Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Tuesday's with Jesus #93

#93 "All His Benefits #2"
April 24, 2007
"Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits -- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases..." (Psalm 103: 2-3)
 
Last week we began our study of Psalm 103. We learned that we must praise God for who He is and for all that He has done for us. We learned that we are to praise Him with our entire beings. Remember entering His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise? Did you get into the throne room of the King this week? Did you remember all that He has done for you, thank Him for it and get in the gates? Did you praise Him, wholeheartedly, and receive entrance into His courts? I hope so. I left you last week with the command of God's word to "forget not all His benefits." To review, the Hebrew meaning of "benefits" are the dealings of God's hand to you. Well, my friend, that was the appetizer. I pray that you're hungry for more. Let's get into the next course of our spiritual meal and see just what some of those benefits are.
 
Verse 3 tells us that God, "forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases." Right here, David begins to praise God for his personal blessings. Let's look at these benefits one at a time.
 
"Who forgives all your sins"--- Take a look at three other translations: "[God] who is forgiving all thine iniquities." (Young's Literal Translation); "Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities". (Amplified Bible); and "He forgives your sins - every one." (The Message) The Hebrew word used for "forgives" is "calach". It means to pardon, to spare. God forgives you. He pardons you. He spares you from the just penalty that your sins deserve. Isn't that the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Our sins demand judgement and punishment before a holy God, but we learn that we are forgiven in Christ. Isaiah 53: 5 says this, "But He was pierced for our transgressions (pesa-rebellion), He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him.."   
 
Notice two things with me. First, notice that it says "all your sins". It does not say, "some of your sins" or "most of your sins" or "all of them except that big one" or even not "all of them but the one you're in now." The Bible says, ALL. That's every last one. "All" means the whole amount or quantity of. This may seem like the milk of the Word, but until we grab a hold of this truth, we will never be ready for the solid food of the mature believer. (see Hebrews 5: 13-14) If you are still allowing the devil to beat you up over your sins, or if you are still beating yourself up....live on this verse of Scripture until it becomes real to you. I don't care what you've done. I don't care what you may be doing right now. The Word says that He forgives it all. I believe that there is someone out there, right now, that needs to hear those words. You are forgiven!!
 
I love the Young's Literal Translation above. It says, God "is forgiving all thine iniquities." That's the present tense. We know that our sins were forgiven on the Cross at Calvary. One of my commentaries says this, "God is still forgiving-as we are still sinning and repenting." It's a continual process and God is faithful. He will continue to forgive until we go home to Glory. 
 
"...and heals all your diseases" :  Again, let's look at the other translations. "Who is healing all thy diseases" (Young's Literal Translation); "Who heals [each one of] your diseases." (Amplified Bible); and "He heals your diseases - every one." (The Message) Again, remember "ALL". The whole amount or quantity of. The Hebrew word for "heals" is "raphah" from which we get one of the names of God, "Jehovah Raphah". "Raphah" means to cure, cause to heal, repair, make whole. It pictures a physician. The verb root expresses the thought emphatically...God heals thoroughly! It is also a picture of mending by stitching. God, the Divine physician, stitching and mending YOU back together again. Taking what is sick, what is broken, what is shattered, what is diseased and mending you into wholeness and perfect health.
 
Dr. Arthur T. Pierson once said in a sermon preached in London, England, that one of the marked proofs of our failure to live up to the light we have, is found in our failure to obey the commandment in James' epistle, "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and pray over him." We rush at once to secure human aid, forgetting even to pray as we go, or that He who formed us and through whose blessing alone the human means can be effective, is "OUR PHYSICIAN." That leads me to the next thing that I want to say.
 
This healing thing is where it gets tricky. Maybe it's because of the bad rap "healing ministries" have gotten in the last few years. The way that I see it is that we readily believe that all of our sins are forgiven. We have no problem believing that God will supply our material needs. We believe for salvation for our loved one. We believe for deliverance from addictions. We believe for all kinds of things, but we fail to believe that God really is a God who heals ALL of our diseases. Did you agree with the Word spoken above that says God forgives ALL of your sins? Do you shout Amen! and Hallelujah! to that? Well, the same Bible, the same Word of God, follows that statement with "[He] heals ALL your diseases." You either believe the Bible or you don't. Does God heal or doesn't He? The Bible says that He does. God says it....to me that settles it!
 
