You Must Walk The Walk

Let me tell you about something that hit me right where I profess to walk . . . yesterday my sister came to my 'office' (but in all honesty it's nothing more than a cubbie) and in the course of our everyday chatter we began to talk about a topic that I (surprise, surprise) had an opinion about. The comment I shared wasn't necessarily wrong but the way in which I expressed it left no doubt that I threw a judgmental dagger that was meant to cut right through her.

True to her nature she backed off and in an instant, as she was quickly escaping, told me to have a nice afternoon. oops. Given her reaction I immediately considered that what I had said was inappropriate - but no - I said nothing untrue and that was that.

I recounted the episode to someone later on in the day and much to my delight (and smugness) I won an ally (which I must now admit isn't to surprising given the slant that I put on the story). A couple of times during the evening my mind drifted to the encounter. Once I even asked the Lord to forgive me if somehow He found any fault in the part that I played in the event. (at which time His eyes must have rolled back in His head!)

Fast forward to this morning when I sat quietly with the Lord. Before I knew it I was writing things down like:
Jesus isn't just loving . . . He is love.
Jesus isn't just truthful . . . He is truth.
Jesus isn't just faithful . . . He is faith.
Jesus doesn't just give hope . . . He is hope.
Jesus doesn't just give gifts . . . He is the gift.
Jesus is mercy.
Jesus is compassion.
Jesus is forgiveness.
I must have gotten His special attention because before long I was deep into an attitude of worship - loving every insightful thing that He was bringing to my mind. Before I knew it thoughts from a lesson that I'm working on came to my mind . . . God told Moses that it is wrong to lie and covet and steal and become adulterers and . . . all those things. If God wanted to, the study asked, could He now retract what He said and tell us that it's ok to do those things? NO!, we learned, for His rules weren't established just to keep us from doing those things that we want to do . . . He told us not to do those things because they go against His very nature. A sin, therefore, is anything that we do that is against His very nature . . . and something that you need to ask His forgiveness of.

Immediately I felt the Holy Spirit convicting me saying "if you speak harshly to someone you are sinning because that person wouldn't see the character of Christ in you - because the harshness is going against his very nature." WOW!!! It all seemed so clear to me at that moment. I HAD sinned! And our LIVING - LOVING God was leading me to understand that I had sinned. As I continued to write I found myself saying that in order to return to right standing with Him I must first ask my sister for forgiveness then I could ask - AND ASSUREDLY RECEIVE - forgiveness from Him. And it was at that point that the Lord lead me to remember that it is written in Matthew 5:23 "therefore, if you are offering your gift at the alter and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."
How awesome is our God. He is so gentle when leading us to see things His way. He is alive and loving and, boy oh boy, does He have a good memory when it comes to what He has written down for us in His book!
Lord God, how truly blessed I am that you love me so much that you bring me back into right standing with you. Thank you, Lord, for opening my eyes to your goodness and for putting a desire on my heart to obey you. Thank you for a wonderful sister who is willing to overlook the shortcomings of her baby sister.
And now Lord, I once again offer you the worship that only you, my Savior, are worthy to receive. It is in Your Holy and perfect name, Jesus, that I give You all praise and honor and glory.
Amen and Amen
bo