The Bulletin of the Church of Christ at New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor	October 14, 2007
In This Issue: Intelligence for Your Life: Tips for Everyday Living by Steve Klein Our Final Judge by Jeff Devaney BACK TO INDEX	Intelligence for Your Life: Tips for Everyday Living    One of the regular features on the John Tesh radio program is called Intelligence for Your Life.  During these segments, Tesh passes on information taken from magazine articles and research journals that is supposed to make you live a better life and become "the most intelligent person in the room."  Here are a few random examples of the advice that Tesh has passed on: Make your doctor's appointments in the morning. Get that out of the way first thing in the morning! Studies show that 92% of doctors run late in the afternoon Make sure your bathwater is at the right temperature -- which is body temperature. Between 97 and 99 degrees. Any hotter and your nervous system goes into overdrive, trying to adjust your internal thermostat  Three things you can do to gain instant likeability.  Look people in the eye.  Stay tuned in -- when someone is talking or telling a story, listen and make the effort to ask follow-up questions. Drop a compliment.   Much of the information that John Tesh passes on seems to be sound and useful.  Occasionally though, there will be something that makes no sense.  Recently he informed us that you can make yourself seem younger by telling people that you're older than you actually are!  The theory is that if you are 40-something and you tell people that you are "50-ish" you'll appear younger than you've said.  Huh?  Besides the fact that you would have been dishonest, you still haven't got anyone to think that you are younger than you actually are!   The best advice men can come up with for living well everyday still cannot match the information contained in God's book.  After all, the Lord made both us and the world we inhabit.  He knows what it takes to live well.    God's word contains a lot of small bits of information and advice useful for everyday living.  While most of us realize that the Bible is the place to go for information on great spiritual themes such as the church or our salvation, do we also understand that it is our best source for practical information for living everyday?  The book of Proverbs was written especially to provide tips for living wisely day by day, but many other Bible books offer important help as well.  The information that the Bible provides is better than anything you would hear on the radio or read in a magazine.  Here are some examples: If you want friends, be friendly. "A man who has friends must himself be friendly" (Proverbs 18:24). Don't waste food. "When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, 'Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.'"  (John 6:12) Dress appropriately for the occasion. "in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation (1 Timothy 2:9) Don't be eager to sue. Proverbs 25:8-10 says, "Do not go hastily to court; for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor has put you to shame?" In Matthew 5:25 Jesus said, "Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison." Don't eat too many sweets. "Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need, lest you be filled with it and vomit" (Proverbs 25:16). Don't wear out your welcome. "Seldom set foot in your neighbor's house, lest he become weary of you and hate you" (Proverbs 25:17). Treat enemies with kindness. "If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink" (Proverbs 25:21). Don't brag about what you think will happen tomorrow. "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth" (Proverbs 27:1). Discipline your children. "Correct your son, and he will give you rest; Yes, he will give delight to your soul" (Proverbs 29:17). "The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother" (Proverbs 29:15). Accept correction. "Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, but he who regards a rebuke will be honored" (Proverbs 13:18). Don't associate with drinkers and gluttons. "Do not mix with winebibbers, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat; for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty" (Proverbs 23:20-21). Husbands are happier with wives who aren't contentious.  "Better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and angry woman" (Proverbs 21:19). "A continual dripping on a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike" (Proverbs 27:15).   So the next time you are in the checkout line at the grocery store and you see a magazine cover that says, "Ten Tips for a Healthier You" or "Seven Steps to Making Friends" or "How to Keep Your Husband Happy" don't buy the magazine.  Save your money. Go home and read your Bible! -- Steve Klein    Our Final Judge   Victory in Jesus Christ is essential for us to have that home in Heaven. It is important that we overcome the world as Jesus did (John 16:33) and gain the victory. We have access to this victory in Jesus; "But thanks (be) to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 15:57)! Our victory, though, depends upon our final judge, Jesus Christ!   The only way that we can receive the final victory over Satan and the grave is by standing before our judge and hearing Him say, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt 25:34). True victory is found only in Jesus and it comes only after the Judgment!   We must realize that there is coming a day in which we will be judged by Jesus. When Christ was teaching His disciples in Matthew 25, He tells them that there will be a judgment day. Paul said in Acts 17:30-34, "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead." Paul knew that a Judgment day was forthcoming and this is something that we must know. There will be a day of reckoning.   On this day, every person, whether male or female, white or black, young or old, will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. We read in 2 Corinthians 5:10, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things (done) in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." (See also Romans 14:42.) When John was allowed to see the Judgment and write about it, he wrote in Revelation 20:12, "And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is (the Book) of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books." The scriptures teach that no one will miss the judgment. Every person that has ever lived will stand before Jesus and give an account.   For us to the gain the victory, we must recognize Jesus as our final Judge. We need to comprehend that Jesus will have the final say as to where our eternal life will be spent. We must understand that we will have to account to Jesus for EVERY DEED done in our bodies whether good or bad! If we realize these things, then we will live our lives in such a way as to always be pleasing to Him! We will be obedient to His will, and we will remain faithful until death. If we do this, then we can receive the victory that will last for all of eternity! -- Jeff Devaney Via The Challenger, Vol. 38, No. 7, July 1992