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2008-08-08

Good Morning Dear Ones,

Once again the Holy Spirit instructs me to continue with Christ’s do’s and don’ts from His Sermon on the Mount, in MT 6-7. This time, I’m led to discuss, MT 7: 6, “Do not give what is holy to dogs-they will only turn and attack you. Do not throw your pearls in front of pigs-they will only trample them underfoot.” It stands to reason that God is expecting us to use wisdom in choosing to whom we witness and with whom we can successfully interact. Witnessing is a chancy matter when its approached without doing some homework first about one’s audience. I’ve often written about the need to understand where the listener is in his own cultural and spiritual life. If we know that we are to witness in a traditionally Jewish group, we would not choose to refer to Christ by His name, Jesus. Instead, He would be referred to as “the Lord.” Certain words are incendiary, and the process of witnessing can be successful working around them. There is no disrespect of the Lord, as He certainly understands, as long as the truth is not left out or changed in any way in the process.

Paul addressed this very issue, in 2 COR 6: 14-16, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial [the devil]? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.’” 2 COR 6: 17-18 makes God’s will clear. “And so the Lord says, ‘You must leave them and separate yourselves from them. Have nothing to do with what is unclean, and I will accept you. I will be your Father, and you shall be My sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.” The Lord is trusting us to make a wise and compassionate judgment as to who these unbelievers are. The problem comes up when one realizes that any unbeliever that we encounter may be a potential believer. So, the judgment usually needs to be made over time. The best way we can make this decision is to see if the other person is making a lifestyle out of rejecting the Lord.

All believers get frustrated at times, and some may even get angry with God. Job did, and so did David; yet, they got over their anger. At one point, I got angry with God when it took 1 ½ yrs to sell our former residence, and I didn’t understand the God had a lesson about patience for me. I confessed my sin, and He forgave me. Such a situation is wholly different from the person who makes a lifestyle out of rejecting God. Unbelievers that we meet who are like us, sinners, but who are willing to at least listen to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are likely not to be in the above category either. I needed to hear a former Muslim speak, offering his testimony to the truth, at a meeting. This was a reminder to me not to judge all people who I encounter who are Muslims. Each person deserves to be judged as an individual. So, we must be very careful with whom we decide we should be “yoked.”

Even in marriage, God’s will about this is very consistent. 1 COR 7: 15, “However, if the one who is not a believer wishes to leave the Christian partner, let it be so. In such cases the Christian partner, whether husband or wife, is free to act. God has called you to live in peace.” Even though Christ abhors divorce in most marriages, the exception is in this case and with infidelity. We know from Christ’s teaching, in MT 5: 27-28, what His attitude is about lust and adultery. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery [EX 20: 14].’ But now I tell you: anyone who looks at a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart.” In a marriage between two true believers, this would never happen. That is because we are encouraged to be each other’s best friend. When problems happen, as they do in any marriage, we are taught to work through them together. While it may not be easy, it will further our spiritual growth, if we are willing to be reasonable and do this. In marriages between a believer and an unbeliever or two unbelievers, working through problems successfully is unlikely to happen, because of the differences in their ethical foundations. We must understand these differences as they are explained in 1 COR 2: 14, “Whoever does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God’s Spirit. Such a person really does not understand them; they are foolishness to him, because their value can be judged only on a spiritual basis.” Just as GA 5: 22-23 tells us the gifts of the Spirit, so GA 5: 16-17 shows us the opposition that exists between being led by fleshly desires and being led by the Spirit. In the end, the best thing to do is to turn to God in prayer when we are not sure how to judge whether another person is a potential believer or really permanently lost. Remember, we can do this with boldness and confidence [EPH 3: 12], and He will give us the guidance we seek [PS 37: 23-24].

PRAYER: O Lord, we offer You praise and thanks for always being here for us. Without You and Your interactions in our lives, we are like ships set adrift in a sea of confusion. When we take the time to study Your word and pray, listening for Your wisdom and asking You for your help, You will guide us and pull us out of the pit of our confusion and trouble [PS 40: 1-2]. You really do “pull us out of the pit and set us on the Rock”-Your Son, Jesus Christ. We come before Your mighty throne today, to ask You for guidance and discerning wisdom in making decisions about unbelievers we meet. Our spiritual treasures are to be guarded carefully, as we learn in 2 TIM 1: 13-14. And yet, we are to be willing to share them accurately to those unbelievers who will listen. Paul reminded us that at one time, he was “the worst of them.” 1 TIM 1: 15-17, “This is a true saying, to be completely accepted and believed: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I am the worst of them, but God was merciful to me in order that Christ Jesus mighty show His full patience in dealing with me, the worst of sinners, as an example for all those who would later believe in Him and receive eternal life. To the eternal King, immortal and invisible, the only God-to Him be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen.” Those who study the word of God know that Paul, originally named Saul of Tarsus, was hired by the Sanhedrin [Jewish ruling council], to chase after Jewish Christians, bring them back to Jerusalem and see them punished for their beliefs. Saul was even present to view and be in favor of the stoning of Stephen, [AC 7: 58-59; 8: 3]. Dearest Abba, we pray to You for discernment and refusal to be prejudiced, unfairly judging whole groups of people or individuals because of lack of patience. PS 119: 125, “I am Your servant; give me understand, so that I may know Your teachings.” PS 51: 6, “Sincerity and truth are what You require; fill my mind with wisdom.” You are a loving and compassionate God. We thank and praise You for always being available to us, always caring about our trials and efforts to deal with others fairly. You alone are the Supreme God, the One we want to worship. In Christ’s holy name, Amen.

Next week, we will look at criteria that allow us to know when God alone is to be the Judge and when it’s okay for us to make judgments of lesser importance. I can’t help but think of Moses’ difficulty in the desert. His father-in-law, Jethro, visited him and noticed he was trying to settle every dispute. It was Jethro who told him to delegate some authority to trusted people for the lesser disputes and only deal with the larger ones himself [EX 2: 21; 18: 13-26]. And now, here is the list of do’s and don’ts that we have examined in the last few weeks: Do store up your riches in heaven, not on earth; Do not worry about basic needs, as God will help you supply them; Do not let money rule your life; Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you, for God will judge you in the same way you judge others, and He will apply to you the same rules you apply to others; Do not give what is holy to dogs or cast your pearls before swine. If it seems odd that on one hand we are taught the God is the Judge and yet, we find ourselves needing to make some kinds of judgments about others in the course of our daily lives, then next week’s devotion will address it. So be patient, Dear Readers, we will try hard to get these matters clear. With questions like these, we can turn to the Lord in prayer, and He cares enough about us to help us find answers. If you are feeling loved and cared about now, then my message is as the Holy Spirit is giving it to me. 1 PET 5: 7, “Leave all your worries with Him, because He cares fore you.” Praise be to our Lord, who loves us and cares about us more than we often realize!

Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn

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