What Will Others Think?
By Carey
Child: Mom, is God bigger than we are?
Mom: Yes, God is bigger than we are.
Child: Does God live inside of us?
Mom: Yes, God does live inside of us.
Child: Well, If God is bigger than we are, and He
lives inside of us, won''t He show through?
In lPet.3, we are told that it is better to suffer
for doing right
than for doing wrong. When we suffer for doing
wrong, others just feel
that we are getting what we deserve. But, if we
suffer for doing right,
and respond correctly, then others see the hope
that we have and are drawn
to Christ as a result. That is why lPet.3:14 talks
about suffering for the
sake of righteousness and the very next verse
tells us to "be ready to
give
a defense to everyone who asks you to give an
account of the hope that is
in you". People are watching us to see how we
respond to the trials
that we face, especially those trials that are
painful and seem unjust.
If we respond with wisdom, in obedience, then the
fruit of the Spirit is
manifested in our lives, and others, in wanting
what we have, are drawn to
Christ. A good example was when Christ was hanging
on the cross between
two thieves. One reviled Him, the other was drawn
to Him, admitting that
they were getting what they deserved, "but, this
man did nothing wrong".
(Luke 23:41) He was drawn to Christ, because, even
through the injustice,
the love of God was manifested, and, by the Spirit
of God, he recognized
Christ as the Son of God.
Suffering for the sake of righteousness not only
has an impact on
those who observe, but, it changes the lives of
those who go through it.
In fact, I firmly believe that it is impossible to
know real spiritual
freedom without going through the fire first. A
good analogy is the story
of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3.
They had refused to bow
down to the image that king Nebuchadnezzar had set
up. This infuriated
him, so he had them bound hand and foot, and
thrown into the fiery
furnace.
When he looked in, however, he saw four men
walking around in the fire.
One of them looked like the"Son of God". It was
the preincarnate
Jesus in the fire with them. And He will be with
us in our fiery trials
too. When they came out of the fire, the one thing
that was missing was
the ropes that bound them. In actuality, the only
thing that was destroyed
by the fire was the bondage that held them. We
will be freed from our
bondage by fiery trials, too. In fact, the
scripture says that "Since
Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves also
with the same attitude,
because he who has suffered in his body is done
with sin". (lPet.4:1) If
our response to our suffering is correct, it will
have a purifying effect
on our lives.
What every man and woman wants is unfailing love.
That is the kind
of love that is selfless and sacrificial. It is
the kind of love that
comes only by the power of God. It is the kind of
love we are supposed to
have for one another. It''s the kind of love that
puts the other person''s
life ahead of our own.
A Story of Love
Joey, a boy about 5 1/2, had just recovered from a
very serious
bone disease. His sister Suzie, age 4, had the
same disease and would
likely die if she did not receive a blood
transfusion soon. The most
natural donor would be someone who had
successfully recovered from the
disease, and one who had the same rare blood type.
Joey was the best
choice. The doctor, after examining Suzie, turned
to Joey, and
explained that she might die without a blood
transfusion. He asked Joey
if he would give his blood to his sister. Joey
looked at Suzie''s
emaciated body, was quiet for a moment, and then
with trembling lips
said, "for my sister, yes, I''ll give my blood."
As they were wheeled
side by side on gurneys into the hospital room, a
healthy robust Joey,
looked over at his sickly sister Suzie, smiled,
and winked. The smile
soon disappeared as a needle was put into his arm
and the blood started
flowing from him to Suzie. He layed there for what
must have seemed
like hours. Finally, with trembling lips
he looked up at the doctor and said, "doctor, when
am I supposed to die?"
You see, when Joey said that he would give his
blood for his sister, he
made a decision far greater than anyone had
thought. The scripture tells
us that "greater love has no one than this, that
he lay down his life for
a friend". {Jn.15:13)
By the power of God, we can love like this. We
just need to be empty
vessels so that God can love through us. As
Christians, if we would just
totally submit to God, and allow His love to flow
thru us, this world
would
be turned upside down. There would be a turning to
God like we have never
seen before. The only thing holding it back is
''self''. Let''s get out of
the way!
