but the life aspect of it.

Things that are alive grow and reproduce. They are vibrant, full of motion, energy, and constant change, while also remaining at their core, the same.

The person who does not know Jesus loses forever all vibrancy when they die. And even while they are alive, they cannot experience true life. The person who submits to Jesus allows an already dying and non vibrant life to cease, and gains a true and eternal life marked by a constant connection to God. 

The PURSUIT of ___________?

Mike Hosey, An Elder

One of the great things about the Bible is how it is so well confirmed by prophecy. Consider the birth of Jesus and some of the prophecies surrounding it. 700 years or so before Jesus was born, the prophet Micah told us He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) – and so He was.

Knowledgeable Jews of Jesus’ era knew this prophecy well, and directed the wise men of the Christmas story to His place of birth when those wise men asked where they might worship Him (Matthew 2:1-6). Ironically, a few decades later, knowledgeable Jews ignored this fulfilled prophecy and help set up conditions responsible for His crucifixion!

The prophet Isaiah also made a similar prophetic utterance about 700 years before the birth of Jesus.  He said that Jesus would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) – and He was.

Interestingly, the prophet Jeremiah foreshadowed the weeping that would be caused by King Herod killing all the young male children in his kingdom in an attempt to cancel the prophecies regarding Jesus, who would be a new and better king (Jeremiah 31:15, Matthew 2:17-18) than Herod.

But one of the most fascinating prophecies is Isaiah’s claim that Jesus would be called Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14).  The word Immanuel means “God with us.”  This is fascinating because God literally stepped out of Heaven and walked among us in the person of Jesus.  Jesus was, in fact, God with us!

God did this miraculous feat to help us pursue eternal life (John 3:16).  Not so that we could pursue eternity.  Eternity is already guaranteed to every man.  But Jesus was among us so that we may pursue eternal life (John 10:10).

Once a person knows Jesus, they stop pursuing sin.  At that moment of submitting to the power of Jesus, they begin to pursue life.  Before Jesus, they pursued death (Romans 6:23).

The Bible tells us that we are the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27).  If that is so, then we represent God among men. We are the closest thing that others might have to God.  And if that is so, you need to ask the question, “What am I doing to follow the example of Jesus and to help people pursue eternal life?”

No Man is an Island

Mike Hosey, an Elder

In 1624, John Donne, the cleric and poet, published in one of his devotional writings the solid truth that “no man is an island.” In that writing, he was talking about death, and arguing that all humanity is connected, and that the loss of one is a loss to all.  We’ve taken his statement somewhat out of its context and popularized it to make another solid truth. Today, we take his statement to mean that no man can live apart from others. In other words, a man or woman can’t really survive without the help of other men and women. 

Both truths have profound meaning. 

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son . . . (John 3:16).  God’s love for the world of men was so great that He sent His son in order that none would die. He did not want them to be an island apart from his life giving presence. In fact, He did not want even a single one to perish (2 Peter 3:9). The idea of the loss of even one is so terrible that God tried to rescue that one by sending the only righteous man who ever lived to a criminal’s cross. 

This is our ultimate example.  In all likelihood, you have not had an opportunity to imitate that example. And probably, no one but Jesus has ever lived it out it for you. On the other hand, it is very likely that someone has helped you in your life. Someone has held your hand, moved you down a path, or picked you up when you fell down. Most importantly, if you are a true follower of Jesus, then someone helped you by telling you about Him. And it’s likely that someone is helping you to understand Him, or to know Him even better, at this very moment.  You are not an island, and you never have been. 

And neither is anyone around you.  This is something Paul understood. He knew that no one was going to hear the gospel unless someone told them. He knew that if lost men were to hear the gospel, then they must not be allowed to be islands. Paul instructs us in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 that we are to make ourselves all things to all people so that we may bring them the blessings of the gospel.

Think about a time when someone helped you to understand something! Now go do the same for someone else, and help them to know the greatest friend they could ever have. Don’t let anyone think they are an island!

Helping is Loving

Mike Hosey, An Elder

It might be best to define love as being committed to the well-being of others.  Whether or not such a definition fully describes the concept, it would be hard to argue that it isn’t at least a very significant component of that action that God calls every one of us to do.  Give this a try:  look up all the instances of the word “love” in the Bible, and replace them with the proper grammatical variation of the word commitment.  You will find in almost every meaningful occurrence that the match is near perfect. Just consider the Bible’s most well-known love verse, John 3:16.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son . . .  For God was so committed to the world that he gave his only begotten son . . .

So how do people actualize such love?  Well, one place to start is by being a helper.  You don’t have to possess some super spiritual, magical, Old Testament prophet-like force to do it.  Anyone can be a helper.  When you see someone in need, meet the need with whatever ability you have.  We are, after all, commanded to do this. Philippians 2:4, for instance, tells us to look out not only for our own interests, but the interests of others.   Galatians 6:2 tells us that bearing one another’s burdens is fulfilling the law of Christ.  And John 15:12 tells us to love others – to be committed to others – as Christ has loved us.  Christ loved us by helping us in a totally sacrificial way. It’s no accident that Jesus gives us the story of the Good (and sacrificially helpful) Samaritan as an illustration of love (Luke 10:27), as well as what it means to be a good neighbor (Luke 10:25-37).

When you help someone, you give them an opportunity to advance. You also are an agent of God’s love and power in a world that desperately needs him.

In fact, take a moment to think of a time when someone has helped you, and where you would be if they had chosen to keep their helps to themselves!  You can have that same power – and even more. If you look around, you will find ample opportunities to be that agent of God. You’ll find them in church because churches always need help.  But more importantly, you will find them on your DAILY walks.