Devotional for Friday August 15th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Conflict”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Satan incites conflict”

 

As we’ve discussed in previous devotional messages on this subject, conflict originates with Satan. He was the originator of the first conflict (when he rebelled against God), and he is the father of all conflict since then. It’s important for us to know this about him and to keep it in mind. Otherwise he will use our ignorance and inattention against us.

 

As my old friend Greg Sumii explained in his book, “The Christian’s Handbook on Conflict Resolution”, since Satan is our avowed enemy it’s important for us to know his true nature. The Bible tells us that his true nature is “tempter” (Matthew 4:3); “deceiver” (Revelation 12:10); “accuser” (Revelation 12:9); “liar” (John 8:44); “confuser” (1 Corinthians 14:33); “oppressor” (Acts 10:38); and “thief” (John 10:10); just to name a few. Oh, and he is a vicious lion looking to devour unsuspecting Christians (1 Peter 5:8).

 

We also need to remain conscious of the fact that Satan has a mission field – and we’re it! Satan’s mission field is the church and individual Christians. His mission is to hurt and destroy. His strategy is to tempt Christians to be hurtful towards one another by allowing their emotions to override their spiritual maturity. Any inroads he is allowed to make in damaging a Christian witness, diluting the effect of God’s love and power, or in disrupting the unity of a church fellowship, means that he wins and we lose.

 

Yes, Satan is the enemy. But the good news is that he is already a defeated foe, and he can only enjoy such victory as we allow him to have. Tomorrow we will discuss some strategies for dealing with this foe.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Thursday August 14th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Conflict”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. Above all, put on love – the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts.” Colossians 3:12-15 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Broken relationships are restored through Christ and His grace.”

 

Many years ago when I was a Pastor in California I knew a man by the name of Greg Sumii. Greg was a Christian counselor who was on staff with the California Southern Baptist Convention. He was an expert in conflict resolution and his ministry was to travel around the state helping to resolve conflicts in churches. He even wrote a book entitled, “The Christian’s Handbook on Conflict Resolution.”

 

The passage cited above – Colossians 3:12-15, is one of the New Testament passages Greg found very instructive and helpful in assisting Christians to resolve conflicts. Conflicts almost always arise out of impatience with one another, or out of a sense of having been wronged, and are often fueled by anger and negative emotions.

 

So Greg begins by reminding us that as the people of God, we are God’s chosen ones. We share a common bond in the family of God. Second we are holy, in that we have been called to Him and set aside for Him. And also, that we are deeply loved by Him. We have all of that in common. And so, first and foremost, our attitude towards each other must be cloaked in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness. You probably noticed that in that list there is no mention of, and no room for, anger, meanness, pettiness, selfishness, or a victim mentality.

 

Paul reminds us that the Lord has forgiven us for our transgressions and shortcomings, therefore we too need to be patient and forgiving of the shortcomings we think we might be seeing in others and which might be the focus of the current conflict. He reminds us that love for one another has got to be the motivating force that undergirds our relations with one another and if that is the case, it will lead to unity. Finally in this verse, Paul tells us that it needs to be the peace of Jesus that controls our hearts, and our mouths.

 

Things may not always be to our personal liking; we may not always get what we want; and other people may be less than perfect in our eyes – and it is ok to say so. However, how we go about addressing those issues matters very, very much. Bitterness, criticism, anger, is never the way of the Lord. Peace and patience, kindness and compassion, love and unity, is.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Wednesday August 13th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Conflict”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and by it, defiling many.” Hebrews 12:15 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Negative emotions fuel conflict”

 

In Hebrews 12:15 the writer cautioned his readers to make sure that no root of bitterness was allowed to exist in their hearts because from it, will spring trouble that will ultimately defile many. A root is the unseen portion of the plant that provides the structure and support needed for it to exist. The root is what draws the minerals and water from the soil to feed the plant. Without the root, the plant will wither and die.