Isaiah 53: 4 says, "Surely He took up [carried] our infirmities." Literally, the infirmities were our sickness. Later in verse 5, it says, "by His wounds we are healed." Psalm 107 tells us that God sends forth His Word and heals us. He delivers the sick from death and restores us to health. In Exodus 15: 26, God Himself says, "I am the Lord, who heals you." I don't think the problem lies in God's word. I think it lies in our inability, for some reason, to not believe His Word!  I am not here to debate the question of why some folks don't get healed. I am just saying that God in His Word, by His Holy Spirit, says that He heals all of our diseases and He calls Himself my Healer. I must choose to believe that and not waver from that truth. It is my responsibility to believe and obey the Word of God. It is God who is responsible for the consequences of my belief and obedience.     
 
I hope that you're enjoying the main course of your meal. Now rest between bites. Don't gulp it down too fast just because it tastes delicious. Allow the nutrients and nourishment of what you've just read to be absorbed into your spirit this week. Rest in these truths a little before next week when we feed some more on God's wonderful benefits. Yes, there are more! In a few weeks, I promise you, you are going to be so full. This is manna from heaven that you're eating. If your spirit is denied this heavenly food, you will become spiritually weak. Let's eat this manna, be strong, and live!
 
Hungrier than ever,
 
Donna Schultz                                                                             

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Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Tuesday's with Jesus #92

#92 "All His Benefits"
April 17, 2007
"Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits--" (Psalm 103: 1-2) Passage Lookup: Psalm 103
 
 
I've heard some people say that you can't know God. I've heard it said that we can only obey Him, but never really know Him. To refute this idea, you only have to spend some time reading Psalm 103 in God's precious Word. In this psalm written by David, God pulls the curtain back and allows us to see His glory. Are you having trouble seeing God today? Do you feel like you've been seeking but not finding? Well, I invite you to pull up a seat, get comfy and spend some time with me as God pulls the curtain back for you...yes, you! We're going to take this slow, so that you can drink in the riches of what God, by His Spirit and His Word is saying to you today about Himself. It will be life changing, my friend..I promise you that it will. 
 
I'd like to camp out here for a few weeks, if that's okay with you. The nourishment in these words is too awesome to eat quickly. We need to savor each line, each precept, each revelation, like we would a fine meal. We'll take a look at small bites each week until we're finished, full and completely satisfied that we can know God, that He is awesome and that His revelations about Himself can affect every fiber of our being and every moment of our lives. So pull up your chair, put your napkin on your lap and let's begin....
 
One of my commentaries says this about Psalm 103. "This hymn of praise is without a peer in all the world's literature." (The Wycliffe Bible Commentary) David is stirring himself up and talking to his own soul. He is exciting his soul to praise God. Don't you know that sometimes in this world of troubles and problems and struggles that we have to talk ourselves into focusing on and praising God? We must purposefully fix our eyes on Jesus, not on the circumstances around us. There is no sorrow, complaining or sadness in the psalmists words. He is deliberately telling himself to praise God. The King James Version says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul..." The Hebrew meaning to "bless" is to kneel, and to adore. To paraphrase, David is saying, "Listen to me soul...get on your knees and bless the Lord, praise Him. Stop thinking about your issues and your problems. Praise God!"
 
David tells himself to praise with all of his entire being. This is not just lip service here. It is praise with the whole heart. Your soul is that which breathes within you. It is your inner being and the seat of your appetites, emotions and passions. All of your faculties and powers should be used to magnify God for His blessings and mercies to you. The Message translation of the Bible says to bless the Lord "from head to toe". Bless Him with all that is within you. And what are you to bless and praise? "His Holy Name."
 
The King James Dictionary says this about God's name: "In Scripture, the name of God signifies his titles, his attributes, his will or purpose, his honor and glory, his word, his grace, his wisdom, power and goodness, his worship or service, or God himself."  God's name is His reputation, His fame and His glory. It is all that He is. He is unfailingly loving. He is merciful. He is compassionate. He is gracious. He is unwaveringly forgiving. He is abundantly patient and long suffering with us. He is great. He is glorious. He is excellent. He is wise. And that's only the beginning. I'm getting excited here and I don't want to get ahead of myself. We'll cover all those attributes of God's name in the coming weeks. But, I hope that you get the idea of what it means to praise His Holy Name. The picture that you need to capture is ALL of you, praising and blessing ALL of God.
 
