Who is my Brother?

A matter came up at our Bible study regarding Matthew 18:15-17, dealing with people who have wronged us.  "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.  If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.  But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.  If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector."

The key word I'm stuck on is "brother."  Some felt strongly that this referred to the world as a whole, others that it referred only to fellow believers.  I was in a similar situation many years ago, and sought the help of my pastor after following the first two steps.  The person who wronged me did not believe as we did.  My pastor said that person was not my "brother" and I was "done" attempting to resolve this according to these biblical instruction.

So, then, who is my brother?

I checked many other versions of the Bible looking for clarification.  Most use "brother" but a few use "fellow believer," "another believer," or "another one of my followers." 

In Matthew 12:48-50, Jesus says, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

My conclusion is that we are called to use kindness and truth and integrity in dealing with everyone, but our relationships to other believers are special and set apart, and the instructions in the Bible referring to our "brothers" is not wholly applicable to everyone.  The relationship between believers is crucial, treasured, and holy. 

Be Strong And Courageous

In the Book of Joshua, several times God tells Joshua to "be strong and courageous."   He said BE strong and courageous, not FEEL strong and courageous.  There's a huge difference.  It's very hard to control our feelings, but we have much better control of our actions.  

So BE strong and courageous today.  Especially if you don't FEEL like it. Make that choice.

What I Have Learned About Submission

 I spent many years thinking I knew a lot about submission and did a pretty good job of it.  When God came to me with a request, I pondered it carefully and made the best decision that I was comfortable with, and patted myself on the back for every little crumb I gave God.  When I think back to all those years it makes me somewhat embarrassed and completely ashamed that I did this and still managed to  be so proud of myself.   I wonder what God thought about that?  Did He roll his eyes at that silly, pompous human being?  Or get angry?  Or something else?  He did get my attention eventually and in no uncertain terms set me straight on how far off the mark I really was.  

Looking back, it seems that submission involved a lot of other things I needed to know first, especially: 

1) Humility.  I can't be submissive to His will if I somehow think I know best, or need some time to weigh which of us, God or me, is the wiser in any given situation. 

2) I had to learn to hear what God was telling me, in whatever way He was using.  It takes listening, as well as talking, in prayer.  It takes daily Bible reading.  

3) Discernment.  I think you have to know without a doubt that what you're hearing is of God and not of your own willfulness.  And if I don't know what my Bible says, discernment is going to be hard.

4) Courage.  If you have to weigh obedience against your comfort level, you'll never be submissive.  

In humility I had to learn to empty myself out completely at His feet and trust whatever direction He is taking me, even if (or especially when) I don't understand it or like it.  Without a doubt, there's more to learn and He will indeed continue to school me, for which I say, "Thank You, Lord."

God is Good - All the Time

So many times I have seen Facebook prayer requests that have ended well, and replies are often "God is good."  So, does that mean when healing doesn't happen that God is somehow NOT good?

It is certainly hard to understand why the healing didn't happen, why the job you so desperately needed never materialized, when the relationship you have built your life on ends.  We can do everything in our power to fix things and still come up short.  We can ask ourselves "why" a million times and still struggle with the lack of an answer.

Certainly, God is in perfect control of every event that touches us.  Sometimes terrible things happen and we don't know why.  Sometimes there is just no explanation good enough to put any salve on the wound whatsoever.  

Our prayers are usually for direct results.  But the fruit is so often in the journey.  It's been on the dark paths that I've learned a great deal about myself, where I'm at in my faith journey and my relationship to Jesus Christ.  I've learned that He really will never leave my side, and He will give me what I need to walk that path.  And He always, always has a purpose, even if I can't see it.  

But most importantly, God will use that experience, if we allow it, to conform us into the likeness of Christ, little by little, and to grow our faith as we see that with each struggle, He is faithful.

Yes, God is good - All the time.

