November 13, 2008 HARMONY & PEACE
Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Colossians 3:12-15 It is still hard for me to think of myself as a "holy" person. No, it's not that I'm humble, it's just that I so easily fall into sinful attitudes. He's still working on me. However, praise His Holy name, He doesn't depend on my holiness, I depend on His. In His eyes I am complete because when He looks at me He sees the blood of Jesus covering my sin. The only thing I can do is clothe myself with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Yep, you guessed it. Sometimes I forget to dress properly and I walk around in my old clothes of judgment, anger, and jealousy. That is when the Holy Spirit gently whispers in my ear that I am not operating in His power and I am led to repent. For instance, several years ago, we discovered that someone had taken Cody and Austin's Adderall; I was livid. I started judging one of three people in and around this family. I bounced back and forth between all three of them. Yet, all three of them loved each child. How could any of them do it? However, someone did? Eventually, I had to face the truth. Someone did it; someone, desperate enough to need a child's medicine to make it through a day. Although they knew Roger and I were suffering the immediate consequences of that persons sin, he or she would have to face the long term consequences eventually. In any event, it was out of my hands. I didn't know who it was and I had to love my daughters, and treat my ex-husband as Cody and Callie's grandfather - with as much respect as God would have me to - oh my! Now, years later, enough things have happened that have given me clues to help me know who the guilty party was. Does it help? No. Can I do anything about it? No. How often do we allow our flesh to dictate our emotions rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to heal them? Ouch! Hallelujah! God wants us to walk together in perfect harmony. Sometimes it is better to pull away from people who are resistant to Him in order to let them experience the lack of God in their lives. That is one reason God allowed His children to be taken into exile. While there they experienced what it was like living in a land where God was not exalted. As I write this an old song came to my mind, "It hurts to be in love. when the only one you love turns out to be someone whose not in love with you." It is true. "I will gladly spend myself and all I have for your spiritual good, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me." 2 Corinthians 12:15 Sometimes even our children and our families turn against us and that hurts. However, we are to stand strong in the Lord, hold them up in prayer, and take each opportunity the Lord gives us to let them know that we love them, but we just don't love their sin. Making allowances for another person's fault is sometimes the very thing that opens the door to hope. Father, You alone are glorious! You alone can dress us with the love that it takes to make a difference in the life of a wounded person. Anoint us with the oil of joy so that we might minister hope wherever we go. Invade our hearts with the fire of Your love. Help us know genuine harmony and peace in the Body! ******************************************* O. Addison Gethers e-mail address : [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] window live messenger: [EMAIL PROTECTED] aim: durangoadd64 skype: cowboys62 yahoo messenger: OADDISONGETHERS --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Deaf-Blind Inspirational Life Group" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/DBILG?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
