Dear Christian friend, we are living in serious times, like no other we’ve ever seen. Jesus is coming soon! And what are we to do? Prepare to meet thy God! We are to prepare by embracing the faith of Jesus.
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12).
It is the faith of Jesus that we need, the same dependence He had on His Father. Jesus tells us:
Abide in me, John 15:4
This is the only way we can be ready—we must have Jesus abiding in our hearts. We must allow Him to transform our thoughts and feelings by a continual connection with Him, in full dependence upon Him. That is the only way we can keep His commandments.
The biblical gospel is a message of reconciliation between a holy God and a sinful people. Our sinful nature is in rebellion against God, and in conflict with one another. In Christ we receive a new nature. We are reconciled by the death of Christ on the cross who paid in full the penalty of sin. He offers us the gift of reconciliation and forgives all our sins.
We are undeserving of God’s grace and mercy toward us. And as we receive it, we acknowledge that we are deeply indebted to our Lord, with a debt that we can never repay. We can’t earn it, because our efforts have no saving merit.
We just simply believe and receive Him, and He joyfully receives us, pouring His love into our hearts. Thus, we keep His commandments through love. We cannot truly be commandment keepers without His love.
Loving God and loving one another, this is the law of God in brief. In order to be commandment keepers, we must be reconciled to God and to one another. The plan of salvation is the plan of reconciliation.
All of Christ’s followers have been given the ministry of reconciliation.
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18).
Through the atonement of Jesus, we are brought into harmony with God and with one another. While we cannot force others to be in harmony with us, we can do our part, as much possible, to have a peaceful, loving relationship with others.
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men (Romans 12:18).
This is the practicality of the gospel; it empowers us to have the mind of a peacemaker, a reconciler, so that we are willing to do whatever we possibly can to restore loving, friendly and harmonious relationships with those with whom we have fallen out of harmony.
Before Jesus comes again, He wants us to respond to the Elijah message. He wants to turn the hearts of His people to their estranged family members.
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse (Malachi 4:6).
We should be willing to humble ourselves, and have a forgiving spirit so that we be able to enjoy sweet fellowship with everyone, no matter what has happened between us.
Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous (1 Peter 3:8).
The first step toward reconciliation involves an attitude of humility. We must come to recognize our part in the division that has developed. We must release the attitude of blaming and harboring bitterness toward them (Ephesians 4:31).
Thus, the Holy Spirit leads us to confess to them our part in the separation.
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16).
As God forgives us, He gives us power to forgive those who have wronged us. If we are unwilling to receive His power to forgive, we show that we have not received His of forgiveness for our sins.
Humanly, it is impossible for us to truly forgive those who have wronged us. The carnal nature holds resentment, bitterness, anger, revenge, and all manner of wrong feelings toward those who hurt us.
But, as we receive the amazing and undeserving gift of forgiveness from God, we also receive His divine nature, which contains power to forgive those who have wronged us. How else could we ever “turn the other cheek” when someone slaps us in the face? How else could we offer our coat when someone takes our shirt away from us?
How else could we let all of our possessions be plundered joyfully? How else could Christians rejoice, and praise God, and even sing when they are persecuted and tortured? (See Matthew 5, Hebrews 10:34, Acts 16:23-25). When we are connected to Jesus, what is before humanly impossible, is now not only possible, but imperative!
This forgiving power that God gives His true children is huge! He is willing to give us love, joy and peace in our hearts at all times, no matter how cruelly and unfairly someone may treat us. We never have to bear the burden of anger and bitterness toward anyone, no matter what they do!
This is indeed a wonderful gift from God! And it is very important to Him that His children are willing to receive it. Those who choose to remain bitter and angry toward a friend, brother, spouse or parent are refusing His love. They are not enjoying a vibrant connection with Jesus.
In a startling biblical revelation, Jesus told us that if we want to come to Him with a gift of love, but we remember that there are wrong feelings between us and someone else, we should just leave our gift, and go and be reconciled to our brother, parent, spouse, friend, and then come and offer our gift to Jesus.
Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee. Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift (Matthew 5:23, 24).
Think about it. Jesus doesn’t even want a gift from someone who pretends to love Him, but they are unwilling to love another person. He says they are liars, and hypocrites.
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? (1John 4:20)
This is a serious matter, but it’s something rarely expounded upon. Perhaps we have been diluted and deluded by the secular philosophy that is taught by the world. Secular psychology purports to tell us how to live but it does not acknowledge the principles Jesus taught us in His Word.
We are told by worldly psychotherapists and secular counselors that we should take care of ourselves first and stand up for our rights above all, especially in our marriages and filial relationships. We are drilled on our need to guard ourselves against “abusive” and “toxic” relationships.
For a person who is not intimately connected with Jesus, they may need the counsel the psychotherapists have to give. They have not availed themselves of the supernatural power to which a Christian has access. They are at the mercy of these sinful abusers. Therefore, they have to deal with it as best as they can without Jesus. Let the worldly counselors counsel the worldly people!
But, if you have Jesus, if you have received His forgiving, sustaining, supernatural power, you have a resource that is far above what any non-biblical therapist or counselor could give you. A true Christian knows their value in Christ. They know that their self-worth is based on what they mean to Jesus, not on what mere humans think about them or do to them.
A genuine Christian understands that they are not to focus on their needs and their rights or even on their pain. Christ’s self-denial and self-sacrificing spirit is their model. Because of His love in their hearts, they are enabled to pour out love in the face of abuse.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you (Matthew 5:44).
Christians know that they don’t deserve to be treated kindly; they deserve to be treated as Christ was treated in His suffering. Thus, they are not of the same mindset as a secular person. They are willing to be humiliated, and mistreated for Christ’s sake by strangers and by family members. The scriptures tell us:
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12).
And we read in Romans 8:17 that we are truly God’s children “if so be that we suffer with him.” Jesus suffered wrongfully. When he was reviled, He didn’t retaliate or threaten His antagonists. He is our divine example, and He will empower us to be like Him:
For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps (1 Peter 2:21).
Jesus gives us strength to return good for evil. He gives us the ability to rejoice and not retaliate at any injustices. These abuses and wrongs done to us help us grow more like Jesus if we accept them through His Spirit
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Linda Kirk
