Forbidden Partnerships

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 ESV
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

Where do we draw the line with relationships with unbelievers? Do we isolate ourselves from unbelievers? (1 Cor 5:9-10). Or if we have an unbelieving spouse, do we leave him/her? (1 Cor 7:12-13). We still have a responsibility to witness for Christ and if we have no contact with those who are without Christ how do we share the gospel?

The term "unequally yoked" gives us a picture of an oxen and a mule teamed up together to plow a field. Because of the uneven weight distribution, an animal is going to end up hurt.

The same is with us, we need to have relationships with unbelievers but we need to be careful of the level of closeness/intimacy in that relationship.

Remember our animal friends? They could walk next to each other without harm but once they were bound together, injury would occur. If the closeness of the relationship causes you to compromise your faith or your Christian walk then you need to cool off the relationship some - take the yoke off.

(Resource: The Life Application© New Testament Commentary©, 2001 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton, IL 60189)

Seek to Reconcile

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ESV
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is a passage telling us how much God wants to reconcile us through Christ. Verse 21 sums it up with that God made Jesus to be sin, who didn't sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God.

We are also told that if we are in Christ we are new and the old has passed away. We are also given the ministry of reconciliation - not just ministers, pastors, and teachers, but everyone.

This is what gets me, if God went to such lengths to reconcile us to Him what right do we have to hold a grudge against someone, especially someone of the household of faith (another Christian). Have I brought this issue up before? Yes. Why? Because Christians everywhere are still under fire; because I don't want to be that person who causes another Christian to stumble (Luke 17:1-4; Mark 9:42; Matthew 18:6-7) because of my an offense towards my pride or my comfort.

We have been given the ministry of reconciliation, to cry out to others to be reconciled to God. How can we, in good conscience, do this when we have trouble reconciling with brothers and sisters with something that in the light of eternity means very little? (Philippians 3:1-8).

The Stable Man

Psalm 15 KJV Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? 2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. 3 He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. 4 In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. 5 He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

Here's the list of qualities of a person who cannot be moved. It's a tall order to live up to:

• walketh uprightly - Right Conduct
• worketh righteousness - Purposely Doing what is Right
• speaketh the truth in his heart - Honest
• backbiteth not with his tongue - Doesn't Slander
• nor doeth evil to his neighbour - Doesn't Harm Others
• nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. - Doesn't Speak Evil of Others
• In whose eyes a vile person is contemned - Doesn't Approve of Those Who Do Evil
• but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. - Does Approve of Those Who Love the Lord
• He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. - Lives Up to His Promises
• He that putteth not out his money to usury, - Doesn't Profit off Those Who Need Money
• nor taketh reward against the innocent. - Doesn't Take Advantage of the Innocent

Not to bypass this portion of scripture, but what does Psalm 16:8 say? Go ahead, look it up. If you don't have a Bible handy, press CTRL and T together - this gives you a new window. Search for "Psalm 16:8," King James will work well - I know the wording is right. Now, what does this verse tell us what is necessary for "being stable?"

How does Psalm 15 and Psalm 16:8 relate to each other? They both speak about "not being moved." How does the requirements from Psalm 15 relate to Psalm 16:8.

One clue and I'll let you have the Bible study: are the requirements in Psalm 15 possible without the actions in Psalm 16:8?

Comfort in Our Sufferings

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 ESV
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

Do you see the trials and sufferings that you go through as a training ground for you to minister to someone in the future? Where does your comfort come from?

Of course, your comfort comes from Christ. When you learn that comfort, what does that compel you to do for others who are suffering?

Verse 4 clears it up: God comforts us, so we can comfort others with the comfort He used to comfort us.

What I learn from this is, I am able to help a Christian grow closer to Christ when I share the comfort I received from Him. Moreover this gives me the chance to share Christ with someone when they ask me how I got through a situation.

We don't have to be pastors and theologians to share what Jesus and knowing Him has done with our lives and how He has comforted us in difficult situations.

Our Shield

Psalm 5:11-12 KJV
11But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

How do we depend on God as our shield?
Verse 11 starts off by saying, "But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice." What I see is that we need to trust Him in all matters. It's common for us to defend ourselves, our spouse, and our children. Does that get in the way of trusting God?

According to this verse, if we set a priority on defending our own, do we lose out on anything? (Careful, this is not a clear-cut yes/no question). This CAN rob us of joy when it is an obsession (or an idol). So, all you "knights on white steads," "survivors," "mama bears," and "helicopter moms" be careful of how you go about defending yourselves and family and check the motivation. I know from first hand experience that this can be a control issue and not putting my trust in the Lord; it did rob me of joy. Enough said.

The Ways of the Worldly

Psalm 10:3-7 KJV
3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.
4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
5 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.
6 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.
7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.

Can you be described like this person at all? We may not see ourselves as being "wicked," but have you let this present world system affect your life where you emulate the wicked described here?

Let's break down the passage a bit:
• Takes pride in his desires.
• Approves of people "wanting to keep up with Jones"
• Doesn't desire God, but rather his own opinions.
• He always acts in disobedience to what would please God.
• He finds security in himself.
• He is a master of putting others down, trickery, and cheating.
• He is always looking for the unethical loophole or angle that puts him in a better position.

I tried to word the list so you could identify the traits in our culture. I have to admit that I am not innocent of these. But I will tell you that I never thought of myself as wicked. If you are like me, when you see a list describing the wicked you just glance over it, because you are not wicked it doesn't apply to you.

The world system approves of the traits listed above, but what is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:15). Don't let the world deceive you.

Respect the King

1 Samuel 24:1-7 ESV
1When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 2Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats' Rocks. 3And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. 4And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe. 5And afterward David's heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. 6He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord's anointed.” 7So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.

I have brought this up before about David and Saul. Even though Saul turned away from the Lord and was out to kill David, David never rose his hand against Saul. The main reason is that God put Saul in place - he was God's anointed.

David had the perfect chance to destroy the one who was after him, to end his current problems. He even felt ashamed for clipping off part of Saul's garment. Why? Because he trusted in God's sovereignty.

There are two important lessons that I get from this. I need to respect those in authority over me. Just because their methods are different from mine does not give me the right to destroy them. We find this too common in the church - a pastor or leader comes in doing things different than what the church body is used to and the guy gets nailed to a tree through his back. And many times its not because he, the pastor, is straying from God's word but has decided to try new methods in ministry. Be careful if you are one of those who stir up trouble because a leader has instituted change in your stagnant life.

The second thing I learn from this passage applies both to my response to leaders and laypersons - if I'm endeavoring to live godly in Christ Jesus, then God my Father will take care of the injustice that occurs in my life. David chose correctly when Saul's life was in his hands: he chose to let go and let God the Father take care of the situation. When revenge grips us, when we are obsessed with our justice, we start to stray from the glorious creation that God had in mind for us. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we die to self. We don't die to let jealousy and strife to control us. We die to self so we can have an easier time of obeying the Father and choosing to love Him and others.

Many times we have the ability to obtain justice for ourselves, but think, is it worth the cost? Are you willing to make yourself god? Respect your KING.