GIVE YOUR STRENGTH TO GOD


2 TIMOTHY 3:12 “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in union with Christ Jesus will be persecuted; and evil persons and imposters will keep on going from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves. But as for you, continue in the truths that you were taught and firmly believe. You know who your teachers were, and you remember that ever since you were a child, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”


...Remember, that all through history, the way to truth and love has always won. Tyrants and murderers, for a time, they seem invincible, but, in the end they always fall... Think about it....Always.
- Mohandas K. Gandhi


I just finished reading the book “99 Annoying Attributes of God” by Ray Albrekson, Janet Kobobel, Grant Alan, Gary Stanley and Kirsten Wilson. It is a collection of what the writers consider to be, well, annoying attributes of God. Most of the 99 attributes are backed up by scripture to give us a clearer view of why we don’t always see eye to eye with God.

I have been having a lot of conversations with God Lately that concern my pent up anger towards people who have hurt my family in one way or another. Not physically, mind you, but emotionally, verbally and spiritually. My main questions for God is how to best address the issue of wrongful persecution. The internet, gossipers, people with grudges and just plain mean spirited people can cause a great deal of damage just by opening their mouths and swaying others to chip in with this type of abuse.

Why do some people feel it is necessary to inflict malicious behavior on someone else? Is it because they feel inferior and need to shoot down someone else because of that person’s success? Is it because they have this fear of not knowing what the other person intends to do, so they do whatever is needed to stop the other person, whether the reasons are just or not.

It doesn’t matter where you work, where you live, or what organizations you belong to, there will most likely be people that don’t like what you do, say or wear and they will eventually spew out venomous accusations to others about you in hopes of you being labeled as a bad person.

So, what is the answer? What does God want us to do? In the scripture above it says we should remain truthful to what we were taught as a child. Can we do this? What about the people who have caused this harm? Is Gandhi correct?

It takes great strength to keep true. Give that strength to God and let Him take control.

CAN WE LIVE BY THE SPIRIT?

GALATIONS 5:16-18, 19a, 20b, 21b, 22, 23 What I say is this: let the Spirit direct your lives, and you will not satisfy the desires of the human nature. For what our human nature wants is opposed to what the Spirit wants, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to what our human nature wants. These two are enemies, and this means you cannot do what you want to do. If the Spirit leads you, then you are not subject to the law. 19a What human nature does is quite plain. It shows itself in immoral, filthy and in indecent actions. 20b People become enemies and they fight; they become jealous, angry, and ambitious. They separate into parties and groups. 21b I warn you now as I have before: those who do these things will not possess the Kingdom of God.

22, 23 But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these.

A pastor posed a question to the congregation: “What do most people look for in a church?”

For a long time I have asked myself this same question: What am I looking for in a church? And, What can I do in a church to help others find what they are looking for? I believe the questions are very easy to answer, by following verse 22, and living out those actions with sincerity. But, in reality, anything worthy of God’s blessing does not come easy.

God should be at the center of any church’s life. The style in which we worship, serve, and minister to others can only be worthy if we let God’s Spirit guide us in all that we do.

A church’s direction doesn’t come easy either. Every church has its share of conflicts in carrying out its ministry, most are small and are eventually resolved. However, some conflicts have been known to get so large that they engulf many people and in the end, deep wounds are left. If a church’s conflicts become more prevalent, the focus on its true ministry can suffer greatly, and that can only lead to the destruction of the church body.

When God is left out of any conflict in the church, how can anything be resolved? Worse is when scripture is used out of context to help some feel better of themselves. It is easy to let our own need for control to take over, when in fact, we should go to God and ask his guidance.

Our human nature is always there, ready to take control of our actions, our reactions and our convictions. That is why we need to keep God at the center of ALL things. God is patient and can teach us all we need to know, so that our lives will grow in the spirit of God’s will for us.

To live in the Spirit of Christ, we must be willing to let that Spirit take control of our minds and our bodies. Living out our lives with that Spirit within us will give the church a life that I want to be a part of. Where the church goes from there is in God’s hands.

Can we live by the Spirit?

John