What the Bible teaches about building relationships?

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What the Bible teaches about building relationships?

Relationships are very important

The Bible gives much attention to our relationships. Relationships must be very important to us. Good relationships are difficult to form, more difficult to maintain, and very easy to destroy.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth: ‘And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ… for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?’ (1 Cor. 3:1, 3) It is interesting to know that the Apostle Paul dealt with several theological problems in the church, but he also dealt a lot with people problems, the relationships among Christians. His Epistles are usually divided in two parts: doctrinal and ethical, which usually means, how we relate to God and how we relate to other people. Solving relationship problems took much of the Apostle’s time and energy.

How can we build good relationships in the team we belong to?

The Bible often emphasizes prayer when speaking about building relationships. The Apostle Paul sets the example: ‘And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment.’ (Phil. 1:9). When we study the Epistle to the Philippians we see that the Apostle prayed that they would pursue five essentials: love, excellence, integrity, good works, and the glory of God.

God made us social creatures

We are made as social creatures. At the time of creation, God said it was not good for human beings to be alone. ‘And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.’ (Gen. 2:18). God gave Adam a companion. God instructed the first people to multiply. God permitted us to expand into the billions of people who now live on earth. Social challenges cannot therefore be neglected.

Whenever two or more people get together, we need to think about personal relationships. Sometimes these relationships are good, kind and characterized by clear communication. However, sometimes these relationships are tense and marked by clashes. How can we get along with each other? How we communicate must be of vital concern to all of us especially when we work with people.

The example of the Lord Jesus

‘And Jesus increased and, and in favour with God and.’ (Luke 2:52).

How did the Lord Jesus grow?

(1) Intellectually: ‘in wisdom,’

(2) Physically: ‘in stature,’

(3) Spiritually: ‘in favour with God,’ and

(4) Socially: ‘in favour with man.’

The Lord Jesus grew and matured like any other person. We cannot fully understand this, but we know that we need to grow the same way, in four directions and this includes in our relationships.

Dr. Czeslaw Bassara ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; www.proword.eu)

We will not fear

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We will not fear

‘Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be…’ (Psalm 46:2)

This world is changing rapidly. This world is so different from the world of our childhood. This world has changed a lot from the times of the sons of Korah, whom God used to write down Psalm 46. This world is different from the time when the Lord Jesus walked on the roads of Galilean and Judean towns and villages. This world is different from the time of the Apostle Paul’s missionary journeys described in the Acts of the Apostles. This world is different from the time of the sixteen century’s Reformation in Europe. This world is different in this generation compared to all others generations until now! This generation of emptiness needs real peace and fulfillment.

Strong donkey

How would you feel if you were told that you reminded someone of a donkey? That’s actually what happened to a son of Jacob. His name was Issachar. The name actually means, ‘he will bring a reward,’ but his father, when blessing his sons, said, ‘Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.’ (Gen. 49:14-15)

A scarlet worm

After the time of Abimelech a man of Issachar, Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim. (Judges 10:1) ‘Tola’ means a scarlet worm. Two men in the Bible had this name: the eldest son of Issachar (Gen. 46:13) and a judge of the tribe of Issachar who judged Israel twenty-three years.

They understood the times in which they lived

And the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do, their chiefs were two hundred. (1 Chron. 12:32) The sons of Issachar were those that knew which season it was. They understood the times in which they were living.

What is more important than understanding our times?

Before we can be a blessing in our times and possibly change the world we live in we have to understand the One who is the Master of time, God Himself and His methodology of changing the world.

1. Understanding God (He does not change).

2. Understanding the Gospel of God (it does not change).

3. Understanding the times (they are changing constantly) when the Gospel of God is changing the world.

We live in a changing world, but the Gospel of God remains the only unchanged power of God that is able to change the world the way God wants.

We will not fear the changes of the world, because:

God is in control!

God has a specific plan and purpose for this world.  (Job 23:13; Eph. 1:8-12)

- God is always in control of all things and is constantly at work accomplishing His plan.  (Hab. 1:1-11; Isa. 10:5-6)

- God controls and uses everything and everyone, even the devil, in working out His plan. (Isa. 10-7-11; Psalm 76-10)

The Gospel of God has the power to change the world!

Christians are part of God’s program in changing this world! God wants to use His ‘donkeys’ and His ‘scarlet worms’ to change this world with the power of the Gospel! The judge Tola from the Book of Judges brought peace to the land for 23 years!

The Gospel of God is the only way of bringing peace to the world in all times, even in our postmodern times!

We are like the sons of Issachar, ‘donkeys’ and ‘scarlet worms’ bringing the Gospel of peace to the world! When Bildad in the Book of Job refers to man as a worm (Job 25:6), he is specific. At least a beast has some understanding, but a worm?

It is better to be ‘God’s donkeys’ and ‘God’s scarlet worms’ and bring peace and joy to the world than be kings, presidents and rulers of this world, which bring war and sadness to the world!

We need to understand God Himself, God’s methodology and God’s times! Without knowing God, without knowing His methodology and without understanding the times in which we live, we can do a lot of things but we cannot change this world for the better!

God wants to use His children for His glory!

