Conflict
Father, my mind is a flood with so many things. Old things, possibilities of new things, confusing things… I am not a worrier on many fronts but I am struggling. I pray that I am leaving them all in Your more than capable hands. May I trust You and not fret. Help me to go about my life so as to please You in all I say and do…and think. Amen.
Matthew 18:15-18 (<<click the green)
This is a clear directive of handling conflict amongst believers from the mouth of the Lord. But…do we do it? If I were to ask for a show of hands as to how many like conflict, many would not raise their hands for fear of offending someone! Now I know there are also those who thrive on conflict and stir it up whenever possible.
But over my lifetime I have seen more conflict in the body of Christ than I care to remember. And honestly, I can’t recall a single instance when our Lord’s directive was followed.
It’s just easier to avoid conflict, isn’t it? But in reality, it is not good for us or the body of Christ. If you think about it, it’s the Cancer of Sin all over again, just from another angle. Healing can only take place when the sin is eradicated. But if we avoid it – it will eventually kill us!
So what do you think? Isn’t God’s word sound? 2 Timothy 3:16 states,
“All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]…” AMP
I’m not one to run into the fray but…really…honestly…that needs to change. Lord, help me – in Your unfathomable love – to be the follower I am called to be. May I not shy from conflict but embrace deeper, fuller relationships based on our shared love in and for You. Amen.
July 26th, 2018, Thurs, 11:00 am
Love – What It’s Meant to Be
(A pretty rough week, so another well-received post from the past. This is actually one of my first!)
Father, thank You for encouraging me to share my writings yesterday.* I pray that You were glorified. I, honestly, struggle with pride to a certain degree. I lay the whole thing at Your feet, I really want You to get the credit, I want those who read it to think of You. Its weird how something like this is so simple yet in my mind it’s so complicated. But You know that I only did it (posted it) because I felt that that’s what You wanted me to do. All Glory to You!
Ephesians 5:21-33 (<<click this)
Marriage…man and woman…husband and wife. Submission to him…love (to the point of giving up his own life) for her. Mutual…edifying…sacrificial. Nothing selfish here…no taking advantage of…just giving. Unity…oneness…a melding of two. Both benefited by the giving of self. Both made better…both more like Christ. Both placing the interest of the other before the interest of self. Against the (fleshly) natural…embracing the (spiritual) nature. Rejecting the mindset of the world…embodying the mindset (the life) of Christ.
Lord, as I draw closer to You, please help me to love Karen more and more. She is truly a gift from You that is to be cherished. Help me to do all I can to lift her up, to encourage her. Shore up my patience and help my selfishness to be cast away. Please enable me to love her as You do.
May 6th, 2015, Wed, 6:39 am
*I posted a photo of my May 5th journal entry (Magnifying the Negative) to Facebook.
Think Outside the Flock
Father, as I come to sit with You this morning, I realize this is probably going to be the quietest part of my day. Once it gets rolling, it won’t stop until I get home about an hour before bed. I ask for Your strength, wisdom, and love, not just to receive but also to give. Amen.
Matthew 18:10-14 (<<click the green)
(Over the course of my adult life I have read and listened to (via CD) the Gospels many, many times but I have to admit that this time through has been extremely challenging. It brings to mind Jesus’ larger group of followers who after a particularly challenging discourse stated, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?” And after some more challenging discourse, “…many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” And here I join Peter as he emphatically exclaims, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:60-69)
I am so glad I am part of the Lord’s flock! Aren’t you? Regularly I ask myself, “Where would I be if it wasn’t for the Lord in my life?” I can only imagine the misery I would be in. How lost I would be…
There is absolutely no way that we can possibly ignore the fact that our world is full of lost sheep. Every single individual that walks the face of this planet was created by God. He loves them all – no exceptions, no exclusions, no ifs, ands or buts! Jesus proclaimed,
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17, emphasis mine)
But how do we pray? How do we live out our life in Christ? We are perfectly content to interact with sheep who look like us and act like us and talk like us and think like us. …but what about those who are different than us? Not just a little but a lot! What about those who are not only different but quite often are in opposition to us? Do we pray for them? Do we live our lives searching for opportunities to touch them for Your glory, Lord?
