Running the Race
August 18, 2022
Running the Race
Hebrews 12:1
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
The race is not to the swift and few, it is to the faithful and true. The race of life is not a sprint, it is a marathon. It is ran over the course of a lifetime, over all manner of terrain, weather, and obstacles. It is a race in which there may be times we grow weary and we want to give up, quit and just be like everyone else. Somewhere, down in the depths of our soul, there is a strength, a power and a voice that urges us on. It is that Spirit of Christ within us that compels us to keep running the race even when we are in agony and pain. There may even be those times when we fall hard and everything around is screaming, “the race is over, you’ve failed, you can’t win now.” Yet, there is the voice and Spirit of God’s grace that compels us on. It reminds us that His grace is sufficent and that His blood has covered our failures and shortcomings. When others have judged us and found us flawed; even when others have disqualified us in their condemnations, the Spirit of the Lord is able to raise us up. He is able to put us back on our feet and tells us keep on running. The ones who really lose the race are the one’s who quit, drop out or become the antagonists to those who are still running.
We know that this race is our life of faith in Christ Jesus. The one who is able to run the fastest is the one who is unencumbered. All he may have is his running shoes, shorts and shirt. So many of us have not quit the race, but we’ve picked up all this baggage along the way that has so weighed and slowed us down. All of these encumbrances are the cares and distractions that take our eyes and attention off of the finish line and even the race itself. Often sin moves in like a fog, making it difficult for us to even see the course, let alone run on it. All the demands of work, family, maintaining a lifestyle, recreation and sports, mortgages and car payments cause us to lose our way and are like balls and chains around our ankles.
Hebrew 12:2-6 goes on to say, “2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” Hebrews 11 has just tutored us on what faith is, “the substance of the things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” It has encouraged us with example after example of saints who ran before us, not having yet received the promise, they pressed into it with a life of faith and obedience even unto death. Now we are told how we might persevere to win our race. It is in fixing our eyes upon Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. What we could never accomplish in ourselves, He is able to work within us as we hold fast our faith and confidence in Him and His strength. Is there going to be opposition, obstacles, resistance, hills to climb and rivers to ford? Yes. Are we going to be inclined to grow weary and lose heart in our struggle against sin? Yes. Yet in all that we endure, it does not compare with what Christ endured and overcame for us. He is the Hero of our faith, the Champion upon which we look and fashion our lives in the likeness of. He ran the course, He endured the gauntlet of temptation, ridicule, judgements, condemnation, persecution, affliction and finally death. Yet, He held true to the course. He ran the race with patience, and He ended it by saying, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Maybe it is time again for us to take an inventory of our lives and assess what kind of weights and sins we are trying to run with. Maybe we have become so burdened down that we have quit running. It is time for us to get rid of our baggage and our sin issues and get back into the race. You can never finish and win what you do not run. Remember this race is our destiny and its prize we will realize throughout our eternity. This is no small thing. This is the race of life and all our eternity is at stake. We cannot take it lightly and we cannot afford to drop out or give up. Summon all your faith, gird up your loins and continue to run with all of your heart and mind, soul and strength, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith.
Blessings,
#kent
The Goodness of God Leads to Repentance
June 28, 2022
The Goodness of God Leads us to Repentance
Romans 2:4b
“not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? “
We have said before that everything God does is birthed out of His Love. This little passage of scripture is a prime example. How many times we would like to take God’s role and pass judgements on others, especially when we don’t think that God is dealing with a situation or individual near soon enough. We can all get quite self- righteous, indignant and judgmental in our dealings with others. We can be pretty quick to throw rocks, but we forget that Jesus said, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” He is the only one without sin and the only rightful judge. What we often forget is that when we take God’s role of judging we become accountable and answerable to our own judgements. It works along the same principles as unforgiveness. When you can’t forgive others God can’t forgive you. There are spiritual principles that come into play.