 

Conflict is like that. Conflict springs from a root of bitterness in the heart. But it can only live if it is fed. Negative emotions are the thing the root of bitterness feeds on. If we harbor negative emotions about a person or a situation, we are in effect nurturing that root of bitterness deep within us, and on the surface, the conflict not only sprouts, but it grows like a weed.

 

That’s why in Ephesians 4:31 Paul writes, “All bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice.” (HCSB). The fact that we are instructed to remove it must mean that it can be removed. How? By bringing it to Jesus.

 

In yesterday’s devotional message we noted that all conflict has it’s origin in Satan. The devil is the source. We also learned that conflict is inconsistent with the Fruit of the Spirit. And so we bring the situation before the Lord, ask Him to bind Satan and to thwart his influence in the situation, and then we invite the Holy Spirit to rule and reign in our own lives and in the lives of the people on the other side of the issue.

 

The conflict may still persist if the people on the other side don’t give it to Jesus too, but at least we will have done our part to help resolve it and at least we will not be harboring a root of bitterness about it in our own heart. Negative emotions fuel conflict. So get rid of the negative emotions.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Tuesday August 12th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Conflict”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.” Ephesians 6:12 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Conflict is of the devil”

 

As I’ve noted in a previous devotional message, sometimes conflict is necessary. But even in those cases where it is necessary, it’s necessary because someone is acting in an inappropriate and sinful way. All conflict is from Satan. The very first conflict originated with the angel Lucifer when he chose to rebel against God, was cast out of heaven and became the devil. He has been inciting conflict among humans ever since.

 

Conflict was not part of God’s original plan for the human race. It came about as the result of sin. Therefore any time conflict exists, sin is present. This is what Paul was reminding us of in Ephesians 6:12. Our battle is really against Satan and the spiritual forces of evil which he commands. At its root demonic inspiration is where it begins and that’s what keeps it going.

 

This is why in 1 Peter 5:8 the Apostle warns us to be on our guard because our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking to see who he can devour. Make no mistake, Satan is our enemy. Yes he is out to get us, and yes he will create conflict among us if we allow him to.

 

There are way too many passages of scripture in both the Old and New Testaments which speak of God’s desire for His people to live in peace, for us to miss the point that conflict is something we need to strive to avoid if at all possible. If we look at Galatians 5:22-23, which lists for us the Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control), we realize there is no room for conflict there. If the Spirit rules and reigns in the lives of everyone on both sides of the issue, there will be no conflict. It is only when Satan is allowed into the situation that conflict arises.

 

Conflict is of the devil. If we choose to, we can refuse to allow him to sow seeds of dissension into our relationships. James made that pretty clear when he wrote, “Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 (HCSB)

 

Resist the devil and he will be able to have no influence in our relationships. Submit to God and it will be His Holy Spirit who rules and reigns in our lives. When that is the case there will be no conflict because conflict is of the devil, but the Spirit inspires love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Monday August 11th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Conflict”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Come, let us discuss this,’ says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they will be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “A sin is a sin is a sin …”

 

This morning I want to return to the subject we addressed in last Friday’s devotional about the fact that we all have our own sins and therefore we need to pay more attention to our own faults than we do to the faults we think we see in the lives of others. Our Bible passage for that lesson was Matthew 7:3-5 where Jesus taught the parable of the speck and the log.

 

I’m bringing us back to this subject because it’s such a big problem and such as constant source of conflict. Even if we do come to the point of admitting and acknowledging our own sin, we usually then begin to rank our sins against those of other people and we come to the conclusion that “Even if I do have some sin in my own life, it’s not as bad as the sins of other people.” “Their sins are much worse then my sins.”

 

Not according to Jesus they aren’t.