Lord Jesus, may this seep into and permeate my heart and soul. May I never be able to escape Your love for Your lost sheep – regardless of where they stand, with or outside the flock. Amen.
July 24th, 2018, Tues, 6:40 am
Cancer of Sin
Dear Father, I want to thank You this morning for being the stabilizing factor in my life. Even with all the ups and downs, You are the hand on my rocking boat. All praise and glory go to You!
Matthew 18:8-9 (<<click the green)
It is pretty rare, but what if you were to develop skin cancer on your hand? Wouldn’t you be concerned? Would you ignore it or would you get it taken care of by a professional as soon as possible?
Addressing it in a timely manner would be the wisest course of action but what if you chose to disregard it? What if you decided that it wasn’t that big of a deal and if you got around to it at some point later in life that would be fine? What if it metastasized and began to affect other areas of your life and not having it removed was now life threatening, what would you do? Close your eyes and pretend that it wasn’t there?
That’s crazy! But isn’t that quite often how we treat sin in our lives? At first, it may be relatively easy to ignore. We keep a lot of our sin hidden from the sight of others. It’s not a big deal. No one can see it. Even though we all realize that God sees everything – we still choose to pretend like our sin isn’t there! God cannot be fooled – the last portion of Numbers 32:23 states “…you may be sure that your sin will find you out.”
Today’s passage of Scripture is a little jarring – and by no means is Jesus implying that we should take His statements literally – but sin in our lives must be radically addressed!
“So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand or one foot than to be thrown into eternal fire with both of your hands and feet.”
Sin must be eradicated! And only we can bring it to the Lord to have it removed. No one else can do it for us and only Christ can remove it!
Lord Jesus, help us all. Absolutely no one is free from sin. We all struggle. We all fall. Not a single one of us is innocent…except You. You are the sinless sacrifice in whom we find salvation. Only You can set us free from the bondage of our sin. You alone are the Great Physician who can eradicate the cancer of sin in our lives.
July 23rd, 2018, Mon, 6:45 am
Lasting Impressions
There has been so much going on, Father, that I have not taken time to sit and write. I have missed our time together. But I know You understand all the intricacies of everything and of course You have never left my side. Thank You, Father, for Your love and guidance. Amen.
Matthew 18:6-7 (<<click the green)
I’ve probably heard this somewhere but it is popping into my thoughts this morning: Children are like freshly poured cement.
This past week as I walked up to my doctor’s office I noticed that at some point the front portion of the sidewalk had been replaced. I was uniformly laid out by those who knew what they were doing. But…on the far left side, someone had left the impressions of their shoes when they had walked on it before it had totally hardened. Permanent impressions left because of someone’s ignorant…or deliberate…act.
Children are impressionable, as well. How the world interacts with them in their developmental years impacts them for the rest of their lives – with both positive…and negative…results.
Lord, as I sit here, my mind is aswirl with the many ways we influence children. As a father, I realize the struggle of striving to be a good parent. I also see where I was not the only one leaving an impression on my son – other family, teachers, fellow churchmen, friends, coaches, books, TV, music…and the list goes on and on, all have left the impression of their “shoes” on him.
And then my mind goes to those children who have been in abusive homes or neglectful homes. I can’t help but think of those exploited by pedophiles and the sex industry – those possibly taken from their loving families’ arms to fulfill some perverted fantasy.
Lord Jesus, I pray for all children today. Some things I can change. Some things I can impact. I can choose to leave my impression on them. But there are some I cannot reach – I pray for them, as well.
“What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting.” Matthew 18:7
July 21st, 2018, Sat, 5:45 am