1 Samuel 11:12-15 ESV
12 Then the people said to Samuel, "Who is it that said, 'Shall Saul reign over us?' Bring the men, that we may put them to death." 13 But Saul said, "Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel." 14 Then Samuel said to the people, "Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom." 15 So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
In the light of Lord's mighty act of saving Israel, Saul refused to take revenge on his "backbiting enemies." Israel was ready to put this group of people to death. Saul chose to focus on the mightiness of God instead of focusing on a personal vendetta.
So have you reflected this on yourself yet? If you follow this blog you know I'm going to ask you to do so. Is there that one person among the brethren (remember the group that was against Saul were Hebrews) that you think would make life better if they were just not around? That person who you don't talk around and if you do you measure every word carefully for fear of your words being turned around? Or that person who makes you feel less than who you are? Or that person who is just like fingernails on a chalkboard around you?
Now that you have thought through and identified those of the brethren that you don't want to be around, take the time to identify where your focus is. Do you focus on the almighty God, Christ crucified, the indwelling Holy Spirit? Or do you focus on your personal comfort? All Christians are at different levels of maturity in their walk; you may want to pray for or even pray with these people. You may want to go out of your way to show love to them. If Jesus could die on a cross for these folks, you probably can surprise them by taking them a dinner or taking them out. Just a suggestion, but you see where I am going with this. If Christ was willing to die for His enemies, and even Saul, an imperfect king, was willing to overlook attacks, can you look past personality differences and put God first in all your relationships?
Showing posts with label brother. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brother. Show all posts
Friday, August 8, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Unity, An Annointing
Psalm 133:1-2 ESV
1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!
Look at Exodus 29:21; Leviticus 8:2-12 and Leviticus 8:30. Why was there oil on Aaron's head? Not only was it to anoint him as a priest, but as Lev 8:12 puts it, it was to sanctify him as well.
Now when Christians live in unity it is likened to that same anointing and sanctification. Remember, you are a priest (1 Pet 2:9). Also, look at the importance that our Lord put on loving others: Matthew 22:37-40; John 13:34; John 15:12, 17. Jesus said that loving God and loving others summed up all the law and prophets. The epistles, especially 1 John echo how important it is to love the brethren. And the first letter to the Corinthians also speaks of the importance of unity.
How do you achieve unity? I've already given you the first clue on that - loving your brother. Yes, we've addressed this. But we have an enemy who knows how to trip us up. If everything seems to be going great in your walk with the Lord, be on your guard - you probably aren't too far from a word being spoken that will be misunderstood or taken out of context. It could be with your spouse, it could be in your family, it can even be within the body of Christ. Look at how special the Lord portrays unity. Our enemy is wanting to destroy it.
Love, pray, live the Word and pursue unity even in the face of adversity. Don't worry about yourself - you don't need to get revenge; you don't have to exact justice. You have to let the Lord take care of you and your brother (or sister) in Christ. You don't need to worry about yourself because you died to self when you accepted Jesus into your life. Your task is found in Philippians 2:3-4.
Try that and see if unity increases around you.
1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!
Look at Exodus 29:21; Leviticus 8:2-12 and Leviticus 8:30. Why was there oil on Aaron's head? Not only was it to anoint him as a priest, but as Lev 8:12 puts it, it was to sanctify him as well.
Now when Christians live in unity it is likened to that same anointing and sanctification. Remember, you are a priest (1 Pet 2:9). Also, look at the importance that our Lord put on loving others: Matthew 22:37-40; John 13:34; John 15:12, 17. Jesus said that loving God and loving others summed up all the law and prophets. The epistles, especially 1 John echo how important it is to love the brethren. And the first letter to the Corinthians also speaks of the importance of unity.
How do you achieve unity? I've already given you the first clue on that - loving your brother. Yes, we've addressed this. But we have an enemy who knows how to trip us up. If everything seems to be going great in your walk with the Lord, be on your guard - you probably aren't too far from a word being spoken that will be misunderstood or taken out of context. It could be with your spouse, it could be in your family, it can even be within the body of Christ. Look at how special the Lord portrays unity. Our enemy is wanting to destroy it.
Love, pray, live the Word and pursue unity even in the face of adversity. Don't worry about yourself - you don't need to get revenge; you don't have to exact justice. You have to let the Lord take care of you and your brother (or sister) in Christ. You don't need to worry about yourself because you died to self when you accepted Jesus into your life. Your task is found in Philippians 2:3-4.
Try that and see if unity increases around you.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Strengthening the Weak
Romans 15:1-2
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
We touched on this a couple of days ago, so lets go in a little deeper. There are two things we are tempted to do when we encounter another Christian who has stumbled: 1) To criticize and judge; 2) To gloat or take joy in their failings. Have you been someone who succumbed to temptation and joined one of these camps? I have and thus I put myself in the same situation as my stumbling brother - maybe not the same in human eyes, but to God, I have sinned just the same.
The answer to this dilemma was given in verse 2, we are to build up, strengthen, our brother for his good. What does the Lord do? Ps 37:23-24. You need to look that up to answer the question. So if we follow the Lord's example, what do we do? Eccl. 4:9-10.
Decide today, the next time you see another Christian stumbling, will you destroy them (please yourself) or will you build them up?
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
We touched on this a couple of days ago, so lets go in a little deeper. There are two things we are tempted to do when we encounter another Christian who has stumbled: 1) To criticize and judge; 2) To gloat or take joy in their failings. Have you been someone who succumbed to temptation and joined one of these camps? I have and thus I put myself in the same situation as my stumbling brother - maybe not the same in human eyes, but to God, I have sinned just the same.
The answer to this dilemma was given in verse 2, we are to build up, strengthen, our brother for his good. What does the Lord do? Ps 37:23-24. You need to look that up to answer the question. So if we follow the Lord's example, what do we do? Eccl. 4:9-10.
Decide today, the next time you see another Christian stumbling, will you destroy them (please yourself) or will you build them up?
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