Dear friends
You know the messages here are about truth, so I am un-afraid and un-ashamed to share certain testimonies as I live a transparent life before others.
As I listened to the Lord carefully this morning I was motivated to lay something that happened recently in my life. I am not at all afraid to say that I am a work in progress.
Now I recently had a difference with my prayer partner who is 82 years old and we have "travelled" this life journey together for at least 17 years. We've prayed more than a hundreds of thousands of effective prayers together and these prayers have had much effect in building God's kingdom. Thank God we were reconciled, many of you probably thought I would share the "morbid" details here, sorry to disappoint you...lol.
I just couldn't because love covers the multitude of sins and the truth is whenever there is a difference in a Godly relationship that God put together then both are responsible to work it out no matter how wrong one may think the other person is.
I learned some valuable lessons though as we are in the end of the end times. Let’s do the following to protect our relationships:
1 Be aware where division comes from - we have a real enemy and anyone or group that God has put together to pray, he will try to divide. Pray for God to keep us unified
2. Deal with the little foxes (Songs of Solomon 2:15)
The foxes are “little”—it’s the little things, the things overlooked, that often spoil things of value. Maintaining a good relationship takes work. Try not to bury issues, but bring them to the forefront and deal with them.
3. Be quick to reconcile as long as it was not God that ordered the seperation. Here's the word:
Matthew 5:23 - 26
23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.
4 Conflict will arise in relationships, there are many factors that contribute to this - differences in personalities, cultural beliefs, upbringing and so much more. Agreement is not the absence of conflict, it is a willingness to work it out "inspite of" and oftentimes "forgiving the unforgivable" not once but 70 x 7 and that is in regard to just one offence.
5 There are conflict resolution strategies outlined in Matthew 18:15 to 17
15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.
It is important that if we need to speak about a matter for accountability and advise, we do so. But if our speaking will inspire hate or malice towards the person who did us wrong then that is not of God and could be termed slander as you are really speaking from just your view point. How many times have we been so convinced about something or someone and realised later on, we were so wrong.
God extends undeserved grace and mercy to us, we really should do the same for others.
Lord we ask you to guard our hearts and guard our relationships, remove any short sightedness in us and cause us to see things from you viewpoint we ask you in the name of Jesus.
Amen
I leave you with these sobering words:
Matthew 7:1 - 5
1 “Judge[a] not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what [b]judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye
Amen
Walk good in Christ
Till we meet again
Pastor J
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