| A Message "How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:103 -105 |
Working Things Out Well, I really didn't think that I had it in me to write another message but God makes a way when there is no way. It's a bit of a touchy subject so bare with me. I have encountered a practice in the Christian realm that I find distasteful, both in others and myself. I will admit that I have done it myself and now that I have seen it, I will try not to because it is a very ugly thing. Since when are we able to pass "holy Christian" judgment on one another? When were we given the right to gauge where someone should be in their walk? *Isn't Jesus working things out in us everyday and continuing until He returns or we die, whichever comes first? I realize that we can be overcome by a besetting sin, an ongoing thing that needs to be given up. There are also instances when even as Christians, we walk away. We go back into sin willingly and defiantly. Does this mean that we just give up on that person? We should shun them and treat them like a germ? I encountered this recently. Not from one person but two. Both of them had the same reaction regarding a former pastor's wife, who after several years of marriage, left, divorced and "went back into the world." The only thing that was spoken of was the husband who was so broken up and low over the situation. After the initial shock wore off I said, "What about so and so." "Oh, she's back in the world," was the only response. We all loved this woman. For me, she ushered me into my first instances of true praise as a baby Christian. Aren't we as Christians supposed to be imitators of Jesus? Isn't He the shepherd who left a whole flock to go and get that one lost sheep? Why is it that we give up on our loved ones? Friends that we have ministered, cried and prayed with. We don't have to party with them or anything like that, but if we care about these people, why can't we be a little Jesus in their lives? We don't have to let them rub off on us but we can affect them if only as a reminder of what they walked away from. My husband and I recently encountered the same problem in ourselves. We had a well known bodybuilder pictured on the site who has been born-again but we weren't quiet sure where he was with the Lord. After a bit of searching on the net, we decided to just let it go. I don't know where he is or what he is doing and it doesn't really matter. All that matters is that he is working things out with God. I pray for God's will in his life. I don't say that with a sanctimonious tone but as someone who has fallen short, done stuff that is less than exemplary hoping in my heart that he is on the right path and doing well and not in a place of discomfort. I remember a few years back, walking up to a group of my friends after service and just catching the last statement of a conversation. "Yeah, Christians are the only army who kill their wounded." Dead silence followed. The silent moment for me was a mental montage of all the times I have been wounded and down and been skewered by other Christians. It's just pain on top of pain. How was I wounded? Maybe I was looking the other way, not seeing that big guy with the sword coming my way. At that moment, you aren't really thinking about how, but more along the lines of, "Hey buddy, can you call medic?" I need a little assistance, a little care so that I am not lying on the ground here on the middle of this battlefield. At least have the decency to drag me to the sidelines before you kick me to death with your words. Healing comes and you buck yourself up and go back to church and what comes next? Space. A huge impenetrable space surrounding you keeping others away like you have a serious contagious disease. Time past, a straying friend of mine agreed to go back to church with me but only after many long hours of pleading and bargaining. We walked in and I expected everyone who had asked, "How are they doing?" to come over and say, "glad to see you back." But that wasn't what happened. Instead, they avoided eye contact or worse, stared making her feel like 115 lbs. of sin on a stick. I kicked myself for a week thinking, "I was the one who dragged her back there." When we finally talked about it, acknowledged that it happened, it came to me. I felt like God was saying, "She's not going for them, she's going for Me." That's what it is. It's between her and God. She hears His words of healing, teaching and love. We, who are on the outside, are not privy to that conversation and don't know what is going on. We should minister not beat down and interfere with that work. We should love and encourage pushing them on to recover and overcome. And please, stowe the plastic smile in a drawer, that doesn't help either. Mean it or don't. **Does it not say is scripture that love covers a multitude of sin? ***Isn't the greatest gift above all others love? We can show love for one another without loving their sin. We all have areas of sin. We are all being worked on by our Father. I am not concluding this but asking for your comments. if you are one of those people that have been hurt, don't let it get you down. There is no condemnation. Mistakes are made and you move on, do better. If you are one of those who has hurt, say your sorry. Write a letter or email, post it on a page. Let someone know you are better than you have acted in the past. Val *Philippians 1 1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God. **1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ***1 Corinthians 13 1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. |