Whom having not seen you love.
I walk by faith, not by sight. I love You, God, because You first loved me. I have known and believed the love that You have for me. You are love, and I who abide in love abide in You, and You in me. In You I also trusted, after I heard the word of truth, the gospel of my salvation; in whom also, having believed, I was sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. To me You willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in me, the hope of glory.
If I say, “I love God,” and hate my brother, I am a liar; for I who do not love my brother whom I have seen, how can I love God whom I have not seen?
Jesus said, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Blessed am I who put my trust in You, Lord God. Enable me, Lord, to abide in You more fully . . . to love my brother more wholeheartedly . . . and to trust You more completely so that I may know Your blessings.
1 PETER 1:8; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:7; 1 JOHN 4:19; 1 JOHN 4:16; EPHESIANS 1:13; COLOSSIANS 1:27; 1 JOHN 4:20; JOHN 20:29; PSALM 2:12 - Dr. David Jeremiah Life-Changing Moments with God
We certainly live in a world that's teaching people to hate. To hate out loud. To make sure it's out loud or it's not genuine. To physically display it or it isn't real. That you aren't a part of "the movement".
Hate has it's place in life but the issues of today aren't it. Forced hatred in human things isn’t it. Hatred for what God hates...this is a different story.
God hates sin. God has issues with our maintaining anger. We are told in the Bible not to let the sun go down on our anger. We are told as well of anger/hate giving Satan a foothold in our lives. It gives him opportunities to impact our lives.
I was easily given opportunities to hate more than a few people in this last year in my last job. Easily that was a road before me. The path that I took was to turn such people over to God to deal with. If it's one amply learned lesson for me in my life that I remember well: God can go places in the lives of people that I cannot.
The Spirit changes the hearts of people. We do more harm than good when it's our will being done rather than God's will being done.
We aren't the one leading people to Christ, it's the work of God in us. We are to be the willing servant of God.
It's day 3 of reading Romans 12 as per our Bible Study assignment. In it we also read to make every attempt and effort to be at peace with all men. It also very specifically states whereas much as is possible be at peace. It's not always going to be possible. But do your best anyway.
It is rather interesting what stands out when you read the same chapter daily. Things that stood out yesterday differed from today even.
The Disciples were taught to change their behavior before mankind. To let go of their ideas on how to deal with people and to show them the things that Jesus was instilling in them. And as if to show even them, Jesus told them of the Spirit to come, that they would have an even greater impact than they were seeing after the Spirit did come.
To stand out means to be different in situations that people expect a certain reaction or behavior. To react as Christ Jesus would rather than what our gut instinct would. Truth be told, my anger scares me. My reactions that come from my anger are almost always destructive. It's been extremely rare that my anger ever was what God was angry about.
Jesus was teaching His Disciples how to be different. Micah Tyler has a song out called Different. In it there's a line: I want to be different, I want to be changed. Till all of me is gone and all that remains is a fire so bright that the whole world sees...that there's something different in me. "
Reread that first paragraph in that prayer. What we have in Christ is what should be seen by people. Not what we have in us.
You DO invest in your life. But WHAT you invest is up to you.
You will either invest in your wants and desires or you invest in God's wants and desires. You will only do both at the same time when you both want the same things.
You can't pray for His Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven and go run off and do something that has absolutely no Kingdom bringing impact. Granted there's aspects of life that aren't, that we have no choice in. A job is one of those. Even Paul made reference to working with his own two hands to supply his own needs. We also have families to take care of.
But then comes the sly temptation to justify to ourselves our own will being done next. We sometimes even use self-justified anger to make that time our own.
Saying we deserve this or that. We deserve to die for our sins. In Christ we are to live for Him, just as the Disciples did.
Naturally the question comes "But what about my wants, needs and desires?"
Jesus: Take up your own cross and follow Me.
The workmanship of Christ in us is to change our character. To make us more like Christ. To get our way of thinking to be changed to how He thinks. To change how we see life and the world to how He sees it. To behave as He would. To be interested in what is interesting to Him.
To walk by faith not by sight.
More than what the verse says about anger not bringing about the righteous life that God desires in us, our personal interests and desires easily can hamper that as well.
But I need to relax! But I want to do this! But I need to do that or I will be upset!
What time did a Disciple display something that wasn't what Jesus was teaching teaching that He didn't use as a lesson to effect change in them? Go ahead and look.
We cannot impact the world for Christ if we insist on our will being done. We cannot have a positive impact if our anger is pouring out and it's got nothing to do with God's idea of righteous anger. We cannot live life with us in mind yet say we want what God wants.
Being real with you is what you need to be. Jesus taught His Disciples to be real with themselves. He taught them to display what they were taught, not what they wanted to do.
How much of the character of God is seen in your life?
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