When I look back over my own life how thankful I am that God wasn’t so quick to pass judgement on me. So many times, when I was faithless, He has remained faithful. It is His goodness, love, longsuffering and patience that draws me back to Him when I stray. Yes, He may discipline me, but not near to the degree of what I deserve. Yet, my heart can become broken and repentant as He returns to me good for my evil, when He loves me and I have been so unloving toward Him. Even when I am walking in righteousness and right relationship with my Lord, I am there in that place as a result of His grace working in me, so who am I to condemn another? The same sin, degradation and perversion that are in others have been in my heart also. It is only God’s grace at work in me that they aren’t having their destructive work in me at this time. We who are the weak and fallen creatures of God’s grace, who have been restored and reconciled back to a place of relationship with our heavenly Father should be the greatest intercessors, the most compassionate of the fallen, and having the greatest heart of the Father toward those who are lost or who’ve strayed from Christ. That is not to say that we compromise or condone sin, but our passion is to draw others out of sin through the Love and Grace of God that has and is working in our hearts. We do that with all humility and care that we ourselves be not again entangled again in the snare of sin.
Discernment and condemnation are two different forms of judgement. While we, as Christians, are to “discern evil” and lovingly, with all humility, help each other to avoid being entangled again in it, we are not to stand in the place of condemnation. The Church has an order by which it must sometimes judge individuals within the church, but even that is done with the guidance of the Word and the Spirit of the Lord.
Regard the Goodness of the Lord toward your life today. Are their ways you have become rebellious, disobedient, neglectful, compromised and are out of right relationship with the Lord? Isn’t it time we made our peace with such a good and wonderful God that receives us back when we come with a heart of repentance? His goodness and forgiveness are continually waiting and desiring to put their arms around us and welcome us back into a holy relationship with Him where our lives find the meaning and purpose for which we were created.
Blessings,
#kent
The Travail of Discipleship
April 25, 2022
The Travail of Discipleship
Galatians 4:19
My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,
Discipleship is a birthing process. It is a function that comes often with much pain and travail. Like childbirth it is often much too slow and arduous for our liking. Most of us, as Christians, love to see people get saved. It is exhilarating when God uses us to lead someone into the kingdom of God. What we fail to often realize is that this is like impregnating someone without the responsibility of seeing it through to the birthing. The Word of God is a life giving seed. Planted in the fertile ground of a ready soul it will conceive a Christ life in that individual, a redeemed spirit, born again from above. While this is cause for great joy it is not the end of the matter; it is only the beginning. The Lord wants us to take some responsibility for what we have helped to produce. A precious seed that has been planted needs some nurturing to grow up into maturity where it can also produce life in others. It is far to easy when we have helped lead someone to the Lord, to then pass all the responsibility off to a church or pastor. The church and ministry become, in effect, a type of surrogate mother to birth this child into Christ. That is not to say that they are not to be involved, but it also does not take the responsibility for discipleship off us.
Paul was a father. He planted many Christ seeds that saw a wonderful harvest of souls. He was also a mother. He nurtured that which he helped produce. He poured into them his life, his faith, his example, and his revelation of who Christ is, so that they in turn might grow up into Christ in all things. Many times, it was disheartening. Like the parable of the sower of seed in Matthew 13 there are always many elements at work that want to rob, kill and destroy the life of the seed. The good soil is the solid Word based and Spirit led teaching of the doctrine of Christ. It is not an organization or denomination or an institution. It is a nurturing and feeding of the Word of God that plants believer’s feet on solid ground and gives them a firm foundation for their faith. It is a travail and labor of love and prayer over them until they have a true revelation of Christ in them and who they are in Christ. Many of us are still grasping that revelation and truth.
Jesus gives us an example of the difference in the two attitudes between one whom is simply scattering seed and one who is like a farmer who nurtures his crop. John 10:12-13 says, “But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.” The real difference is the love and commitment we have toward the newborn in Christ. Our love is shallow because it is not His love; it is our love. Our love will run away when things get unpleasant, uncomfortable or too difficult. Christ’s love is unconditional and constant. He doesn’t just love us when we are good and obedient; He loves us the same all the time. Even the love of God in us is an acquisition of faith and not feeling. The Word teaches us that the two greatest commandment upon which all of the law and prophets rest is Matthew 12:29-32, ” And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” These commandments must become the confession of our faith as we live them out by God’s grace and love in us. For the Word of God to become substance in us we must confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts (Romans 10:10), this is the development and maturing of our salvation through faith. We are constantly hearing the Word, receiving the Word into our hearts, receiving the revelation and quickening of that Word by the Holy Spirit and then in turn imparting and communicating that Word of Life to others that they also might grow up into Christ in all things.
The travail of truly birthing others into Christ is hard; emotionally, physically and spiritually, but it is a labor of love that yields precious and lasting fruit in the kingdom of God.
Blessings,
#kent
The Lord on High
February 2, 2022
The Lord on High
Psalms 113:5
Who [is] like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high,
Praise the Lord who reigns on High,
Whose love and power and grace,
Pierce the earth and rent the sky,
Who looks upon His beloved with open face.
His heart is tender and His love is great,
As He gathers us as chicks beneath His wing,
His love is jealous over His mate,
As her song of love she sings.
The Lord is merciful to a thousand generations;
His forgiveness reaches through the span of man.
Redemption and salvation are His great vocation,
As He brings His beloved into His eternal plan.
His ways are high and past finding out,
Yet He shares His secrets through the Holy Spirit within.
He leads us in the way up into His high and holy mount.
Mount Zion is His throne-room where the issues of life begin.
Be still and reverence this High and Holy One!
Lay prostrate upon your face as unto the Lord you call.
Then rise to sing His praise and magnify the Son,
Who is worthy of all our praise, the Redeemer of us all.
His Holy Hand directs His Holy Plan,
As He searches out His own.
In weakness and utter dependency of man,
Is the glory revealed and His great power is shown.
It is not in us, who will or do,
But it is God who gives the increase.
It is His power and grace working in me and you,
That brings forth wonders that never cease.
Oh Lord, we wholly lean on Jesus name,
As we run this race in our soul.
Your Spirit life is the conqueror’s flame,
And Your HIGH CALLING is our goal.
Blessings,
#kent
Riches with a Purpose
July 26, 2021
Riches with a Purpose
1Timothy 6:6-10
But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Money means the most to him that desires and covets it, but though he may possess it the promises that it brought are barren of the joy and fulfillment that he sought. The joy of money is in the giving and not in the getting. It is a tool and a means, but not an end in itself. Many would sell their souls for riches, but in their riches they only find spiritual poverty and want. God blesses us and prospers us so that we might be a blessing and in being that faithful steward and blessing, we are blessed. May God give us the vision and the hearts that will take the seed that He has provided us and plant it into His kingdom that it might bring forth a great harvest in the earth.
Our treasures are not of this world, but God gives us worldly treasure that we might invest it into an eternal inheritance. No, we can’t buy our way into heaven, but with the heart of a good and faithful servant we can be a channel for earthly resources and we can channel those resources to heavenly purposes.
As the people of God we don’t seek to find our contentment and fulfillment in riches. If we do then our focus is on mammon and not on God. It is God’s good pleasure, to often times, bless those who are faithful to His purposes, but with a covetous heart they would only stumble. The riches of this world and what we possess are not the measure of God’s favor. The riches I would covet are His presence and His fellowship, because at His right hand there is fullness of joy. When God shows up in His manifest presence there is no amount of money that can buy that kind of experience and blessing.