 

In Isaiah 1:18 does the Lord say that the other guy’s sins of murder and theft and adultery are like a bright scarlet stain – too obvious to be missed or ignored; but your sins of pride and envy and gossip are just sort of a very dim light pink and are hardly noticeable – therefore you don’t really need to worry about them too much because they’re really not a big deal? That’s what He says, right? Not! He makes no distinction between one sin and another – together they’re all like scarlet to Him. To Jesus they’re all a big bright glaring red stain against the pristine whiteness and purity of His holiness.

 

The great devotional writer Oswald Chambers once explained it this way, “If you look at a sheep in the summertime you would say it was white, but see it against the background of startling virgin snow and it looks like a blot on the landscape. If we judge ourselves by one another we do not feel condemned, but immediately Jesus Christ is in the background – His life, His language, His looks, He labors, we feel judged instantly.”

 

Focusing on the sins and shortcomings we think we see in the lives of other people, while conveniently ignoring our own sins, is a common source of conflict. Ranking our sins against those of others and pretending that we are somehow better, or not as guilty, is ridiculous. In the eyes of God you’re as guilty as the next person and as much in need of forgiveness as they are. Take a look at the Gospels sometime and see which sins bothered Jesus the most. He quickly forgave the prostitutes and the tax collectors, but He condemned the smug and judgmental Pharisees.  If sins were going to be ranked, and if we used Jesus’ own reaction to those sins, we would probably have to conclude that religious pride and self-righteous smugness are much worse sins than are adultery and stealing.

 

Yes, in the eyes of God a sin is a sin is a sin, and yours are just as bad as the next guy’s. And so are mine. So rather than criticizing and condemning them for theirs, maybe our time would be better spent doing something about our own.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Saturday and Sunday August 9-10

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Conflict”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “To start a conflict is to release a flood; stop the dispute before it breaks out.” Proverbs 17:14 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Conflicts can quickly get out of control”

 

Rushing water can be terribly destructive. Once a flood starts, there’s little that can be done to hold it back. During the current cycle of extreme weather that is being experienced around the world, we frequently see stories on the news about raging floods sweeping away everything in its path. Several years ago the island nation of Japan experienced a massive tsunami. As the result of an offshore earthquake, a massive wall of water 30 feet high swept in from the ocean and devastated entire costal cities and towns.

 

Conflict often takes on the characteristics of a raging flood. Once it starts it can be hard to stop. If the reason for the conflict isn’t quickly brought out in the open by the two parties and dealt with, it can build and swell and soon become like that tsunami, a raging and consuming wall of conflict that can be devastating.

 

Shifting metaphors – unresolved conflict can sometimes be like a volcano. It lies beneath the surface bubbling and building. As each aggrieved party thinks about it and stews over it, the thing begins to grow in each of their minds. Each begins to imagine nefarious and devious motives on the part of the other. Each starts to fantasize about future encounters with their enemy where they dress-down that person and set them straight – usually to the applause and admiration of an observing crowd. And so the thing begins to take on a life of its own in the minds of the combatants and soon, like a volcano, it spews over and becomes something much more than it ever should have been.

 

I’m mixing metaphors here (floods, volcanoes, festering stews), but you get the point. Conflict left unchecked and unresolved quickly gets out of control. Solomon’s advice in Proverbs 17:14 is that we are to avoid the conflict to begin with. If you can’t prevent it from starting, then at least follow the instructions Jesus gave us in Matthew 18:15-17 and deal with it quickly because conflict left unchecked, can quickly get out of control.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim
  

Devotional for Friday August 8th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Conflict”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a log in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:3-5

 

Our thought for today: “Much conflict could be avoided if we would pay as much attention to our own faults as we do to the faults of others.”

 

The preacher was on fire. He was worked up, on a roll, and becoming more and more animated. His face was red, he was sweating, his voice was rising, he pounded the pulpit, and I was getting a little concerned about his blood pressure. His subject? Addictions . With passion verging on anger he ranted about the demon alcohol, and he had some things to say about homosexuality, and he mentioned pornography, greed, and a smorgasbord of other sins and vices that people commonly become addicted to. All of them were legitimate concerns and proper subjects for a sermon. But the thing that captured my attention was the fact that the preacher himself was clearly in bondage to the demon of gluttony. He was obviously very addicted to food. His own sin – gluttony – was clearly way out of control. I wondered if he was going to mention anything about that.