Never Lose Hope

You just never really know for certain how life is going to turn out.  I was thinking about three women of the Bible - Sarah (wife of Moses), Hannah (mother of Samuel) and Elizabeth (mother of John the Baptist) and how they gave birth to their sons after years of infertility, and in Sarah and Elizabeth's cases, at an advanced age.  I am sure all of these women felt the anguish of infertility and certainly none expected that to change.  And look what happened!

Perhaps, with a God Who is so totally in control of everything that happens, or doesn't happen, we should not be so quick to give up when things appear to be impossible.  There is no such concept of "impossible" when it comes to God.  Don't ever lose hope.

The Jesus Who Will Bake your Cake

 I'm in the habit of reading Dr. Charles Stanley's devotionals (sign up at InTouch.org - they are free, and greatly useful).  Today's was entitled "Our Trials" and it immediately caught my attention (by divine design, I'm sure, since I'm currently up to my eyeballs dealing with little life challenges).

The devotional mentions that we all have trials, both the believer and the unbeliever, and outlines that these troubles can come from various sources:

1) Other peoples' sin.  I've always envisioned this as someone jumping up and down in the "mud-puddle of sin" and anyone nearby is going to get splashed to a certain degree.  The closer you are to the sin, the muddier you're going to get.

2) Spiritual Warfare - Satan attacks anyone who is a threat to his mission, so I guess when Satan trips you up and frustrates your work, that's a good thing.  Looking at the big picture, that is.  You're valuable enough to God to warrant Satan's attention.

3) Our own sin.  Kind of a no-brainer.  It's going to come back and bite us sooner or later.

4) Trials from God Himself.  You can be sitting there minding your own business, and along comes trouble.  

The overall message in the devotional is that no matter what the source of your difficulties, God has a reason and a purpose for allowing them.  He will take them and use them to accomplish something good.  Maybe in you.  Maybe in someone else.  Maybe in a lot of people.  And He will always bless you for your faithfulness in going through the trials in the right way - His way.

I was imagining baking a cake.  All these raw ingredients are in The Bowl That Is You.  You've got some raw eggs, some flour, some sugar, some baking powder...  And it's neither tasty nor useful.   But beat up those ingredients a little bit, and put them through the fire, and they change.  You end up with something really good.  As long as you don't forget the leavening agent, which is Jesus Christ, who makes sure the whole mess is raised up properly, your cake won't fall flat. And personally, if I'm going to get beat up by life and go through the fire, I'd rather not fall flat.

As you enter into a time of trial, don't forget God is allowing it for a reason and a purpose, will limit it to the shortest amount of time necessary, and He will never leave your side as you walk through it.  Trusting Him is a choice.  Keep your eyes on Him and take it one step at a time.  There's blessing on the other side of this.

Clay in the Potter's Hands, Part II

Our women's Bible study group at church is currently doing "Giving God Your Future" by Christa Kinde.  It's an excellent study and I highly recommend it.  We're nearly done and as a person who tends to be a worrywart, I've learned a lot about the peace and serenity that comes from trusting a most trustworthy God.

As we go through the attributes of God and why He is more than capable that we are of directing our futures, I've also been looking at how God has directed my past, which I believe is necessary to feel comfortable in totally entrusting my future to Him.  

Looking back at the top three or four really hard stretches of my life, I can see exactly how I was blessed on the other side of each of those challenges.  And while the hardships were tough to bear at times, the blessing far outweighed the difficulties, so much so that I'd go through it again if I needed to in order to get what I got.  The blessing has been more than commensurate with the hardship involved.

While each tribulation has resulted in blessing, collectively the experiences are changing me. Looking back on how I reacted to various periods of crisis, I find myself more content to accept that God has a plan and purpose rather than to complain and bemoan the situation.  I find myself more comfortable not having to know exactly what is coming and how God plans to provide for me through it, and just accepting that my role is to keep my eyes on Him and trust that He will make a way even when -- no, especially when -- I don't see it.

I love to feel these changes as they are happening.  That edifying and uplifting feeling of being the clay under the Potter's skillful and all-knowing hands is more valuable than anything else I've ever experienced.