I along with many other men who live in my area, love to play the game of basketball. We're able to use the high school gym two nights a week to pursue our obsession with the sport. One evening, recently, when we went to the school to play, we found the door to the gym locked. The coach of the high school basketball team was holding a late practice and did not want to be disturbed. As we were hanging around, waiting to get in the gym, several of us were sitting down on the hallway floor with our backs leaning against the wall, casually chatting with one another. Then most of the guys stopped talking and listened to what one man had to say.

He was getting all excited about something he was telling us. Then, right in the middle of a sentence, he stopped, looked at me and said, "Dick, excuse me!" He then looked back at the group and let out a string of swear words to finish the sentence in his story. He did not do that to ridicule me; no one laughed or watched for my reaction. They all seemed to understand why he did it. My response was to think, "Hurry up, coach, and open the door to the gym!"

That guy knew, before he said it, that he was going to say something wrong; just because he said "Excuse me" to me didn't give him a green light to curse! I've had Christians do the same thing to me. They didn't swear, but they said something just as bad; they said, "Dick, I shouldn't complain, but . . . "*@&%#@&@%#!" Just because they said, "I shouldn't" doesn't make the light green. Some have said to me, "I shouldn't gossip, but, have you heard what sister so and so did . . . "*@&%#@&@%#?!" Christians may not use the foul language of that basketball player, but when they complain, it sounds just as bad to the Lord.

I don't like to hear people of the world use bad language; but when they do, I don't make a big deal out of it. I usually just have a silent prayer for them and try to ignore what they said. But when I hear a Christian complaining, I'm not always quiet; I must admit there are times when I overreact!

I have a friend who lives nearby and we often get together to have some good conversation, sometimes over a cup of coffee. Not long ago I stopped by his house to see him, but as soon as I walked through his door, I realized that it was not a good time to visit. I felt as if I had just entered a lions' den--the hostility in the house was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife. He and his wife had had a disagreement, and in anger he had said some things to her that should not have been spoken. She was not there; she had gone for a walk to get away from him.

He invited me into the living room; I sat in one of those big, comfortable easy chairs, while he sat on the sofa. Then he began to complain to me about "that woman." Instantly, I interrupted him; I did not plan to do that, it was spontaneous. I said, "She is not 'that woman' she is your wife, a precious gift that our Lord has given to you; and if I hear one more complaint, I'm leaving!"

My friend was startled. He paused for a moment and then replied, "Please join me in prayer!" As he was asking God to forgive him, I could feel all the hostility leave the house and waves of peace entering. At that moment, his wife returned from her walk, and I could feel the love of God come upon her as she came through the doorway. I would have liked to have hung around and enjoyed the atmosphere, but I realized it was one of those times when three's a crowd. I excused myself, and they both gave me a hug as I left their house.

Recently, another Christian friend responded quite differently when I spoke to him about his bad language (complaining). He said, "I thought you were the kind of a friend who I could come to who would, at least, be willing to listen to me get some things off my chest so that I could feel better. I'm going to stop coming to your house; your friendship is too painful!"

The Bible does instruct us to bear one another's burdens (Gal.6:2). We should listen to those who are suffering, but there is a difference between sharing a burden and complaining. I will listen to all who want to talk to me about something that is bothering them; that is, if they are willing to bring it to the Lord in prayer with me. But as for listening to someone who just wants to complain . . . all I can say is, "This complaint department remains closed!"

Complaining sometimes does work as a way to fix an injustice, to get a raise in pay, to change things in government or to get a refund on a damaged product you've purchased. It does get some results in a worldly way, but there are better ways to accomplish things, ways that are not dangerous to one's health and well-being. If we develop a "no complaining" attitude, we will gain much more than all our griping will ever get us; for all it takes is a thankful heart for God to be able to bless us beyond measure in more wonderful ways than we can imagine.

Complaining is trash talk that belongs to the world; but as for we who belong to Jesus, we who have been delivered from the powers of darkness and have been translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son, we who have been purchased by His precious blood . . . there should never be one word of complaint uttered from our lips. But there is; we do it so much that it has become a plague--and it is destroying us!

Don't be surprised if, when you begin to complain to me, I place my hands over my ears and run away from you as fast as I can! If that happens, please, don't take it personally. It won't be because I don't like you; it will only be a matter of self-defense! Complaining is not only very dangerous, it is extremely contagious. It is a hazard to both our physical and our spiritual health.

