Walk: together or alone

“Can two walk together unless they are agreed?” –Amos 3:3

No. The answer is no. This question is simple and the concept makes perfect sense, however when you plug sin nature and human selfishness into the equation it gets a lot more complicated. To add a visual to this, immediately my mind thinks of dance. We are to all be moving to the same beat and hitting the right counts in able to make the choreography worth anything. Dancing to the beat of your own drum is great until you have 10 people with 10 different drums and you lose all order. You are bound to have chaos and the goal of what you wanted to accomplish as a dance crew is thrown out the window. In the same way, you can’t walk together if you both want to go in different directions. Then it just becomes a battle of opinions and a struggle of power. We have to learn to lay down our rights. When you sign up for a dance team you have submitted to the choreographer’s vision- not yours. In the same way, when you sign up for the family of God, you’ve submitted to His will not yours. Right now, I’m in a season of training and preparation. In less than a month I will be on the mission field and considering its with only my teammate Kenadie, if we aren’t walking together then we are walking alone. If we aren’t fighting together, then we are fighting against one another. We have to walk hand in hand- together living out God’s vision not our own.

Application: Today I am going to talk to Ken and just get things on the same page and talk through being prepared to have opposing viewpoints and how to talk through that and walk together, not run separately.

You Have 48 Hours...

 “Moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him your fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.” –Matthew 18:15

This verse always takes me back to my freshman year orientation for high school. That night my teacher challenged us all to enter into these next four years and work to keep short accounts with the people in our lives. The charge was to speak with the person you have a problem with, directly and do so within 48 hours. It became this ongoing joke whenever anyone would make a remark about someone that wasn’t a positive one, everyone would just say: “you have 48 hours!” We always joked about it but honestly it is so true. Holding onto a fault you see in your brother only creates bitterness and a hardness of your own heart. That bitterness starts small however, it can grow and fester into something so much bigger than the original problem. And even more so, when you go and tell someone all about the faults in this person, it now taints their view of this other person when in reality they have no place in even being involved and you have just severed a relationship you had no place being involved in.

For me, bitterness had been something I had worked very hard to not hold onto. And outwardly, I think it looked as if I did a pretty dang good job but reality is I had everyone around me fooled and I had myself fooled also. I got very good at taking anything that bothered me and burying it deep in my heart. Instead of actually using the 48 hour rule, I just pretend the problem was never there and instead of keeping short accounts, it turned into a cycle of not being genuine with people. I worked very hard to not act on my hardness of heart- thus externally everything looked fine, but internally I know my heart would dwell on these faults I buried so deep. How can anyone accept any of the love, peace, or joy the Lord offers us if our hearts have this preconceived notion of bitterness swelling up bigger and bigger within us? An overflowing joy and an all-consuming bitterness simply and logically cannot abide together. And I would take joy over bitterness any day. I want to strive to keep my accounts with people short and gain brothers, not enemies.

A Charge to Peace

“Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” –1 Corinthians 13:11

I love this. Here we have Paul finishing up his letter to the church in Corinth and this verse is the beginning of his last words to them. It’s like this verse is him telling them that if there is anything to remember in all that he has written to them, it is these things. This is his final encouragement to them. He charges to them be complete, be of one mind, be of good comfort, and live in peace. What does all of this look like?

James tells us that it’s through the trials that produce patience and we are to let that patience work in us and through that we will become complete- lacking nothing. It’s that picture of fullness- being genuine and being whole in all areas of your life. I want to be complete in that I am the same person no matter the situation I am in or the people I am around. Be of good comfort- some other translations read to comfort one another. I want to be able to hand over my burdens to the Lord and let Him comfort me and then in turn be able to help bear someone else’s burdens and comfort them because Christ first. Be of one mind. I want to lay down my own mind and opinion in order to take up that of Christ. The only way we will find unity is to not look at others with our own eyes but look at them with the same mind in which Christ looks at us. Live in peace. Live as one. Live together. And in the end when all of these things are manifested together in someone’s life, it’s in that place that the Lord has asked us to abide with one another. Lastly, Paul tells us that the Lord of love and peace will be with you. There is no way out of our selfish human hearts that we could do all of these things, however the Lord never asked us to. It’s in HIS strength that we are able to live in this manner with one another. The Lord makes us complete and comforts us and it’s His mind and peace we are to take up.

His Mind, Not Mine.

 “Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.” –Romans 12:16

As the body of Christ, we are to be of one mind. Automatically the first thing that pops into my head is the question of who’s mind we are going to have? My mind? My pastors mind? My parents mind? In Philippians 2:5 we are told that the mind we are to be one in is Christ’s mind. I think so many times I get stuck in the legalistic rut of thinking that my way is the only way- that my mindset is the only mindset. I have found myself so many times placing my opinion above someone else’s, thinking I know best. With this perspective of everyman thinking himself to be the head, straight up war would break out. When we don’t put Christ’s mind as THE mind, then the body can’t think straight and in turn, function properly.