God’s Word exhorts us, that with our basic needs met, to be content. So often the precious gift of life and loved ones passes us by in our pursuit for more of the world’s gain. Like the adage says, “we can’t take it with us.” May the Lord help us to keep our focus on the things that pertain to life and godliness, that is where we will find our contentment. We need to treasure the riches we have in our family, friends and those who love us. With a right fellowship with the Father and the love and fellowship of others in this life we have found the greatest riches of all. Don’t be deceived by fool’s gold, but seek the gold that perishes not with the using.
Blessings,
#kent
The Loss of a Birthright
April 29, 2021
6/2/08
1 Chronicles 5:1-2
The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father’s marriage bed, his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel; so he could not be listed in the genealogical record in accordance with his birthright, 2 and though Judah was the strongest of his brothers and a ruler came from him, the rights of the firstborn belonged to Joseph)-
The Loss of a Birthright
There are several examples in the Word of those who lost their birthright. We see Esau selling His birthright to Jacob for a bowl of pottage, which took him out of the lineage of God’s divine line through which the Christ would come. We see those who forsook their higher calling and purpose because they failed in their faith and obedience to lay hold of the promise. We first saw that birthright forsaken when Adam disobeyed God and brought all of humanity into sin and darkness. He fell from the high place that His birthright had afforded him. Authority and dominion were lost to him.
Through Abram God brought forth the father of many nations and through his loins he began a seed line of faith and promise. We see there were cases that this seed line did not follow through the firstborn if they proved themselves unfit or unfaithful. What this all led to was the promised inheritance, restoration, dominion and authority restored through God’s firstborn son Jesus Christ.
Romans 5: 12-17 says, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— 13for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” Christ was the restoration of that which was lost through Adam’s failure. Therefore, we have been called in faith to rise up in the birthright afforded to us in Christ Jesus and to produce seed worthy of acceptance through faith. We have a birthright in Christ that we don’t want to take lightly or take for granted. It is a high calling in Christ Jesus to come up into Him and to rule and reign in Him through the authority that He has once again afforded us. Paul speaks of the calling of this birthright when he speaks in Philippians 3:12-16, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
God has given us back a birthright in Christ Jesus full of faith and promise. Let us not neglect so high a calling or be unfaithful to that which Christ has called us to inherit. Secure the birthright afforded to you through your steadfast faithfulness and obedience to Him.
Blessings,
#kent
Maintain His Standard
September 4, 2020
Maintain His Standard
2 Chronicles 14:-2-12;15:1-8,
Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God. 3 He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. 4 He commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to obey his laws and commands. 5 He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him. 6 He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the LORD gave him rest. 7 “Let us build up these towns,” he said to Judah, “and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the LORD our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered. 8 Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were brave fighting men. 9 Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with a vast army and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. 10 Asa went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.
11 Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, “LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you.” 12 The LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, 13 and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the LORD and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder. 14 They destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for the terror of the LORD had fallen upon them. They plundered all these villages, since there was much booty there. 15 They also attacked the camps of the herdsmen and carried off droves of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.
The Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded. 2 He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. 4 But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. 5 In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. 6 One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. 7 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”
8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple.
In these scriptures we see a man given to doing right in the Lord’s eyes and in trusting Him. We see that the Lord honored him with peace and prosperity. We see that when evil forces rose against and even though their numbers were great, they put their trust in the Lord, the Lord fought their battle and gave them great victory. The prophet speaks the word of the Lord to Asa and says, “The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.” These are good words for us to take to heart as God’s people and as His nation. We have seen our nation’s history was founded on men who put their trust in God and who sought His wisdom when founding and creating the constitution that has been its foundation. The foundational truth that was established and that which has even been printed on our currency is “IN GOD WE TRUST”. What do you think will become of us as a nation and as a people when we depart from this foundational principle. If we look further into the end of Asa we will see.
2 Chronicles 16
In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
2 Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the LORD’s temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. 3 “Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”
4 Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim and all the store cities of Naphtali. 5 When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work. 6 Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built up Geba and Mizpah.