The Bible says, "Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats" (Prov.23:6). Someone who has an evil eye is one who sees the bad in everything, or one who looks for something to complain about. When we listen to a complainer, we are "eating his bread." He will feed us a lot of bad stuff, the type of contaminated food that will really make us sick. The Bible warns us about one of the consequences of listening to complaints: "The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words" (Prov.23:8). No longer will praise and thanksgiving to God be coming from our lips, no longer will sweet words of faith and encouragement be brought forth from us to help others; instead, we will, in turn, throw up on someone else by our sickly complaining. And if they listen to us, they will get sick and pass it on to others. And on and on it goes. God help us! Give us the courage to break this vicious cycle!

If you think I may be getting a little too serious about this complaining thing, before you say, "After all, everyone does it," please consider what happened to the sister of Moses when she did it! She complained against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman he had married and also griped because she felt she was not being recognized for her work for the Lord as a prophetess as much as Moses was for being a prophet. (Doesn't that sound like some Christians who compare their ministry with another's?) Her other brother Aaron joined in with her complaining.

Their words were not pleasing to the Lord, to say the least! He came down to them in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle and called Miriam and Aaron. When they came forth He rebuked them sternly and then departed. This is the scene recorded in the Bible that took place when the presence of the Lord left them: "And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous" (Num.12:10).

Even today, when a child of God really gets into serious complaining, many will try to avoid him just as if he had leprosy. I believe even the angels who are assigned to protect us do not hang around when we are constantly complaining. Angels love to be in the presence of praise and worship to God; they hate to hear a child of God complain. Only Satan and his demons like to hear that!

After seeing what happened to his sister, Aaron repented and confessed his sin. Moses cried out to the Lord and asked Him to heal Miriam and she was healed; but she still had to stay outside of the camp, separated from the congregation for seven days.

To get a view of how much the Lord dislikes our complaining, imagine a Jewish maiden doing something so disgraceful that it caused her natural father to be disgusted enough to spit in her face. This is what the Lord said when Moses prayed for his sister to be healed: "If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again" (Num.12:14).

I don't think Christians have the slightest idea of the serious consequences of having a complaining spirit. Let me tell you how I learned of the danger. Perhaps, after you read it, you may hope that you will never complain again--not even about the weather!

In the early seventies, when my wife and I were about seven years old in the Lord, we received a call from God to come to Northern New Hampshire to help in a work that He was raising up through an evangelist. At that time the evangelist held meetings and had a daily radio program. We began our work as managers of a newly formed part of the ministry, which would try to help people in need by giving them a place to stay in an atmosphere of Christian love. There was a big inn with plenty of rooms, called the House of Hope, provided for the work; and soon calls began to come in from people who needed help.

One day a social worker called and told me about a family that was in desperate need. She went on to describe the hardships of a husband and wife with six children who had no money, no food, and no place to live; also the husband was in bad health and unable to work. She asked if they could stay at the House of Hope until other arrangements could be made for them. I knew it would not be easy to bring six children into a place where there were already several others staying who had some severe problems, but I told the social worker I would call her back to let her know if we could take in the family. I then called the evangelist and asked what we should do. He answered, "We must help them; I believe God wants us to help them."

So they moved in and received a lot of help. Soon the whole family began to respond to the love of God, and they were happy and thankful. The husband whose name was Paul had a remarkable change: he had been a discouraged sick man with a drinking problem who had tried in the past to end his life, who now became a man displaying faith and hope. I remember that sometimes when he talked about Jesus, he could not hold back the tears. His physical health also changed greatly, for he'd had all kinds of allergies and ailments and they just disappeared.

He had that childlike faith which is better than gold. I remember one day he came up to me with his hands filled with ragweed and said, "Look, Dick, how the Lord has healed me!" Then he held the ragweed to his face and took a deep breath. I didn't know how to react to that, whether I should say "Praise God" or "Please, don't test the Lord!"

He and his family stayed at the House of Hope for a couple of months, and then their social worker was able to get them settled in a house of their own. They loved it and continued to be very happy and thankful. This would make a good ending to the story--but there's more.