We can love selflessly, the kind of love described
in the Bible in
lCor.13. We can even love those we don''t like. I
really used to struggle
with this concept, until I discovered that love is
not an emotion, but an
action. Love can be defined in scripture as
selfless service to others.
In Mark 10:45, Jesus said, "I came not to be
served, but to serve, and to
give myself a ransom for many". We can selflessly
serve those we don''t
even like, and when we do, we will find that God
will change the way we
feel about them. The feelings come as a result of
the service. A good
example is when a new mom or dad must get up in
the middle of the night to
change the baby''s diaper. Usually, it is the last
thing that they want to
be doing. But, they find that, as they are
performing this service, they
are filling up with love for the baby.
The service comes before the emotion. This is
where a lot of
marriages fail. Couples make the mistake of
thinking that they no longer
feel any love for their spouse, when in actuality,
they have just quit
putting the other person''s welfare first, and
have quit serving each
other.
Can you see that pride and self are in the way
again? These are what bring
about divorce. To put the love back means to put
the other person''s
welfare ahead of your own and to serve them
selflessly, regardless of how
you are treated. The following story really puts
this into
perspective:
Love Heals All Pain
Sir Walter Scott was a famous poet and novelist in
the late 1700''s
and early 1800''s. When he was young, he had an
experience that profoundly
changed his life and his outlook about love. One
day he picked up a rock
to throw at a stray dog in order to scare it away.
His aim was much better
than he had thought, because, the rock hit the dog
hard and broke it''s
leg.
But, a strange thing happened. Instead of whining
and running away, the
dog limped up to him and licked his hand. Even
through the pain and
injustice,the poor helpless dog sought
reconciliation. What Love!! What
forgiveness!! But wait! Isn''t that the kind of
love that was demonstrated
on our behalf? {Rom.5:8). Isn''t that the kind of
love that we are supposed
to have for one another? And, what happens when
the world sees that kind
of love in us?
The actual giving of His life by Christ was the
greatest form of love
known. While we may not be called to lay down our
lives, we are all called
to put the other person''s welfare ahead of our
own. This admonition is
throughout scripture. When we do this, we are
loving as Christ loved, and
when we do, others are drawn to Him. Often, it
takes a child to show us
the way.
One For all
Chad was a kind and sensitive little boy of 7. He
had accepted Christ
into his life at the age of 5. It is easy to
wonder if one so young can
really grasp what the Christian life is all about,
but Chad''s life had
changed from that of a rowdy young lad to that of
a gentle,
soft-spoken boy
who cared about others. His mother was worried
about him, though, because
it seemed that he did not have any friends. Each
day after school, the
kids would come down the sidewalk, arm in arm,
laughing and having a good
time. Then, there would come Chad, walking all by
himself. It seemed that
no one even cared.
One day after school, Chad walked briskly into the
house. He was
excited, because Valentine''s Day was near and his
class at school was
going
to have a party and exchange valentines. So, Chad
asked his mom if she
would help him make valentines for each child in
his class. His mother
agreed, but, in the back of her mind she felt
apprehension, feeling that
Chad would probably not receive even one
valentine. Nevertheless, she
spent hours cutting, clipping and pasting, with
Chad, until there were 35
beautiful, hand-made valentines for him to hand
out. Chad was very
excited. Finally, Valentine''s Day came around and
Chad rushed off to
school, anticipating what a great day it was going
to be. All day long,
his mother anguished over the hurt that Chad might
feel when he didn''t
receive a valentine from anyone. She decided to
bake some cookies, so that
she could cheer him up with hot cookies and milk
when he got home. Well,
3 P.M. finally arrived and Chad''s mother stood
looking out the window,
afraid of what she was going to see. There came
the kids, arm in arm,
hands full of valentines. And there, a little way
behind, came Chad, all
by himself, and empty-handed. Her heart sank. She
met him at the door
with cookies and milk to cheer him up. But, as
Chad came in, he joyfully
expressed the attitude of his heart. "Not a one!