We always want to praise God for who He is. That's first and foremost because He is worthy to be praised simply because He is! He is God. But in this passage we see that it is okay to also praise Him for "all His benefits". We are exhorted by David to "forget not all His benefits". To forget is to ignore or cease to care. On the positive side we are encouraged to call all of God's blessings and benefits to our recollection. We are to record them as an everlasting memorial to His goodness to us. It's counting your blessings. It's thanking God for all that He has done for you. Your praise is certainly warranted in view of the Lord's many benefits to you. The Hebrew meaning of "benefits" are the dealings of God's hand to you. His recompense and His reward to you. 
 
We know that "every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (James 1: 17) You have nothing...no thing...that hasn't been given to you from God's hand. He is the source of everything that you have. It's not your spouse, it's not your job, it's not your friends, it's not your church. It's not even your good works. Everything that you have finds it's source in the mighty and gracious hand of God. So, praise Him and thank Him for them.
 
These first two verses of Psalm 103 are already so rich with truth. We've talked about praising and thanking God with our whole beings. We've been encouraged to not be subdued in worshiping our God. We are to "enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name". (Psalm 100: 4) Do you want entry into the King's inner courts? Go through the gates with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is your entry ticket through the gates. Don't stay on the outside, looking in. Then let praise take you all of the way into the King's inner courts. Into the Holy of Holies.  Into the place of the mercy seat. The place where you find "mercy and grace to help [you] in time of need." (Hebrews 4: 16)
 
As for those benefits...we'll start looking at those next Tuesday.
 
Until next week, 
 
Donna Schultz                                                                             

See www.tuesdayswithjesus.blogspot.com for archives.        

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Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Tuesday's with Jesus #91

#91 "Have You Seen Jesus?"
April 10, 2007
"When He was at the table with them, He took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight." (Luke 24: 30-31)
 
On the first day of the week, two of Jesus' disciples were on their way to Emmaus. They were discussing all of the events of the last couple of days. To say that they were confused and disheartened would be an understatement. The elation and anticipation they had experienced recently had quickly turned to feelings of hopelessness. The One that they hoped would be the Redeemer and Messiah of Israel was dead. He had been beaten, mocked, scourged and crucified. Buried in a borrowed tomb. And now....they heard that the body was gone! What's up with this?
 
The Bible says that Jesus himself comes along and walks with them, but He kept them from recognizing Him. He asks them what they're talking about and they look at Him, wondering if He's been living under a rock for the past couple of days. Surely EVERYONE knew about what had happened! 
 
So they tell Jesus the story. That's what is seems like to me, anyway. A story. They knew all about Jesus. He was "a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people." They knew about His sentencing and death. They knew the body was gone. But now, it was over...at least they thought it was. Maybe because Jesus was just a story to them. They knew about Him, but they had never really grasped Who He was and what He was really all about. Yes, they had followed Him. Yes, they heard Him teach. Yes, they saw the signs and wonders that He performed. But they never really SAW HIM.
 
Many today, like our Emmaus traveling friends, know the story of Jesus. They know all about Him and what happened to Him. People even believe in Him. They believe the story. They believe His life, His death and even His resurrection from the dead. They believe enough to stay out of hell when they die. But have they really seen Him? What about you? Have you really seen Jesus?
 
Jesus decides to explain to them all that was said about Him in the Scriptures concerning Himself. When it looked like Jesus would keep going down the road, they "urged Him strongly" to stay with them. There is step number one in truly seeing Jesus. Don't let Him keep on going down the road. Urge Him to stay with you! Once you find Him, don't let Him go! Keep Him close. Sit at the table with Him and let Him break the Bread of His Word for you. Take it and eat. Seek Him until you really find Him. Don't be contented with just knowing about Him. He tells you to seek Him and you will find Him. Seek with diligence. Seek with all of your heart. Seek Him like you're seeking silver or gold. The Savior, the one that sees your heart, will let you find Him. My beloved friend, if you've never sought Him wholeheartedly and allowed Him to let you find Him in your seeking, you don't know what you're missing. Even if you don't fully understand what seeking and finding Him means...just ask Him ... He'll show you.
 
