Good morning to everyone. Grace and peace be with you.
Can you believe that we are halfway through the year? The time just seems to fly by.
This morning I played the ‘open the bible’ game again. The first book it landed in is Ezekiel. I am still working on grasping those areas. I opted for a re-spin. Flipping the pages randomly, I landed on the page for the last of Romans and the beginning of 1 Corinthians. Quickly I scanned from left to right and found my eyes gravitating to a passage in Romans 15.
I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. – Romans 15:14
As I continued to read that area where Paul was ministering to the Gentiles, I thought about how there was such a rift between the Jews and the Gentiles at the time. How the Jews thought of the Gentile as unworthy…as it were.
My question is this… How often do we do that?
How often do we allow our personal feelings over cloud our Christian responsibility to show love. To educate. To include in the sharing of knowledge. To invite to the Kingdom.
Perhaps we have approached one individual, and we were met with a huge wall of push back and disdain. Perhaps that individual went as far as smearing your name in sarcastic slander. In this situation, it would be easy to walk away and say they made their choice. But what if, God purposefully placed them in your path to show mercy, grace and unconditional love. What if it was you that was to show how forgiveness truly works.
How do you respond if someone asks you a question about Jesus? Do you pass them off to someone else or do you explain it the best that your understanding will allow, with a footnote that you know someone who can better answer their question? Or … do you brush them off because of something that happened a long time ago that you cannot let go of?
Regardless of the sin, because all sin is equal in the eyes of God, everyone on Earth is welcome to the table of Christ…AS LONG AS…they surrender to Him. We do not have the authority to choose whom we want in there and whom we do not. Our sin may not be as evil as s theirs by world standards, but by God’s we all fall short.
A few years ago there was a court case where this man killed a bunch of people, was caught and found guilty. The families of victims were allowed to speak before sentencing. All of them, less one, spoke of his evil event and how he should receive the same treatment as he dished out. However, the last father, stood before the court, looked the man in the eye, expressed his sorrow for his own loss…but then expressed sorrow for the convicted man and issued to him from his heart … forgiveness for his actions and that he was praying that the murderer finds Jesus.
If someone approaches you and starts asking questions…pray for guidance and then answer in the best of your ability. If someone harms you or your spirit, pray for the strength to do what is right and forgive them. Not forgiving them does not hurt them…it hurts you. When you encounter a situation that you are not sure about, pray for wisdom. Prayer does not have to be 2 hours of conversation; it can be 30 seconds of “God help me please”.
I realize that this one might be a little all over the place, but the summary of it all is this…everyone deserves an opportunity to enter the gates of Heaven. All Christians are qualified to answer questions and guide as their spirit directs them.
Be blessed today my friends.
*** I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. – Romans 15:14
Can you believe that we are halfway through the year? The time just seems to fly by.
This morning I played the ‘open the bible’ game again. The first book it landed in is Ezekiel. I am still working on grasping those areas. I opted for a re-spin. Flipping the pages randomly, I landed on the page for the last of Romans and the beginning of 1 Corinthians. Quickly I scanned from left to right and found my eyes gravitating to a passage in Romans 15.
I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. – Romans 15:14
As I continued to read that area where Paul was ministering to the Gentiles, I thought about how there was such a rift between the Jews and the Gentiles at the time. How the Jews thought of the Gentile as unworthy…as it were.
My question is this… How often do we do that?
How often do we allow our personal feelings over cloud our Christian responsibility to show love. To educate. To include in the sharing of knowledge. To invite to the Kingdom.
Perhaps we have approached one individual, and we were met with a huge wall of push back and disdain. Perhaps that individual went as far as smearing your name in sarcastic slander. In this situation, it would be easy to walk away and say they made their choice. But what if, God purposefully placed them in your path to show mercy, grace and unconditional love. What if it was you that was to show how forgiveness truly works.
How do you respond if someone asks you a question about Jesus? Do you pass them off to someone else or do you explain it the best that your understanding will allow, with a footnote that you know someone who can better answer their question? Or … do you brush them off because of something that happened a long time ago that you cannot let go of?
