God directed me to Proverbs 11:11 this morning. In The Passion Translation it reads: The blessing of favor resting upon the righteous influences a city to lift it higher. In the New Living Translation it reads, Upright citizens are good for a city and make it prosper, but the talk of wicked tears it apart. In Matthew 5:14 Jesus describes the church as 'a city.' It is imperative for believers to not talk down the church. If we have a 'gripe' about something in the church, we need to talk with the pastor or leadership to either resolve the issue or to gain understanding about it. I think about some of the things that get posted on social media and wonder if it is tearing down the church. I don't know that a news article about a pastor that falls is good publicity for the church. Before posting on social media I try to stop and say "What would Jesus do? Would He post this? Am I being an encourager by posting it? Will it exalt the Lord?" I had a dream last night that was disturbing to my spirit. I was in a large church where the ladies were doing a special program. It was hectic at the last minute trying to get all the decorations done, fine tuning the last minute preparations, etc. I had a friend who was asked to do something she wasn't comfortable with but after being pressured into it she agreed. Then I was asked to do something no one else wanted to do. The people who asked me knew I would be capable of doing it with my personality. But I didn't want to do something just because no one else wanted to do it I told them I would pray about it and the ones asking were rude to me just as they had been rude to my friend and talked behind her back. This dream made me stop and think about a few things...
- Do I put pressure on people to do things they don't want to do?
- Do I make people think I will do anything asked of me?
- How does God feel when we are rude to others by talking about them?
- How effective are my words on building up the church?
When you live a II Timothy 1:7 type of life, nothing that comes your way is feared. If someone asks you to do something and God gives you the go ahead, you do it. You also live out His love in this type of life. That means being rude to others is not part of your life. But we all are humans and will make mistakes. That is when we must repent before the Lord so we can have a clean slate to start the day. Sometimes we say things that are taken the wrong way without even realizing it. Sometimes people hear things not said. No matter what, we must be uplifting and encouraging so people will see Jesus in us. If (not when because it will happen) people don't accept encouragement from our words, we cannot make them. But we first must make sure that is what flows from us. His love encourages. If we desire to encourage, we must first have His love. We cannot allow the enemy any open door into our life but instead must stand upon II Timothy 1:7.
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for Your Word that encourages me so greatly! Thank You for Your strength for the day ahead! Thank You for Doc's encouraging appointment with the oncologist! I pray the one with the surgeon will also be encouraging. Lord, I pray for those who have had or are having surgery; those mourning the loss of loved ones; those looking for a job; those dealing with disease; and many people hurting emotionally. Most of all I pray for those who are need a spiritual healing. Father, I pray especially for a friend having a medical test this week to not allow the enemy an open door as they await test results. I pray for You to be greater than the fear he is trying to put on this dear family. Lord, cleanse me today so You can fill me to a greater capacity of Your love. I'm physically worn but I know You are here to empower me. Thank You Jesus for being My Strength! Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment