So often I have been a casualty of jumping to conclusions; of assumptions I have made about a person, their motives or a situation I have encountered. It never works out to the glory of God. Often times, when eventually the Spirit has "bugged" me until I will follow Matthew 18:15, I have found out that I was so wrong, misunderstood, and in fact caused the fracture in the relationship myself by NOT going to the person, in person, and having a conversation about things, or plain asking before adding two and two and getting five :O).
I remember the first time Matthew 18 and I met, face-to-face. It was during my tenure as the Chairman of the school board at my daughters' christian school in the 90's and an allegation was made against an employee. Many assumptions were made between parents and faculty. Because we were a religious organization, our credo was to follow Matthew 18 for all disputes. Because I was the Chair, it fell upon me to make sure we kept to our bylaws and credo. I was a relatively new christian, too, and had no understanding of Matthew 18 or is true meaning. At the end of study, and speaking to elders, and prayer, and just trying to walk out God's Word, I learned such a valuable life lesson and a spiritual truth was relayed to me, so crystal clear, on how the Lord feels about strife, anger, and fractured relationships in His body and how it affects believers!
"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry" Ephesians 4:26
Seems simple, doesn't it? We get offended and say nothing. But this verse is clear, letting the sun go down while you are angry is SIN! Sin separates us from God; it clouds our mind, our reactions, and gives the enemy an open doorway or a foothold, in our lives. God would have you work it out, before the end of the day, one-on-one. NOT by email, not by Facebook, not by third-party gossip, and not by spreading your case around to bolster your version or what happened. None of that matters - reconcilation is what matters!
"Leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." Matthew 5:24
Looks like here God is truly asking us, as we bring our gifts and offerings to Him, if we have strife situations of discord with our brothers that we are to LEAVE, and go get it fixed and THEN come back to the Altar of the Lord. Again, we are to work it out, reconcile and not carry it with us. But what happens when we dont? When we choose to carry it forward in our lives? Reconciliation has nothing to do with being right. In fact, it has everything to do with making peace, regardless of who is right, for the sake of peace. Some times when we have been wronged this is extremely hard to do yet we have examples in our society of parents of murder victims forgiving the murderers and helping them, etc., so we know it is possible; it is a choice, and it is a sin not to do so. If we don't go and be reconciled, we can become bitter and fall short of God's grace! I don't know about you, but I don't want to fall short of that grace! I count on that grace daily!
"Looking diligently lest any man fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled" Hebrews 12:15.
As bitterness of unresolved hurts and past offenses go unchecked, they grow. This "root" grows into a spiritual stronghold on our lives and it then affects our lives and, in turn, every one around us or "defiles many" according to Hebrews 12:15. It will cloud our judgment of situations, cause us to be distrusting, harden our hearts, and really wreak havoc on our lives, our relationships, and the ability of God's will to come to fruition in our lives and, if we are not careful, turns to hate.
"If a man says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?" 1 John 4:20
If we want to say we are Christians, then we must love our brother. We must rely on the Truth of the Word that says that His "perfect love" casts out all fear! Repeating themes in Scripture tell us that strife, anger, assumptions, jumping to conclusions, etc., are not right with our Lord and it can affect our relationship with God; our communion with Him, and our witness and, ultimately, our spiritual health! So how do we know? Well, we have the verse that says out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45; Proverbs 4:23).
So what is coming out of our mouth? Is it good treasure or trash? Does it build up or abuse and cut down? It reveals the state of your heart.
Do you detect anger or bitterness coming out of your mouth? Are you still talking about what happened to you 20 years ago by someone or your church or pastor? Are you comparing your current relationship to the last one? Making statements that all men (or women) are the same because you were married or dated someone who really hurt you? Do you distrust people because you have been let down and abused? When you give your testimony, what does it reveal about the state of your heart? Chances are, if you are still recalling events of the past, you never got reconcilation and there is a stronghold in your life, now, a spiritual stronghold that has opened you up to darkness and oppression and it will affect your ability to move forward and it will God's ability to heal you! HE IS ABLE but you MUST be willing! Ultimately, after a time, the enemy can really tell you a story in your mind, creating more and more fear, until all that is left is bitterness, anger, distrust and fear. The evidence will be coming out of your mouth!
Once, in a book by Rick Joyner, I was confronted with the image he had in a vision where all the demons were riding on the backs of Christians. Here is an exerpt:
"I saw a demonic army so large that it stretched as far as I could see. It was separated into divisions, with each carrying a different banner. The foremost and most powerful divisions were Pride, Self-righteousness, Respectability, Selfish Ambition, and Unrighteous Judgment, but the largest of all was Jealousy. The leader of this vast army was the Accuser of the Brethren himself. I knew that there were many more evil divisions beyond my scope of vision, but these were the vanguard of this terrible horde from hell that was now being released against the church. The weapons carried by this horde had names on them: the swords were named Intimidation; the spears were named Treachery; and their arrows were named Accusations, Gossip, Slander and Faultfinding. Scouts and smaller companies of demons with such names as Rejection, Bitterness, Impatience, Unforgiveness and Lust were sent in advance of this army to prepare for the main attack. I knew in my heart that the church had never faced anything like this before. The main assignment of this army was to cause division. It was sent to attack every level of relationship--churches with each other, congregations with their pastors, husbands and wives, children and parents, and even children with each other. The scouts were sent to locate the openings in churches, families or individuals that rejection, bitterness, lust, etc., could exploit and make a larger breech for the divisions that were coming. The most shocking part of this vision was that this horde was not riding on horses, but on Christians! Most of them were well-dressed, respectable, and had the appearance of being refined and educated. These were Christians who had opened themselves to the powers of darkness to such a degree that the enemy could use them and they would think they were being used by God. The Accuser knows that a house divided cannot stand, and this army represented his ultimate attempt to bring such complete division to the church that she would completely fall from grace."
)If you want to read it in its entirety, here is a link to the Hordes of Hell are Marching: http://www.morningstarministries.org/resources/prophetic-bulletins/1995/hordes-hell-are-marching )
"...I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires." Galatians 5:22-24.
We can and must avoid strife at all costs (seek reconcilation)! We must not allow the root of bitterness to take hold in our lives to affect everyone around us! We must do these things if we say we belong to Christ or we will miss God; in our lives and as a church!
One of the most profound verses for me in the Bible is this:
"And why call me, Lord, oh my Lord, and do not the things which I say?" Luke 6:46
So often we can be such a stubborn people when it is better to just repent, return to the grace of God and be a DOER of the Word of God and not a hearer only!
Have you made assumptions against someone that you need to go to and work it out in reconcilation according to Matthew 18:15. Not in some passive-aggressive way, but God's way, one on one. It will bring healing, He promises it to you. If you cannot go to them, then are you WILLING to open yourself up and allow God to take that "barbed wire" from your heart or get that demonic spirit off your back? It is up to you to choose to do the work. You might have to admit some shortcomings (I did) and be somewhat vulnerable (I did). You might need pastoral help, or a clinician or therapist or healing prayer; so what? If that one thing is keeping you from God and His grace and calling on your life, it is worth it! Sometimes we need to take that courage He offers. Courage is not the absence of fear it is just feeling the fear and doing it anyway.
It is my own heart's cry: "Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep your precepts." Psalm 119:134.
God bless you! Your fellow laborer in Christ,
Cori
No comments:
Post a Comment