Show me a spiritually reborn Christian who just loves to worship, to pray in Jesus' Name, to promote unity in fellowship with red-hot balanced believers (in connection with a healthy Bible teaching church), to study what’s really so, to then practically apply it as it was meant to be applied, and to subsequently.. as an outgrowth of all the former.. go share Christ’s Gospel in a simple non-religious sorta way......... and I will show you a vibrant, joyous, happy person!
The greatest threat to Christianity is not Communism or atheism; it is Christians trying to get to heaven incognito without being involved in edifying n unifying believers or in sharing their faith with others or serving the Lord with their whole hearts.
No time for disunity, for dividing believers, for beating or wounding God's sheep so to speak.. pastors, leaders or Christians. No time for it at all. There's just too much other good stuff in the will of God for us to do.
Ya can’t be busy growing up and healthy.. going forward ..if you’re too busy shrinking backwards. Choose to overcome evil with good; to sow to the Spirit instead of to your old fleshly nature or to this perverse world system.
"Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if [any man] draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul." Heb. 10:38-39
"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" says the Lord." Jer. 23:1
True shepherds and leaders feed and care for the flock instead of exploit or fleece God's flock. They gather em to safety and nurturing, instead of scattering em away from the tender care of the Chief Shepherd to be hurt or destroyed.
What kind of care am I talking about? Look at what the Bible says in the Old Testament, "For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God" (Eze. 34:11-15).
Let's let the Lord express His humble kindness and care through us. People that sow discord in a flock often don't initially set out to create divisions. Sometimes they are initially preoccupied instead with their own personal needs or the interests of a group they belong to (James 4:1-10).
I've felt upset before when I've seen a group or leaders of a good church group being mistreated, but there is a good way to deal with it. How you and I address it is so important.
“It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel” (Prov. 20:3).
Pray, Get some counseling perhaps. You might not have all the facts. Is it really your deal to get involved with? Sometimes it's very clear when wrong has been done. Did you try to go directly to the wrong-doer in private with a humble appeal--with an attitude and aim to restore? Go study how Lot’s herdsmen argued with those of Abraham (Gen. 13:1-18); and look at how Christ’s disciples argued about personal preeminence (Luke 9:46); and how divisive groups in the church in Corinth elevated party-factions above the unity of the Spirit for the whole body (1 Cor. 3:1-7).
How can we promote unity in connections with God's church? It begins with prayer and the transformation--I mean the regeneration and sanctification of the heart. When we adopt the mind of Jesus, we develop an attitude of humility towards the Lord first, and then we focus on service toward others (Phil. 2:5-11). Only in Christ can we access the Holy Spirit's power to “look out not only for our own interests, but also for the interests of others” (v.4).
As we cooperate with God's Spirit and simply depend on the Lord, He helps us. He produces the fruit of the Spirit in us.
Make me a gentle but strong person, a catalyst for unity, Lord. One who doesn’t divide your kids in the church, or quickly react in frustration to every l'il annoyance that might come my way. Give me a spirit of discipline, of self-control, of evangelistic love and patience instead of an attitude that scatters people away from You.
