2013-05-24
Good Morning Dear Ones,
In the course of taking up this segment of the Our Covenant messages called “Higher Purpose for Us,” the Holy Spirit directs me to consider our covenant relationships with God and with other believers/potential believers in Jesus Christ. Last week, He gave me some suggestions to help prevent internal dissention within this group. 1) Pray first. Whenever we are about to do a task for God, come into the company of others, or interact with our families, we should pray first for peace, good communication, God’s wisdom and direction, or whatever we need to know to make these times successful. We must be honest with ourselves. For me, patience is always a part of those prayers, because there are other people in my family that require that of me. In reality, we are all the family of God. That’s reason enough for us to act rightly with humility and kindness, to show the fruits of the Spirit [GA 5: 22-23]. We must understand that we can’t have happy, blessed, and successful lives with happiness without the interaction of our loving Lord. PS 146: 5, “But happy are those who have the God of Israel as their Helper; whose hope is in the Lord their God.” God teaches us humility, grants forgiveness, helps us in trouble, and gives us compassion, wisdom, love, and His grace [PS 86: 5-7, 11,13, 15 and EPH 2: 8-10].
2) Listen to the other (s). Learning to listen is a real art. We are born self-centered and more interested in our own ideas than those of others. Learning to listen for me arose out of recognizing my own self-centeredness and having to find a way out of Dyslexia. Because I am a student by nature, it meant having to learn to take notes for me. Not everyone listens that way. My husband can do it well without ever taking a note. And, of course, there are situations where note-taking isn’t appropriate. For me, it meant learning how to translate from the way I see letters and numbers to the way someone without my malady does. I do it by printing, because cursive handwriting is very hard for me to read, even with good penmanship. It really doesn’t matter which method one uses to learn to listen, but it does require quieting the tendency to form your response without hearing the other person’s words. It also means doing one’s “homework,” if we are going to a situation where some prior research is necessary to understand what is going on. The need to do this is particularly true when we disagree with another person’s point of view. We need to listen carefully, if a compelling and appropriate response is to be given. God’s voice speaking to us can be in the form of a whisper, like the one Elijah heard in 1 K 19: 12, following an earthquake and a fire, while Elijah was hiding in a cave. We should try never to miss what is said to us by the Holy Spirit.
3) Ask for clarification, when needed. I found myself needing to do this, when traditional Jews want to argue points of Scripture or cultural practices with me. It was necessary to do some homework that arose out of our conversations to learn their other ways of interpreting things or other cultural practices. Doubt is one of the devil’s favorite tools. PS 50: 15, “Pray to Me in time of trouble. I will rescue you, and you will honor Me.” When doubt arises, the Holy Spirit leads us to the Lord. Before answering criticism, be sure the matter is understood well. And, we are all criticized at one time or another. This asking for clarification can certainly include an approach like this, “Give me some time to check into this matter, and I’ll get back to you.” If we make such a request, we must be sure we get back to the other person in a reasonable time. Being teachable is a godly trait [IS 50: 4].
4) Be godly in thought, word, and deed. This is not always easy for us to do, because it involves getting our emotions under control. If we are very familiar with godly people from the Bible, especially our Lord Jesus, then we will emulate them to the best of our ability. When we are sorely provoked not to do this, we need to be in prayerful contact with Him. These are some practical reasons why the daily habits of studying of God’s word and praying are so important. 2 COR 10: 3-5, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Think about this gem of advice, from JAS 3: 6, 10, in the times when tempted to use words to hurt others. “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell…Out of the same mouth, come praise and cursing. Brothers, this should not be!” While we need to be truthful and assertive, we can still be kind. PR 25: 11, “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” MICAH 6: 8 reveals what the Lord wants of us. “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Our God loves us enough to be here for us!
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your throne this morning to acknowledge You as our God, our Savior, our Strong Tower, and our beloved Covenant Partner. In Your word, as in prayer, You give us help to overcome our fleshly desires and live in the Spirit, as You want us to do. We acknowledge Your wisdom, perspective, and advice as far superior to that of any human [IS 55: 8-9]. You are the Lord, Who leads the team we are on, Who strengthens us in Your Son, Jesus Christ. PHIL 4: 13, “We can do anything in Christ Who strengthens us.” For all of this and Your presence and interactions with us, we thank and praise You. PS 63: 3-4, “Your constant love is better than life itself, and so I will praise You. I will give You thanks as long as I live; I will raise my hands to You in prayer.” Because the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit rages within us, we must ask You to intervene when trouble comes, doubt is present, or You feel we need Your advice or gudance in our lives. Today, the subject at hand is our interactions with other people, those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ and those who might be potential believers. We ask You for patience, wisdom, discernment, and to teach us self-control when provoked. Often our emotions take control of us, and ungodly words spill from us. Isaiah said, in IS 30: 18, “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion, for the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are those who wait for Him.” PS 51:6 and PS 119: 125, “Sincerity and truth are what You require; fill my mind with wisdom…I am Your servant; give me understanding, so that I may know Your teachings.” EPH 4: 25-27, “Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” Yes Lord, Your will is clear! We know only You can give us the wisdom we need to prevent dissention in the body of Christ and our other relationships. We thank and praise You in the holy/mighty name of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The Holy Spirit directs me to write about directions God has given us for dealing with dissention within a congregation or group of believers. We’ll take a closer look at EPH 1: 13-14 and MT 18: 15-17. All of this will hopefully bring us to a closer understanding of what it means to belong to Jesus Christ as covenant brothers and sisters in His fold. He is truly the Good Shepherd, the One Who knows His sheep and recognizes their voices [JN 10: 2-4]. Jesus Christ is the One Who gave His life on the cross for us, so that we might be saved [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. There is nothing that pleases God more than for present believers to mature as His covenant partners-- people who earn a reputation for their godliness, and who by that reputation, make it attractive to potential believers to join God’s fold. Each of us has the potential for pleasing God this way, but it is necessary to take the steps mentioned here in our covenant relationships with others around us. While not easy to always do, we have to believe that with God’s help we will do it. We are all able to set a good example for each other. I know God has placed me where I am in an effort to let the example of the others in my congregation have a good effect on me, as I work to overcome my rather checkered past. He will do the same for anyone willing to submit to Him. So let me end with PS 31: 3-5, “You are my Refuge and Defense; guide me and lead me as You have promised. Keep me safe from the snare that his been set for me; shelter me from all danger. I place myself in Your care, You will save me, Lord; You are a faithful God.” Praise and thanks be to our God forever!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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