When Paul was at the House of Hope, he became friends with Jim who was a recovering alcoholic from Massachusetts. When it was time for Jim to leave, his wife came to join him and they purchased a house in town. Apparently, soon after he left the environment of the House of Hope, Jim became unhappy and began to complain about almost everything. It wasn't long before he was drinking again.

Meanwhile, Paul wanted to try to help Jim, so he would invite him to his house and listen to him complain by the hour. Paul, without realizing it, was being served poison bread that would ruin his life. Jim would murmur much to him about the evangelist and about me. Paul soon wanted little to do with us; he went back to drinking and his old allergies and sicknesses returned. He was a big, strong man and alcohol often made him mean and hard to handle. He became like a time bomb that was about to explode.

Then came the day that I received a phone call from Paul's wife. She was hysterical as she told me that Paul had gotten out his hunting rifle and had pointed it at her and the children, holding them in the living room; then he had stormed out of the house, telling her that he was going to the House of Hope to shoot me! She told me that she could not stay there with the children, that she had to leave. Then I heard a click as she hung up.

It was a ten minute drive from Paul's house to the House of Hope where I lived with my wife and two small boys. I immediately called for my wife and we went to the Lord in urgent prayer. I also called the police, but all they did was tell me that they'd had trouble with Paul before. Minutes, then hours, then days went by, and Paul did not show up at the door. It was during those days that I learned to value my life here on earth and not take it for granted. Several times a day I would thank the Lord for being alive; I knew my life was in His hands but I still was frightened. I remember going out onto a porch roof to repair a second floor window, then hurrying back into the house, thinking that Paul might be hiding in the surrounding woods with his rifle aimed at me.

This tension went on for days; then something happened that made me realize that enough was enough! One evening while I was sitting at the dining room table doing some reading, a young woman who was staying at the House of Hope came to me and asked if I would mind moving so she could have my place at the table. I said, "Sure," and moved over a few seats. I wondered why she wanted to sit there when there were plenty of other places vacant at the table. Then it dawned on me: it was because I was sitting near the window, and she feared a bullet from Paul's gun would strike me. That did it! I called the people together and said, "We cannot go on like this; we've got to pray and put this behind us and go on with our lives!" Then we joined in prayer and the pressure was lifted. God's grace was so present to me that I was able to go on living without the fear of being shot.

A week passed, then I received a phone call from Paul. He said that he was looking for his wife, that he knew that I knew where she was hiding and demanded that I tell him. When I refused, he really became angry. He called me some names I will not repeat; he said he was going to get me, and then hung up the phone. Minutes later he called again and said, "Dick, will you forgive me?!" At that instant I realized how much God had forgiven me and how He tells us to forgive others, and without hesitation I replied, "Yes Paul, I forgive you." He then said, "Will you come to my house and talk to me?" This time I did hesitate; my faith was being put to the test. I finally broke the silence and said, "Yes, I'll come over to see you." And as I hung up the phone I prayed, "Lord, help me!"

Again, I called for my wife to join me in prayer before I went to see Paul; and as we were praying, the phone rang again. It was Paul. He said, "Don't come over; I'm ending my life!" and hung up the phone. I tried to call him back and there was no answer. I knew it would take me ten minutes to get there, so I called the police and gave them the location of a man who was about to commit suicide. When I got to his house, two police officers were just leaving; and Paul was standing in the doorway. As they passed me on the sidewalk, I asked if he was alright. They laughed and said, "He's O.K.; it's the skunk in the basement that has a problem." I could not believe what I heard, but then I realized that Paul must have told them that he had his rifle out because of a skunk. Now I really had doubts about going into his house.

He greeted me at the door and invited me in to sit at his table. Then, with a trembling voice, he began to tell me what happened after he had talked to me on the phone. He showed me some poison he had poured into a cup; then he demonstrated how he began to lift the cup of poison to his mouth. When it was about halfway, he said, "When I lifted it this high, I felt Someone holding my arm and I could not lift it any higher. I became frightened. Then the police came in. I could not tell them about it, so I made up a story about a skunk in my basement!" I was amazed. I said "Paul, you have just witnessed the love of God and the power of prayer!" Then we both wept as we talked and prayed together.

I left his house and was so grateful. Oh, how good the Lord is! Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! I was so happy. I just assumed that Paul, after having an experience like that, would also be happy and thankful and drawing near to God. I called his wife to tell her the good news, and she and the children returned home.

