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A lot of Christians have allegiance to their denomination, or parish or worst still their sect or house of gods. What they are doing essentially is following a charismatic leader(s). some of these “Christians” are the ones Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 3 v 2-4 ² I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. ³ You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? ⁴ For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

 

1 Corinthians chapter 3

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. ² I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. ³ You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? ⁴ For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

⁵ What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.⁶ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor is the one who waters anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labour. ⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. ¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

¹⁶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

¹⁸ Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”^[a]; ²⁰ and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”^[b] 21 So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours,²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas^[c] or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, ²³ and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

 

Jesus Christ has sent us all out to make disciples of the nations, we all have our ministries, church leaders and congregation. According to Paul in this chapter, “what is Paul, Apollos, Pope, Arch-bishop, Right-reverend, Pastor, Apostle, Superior evangelist or Primate, only servants through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task”. One servant can plant the seed, while another water it, neither of the 2 servants is indispensable or essential, but it is God that makes it grow. Whatever your task, we are all co-workers in God’s service, in the garden or the wilderness or the building of God, God reward each according to their labour. Our workmanship will be tested, the foundation is Jesus Christ, He is the cornerstone, without Him, anything built on anything be it “house of gods, your parish, the latest healer in town, a holy site, an angel, or any other thing than Christ” will collapse, disintegrate and be destroyed, when tested.

Love your enemies, pray for them that hates you. Whenever you or your leaders pray for the destruction of your enemies, while the scriptures tell us that we are the temple of God and that God dwells in us, we are together, God’s temple, not your physical place of worship, and you are praying for the destruction of God’s dwelling, then God will destroy that person.

 

Psalm 15

Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?

² The one whose walk is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart;
³ whose tongue utters no slander,
who does no wrong to a neighbour,
and casts no slur on others;
⁴ who despises a vile person
but honours those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
and does not change their mind;
⁵ who lends money to the poor without interest;
who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

Whoever does these things
will never be shaken.

Who can live with God and walk with Him, talk with Him, reason with Him, know His mind and understand His heart?

The answer to this near impossible question is in Psalm 15. Blameless, righteous, honest from the heart, not malicious or accusatory, whose actions and motives are not negative to others, and who is not derogatory or condescending towards others.

This person should have nothing to do with those that are despicable, morally bad and wicked, and should regard with great respect those who fear the Lord. This person should be true to their word even when it hurts, that is real integrity. This person should be consistent. This person should lend without interest and should not accept bribe against the innocent. Some of the key qualities of such a person are; Integrity, which is manifested by honesty, and sincerity, followed by Righteousness, meaning living right, being right with God, obeying God, being Holy, which means being separate which is different from being perfect.

 

1 John 3 v 4-10

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. ⁵ But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. ⁶ No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

⁷ Dear children do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. ⁸ The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. ⁹ No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. ¹⁰ This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

The magnificence, the beauty and the architectural abilities of God is visible in the works of His Hands, if you only knew where to look. Open your hearts, free your minds and experience the Love of God.

Psalm 19 v 1-3

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
² Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
³ They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.

Even When You Don’t Have Words: Faith
There are times when words simply fail us. Praying in these moments can seem unimaginable. And yet—remarkably—God makes provision for us to pray even when we have no clue what to say.

In Romans 8, Paul acknowledges that we live in a broken world. We experience suffering now. Loss. Sometimes the brokenness comes at our own hands; sometimes we are the ones who are broken by outside factors. Paul first encourages us that things won’t always be this way. We were made for a whole, healed world, and one day that will be reality. In the meantime, we groan. And all of creation groans along with us.

Then Paul says that even when we don’t know how to pray as we ought, the Spirit of God intercedes for us with groaning that are too deep for words. In a broken world, we often don’t even know what to ask God for. But he still wants to be with us. He still longs for that conversation. So in these moments, his Spirit will pray for us. We don’t know what to say, but he does. We may not even know what we truly want or need. But the Spirit will do the talking. Our role is to simply enter his presence.

