Conflict will come into our lives.
In my 20 years of ministry one thing seems certain, conflict will come into our lives, and when it does, we have the opportunity to honor God by responding as his word says we should. But it’s not easy. I’ve noticed the conflict seems to jump out just when things seem to be going smooth in church, someone gets their feelings hurt. I’ve had to deal with many different emotions from people who at the most unusual times come forward to say that I’ve done something wrong, someone else has done something wrong, someone is offended them, someone’s hurt their feelings or I said something I shouldn’t have said. So often it comes down to they’re just not getting the attention that they need.
The Word tells in James 1:19-22 that I am to listen, I’m to think before I speak, and I am to avoid anger. So I know what God‘s Word says about anger I know what God‘s Word says about dealing with conflict but it’s not always easy to obey. So my prayer for today will be Lord, I want to always be a doer of your word. And as God would, I was finishing my thoughts on conflict when my wife sends me her daily devotion.
From my wife Vicki;
Why does God allow us to go through trials...particularly trials of longer length? Look at and consider Deuteronomy 8:1-11.
The Bible shares with us that there are valid purposes for trials:
1. To humble us
2. To test us
3. To know what is in our hearts
4. To reveal whether we will keep God's commandments or not
5. To humble us to reveal what we hunger for, whether it be good or bad
6. To show us our great need for God's Word
7. To show us His provision
8. So we will know in our hearts that God loves us and cares enough about us to discipline us as His own---just as a loving parent disciplines his own son
9. As motivation to "keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him"
10. To applicably teach us how to walk in His ways and to fear Him
11. To eventually bring us to a better place so we will be freed up to "bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you"
12. To free Him up to bless us at a greater level after we obey, walk in His ways, and fear Him
13. To teach us our need for Him so we will not forget to obey Him and we will not reject or neglect Him in the days to come
Trials are difficult and they truly show us what we are made of. They reveal the true condition of our hearts, what we think, and what we believe. They ultimately reveal what we truly think about God.
What if we are going through a life challenge right now...and we have failed miserably so far to love God and be loyal to Him?
Talk to Him about it right now and ask Him for His forgiveness. His mercies are new every morning and He is so faithful!
The Bible says if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We are running a race and the goal is to condition our spiritual hearts. It's easy to fall down...and the enemy stops at nothing to trip you up.
Choose to get back up, brush yourself off, and continue to run a good race. Allow whatever situation you are in to refine you...not define you. Allow life's trials to bring you closer to God.
Life may be very tough today but you serve a God who is in full control of all of your tomorrows. Go through this necessary journey with God to become better suited to love and serve Him...and in the process, He will bring you to a better place. There is a great prize at the end of the race of life, press forward with all your might!
Scriptures:
““Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors. Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good. “So obey the commands of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills. It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey. It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills. When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. “But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today.” Deuteronomy 8:1-3, 5-11 NLT
“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT
“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”1 John 1:9 NLT
“When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings. Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”
1 Corinthians 9:22-27 NLT
“My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline, and don’t be upset when he corrects you.
Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding.”
Proverbs 3:11, 13 NLT
No comments:
Post a Comment