God does not want us to fear!

We have no reason to fear!

We have the privilege of being God’s instruments!

This world can be changed through ‘God’s donkeys’ and ‘God’s scarlet worms.’ God uses donkeys and worms today, by His wonderful grace! The problem is that sometimes we are not ready to be His donkeys and His worms. It was a donkey that brought the Lord Jesus, the prince of peace, to Jerusalem. We are to be donkeys that bring the message of the Lord Jesus to the world. This message changes the world!

Dr. Czeslaw Bassara ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; www.proword.eu)

Turning the world upside down for the Lord Jesus

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Turning the world upside down for the Lord Jesus

Acts 1:8

The Book of Acts of the Apostles shows us how the early church impacted the world turning it upside down for the Lord Jesus.

The Book of Acts shows how Christians of today can change their world for the Lord Jesus.

1. Take His message to the world (1:8)

‘Witnesses’ - martyrs (martyr: witness, testimony)

a. Jerusalem (Acts 1-7, 22-23).
b. Judea (Acts 8-12).

c. Samaria (Acts 8-12).
d. The ends of the earth (13, 14, 16-20, 24-28).

The Lord Jesus was telling His disciples what to do; He was giving them the strategy.

2. Strategy for missions from Acts 1:8

- How do we take this same strategy and apply it to ourselves?
- We cannot just consider ourselves.
- We cannot just consider our country.
- We cannot just consider a foreign mission.
- We must consider all of them.
- Our strategy has to be focused on all areas.

3. From where should we expect opposition?

a. The Sanhedrin (Acts 4:18; 5:17, 33, 40).
b. The religious leaders (Acts, chapters: 7, 8, 15 & 18).
c. The political leaders (Acts, chapters: 12, 16, 17, 19, 24 & 27).

4. Great fruits due to perseverance

a. The Lord added (Acts 2:41.47; 4:4, 5:14).
b. Great number of people became believers (Acts 8:12; 9:31, chapter 10).
c. Gentiles believed (Acts, chapters: 13, 14, 16-20).

If we want to know how to turn the world upside down for the Lord Jesus, we need to read the book of Acts. And do likewise!

Dr. Czeslaw Bassara (
 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 ; www.proword.eu)

The believer’s life as a reflection of the Trinity

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The believer’s life as a reflection of the Trinity

Family-in-unity

Since God is the unique Family-in-unity, so believers are encouraged by the Lord Jesus and by the Apostles to reflect the Divine Family in believing fellowship, as the Lord Jesus taught plainly when He washed the feet of His disciples: ‘If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.’ (John 13:14–15).

Speaking the truth in love

The main characteristic of the Triune Family is speaking the truth in love. This encourages sympathy among Christians as they reflect the Divine Family. The Apostle Paul wrote from a sense of the Triune Family in the Epistle to the Galatians, speaking often of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Gal. 3:13-14; 4:6; 5:5-6, 22-24). In the Epistle to the Romans he used a threefold, Trinitarian outline to show the plan of salvation.

The doctrine of the Trinity as a foundation for personal relationships

It is true that the term ‘Trinity’ is not found in the Bible. It was first used by Tertullian in the end of the second century, and received broad approval in the 4th and 5th centuries. Three statements are fundamental to the historic doctrine of the Trinity:

1. There is but one God;

2. The Father, the Son and the Spirit is each fully and eternally God;

3. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit is each a distinct Person.

Nowhere does the Bible openly teach this combination of statements. It may, however, be claimed that the doctrine of the Trinity is a proper explanation of the biblical testimony of God in the light of the ministry, death, resurrection and exaltation of the Lord Jesus. Trinity means that within the being and activity of the one God there are three separate Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The ‘Trinitarian formula’ is expressed in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19) and in the benediction of 2 Cor. ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.’ (2 Cor. 13:14).

The threefold expression of grace, love, and communion

The Apostle Paul not only invoked the fullness of God’s provision on behalf of the Corinthian believers, but also in passing, brought one of the clearest expositions in the New Testament on the doctrine of the Trinity. The deity of the Son, Father, and Holy Spirit are confirmed by presenting their relation one to another. The characteristic personality of each is shown by the independent activity indicated in the threefold expression of grace, love, and communion.

No self-centeredness

At the end of his Epistle, the Apostle Paul identified the answer to many of the Corinthians’ troubles. The Holy Spirit, who dwelled in each of them, should give them power to live righteously. In addition the Spirit should reconcile them to each other. They should love and encourage each other instead of combating one against each other (1 Cor. 12:20). They needed God’s grace, not self-centeredness; God’s love, not antagonisms; and communion, not disagreements.

Dr. Czeslaw Bassara ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; www.proword.eu)

Surprises in the life of faith

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Surprises in the life of faith

Habakkuk 1:1-5

Habakkuk is a book of surprises!

Life is full of surprises. Some of them are good, some are bad. Walking with God is a life of surprises.

1. Habakkuk’s name (name was a part of identity)

Hebrew: Habakkuk – ‘to embrace,’ points out closeness to God.

Assyrian: Hambakuku: Assyrian plant, probably ‘cucumber’, which shows an influence of the Assyrian, pagan culture.