Christs mind. I need to be looking at all people with the same eyes in which Christ looks at them with- eyes of love and compassion and precious thoughts and seeing not them but rather seeing Christ is in them. There isn’t a pair of eyes that Christ didn’t die for. It’s with this mind that I have to look at my fellow body of Christ- to view others as Christ views me: cleansed, redeemed, and called. And if we understand this and take up the mind of Christ, then we will start to see His heart as well. Jesus is our greatest example of humility. His heart was always humble. It is when I’m thinking with my own mind that I get the idea that I am something great and my opinion is something wise. I have to be transformed by the renewing of my mind and take up the humble mind of Christ.

Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours. Help me to see others in the way you see them and help me to see that your mind is the only one that matters.

Application: today I am going to be mindful of all of the times I state or view my opinion as the best and right one and then ask the Lord to humble my heart and give me His eyes for others. Christ is head- not me.

Abide In Light

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” -1 John 1:5-7

I am a very all or nothing kind of person- if I am eating ice cream I will either have none or I will have the whole dang gallon. There is no in between. I am this way with many material things yes, but I think you can always use more of this in the spiritual. All or nothing- be on fire for Christ or don’t know Him at all, just don’t dare be caught lukewarm. When you think of this in terms of light, it sounds even more harsh. Darkness and light literally cannot abide with one another. By definition, when one is present the other cannot be. God Himself IS light and in Him is no darkness at all. For us, we were born into sin, born into darkness yet we have been cleansed and illuminated by Christ. Thus, now we are light having Christ in us, however we still have a sin nature in us so we are also darkness. Now we have this internal battle in our hearts that is ever raging on. The two cannot abide together yet now they are both trying to take root and make home in the human heart- The Spirit and the flesh. We are called to walk in the light- this indicates a process. Walking is a continuous thing. Every time you pick up your foot and take another step, you have to choose if you’re going to continue stepping into light and let the Lord guide your steps, or if you’re going to walk in darkness and try and direct your own steps. The struggle is constant and for as long as you follow Christ it will be there. It’s in the mundane everyday little choices of life. Darkness or light? The world or Jesus?

Continue in the light. Be all in. Let Him illuminate even the darkest areas of your heart. Have fellowship in Him knowing that we are all light bearers of Christ. And in that practice truth and speak that truth in love to one another. Walk in His light. Abide in it.

Continue to Grow

“blessed of those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” -Luke 12:37-40

As a servant of Christ, my goal is to the run the race He has set before me and to be diligent in that- not turn from the right or from the left. My Master is coming back and when He does I want to be ready. I want Him to find me diligently running- not standing on the sidelines taking a breather because I think He won’t see.

For me, I will many times wrongly think that this looks like the big extravagant things. It gets stuck in my head that the big in life is the end all be all- like for example, that this year in ignite for me is my end all be all. But no, the Lord wants me to remain faithful in the small- yes ignite is a big thing and is part of God’s call for me however it’s not all I will amount to as a person in my lifetime. The Lord desires for me to daily practice His ways and as 2 Peter tells us: to continue to grow in faith, virtue, knowledge, perseverance, self-control, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.

When Christ ascended, He didn’t abandon us but rather He left us with His spirit, told us He would return, and left us a manual for how we ought to live in waiting. I know what I ought to do, now it’s my job to actually do it and walk worthy of the call He has on my life. 2 Peter 1:3 tells us that His power has given us all the things pertaining to life and godliness. As I wait for His return I must simply remain steadfast in the small and continue to grow in these things and in that He will be pleased. On the day when He does return, I want to be the servant found doing that which He commanded of me and be the servant to remains diligent even when you think He isn’t watching. I desire to live every moment as if it were the one before He returns.

Application: I am going to read 2 Peter 1:1-12 every morning for the rest of this week.

A Friend to The Father

“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from my Father I have made known to you.” -John 15:15

Daily, I am blown away that the Lord has chosen to use humans to accomplish His will. He chose to make us in His image even though He knows that we fail and don’t live up to the standard we have been called to. I fail Him daily, yet He still pursues me. His desire is to guide us and that when we hear His voice that we would tune our ears to listen. And in letting Him direct us that we would find in the knowledge of Him a fullness of joy, hope, and love. He has created us, chosen us, and then while we were yet sinners chose to call us friend. That’s insane. The Ruler of the universe so greatly desires a genuine friendship with us and for us to know His deep love for us. We are told that the Father took pleasure in sending Jesus to the cross simply because He knew the joy that was to come- the joy in us knowing Him. He was willing to send His son to die so that He could call us friend and make His ways known to us- Father.

I am a bondservant of the Most High- it sounds intense but honestly, He is the only master I would ever want over my life. We aren’t treated as servants but rather as friends. He still pursues us and wants us to have the knowledge of Him even when we don’t treasure it the way that we should. In friendship, there is always some sacrifice- putting their needs before your own or doing things for them simply because you love them. Jesus made the greatest sacrifice of all simply to be our friend. God wants that friendship with us not because of what we have done but He loves simply because we are- because He sees Jesus in us. It’s nothing I do, but all that He has done in me.