But I was wrong. Paul was not thankful; his complaining still went on. His drinking continued, the family was torn apart, and the children were placed in foster homes; he and his wife got divorced, and both left town, going their separate ways. I was saddened, but relieved to have Paul out of sight, out of town, and out of mind. Well, almost out of mind.

Time passed, the House of Hope closed, and I concentrated more on evangelistic work. I was becoming more aware of the fact that the only way I could really help people was to encourage them to come to Jesus and stay close to Him.

During the next three years, much of my work was organizing evangelistic meetings. God blessed those meetings and thousands of people came to the Lord. The evangelist wanted quiet, orderly services; he didn't like any distractions while he was preaching. One of my responsibilities was to try to keep these meetings from disruptions, and that was not an easy task, because Satan would often send someone to disrupt these services.

One time, a group of real bad characters marched around the outside of an auditorium in Boston where we were holding an evangelistic crusade, carrying signs and telling people not to go inside of the building. Another time, in New Jersey, a group of policemen rushed into the middle of a service we were having. Someone had called them to report a riot taking place in the building. In spite of some of these disturbances, the Lord did not let them really affect the meetings; His power and presence prevailed at every service.

I wanted to be able to stop disturbances before they started, so I was on the look out for potential problems before each meeting. One time I spotted what looked to me like an approaching disaster! It was at a meeting in my little home town in Northern New Hampshire being held in a huge tent that was set up in a big field I can still see when I look out the back window of my house. The crowd had gathered and was seated; and as the meeting was about to begin, I took one final walk around the outside of the tent, looking for any potential problems. And who did I see walking towards the tent? It was the man who threatened to shoot me three years before.

I quickly approached him before he got too near the tent, and said, "Paul, you cannot come to this meeting." When he asked, "Why not?" I reminded him of some of the problems we'd had in the past, and then I said, "If you put one foot inside that tent I will call the police and have you removed!" He silently walked away.

I finished my inspection tour around the outside of the tent; then I entered the meeting, which was now in progress. As I stood at the back and glanced at the people, I could not believe what I saw. There, sitting in the congregation, was Paul! It was too late to try to remove him, so all I could do was to watch him closely and hope that he would not cause any trouble.

The evangelist had already begun speaking and he had no way of knowing that this man was back in town. His message was about unthankfulness and complaining, and as I listened, I could not believe what I was hearing: He began to use Paul as an example of someone who was unthankful in his sermon! I thought, "Oh my, what's going to happen now!" Paul sat quietly until the end of the message when the evangelist gave an altar call; then he stood up and started walking forward. I did not know what he was going to do. When he got to the platform, he knelt down for prayer.

Heads were bowed in prayer. The evangelist started to walk toward him and then he stopped and walked to the other side of the platform and asked me to come forward. Then he whispered to me, "Dick . . . is this who I think it is?!" I replied, "That's him!" Then I returned to the back of the tent while he went to pray with Paul.

What happened next is one of the most precious memories of my life. Not only is it recorded in my memory, but also on tape, because at the time the speaker was wearing a lapel microphone. He said, "You know, the Lord works in strange ways . . . I had no idea this man was here." Paul was kneeling on the ground in front of the platform and the evangelist was kneeling on top of the platform. He reached down and placed his hand on Paul. They were both weeping. He said, "Paul, the Lord loves you . . . the Lord wouldn't . . . the Lord wouldn't have had me do that . . . He knew you were here . . . Lord, in the Name of Jesus . . . God, bless this man . . ."

Oh, how the love of God filled that whole tent, and how it filled my heart! How could anyone ever be the same after such a demonstration of the grace of God? I would like to end the story here, because I like happy endings, but I must go on.

The evangelist once told me, "Dick, there are things the way they should be and there are things the way they are; and you should deal with things, not the way they should be, but with the way they are." After the meeting Paul left town and I did not see him for another two years. Then one day he appeared at my door. We didn't go in the house; we sat on the back steps and talked for about an hour. Paul seemed the same, still discouraged, still complaining, and still doubting the love of God. That was the last I've seen or heard from him. Meanwhile, many years have passed by and much has happened.

As for the evangelist, who had become my best friend; the man who taught me so much about the grace of God; the man with whom God gave me the privilege of working many years in the gospel field, and then the privilege of publishing his writings . . . there came a time when he did just what he warned others not to do: he too gave in to complaining, which paved the way for the calamity that followed.

