Why Can’t We All Just Get Along
In the movie; “A Few Good Men,” Tom Cruise played a young JAG lawyer, while his co-star Jack Nicholson played a highly decorated but arrogant colonel. While questioning the colonel on the witness stand, their conversation became highly adversarial. The lawyer hollered at the colonel “I want the truth.” The colonel hollered back; “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth.” In this same way, I believe most Christians cannot handle the truth. We cannot handle the fact that Christians are supposed to be different than the world. God wants us to humble, God wants us to be gracious, and God wants us to love, not hate.
Humility was one of the major characteristics of our Lord Jesus during His 3½ year ministry on this earth. He told us; “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Matt. 5:5. God tells us in the book of Psalms 37:11“…the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” The Bible is telling us here that without screaming and rabblerousing, we have power when we keep our mouths shut.
To be Christian means that we are imitators of the Christ and must obey the law of God and of Jesus. What we find in many Christians however, is arrogance, conceit, anger, stinginess, greed, bigotry, even hatred of fellow Christians. This is not just a congregational thing; this is ushers, deacons, and ministers, even pastors. People who have pledged their allegiance to God and His service now find themselves feeling superior to others.
The Bible tells us that; “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Prov. 11:2 NIV It was pride that got Satan and his gang kicked out of Heaven. The Bible tells us that “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.” Prov. 29:23 KJV The key to wisdom and God’s blessing is humility.
The Bible is exhorting us to be more like Jesus than that old man within us. Have we really changed when we were saved? The Lord says that “…in humility (we are to) consider others better than ourselves.” Phil. 2:3 NIV I will leave you with this one last word that Paul wrote to Titus because it is so important that we really get it. He wrote: “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.” Titus 3:1-2 NIV
Prayer to Bear Fruit
Current Mood:
Anointed
Lord Jesus, You chose me and appointed me to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Fathe4r will give me whatever I ask in Your name. Father, You are the Gardener. You prune every branch that bears fruit, so it will be even more fruitful.
The Apostle Paul said to be filled with the fruit or righteousness and that he desired that fruit might abound to our account. Therefore, I commit myself to bring forth the fruit of the spirit; love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. I renounce and turn from the fruit of the flesh, because I belong to Christ and have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts.
A seed cannot bear fruit unless it first falls into the ground and dies. I confess that I am crucified with Christ: Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Father, I thank You that I am good ground, that I hear Your Word and understand it, and that the Word bears fruit in my life – sometimes a hundredfold, sometimes sixty, sometimes thirty. I am like a tree planted by the rivers of wate3r that brings forth fruit in its season. My leaf shall not wither, and whatever I do shall prosper.
Father, in Jesus’ name, I thank You for filling me with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that I may walk worthy of You, Lord, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of You. Amen.
Scripture References
John 15:16, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 1:11, Matthew 13:23, Philippians 4:17, Psalm 1:3, Galatians 5:22-24, Colossians 1:9, 10, and John 12:24
Prayer from ‘Prayers That Avail Much’, 25th Anniversary Commemorative Gift Edition, written by Germaine Copeland; 1997Compromising Christians
Filed under: Godly Principles, Marriage, Our children
Current Mood: Anointed & Blessed
Compromising Christians
Christianity is known as the largest religion in the world. Christians are people who believe in the doctrine of the trinity which is God as father, the son and the Holy Spirit. If you were to ask most people who attend church on a regular basis, read the bible and are actively involved in church activities if they considered themselves as Christians the answer would be a definite “YES” even though as a christian all of the above would be great and there would be nothing to worry about because we all would be in a perfect world. However, in a world of reality we have all done somethings that we are not proud of. How many times have you compromised your relationship with God? And now that you look back at that time in your life, was it really worth it?
To compromise your relationship with God could be anything that in God’s eyes is not bearing good fruit. We are all as Christians held accountable for the things we do in our everyday lives. When we get to a point where a closer walk with God is all we want, when we in our hearts know that God is the beginning and the end, we need to start to purge things out of our everyday lives that are not in his will for us. When I say purge, I don’t just mean your cell phones. Ask yourself the question: If God walked into my home would he be pleased with what he sees. If you went through your DVD collection would he be pleased to see Videos that contained cursing or nudity? Would he find your bible tucked away neatly on a shelf? If he listened to your Ipod or your child’s Ipod would he find it full of profanity or Gospel? These are just a few things to think about. There are some of us who want the life simply because our backs are up against the wall and it seems as if there is no one there, so we go to the one person who we have been Taught would help, but we are not willing to make the necessary changes. You see everyone else around you being blessed and you wonder when your time will come. Then there is the rest of us who really wants a closer relationship with God and are willing to make the necessary changes in order to get there.
