"If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." Romans 12:18, ESV
This one is difficult to carry out, there are many people we know that need a slap in the head. Yet, we are told to live in peace with all. How do we reconcile God's demands and our human instincts?
Look at what Paul says here, "as far as it depends on you." It is up to you to live at peace with one another. You cannot depend on the other person to change, you must change.
You are the one who has to forgive and forget. Do not wait on the other person. When it comes to hurts we need to drop them. When it comes to stumblings, get up and move on.
Paul goes on to say in verse 20: "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head."
Ever been nice to someone that is mean to you? It really messes with them. It's fun and it frees you from any pain associated with their hate. Try it sometime.
You cannot control how another person reacts or what that person will or will not do. You can only control yourself. Prayer is a mighty key here. You must be in prayer to have patience, peace, understanding, self-control, etc.
Live at peace, as far as it depends on you, not them. You must worry and control yourself. Do not expect others to apologize, you are the one to seek forgiveness. Be kind and treat all with respect and love.
We are all sinners fallen short of God's glory, some of us are redeemed. Some are vessels set aside for destruction, but we still have to love no matter what they do to us. Live at peace.
23 April 2013
16 April 2013
Our Comforter
We are unfortunately and inextricably reminded that we live in a fallen world. A world where a joyous occasion has people constantly looking over their shoulders. A world where we are shocked but not shocked at the news of atrocious and cowardly acts of violence.
This is the state of our world now. The past two Sundays I have spoken about comfort in the form of the Holy Spirit comforting us in our struggles and comfort in knowing that Christ will return and take his throne; at that point there will be no more death, pain, mourning, tears. There will be nothing to remind us of our fallen world.
That is a wonderful comfort and hope that one day this tragic, fallen world will be destroyed in the wrath of God by fire and those that do such unspeakable evil will be thrown in the lake of fire.
I was perusing Isaiah in light of the Boston tragedy and I found this verse in chapter 51. "I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass?" Isaiah 51:12
We seek comfort from one another but our true comfort is in The Lord. In this verse God is speaking to those "who pursue righteousness, you who seek The Lord." (51:1) I wish I could tell you that is where the chapter ended, but it doesn't.
Starting in verse 17 to the end of the chapter, The Lord speaks to the unrighteous and asks the questions, "who will console you? ... Who will comfort you?" The Lord prepares a place for his people and a place for those who are not his. He gives the unrighteous a cup full of his wrath to drink, and he asks them where their comfort lies.
To us there is no problem, our comfort and our help is in The Lord. To the others we can tell them about our great hope because they may not have our comfort. In times like this our job is to come alongside those that are hurting and love on them.
Our job is to give comfort to those that need it most. We are to love the unloved. We are to touch lives, hearts, and souls with the comfort we have, so that one day we might see the fruits of our labor worshipping the One, True God in glory
This is the state of our world now. The past two Sundays I have spoken about comfort in the form of the Holy Spirit comforting us in our struggles and comfort in knowing that Christ will return and take his throne; at that point there will be no more death, pain, mourning, tears. There will be nothing to remind us of our fallen world.
That is a wonderful comfort and hope that one day this tragic, fallen world will be destroyed in the wrath of God by fire and those that do such unspeakable evil will be thrown in the lake of fire.
I was perusing Isaiah in light of the Boston tragedy and I found this verse in chapter 51. "I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass?" Isaiah 51:12
We seek comfort from one another but our true comfort is in The Lord. In this verse God is speaking to those "who pursue righteousness, you who seek The Lord." (51:1) I wish I could tell you that is where the chapter ended, but it doesn't.
Starting in verse 17 to the end of the chapter, The Lord speaks to the unrighteous and asks the questions, "who will console you? ... Who will comfort you?" The Lord prepares a place for his people and a place for those who are not his. He gives the unrighteous a cup full of his wrath to drink, and he asks them where their comfort lies.
To us there is no problem, our comfort and our help is in The Lord. To the others we can tell them about our great hope because they may not have our comfort. In times like this our job is to come alongside those that are hurting and love on them.
Our job is to give comfort to those that need it most. We are to love the unloved. We are to touch lives, hearts, and souls with the comfort we have, so that one day we might see the fruits of our labor worshipping the One, True God in glory
04 April 2013
The Struggle
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Psalm 22:2
One of the big problems we struggle with as Christians is our struggling. We think it's silly to question God. We think it might mean we are not the Christians we think we are.
Here's the thing, we all struggle and we all question God. There is nothing wrong with this. It is through our struggles that we become stronger. We become better. We become more like Christ.
Before a butterfly is a butterfly it is first a caterpillar. The caterpillar grows and eventually creates a cocoon around itself. A couple of weeks later it begins to emerge by breaking through the cocoon with some force and struggling to set itself free. When it is finally free it is beautiful and strong. It is able to make its migratory trek.
If you happened by and saw the caterpillar struggle to be free and cut open the cocoon in an attempt to be merciful the butterfly would be weak. The wings would not be fully developed and it would die in a matter of days. Why?
The struggle of the butterfly to be free is what gives it strength. The struggle helps to fully develop the butterfly's wings. It is the same with us humans.
If we do not go through the struggle how will we ever know how to be stronger the next time. If we do not wrestle with The Lord and question his goodness, how will we ever learn to fully trust him. We ask the questions, "Why," "How long," and "Where were you."
It is by our finiteness grappling with the infinite that we grow. It is OK to question God, sometimes he is silent because he is waiting on us to give it all over to Him. Sometimes there is silence because God wants us to be obedient and faithful while we are rebellious.
We sometimes struggle because life isn't what we expected or want it to be. We are called to be obedient not successful and famous.
Remember what the apostle James said, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4
May you be encouraged to persevere in the valley so you can later have the strength to ascend the mountain.
One of the big problems we struggle with as Christians is our struggling. We think it's silly to question God. We think it might mean we are not the Christians we think we are.
Here's the thing, we all struggle and we all question God. There is nothing wrong with this. It is through our struggles that we become stronger. We become better. We become more like Christ.
Before a butterfly is a butterfly it is first a caterpillar. The caterpillar grows and eventually creates a cocoon around itself. A couple of weeks later it begins to emerge by breaking through the cocoon with some force and struggling to set itself free. When it is finally free it is beautiful and strong. It is able to make its migratory trek.
If you happened by and saw the caterpillar struggle to be free and cut open the cocoon in an attempt to be merciful the butterfly would be weak. The wings would not be fully developed and it would die in a matter of days. Why?
The struggle of the butterfly to be free is what gives it strength. The struggle helps to fully develop the butterfly's wings. It is the same with us humans.
If we do not go through the struggle how will we ever know how to be stronger the next time. If we do not wrestle with The Lord and question his goodness, how will we ever learn to fully trust him. We ask the questions, "Why," "How long," and "Where were you."
It is by our finiteness grappling with the infinite that we grow. It is OK to question God, sometimes he is silent because he is waiting on us to give it all over to Him. Sometimes there is silence because God wants us to be obedient and faithful while we are rebellious.
We sometimes struggle because life isn't what we expected or want it to be. We are called to be obedient not successful and famous.
Remember what the apostle James said, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4
May you be encouraged to persevere in the valley so you can later have the strength to ascend the mountain.
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