God says he is love.
He says perfect love casts out all fear.
He is perfect love.
He says Love never fails....He never fails...
Then He says His love is shed abroad in OUR hearts....
Where? Where can we find this love in this world? In the church?
That should be the most obvious answer since it is His body and He is the head but it seems to be a body with little or no heart and certainly not one of "perfect love" .
This body I see is full of fear and anxiety and worries and disappointments and sickness. It is filled with everything that Jesus was not and certainly operated in opposition to.
It would be easy to go on and on about the shortcomings of the church and of course there is always the reasoning that we are but human (let's totally overlook the supernatural..we are after all also spirit).
That is not what this is about....HOW DO WE LOVE LIKE JESUS LOVED? Of those who slapped Him, spat on Him, ripped out His beard, drove huge spikes into His hands and feet, mocked Him
humiliated Him. .... what does He say?
Father FORGIVE them for they know not what they are doing!!!!!!
That kind of love is supposed to be somewhere inside me but my very first inclination when merely offended is to flare with anger and think of all my justification and so on..you know...you do it also.
If I have been made perfect or mature in His love then Perfect Love (Jesus) should be evident in my life. Instead I see fretful days and worrisome nights. The never ending task of protecting my rights, my property, my well being, my reputation etc. I find little space for letting out the most powerful force in the universe...this love that never fails...
AND sadly I do not really want to love those who are unlovely. In theory while reading my bible I do but not when it comes down to the circumstances at hand. I'd rather hang with those who are easy and fun to be around and love....and probably so would you.
On the internet I've seen so much trashy vicious evil things written from the hearts of some well known leaders who claim to be Christians against others who claim to be. I found absolute void in the volumes of words and hours and effort they have produced...absolute void when it came to perfect love. I felt dirty...contaminated when I closed out their websites....
Lots of reference to theology, doctrine, heresy, blasphemy etc...BUT NOT ONE IOTA OF GENUINE PERFECT LOVE...just a vast void.....
Lots of vicious personal attack and mockery......but a huge void of love.
I cried. I've used my mouth so many times....in such a caustic flood of useless words against my enemies....and even though every word may have been absolutely the truth....it was absolutely anti love.....
None of it needed to have been spoken..not that way..I don't really know how to love well...I do not know how to let that love...God's love that has been shed abroad in my heart to operate in my world. I do know however, that that is His purpose and intent for it.
Most of the love I see in the world and the church has been of poor quality. Starting with the "sloppy agape" ( detest that phrase but it does the job) all the way to callous indifference cheap love is on the forefront. This is not to judge others...for certainly there is more love in action in the church than the world BUT
I know I fall miserably short in my own life.
Isn 't is more productive to lift up the person of Jesus? Isn't it more powerful to let His character and power and love transform others than to spew hatred under the guise of warning, correcting or exposing others? Doesn't this Love that is God COVER a MULTITUDE of....(gasp) SIN?
Then why don't we?
Remember they spread lies about Stephen and then murdered him claiming he was blaspheming God........
it is written in the word of God that if you bear evil in your heart against your brother you are guilty of murder......
It is sometimes easier to stone Stephen than look at the ugliness in the mirror.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
While I was pondering the Pat Robertson thing (Haiti) and doing some internet research I skimmed through so much trash opinion about the so called statement.
The thought of the stoning of Stephen came to mind. Here was a man who was doing great things for people by the power of the Holy Spirit and the RELIGIOUS people couldn't wait to pounce on "blasphemous comments" HE NEVER MADE!
They got so worked up that the spirit behind their "defending God" was exposed as they slew an innocent man.
1.God did not recruit us to defend Him. The stone casters cloaked their murderous hateful hearts in the disguise of holy defense of a holy God.
2. Pat Robertson's reputation and our own is God's business and those who set themselves in opposition to truth have set themselves in opposition to God or at best aligned themselves with the person and purposes of the adversary.
It is one thing when the media initiates a feeding frenzy on a man's alleged statement (often twisting and spinning the truth) but something altogether different when those who call themselves followers of Christ join in on the carnage whether they are misinformed or think the specific mission in their perfect life is to defend the honor of God.
I know first hand what it is like to have your reputation willfully destroyed by total fabrications that serve the pursuits and purposes of others who call themselves Christians.
I saw the eagerness of some to embrace the lies and join in the persecution, never seeking evidence. I saw others withdraw and refuse to get involved even though they knew it was wrong. I saw those who abandoned me for convenience sake...knowing the lies and gossip were exactly that but not wanting to get involved..
No matter what I did to defend myself it only made things worse. They would twist and spin and fabricate on the defense. Finally I was forced to move on. For years one who had achieved a position of power in the community actively continued stoking her lies...engaging new comers and injecting them with her poison.
A few months ago I was thinking how over the past 5 or 6 years it seemed as though my enemy had triumphed over me. and I mentioned this to the Lord on a few occasions. I felt wronged and un-vindicated and the hurt was still very real and alive.
Recently there was a group effort to overturn the power structure of the individual who had wronged me. It came about two weeks after I decided that no matter what she did God knew, He saw and He could take care of it.