After He disappeared from their sight, the disciples said, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" Now, that's what I'm talking about!!! This is where it all moved from their heads to their hearts. The transition point. Hearts burning!! Step two and three in really seeing Jesus. Talking with Him and studying His Word. Prayer and reading the Bible. Not just knowing the story, but having a relationship with the One that the story is about. Jesus... moving from your head to the very depths of your heart. A heart yearning for more of Him. A heart that burns when He speaks just to you. Again, if you've never experienced this and you don't know how...ask Him...He'll show you. Ask from a genuine, honest, seeking heart. He wants to be in relationship with you. He wants you to know Him in your heart, not just in your head. He will answer your plea! Don't be contented with escaping hell when you die...find abundant life here...in the land of the living! (Psalm 27: 13)
 
Stay close to Jesus. Pray. Read your Bible. Seek Him. Then you will be able to sing with me these words from a song by the Christian group Avalon:
 
"He's everything to me.
More than a story.
More than words on a page of history.
He's the air that I breathe.
The water I thirst for.
He's the ground beneath my feet.
He's everything to me."
 
From a burning heart,
 
Donna Schultz                                                                             

See www.tuesdayswithjesus.blogspot.com for archives.        

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Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Tuesday's with Jesus #90

#90 "Strife..."
April 3, 2007
"Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." (James 3: 13-18 KJV)
 
Last week I asked you to picture your problem in your mind. This week I'm beginning with a question, then a picture. Question: Are you angry with someone right now? Are you in strife with someone or a few someones, right now...today? Okay...now...picture that person(s) in your mind. Do you have it? Good...
 
Maybe you aren't quite sure. If that's the case, let's begin by examining exactly what "strife" is. Strife is defined in the dictionary as "a bitter sometimes violent conflict or dissension, an act of contention." Synonyms for strife are: Fight. Struggle. Discord. "Discord" is a lack of agreement or harmony (between persons, things or ideas). Active quarreling or conflict resulting from discord among persons or factions. A state or condition marked by a lack of agreement or harmony. Quarreling, factions, antagonism. Struggling for victory or superiority. Got the picture? So...would you honestly admit that you are in strife with someone at this very moment?
 
Strife is as old as the days of Abraham. Genesis 13:7 says, "There was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot." But Abram knew the danger of strife. In verse 8, he quickly addresses the issue when he says, "Let there be no strife I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren." (The Hebrew meaning used here for "strife" was "quarrel or provocation.") Abram saw the danger and dealt with the strife aggressively. I am struck by his comment, "for we be brethren". Is the strife you have today, with your husband, your children, your family of origin or indeed with a "brethren" from the Body of Christ? My prayer today is that I may be able to show you the insidious nature and real danger of allowing that strife to stay in your life. I am going to use most of the Scripture from the King James Version of the Bible because the words are so rich. 
 
You may think that the relationship difficulties you are experiencing don't really matter. That they are petty or unimportant. You may even be used to living in strife with someone all the time. Some folks, for some reason unknown to me, thrive on strife. If you think it's no big deal...you couldn't be more wrong! Do you remember the "Sta-Puf Marshmallow Man" from the movie "Ghostbusters"? He sure was cute when he came waddling down the middle of the street, wasn't he? He looked kind of cuddly and sweet. But do you remember how his facial expression changed suddenly to a look of pure evil? Do you remember when he exploded? There was marshmallow everywhere!! On everything! Well, that's a crude example of the effect of strife in your life. It seems harmless. It might even be a little fun to talk about someone, argue with them or harbor a little resentment in your heart. But watch out....quickly it can take on an evil expression and explode into something that will be on every area of your life and very difficult to clean up. Strife is nothing to play around with, my dear friend!
 
So now that we know what strife is and what it looks like, let's see where it comes from. What are its roots? After doing a study of every verse in the Bible that contains the word "strife", I've come up with a few root causes that I'd like to share and ask that you honestly, before God, check out in your life. 
 
