God's Partners

A special treat this week as I share with you a message from Barney Cargile III, minister for the Sonoma Ave Church of Christ in Santa Rosa CA. God bless!

A few weeks ago I was picking cucumbers in our garden with my two-year-old granddaughter Olive.  She wanted to "help", so as I pulled each cuke off the vine, I handed them to her and she ran to the tub at the end of the row and dropped them in.  Each journey elicited a giggle from her, which, as you can imagine, brought me great delight.  Which do you suppose would have been easier: me tossing them in the tub or handing each individual cucumber to Olive?  If you've ever worked with small children, you know the answer.  But which brought me greater delight?  You know the answer as well.  The joy of my my "partnership" with Olive was worth every extra moment of time.  Did I need her "help"?  Of course not; but I wanted it.  Just think of all the joy I would have missed. 

Witnessing Olive's partnership with me, brought to mind our partnership with God.  God invites us to join him in his work of redeeming humankind (II Cor.5:18-20).  What an amazing thought that is: we are God's partners!  Ever wonder why God would choose to work through us?  Does he need our "help"?  Of course not!  But just as I wanted Olive's "help", he wants us as his partners.  Why?  I suppose for the same reason that I desired Olive's help: we bring him great delight.  Psalm 149:4 informs us that "the LORD takes delight in his people".  Speaking of the Messianic kingdom, Isaiah 62:4 promises that "the Lord will take delight in you."  Even Zephaniah (which has been labeled the "hottest book in the Bible"), declares "He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing (3:17)."  I'm confident that our Father who possesses perfect love takes far more delight in me than I ever could in Olive. So let that thought fill your heart as you close your eyes tonight and sleep: I'm a partner with the Creator of the universe, and He takes great delight in me!

Blessings,

Barney

Toxic Relationships and Forgiveness

While being chased by a rabid dog, at what point do you stop running and face the dog?

I'm not sure who said that. I do know that is was at one of the Pepperdine lectureships (it's also a paraphrase of what was said) and it was in reference to running away from sin. It's always stuck with me and has created a great visual. Here you are running away from something that causes you to sin and you decided that you can face that sin. What you are really doing is allowing temptation to creep in. I think we all know what happens when we give in to temptation. So rather than facing the sin, keep running away from it.

There are also other topics and situations this little saying can relate to.

While having a discussion about forgiveness the other day, the conversation I was involved in turned to toxic relationships and getting out of them.

Forgiveness is a great thing. You can research for years on the subject. You have the forgiver, the forgiven, the need for forgiveness, the weight lifted from forgiving, the clear conscious of admitting you need to be forgiven; the list goes on and on.

While some people won't ask for forgiveness we know that it is important that we still forgive those who have sinned against us. Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:21,22

One issue that is hard to deal with and grasp is forgiving and moving on. I'm not talking about moving on as in forgetting what they did, that is impossible and we all deal with the memories. Only God is able and has authority to wipe the slate clean. What I am referring to is eliminating the toxic people from your life after you have forgiven them.

In the relationship of marriage, you will find abusive spouses, be it physical or emotional. The typical stories you hear in these situations is that of forgiving and jumping back into the ring. While we hope that after forgiveness there is smooth sailing, more often than not the abusive cycle begins again.

That is probably the most common example of a toxic relationship and I could show others examples if needed dealing with friends, employers, children and parents. But the point is that people fail to realize that forgiveness does not mean you need to stick around for more abuse. If the situation is taking away your power, the person is manipulating you or controlling you, it's time to get out of that situation. Nobody deserves that kind of power as it is reserved only for God. No person is worth your soul if they cause you to lose your peace, your walk with God, lead you to sin, take away your joy or your mind ultimately causing you to stumble and fall.

Before you cut ties with anyone make your feelings known to them. Explain that you are not going to allow them to become a stumbling block in your life and that you have forgiven them for any wrongs they have done to you. You may have a pleasant time moving forward with them. 