Compromising your faith is so easy, in fact it is so easy that most of us do it and not even realize that we are compromising our faith walk. It comes so natural that it begins to be a part of our daily routine.
(Romans 8:9) it states “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”
This means that as long as God’s spirit dwells in you, we as Christians do not have to worry about living our life without him, however we should never think that we can compromise our faith and no one will ever find out. Since it is a part of our daily lives and we compromise unknowingly we think that others are not watching us and it will be OK. That is not true because God’s eye is on us every second of the day, and if no one else knows he does.
We as christians have a voice, we have a say so about the our lives and the world around us. Ask yourself how many times have you saw something you did not agree with? You feel like since no one else is saying anything “oh well”. We are at a convenience store and there just beside the ATM machines is a magazine stand and this stand has X-rated magazines. Although they are covered with plastic, what sort of message is the owner sending? What kind of relationship does he or she have
with God? Yet we sill support them by paying for the gas. Or we are in a restaurant and there are people there using profanity at the other table, we figure that we have nothing to do with it so we say nothing.
Exodus 20:7 states that “ Thou shalt not take the name of the lord thy God in vain; for the lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”
We did not say anything when we should have, we should have written a letter expressing our concerns but we chose not to. Because we chose to remain silent, we have compromised our faith once again. We think that biblical principals are too hard to achieve however, when we compromise with evil, guess who wins the fight? The next time you go into an establishment or even your doctor’s office look around you, can you tell that these business persons are on the same journey as you are? The answer is probably no, and they don’t have to be, but do you have a choice to support them? Yes you do, but supporting them comes with a price. Even though they probably attend church on Sunday, give God his time but it is back to business on Monday. They look at it as if “ Yes, I have made it and I thank God” but it is a silent praise. Compromised! He or she should be leading others to salvation. This is a real successful business man or woman.
There are so many ways that we including myself can compromise our faith, and it is without even knowing that we have done so. God has no mercy on a compromising christian. He does not want to be or feel betrayed by one of his very own. The next time you want to start purging things out of your life to be closer to God think to yourself: Who am I putting first in my life? Who gives me the direction I should go in? Did I perform any of the commands of Jesus recently? Have you, yourself tried to save at least one person? Purging is not only numbers out of your cell phones, nor is it just getting rid of what people in your past gave you. Take real inventory over your life and lastly, ask yourself “ Is it really worth it to compromise my faith.”
Hurt Feelings
Current Mood:
Triumphant
The definition of hurt: to suffer pain or grief, to cause damage or distress. Why are so many Christians hurting? The real question is, why are we walking around, pretending that things are great – when things couldn’t be any more awful? The problem is, as Christians, we have the misconception that if we are feeling any emotion other than joy, it’s not right. Things happen in life in which we have no control; and no one said being saved would save us from life and all of its trials and obstacles.
We cannot fall into the trap of thinking that we are not “allowed” to be hurt or depressed when things don’t work out the way in which we want. Maybe we suffered a bad break up from a relationship. Maybe we didn’t get the promotion for that job we really wanted. Maybe we lost our job. Maybe we lost a loved one. And it’s ok to feel pain, grief or distress in any of these situations because we are human. Did Job not feel hurt when the Lord took away his family and literally his entire life and everything he worked for? The Bible shows us that it is ok to feel depressed:
“And now my heart is broken. Depression haunts my days. My weary nights are filled with pain as though something were relentlessly gnawing at my bones. With a strong hand, God grabs my garment. He grips me by the collar of my tunic. He has thrown me into the mud. I have become as dust and ashes.” – Job 30:16-19
But life must go on. If we are living, this means God has a destiny on our lives that must be fulfilled. This fact alone can work on those feelings of hurt and begin to massage all of the emotional pain away. Remember that God is always with us. All of the time, everyday. When we begin to reflect on God and meditate on our purpose in life, God can heal any hurt we may have. It all boils down to staying faithful and fully trusting in Him. Pray without ceasing.
