It's inevitable. There will be times in when you are attacked, slandered and torn down. Perhaps a co-worker, or a neighbor, or even someone where at church. What do you do?
I love Psalms 37:1-7. I trust it will minister to you today.
1 Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
During those difficult times, "set your face like flint" as Isaiah says, and keep on doing good. May it be so.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
As Christians, we are supposed to try and be above all of the gossip and slander and whatall...there's a lot of whatall to be careful of but I didn't want to get caught up in listing everything. When this happens to us, we do our best to follow the words of our Lord and "turn the other cheek" continuing to live our lives as He would have us. Sometimes, it's very hard to move on when someone cuts us deeply...it's hard to forgive but even more so, it's really hard to forget it. And every time the memory surfaces and our reaction is wrong, we need to seek solace in the Lord and ask forgiveness...but even more, we need to extend forgiveness again to the one who hurt us. Maybe not to them personally but in our hearts, we need to do that.
I really like this portion of this psalm as it gives really good guidance in what we are to do. Add to this the wisdom of Proverbs where it says "A quiet voice turns back wrath" (help me out George, I know I quoted it wrong and can't find it on short notice) and that gives us our response to people.
God bless
Jon
Sorry, had to cut short and go to a meeting. To continue:
When I get in the book of Proverbs, I have a tendency to get lost in the wisdom and forget what I am looking for when I find something else that catches my eye or fits (somewhat) the topic. This is what got me this time:
Proverbs 6:16-19 (New Century Version)
There are six things the Lord hates. There are seven things He cannot stand:
a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that kill innocent people, a mind that thinks up evil plans, feet that are quick to do evil, a witness who lies, and someone who starts arguments between families.
God hates those things above and people who slander us or attack us or tear us down do a lot of those things that God hates.
1. They are proud so they tear others down...contrarily, they are also fearful and do the same.
2. Not all they say is the truth, or it may be manipulated to appear truthful while being slanted to their benefit.
3. They have minds that think up evil plans...what else can we call the intentional attack against another but an evil plan.
4. Feet to take them to where the evil plans can be put in place.
5. See #2 for when they gather others to do their bidding.
6. Families are important in the kingdom of Heaven. That's what we are, as a body, as a church...we are a family--THE family of God.
So, what should we be doing about these types of people and/or this type of behavior. Pastor gave us wonderful instruction from the Word to carry us through the tough time...and that's good stuff. I also think that we have to address it because some people may not be aware of the total implications of their behavior...if they are and do it anyway, please follow Psalm 37:1-7; if not, then they should change when you bring it to their attention. At least your Christian brother and sister should do that...the unbeliever may not follow the same ethical guide (the Bible) as the rest of us.
Anyway, just wanted to finish my thoughts from earlier. We should love one another as much as we love ourselves...therefore, since we wouldn't attack, slander, or tear down ourselves, we should not be willing to do that to others. We should love God with all our might, our heart, our strength, and our mind...we should be following all of his Scripture in how we treat others and the proper way to deal with conflict.
God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.
Love God, Love People. And I love all of you. May God bless and keep you.
Jon
When I saw these verses I had to instantly go see what the message said. These verses have guided me most of my life through difficult times, especially verses 4-7. And most often God has had to remind me "Do not fret." But as the Word promises, when we delight in the Lord, commit EVERYTHING to him, he changes my emotions, my thoughts, my actions, and my desires to be in line with His. I have to learn over and over to truly "let God, not Teresa." Thanks for this great reminder today!
Post a Comment