Not a single one! I
didn''t miss a one. I gave a valentine to every
one of the kids, and
now they will know that I love them."
The Lord Jesus gave His all, so that we might know
the depth of His
love for us. Shouldn''t we be willing to do the
same, to show our love for
Him. And," when we do it unto the least of these,
we are doing it unto
Him". (Matt.25:40)
When we respond correctly to trials, we are
walking in the Spirit,
and His fruit is visible. Then, if we are
sensitive to the leading of the
Spirit and prepared to share our faith, we will
have many opportunities.
This is another reason why responding correctly to
trials is so vital.
Today, everyone''is under stress and is looking
for answers. Jesus is the
answer! The fields are white, and ready for
harvest. We must not shrink
back or fear suffering injustice, but simply obey
God and trust Him to use
it for His Glory. The Gospel is the message and we
are the messengers.
"How blessed are the feet of those who bring good
news". (Rom.10:15)
When I walk the streets of heaven
And the saints are around me near,
I hope someone will say to me,
It was you who invited me here.
Ten Boom
We are all called to be witnesses for Christ, but
not all of us are
called to be evangelists. Evangelism is a gift and
should be exercised by
those who possess it, but, we are all witnesses in
the way that we
live our
lives before others. If we are living in
submission to the Lord, then
others will see something different about us and
want what we have. It is
our responsibility to tell them what causes that
difference in our lives.
This is our testimony. Unless we can verbalize our
testimony, we are not
prepared to give an account of the hope that we
have. (lPet.3:15) Are you
prepared?
The great commission tells us to go into all of
the world and spread
the Gospel. (Matt.28:19, Mark 16:15) This is
God''s will for each one of
us. He gives us the opportunity quite often, but,
we usually don''t follow
through because either we fail to recognize the
opportunity or we are
afraid for one reason or another. We seem to be
more concerned about what
others think of us then what God thinks of us.
This happens when we have
made the wrong choice and the flesh is in control.
When we are submitted
to the Spirit of God, He is in control, and we are
sensitive to His
leading. Fear which is from the devil, tries to
creep in, but God did not
give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love
and of sound mind.
(2Tim.1:7). And,"greater is He that is in us, than
He that is in the
world."(1 Jn.4:4). Therefore, with God''s
strength, we can overcome that
fear and fulfill God''s purpose. "I can do all
things through Christ who
strengthens me~" (Phil.4 :13).
If we can become an empty vessel, totally
submitted to the Lord, and
seeking to glorify Him, we will have many
opportunities. When we have died
to self, and are totally submitted, then God can
love through us with His
perfect love, and we need not be concerned about
how well we perform, or
what others will think, etc .. The surpassing
greatness of God''s power
will
be manifested and His will accomplished.
(2Cor.4:7).
I started to understand this a little better when
I recently did a
study on the ''Glory of God''. In the book of
Exodus, we are told how the
''Glory of God'' filled the tabernacle. In other
places we are told about
the ''Shekinah'' glory of God in the temple, and
how the''glory of God'' was
in the burning bush that spoke to Moses. Then, as
the Israelites were
coming out of Egypt, they were led by a pillar of
fire by night and a
pillar of smoke by day. These were all
manifestations of the ''glory of
God''. In other words, then, one definition of the
''Glory of God'' could be:
The visible presence of the invisible God. Well,
let''s carry this a step
~ further. If the purpose of our lives is to
glorify God, then, could
we say
that to do this, God must become 1visible in us?
That is exactly what
happens when we are submitted to, or are walking
in the Spirit. We are
making God visible to those with whom we come in
contact. Isn''t that why
we were created? Perhaps that is why the most
fulfilling time in our life
is when we know that we are walking with the Lord.
(Re-read the story at the beginning of this
chapter, about God being
bigger
than we are) .
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