I saw the warning sign and I made a feeble attempt to gently hint to him that perhaps he ought not to complain. If I knew then what I know now, I would not have been so tactful; my warning would have sounded more like a fire alarm. If your best friend starts to become a constant complainer . . . shave your head, tear your clothing, put on sackcloth, and sit in the dust . . . do whatever it takes to get his attention; then say, "DON'T DO THAT!" But whatever you do, don't eat his bread (listen to his words), or the complaining plague may come upon you!

I didn't know, at the time my best friend began to complain, that eventually his ministry would be devastated, that he would be devoured by alcohol and drugs, and separated from his family and friends. I didn't know then that instead of hearing from him almost daily, there would be a time when he would not call me for months and then refuse to give me his location, except to say, "All I'll tell you is that I'm closer to the Pacific Ocean than I am to the Atlantic." I didn't know, at the time, that a day would come when two of his brothers would walk into my house and one would say, "It's over, it's all over; he shot himself!"

After hearing that, I did not want to talk to anyone, not even answer the phone; so early the next morning I drove to the coast. As I was walking alone on the seashore, I felt the love of God so much that I could not even pray; all I could do was sing hymns.

A few days later, as I was standing beside his open grave leading a service before a handful of people, it began to pour. A young man I didn't know came forward to hold an umbrella over my head, but I had to send him away; it was a time that I needed to stand alone--no one could be close to me at that moment . . . no one but Jesus!

The Bible says, "The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy" (Prov.14:10). It was not the time for a stranger to be that close to me, holding an umbrella over my head. During those days the Lord was doing a wonderful work on the healing of my broken heart, but I guess it took awhile for my emotions to catch up with the healing.

It has been over seven years since the departure of my friend, and I have hesitated to tell this story for fear that some who hear it would not read the precious writings or listen to the great messages that the Lord gave through the evangelist, if they knew he took his own life. But then I remember him telling his congregations so many times to keep their eyes on Jesus and not on the weak people He uses. He would say, "I am just a weak messenger boy!" And he warned, "If you are following me, when I fall you will fall. If you are following Jesus, when I fall, you will stand!"

I have the assurance that my best friend is safely in heaven, that he was an instrument of God's grace, and that the Lord allowed him to go home early. I have learned much from the teachings that God gave through this man, also much through the examples of his life--both on what to do and what not to do. (I guess I could say the same about King Solomon.) One thing I hope I have learned through him is not to complain. But that is easier said than done!

Our wonderful Heavenly Father wants to bless us more than we can ever imagine; we haven't begun to realize how generous He really is, how He wants to daily load us with benefits. But we are such poor receivers; we make it so hard for Him to bestow His goods upon us. Oh, if we would only stop being complainers! That's what blocks the flow of both spiritual and material blessings that God wants to flood in upon us. We pray, plea, and beg for God to give us things, when, if we would only stop our complaining, we would have more than we could handle!

Think, for a moment, of the goodness of the Lord and His wonderful works to the children of men. Then consider the wickedness of man and his rebellion toward God. Why does He put up with us? Why did He go to the cross for us?! I doubt if we will ever fully understand His love. Fortunately, we don't need to understand it to have and enjoy it!

Look at the marvelous way God rescued the children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt; how He brought ten plagues throughout Egypt to convince Pharaoh to let His people go without those plagues touching the children of Israel who were within that land; how He brought them out of Egypt with His mighty hand; how He brought them forth also with silver and gold. And with great health--there was not one feeble person among them!

He opened the waters for them at the Red Sea and after they crossed over on dry ground, He brought the waters back over Pharaoh and his host whose chariots and horsemen were coming to harm them. The Lord "made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock" (Psalm 78:52). He went forth before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them in the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light. He brought them rivers of water from a rock, and manna from heaven. He "fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands" (Psalm 78:72). For forty years He provided for them in the wilderness and they lacked nothing (Deut.2:7). He did not let their clothing wax old upon their bodies nor their shoes wax old upon their feet (Deut.29:5) Does our Heavenly Father know how to care for His children?! You know that He does!

