Division & Conflict Not Acceptable
- Pastor Michael Heil
- Feb 2, 2018
- 3 min read
"A false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community." -Proverbs 6:19
We, the church, have an obligation to point and make every effort to stomp sin out of the body. Opposition on the outside is significant, but it won't cause nearly as much harm as internal conflict. Gossip when found within the church must be addressed. If not, it will lead to divisions.
One trick of the enemy is that he wants to distract us from focusing on God. He waves a banner of confusion to always be the center of attention. Distractions are designed to take our focus away from Kingdom business. If it has nothing to do with God, we should not be faithful to it. I'm not talking about jobs. You have to hear the Holy Spirit and be led. This post is pointing out how important it is to walk in the Spirit and not to fulfill the desires of the flesh as many are doing today. So many things are in competition with preaching the gospel and the things of God as a whole. Gossip is a sin, and spreading lies is not of God. Causing offense is not of God; being easily offended is not of God. We must study the Word of God so that we will know the truth. We must walk in the Spirit so we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. We are to make every effort to be a witness that brings GLORY to the Living God Almighty. WALK IN UNITY.
Pastor Michael Heil
REFLECTION: "And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him." (1 John 2:28-29) As children of God, we are to walk uprightly and blamelessly before God with a spirit of humility. When we are walking in the Spirit, then we are careful to obey His commands and to follow the example Jesus Himself set for us. Jesus said, "If you love me, obey my commands." When we practice righteousness, we show we are born from above. When we love God with all our heart, then we do all we can to please Him. When we view sin as God views sin, then we are putting on the mind of God to see things as He sees them. When we cleave to truth, we reject lies and apostasy. And with Jesus Christ being the Sure Foundation, we develop and build up our lives in God and encourage each other in the most holy faith.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, You are worthy of our very best. We are sorry the times we've neglected You and pushed You aside, for giving You leftovers rather than giving You our very best. Forgive us for neglecting and forgetting the weightier matters of the Law which are justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Abba, we humbly throw ourselves on Your mercy and ask that You create in us a clean heart and a renew a right spirit within us and cast us not away from Your presence, O God. Let the Spirit of the Living God fall upon Your Church, reviving us, filling us with Your power to be living sacrifices to You that we may walk blamelessly and uprightly before You, that we would produce the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and that we would walk in the Spirit daily and not grieve Him. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Linda A. Knowles
Comments