It was a glorious coup as her own schemes backfired and she was overwhelmingly voted down!
Her protests and attempts to overthrow the voters were fruitless and she had to step down. God
swiftly, neatly and honorably cleaned the viper's nest with no help from me! Can you imagine?
My own reputation in my own hands is of little value. My own name though is carved in the palms of His hands so when they take on my reputation they wrestle with the hand of God!
It's a lesson I hope I live out for the rest of my life because I have always been so keenly hurt when my character was attacked but never so much as when I was so visciosly lied about for so long....you can work through misunderstandings and disagreements but evil fabrications are a whole different game. For that the shield of faith and standing in patience is the remedy....although the patience part is difficult.
If all the people who had ugly comments to make of Pat Robertson had done a fraction of what he has done over 50 years to help Haiti..not to mention the world they would still not measure up. How much credence should we give to the media which has never published or spread the millions of good words the man has taught and spoken? They judge him on one spun comment and have their heyday but the saddest thing is when those who call themselves believers bend over to pick up stones and hurl them!
These people do not want truth..they want blood. they do not want mercy they want sacrifice. They talk about grace to Haiti and hurl judgment at Pat for what he did not even say. He issued a statement on his website,. the show itself is recorded proof of his heart and statements.
We Christians are famous for that! Some of us, anyway. If all the effort put into the billions of negative words hurled by Christians against other Christians were put into grace, love (love covers a multitude) and UNITY this body of Christ's would be a miracle machine as He was He
walked the earth.
He is a wise man who does not offer himself to the sharks' as a full course meal....their nature is consistent.
As followers of Christ ours should be also.
The thought of the stoning of Stephen came to mind. Here was a man who was doing great things for people by the power of the Holy Spirit and the RELIGIOUS people couldn't wait to pounce on "blasphemous comments" HE NEVER MADE!
They got so worked up that the spirit behind their "defending God" was exposed as they slew an innocent man.
1.God did not recruit us to defend Him. The stone casters cloaked their murderous hateful hearts in the disguise of holy defense of a holy God.
2. Pat Robertson's reputation and our own is God's business and those who set themselves in opposition to truth have set themselves in opposition to God or at best aligned themselves with the person and purposes of the adversary.
It is one thing when the media initiates a feeding frenzy on a man's alleged statement (often twisting and spinning the truth) but something altogether different when those who call themselves followers of Christ join in on the carnage whether they are misinformed or think the specific mission in their perfect life is to defend the honor of God.
I know first hand what it is like to have your reputation willfully destroyed by total fabrications that serve the pursuits and purposes of others who call themselves Christians.
I saw the eagerness of some to embrace the lies and join in the persecution, never seeking evidence. I saw others withdraw and refuse to get involved even though they knew it was wrong. I saw those who abandoned me for convenience sake...knowing the lies and gossip were exactly that but not wanting to get involved..
No matter what I did to defend myself it only made things worse. They would twist and spin and fabricate on the defense. Finally I was forced to move on. For years one who had achieved a position of power in the community actively continued stoking her lies...engaging new comers and injecting them with her poison.
A few months ago I was thinking how over the past 5 or 6 years it seemed as though my enemy had triumphed over me. and I mentioned this to the Lord on a few occasions. I felt wronged and un-vindicated and the hurt was still very real and alive.
Recently there was a group effort to overturn the power structure of the individual who had wronged me. It came about two weeks after I decided that no matter what she did God knew, He saw and He could take care of it.
It was a glorious coup as her own schemes backfired and she was overwhelmingly voted down!
Her protests and attempts to overthrow the voters were fruitless and she had to step down. God
swiftly, neatly and honorably cleaned the viper's nest with no help from me! Can you imagine?
My own reputation in my own hands is of little value. My own name though is carved in the palms of His hands so when they take on my reputation they wrestle with the hand of God!
It's a lesson I hope I live out for the rest of my life because I have always been so keenly hurt when my character was attacked but never so much as when I was so visciosly lied about for so long....you can work through misunderstandings and disagreements but evil fabrications are a whole different game. For that the shield of faith and standing in patience is the remedy....although the patience part is difficult.
If all the people who had ugly comments to make of Pat Robertson had done a fraction of what he has done over 50 years to help Haiti..not to mention the world they would still not measure up. How much credence should we give to the media which has never published or spread the millions of good words the man has taught and spoken? They judge him on one spun comment and have their heyday but the saddest thing is when those who call themselves believers bend over to pick up stones and hurl them!
These people do not want truth..they want blood. they do not want mercy they want sacrifice. They talk about grace to Haiti and hurl judgment at Pat for what he did not even say. He issued a statement on his website,. the show itself is recorded proof of his heart and statements.
We Christians are famous for that! Some of us, anyway. If all the effort put into the billions of negative words hurled by Christians against other Christians were put into grace, love (love covers a multitude) and UNITY this body of Christ's would be a miracle machine as He was He
walked the earth.
He is a wise man who does not offer himself to the sharks' as a full course meal....their nature is consistent.
As followers of Christ ours should be also.
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