If however, they do not welcome your attempt to make peace, or if the situation is not going to be healthy for you, do as Jesus says in Luke 9 when he was instructing the apostles to go out and proclaim the kingdom of God. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them. Jesus explains that we need to cut all ties with people who won't listen and go so far as to not even have any dust on your feet from your encounter. Limited contact does not work with toxic people

Looking at another verse from the old testament, Abram and Lot Separate. Genesis 13:8,9 So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”

Don't worry if that seems harsh. Many people will counter with out of context scripture or even try to say (like a previous weekly message) "That's not very Christian of you". Remember that Jesus said Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth? I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Matthew 10:34-39

Remember: If you are being chased by a rabid dog, if you are being hunted down by sin, if there is a toxic person in your life, don't stop and face it. Keep running.

Walking in the Light.

It is generally believed that 1 John was written from Ephesus when John was an elderly man, about AD 90. By that time the church, as a whole, was in the process of falling away from the pure truth of the Gospel first preached sixty years earlier. Paul had warned of this. “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith” (1 Tim 4:1) 

Many were now second or even third generation Christians. As the church grew, parts of Jewish religion continued to be held to. Pagans brought in their ideas. It should be noted when John writes the major problem is not persecution, but the danger is from within the church.

The church must be on constant guard, else the church begins to mirror the world and the denominational philosophy. Jesus said, "Many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” (Matt. 24:11) The lawlessness spoken of here is to disregard, or modify God’s law, his word. Consequently true love for God will cool when the word is not faithfully kept. A downward spiral away from God always follows.

The fire of enthusiasm and zeal of the early days of the church is turning to a glowing ember in a dying fire. John describes this condition as “lukewarm”. "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Rev. 3:15-16) Anything is better than lukewarm. The apostle sees the indifference coming – yes already beginning.

John wants to fan the burning embers of those Christians back to a roaring fire. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life– the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us– that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.” (1 John 1:1-4)

John is saying, we are drifting, so let’s go back to the basics – let’s go back to Jesus and the eternal life, so that we may understand the meaning of fellowship with God and Jesus Christ. This fellowship moves in two directions – horizontal and vertical. The Christian has vertical fellowship with God and horizontal fellowship with other Christians. For example, when Christians meet in fellowship to worship God and to speak and shake hands with one another, this fellowship rekindles the fire. Separate several coals of fire and they die. Together they burn brightly.

But there is more to this fellowship with God and fellow Christians. John continues. “This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:5-10)

John now gets to the point of lawlessness Jesus prophesied of. Light represents truth and knowledge and righteousness. Darkness represents ignorance, sin, and opposition to truth. Darkness and light cannot coexist. There is no twilight zone. Either a person walks with God in the light and His will, or one walks in the darkness of his own will and desires.

To walk in the light with God does not mean that one knows and understands everything in the Bible. Simply, that he or she does not walk in the direction of their own will and desires, but walk with God in the direction He is going.

As we walk with God, “we have fellowship with one another.” That means you and God have fellowship. “And the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” While walking with God in the light we sin, but the blood of Jesus cleanses us of our sin. We were cleansed when baptized. John uses the word “cleanses” meaning that Jesus blood continually cleanses you of sin as you walk with God.

Finally, John writes that while walking with God if we say, “we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Christians traveling in the light with God from time to eternity will stumble and trip and fall, spiritually speaking. As the Christian walks with Christ, he and she will have the sins of bruises, aching muscles and sore feet. But Christians stop and apply ointment, that is, they daily ask God’s forgiveness and keep walking with Jesus. There are only two ways to walk. (Matt 7:13-14) One is to walk in the light with Jesus. The other is to walk in our own way – the way we desire. As long as we walk with Jesus we cannot be lost. Only when we quit walking with and turn and walk in a different direction will the Christian be lost.

John urges those Christians who have grown slack to go back to the basics and remember who they are, who Jesus is, and the walk they committed themselves to when they first obeyed the gospel. It would be well for us to examine ourselves and go back to the basics and make sure the fire within us is not turning to dying embers.