Anger stirs up strife. Proverbs 15:18 says, "A wrathful (hot-tempered) man stirreth up strife, but he that is slow to anger (patient) appeaseth strife (calms a quarrel)." (KJV and NIV) Proverbs 16: 28 says, "A perverse man stirs up strife." Proverbs 29:22..."An angry man stirreth up strife." Proverbs 30: 33..."For as churning the milk produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife." The words for "churning", "twisting" and "stirring" are all the same Hebrew word "mis" and mean "squeezing or wringing". The word is used only here in the Old Testament. Anger stirs up strife and acts against peace. Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the shoes of peace. Stomp around in your muddy boots of anger long enough and watch the strife take over your life! 
 
Meddling in other peoples affairs stirs up strife.  Proverbs 26: 17 says, "He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears." When you grab a dog by it's ears, you can expect to be bitten. Meddling will bite you and bring you strife that shouldn't have been there in the first place...mind your own business!
 
Gossip causes strife. Proverbs 26: 20 says, "Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out; so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth." Do you want to be a conduit for peace? Stop gossiping and talebearing. Stop talking about them, stop telling everybody what so and so did to you. Keep the confidences that others have shared with you. Ask God to put a guard over the door of your lips and don't gossip.
 
Loving to quarrel causes strife. I've never quite understood this one, but many people have shared with me that quarreling was a normal way of life for so long, that they don't know how to function any other way. But the Amplified Bible tells me that, "He who loves strife and is quarrelsome loves transgression (sin) and involves himself in guilt." (Proverbs 17:19a) Proverbs 20:3 says, "It is to a man's honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel." God isn't calling you a fool now, is He? No offense, but if you love a quarrel, I think He is! In the NIV, God says in Proverbs 26:21, "As charcoal is to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling (heating up) strife." 1 Timothy 6 tells us that if we are "following false doctrine and not agreeing with the sound instructions of Jesus Christ, we have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain."  Can you see the tentacles of strife growing into dangerous places. The marshmallow oozing onto other areas of your life? Don't love a quarrel!
 
And just how do you prevent yourself from quarreling? First learn to overlook insults (see Proverbs 12:16). Drop potentially volatile issues (Proverbs 17: 14). Drive out the mocker. Proverbs 22:10 says, "Drive out the mocker and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended. NIV)
 
Pride and greed stir up strife. Proverbs 28:25 says, "He that is of a proud (greedy NIV) heart stirreth up strife; but he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat (will prosper NIV)." Don't be proud or greedy. Trust in God, not in yourself. Follow the example of the Savior. "When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly." (1 Peter 2: 23) After the last supper, a dispute arose among the disciples of Jesus over which one of them was the greatest. Can you smell the pride? Jesus told them that, "I am among you as one who serves." He told them to follow His example. Trust God. He will protect you. Don't make it worse by trying to gain the upper hand. Psalm 31:20 says, "Thou shalt hide them (those who fear You) in the secret of Thy presence from the pride of man; thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues." Let the other tongues wag. Commit yourself and the problem to God. Let go of pride and the greed of having to be on top. Humble yourself and let God exalt you. If nothing else, the Bible says, "Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting with strife." (Proverbs 17: 1) I know from personal experience, that is the absolute truth.  
 
Selfishness stirs up strife. In Philippians 2:3, the same word is used for selfish ambition as it is for strife in the King James. Paul tells us to do nothing out of selfish ambition, but in humility to consider others better than ourselves. We should look not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others. Consider the other guy. You have no idea what may be going on in their life. In our main opening verse from James 3, we are told that where there is selfish ambition and envy, there you find disorder (confusion) and every evil practice. 
 
Worldliness in our character produces strife. Romans 13:13 lists strife as one of the "deeds of darkness." Christ has called us out of darkness and into the marvelous light of His kingdom. 1 Corinthians 3:3 says, "You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling (strife) among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?" Are you acting like a blood bought, born again believer? Renew your attitude and actions in response to God's revelation of who you are in Him. Strife is listed in Galatians 5 as one of the acts of the sinful nature as opposed to living with the fruit of the Spirit characterizing your life. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23) Does that describe your character?
 