This is praying in faith. We don’t have the answers, but we know the one who does. The specific requests are not as important as the conversation. So we keep coming back to God in faith, not because we know how he should solve our problems, but because we know he is the only one who can. Sometimes the conversation is quiet and tear-filled, but it matters even then. Perhaps especially then.
Romans 8 v 18-30
Present Suffering and Future Glory I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Say What’s on Your Mind: Intercession

The moment prayer becomes anything other than a conversation with God, we’ve made it into something it’s not. But what do you say when you’re talking to God?

This question is all-important. One answer is that we can say anything to God. He’s listening, and he cares. It doesn’t matter how trivial, difficult, outraged, or perplexed your prayers are: God cares about what you care about. And a whole lot more. So if you care about other people, you should expect those people to come up in your conversations with God.

John 15 v 12-17

 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

There is a statement that pops up a few times in the New Testament: “If you ask anything in [Jesus’] name, [the Father] will give it to you.” How’s that for a blank check? But looking at the context of just one of these statements will give some insight into what Jesus wants us to be praying for.

In John 15, Jesus tells us that in remaining connected to him, we find life. And we find his life flowing through us to others (a concept he refers to as “bearing fruit”). When he tells us that God will grant our every request, he adds “so that you will love one another” (v. 17). In other words, praying for people is a form of love. Jesus’ love flows through you as your love for other people leads you to pray for them. This is what we mean by “intercessory prayer.”

It’s a sign of health in your conversations with God when you find yourself naturally talking to God about more and more aspects of your life. If you care about it, God wants to hear about it.

Pure is defined as not mixed or adulterated with any other substance or material. We know where there is light, there is no darkness. And that God is Light. When your heart is bitter, when you’re vindictive, angry, jealous, gossiping, lying, pretentious, exploitative, greedy, self-absorbed, backbiting and generally uttering negative communications, then that is darkness in your heart.

A man with a pure heart shall see God Matthew 5 v 8

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

A humble man or a man that is meek shall inherit the earth Matthew 5 v 5.

Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

1 Peter 5 v 5-7

In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,

“God opposes the proud
but shows favour to the humble.”^[a]

⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Pray at all times, talk to God at all times, humble yourself before man and most importantly before God. You can not say you’re humble before God and proud towards and with your fellow man, since God is in all of us, by being proud before your fellow man, you’re being proud before God. God can not be mocked. Pray for your fellow man and for yourself, even when you don’t know what to say, the spirit intercedes for us. In all situations and circumstances bring it all before God. Philippians 4 v 4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

Psychologists are always talking about getting rid of your guilt complexes. They say man has all of these desires within him, and he’s been held in by blocked memories that squeeze him in. If he represses himself, they say, he’ll develop neurosis or psychosis. So, they say, “Express yourself. Live it up! Do your thing.”

“The opposite of repression is expression,” they say. No, friend, let me tell you, it’s not repression, it’s not expression — it’s confession.

God says that if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

The Amplified Bible says it this way: “If you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and, in your heart, believe [adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth] that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes [adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ] and so is justified [declared righteous, acceptable to God], and with the mouth he confesses [declares openly and speaks out freely his faith] and confirms his salvation.”

God also promises, “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” ( 1 John 1:7) and “…where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” ( Romans 5:20).

Reference: https://www.oneplace.com/ministries/love-worth-finding/read/devotionals/love-worth-finding/are-psychologists-right-are-you-repressed-love-worth-finding-june-10-11793146.html

In the Bible, David made the decision to seek God and rebuild his life after his son died (2 Samuel 12). Dr. Norman Peart comments on David’s decision: “David could not waste the rest of his life focusing upon the wrong, the hurt that was there. He instead had to build upon that life because at some point he was going to see the God he was aiming for.”

The time has come to rebuild your life.

