Serve One Another in Love no. 13

“Dear friends, don’t regard as strange the fiery ordeal occurring among you to test you, as if something extraordinary were happening to you. Rather, to the extent that you share the fellowship of the Messiah’s sufferings, rejoice; so that you will rejoice even more when his Sh’khinah is revealed. If you are being insulted because you bear the name of the Messiah, how blessed you are! For the Spirit of the Sh’khinah , that is, the Spirit of God, is resting on you! Let none of you suffer for being a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or a meddler in other people’s affairs. But if anyone suffers for being Messianic, let him not be ashamed; but let him bring glory to God by the way he bears this name. For the time has come for the judgment to begin. It begins with the household of God; and if it starts with us, what will the outcome be for those who are disobeying God’s Good News” (1 Kefa (1 Pe) 4:12-17)? I sometimes get accused of not understanding The Bible by folks that want their understanding to be superior to mine. I sometimes get accused of being a squishy Christian for advocating God’s love over vengeance and judgment. I sometimes get accused of being a sleepy Christian that lives out of touch with the world around me. And that is just the pushback I get from other Christians. That kind of pushback has characterized a lot of my walk with Jesus, past and present. And it is often difficult to rejoice when brothers and sisters pushback against the journey you take to learn about Him. And it can be even worse when those people are not just pushing back BUT they are telling you all sorts of horrible things, calling you all sorts of horrible things, believing all sorts of horrible things. Yet none of that is persecution. None of that compares to leaving Heaven and becoming human to die for a lot of folks that don’t care. None of that compares to real persecution and suffering. 

I have been reading over the past few months The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs and have found that the idea of contentment in Him is something a lot of us still find a struggle. We are afraid when we should be content. We are sad when we should be content. We are angry when we should be content. Folks often sing on Sunday about how Jesus is enough and live the rest of the week wanting other things to take His palace in being enough. That is the kind of hypocrisy the world sees within us and can easily diagnose. We are not content. We complain. We fight. We argue. We hate. We judge. While we know we should love Him and love our neighbor. We should be content in Him. 

Rejoice in Him despite our situations. Rejoice in His Will despite what we will. Rejoice in Him and fear not. God is love and His love will change you, it will change me, and it will change the world. We only need let Him. 

Serve His Kingdom by serving one another in love.

Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherIn Love #NotMyWayYHWH