“When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before!” – Job 42:10
Does God not restore Job to even greater prosperity than he could have ever thought or dreamed in the end?
“So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning.” – Job 42:12.
As Christians, we must remember than in Him, all things are possible. Feelings of hurt and rejection are part of being human. But when we turn our hearts to God, He heals us. He hears our prayers and He answers them. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Living Destiny Minded
Current Mood: Blessed & 
Delivered & Thankful
I’ve come that you may have life and that you may have it more abundantly. In the bible, God already said he gave us an abundant life but are we walking destiny minded? Destiny is (according to Webster’s Concise English Dictionary) a power that seems to arrange people’s life in advance. And abundantly or abundance means more than enough or plenty. So living a destiny minded life would mean living and working to stay on track with what was already predestined or already ordered for us. And while walking and living that life God would bless you to have plenty.
Now living in your destiny you’re going to have moments where it seems like God isn’t there to help you. Why? Because He’s going to throw some curve balls to test your faith in Him. There’s going to be a few speed bumps to slow you down to see if you truly trust Him in each and every situation. Living destiny minded will help build your character, faith and love for Christ. You’re going to lose some things in the process but don’t let that deter you from the prize at the end. Times will get rough and tough but while living in your destiny and having being destiny minded, you have to remember that destiny means there’s already a plan in advance and this life is planned by the Master, which is God. You just gotta walk the tight rope and sometimes it’ll feel like you’re walking it blind folded but you gotta walk it out. Now adding to that we often times cause bad things to happen in the process because we refuse to listen to God and the voice that’s inside of us. We try to take the short way out; which cause us to act in disobedience. Obedience and better than sacrifice but we put a hold on the good things that we’re suppose to have because disobedience and sin (Jeremiah. 5:25).
We gotta learn to be humble and slow to speak than to submit to disobedience and to being unwise. Commit thy works unto the Lord and they thoughts shall be established (Proverbs 16:3) it’s better to have a humble spirit than to divide the spoil with the proud.(Proverbs 16:19). Meaning we should depend on the Lord to give us everything we need because He knows what’s best for us, as we are His children with a predestined life. Now if we have too much pride to ask God for what we need, it’ll just slow the process of destiny goods because our motives might not always be good for what we want at the time; whereas trusting in Him should be all we do. Living destiny minded doesn’t mean you have to be perfect but you have to be humble and you have to submit your will to God (you have to let Him have His way in your life).
While living destiny minded, your thoughts have to be upgraded and negative thoughts have to be uprooted and killed. Your mind controls your actions and your actions always cause affects; it’s up to you whether those thoughts are negative or positive. But to live an abundant life, that’s already arranged, we’ve got to have a positive mind for positive results. Simply because we’re suppose to. Now your mind and thoughts need to be under subjection, if not you can be easily distracted. Distractions can cause your destiny to be held up and pushed back but we are all destined to something. When you’re at a detour in your life, what are you thinking? While at a stop sign, stop light, or yielding, what’s on your mind as you’re traveling to that specific destination? See speed bumps are going to be there too, but are you going to go over them with caution or drive recklessly. While having destiny on your mind, it’s about endurance; it’s the process and time spent during the process. It’s about what’s being done during the struggle and how much you’ve endured.
Are you living destiny minded with a goal to endure until the end? All we have to do is trust and have faith in God. He already promised us an abundant life with destiny included…you have benefits with 401k.
About the Author
Name: Rev. Raymond E., aka "Brother Raymond"
Email:
Web Site: http://www.BrotherRaymondandFriends.com
Bio: Rev. Raymond E. Williams Jr., was formerly an Associate Minister at Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church, in St. Albans, New York. His area of expertise is outreach. He still heads the Prison Ministry Teams at Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church. Rev. Williams is the founder of Brother Raymond and Friends (Homeless outreach ministry). He is also the former Editor of The Herald and The Minister's Speak newsletters (church publication). Rev. Williams is currently an Associate Minister at St. Marks Missionary Baptist Church located in South Jamaica, NY. To learn more about Rev. Raymond E. Williams go to his website at the web address given above.
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