They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. — Amos 9:14

Four and a half years after my wife died.

My wife taught me to love. It’s a simple word that has a vast meaning. Love can mean compassion, uncensored and true, living in the moment. Love can be unconditional and unprotected and vulnerable, which is a scary place to be, a place most of us choose not to be. My wife taught me it is this place of love that holds the meaning of life for us. The reason we’re put here is to receive those precious gifts of love from the Lord and to surpass our own boundaries and give love.

Give ear to my words, O LORD, Consider my groaning. — Psalm 5:1 NASB

Lord, I need to do this. Each day I need to write down whatever comes to my mind, whatever I am thinking about or feeling. I release these thoughts to You. Help me to grow and to love. Amen.

Share with a Friend

Pray for God to bring you a friend you can talk with about your loss. Let your friend know what you need from him or her. You might prefer writing your friend a letter that expresses your feelings, your needs, and your thankfulness for the friendship.

I had a close friend who helped me through my grief: “She was just a friend I could call and talk to and know that she understood; that was the main thing, just having some- body to listen to me.”

Never underestimate the comforting power of friendship.

You have comforted me by speaking so kindly to me. — Ruth 2:13 NLT

Provider God, I pray that I keep up my friendships with those who are true to me, even when I don’t feel like making the effort. Amen.

Grief Support Group

I encourage you to join a biblically based grief recovery support group to aid in your healing. It does not matter how long ago your loss occurred; grief support groups are for people at all stages of the grieving process.

“It’s in the sharing and the group’s caring for each other that the healing is accomplished,” says Dr. Jim Conway.

Healing is a mending together for the purpose of making some- thing whole again. Your heart, mind, and body can become whole and in excellent working condition again through Jesus. But healing does not mean there will be no scars. It means that you were once broken, but through time and effort you are being made whole again.

He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds. — Psalm 147:3

Jesus, it’s hard to imagine I will ever be healed. Help me to remember that healing is not forgetting, but it is remembering with love and tenderness and joy. Amen.

Maintain Humour

Barbara Johnson says it is good to keep your sense of humour during this time of grief; in fact, keeping a sense of humour is one of the healthiest things you can do: “Oh, I think that’s very important. You see, one laugh equals three spoons of oat bran. And one laugh will burn six calories. And one laugh is like jogging on the inside. I think God intended for us to laugh.

Job 8:21 says,

He will fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

So laughter is very important. Many people don’t have a sense of humour, and they suffer longer and harder than those who can let a little laugh bubble out.”

Lord of all, bring something humorous in my path today. Teach me to relax inside and let “a little laugh bubble out.” Amen.

Enjoy God’s Creation

Open your eyes today to the gift of God’s creation. Make a point to look up and notice and savour what you see.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. — Psalm 19:1-4

The beauty of creation is crying out daily for you to see and to worship the Creator in response. Live life on a different level today — a higher level.

Elisabeth Elliot says, “It’s our human nature to fret and stew and try everything in the world to satisfy ourselves, but that is never going to be the answer. I myself have found tremendous comfort and joy in observing God’s creation.”

Creator God, what treasures and beauties do You have in store for me today? What new wonder is just waiting to be seen? Amen.

Directing Your Thoughts

Memories can be a blessing, but they can also have the opposite effect. When you remember your loved one, what dominates your thoughts — good, wholesome, loving memories? Or things you would rather not remember at all?

“Scripture tells you to direct your focus and attention to those things that are pure, right, and true,” says Jim Grassi. “It doesn’t say focus your attention, all your anxiety, and all your worry on all the things that are bad.”

With God’s help, turn your thoughts around. This may be a daily, moment-by-moment battle if negative thinking has been a pattern for you.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. — 2 Corinthians 10:5

Lord, I am prepared to take my negative thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ — beginning now! Amen.

Excerpted from Through a Season of Grief by Bill Dunn and Kathy Leonard, copyright The Church Initiative, Inc.