2002-10-04
Good Morning Dear Ones,
When sin is a well-worn habit, it is always difficult to get rid of it. And yet, we must if we are to ever enjoy the blessings of eternal life with the Father. Another way of saying this that Henry Blackaby is fond of using is: "You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing." I am led to spend this important time sharing what God has to say about the changes we must all make in our lives in preparation to effectively witness to the Gospel of salvation and peace. While this is often hard for us to do, it is the way to open that narrow gate that leads to the hard path toward eternal joy and fellowship with the Father [MT 7: 13-14]. We already know from EPH 4: 32 that we have been commanded to "forgive one another as God has forgiven you." When something is very important to God, He repeats it or adds support to the original message to be sure that we won't miss it. COL 1: 13-14, "He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us safe into the Kingdom of His dear Son, by Whom we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven." COL 3: 13, "Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whenever any of you has a complaint against someone else. You must forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you." We can be sure that these are not the only citations in God's word that deal with this subject. That's how important to God it is, and therefore, it should be equally important to each of us.
The other day, I cited MT 18: 21-23a, which bears repeating here. "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?' 'No, not seven times,' answered Jesus, 'but seventy times seven, because the Kingdom of Heaven is like this.'" None of this is easy for people who have had long-standing grudges against one another or who are angry with one another over some difference between them. Our Lord imparts advice that I found useful in a very difficult situation. When I was my son's age, and he is 30 now, I had a serious difference with another person, but we had not confronted the matter between us. In my idealistic youth, I figured all I had to do was to lay out the problem like a calm, sensible adult, and ask this person to do the same. Then, we could work it out piece by piece with some give and take and some compromising. What actually happened, was that when I presented my case, the other person insulted me, burst into tears, and left the room! At that point, I had to realize that not every person will respond to thoughtful logic. They are much more comfortable leveling insults and getting into histrionics. The lesson: You can't solve all differences with all people. It was tough and painful for me to accept. However, our Lord teaches us to have love for our enemies, one of the most difficult things we must do. His advice: LK 6: 29, "If anyone hits you on one cheek. Let him hit the other one too; if someone takes your coat, let him have your shirt as well." With this person, I had to realize that there was no way to "win" an argument or even settle it with him. However, I needed to remember to act in a godly way anyway, and most of all, pray for him. When it is possible to settle differences, the we must remember Christ's words in MT 5: 23-24, "So if you are about to offer your gift to God at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God."
The time to do all of this is right now. The reason for this urgency is plain and simply given to us in 1 THESS 5: 2, "For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night." In dealing with heated conflict with another person, no matter what the situation, we must pray for them and that God will give us the wisdom to say what is righteous and wise in His eyes. While we may not be able to settle every difference our immediate satisfaction, we will know that we obeyed the Lord and that we set an example of dignity and compassion that might some day soften that person's heart and cause him to come to faith. MT 5: 9, "Happy are those who work for peace; God will call them His children!" We must remember that another reason for striving toward reconciliation and restoration of relationships with others is that it is a way of joining God in His work. MT 5: 44-45, "But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become the sons of your Father in heaven. For he makes the sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil." Grudges are blocks to producing spiritual fruit in our lives. We need to remove those blocks. They can even make us physically ill, something we should never opt to invite in our lives. The bottom line is that remaining angry opens the door to Satan's efforts to establish a stronghold in our lives. As we can see from all the citations in the last few messages, God has given each of us the weapons that will fend Satan off. We must choose to use them and use them now!
PRAYER: O Lord, Your Son has commanded us in JN 13: 34-35 to "And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are My disciples." There is nothing accidental or impulsive in the giving of this message to us. It is the definition of the adjustments we must make in so many situations in our lives where Satan is attempting to enter our inner selves and take command of our spirits. We come before You, Lord, in recognition that we have no defense against Satan's efforts, except by our own repentance and faith in Christ. Had He not made the sacrifice of His life on the cross, we would be held totally vulnerable to the evil one. Such is not the case when come to faith and live in the Son's Holy name. In accordance with EPH 1: 18-20, Your love is manifested in a mighty way. We are given the same power You used to raise Christ from death to life to use against Satan. We must never forget that or stop thanking You for what You have done for us. PS 47: 1-2, "Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy. For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome, a great King over all the earth." PS 106: 18, Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." The words of these two citations reveal what is in our hearts today, Dearest Abba. Your advice given through Christ Himself helps us to make the adjustments in our lives that will bring reconciliation, restoration, and the ability to witness to our faith in You to others who need to hear it. You have given us the Scriptures, the power of prayer, and the Holy Spirit to help us recognize and understand these things. You are a faithful God, Who loves His children dearly. PS 9: 10, "All those who know Your mercy, Lord, will count on You for help. For You have never yet forsaken those who trust in You." Today, we come before Your altar in humility to confess our sins, to rid ourselves of grudges, to show the courage of our faith in bringing restoration and reconciliation in our relationships with others, to make You the center of our lives, to pledge You our trust and obedience, and to offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, praise, and thanks. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
The hope that God has given us reveals His love for us, as does the power He gives us to fend off Satan's fiery arrows. In continuing our discussion of preparation to witness to our faith and to the sweet message of salvation and peace, I am led to take up the issue of bitterness in tomorrow's message. As with anger, bitterness can be a huge block to our producing spiritual fruit in our lives. God knows this and gives us guidance on dealing with it. He is our loving Abba, our wise, compassionate, and patient Parent. He knows that we must learn these lessons, so that we can have eternal joy and fellowship with Him in the Kingdom that lasts forever. All around us, if we will only look, we will discover countless examples of how He shows us the love He has for each and every one of us. Because His wisdom is perfect, we can count on Him to always give us advice that is in our best long-term interests and is righteous. There is no evil in Him. Praise to God that He makes each believer the recipient of the most important blessings he will ever need, that He loves us so much! Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn