Walking Thoughts

The President of Peacemaker Ministries, Ken Sande, preached at my Church.  His main message was that "Hovering hammers hurt, and levers lift by going lower."  That is, if we hold the hammer of condemnation above somebody's head, we hurt their spirits, their souls.  We can can even hurt their relationship with God, their view of Him and their walk with Him.  However, if we attend to them as Christ attended to us, we go below them, serve them, love them and lift them up from where they are to help them see God and what He's accomplished.  Just as Christ humbled Himself and made Himself as nothing all to lift us up, to be a lever for us toward God, we can do the same in the midst of arguments, disagreements and fights.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Chrsit Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 4:4-8

And so, in His example we should humble ourselves to death to our flesh to serve one another and point each other to God's grace.  The difficulty lies in the manner in which we do it - either we are hammers or levers.  I was speaking with a friend who was sharing with me something that I struggle with as well.  I, as my friend, like conviction.  That is, not my own, but for another person to feel conviction; even to the point of giving them the opportunity to be convicted by my words (which is a feeble excuse for what is really condemnation).  How selfish and contemptuous to believe that I can do that which can only be done by the Holy Spirit.  Yes God can use me to convict others but it's Him who convicts and the pleasure that I take in another's conviction is simply a manifestation of my prideful sin of trying to be God.  How unlike Christ I am, He came to serve in love whereas I serve self-righteous superiority.

In some twisted scheme I belive that I can change a person by convicting them of their sin.  He made me realize that conviction does not change a person.  Conviction is merely seeing ourselves in God's light, our response to conviction, either with humility or pride determines how heart is affected and our lives changed.  As those on the outside interacting with those under conviction we are trusted with the awesome responsibility of bringing them and showing them God's grace!  Our job is not to convict, but to show grace and not condemn - that is, to show them the freedom and love they have available to them in Christ's ultimate payment for them so that they can be eternally grateful to the God who suffered on their behalf.  Our actions can either bring condemnation or grace.

So as ambassadors of Christ, the Holy Spirit convicts and paves the road ahead for us to share His grace, that is acceptance, love, freedom from sin's persecution; to help the sinner see that they too can be presented as holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation!!!

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.  But now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation - if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.  THis is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Colossians 1:21-23

We are not the Holy Spirit, for it's only He who convicts the heart - however, are we a servant to the gospel?  Do we remind people of who they are in Christ when they are under conviction, holy and without blemish?  Do we help them continue in faith or stand and support them to become established in faith - that they are free from accusation?  Conviction is a road that the Holy Spirit gives us to either bring condemnation or the grace of the gospel to those we see and talk to everyday.  We can become a lever that lifts only when we put down our hammers of conviction and condemnation and trade our pride in for the humility of service, love, and grace.

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Galatians 5:13

From Connection Online Devo-mail:

Someone once said, "Whoever wants to be judge of human nature should study people's excuses." Excuses reveal how people think and what's important to them. Evangelist Billy Sunday used to say, "An excuse is the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie!" When God called Moses to be His representative for the nation of Israel, he had his list of excuses ready. His first one was, "Who am I to appear before Pharaoh?" Sounds humble, right? Think again. God's reply gives us insight, "I will be with you" (Exodus 3:12 NLT). Moses was making the situation all about him: his lack of experience, confidence and status. God replied in effect, "It's not about you and your inabilities. It's about Me and My abilities working through you!"

But Moses had more objections like, "Look, they won't believe me!"  (see Exodus 4:1) and "I'm just not a good speaker" (see Exodus. 4:10). All of these excuses appear to be legitimate. But his real heart was revealed when he finally uttered, "Lord, please! Send someone else!" (Exodus 4:13 NLT). Now we see that the real problem wasn't his ability but rather his availability. It was an issue of Moses' will rather than his aptitude.

What excuses have you been offering for God not using you? Have you hidden behind your age, your busy schedule, or your lack of capability? The truth is that God is looking for your availability. When he wants to use you, He will work through you. He promises to equip you with whatever it is you need to do the task. Remember that you're a tool in the hands of a master craftsman. The real genius is what the all-powerful God can accomplish through a yielded instrument. So throw away every excuse and ask Him to use you today. You might just be surprised at where that will lead.

In His strong love,

Skip Heitzig

You have cared for the earth, and have filled it with your riches. Abundance flows in your steppes, through the pastures and wilderness. You provide for our land, softening it with showers, bathing it in light, and blessing it with growth.

The hills sing with joy; the meadows are covered with flocks; the fields deck themselves with wheat; and together they glorify your name!

On this occasion of our Thanksgiving, we as a nation take rest from our labors to consider your many blessings. We thank you for our freedoms, and for the opportunity to contribute our skills, our attributes and our values toward the good of society.

We thank you for the mixture of our cultures, blending us into one people under God. Help us to be a light unto other nations, and to further the cause of freedom and justice all over the world.

We remember those who are less fortunate than we. We lift up in prayer the victims of poverty and racism, and all those who suffer from forms of political and economic oppression. Let the word that goes forth from our mouths speak of your peace, and let us proclaim our hope in Christ as Savior of all humankind.

We pray that you will bless all those who gather here, as we have come to experience your presence among us. Give us your guidance, O God, and empower us for your work. For we claim nothing for ourselves, but return all honor and glory unto you, and offer our thanks and praise. Amen.

From "Prayers for God's People"
Thomas P. Roberts, editor

This past Sunday, Ken Sande from Peacemaker Ministries spoke at a Peacemakers conference.  He relayed a story of God's faithfulness.

