Often times giving into the Kingdom of God is seen as some type of
insurance policy – if I faithfully give then the walls of protection
stay up and all is good for me and mine. While faithful giving is Biblical,
we are missing pertinent elements of God's truth if we solely depend on
it to open heaven’s blessings in our lives and keep us from all harm.
Far and above giving is the act of loving, and this exemplifies the
heart of God.
Consider Matthew 5 , which deals with the person
who is ready to give his offering but is reminded that giving while at
‘odds’ with a brother or an adversary is worthless giving. You see, God
is looking for faithfulness to Him through the way we handle our
relationships and treat one another more so than what we give into the
offering plate. Far greater is love than faith where offerings are
concerned, and in fact, faith for giving and receiving is under-girded
by love, which makes faith operational and effective (Gal. 5:6, 1 John
3:18).
An interesting note on Matt 5 (seen also in Luke 12) is
that the first mention of settling differences is with one’s ‘brother’
and the second is with one’s ‘adversary.’ Those born out of the same
spiritual womb and into the Kingdom of God are surely brothers, but God
sees it as important to settle matters with those who are not brothers –
the unsaved. And perhaps one reason for this is that the witness of
God will be given to adversaries as we work to settle differences
through the Spirit of God.
A second note on this scripture is
that the brother has ‘aught’ against the person who is ready to give his
offering; it doesn’t say that the person giving the offering has
something against his brother. This indicates that we have a
responsibility beyond forgiving others, and that responsibility is to
reconcile and settle our differences as far as it depends upon us.
That doesn’t mean the other person is going to be willing to reconcile
and settle differences, but as a bearer of the love of God it is our
responsibility to earnestly try. We may have to say “We’ve talked this
through, and I know we can’t agree on it, but can we agree to release
the tension between us and understand that we think differently on it?”
Then leave it in God’s hands to change the mind of the person who is
not aligned with Him – we don’t have to be the Holy Spirit to those with
whom we disagree.
A third note on this scripture is that we
are not to physically give our offering to God until we’ve taken care of
the differences between us and others. To ‘offer’ is to tenderly
extend one’s gift through the heart more so than the hand; it’s a
spiritual event which signifies our thankfulness to God for His unending
forgiveness, faithfulness and love. A little angst mixed in with a
love offering, especially if one is depending on their faithful giving
to keep them under God’s protection, is like mixing a drop of mud into a
gallon of water. It might be a wee bit of mud, and it might be hard to
spot in that gallon of water, but it has soiled the purity of the
water. Keep the giving pure: the heart that seeks peaceful, loving,
relationships is the heart that offers an unpolluted gift.
In
the end (Matt 5), the heart which extended God’s love (reconciled to
his adversary before giving an offering) was kept from getting dragged
into court, losing his earthly belongings and being tossed into prison;
it wasn’t simply the heart that had faith to give and expect a return.
The reason we give is because we love - both God and others. In no way
does that negate the promises of God - but it sets a priority for our
giving.
Forgiving others restores our mind, will and
emotions back to God and His ways, and it helps us to use the situation
which caused the offense to sharpen our understanding, discernment and
wisdom. This means that we learn much
from our experiences and are able to spot ‘signals’ or discern troubles
more readily in the future. However, if we try to completely forget the
situation as though it never happened, we may deal incorrectly with the
person or persons who brought it about. Forgiving means we move
forward by treating the person who sinned against us with love and
grace, and we leave the acts of ‘justice’ to God – it’s not our
responsibility to avenge a wrong done to us (Rom. 12:19)..
But if we haphazardly 'forget' along with forgiving, we may fail to set
boundaries and perceive future concerns. It's OK to let trust be slowly
built up again when a hurt has occurred - you don't have to jump in and
assume the offender is A-OK and has changed his/her stripes because you
have forgiven him. The fruit of a person’s life shows their
trustworthiness and heart of repentance (Matt. 3:8). In forgiving
someone who abused one of your children would you assume "all is good
now because I have forgiven, so I can trust that person 100% and place
my child back in his/her path?" In the same sense, would you put
yourself back into a situation where you'll be hurt or abused just
because you have forgiven? Seek God and let Him decide if and when you
are to resume relationship, and what boundaries are to be in place.