I hope that you have stuck with me this far. I have seen the devastating effects of strife first hand in my family of origin and in the lives of so many others that I know and dearly love. Strife destroys marriages, close family relationships, ministries and even whole churches. The outcomes of strife are on our nightly news channels each and every day. Satan has been deceiving us for thousands of years regarding the importance of keeping strife out of our lives. It is the master tool of the master deceiver. It is destructive, cunning and devilish in nature. Proverbs 17:14 shows us the nature of strife. "The beginning of strife is as when water first trickles (from a crack in a dam); therefore stop contention before it becomes worse and quarreling breaks out." (AMP) It looks harmless at first. A little quarrel. A little disagreement. A little gossip. Hurt feelings. Before you know it, it's out of control and affecting every area of your life. It leads to hatred, bitterness and "bitter root[s] grow up and cause trouble and defile many." (Hebrews 12: 15) I implore you, my friend...run from strife. Run hard, run fast, run long....Avoid it like the plague! It is a plague and it will destroy you and eventually destroy those around you.
 
You can have all other areas of your life lined up in a godly manner, but if you have strife...well, let's see what God has to say in Isaiah 58:4. His people are fasting and praying and wondering why their prayers weren't being answered. God says, "Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high." Do you want God to hear your prayers? Get rid of strife! It is your biggest blessing blocker!!
 
If there is strife in your marriage, your home, your family, your ministry or your church, you can bet dollars to donuts, that area will fall apart if you don't get the strife out. Jesus said in Matthew 12:25, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand." In every facet of your influence, "be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4: 2-3) Lovingly tolerate one another even when you have differences, "..being like minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose." (Philippians 2:2) "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." (James 1: 19)
 
Romans 12: 18 instructs us, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." Don't worry about the other person. There is no condition. The Word says, "as far as it depends on YOU." We can't control other people or their responses. Do what God commands for you to do. Obey and leave the other person to Him. Hebrews 12:14 says, "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."  If you are a peacemaker, God's blessings will flow to you.
 
Our natural tendencies cry out, "What's in it for me?!" Well, let's see:
 
"Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; HE MUST SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." (Psalm 34: 12-16) This must have been pretty important since Peter repeats these very words in his letter in 1 Peter 3: 10-12.
 
Psalm 133 says: "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! (I believe the reference is especially to believers) It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore." The oil symbolized the unity of the nation of Israel in worship under the consecrated priest, Aaron. When the oil flowed over Aaron's head and down his beard, it fell on his shoulders and the breastplate that he wore that had the names of all 12 tribes of Israel on it. The blessing didn't just fall on Aaron...it fell on the whole nation. When you choose by an act of your will to live in unity, your blessings will not only affect you, but will pour down on all those connected to you. You are not your own. Your actions affect others either in a positive or negative way.
 
A popular preacher asked her worship team to come on the platform and play a song of their choice. They all, of course, chose to play a different song because no instructions were given on what song to play. It goes without saying that the sound was horrible! There was no harmony. She then asked them to play, "Jesus Loves Me". It was sweet, soothing and wonderful. She says, "I made the point that disharmony is noise in God's ears, but living in harmony produces a sweet sound. The Lord appreciates our decision and sacrifice to live in agreement, and tells us to come together in agreement regarding a need and He will answer that prayer. There is power in agreement! There is weakness in strife!" (Joyce Meyer. Life Without Strife)
 
In closing (thanks for sticking with me!)...Hosea 4: 6 says, "my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." I have made it a point in my own life to study the subject of strife. I know the destructiveness it can have and I'm amazed at how much God has to say about it in His word. Maybe we just don't realize it. But that Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man may be about to explode in your life. Hopefully all of the Scriptures I've given you will help you to make a determined decision to get strife out. You now have the knowledge of Scripture. What will you do with it? This isn't Donna telling you..God's word is telling you. You now have the knowledge. It won't be easy. Satan is a deceiver. Other people will plaintively call you to get into strife with them. Take this week and look at these Scriptures for yourself. Let them transform your mind as you look at every conversation, every relationship, every issue that you face. Transform your mind...transform your life!
 
And finally:
"Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor." (James 3: 17-18 The Message)
 
Donna Schultz                                                                             

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