God deals with names. In the Bible we have 41 genealogies and they show that names are important for God. Sometimes God changed names.

The reference in 1:1 to Habakkuk as ‘the prophet’ may imply that he was well known.

He is a true prophet with a burning zeal for the glory of the Lord. His ‘burden’ or ‘oracle’ (1:1) is remarkable in that it is not, in the first place, a word directed to the people, but an answer to his own painful questions.

2. Time of Habakkuk

Objective evidence for dating Habakkuk’s prophetic activity is provided by 1:6. The reference to the Chaldeans, or Neo-Babylonians, as the threatening new world power indicates a period after the collapse of the Assyrian Empire (612–605 b.c.) but before the Chaldean armies of Nebuchadnezzar II captured Jerusalem and deported the young king Jehoiachin to Babylon in 597 b.c. (2 Kings 24:8–17). Habakkuk apparently ministered during Jehoiakim’s reign (609–598 b.c.) and was a younger contemporary of Jeremiah.

An important event during this period was the battle of Carchemish in 605 b.c., when Pharaoh Necho II and his Egyptian army, who had come to assist the Assyrians against Babylon, were soundly defeated by Nebuchadnezzar II. Soon afterward, Judah also, like the other previously independent kingdoms of Syro-Palestine, became subject to the powerful Neo-Babylonians. Habakkuk’s inspired vision therefore may be dated to the period between 605 and 600 b.c. when the Babylonians became the dominant force on the international scene, mercilessly sweeping aside all opposition (1:5–17).

This time of international threat coincided with a period of increasing moral and spiritual deterioration in Judah. The evil reign of Jehoiakim formed a sad contrast to that of his father, the good king Josiah (Jer. 22:13–19; 26:20–23). Josiah had instituted spiritual reforms in Judah (2 Kings 22:23). He abolished the idolatrous practices of his father Amon (2 Kings 21:20-22) and his grandfather Manasseh (2 Kin. 21:11-13).As they flouted the covenant laws, the people of Judah increasingly lost their unique character (1:2–4).

Habakkuk questions God’s silence and apparent lack of punishment (Hab. 1:1-2) to purge His people, but the sovereign God was still on His throne.

3. Habakkuk’s ministry – dialogue with God

Prophets were not only inspired preachers of divine messages to the people of God; they also shared the Lord’s burden for His broken world and His profound worry for His people. In this respect, Habakkuk very much resembles Jeremiah. However, even more so than with Jeremiah, Habakkuk’s dialogue with God and his continual prayers (2:1-2; 3:2, 16) take the place of prophetic preaching as the heart of the message.

Habakkuk, a man with a very strong passion for the honour of God (1:12; 3:3), experienced a deep spiritual crisis because of the Lord’s seeming lack of interest to the terrible spiritual situation of His people (1:2–4). The absence of covenant life and obedience was dangerous to the people of God, but even more it was a refusal of the covenant with the Lord and an affront to Him. Since only Divine involvement could change this deadly situation, Habakkuk was determined in his request to the heavenly Judge, even when it seemed to be hopeless (1:2).

In response, the Lord revealed that the Chaldeans now appearing on the picture of history (1:6) would be His instruments of judgment. This treatment seemed even worse than the illness and only added to the prophet’s pain (1:12–17). How could the holy God, who cannot endure wrong (1:13), make use of such wicked people to fulfill His purposes? God’s reply, that He was sending the Chaldeans to judge Judah (1:5-11), creates an even greater theological dilemma for Habakkuk. Why did not God cleanse His people and reinstate their righteousness.

Certain that the events of history were not determined by blind chance but by the righteous and holy God of Israel, Habakkuk waited on the Lord until he received an answer to his hurting questions (2:1). The Lord’s reply came in the vision introduced in 2:2, 3, which provides a correct perspective on history and gives the Divine guarantee about its outcome. This answer does not resolve all the painful questions, but it does instruct God’s people about the way of covenant life in the here and now (2:3, 4). That way is to persevere in hope, waiting with confidence for the fulfillment of the Lord’s unfailing promise. Although God’s ways may be not understood, His purposes are consistent. They culminate in real life for the faithful, but woe and death for the self-sufficient and arrogant (2:4). The Lord’s presence in His temple affirms His Lordship over history and assures us that in the end, His genuine claim to the whole world will be universally recognized (2:14, 20; Is. 45:21–25; 1 Cor. 15:24–28).

The revelation of the Lord’s sovereignty over history transforms Habakkuk’s objection into a hymn of joy (3:2–20). Instead of passively waiting for Divine intervention, he now prayed positively that the Lord would act in harmony with the deeds and qualities He displayed in the Exodus and at Sinai. Anticipating the future, Habakkuk in his prayer celebrates the Lord’s coming (3:3–7), His judgment against nature and the nations (3:8–12), and His triumph over all opposition (3:13–15). From this perspective of faith, even the threat of severe calamity could not stop Habakkuk’s overwhelming joy in expectation of the coming salvation, a salvation guaranteed by the Lord’s faithfulness to Himself and to His revelation (3:17–19).

Dr. Czeslaw Bassara ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; www.proword.eu)