Flashback Friday - What Speech Says - Martin Wiles

What Speech Says

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Ephesians 4:29 NLT

The tongue has no eraser, and mine just wrote a gang of words I wished I could expunge. 

I was new to the local town, having temporarily moved back in with my parents while I searched for employment. One of the area’s popular attractions on Saturday morning was the local flea market. Folks would gather to shop and commune with friends. On this particular Saturday, Mom had rented a booth to dispose of some odds and ends. Since Dad wasn’t the flea market variety, she chose me as her assistant. As we pulled up to our assigned booth and began unloading our wares, I noticed the neighboring seller unloading some of his treasures on one of our tables. When I confronted him, he mouthed something about that being his table. I jawed some unmentionables right back at him, informing him the table was ours. Mom was upset and embarrassed—not because of his using one of our tables but because he was a church member that I’d just cursed out. When she informed me, I looked for the eraser. Read more...

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What’s That Smell? - Martin Wiles

Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. 2 Corinthians 2:15 NLT

I felt the need to explain the smell to his teacher.

My daughter believes in essential oils. She burns them in her house, sprays them on herself and her two boys during mosquito season, and rubs them on all three of them when they come down with a sickness.

Spring had sprung, and so had the pollen count. As I opened my daughter’s car door to get her youngest child (He attends the school where I teach.), a pungent smell hit me.

“What in the world is that smell?” I asked. “It smells like insecticide.”

“Essential oils,” she answered.

“Did you spray him with it?”

“Yes, for his stuffy nose,” she said.

I halfway held my breath as I walked him to my class. What would I tell his teacher? I had to say something. She’d think he hadn’t had a bath in a while—or had been playing in something he shouldn’t have. When I explained his smell, she laughed. Obviously, my grandson wasn’t the only one who’d been doused with smelly things.

Paul mentioned another type of smell—the one Christ-believers have, or at least should have. A fragrance that has two effects on people. Those who believe with us enjoy the fragrance, but those who refuse to believe can’t stand it. They may even persecute us because we smell as we do.

The fragrance has nothing to do with an actual smell, but concerns what people see in us. A smell they detect with their eyes. As they watch our actions, they pick up our odor. The odor of forgiveness. We don’t hold grudges or seek revenge when wronged. The smell of kindness. We go out of our way to help someone else, even when it means inconveniencing ourselves. We exhibit the smell of a giving nature. We open our hands when it would be easier to keep them tightly squeezed shut. We smell good to them by smelling the opposite of what they are accustomed to.

The world can be a terrible place. By exhibiting godly traits which are the opposite of the norm, we place a pleasant smell in the air that God will use to draw others to Himself.

What kind of smell are you putting off for those around you?

Prayer: Father, help us smell good to others. May they see You through our actions and attitudes.

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Recommended - Martin Wiles

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon in the church in Cenchrea. Romans 16:1 NLT

I had done it before, and now I was being asked to do it again.

One of the great privileges of teaching is when a student or their parent asks me to write a letter of recommendation to the college they plan to attend.

I taught Jonathan sixth grade grammar, but I had left the school when he entered the seventh grade. Now, I had returned, and he was in the eighth grade. Like many of his classmates, he didn’t do his best. Just enough to get by. He had a difficult time grasping concepts, but by the end of the year, he performed well.

One month before school ended, I received the news from Jonathan’s coach: Jonathan wasn’t returning. His dad had taken a job at a nearby college which also had a private school. Jonathan would attend there.

Two weeks after I heard the news, Jonathan’s mom asked me to write Jonathan a letter of recommendation. The school he planned to attend was private, strict, and academically demanding. I said yes. Although I couldn’t put everything I would have liked to about Jonathan, I praised his Christian attitude and let them know his capabilities when in the right environment.

Putting others above myself always feels good. Paul did it with Phoebe. He recommended her to the church in Rome and had a list of reasons why he could do so in good confidence. She was a deacon … a servant. She put others’ needs above her own. She was a fellow believer who had helped Paul and many others.

Recommending others isn’t always easy because doing so entails putting them first and self second. The letter of recommendation wasn’t about me; it was about Jonathan. I would miss him greatly, but the other school needed to know what a wonderful student and person they’d get by accepting him.

Recommending others is a humbling experience that takes a lifetime to master. Our fleshly nature makes selfishness easier. Praising others takes the focus from us and puts it on another. We hope they succeed—even if it’s in an area we wish we could. We praise their qualities—while secretly wishing we could master the same ones they possess.