Forgiving does not necessarily bring an equal reaction on the part of
the one being forgiven – he or she may not be sorry and may not change
his/her ways. Nor does forgiveness negate the fact that we are to behave
responsibly toward one another – if we forget this we may give others
undue access into our lives, which will hurt us again and enable them to
continue their poor behaviors (Num 14:19-22). Jesus has provided
forgiveness to the world – but the action of accepting that forgiveness
(by means of repenting and living for God) has not taken place for a
vast majority of people, therefore they cannot receive the blessings of
being in relationship with God – both now and in eternity.
There are also times when we are not to continue a relationship unless
we get a go-ahead from God (Matt 18:17). This does not give us an
excuse for unforgiveness, but it gives that person some space to repent,
grow, and seek God for himself while we pray and seek God's wisdom and
timing. Some personalities are abusive - verbally, physically or
mentally - and allowing those people access to our hearts and minds
completely zaps our energy and takes our focus off of God, putting it on
self-preservation. We cannot ‘fix’ others; it’s God’s work to do so as
they submit to Him. We are to help and pray as He guides.
Forgiving and setting boundaries should never release us from loving and
being kind – but we must combine that with Godly wisdom and
discernment. Just as God extends His grace to all, we are to do the same
(Matt 5:43-46) – but in the process we are to be as wise as serpents
and as innocent as doves (Matt 10:16).
Ordinary: commonplace according to culture’s standards; typical, habitual, normal, having no distinctive features.
The word ‘ordinary’ (and its concept) recently struck me as being distasteful. There are some routine
and ordinary things in life that are completely necessary, and they are
good for us – like regular meals! However, falling into a regular
routine which expects nothing out of the ordinary, or lives life as the
rest of culture lives, is likely falling into the trap of the enemy; if
he can keep us mildly satisfied with our everyday routine, we will be
mildly effective for God!
On the other hand, living ‘out of the
ordinary’ may simply mean pursuing the talent God’s given you which
you’ve put on the back burner year after year – that may be the very
thing which places you in a position to bring a multitude of people into
the kingdom! Living ‘out of the ordinary’ may mean you have to step
out in faith and reach out to grab the Promised Land instead of merely
existing in Egypt and thinking about how things ‘could have been.’ Or
perhaps living ‘out of the ordinary’ means you are continuously
absorbing the Word of Truth as preparation for the next assignment God
gives you. But whatever your circumstance, ‘extraordinary’ living
occurs when we determinately and continuously make God the center of our
universe, and in turn His life overflows into our daily existence -
bringing unusual and uncommon results!
We are a peculiar people
– a people set aside for God’s love and purposes – meant to show His
virtue and power to the world around us. Our lives are seeds which have
been planted – but germination can only take place under the watering of
the Word, direction of the Holy Spirit and willingness to give up
earth’s ‘ordinary’ for heaven’s ‘extraordinary!’
Perhaps some
of us are waiting for God to change something in our ordinary lives –
but maybe God is waiting for us to reach out and grab that
extraordinarily unique life He’s prepared for each us! Don’t be
satisfied with ordinary – you were created to be unique!
“ But
you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God's]
own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful
deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out
of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9 AMP).
Have
you ever been through a time when you are speaking to the mountain to
move - and trusting God for it to happen - when suddenly the mountain
starts speaking back to you and telling YOU to move?
The mountain
might be society and its values, a work situation, a loved one who is
rebellious or perhaps something you are personally trying to conquer
through the Spirit of God. But nothing gets your spiritual vigor up
more than having the mountain tell you what it's going to do!
In times like these determine that you will vigorously press forward,
taking the Kingdom by force through God's power packed weapons of
prayer, faith and unity!!!
"Truly I tell you, whoever says to
this mountain, 'be lifted up and thrown into the sea!' and does not
doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take
place, it will be done for him" (Mark 11:23 AMP).
