Pilgrim Jim's Treasure Field
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:21
KJV
HOME
FAMILY
GENEALOGY
MEMORIES
MUSIC
MINISTRY
A LESSON FROM THE MASTER TEACHER
I have heard and witnessed a lot of
complaining, griping and murmuring in my lifetime. I suppose I was guilty of
much of the same thing before I invited Jesus into my life and made the decision
to follow Him. The devil wants us to complain and murmur about anything in our
lives because it tends to quench and smother any real belief or faith in God.
The Scriptures teach that we should not grumble, complain or murmur about our
lot in life. The Scriptures also teach that the words that we speak are very
important, whether they be negative or positive. The Scriptures teach that we
shall be held accountable for the words that we speak. There is power, sometimes
life and sometimes death, sometimes blessing, in the words that we speak.
Sometimes we bring condemnation upon ourselves with the things that we say. The
following is an account of a small incident that happened in my life. The
incident is small but the lessons to be learned by it are large and this lesson
is still fresh in my mind after many years.
I had been a Christian for only a
couple of years but my walk and journey with the Lord had already taken me
through many interesting and sometimes amazing events. I knew from reading and
studying the word of God that complaining or murmuring about things was not only
harmful to the spiritual life but was a sin that needed to be confessed to the
Lord in order to receive forgiveness. Many unpleasant things happen to all
of us whether we are Christians or not. The difference is that the child of God
can look at all these happenings with faith, even though they may be difficult,
unpleasant, painful or temporarily sorrowful. The word of God teaches that truth
in the book of Romans.
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose."
Romans 8:28 NIV. Another truth from the book of Psalms states, "This is
the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it"
Psalm 118:24 NIV.
At the same time that I was enjoying many
wonderful, great experiences of being a born again, Christian child of God, I
was also going through some tough times in my natural life including a family
breakup, loss of job, and very little money. Money had moved from the occasional
friend status to being almost a total stranger. I could move all my earthly
possessions in one trip with a borrowed automobile. I bought an old car from a
friend for a ridiculously low price but I had several problems with it. I had
flat tires in abundance, one after the other, two or three a week. I couldn't
understand it. I didn't have the money to buy new tires so I would pick up used
ones for a couple of dollars each, but the flat tires continued. Those were very
trying experiences, one after the other. One night I walked out of church and
the car was not in the parking space where I had left it. That brings on a very
odd feeling. The police found the car the next day on the other side of town and
I still don't know what happened.
One day my old car just up and quit entirely.
It wouldn't start and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it and I knew
that I was going to have to walk wherever I went. I remember looking at the old
car and saying with some feelings of anger and resentment, something like this,
"Well, with the way my luck has been going, something will probably happen to my
feet now." I knew better than to say something like that but the words just
spilled out from my feelings of frustration and resentment. The feelings,
attitudes and words were all wrong and there is no such thing as luck, where the
child of God is concerned.
The next day something developed in the
bottom of one of my feet and it became extremely sore and painful so that I
limped with each step on that foot. I don't know what it was but it hurt
something awful every time I tried to walk and place any weight on it. The pain
would seem to throb through my whole foot if I forgot and put my weight upon it.
It was very difficult to walk while favoring one foot in such a way and I know
that I must have looked quite strange to people as I walked to work or to
church. I remembered the feelings of anger and resentment and the words that I
had spoken. I was sorry from the very beginning that I had complained and griped
about the car situation. The remorse for the feelings of anger, resentment and
the words that I had spoken, was as hard on me as the pain from the foot. I
asked the Lord, in Jesus name, to forgive me for murmuring and complaining and I
knew that He forgave me and cleansed my heart. "But if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood
of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin"
1 John 1:7 NIV
You might think that the foot would have been
instantly healed when I asked the Lord for forgiveness and cleansing but it
wasn't. It remained extremely sore and tender with each step and it lasted for
at least two weeks. Let me tell you, I learned a lesson from the Master Teacher,
and as I walked, sometimes I would say, "Praise the Lord" with each limp and I
would smile because I knew that the Lord was teaching me something. He was
teaching me, in a way that I would remember, that I should not gripe and
complain about my circumstances in life. He also taught me that my words are
powerful and to use them wisely. One morning I woke up and when I got out of bed
I found that my foot was not sore anymore. I rejoice to this day when I look
back on those events. I had learned a lesson, taught by the greatest teacher who
has ever walked on the face of this earth, and I thank Him for it. Praise the
Name of Jesus.
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's
discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord
disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
Hebrews 12:5-6 NIV
"For the word of God is quick, and powerful,
and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of
soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12 KJV
And that's the way it was that day, on
Pilgrim Jim's journey.
James Lloyd Clark