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Recently I was blessed to be the mediator between two Christian brothers who had a problem communicating. A series of events had caused a rift in their relationship. As he always does, Satan took advantage of a foot hold and tried to destroy their relationship. The Word tells us in Ephesians 4:26 that we should not give the devil a place to stand. The Greek mathematician and philosopher Archimedes once said, “ give me a lever and a place to stand, and I will move the world”. Satan has that same power. If we give him a foothold (a place to stand), he will move our world. All the devil needs is a place to stand, and the lever of emotions, and he will move us out of our relationship with God and others. Because we are human, with all the emotional baggage that entails, we are prone to hurt feelings. Although we always try to wear that “game face”, deep inside we are venerable to external influences. If we are normal, we all have emotions and feelings. I believe that Jesus was an emotional person who didn’t try to fake it by hiding His feelings. He became angry when He saw the abuse of God’s Temple. He was gentle when dealing with children. He shed tears when people failed to trust His heavenly Father. And most often, He expressed the emotion of love. Love for the sinner, love for the sick, and love for the multitudes that were like sheep without a Shepard. Jesus said that the expression of love would be the thing that set the Christians apart from the world. By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35 It grieves me greatly when I see dischord amoung brothers and sisters. There are so many opportunities for the devil to work. There are denominational differences, differences in our understanding of the Word. There is a failure to understand that we all grow in faith and in the word at different rates and levels of understanding. There are even different ministries to which God calls us, because we are a diverse people. We are all willing to admit God uses different people to reach the many diverse people in the motorcycle community. Some people may not like me simply because I am bald and have been a Christian for many years. Others may think my years of experience are an asset. Some may prefer that their preacher ride a different make of motorcycle, or have a prison or hardcore M/C club background. Different strokes for different folks, does really apply, as we strive to reach the lost. Regardless of our experiences, educational level, background, or level of faith, we must above all, “have a love one for another”. Other people are watching our lives. If they don’t see that love in our lives, it may drive a wedge between them and us. Psalms 133 defines the blessings of the love between brothers and sisters. “How good and plesant it is when brothers (sisters) live together in unity”. This relationship is compared to the oil that was used in the anointing of Arron the priest, as he was set aside for the special service to God. Think about that! The oil represented the Holy Spirit and the sanitifying, or setting apart for special service, of the priesthood. Love is the oil of the Spirit that God uses to set brothers and sisters apart for His service. It is a sign of sanitification. We are to be different from the world. We all have occasional conflicts in personality, but in spite of that, we are to love another as a sign that we are different. David speaks of the oil flowing down over the beard and garments of Arron as he was anointed to be the servant of God. This is symbolic of the love flowing over and covering us from top to bottom. The Word also says that love coveres a multitude of sin, just as the oil covered Aaron and dedicated him from his head to his feet. Love helps us overcome hurt feelings and restores us to fellowship with God and with one another. For there, in that anointing of love, we receive God’s blessings and abundant life. In the wind, Double D |
