rude, mean Christians

The question was posed, "Why do Christians treat each other rudely and without grace?"
My thoughts....

 Isaiah 57:15 " For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite. " Romans 11:32 " For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. " Deut. 32:36 " The Lord will vindicate his people and relent concerning his servants when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free. " Daniel 12:7 " I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed. " True Christians are "set-up" by God to fall. We will fail people, we are rude and mean to those we love, and just in general we "suck." God is not surprised by that, it is what happens next that matters. Do we go to Him broken and admitting our faults and sins? Do we cry out for the expensive mercy purchased at the cross? Do we persevere in believing that God loves us even though we are poor and weak. There is a deep underlying theme in the scriptures, suffering proceeds glory. It is a type of suffering, reserved for those whose conscience has been touched by God, to know that you have let down The One who loves you so much. We are those who cry out for mercy to the one true God who delights to show mercy. His beautiful, terrible plan is to bring a people (individually and corporately) to the absolute end of their strength, to the shattering of their power, so that He might be glorified as the God who raises the dead!

Communion

Communion, He allowed His body to be broken He allowed His blood to be poured out and in so doing He gave us a pattern for how to usher the Kingdom of God into our lives and those we touch. 

By making it a "simple time of sharing" connected to a Jewish festival meal, He connects us to the root.  He makes it available to all.  He makes it a part of  'everyday.'

Grace and Humility

3 Thoughts that I believe God can weave together without my adding any comments. 

1)
If we are willing to agree with the will of God that we are "not

 a people" then, broken and bruised by the truth of His 

sovereignty we can finally receive His love and be "His 

people." 


2)

Romans 9:16 So then [God’s gift] is not a question of 

human will and human effort, but of God’s mercy. [It

 depends not on one’s own willingness nor on his 

strenuous exertion as in running a race, but on God’s 

having mercy on him.] Amplified

3)
"The only people who have a right to point out dirt on

 another's feet are those who have a towel about their

 waist, a basin of water in their hands, and are willing to

wash them. If I'm not willing to come alongside someone

 in humility and love I have no right to point out the dirt I see

in him." 

pure in heart

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  Matthew 5:8

Familiar verse, maybe...too familiar.

Look at the Amplified version. 
 "Blessed (happy, enviably fortunate, and spiritually prosperous—possessing the happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His grace, regardless of their outward conditions) are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!"

Had to put those words in bold print, because, I feel strongly that the true and deep calling, the deep meaning of this verse is, the pure in heart are blessed because they see God in everything!  No matter the situation or circumstance, they see the cup from the Father's hand, and they are open to the redeeming power of God to bring about His good work, every where, every time.

Why forgive?

"We don't forgive because people deserve it - we forgive so that we can see again, hear again, pray again."
Jason Upton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XPgWueKz0Q

There is a freedom to live completely abandoned to the Father, "seeing a betrayer as a cup from the Father's hand."  

human all to human

"Let me not in any way insert my humanity."
Art Katz before beginning a sermon entitled, The Necessity of the Cross.
http://ia601201.us.archive.org/14/items/SERMONINDEX_SID5097/SID5097.mp3

Nothing gonna hold me back

When we see everything as a cup from the loving hand of our Father.  We can see things differently and we can forgive.  Whatever is holding back the Spirit is broken by forgiveness and laying down our lives.

Jason Upton's songs are teaching me truth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XPgWueKz0Q

Battle of Five Armies

"You have but one question to ask, 'How will this day end?'" Gandalf

from the new movie "Battle of Five Armies"

and these thoughts on LIVING the Yeshua life

We can walk through this life with the vision of God that transforms "enemies" into a cup from the loving hand of our Father. We can walk in the Spirit in such a way that the value of an eternal soul, is so very clear, that we can endure and persevere with whatever comes and return love and mercy. We can live in such a way, with such a freedom because of knowing the goodness and the sovereignty of God that we have no enemies and we can not be hurt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV8RkGxWBDU

and a great Bible study link here

http://youtu.be/-KqcezbrLE4

God caused it

A friend posed this question

 I think he also said that God does such things (as the holocaust) because that's what it takes to get our attention. I've also heard (from other speakers) that God doesn't cause those things but He will use them for His glory. Which camp do you agree with?

This was my response.

Food for thought, Deut. 32 is mostly the "Song of Moses"

a song that Moses was to teach the children of Israel, (a brother put it to music and you 

can locate it here....     http://www.zcpress.org/music/the-song-of-moses/     )

With the point in mind that God wants His people to know and memorize this song, let's look at verse 23 

At this address it is displayed in every English translation, and the meaning is clear.  NIV

“I will heap calamities on them
    and spend my arrows against them."

That is God talking, not man's opinions.  

We are slow learners and God know that so He says the same thing from

another angle in verse 39

"‘See now that I, I am He,
And there is no god besides Me;
It is I who put to death and give life.
I have wounded and it is I who heal,
And there is no one who can deliver from My hand."

You will note that verses like these do not leave a lot of "wiggle room" for the

"God does not cause those things..."  crowd.  And please, please, please, note

that I am not ripping scripture out of context and I am not taking 45 minutes to

explain why, when He says, "I have wounded" that that is not really what He means.

The first Bible I ever owned, i would write down scriptures that spoke of God's discipline

of His children and it wasn't long before the inside front cover of my Bible was filled with

references.  It is a "theme" in the word of God.  

Isaiah 45:7  "The One forming light and creating darkness,

Causing well-being and creating calamity;
I am the Lord who does all these."  (God describing Himself, not out of context at all)

Hannah's song of Thanksgiving 1 Samuel 2:6  “The Lord kills and makes alive;
He brings down to Sheol and raises up."

God thundering against the wicked in Psalm 50:22  "“Now consider this, you who forget God,
Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver."

Psalm 51, the ultimate prayer of repentance, verse 8  "Make me to hear joy and gladness,
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice."

Lastly Amos 3:6  If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble?
If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it?

So now I will sit quietly and wait for anyone to find the scriptures that say God does not

cause "those things" but uses them for His glory.  I have read the whole book more than

14 times but I may have missed them.

A word to the principalities and powers of the air, the rulers in heavenly places

I have one couple and 2 individual friends in the furnace right now, and this is my word to them....

Right here at this facebook page is a sign and a wonder! The Lord God of Israel has thoughts than He shares with those who go through the fire. Those who choose to trust Him in the midst of the flames. Those who say, with their very lives, to the principalities and powers of this world, Daniel 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”     

Obedience has its rewards and the greatest one is this, 

Psalm 25:14

The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His covenant.

Isaiah 45:3

“I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden wealth of secret places, So that you may know that it is I, The Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.