Praise Him through the pain, which is what the Holy Spirit whispered to me as I spent quiet time before the Lord this morning. As I prayed, a praise song "on Christ the mighty rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand..." Came into my mind.
I thought about the scripture on how "the tongue is a double edged sword." and from Proverbs 12:18 “Thoughtless speech is like the stabs of a sword, But the tongue of the wise is a healing.” And I also thought about how everything is perception. How we can't get into the head of someone else and sometimes the biggest spiritual warfare occurs with miscommunication, misunderstanding and satan laughs from the sidelines because he is the author of confusion. The great divider and "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy." (John 10:10). That is what he does - and he does it best with the people we love the most. Family, friends - because it is only the ones you care the most about that can hurt you.
Think about it... I think that is also why the Bible says in Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil." (Proverbs 4:23-27).
Division does not glorify God - it glorifies the devil. He sits back and watches as the seeds of anger, confusion, back stabbing, gossip causes division. Breaks a part families and friends. We refer to it as drama - but what it REALLY is is spiritual warfare. You choose if you are going to be a part of it. Sometimes we are pulled into it but we choose whether or not we are going to participate or whether or not we are going to pray through it.
Jesus said 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:31) the problem with that is many of us don't know HOW to love ourselves. You can't pour out from an empty container. Also, there is no degree of pain. Your pain is not greater than my pain, nor is my pain greater than yours. Pain is not a contest. A kind word goes along way. We only see in part, but God sees in full.
1 Corinthians 13:12 says, "Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." There for our trust MUST be in Him. How can we combat the enemy? SHOW LOVE. Christ is to be our example. Every morning we choose who we are going to give the glory of a new day to - the devil or the Lord. I choose the Lord. He has given us free will - so the choice is ours. Instead of being so concerned about the sty in someone else's eye - maybe the finger you point should be pointed inward. Towards ourselves. I don't know about you, but my sins and short comings are ever before me. I don't need someone "judging me" or "pointing their finger at me" because I am my own worst critic. I am too busy judging MYSELF to worry about what YOU need to work on.
The Bible also says, "The measure you judge someone else is the measure you yourself will be judged." (Matthew 7:2). There is so much "imperfect" in ME that I am not concentrating on the imperfect in you. Quite frankly, I leave the judging to God who looks at the heart and sees the fullness of each one of us. You have no idea what "pain" someone else is going through. Should you add on to it or make a difference by a healing word or gesture?
One day I was driving through the drive through of Dunkin getting my coffee and as I pulled up to the window to pay for it the cashier said to me, "You are all set, the man ahead of you paid for your order all ready." I was truly touched by his thoughtfulness. I couldn't even THANK him because he had already drove off. You don't KNOW what kindness and thoughtfulness and goodness does in the life of someone else. Shouldn't we be that way? "Paying it forward?" Not doing it so that it can be acknowledge by people. Some people do good works to SAY they have done good works - No - the Bible says "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6). We should do them because that is what Jesus would do. I have over the last 29 years of being a Christian, hidden God's Word in my heart. Because when I need it most - it floats right to the surface. The Holy Spirit uses it as a balm to help me through the pathway God has me on in life. I once heard the saying, "Be a fountain, not a drain." What are YOU being? Are YOU building up or tearing down? The choice and the responsibility is yours alone to make. I choose the fountain...