7 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. 8 Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen ? Yet when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”
10 Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.
11 The events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. 13 Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his fathers. 14 They buried him in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier covered with spices and various blended perfumes, and they made a huge fire in his honor.
I believe this is prophetic of our nation in this day and this hour. It is not just how we start the race, it is how we finish it. Asa started well, but he finished foolishly and to his own demise. Our nation started well and even though we were but a weak struggling infant nation God delivered and gave us victory over England, the strongest nation of the world at that time. Now we, as the people of God, must intercede for our nation and its leaders as we see it quickly descending into this path of forsaking the Lord. As you exercise your freedom to vote and be heard, hold up the standard of the Lord in all that you vote for. Those who put their trust in the arm of the flesh will fail, but those who lean wholly and fully trust in the Lord will not be disappointed. If we, as the people of God, will not lift up His standard then who will? The spirit of darkness is strong all around us. We can see it even in the media and news. We are the light of the world, so let our light shine before men. If we forsake the Lord, He will forsake us.
Blessings,
#kent
Sticking Together
September 9, 2016
Sticking Together
Matthew 19:5-6
and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’]? 6So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
Remember when we first met?
When we spent that time together falling in love?
I knew you were the woman that I needed to get.
You were that woman I had been dreaming of.
Remember when I nervously proposed?
You smiled and said yes,
We had no idea of the future I suppose,
All that I knew was that I was happy and blessed.
When we think back of all we’ve been through,
We both know the grace of God has kept us together,
The blessings were many, but there were trials, more than a few.
Times I didn’t know if we would survive the stormy weather.
Have I always loved you, yes.
Have we always felt in love, no.
There are times when we don’t feel blessed,
There are times we want to pack our bags and go.
Yet, we both knew that God had set us as one,
We’ve often questioned, “What was God thinking?”
We are so different and life together isn’t always fun.
But one of us has lifted the other in the times one was sinking.
The storms of life and marriage have many casualties.
But it is the bond of God’s love alone that can see us through.
Many times we may have given up, becoming another marriage fatality.
God’s love and grace was greater than what we were able to do.
I thank God that you are still by my side.
I thank God for a woman that has loved me like you.
We both thank the Lord that He has been our guide
We both would be in the ditch of life had He not been true.
We are still conforming to one another’s ways.
We don’t always feel love or act the way we should.
We still struggle, fuss and have our off days.
But God’s love is the glue that sticks together these two pieces of wood.
As we grow older I see we need each other even more,
We have to be the strength in one another’s needs.
You are still that young girl that my heart longs for.
You are my garden and the precious fruit upon which I feed.
Blessings,
#kent
Peacemakers
March 11, 2016
Romans 12:18
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Peacemakers
We can not always control how others feel about us. We can only be responsible and accountable for our own actions. Obviously, in the course of life, we encounter those people who do not like us for one reason or another. We can’t always submit to their way of thinking and being. What we are expected to do in the Lord is walk in love and humility toward all men, submitting to the authorities over us to the degree that we don’t become disobedient to the Lord which is our highest authority. Even our enemies we are to love and treat with kindness and respect, even when they deal to us a much lower hand. We want to do what is right in the sight of all men, so that our deeds will not be evil spoken of. We are the ambassadors of the Lord, so we must represent Him in our behavior, character and actions toward others. When opportunities arise or even as much as you can, show acts of loving kindness toward those that despise and don’t like you. By taking the high road and not returning evil for evil, we bring conviction and we demonstrate God’s love toward us, in that while we yet sinners Christ died for us.
In as much as it is in your power, do the things that make for peace, in your home, with the body of Christ, in the work place and in the world. Let us be a people of peace. Let go of those areas that are critical, judgmental, provoking and attitudes that stir up ill will and strife. Don’t become self-righteous, but be righteousness of God in the love of Christ.
“Blessed [are] the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Matthew 5:9
Blessings,
#kent
tricklesoftruth 