Love in action is wisdom

"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

I love this verse ! I really believe this is the season much of the church is living in. We are learning to love our neighbor's as ourselves, and allowing Jesus to teach us a better way.  Loving one another has always been important, but somewhere along the journey of “evolving” as a church we’ve become more self-focused. We care more about getting blessed and less about being a blessing. It’s left much of the church with an entitled attitude, saying “What can I get?” instead of, “What can I give?”  This mentality hinders unity and stops us from forming the type of community God has intended for the church.  

As Christians, the church is our family, and like family we have a tendency to treat strangers better than them. We save our sweetest, most respectful face for those we barely know, all the while being careless, harsh and unforgiving to those we have to live life with daily. 

I believe God is challenging us to rise up higher in this season. Maybe a few seasons ago He’d let us slide by with some things, but in this season I think “Love”, true love, is coming to the forefront. I mean, everywhere we turn, the secular world has the word “Love” slapped on everything from bracelets, t-shirts, backpacks. It’s all about, “Love”.  They throw that word around more than ever, and yet people feel less loved, less appreciated, less accepted than ever before.  Maybe it’s because what they are calling “Love” is not love at all. Maybe the deep void for love, has them using the word love to try and fill the hole, without understanding what love is in action.  

There is no better time than now for the church to rise up with REAL, GENUINE, PASSIONATE love. It’s like fishing in a pond of hungry fish. We know we have what they want, we just have to throw the line out and be accessible. 

I also believe God is challenging us to rise higher in this season for another reason, and that’s so we will be recognized as His. The Bible says in John 13:34-35 The Message, “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other."  When we love each other, when we put unity first, when we make the effort to protect the hearts of our church family, we are marking ourselves as His.  That’s another reason why I love James 13:17-18 The Message, because it shows us a small glimpse of what love in action is, in relation to our church family.  

“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.”

We can make a small list to keep in our hearts just from this verse alone: 

-          -Holy life

-         - Getting along with others

-          -Being gentle and reasonable

-          -Overflowing with mercy and blessings

-          -Not hot one day and cold the next

-          -Not two-faced

-          -Treating each other with dignity and honor 

Father God, make us more like you. Your word says that you are the vine and we are the branches and IF we remain in You, that we will bare good fruit. Continue to prune us, and mold us into everything You want us to be, for Your glory. We are willing to be changed. Purify our hearts and cleanse us from deep within that we’d shine with Your light. Build a hunger and passion in our hearts for unity. Teach us Your ways, that our church would thrive the way You desire. In Jesus Name. Amen

Which flow?

As spiritual beings, we need to be a little bit more discerning about a few things. For instance when we find, “hatred” in our heart toward a person, it might be because that person is struggling with hatred which is death. I’ve seen this several times especially with Muslim people. Someone could have a root of hatred and death because of the lifestyle they grew up in and that root can cause others to actually hate that person without knowing why. I know this may not make any sense to some readers, but think about the spirit of rejection. If someone walks in rejection because of past hurts and pain, it will actually cause others to reject them, which will in turn confirm to the rejected person that they are rejected, giving that spirit more power in the person’s life.

We have to be ever mindful of the streams we flow in. We hear a lot of people saying today, “just go with the flow” which is fine if you know what “flow” you are “flowing” in. We have to start listening for the voice of God and how the Holy Spirit speaks to us and to be aware of the schemes and plans of the enemy.

The enemy wants you to reject someone struggling with rejection so he can keep that person in bondage, but when you recognize what is happening, you can shower that person with acceptance and love; shining light in their darkness. The enemy wants you to fight and argue with those that have a root of hatred to prove to that person that the world is against them, but when you recognize what is happening, you can show mercy and grace instead of entering into whatever they are “flowing” in.

Investing

It’s easy to want to invest in something that will pay off in the future, something that will help promote our cause. We all want to make a good deal in a sense and that’s okay in a lot of things but our heart should take a different turn when dealing with people. It’s easy for our flesh to want to mentor and sow into a prestigious person’s child, because you may think it will win you favor with their parents but what about the child who has nothing to offer you but his or her brokenness? What about the people we size up and write off based on their social status, look or income?

I saw a video of Britains Got Talent on YouTube that sort of shows this exact issue. The judges and even the audience thought this one lady was ridiculous before giving her a chance but she ends up proving all her critics wrong. Check it out !

Sadly we often don’t find value in those who don’t have something obvious to offer us. It’s you and me who are missing out when we act this way because God has hidden treasures in jars of clay. He’s hidden some of His most powerful gifts within people who seemingly have nothing.

Dare to invest in those that seem like a “bad investment” to the world and see if beautiful things don’t begin to flow out.