 

He didn’t.

 

In Matthew 7:3-5 Jesus was not teaching that we should ignore or be unconcerned about the sins other people struggle with. He was simply pointing out that we are all sinners and we all have our own issues, and therefore before we get too enthusiastic about pointing out where other people are going wrong, we need to give some thought to what we have going on in our own lives. Homosexual behavior is a sin; alcoholism is a sin; greed, envy, gossip, and pornography are all sins; and so is gluttony. But our preacher friend didn’t seem to want to talk about that one.

 

We don’t want to talk about (or even think about) our own sins. No, it’s safer to keep the focus on how we think other people might be falling short. But a critical, complaining, and judgmental spirit is not from God. That comes from Satan and is used by him to create hate, animosity, divisions, and conflict. It’s true that we are to hold each other accountable, and we are to help others see when they have fallen short of God’s standards, but we are to do so with gentleness, and in love and compassion, because we recognize that we too are a sinner saved by grace. Our sin might be a little different from the other person’s sin, but we all do have our own sins.

 

This short teaching in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount was intended by Jesus to serve as a corrective for the human tendency to be critical of others while ignoring our own faults. The next time you’re tempted to get all worked up about the speck of sin you think you might be seeing in someone else’s life – pause, take a deep breath, and ask the Lord to direct your attention to the log of sin that probably exists in your own life.

 

There would be a lot fewer conflicts in this world if we would all pay more attention to our own sins, and a little less attention to the faults we think we see in others.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Thursday August 7th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Conflict”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned.” Galatians 2:11 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Sometimes conflict is necessary”

 

Peter was being a hypocrite. He was in Antioch and having himself a good time just visiting and eating with Jews and Gentiles alike. It was a good thing, really. The Jews of his day were notoriously prejudiced against the Gentiles. The new Jewish-background Christians such as Peter largely believed that Christianity was just for the Jews and if any Gentiles wanted to become Christians, they had to agree to observe many old Jewish customs as well. But it was time for the Good News to spread to the Gentiles and God’s plan was for them to become Christians without first becoming Jews – and without observing Jewish customs and rituals.

 

Peter was the leading edge of that change, and at first during his visit to Antioch he was doing a good job of it. But then the fundamentalists arrived. And Peter was afraid of them. He was afraid of what they might think and he was afraid of what they might say. So, he reverted back to his old ways and as long as the fundamentalists were watching, Peter stopped interacting with the Gentiles and began acting like one of the fundamentalists. Worse than just being a hypocrite, Peter was damaging his testimony with the Gentiles and hurting the cause of Christ in Antioch.

 

Enter the Apostle Paul. He would allow none of it. He saw what was happening, appreciated the danger and the damage it was causing, and he publicly called Peter out. The potential for conflict was real and it was large. Peter was a well known and well respected leader in the church – one of the original twelve apostles. But Paul called him out and dressed him down. Why? It was because this issue is an example of what we call “A hill upon which to die.” That’s an old military phrase which means that this hill is so important and strategic that we must defend it at all costs, even at the cost of our lives.

 

Many issues are not worth the cost of conflict. The truth is that most things which people fight and argue over are small and should have been ignored. But some things are too important to let go. Some of them have to be fought for. Such was the situation in Antioch.

 

The key of course, is to correctly identify which issues are small potatoes and not worth arguing over, and which are the proverbial hill upon which we are prepared to die. This is usually a judgment call on the part of the individual and needs to be the matter of much prayer. Conflict, especially among God’s people, is a serious thing and should not be entered into quickly or thoughtlessly. Some conflicts are necessary, but most are not. Pray and ask God to give you the wisdom to know the difference.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Wednesday August 6th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Conflict”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone.” Romans 12:18 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “We are to do our best to avoid conflict and to live at peace with everyone.”

