Romans 15
Well, I guess by now we should just automatically assume that whatever is next on our blog is going to directly reflect whatever Pastor Erik just taught on! LOL. Apparently, God has some work to do in us beyond what Erik's talks have been about. :)
So, for those of you who didn't get the chance to check out his talk yesterday, as he streamed it live on the web, let me give you a brief rundown of what he talked about. The message was entitled, "The Christ Who Changes Me." And basically, it was this: Christ, who gave you grace and salvation expects a life change to go along with the heart change that was given to you in order that you may come to Him. If the Holy Spirit lives within you, meaning you are a Christian, then you have an obligation to put aside the things of this world and strive for righteousness. One of the main points that he talked about was building up each other. And while his central passage was Colossians, it mirrored that of Romans 15 and the book of James. We are to build each other up, and hold each other accountable.
Vs. 1-7 really speak of this. How many times do we give someone a hard time, in fun, but yet we rarely, if ever, encourage them, tell them how much we appreciate them, or just thank them for who they are and what they are bringing to the church? Or even, how much they mean to us, personally. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to chide each other in fun. But we also have to remember.... are there any unbelievers in our midst while we're doing it? Cause if they are, are we showing them that we have been changed? Or are we just conforming to the culture and the world around us? Are we saying something to build someone up, or tear them down? If Jesus were standing right beside us, would we say it at all? That last question is the big one! Cause here's the reality.... He is!
In a nutshell, this is something that I have to get better at. My nature is one to have fun and joke around with people; to let the little snide remark come out. But at the end of the day, I'm not building up anyone or edifying the church in doing it. I need to repent of this and ask God to continue to change me and grow me.
Robbie
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"May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another..."
ReplyDeleteWhy is it so easy to get angry and upset with others if we are supposed to be getting along with them? Is it all just a test of how we'll act?
Man this is crazy. I just published a note on facebook this past Saturday about what it means to be an ambassador of Christ. As I said in the note, too many times Christians TRY to be Christian instead of simply being Christian. We strive so hard to follow the law of our heart and head, the Law of God. We try to avoid anger, lust, worry, and unfaithfulness yet we rarely stop to simply delight in the Lord. Only when we delight in the righteousness of God will we ever WANT to do good things. Though Christ took our lashes, our punishment, he did not remove the sin from our bodies according to Romans 7:14-25. Even Paul says, "24Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin."
ReplyDeleteSo though we serve the law of God with our minds, our broken bodies still desire sin. For this reason, we must "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" Philippians 4:4. We must "6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." Philippians 4:6-8
As Christians, we don't strive to do good by ourselves. We do not try to be a better Christian by helping old ladies across the street or putting more money in the offering plate. Though our soul is ransomed, our bodies are slaves to sin and we will rarely do good apart from God. Rather, in order for our hearts to be guarded against anger, lust, pride, envy, etc. we have to do one thing and one thing only. "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." Only God has all of these attributes. Dwell on Him and the rest will take care of itself.
Good stuff folks, Humans are always going to have differences in how they understand and even treat each other. History proves this and believers in many ways are no exception. We are called as believers to be of the same mind, think alike, and be in agreement. Like a unit of measurement is a standard we understand, Christ is that standard for the believer. We must make every effort to line up with Christ and his word.
ReplyDeleteIf we are united by this desire and to glorify God in all things how powerful the church would be.
1(A) We who are strong(B) have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2(C) Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3For(D) Christ did not please himself, but as it is written,(E) "The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me." 4For(F) whatever was written in former days was written for our(G) instruction, that through endurance and through(H) the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you(I) to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6that together you may with one voice glorify(J) the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
ReplyDeleteThis whole section really struck a chord with me. Its soooo our human nature to make sure peoples shortcomings are pointed out especially if it has the potential to make ourself look all the better. I like Robbie am quick to take a jab or make a joke at someones expense and though I always do it out of love never malice if Im not sure where the other person is emotionally I may really be doing some damage. How easy it is to take the easy path instead of lifting someone up..giving a praise a pat on the back a word of encouragement. What does it really cost me? It takes the same amount of time and energy to deliver the blow as it would to deliver an incredible word of encouragement. To grant me to live in harmony with one another...who wouldnt want that? I know I personally do not like conflict of any kind. It makes me physically sick. I dont see myself as a pleaser, but I try to at least keep some sort of peace in my life. Even if I never convince the other person to change their mind about whatever it is we disagree on, I can at least be the bigger person and walk away before things get said that are hurtful and just agree to disagree. I agree with Miles that if we dwell on Him the rest takes care of itself....
I know that I am supposed to glean spriritual wisdom from this and there is definatly a lot in there, but the main thing that struck me is what a journey Paul was on. Going to Spain. I mean that would be a journey on its own, but travelling mostly by foot... it just seemed to hit me. I don't think that really sinks in to me all the time. It was just very different back then.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to picture unity. The world is a creation flowing with diversity. No two things in this world are exactly alike; no two things will ever be exactly the same. This provides just a glimpse into the infinite nature of God. This seems to filter into Church as well. Unfortunately this filtering of dissimilar beliefs and understandings turns us away from unity. We must be careful that we do not mistake personal convictions and preferences with absolutes. This distinction is a must as we are called to unify as one voice.
ReplyDelete