He had just had a conflict with his wife and was at the store when he saw something that he knew His wife would love.  His immediate thoughts, however, were, "I would get that for her if she hadn't been acting the way she did." Quickly, by God's grace, he recognized the horrid wickedness of his thoughts toward his wife.  He recounted the conversation he had with himself of why he should or should not get it for her.  He knew that grace would dictate that he love his wife and bless her regardless of her treatment of him, but he was still struggling with his sinful thoughts. With God prodding and poking at his heart, he decided to take some time and pick up the item just to look.  As soon as he did, he said God's grace met him where he was and filled him with an overwhelming love for the wife He had given him.  He wanted nothing more than to run back home as fast as he could to give her the gift.

God is so very faithful.  He knows our frailty, our weaknesses, our inabilities and sinfulness that hinder us from pursuing Him fully.  By His grace, He pursues us and will abundantly bless us even with the smallest of steps we take toward Him.  Take a step toward God, He's calling and waiting for you.  Jesus has His gift of redemption, grace, and good for you if you're willing to accept it.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man who trusts in Him
Psalm 34:8

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you
James 4:8

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
Ephesians 1:7

Students at school were asked to write about the harmful effects of oil on fish.

One 11-year old wrote, "When my mom opened a tin of sardines last night it was full of oil and all the sardines were dead."

One of the most difficult aspects in trusting God is believing that what He has in store for me in the future could be better than what I would desire now.  It ultimately stems from a lack of faith in the fulness in which God provides.  He is not a God of cruelty nor is He stingy.  He desires to bless us as we humble ourselves before Him and are submitted completely to His will.  That means trusting Him and letting go of our desires, what we would want to happen, and believeing in faith that God will provide the best for us as we pursue Him with all our might.

Trusting God means letting go of things, idea, and goals which I consider good and best.  It means leaving those things up to Him to fulfill in His time and way.  It's difficult because it is truly in the world of the unknown - we know nothing about what's to come except this - that it will be good and God will receive the most glory.  There are no boundaries to the mystery, there are no guarantees to the outcomes, no predictability in the process, no manipulation of the variables; we only know the character of the One who is in complete control. He is kind, full of compassion, and has our best interest in mind for He loves us.  He is full of grace and will provide good.  Yes, good, not mediocrity!  We can expect Him to give us good.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him.
Matthew 7:7-11

God doesn't want to give us stones and snakes!  He wants to give us bread and fish, good things that will satisfy us.  We can expect it, but first we must expect and glorify Him.

O fear the Lord, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want.  The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.
Psalm 34:9-10 

Did you catch that? You shall not be in want of any good thing because He will provide it for you!! Glorify Him, seek Him, expect Him to fill your heart with the Holy Spirit - Fear Him.  If you still have trouble trusting that God will and does want to bless you with good beyond what you think is good, listen to His word.

That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
James 1: 7-8

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21

Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!
Psalm 34:8

God can heal a broken heart, but He has to have all the pieces.
--Unknown

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Romans 8:1

As Christians we are free from the condemnation of our sins.  We have grace bought by blood, given to us by Jesus Christ and lived out in us through the Holy Spirit.  How is it, then, that so many Christians walk around feeling condemned, and not only that, condemning the world and other Christians?!

I was speaking with a Christian friend of mine, asking him what God had been teaching him lately.  He shared with me that he was learning about what he should be doing and afterwards kept reiterating that he wasn't doing enough, or there were so many things that he should be doing but was not.  His focus was not on the cross, not on grace.

Now, I had lunch with another Christian friend of mine, and her response was that God was teaching her the importance of being refreshed in Him and not trying to do it herself.  She said that whether or not she gets her devotion in has no bearing on the way the day goes, whether or not something bad or good happens.  God's grace is not dependent on what she's done, otherwise, she said, she was saying that the sacrifice on the cross wasn't enough to take care of her sin - that the cross wasn't enough for God to be able to take care of her.  Her mind was on God's grace, the cross, and His active Holy Spirit in her life, whereas the first was focused on how he himself was being a Christian - not Who had died to make him one.

The opening verse you can find in any Bible, but, only the King James has the latter half that explains that only by walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh is freedom attained.  I'm not trying to make a case to throw out all versions of the Bible written in the latter half of the 20th century, but I am making a case that God, in His infinite grace, has given us the Holy Spirit to receive His blessings outside of our own merits and faults!  That is grace, that is by the Spirit.  If we at any point think that our own efforts determine the amount of grace we receive, we are relying on our flesh, our intellect, our knowledge, and our own ability to do what only God can and has done - make us righteous.

Alister Baig once said in a sermon that those who believe that they have earned their salvation through their own merits deep down fear that they can lose their salvation because of their merits (i.e. faults). This is profound because it sheds so much light on why we come under condemnation - we are relying on what we've done!!  Somewhere along the way, we believe that He wasn't good enough to take care of our sin and we need to do something.  But since we are stained, we are condemned!! And if we believe at some point we have earned it, when we fail, which is as inevitable as death, we come under condemnation because our own efforts weren't good enough.  They never will be.

Accept God's grace for you. Nothing is too big for Him.  Conviction was meant for discipline to righteousness, condemnation is of the devil.  Accept His conviction, His grace, and His great love for you.  Let Him be the owner of your salvation.  Be blessed!

Salvation belongs to the LORD;your blessing be on your people!
Psalm 3:8