A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day (December 4, 2017)
He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. (1 John 2:9-11)
In our last devotional we addressed the secret of handling hard times. The Apostle Paul was the example we used to illustrate someone that exemplified the Godly character needed to walk through hard times. Paul faced more challenges than anybody in the Bible except for Jesus. The statement that he made that revealed his character the most was when he said, “And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void to offence toward God, and toward men.” (Acts 24:16).
We have done a lot of counseling over the years and there are three groups of people that stand out the most.
The first group is similar to the Apostle Paul. They are zeroed in on God. They are not going to let anything hamper or interfere with that relationship. They know that they cannot let bitterness and unforgiveness poison their relationship with Him. They know that offenses and trials will come, but they handle them different than others. For example, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God in prison (Acts 16:25). Stephen asked God to not charge the very people that were stoning him with that offense (Acts 7:60). And of course, Jesus said forgive them Lord for they know not what they do as they crucified Him (Luke 23:34). They all refused to get mad at God or man.
The second group is zeroed in on themselves and are quick to get mad at and blame God and/or man. They are negative about everything. Why did God allow this? He could have stopped it! It’s not my fault! I have done everything right! It’s just not fair! Why are they being blessed and I’m not! Job’s wife is a great example when she counselled her husband to just curse God and die when he was going through some very rough times. Do you remember Job’s response? But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. (Job 2:10)
The third group is zeroed in on using God and/or man. This group looks religious but have no real relationship with God. The Pharisees and Sadducees were good examples. They looked and dressed the part but it was all about power and control. Unfortunately, we still have some Pharisees and Sadducees in our society. Church to them is strictly a business. It’s a production, or social event, and has nothing to do with people having a real relationship with God. How sad!!
Now, why are we dealing with this issue? We are dealing with it because it is imperative in the times we live in that you be able to discern the difference between lovers of God and lovers of men. If you want to grow in your faith, and not be led astray, you need to be in fellowship with true lovers of God. Lovers of God will not shrink back in tough times. They will not blame God. They will always be quick to forgive. They refuse to harbor bitterness. Their relationship and communication with God is just too precious to jeopardize grieving the Holy Ghost.
Regardless of what you are going through we encourage you to never give up. Praise Him in the midst of trials. Refuse to let bitterness and unforgiveness enter in. Make sure your conscience is void of any offense toward God or man. Stay in the Word of God. Pray and believe His promises and never, never, never give up your relationship and communication with God for some fleshly fling with bitterness and unforgiveness.