But do His children know how to care for Him?! Take a look at the children of Israel: have you ever seen such complainers? They completely disregarded the mighty miracles of God when He delivered them from the bondage of Egypt. They did not believe His promise to bring them into the Promised Land. They began to complain to Moses almost on the first step of the journey to that land. They said, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?" (Ex.14:11) They complained to Moses and Aaron about the food and water. Moses said to them, "Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord" (Ex.16:8).

Oh, what a difference there would have been if they had listened to the warning of Moses and stopped their complaining against the Lord, and had become a thankful people! But they chose not to. The Bible says, "How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel" (Psalm 78:40,41). How did they limit God? You know. By their complaining!

Murmuring is the fuel that ignites the fire of destruction. Soon the Israelites were into outright rebellion to God, including adultery, fornication, worshiping idols and even sacrificing their children to demons! The Bible says, "And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood" (Psalm 106:36-38). How could they sink so low? It all began with complaining!

Through reading about these children of Israel in the Bible and through seeing, first hand, the damage to the life of my best friend, the evangelist, and my friend, Paul the rifleman, I know the danger of complaining, and I don't want to be a complainer. I try not to do it, but I still do.

Sometimes I'll be walking down the aisle of a supermarket and I'll be so thankful for the abundance of products that are available to us, and for having the money to buy more than I need; I'll find myself giving thanks to God every time I take something off the shelf to place in the basket. But . . . other times I'll be complaining (and it doesn't have to be out loud, for the Lord hears my thoughts) about the prices, about not being able to find a certain item, about having to wait at the cash register--sometimes my behavior is really quite disgusting. I've asked my wife to help me by reminding me not to complain. Then sometimes, when she says in her gentle voice, "Are you complaining?" I'll say to her, "No, I'm just making a statement!"

Please, don't misunderstand me, I'm not being hard on myself or putting myself down. I just want to take good care of this new life that the Lord has given me by not doing something that is extremely harmful. Oh, I've made progress by biting my tongue when I start to complain about churches or the government, or the mote in my brother's eye (Mat.7:3) . . . but there are so many other little things I find to gripe about: like the mosquito that bit me last evening as I was in the back yard trying to start that stubborn lawn mower; my inability to spell even some simple words; the squeaky new shoes that I'm wearing. Then, there's the cold weather in winter; the black flies in the spring; my receding hairline . . . Lord help me! This is shocking! I didn't realize that I complained so much! I can understand why Paul cried out, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom.7:24) Praise God, I know the answer that he gave in the next verse, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

In one of the evangelist's messages he tells about how one time when he was on a passenger boat, he noticed that on one side of the ship there were people with accordions and guitars who were singing and having a great time. But on the other side there were people who were miserable; they were complaining and sick and throwing up all over the place. Both groups of people were on the same boat and going to the same place. The difference was: some were enjoying the trip while others were enduring it!

The message goes on to tell that we who have received Jesus are safe in the ark. We are in the same boat and will all arrive on heaven's shore, but which side of the boat are we on? Are we thankful? Are we singing and praising the Lord? Or are we complaining and throwing up all over the place? Either way, we're still in the boat; but are we enjoying this new life or enduring it?

Paul--not the man with the rifle, but Paul the apostle--really knew how to live. He knew how to be abased and how to abound; he knew how to be content no matter what state he was in (Phil.4:11,12). In other words, he knew how not to complain! That's what I want to be: a non-complainer; I want to stay on the right side of the boat!

Do you know how easy it is to complain? Let me tell you, it's almost as easy as breathing! Do you know how difficult it is to stop complaining? Let me tell you, I find it too hard to do in my own strength. But, I'm beginning to learn; there is an easy way to be a non-complainer.

Remember how complaining kept the children of Israel from entering into the Promised Land? Well, there was one of them who did make it in; his name was Caleb. Here is the secret to being a non-complainer. Listen to what the Lord said about this man, "But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land" (Num.14:24).

ANOTHER SPIRIT, that is the key that opens the treasures of the inheritance of the children of God. That is the secret of being a non-complainer.

For this reason Jesus went to the cross: to give us another spirit. The Bible says, "But as many as received him (Jesus), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12,13). If you have received Jesus as Lord and Savior, He has entered your heart and you are a new spirit. That new spirit won't get any better, because it is perfect. It is "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col.1:27). That new you won't complain, because it can't; it won't sin, because it can't sin. "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin" (1John 3:9). Don't try to improve something that God has perfected. The Bible says, "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified" (Heb.10:14). It also says to all who have received the pardon of God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, ". . . but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (1Cor.6:11). The secret of being a non-complainer is simply to live in the new creation. It is as easy as that!

