Silence! is it the solution?

 

There is this interesting story of a man and his wife who had some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment. It so happens that the man needed to be awakened early one morning to catch a business flight, but he didn’t want to be the first to break the silence...(surely because of pride), so he left a note on his wife’s side of the bed reading “Please wake me at 5am.”

By the time sunshine roused him the next morning, it was some minutes after 9am. In anger, he threw back his cover cloth and shouted to his wife (who was nowhere to be found), “Why didn’t you wake me up like I asked you to?”(forgetting he didn't ask her but rather wrote it) He then looks to his side of the bed and finds stuck to the lamp, a note in his wife’s handwriting that read, “It is 5am. Time to wake up.”

Dear reader, it doesn’t take much to make us angry and create emotional distance from each other. But it does take great, courageous effort to fight through the silence to a place of true forgiveness and oneness. Isolation seems to offer us protection, a certain kind of self-preservation. There is a type of peace found in avoidance that appears much more appealing than the pain of dealing with reality. We sometimes end up hurting ourselves and even draw negative conclusions based on what we see and hear. 

Being silent makes one feel secured, as if you are in a security blanket on a rainy day. The fact is, silence is one of Satan’s most deadly disguises he uses to mess up good things up in our homes,churches,work, society and among friends. The silent treatment is extremely deceptive and ultimately destructive.

When you find yourself tempted to square off against each other, retreating to your corners and refusing to give in, remember that Jesus could have given us the cold shoulder. He could have taken one look at our many, many sins and shortcomings and never sought to draw us out. May His reaching, redemptive love be our model and motivator. We serve a God who both seeks and speaks. To be a true friend, brother, sister, spouse or colleague be sure to do the same. Do enjoy the security blanket,open up.

Silence is golden but it’s a destructive tool the devil is using lately.

DON'T BE A VICTIM!!!

Saint, March On!!!

It’s probably not a name we would use for ourselves, but the apostle Paul often called believers “saints” in the bible. I don't think he called them saints because they were perfect. The people were human just as we are, offended man and God and therefore we sinful. But this is the secret; The word saint as used in the bible in my opinion is someone who has availed himself for God to use no matter the situation at hand...more or less someone set apart for God.

It also describe people who have a spiritual union with Christ as stated in Eph 1:3-6 that…Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to son-ship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.. It’s just like  believers in Jesus those who make up the church like you and I.

We as Saints have a responsibility through the power of the Spirit to live lives worthy of our calling but seeing yourself as someone who has given up to sin or unworthy because of sin does should not be an excuse to ignore your responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, no longer being sexually immoral and using improper speech (which we most often ignore) as Eph 5:3-6 puts it; “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving”.

We can put on the new character traits of service to one another, humility, gentleness, patience, love, unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, obedience, and perseverance during hardship and suffering with the help of God.

 In the Old Testament, the psalmist called saints “the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight”

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Our union with Christ makes us saints, but our obedience to God’s Word through the power of the Holy Spirit makes us saintly.

I know where you find yourself and how you feel but I guess we need to do what we have to do to keep the kingdom business going.

May God help us all.

DO YOU CALL THAT LOYALTY?

Gary Thomas, an author tells the story of two American soldiers who became fast friends during their preparations for combat in World War I.Though they had known each other only a short time, the feeling of close friendship and trust among a group of people of battle and their shared dreams of postwar life quickly cemented their relationship.

One day, these two buddies crawled from their foxhole with the rest of their unit in an attack on the German forces. After a valiant fight, the order was given to retreat. But only one of the two friends returned to the trench. The other had been hit by German gunfire and was lying about 50 yards out of reach.

Against his commanding officer's orders, the other soldier crawled out of the ditch to go find his fallen comrade. Hugging the ground and dodging enemy bullets, he worked his way across the bloody, corpse-littered ground until he finally located the friend he sought. Finding him semi-conscious, they were left with only a few seconds together before he died.

When the man returned to the trench with the body of his soldier friend, the ranking officer flew into a rage for this flaunting of his order. "Was it worth it for you to risk your life?"

"Absolutely, sir. Because when I turned him over, he looked up at me and said, ‘I knew you'd come.'"

That's the kind of loyalty we are called to in all our relationships,our homes and families. Your spouse needs to know without a doubt that when you are needed, you will be there. Your children need to know they can count on you, not just in a pinch, but also in their most routine of expectations. Your fiancee or the one you are dating and hoping to get married to in future must know that when you are needed you will be there.

When they need you, can they be sure you'll come? Oh yeah, yes! You just told yourself but in your heart of hearts can you sacrifice your comfort for the comfort of the one you are walking with now? The one you call your hubby to be or wife to be, your wife or husband or that child you have given birth to and even your friends...can I count on you? Can you count on him or her? Even at work...hope you are not like the cat in the corner. Don't always place your interest first, learn to make the interest and preference of others yours and I guess you'll have some fulfillment.

Think about it.