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We must not be proud or irritate one another or be jealous of one another. Galatians 5:26 (GNT)
I have a friend who seems to find great fulfillment in annoying people. He’d never admit it, of course, but it’s almost as if he considers irritating others a spiritual gift of some sort! He would often boast to me about how he cornered people who had differing views politically, theologically or socially. He was a well-versed and well-studied man in both the scriptures and the political scene so his arguments were hard to dispute and his persistence was relentless.
While I agreed with many of his arguments, his tactics bothered me. There was one time in which he actually boasted to me about how he’d offended the people in a particular political party booth. Not surprisingly, my friend had few close friends although he was well known in many circles.
When Paul is writing to the Galatians he is writing to a group of people who were well-versed in doctrine. However, they had taken their knowledge and used it as a platform to let everyone know how ‘right they were’ and had no patience or time for anyone who differed with them theologically or doctrinally. His message to the believers is to refrain from using their knowledge of scripture as a tool to irritate and antagonize those who believed and lived differently than they did.
The key to peace with God is relationship, a relationship built on Jesus Christ. The key to peace with ourselves is confidence in and acceptance of who we are, or, again relationship with ourselves. The key to peace with others is, you guessed it, relationship. To have a strong relationship with others means we are more intent on building peace than arguments.
When we are honest with ourselves we have to admit that most of the conflict we have with other people is the result of our trying to be ‘better’ than someone else either in what we believe or what we do. Jesus, as creator God never used his superior knowledge to antagonize those who needed forgiveness. In the same way, we are called to spread the good news, not adversity. As believers in Jesus Christ we are commissioned to build up not tear down. To live in peace and unity, not antagonize.
Paul admonishes us to ‘live at peace with others when at all possible.’ Don’t be the reason for the strife in your relationships. Hold others in higher esteem than you hold yourself. Living at peace with yourself is the first step to living at peace with others.
There is no place in the Christian life for us to ridicule others, or mock them for their beliefs. People have a right to be wrong and to be valued in spite of their beliefs. We don’t need to agree with others to live at peace with them.
PRAYER: Lord I thank you for who I am. Forgive me for those times when I compare myself and what I have to others. Empower me to live at peace with myself and what you have given me so that I can live at peace with those around me. Amen.
In the same way you younger people must submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you must put on the apron of humility, to serve one another; for the scripture says, God resists the proud, but shows favor to the humble. 1 Peter 5:5 (GNT)
The story went largely unnoticed. A little boy disappears and for two years no one seemed to notice he was gone. No school inquiries. No social service visits. No neighbors or friends wondering aloud what happened to ‘Johnny’. Not even a mention from the sister. Johnny’s body was discovered two years later.
Horrendous! Unthinkable! To be sure. But, although this is an extreme case, similar things happen all the time. They don’t find these bodies though because they are still up and walking around. They don’t see the wounds because skin still covers them.
‘They’ are the single girl that’s the topic of discussion at the office water cooler. You know the one. She’s the one who’s pregnant…again. No one knows who the father is to this child. Although she is friendly and polite, she hears the whispers. She feels the glares. Wounded and bleeding on the inside, she goes about her tasks, seemingly oblivious to the pain.
‘They’ are the kids on the street corner. You know the ones. Skateboards in hand and jeans at their ankles, they seem unaffected by your stares and unresponsive to your opinion of their dress and their leisure activities.
‘They’ turn up everywhere. They are in every crowd, yet all alone. They are looking for something to hold onto. Something within themselves that tells them they are okay, that reminds them they are worth being loved. They’ve shunned the religious rules and regulations. They’ve found no peace there, no acceptance, no understanding.
For many, too many, they never find it. Never find that someone who assures them that in spite of the baggage they are okay; that regardless of the poor choices they make there is someone who loves them enough to die for them. No judgment. No pre-requisites. No expiration date.
The Apostle Peter remembers the day he felt like that. The day he’d failed miserably and left his best friend alone to die. He remembers, just hours before Jesus’ death the apron he wore to wash Peter’s feet.
Now, he asks us. Will you wear the apron? Will you show others the great love Jesus’ has for you by wearing the apron to serve, accept and love those who others see right through? They are alone and unnoticed; wounded and afraid; ashamed and embarrassed. They are the ones Jesus sent us to find.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, you sought me out when I was unlovely. You accepted me when I rejected you. You forgave me when I willfully rebelled against you. Empower me with your Spirit to show others the same humble spirit you showed to me. Help me to wear the apron of humility around those who, while in the crowd, feel completely alone. Amen.
We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 1 John 5:20 (NIV)
Take a moment to sit back and contemplate what this means: God loves you.
Before you think I’ve totally lost it, take some more time and ponder what this really means.
If you believe God to be Jehovah God, the creator/sustainer of the universe, the one who put all this together, every seen and unseen thing around us. If you believe this God to be the one who steers the hurricanes, rattles the earth during an earthquake, and directs all of nature in its course. Remember. God loves you.
It’s really too huge to wrap your mind around it in some ways. I am so insignificant. My influence on this world will be a in a tiny little corner of the world and for only a few years when compared to eternity. I’m nothing more than a speck on the timeline of eternity! Yet God loves me!
The phrase translated, “And we are in him’ eludes us if we aren’t careful. ‘We are in him.’ To be in him describes the most intimate of relationships. We’ve cheapened that word intimacy to refer to a physical, sexual encounter but it’s so much more than that.
Intimacy speaks of those relationships where we know exactly what the other is thinking. We know their next move; we anticipate correctly their response to a question, a joke, a life event. We laugh with them; we cry with them…we laugh at our crying over silly movies!