Complaining is an act of the flesh. It comes from the old human nature, that old man that is dead because it was crucified on the cross with Christ (Rom.6:6). Just as the new creation can do no bad, the old man can do no good. The old man can never improve; if it appears to be good, it is just an imitation, just an image. Why should we try to create a self image in the old crucified flesh, when Christ has put a new spirit within us that is perfect?!

Instead of trying not to complain, I want to choose to walk in the Spirit. One way to gauge if we are walking in the Spirit is to see if we are resting in the finished work of Christ and to make sure we are not trying to perform to be better. Another clear sign is that if we are thankful, we can know that we are walking in the Spirit, and if we are murmuring, we can know that we are definitely walking in the flesh.

I usually begin my day by walking to a little store in my neighborhood that opens early and serves a good cup of coffee. One morning as I was walking to it, I saw a strange sight: I looked down and noticed that my shoes were different. How could I have taken one shoe from two different pairs and put them on my feet without noticing it? I don't remember ever doing that before. (I really needed that cup of coffee!) Since then my wife had a dream where she returned from a walk and looked down at her feet and saw that she had one of her shoes on one foot and one of her daughter-in-law's on the other. Is the Lord trying to show us something?

Sometimes, without realizing it, we try to walk with one foot in the New Testament and one foot in the Old, one foot in grace and one foot in the law. Grace and law do not mix; we must live in one or the other. It is impossible to walk in the flesh and in the Spirit at the same time.

The Bible says, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (Gal.5:16). If we lie, cheat, steal, murder, commit adultery or fornication, complain . . . that is not walking in the flesh, that is fulfilling the lust of the flesh. Walking in the flesh is trying to live the Christian life in our own strength. Walking in the Spirit is living in the new creation that Christ has given us.

Don't panic if you see evil in your old flesh (adamic nature). If you see good in it, that's when to be concerned. Paul the apostle said, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing" (Rom.7:18).

The flesh is rotten to the core; that is why Christ had to take our old sinful nature upon Him on the cross and then place His Spirit within us to make us right with God.

When we choose to walk in the flesh rather than in the Spirit, it will hinder our relationship with God and life will become miserable. It's when we choose to walk in the Spirit that we enjoy the good life, a life of faith and hope with "joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1Pet.1:8). I'm not saying that life will always be easy and that there will be no tribulations. It's our relationship with our Heavenly Father that should not be complicated, not at all. Relating to God should be the easiest thing we do in life!

The Bible says, "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom.8:8,9). If you do not have Jesus living in you, turn to Him today. Call upon His Name, and believe that He bore your sin on the cross of Calvary. Receive Him as your Lord and Savior!

But if you do have Jesus living in you, please don't struggle to try to improve the flesh; just reckon it dead (Rom.6:11) and walk in the Spirit. You will see how easy and how joyful your relationship with God will be!

Sometimes it's not so easy to find Christians who choose to walk in the Spirit--I mean, those who will really take it seriously. We who belong to Jesus should absolutely be the most thankful people on the face of the earth; but, by our behavior, do we demonstrate that we are truly thankful? . . . Not if we are complaining! Was the percentage of thankful people so small that two--only two, Joshua and Caleb--out of the whole generation of Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt, were thankful? And only one out of the ten lepers whom Jesus healed (Luke 17:17)?

The Bible says to "do all things without murmurings" (Phil.2:14), and "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1Thess.5:18). It is an impossibility to be thankful and to complain at the same time. It is easy for us to be thankful if we think about how wonderful Jesus is and how good He has been to us by bearing all our sins on the cross of Calvary and giving us eternal life.

Living a thankful life is a way of showing love for God and for others. It's nice when people care enough to take my physical health into consideration by not smoking around me; but, when someone refrains from doing something around me that would harm my spiritual life, like complaining . . . now, that is a demonstration of love!

If you have chosen to walk in the Spirit, that is, to live in your new creation . . . if you are one of the thankful ones, I really appreciate you; and I want to say this to you right now, and I mean it with all my heart: THANKS . . . FOR NOT COMPLAINING!