2021-07-30
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I’m commanded to write about how God’s kinship affects relationships. Have you ever made friendships under the wrong conditions or been severely disappointed by a failed one? I certainly have. Admittedly, it took me a while to learn how to look for the right people to befriend. One such friendship ended up with me learning the other person was kind to me to my face and then stabbed me in the back when not with me. Another, arose out of the wrong circumstances and didn’t last. There is nothing wrong with befriending someone different than oneself as long as the circumstances are copasetic. I have one such friend who is originally from my hometown. I met her in university when we were both graduate students at the University of Oregon. Fifty-six years later, we are both still very close. She is Episcopalian, and I’m a Lutheran, which has never mattered. We share many common interests like crochet and knitting. However, she became a librarian, and I have a ministry. She also taught English for a while; I am a writer/minister. She and I don’t ever run out of things to discuss with each other. Yet another friend shares my Jewish background but never went to college at all. She and I met at a 4-day spiritual retreat back in 2000. We exchanged phone numbers and our relationship became close. We don’t live in the same state, but have visited each other frequently. Both of us have accepted Christ as our personal Savior. I spent my life moving around North America; she was from MN and is still living there.
Now, to why some relationships fail. They often (although not always) involve spiritual differences, where one person is a believer, and the other is not. Agnostics are believers in God but question organized religion. Atheists don’t believe there is a God. Some people from each of these subgroups can be so mired in their beliefs that they don’t even want to enter into a conversation with anyone who is spiritual. All of this is despite the fact that we know that God forges friendships for maximum learning and connectivity. We must respect the fact that each person is entitled to believe or not believe according to his conscience. Having said that, we must look for signs of questioning or at least interest in discussing the basic questions of faith: From where did you come? Why are you here? And Where are you going after physical death? At present, I live with three other family members who are actively traditionally Jewish. They don’t believe in an afterlife. Since they are happy and active in their faith, while supporting my right to accept Lutheran beliefs, they are not the people to whom I would reach out with my invitation to examine my beliefs. However, there are traditional Jews elsewhere that are eager to discuss their beliefs and hear about mine. I do know that God will bring certain people to our spheres of influence who want to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My closest friend, mentioned above was one of them. It was my pleasure to give a sermonette at her baptism, recite the prayers for the Sabbath lights, bread, and wine in English and Hebrew, and to sing with our mutual retreat pals at a special service in the sanctuary of her church. To me, the most ideal way to witness to one’s faith is to get to know them first and then, share core beliefs with that person. God will do the rest, working on their hearts to reveal the truth to them. When this is done in group fashion, as it is when a ministry I know went down to Nicaragua, the number of “salvations” are counted. Each saved person in the arena has worked with one or a few witnesses beforehand.
In the OT, some family members were designated “kinsman-redeemers” [LV 25: 25]. We who believe, have a Kinsman-Redeemer in Jesus Christ [HE 2: 11-12, 15]. Long ago when I was in some trouble, I heard His still, small voice telling me to move to a different place. I took that advice, and it helped me to extricate myself from my trials and begin to heal from the damage they were doing to me. At the time, I had no idea Who was giving me that advice, but I decided to take it anyway. Later, I came to realize that God had His eye on me, even before I committed to believing in Christ. Hindsight is always better than foresight. I’ve come to believe that my very closest friends are in my life to benefit it, with our friendships forged by the Divine. These benefits are part of an exchange of such good that I am to do for them too. Please examine your life to see if God hasn’t been at work in it.
PRAYER: O Lord, there are souls out there desperately in need of fellowship with you. Some of them are mean-spirited and petty; others are seeking something to be a cornerstone in their lives, and they don’t know exactly how to voice their needs. You are aware, and unless it will damage your relationships with others, we plead for Your intervention. We beseech You to guide to people who need the healing message of the Gospel [1 COR 15: 1-8]. We remember that You are wiser than we are and that we bow to Your wisdom. You mean for us to pay attention to the times we are led to a person who is questioning with his mind open to You. We know that it is sometimes a person we would least expect to need You. We are alert to our need to be fully prepared to answer why we have the hope You give us and sensitive to the needs of seekers. If we can, we should find out the conditions of their faith and then, deal with their comments with patience and politeness [1PET 3: 14-19]. Christ was always gentle and kind, so we know we should be that way. We love you, Lord, and offer You our loyalty, honor, thanks, and praise, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: Things that bond us to God and things that interfere with good witnessing are discussed in next week’s devotion. We must be reminded at times that God is in charge, and we are not. We must get used to it! The less we fight God’s will, the better our efforts, and the more in line with God’s teaching, the more effective our service to Him can be. When we are stuck as we try to convince another of the validity of God’s teaching, we can appeal to God in prayer. He will help us when we are in a jam. All we need do is to turn to Him and patiently listen for His answer. There are times when He chooses to slow down our progress, because He knows the best time for something to happen. We should always ask this question: What in this situation is God’s lesson for me? I remember a time when I planted the seeds of faith in a friend. She took two years of thinking about what I said before she made the decision to walk through the doorway marked faith. When the time was right, the Lord brought her to a decision without any further help from me. We must understand when we are to take action, not just the action of witnessing to our faith. God always has righteous reasons for everything He does.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2021. All Rights Reserved.
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