Positive Change

-
May God who gives patience, steadiness, and encouragement help you to live in complete harmony with each other—each with the attitude of Christ toward the other. And then all of us can praise the Lord together with one voice, giving glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5-6)

Harmony is not achieved by our own merits, for no set of humans actually 'live in harmony' with another set of humans without some form of conflict from time to time. As long as atoms keep crashing together, there will be some form of conflict, BUT...God can bring patience where conflict seems to abound, steadiness where the foundation has begun to crumble, and tremendous encouragement to keep moving toward agreement and peace. 

How is complete harmony ever going to happen? Those who have embraced Christ as their Lord and Savior will be at the forefront of peaceful actions. They will bring a steadfastness into the most difficult of circumstances - a peace and assurance that stands when all else is crumbling in around them. What will this peace and assurance serve to do when chaos abounds? It brings encouragement that there is a way out of the hardness of the moment.

Where does harmony begin? It begins within our own heart first, then it begins to affect those around us. Are you are harmony with God? What does a heart in harmony with God look like? If you are making choices that are in accord with the truths he lays out in scripture, you are on the right path. If you have a desire to see his will done more than your own, you are on the right course. In other words, our actions begin to reflect less of a 'me, me, me' attitude and more of a 'whatever your will is, Lord' purpose.

Some would believe harmony is the absence of chaos entirely, but we grow best within a certain amount of chaos. Harmony is merely a 'congruence' of the parts - not that all parts are the same, but that they 'fit' and 'work' together. Harmony is going to be the place where we see 'conflict' and 'chaos' leading us onward to what is true and lasting positive change. The challenge is there, but we must not bow to the desire to let it defeat God's desire to see patience, steadiness, and encouragement developed within our hearts. Just sayin!

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment if this message has spoken to your heart.

Popular posts from this blog

Steel in your convictions

-
Steel in your convictions - what does this mean?  Winston Churchill once said, "Without courage, all other virtues lose their meaning."  C.S. Lewis echoed his words when he penned, "Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.  (I Thessalonians 1:3-5 The Message) God's hand is on us for something special.  We serve a God who is not only supernatural, he actually influences us to move beyond the natural into the abundance of all he is!  It is this very encouragement which gives us transforming power to live with courage in times of uncertainty. When God begins to pour into our lives, he is "pouring" the right stuff.  This is what Paul was r
Read more

Sentimental gush

-
9-11  So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11 MSG) Sentimental gush - that is what I kind of feel when I watch some of those sappy "and they lived happily after" love stories. Yes, I believe people can "be in love" and that "love will find a way" and all those other cliches about love. Don't think I am down on a solidly committed and growing relationship - it is just that our world often portrays love in ways that are totally gushy and then doesn't show the very 'hard' side of that loving being vital and vibrant
Read more

Not where, but who

-
It isn't where we worship - it is who we worship. It isn't about a place - it is about the heart. This Samaritan woman came to draw water from a well, but I doubt she expected this encounter with Jesus. She knew the prophets had predicted the Messiah to come, but did she know she'd encounter him at the side of the well? She just went there daily to draw the water and return to her duties back in the village. Today, she would not only be challenged by someone who knew her past, but she was being challenged to have her future changed for the better. That is how it is when we encounter Jesus - our past might have been a challenge for us, but our future doesn't have to be! “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?” Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer ma
Read more