If you feel God is placing it on your heart to move, to act, to do something. Test it by the Word of God, pray for wisdom, guidance and protection…then move!

I learned this lesson the hard way several years ago…

One morning while getting ready to go to church I received a phone call from a young friend of mine from jail…

He said, “Brother Al, I need to talk to you brother! I can’t do this! This is my third time being locked up, and I know that I will be away from my family for a very long time. I really need to talk to you!”

I responded, “Okay, I will stop by to talk to you as soon as I get out of church”.

I had ministered to this brother by phone and letters while he was in prison before. My phone would ring and I’d hear… “You have a call from ____________ at the ____________ Center for Corrections.” I would quickly respond, “Yes”.

He was very sincere, and He told me that he had been brought back to Christ while in prison. Not only that, He felt God had called Him to be a minister.

After being released he, came to church and was given the opportunity to preach his first sermon, “Are You Lame” from Acts Chapter 3. His sermon was very good. He then told me he was anxious to go and witness to the people he used to ‘run with’. Those who were his ‘partners in crime’…both figuratively and literally.

I told him, “I admire your passion to reach back and grab them, but PLEASE don’t do it until you’re strong enough, so you aren’t drawn back in. I then reminded him of the warning in the bible…

Galatians 6:1

 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 

 And also,

1 Corinthians 15:33 (NKJV)

 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

He did in fact try to reach back, and unfortunately, he got drawn back in. That’s why he was calling me from jail.

Well, as I said…He asked me to come and talk to him that morning, and I told him that I would as soon as I got out of church.

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While I was in church, he hung himself and died.

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My church should have been at the jail that morning.

I let him down…

I let God down…

For religion…

For duty…

For tradition…

For ‘a form of Godliness’…

I missed the entire puropse of what church equips us to do. (Ephesians 4:12)

I missed an opportunity to save a life.

This is one of the reasons Jesus said…

Matthew 9:13 (NKJV)

 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’^[a] For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”^[

This is one of the reasons the bible says…

James 2:15-17 (NKJV)

 ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷ Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

This is one of the reasons the bible says…

1 John 3:17 (NKJV)

 ¹⁷ But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

 And most definitely why Jesus said…

Matthew 25: 31-40 (NKJV)

 ³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy^[c] angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. ³³ And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ³⁹ Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

God told me to move that morning and I ignored Him, because I felt I was doing the right thing. But, had I looked closer at the word of God…I would have quickly gone to the jail.

If you feel God is placing it on your heart to move, to do something, to bless someone, to pray for someone…test it by His word…pray for wisdom, guidance and protection…and do it.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

Why?

Why do we ‘bite and devour’ one another? Why do we continue to repeat the same mistakes of history, even when we know them

Galatians 5:15 (NKJV)

¹⁵ But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

People love to say, “If you don’t know your history, you are condemned to repeat it.”

However, simply knowing history and even learning ‘what happened’ does not prevent us from going down those same paths to destruction.

God continually reminded Israel of the mistakes of their ‘fathers’, but they continued to ‘repent then repeat’, sometimes only one generation later. Go back and read Psalm 78, 1st and 2nd Chronicles and 1st and 2nd Kings.

James 4:1-6 (NKJV)

4 Where do ^[a]wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires forpleasure ^(A)that war in your members? ² You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and ^[b]war. ^[c]Yet you do not have because you do not ask. ^{3 (B)}You ask and do not receive, ^(C)because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. ^{4 [d]}Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that ^(D)friendship with the world is enmity with God? ^(E)Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ^(F)“The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”

Pride,

Greed,

Lust,

Jealousy,

Fear,

Hatred,

Aggression,

Revenge,

Unchecked anger.

The one lesson from history that we never seem to learn is to control our emotions.

Ephesians 4:31-32 (NKJV)

^{31 (A)}Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, ^[a]clamor, and ^(B)evil speaking be put away from you, ^(C)with all malice. ³² And ^(D)be kind to one another, tenderhearted, ^(E)forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

We all know that God expects us to love everyone, even our enemies. And, we also know that’s not always easy to do. Sometimes peoples’ actions can take us beyond not just liking them.

There are people who clearly don’t like us, people who don’t have the same beliefs, values and opinions. People who we feel don’t respect our traditions, heritages and cultures. Those who unapologetically work against us and try to hurt. People who hate us.

Well, the fact that God forbids us to hate people hasn’t changed, but He does allow us to hate THINGS about people. So, the next time you look at someone in such intense anger that hate begins to fill your heart, here are a few things that it’s okay to hate ABOUT people…

Their behavior…

Their attitude…

Their habits…

Their clothes…

Their taste…

Their traditions…

Their temper…

Even the organizations and institutions they create.

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Everything mentioned above can be hated without hating the person. How do I know that? Because God, who loves all of us, also hates some things about us too…

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Proverbs 6:16-19  (NKJV)

¹⁶ These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to ^[a]Him:
¹⁷ A^[b] proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
¹⁹ A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.

But, He never lets what He hates about us provoke Him to hate us, even when we’re His enemies…

James 4:4  (NKJV)

^4 [a]Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Romans 5:10  (NKJV)

¹⁰ For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

We were created in God’s image. He hates stuff too. He just doesn’t hate us…ever. So, the next time you feel your natural God-given emotion to hate fill your heart, do these five things…

1. Stop and focus on what it is you hate ABOUT them.
2. Focus on that or those things.
3. Ask God to help you love the person.
4. Then sincerely pray that God strengthens them in the areas you hate, and to open your eyes if you’re wrong.
5. Ask God to help you love them through the things you hate about them, just like He loves you through those things He hates about you.

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You see. Learning to love people through the things we hate about them gives us the opportunity to be more like God.

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These posts about may also bless you too…

HOW YOU DON’T HAVE TO HATE SOMEONE TO NOT LOVE THEM…

THERE WILL ALWAYS BE THINGS YOU HATE ABOUT THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE…

NO MATTER WHAT THEY DID, GOD DOESN’T ALLOW YOU TO HATE THEM…

BE BLESSTIFIED!