Jesus recommended us above Himself by going to the cross to pay for our sins. Ask Him to teach you to put others above yourself.

Prayer: Father, give us the courage to put selfishness aside, as Your Son did on the cross.

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What’s in the Closet - Martin Wiles

And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. Matthew 6:28-30 NLT

Small. Dark. No light. Uninviting. Only about half enough space for the clothes I owned. No shoe rack. Doorways shorter than I was. And I was supposed to be satisfied?

I’ve lived in a few older homes where the closets weren’t as large as I would have liked. According to the research I’ve done, people were once shorter, so that piece of knowledge explained the lower door frame.

But what about the size? The average person only owned a few pairs of work clothes, a couple of Sunday clothes, and a couple pairs of shoes. They didn’t need closets larger than the ones I’d inherited. 

Occasionally, I watch house-shopping shows on television and marvel at the reasons a couple turns a house down. One, in particular, is the closet. Most want a large walk-in closet. Some closets I’ve seen are half as large as my patio townhouse. Racks upon racks for shoes. Rod after rod for clothes. More cubbies for pocketbooks and other essentials. But a small closet? No sale. Let’s move on to the next house.

Jesus had something to say about our closets—though He didn’t use the word itself. Homes in His time may not have even had them. He said not to worry about my clothing—which in turn means I need to look at how important a closet is to me. That probably means if I have enough to fill a large walk-in closet and have some more stored in totes under the bed, in the attic, or in a storage shed that I have too many.

Maybe the size of a closet is important after all. Large closets may indicate my focus has shifted from what’s more significant to what’s least essential. Jesus promises to clothe me—but His outfits and the number of them might not match my choice—or the amount I’d select. What I see as a need doesn’t always match what He classifies as one. My job is to trust Him to supply my clothing while I busy myself advancing His kingdom—which I don’t need a lot of clothing to do.

Closets tell a story. Not so much about my taste in clothing, but about my focus and if it’s where it should be. God promises to supply your needs. Let Him turn your focus to His plans for you so the size of your closet won’t matter.

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Prayer: Father, when our closets become too small to satisfy us, prompt us to check our priorities. 

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The Power of the Reputation - Martin Wiles

All they knew was that people were saying, “The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to destroy!” Galatians 1:23 NLT

“We bought plenty of paper. Mom said she remembered all the writing my brother had to do.”

I was back after a year’s hiatus. What looked like greener grass on the other side of the fence was for a time, but when the offer came to return to teaching I knew I needed to go. Since our congregation had dwindled to about half of what it originally was, I figured I could handle doing both. After clearing it with the board, I gave my affirmative answer to the headmaster and settled back into teaching the same subjects in the same classroom.

When I had taught previously, I had the reputation of being a “grammar Nazi.” This time wouldn’t be any different. Having students write the concepts I taught them seemed the best way to make the material stick.

So when I told one class to get out three sheets of paper and complete the assignment on the overhead, some groaned. But the young girl whose brother I had taught made the above comment. She wasn’t worried about running out of paper. Her parents had stocked her up. No problems here. Bring on the work. Good or bad, my reputation had preceded me, and she was ready.

Paul knew a little about a reputation also—an unpleasant one. In giving his testimony of how God had changed his life, he tells how the churches in one area didn’t know him—but they had heard. He was the one who had killed and persecuted Christians. Now he preached the gospel he had tried to stomp out. Some doubted his validity. Perhaps it was a trick to get them to reveal their Christian identity so he could drag them off to prison.

Good or bad, reputations follow us. They are like credit ratings. It takes years to build a good reputation, but one bad decision can ruin it—sometimes for a lifetime. God forgives our mistakes and foibles. He did Paul’s. But not everyone is as forgiving as God. Some doubted Paul’s sincerity, and some may do the same with us if we have a checkered past. That’s why it’s so vital that we’re the real deal in the present and work to keep our reputations spotless. People tend to remember the bad more than they do the good.

Don’t let bad decisions ruin your reputation. Be known for your love for God and others.

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Prayer: Father, preserve our reputations, reminding us that we are Your representatives. 

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Flashback Friday - Ringing Reputations - Martin Wiles

Ringing Reputations

I might not be aware of the exact second it will sound, but most of the time I at least know the day. After all, I’m a teacher and need to plan accordingly. Then there are a few surprise fire, tornado, and severe weather drills. Even when I know the day, the piercing squeal sets my nerves on edge. As alarms can be heard near and far, so our reputations should be as well. Read more...

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