“And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp" (Num 11:1; NKJ).

Do you ever get the impression that God doesn’t like complaining? When we complain it is like telling God that we are not happy with what he is doing in our lives. Don’t worry you are not alone, we are all guilty of complaining. I wonder how many times I have complained about the weather. Well, God’s word has some instructions for us in Philippians 2:14: "Do all things without murmurings and disputings". That’s pretty straight forward.

Complaining is making a negative confession, so next time you are tempted to complain remember to count your blessings instead and thank God for all the good things that are going on in your life. “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thess 5:18). We need to determine to have thankful hearts and bring our concerns to God and let his peace fill our minds (Phil 4: 6-7), instead of the grumbling.

None of us have got this perfect yet; we are all works in progress and fortunately God is very patient with us.

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Paul encouraged the Romans not to lag in diligence (Rom 12:11). The Greek word for diligence is "spoude", which also means to strive, to be full of zeal or earnest about something. The book of Proverbs is full of wisdom and information about diligence and contrasts it to laziness; for example: “the hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute" (Prov 12:24; KJV).

The diligent person will be a good steward of their time and God given gifts; they will push through their circumstances with a vision of what God can do for them. There are several scriptures that encourage diligence; for example, in the Old Testament we are encouraged to diligently listen to the voice of the Lord so we can experience God as our healer (Ex 15:26). In Deuteronomy 28:1 again, God shows us that if we will listen diligently, we will be overtaken with blessings. God also directs us to teach our children his commands diligently (Deut 6:7).

In Hebrews 4:11, the author writes that we should be diligent to enter into rest that God has for us and in Galatians 2:10 the apostle Paul directs us to be diligent in remembering the poor. These are just a few verses on diligence and there are more. I encourage you today not to lag in diligence but to be: "fervent in spirit; serving the Lord" (Rom 12:11).

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I often think of goodness and kindness in the same breath. Kindness and goodness are both fruits of the Holy Spirit that God wants to develop in all of us (Gal 5:22). They are both characteristics of God’s nature and grace (Ps 23:6; Ps 117:2; Eph 2:7) and he desires us to pursue both of them (Rom 11:22; Col 3:12; Prov 19:22). Goodness and kindness are intertwined and both of the heart.

Goodness is a sense of godliness, grace, tenderness, compassion and kindness; a generous spirit. The desire to not only be good but do good as well. Kindness is goodness in action; it has many of the elements of goodness. It is gentleness and sweetness of nature; it can be seen as a practical expression of love. Kindness is seen doing good even toward people that are difficult to get along with.

We need to grow in kindness and goodness as they demonstrate God’s love to those around us. The Holy Spirit works to develop these characteristics in us as we humble ourselves and cooperate in faith.  Let goodness and kindness be characteristics of all of our lives.

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We are often told that actions speak louder than words. Sadly, many people write Christians off as hypocrites, because so many who claim to be Christians behave no differently than anyone else in the world. If you look at the Greek word for hypocrite it can be defined simply as one who acts, with his real motives hidden.

Jesus lambasted the Pharisees for their hypocrisy (Matt 23:1-39). Paul was able to say follow me as I follow Christ (1 Cor 11:1) and he exhorted Timothy to be an example in word and conduct (1 Tim 4:12). Moses was known as a man of humility and David as a man after God’s own heart, a man of obedience. However, we should be encouraged as we know that none of these men claimed to be, or where, perfect. Jesus is obviously our supreme example of a holy and godly life but even he said there is no one good except God himself (Luke 18:19).

We could list many attributes that the real Christian should manifest in public but space does not allow that here. Perhaps 1 John 3:18-19 (KJV) captures the essence: “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him”. The Apostle James tells us that if we claim to have faith but do not have corresponding works our faith is dead (James 2:14-17). How did the men above walk the talk? They were all men that had a genuine and close relationship with God; they were all obedient to the Spirit of God. We can be the same if we press into God and his word and allow his Spirit to change us.

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 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20; KJV). We often read this verse and regard it as an invitation to the lost to receive Jesus. However, if you think about it, this was written to the church, to believers! In fact, this was written to the lukewarm church, people who were sat on the fence, with one foot in the world and one in the church.

When I read this, I am reminded of the parable of the sower (Matt 13: 3-9; 13:18-23). In this parable good seed was sown into different soils. The seed was the word of God, the soils, different people. For some the word went right over their heads and meant nothing. Other people got excited about what they heard but when the slightest persecution or pressure came into their lives because of their new beliefs they drew back. For some other people, the worries of life and the headlong pursuit of things and stuff squeezed time for and thoughts of the word, from their lives. However, some people received, studied and meditated the word as a precious jewel, allowing the Holy Spirit to bring revelation and produce change, good fruit, in their lives (Gal 5:22-23).

I know which soil I want to be, what about you?

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Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to others.