How can I, a mere speck, know God so well that I know his thoughts intimately? There is only one way this miracle could happen happen. He had to desire me, long before I could desire him. He had to want to know me so well that he was willing to go to any length to reach me.
That’s where Jesus comes in. A personal, deepening relationship with Jesus Christ allows us to join together in a most intimate of relationships. Jehovah God WANTS to love me. He WANTS to know me. He WANTS to reveal himself to me through his Spirit, nature and his Word. But it all starts with Jesus.
Perhaps I haven’t told you anything new today. You already knew all this? Then take some time to remind yourself of his love and to remind him how thankful you are.
On the other hand, perhaps you are enslaved by fear of the future, frustrations of the present or shadows of your past. For you, ask him to reveal himself through his son Jesus. Jehovah God has been looking for an opportunity to show you his love.
PRAYER: Father, I get busy with my writing. I get busy with family, church, my career and all the good things in life. But sometimes I get so caught up in the good I miss the excellent. Thank you for loving me passionately. Empower me through your Spirit, because of Jesus, to understand you more. Amen.
The king rejoices in your strength, Lord. How great is his joy in the victories you give! Psalm 21:1 (NIV)
Effective leadership is leadership that acknowledges their success is the result of God’s power and strength and not their own.
As I write this post we are in the midst of Memorial Day weekend. Memorial Day was established in 1868 to remember those who had fallen in one of the darkest times ofUShistory, the Civil War. During this time brothers fought against brothers; fathers against sons.
The meaning of this day has lost its impact as we’ve focused more on the beginning of summer, trips to the cabin, picnics and other celebrations. But let us not forget those who died so that we could celebrate freedom in a variety of ways.
Another aspect of our freedom that has become lost over the years is that many of the movements and battles we have fought over the years had moral implications. We went to war not because we enjoyed the fight, but we saw a need to protect the freedom of people groups on our home soil or abroad. Regardless of your political views, this fact can not be denied.
The foundation of theUSAwas laid by men and women who realized the importance of Gods blessing in our endeavors. ‘God BlessAmerica’ was more than a rousing song, it was a life style. It was the motivation for all we did. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and many other presidents and leaders of this country openly testified to the fact that it was by God’s strength, not mans that victory was to be had. It was by God’s working in the lives his people that true joy would come.
True leadership, effective leadership isn’t the result of political programs, electoral colleges or catering to special interest groups. True leadership comes when the Creator God of the Universe is acknowledged as the supreme commander-in-chief. Effective leadership comes when Jesus Christ is acknowledged as the underlying reason to move on.
We don’t need more leaders who rely on their own expertise and ability to bring the crowds to their knees. We need more leaders who fall to their knees themselves in humble adoration to the one who brings ultimate victory.
God BlessAmerica. God Bless those who have given the ultimate sacrifice so we can be free. As King David declares, We rejoice in the strength we receive from the King of Kings, Jehovah God.
PRAYER: Lord I thank you this morning for freedom. Not just the political freedom you have granted us by your own hand, but the spiritual freedom we have in Christ Jesus. I pray that our leadership would bow their knees before you in acknowledgement of your greatness. Amen.
The Lord corrects the people he loves and disciplines those he calls his own.” Hebrews 12:6 (CEV)
Say the word ‘discipline’ and the picture most of us have conjured up in our minds is a child sitting in the corner or being spanked or some other painful situation. ‘Discipline’ and ‘punishment’ are often considered to be the same thing even though they are really quite different.
Punishment is backward looking. If I get a speeding ticket, it’s not offered to me because I may speed tomorrow, it’s given to me because I wasn’t paying close enough attention to my speed in the past several miles. Punishment is intended to cause pain either physically, financially or emotionally.
Discipline, on the other hand, is forward looking. A championship runner is considered disciplined because he/she forces themselves to run every day and push themselves to better themselves every time they step out of the house.
Discipline and punishment have on thing in common. Both are painful. Both are intended to make you ‘better’ but the attitude behind each is tremendously different. Punishment comes without relationship. Discipline almost always comes as a result of relationship. I discipline my children by teaching them standards, principles and skills that will prepare them for life in the future. Why? Because I love them and I want more than anything for them to succeed.
Will the discipline be hard? Sometimes. Will there be pain? Yes, especially if they make choices that are contrary to the principles we’ve established. But that pain will come as a result of the consequences of their behavior, not as a result of my anger.
Discipline, while painful, is necessary if we are going to succeed on the path our journey takes us on. Frank A. Clark states, “If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.”
God, as our loving Heavenly Father, wants nothing more than for us to feel fulfilled in life. Many people see his rules as restrictive, out of touch or even painful. Some focus on the ‘punishment of God’ and refer to it as God’s punishment when, in reality it’s simply the consequences of behavior God warns us against.
If you passionately love someone you will do everything in your power to prepare them for life ahead. You’ll tell them the things to avoid. You’ll warn them of the consequences of certain behaviors. You’ll tell them of the dangers associated with certain places. Why? Because you love them. As one writer states, “discipline is administered by a loving forward looking parent with an eye on helping the child become all that they can become.” Your Heavenly Father feels this way about you.
Don’t mistake the consequences of your choices as God’s punishment. Listen to his direction and realize they are only for your good. Remember that even while enduring the consequences he offers hope, forgiveness and strength to carry on.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for loving me enough to discipline me even though at times it’s painful. Give me wisdom and courage to follow your way. Amen
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 