Evident Gentleness

Philippians 4:5-7
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Oh that we would always be aware of the Lord’s proximity. He is always near. Never is there a moment when He is not near. If we could always remain conscious of that fact, how would it change us? How would it affect how we talk, how we treat others, regardless of the circumstances? How would it affect the way we deal with life every day?

When we understand that Jesus is right here with us, dealing with our problems and concerns each moment of every day as we bring them to Him, our anxiety will just melt away. As the anxiety is removed through our prayers, it is replaced with the peace that we cannot understand. Mysterious peace. I’m sure we would like for God to give us the kind of peace that makes sense - the kind that comes to us when all is right with our little world. But if that is what we expect, we won’t have much peace, will we? No. Rather Christ gives us a peace that defies all explanation, and makes those around us take note. Because He gives us peace even when our circumstances would dictate that we be nervous wrecks! Depressed, angry, scared . . . anxious. The difference is we know Who holds the future, so we have nothing to be anxious about.

This peace is what allows our gentleness to "be evident to all." It is one of the things marking us as followers of Christ, setting us apart from everyone else. As they get caught up in the whirlwind of life and end up full of anxiety, we can weather the storm with the One who is the peace in the eye of the storm, right by our side!

Offensive Christianity

Luke 11:42-44
"Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
"Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
"Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it."


It seems we, as Christians, are so concerned about what our fellow Christians think about what we’re saying - do they agree? are they offended? Then we get out into the world and care nothing about whether or not we offend those we are trying to reach. Granted, we cannot hide our faith, nor should we have to. However, Jesus was all about spreading love to the unloved and unlovable, not judgement.

Yet, we spend our time in front of abortion clinics telling the girls going in how terrible and sinful they are. Jesus would have been at the back door, telling them that He still loves them and that He forgives them, offering them healing and hope. We picket homosexual funerals, gay-rights parades, and the like. Jesus would have been there simply offering His love, letting them know that there is another way - a better way. We love to tell the world how terrible they are, how their destiny lies in hell. Jesus loved to tell the world that despite the wrongs they have committed (and we’ve ALL made mistakes) that they could find love, acceptance, and healing in His outstretched arms.

The ones Christ called to task were those in the church that were, well, very much like us! The ones that said they were so holy and yet never spent a moment with God. They took great pains to do all the right things and let others know they needed to as well (or else!), yet never bothered to get to know the One whom they claimed to serve. Rather than loving those around them, they were heaping rules and regulations upon their backs that the people could not have possibly shouldered! Oh, how like them we are! Woe to us! It seems Jesus would have rather spent His time with the tax collectors and prostitutes, than those who called the church their home - and really, who can blame Him? That is generally one of the things we, as Christians, claim to love most about Him.

If we desire to reach those outside of our church walls, screaming "I can’t do that, I’m a Christian!" isn’t going to do it. Oh, it will let them know where we stand, and what we believe, but it will not show them the love, hope, and healing that Christ offers to each and every one of us, regardless of where we are. And when we heap upon them the rules that we ourselves cannot follow apart from Christ, we are asking them to do the impossible, and simply giving them a plate of despair, and offering no hope at all.

We can live what we believe, walking in the righteousness that Christ has given each of us, and still reach out to those who have yet to taste of the sweet goodness of Jesus. And by loving them in the midst of our Christ-given righteousness, they will see a side of Jesus and His Church that is rarely seen these days. Perhaps this will be the taste they have been waiting for, to draw them to the One who has all they will ever need or desire!

For God's Glory

John 9:1-3
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

It is so easy, isn’t it, to think that when life isn’t going our way we are being punished for something we’ve done wrong. We begin to wonder what we must change, and how we are misbehaving that things aren’t going the way we’d like them to go. Now, it very well could be that we are being disobedient and God is trying to discipline us and bring us back into line with His will - that must always be something we look at and consider. However, when we look at our lives and we go to God and do not feel He is wagging His finger at us, perhaps there is something else we should consider - the glory of God.

This verse reminds us that there are times when God allows difficult situations not because of our disobedience, so-to-speak, but rather to display His great glory! Sure, it’s easy to reflect the peace and love of Christ when life is great and nothing is going wrong. But when hard times befall us, and we are still able to reflect that same peace and love, people take notice! We can mope around, complaining about everything that’s going wrong (believe me, I tend to take this route much more than I’d like to admit), and I’m sure nobody would think the worse of us - even fellow Christians. It is one of our favorite pastimes, it seems, to recount our latest troubles, turmoils, and new-found ailments to whomever will listen. So, when a person comes along that simply is, whatever that happens to mean for that day, it is quite unusual - especially when we know that person is having some difficulty.

Let’s not let anyone try and convince us that our troubles, and difficulties always come from our lack of obedience. Rather, let’s look inward, and talk with God to discern our culpability. When we discover we are walking in the righteousness Christ has given us, let’s hold our heads high, and rejoice in the pain and suffering, knowing that it comes so God can reveal His great and mighty glory to us and through us! Praise His mighty and holy name!