Vindication

Vindication in front our critics? In front of those who never believed in us? In front of those who looked down at us? Vindication, sounds good, eh? It’s easy to eagerly await the day God prepares a table for us in front of our enemies but I’d like to challenge all of us to take a step back. Take a moment or two to see who we have been a critic of, never believed in, or looked down upon.

Don’t be self righteous and think, “Oh not me. I’d never do that” because we’ve all done it. It’s easy to want God to right all the wrongs in our life, but how many wrong are we inflicting on others? What pain and hurt have we caused in other people’s lives that they’d seek vindication over? We run crying to God to fix our problems and to heal our wounds when we don’t mind continually wounding others. Many times you may not hurt your friends, family, boss, leadership team or co-workers but what about those who are lower on your list. Those you don’t have to love or be kind to, those that make you uncomfortable or seem distant enough not to matter. They to will be vindicated and it may be in front of you, depending on how you treated them.

Man looks on the outside but God looks at a man’s heart. I’m constantly reminded of a quote by Jason Upton, “God does not create for man’s approval but discovery. Man creates for approval and even judges God’s creations according to their approval.” It’s so easy to apply that verse to our selves and say something like, “I’m not created for man’s approval, so don’t judge me.” but that’s the problem. We should apply that quote to those we come in contact with daily, “They were not created for MY approval but discovery.” And though we may not understand those that cross our path at times we should strive to see past the outer shell and into their heart and help them pull out the beauty God has placed within.

One definition of “enemy” is, “a person who is hostile or opposed to a person, group, or idea.” Are you anyone’s enemy? If so, why? Don’t be surprised if God prepares a table for them right smack dab in front of you. God loves all His people and His word applies to them just as much as it applies to you. God will display His victory through those that are His whether we understand it or not. He will display His love and His favor for them before the enemy’s camp. Will you be among that camp? Or sitting at the table?

Biggest Loser or Biggest Lover?

Isn’t it funny how people copy and mimic one another without realizing it? How easily we take on another’s offense or join in spirit with someone without even knowing why?

I was watching Biggest Loser this past week and saw a few things that really began to stir within me. You see each contestant on Biggest Loser gets to have a partner but on this season they sent one partner home for a few weeks to see how much weight they could loose on their own while the other partner stayed at the show with the benefit of trainers. When it was finally time for the sent home partners to return the show weighed them all to see their progress. Everyone that was sent home lost a surprisingly large amount of weight expect one girl who only lost 2 lbs. She tried to make excuses about why she lost such a small number but the trainers quickly put her in her place by basically saying she lost a small number because she put in a small amount of work toward that goal. But all to soon does this contestant forget her shortcomings because later in the show the trainers get on this other girl’s case named Joelle for being lazy and unproductive in the gym. The trainers had issues with Joelle’s performance for awhile and it had stirred up a few of the other teams already but in this episode the very girl who lost only 2 lbs was seemingly the ring leader of accusation and condemnation toward this other girl Joelle.

It really made me think about how soon we forget our own need for mercy and grace. How often we forget the extent in which God has stretched His arm to us. We are so quick at condemning and accusing others of the very things we have been guilty of. Not only did this show highlight our eagerness to point the finger at someone but it also showed how quickly others jump on board to condemn someone just because someone else is doing it. Why do we take part in such spirits? Do we even ask ourselves “why?” we feel what we feel or say what we say? How many times are we taking on someone else’s offense or bad attitude for no reason at all, just going with the flow but obviously the wrong flow.

I’d encourage each of us including myself to slow down and examine what flow we are choosing to flow with. As Christians we need to be different. Let’s extend mercy where others are not. Let’s give the benefit of the doubt to those in need. Let’s speak life not death. Just because everyone else is mad at someone doesn’t mean you should jump on board. I acutely challenge you not to jump on board but to stand up for those who can not stand up for themselves. It doesn’t matter what a person’s done, they are never to far that God’s love can not reach. As Christians we should be the first to chase others down with God’s mercy. Don’t allow unclean and bitter spirits to influence the love you extend. Step away from the crowd and their flow and begin to walk up stream. Be the life, love and grace the world needs. The ones that frustrate us the most are the ones who need our love the most.

He built a bridge

I think it’s sad that when people get to a certain level of Christian maturity they assume they know whether or not someone else is anointed or if they really love Jesus. Haven’t we all seen people like that? If you haven’t you’re probably the one doing it, no offense or anything.

Who are we to make judgments about other people’s spiritual life? Maybe it’s because we get jealous or insecure? Maybe it’s because we feel intimidated or maybe even convicted? Whatever the reason it’s just sad.

Lets give people room to be who God created them to be because assuming we know all about another person is really not mature at all.

If we do see something out of line or weird why don’t we run to that person instead of forming a wall against them? Doesn’t that make more sense?

Jesus didn't form a wall against you. He built a bridge!