Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:4-6.
I was not rejoicing in the Lord or giving Him the thanks he deserves. I was thinking that as long as I was being diligent in my quiet time and trying –myself- to do God’s will then I would be blessed. I would be given peace of mind; I would be secure and know that I was forgiven. I was mistaken; I was not appropriating what knowledge I have attained correctly. I was misconstruing my priorities in my prayer life. That which I was trying to obtain, righteousness, I was asking God to equip me with. I have learned that by letting God do his will through me that righteousness and being a witness for Him will be evident in me. Through it being in me, it would eventually emanate outward for others to see and hopefully desire to achieve personally as well. That has been my prayer. I say this to demonstrate disputes; they will still arise even though I have a relationship with God. I am just becoming better equipped to handle upcoming disputes. I am learning to put God into the dispute and see if and how He is being glorified. I am learning to check my motives and see if it is self gratifying or if I feel it is deserved because of some other preconceived perception of something that I am owed. By putting God into the equation and living as instructed to do so we should not hope to seek gratification for ourselves and definitely not to put added unnecessary strain on our brothers or sisters in Christ but by living righteously I can hope to conciliate differences the way that Christ would expect me to. I almost think that I would need to envision Jesus Christ in the room, sitting there looking at me to know that I will make the necessary decisions. That would be a living example of being a Christian and living by my faith. It is also another thing commanded of us and that is to submit to authority. In submitting to His authority it is giving God the honor he is deserving of by my attempt to make my decisions based on His principles, living my life as he has demonstrated to me and asked me to do.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Eph 4:29
In checking my motives I was struck by this verse. It is vitally important to watch what is said about others. Slander, back-biting, creating dissention; they are all sins and need to be avoided. I am reminded of a verse I learned as a child although at the time I did not know it was scripture; Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I know that I do not like to be talked about behind my back, and it bothers me even more to think that that talk is derogatory. So it is my responsibility to keep that in mind and try only to say encouraging things, uplifting things so that someone else may not be swayed in a negative direction in their thoughts of someone else. In the end it only comes back around to you anyway and you are looked at as if you are just an unhappy and negative soul; where is Christ in that?
I was not rejoicing in the Lord or giving Him the thanks he deserves. I was thinking that as long as I was being diligent in my quiet time and trying –myself- to do God’s will then I would be blessed. I would be given peace of mind; I would be secure and know that I was forgiven. I was mistaken; I was not appropriating what knowledge I have attained correctly. I was misconstruing my priorities in my prayer life. That which I was trying to obtain, righteousness, I was asking God to equip me with. I have learned that by letting God do his will through me that righteousness and being a witness for Him will be evident in me. Through it being in me, it would eventually emanate outward for others to see and hopefully desire to achieve personally as well. That has been my prayer. I say this to demonstrate disputes; they will still arise even though I have a relationship with God. I am just becoming better equipped to handle upcoming disputes. I am learning to put God into the dispute and see if and how He is being glorified. I am learning to check my motives and see if it is self gratifying or if I feel it is deserved because of some other preconceived perception of something that I am owed. By putting God into the equation and living as instructed to do so we should not hope to seek gratification for ourselves and definitely not to put added unnecessary strain on our brothers or sisters in Christ but by living righteously I can hope to conciliate differences the way that Christ would expect me to. I almost think that I would need to envision Jesus Christ in the room, sitting there looking at me to know that I will make the necessary decisions. That would be a living example of being a Christian and living by my faith. It is also another thing commanded of us and that is to submit to authority. In submitting to His authority it is giving God the honor he is deserving of by my attempt to make my decisions based on His principles, living my life as he has demonstrated to me and asked me to do.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Eph 4:29
In checking my motives I was struck by this verse. It is vitally important to watch what is said about others. Slander, back-biting, creating dissention; they are all sins and need to be avoided. I am reminded of a verse I learned as a child although at the time I did not know it was scripture; Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I know that I do not like to be talked about behind my back, and it bothers me even more to think that that talk is derogatory. So it is my responsibility to keep that in mind and try only to say encouraging things, uplifting things so that someone else may not be swayed in a negative direction in their thoughts of someone else. In the end it only comes back around to you anyway and you are looked at as if you are just an unhappy and negative soul; where is Christ in that?
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