Regardless of the sin, because all sin is equal in the eyes of God, everyone on Earth is welcome to the table of Christ…AS LONG AS…they surrender to Him. We do not have the authority to choose whom we want in there and whom we do not. Our sin may not be as evil as s theirs by world standards, but by God’s we all fall short.
A few years ago there was a court case where this man killed a bunch of people, was caught and found guilty. The families of victims were allowed to speak before sentencing. All of them, less one, spoke of his evil event and how he should receive the same treatment as he dished out. However, the last father, stood before the court, looked the man in the eye, expressed his sorrow for his own loss…but then expressed sorrow for the convicted man and issued to him from his heart … forgiveness for his actions and that he was praying that the murderer finds Jesus.
If someone approaches you and starts asking questions…pray for guidance and then answer in the best of your ability. If someone harms you or your spirit, pray for the strength to do what is right and forgive them. Not forgiving them does not hurt them…it hurts you. When you encounter a situation that you are not sure about, pray for wisdom. Prayer does not have to be 2 hours of conversation; it can be 30 seconds of “God help me please”.
I realize that this one might be a little all over the place, but the summary of it all is this…everyone deserves an opportunity to enter the gates of Heaven. All Christians are qualified to answer questions and guide as their spirit directs them.
Be blessed today my friends.
*** I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. – Romans 15:14
Good morning to everyone. Grace and peace be with you.
Can you believe that we are halfway through the year? The time just seems to fly by.
This morning I played the ‘open the bible’ game again. The first book it landed in is Ezekiel. I am still working on grasping those areas. I opted for a re-spin. Flipping the pages randomly, I landed on the page for the last of Romans and the beginning of 1 Corinthians. Quickly I scanned from left to right and found my eyes gravitating to a passage in Romans 15.
I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. – Romans 15:14
As I continued to read that area where Paul was ministering to the Gentiles, I thought about how there was such a rift between the Jews and the Gentiles at the time. How the Jews thought of the Gentile as unworthy…as it were.
My question is this… How often do we do that?
How often do we allow our personal feelings over cloud our Christian responsibility to show love. To educate. To include in the sharing of knowledge. To invite to the Kingdom.
Perhaps we have approached one individual, and we were met with a huge wall of push back and disdain. Perhaps that individual went as far as smearing your name in sarcastic slander. In this situation, it would be easy to walk away and say they made their choice. But what if, God purposefully placed them in your path to show mercy, grace and unconditional love. What if it was you that was to show how forgiveness truly works.
How do you respond if someone asks you a question about Jesus? Do you pass them off to someone else or do you explain it the best that your understanding will allow, with a footnote that you know someone who can better answer their question? Or … do you brush them off because of something that happened a long time ago that you cannot let go of?
Regardless of the sin, because all sin is equal in the eyes of God, everyone on Earth is welcome to the table of Christ…AS LONG AS…they surrender to Him. We do not have the authority to choose whom we want in there and whom we do not. Our sin may not be as evil as s theirs by world standards, but by God’s we all fall short.
A few years ago there was a court case where this man killed a bunch of people, was caught and found guilty. The families of victims were allowed to speak before sentencing. All of them, less one, spoke of his evil event and how he should receive the same treatment as he dished out. However, the last father, stood before the court, looked the man in the eye, expressed his sorrow for his own loss…but then expressed sorrow for the convicted man and issued to him from his heart … forgiveness for his actions and that he was praying that the murderer finds Jesus.
If someone approaches you and starts asking questions…pray for guidance and then answer in the best of your ability. If someone harms you or your spirit, pray for the strength to do what is right and forgive them. Not forgiving them does not hurt them…it hurts you. When you encounter a situation that you are not sure about, pray for wisdom. Prayer does not have to be 2 hours of conversation; it can be 30 seconds of “God help me please”.
I realize that this one might be a little all over the place, but the summary of it all is this…everyone deserves an opportunity to enter the gates of Heaven. All Christians are qualified to answer questions and guide as their spirit directs them.
Be blessed today my friends.
*** I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. – Romans 15:14
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