 

In Matthew 5:9, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that those who are peacemakers are blessed. That’s also what Paul meant in Romans 12:18. God’s people should be peacemakers. We should be the ones who give the least offense, we should be the ones who take the least offense, and we should be the ones who work to bring peace and harmony into situations where there is strife and conflict. Saint Francis of Assisi is reported to have once said, “Let there peace on earth and let it begin with me.” That’s a pretty good motto for all of us.

 

However, the clear implication of Paul’s exhortation in Romans 12:18 is that sometimes it’s not possible to live at peace with others. Sometimes, despite your best intentions and your sincere efforts, others just won’t let you live at peace with them. Paul wrote, “If possible”, “on your part” … Well, sometimes it’s not possible. So what do you do then?

 

Why, your pour burning coals upon their head of course.

 

In that same chapter of Romans, just two verses later in verse 20 Paul wrote, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head. Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.”

 

That’s it then. Try your best to live at peace with everyone. Avoid conflict if at all possible. And if the difficult person standing in front of you is still intent on having a conflict anyway, you just go right ahead and embarrass the pants off them by being super-nice in return. Just smile at them and wish them a good day. Then walk away content in the knowledge that your response was completely Biblical – you honored the Lord in how you handled it and now the other person has been left standing there with egg on their face.

 

Now, it’s true that you should be careful not to take too much pleasure in the fact that you have left them standing there looking silly, but I think maybe a little might be alright.

 

Just kidding. Smugness is actually not one of the Fruits of the Spirit and so it would probably be better to avoid that altogether, but Paul’s point is well taken. Do your best to avoid conflict; be nice in return even if the other person is not being nice; and then get on with your day knowing that you did your best.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Tuesday August 5th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Conflict”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Offenses will certainly come, but woe to the one they come through!” Luke 17:1 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Just because others give offense doesn’t mean you to have take offense”

 

Yesterday we thought about the truth that as followers of Jesus Christ we should go out of our way to avoid being the source of offense and conflict. In Luke 17:1 Jesus assured His followers that in this life offenses will come, they’re unavoidable. We live in a broken and sin-filled world populated by broken and sinful people. Therefore it is impossible to live this life without having the opportunity to be offended. We’re surrounded by it all day every day! And according to Jesus, the person who is the source of the conflict bears the majority of the fault. But just because we have the opportunity to be offended doesn’t mean we should be offended.

 

Way too many people walk through their days cocked and loaded, just ready and waiting to be offended by someone or something. Years ago on the comedy show “Saturday Night Live” they sometimes did a skit which featured a character known as “The Church Lady”. This was a 50-something woman who went out of her way to appear excessively prim and proper, complete with sucked in cheeks, puckered lips, a very self-righteous attitude, and a girdle that was clearly way too tight. She was an expert in finding fault with everyone and everything, to the point that she was absurd and comical.

 

We have all probably known people like that. What a sad way to live. And what a pain in the neck to have someone like that around!

 

In 1994 author John Bevere wrote a book on this subject which has since sold over half a million copies and has become something of a classic in Christian circles. The title is “The Bait of Satan: living free from the deadly trap of offense.” It’s a great book. Very helpful. The basic premise is that Satan uses the potential to be offended as “bait” to create conflict between people. He will first prod one person to do or say something that is potentially offensive. Then he dangles that potential offense in front of the other person, like a worm on a hook for the fish. He will then try to get that person to take the bait and swallow the offense. Once that happens, the person is hooked and the conflict is engaged. The whole point of the book is that just because the offense is dangled in front of you, you don’t have to bite on it – you don’t have to take the bait.

 

I have always believed that how easily a person is offended, or how resistant they are to taking offense, is a clear measure of the depth and maturity of their faith. The more spiritually mature a believer is, the less easily you can offend that person. The truth is, just because others give offense, doesn’t mean you have to take offense.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim