I pray that everyone who reads this will know it was written in love. It is not directed towards anyone in particular and was not written to cause more division. My spirit would not stop stirring this morning, so I knew this was something I needed to share. The purpose of this post is not to point out Scripture to support an argument. My only concern is that God is glorified in my life.
As sinners we all fall short of what God designed us to be - that is why He sent His Son, Jesus. Regardless of whether we agree with or even understand each other on this earth, I believe we need to show each other His love. It is our heart that God sees, not our ability to point out the specks in each others eyes.
Today I ask you to examine your heart - as I do the same. What is your heart full of? Love? Hate? Fear? Judgment? Kindness? Forgiveness? Perhaps a combination of those? Whatever it is, God knows. Our hearts are not hidden from Him. Not one of us is righteous, but it is by His grace that we are saved.
Our enemy loves to watch us accuse each other – especially when we do it the name of Christianity. We are all guilty and in need of God’s grace. We are not in a battle against flesh here – this is a spiritual war. I am not a preacher, teacher or Bible scholar, but I know the Love of God. Neither am I a poster child for soft-serve Christianity, but I will not use God’s word against my brothers and sisters with judgement or hate in my heart.
May God alone be glorified in our words, in our thoughts, and in our lives.
Amen,sister. I love this blog post.
ReplyDeleteIf we all spent just a little more time with God, we can learn to better communicate and love one another. Even when it is difficult and challenging to us, we can still live for Christ in all our relationships. Great words Tonya!
ReplyDeleteHave I told you lately that I love you?
ReplyDeleteDo you love God? A purely rhetorical question. I know that you do.
Do you know why you love God? There may be more than one answer, but I know one that is Biblical.
You... me... We ... love him, because he first loved us.
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Did we, or can we ever, do anything to deserve Christ's sacrifice?
No.
But I do believe we have a duty and a responsibility to be 'ambassadors in bonds' - representatives of the Kingdom of Heaven and the hands, feet, mouth and heart of the body of Christ, taking every thought captive, turning away from any and all temptations, being new creatures, unmistakeably Spirit filled and the servants of a most high and glorious God, both to please God and to help illuminate the narrow way that leads to an eternity in His presence.
Want to know what's in my heart? Desire and fear. A desire that all should come to know Christ and a fear that many who believe that they have eternal security because they once said a sinners prayer, maybe even go 'religiously' to church on Sunday, without ever giving serious consideration to what repentance might mean in terms of daily living.
I can't imagine anything worse than hearing 'Depart from me, I never knew you' and I'm not willing to keep still when I know part of my job is to speak up and remind Christians that they were bought with a price and that the payback is obedience.
Love is expressed in many ways, but the source remains the same.
Folks have a choice to consider the message or to color me judgmental and divisive...
Did I mention that I love you?
Wise words Robin! We are to love thy neighbor as ourselves. That means w/ the love of God agape' which is unconditional. Great post. thx for sharing on FB. Deb
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post and a great reminder for to all of us. I am finding that Christians are divided and you are correct when you say this is a spiritual war. We must come together and remember what Christ did for us and why we call ourselves Christians. That is the only way we can stand a chance in this war with the devil.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Jeff
http://www.godsurfer.com
Terrific Tonya ... accusing is doing satan's work for him ..he is so adept at this christian sleight of hand ... especially in the name of good theology'... not even the archangel Michael resorted to accusations when in dispute with satan about Moses' body ... Jude 9 ... yet it seems to me that Michael could have CORRECTLY brought countless accusations against satan but chose not to speak as satan speaks .. how much purer/healthier will His church be when Christians learn not to be a tool in the hand of the evil one by bringing accusations against each other? ... BLESSINGS and HAPPY CHRISTMAS
ReplyDeleteI love this post! It's why I follow you on Twitter. But where are the recent posts?? "Where have you gone, Tonya Atkinson? Jesus loves you more than you can know. Whoa-oh-oh." Okay, no more plagarism. Seriously. Write some more! :-)
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