Peace in the Storm III
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Peace in our Relationships
Peace in our Relationships
Relationship - first of all this word is not present in the bible. The bible doesn’t recognize this word as we do today.
So we must define what we mean by the word.
Relationships are connection we have with people. There are many types and forms of relationships. The connections and forms of relating change and vary depending on the connection.
You are related to your family… father mother sister brother.. husband wife child.
You connect and relate differently with each one of these people in your life.
A friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity.
We also have friends, co workers, employers, and social groups we participate in. We have church family relationships and many others.
So does one rule apply to all these relationships? We have some in this group who hate us or who don’t like us.
Jesus confronts us in the most difficult place to help us understand the secret to peaceful relationships.
Peaceful relationships doesn’t mean everyone is at peace with you!
If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
Our relationships are a fruit of what is in our heart! If you have carry peace in you then you will bring peace into a relationship. If you carry war inside of you then you will bring war into a relationship.
What are the driving forces of our relationships?
Identify the “turbulent” relationships in your life.
What is the struggle?
The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Love your neighbor and hate your enemies...
where does this come from?
“An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever, because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. Nevertheless the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever.
But You, O Lord, be merciful to me, and raise me up,
That I may repay them.
Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Jesus is confronting the things in our heart.
The things that we harbor that can keep us from experiencing Life to the fullest.
To restore relationships we must first examine our own hearts!
Examine Your Heart
Examine Your Heart
Why do I struggle to love some and not others?
How can I love someone who hates me?
How can I bless those who curse me?
What am I missing?
Jesus says we are true children of God when we do these things...
Do we have a correct understanding of our fathers love for us and others?
Love is not to make someone feel good!
Love is not to validate everything they do even if its wrong.
Love is truth and is not a feeling. It’s a choice!
You see a lot of our relationships fail because we are looking for a feeling or an emotion.
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
My enemies - I don’t like them… I fear them…They try to hurt me… They are against me… and you want me to love them?
The ones who curse me - They don’t like me and wish me evil. They take pleasure in my failure and destruction. and you want me to bless them?
Those who hate me - They really don’t like me. They would rather see me dead. And you want me to do good to them?
Those who spitefully use and persecute me. They USE me… They are full of spite towards me. They don’t care about me and they are always teasing me. You want me to pray for them?
So all my senses and emotions are telling me I should be angry with these people and return to them what they wish me.
But God is telling me something different.
Who do I listen to?
Key thing about relationships… who are you listening to? The hate, the cursing, the spite and provocation? Or the Spirit of the Living God?
You see according to God if we don’t do this we are acting just like the tax collectors...
Now the tax collectors were considered the lowest level of human beings in those days...
So whats wrong with this picture?
Love those who have cause and try to harm me? Impossible…! I need to protect myself and I will not love those who aren’t nice to me...
I believe God is starting a new season in our lives. A season of restored peace in our relationships.
I believe God is calling us to examine ourselves again… Peter fishing all night long didn’t catch a thing...
Listen carefully to the what the Spirit of God is saying!
Its the small things that turn into big things. We need to learn to master the small things or they will be the ruin of us.
Catch the Little Foxes
Catch the Little Foxes
Catch us the foxes,
The little foxes that spoil the vines,
For our vines have tender grapes.
this is a poem of love! Its a song coming from a heart of love. The call to catch the foxes is made by the woman.
The little foxes...
It usually isn’t the big things that hinder us. Its the small things. This is why Jesus is speaking about the small matters of the heart.
How do we Catch the Foxes!
What are the things that are truly helpful? what are the things that really edify us or build us up?
If they don’t help then they are probably getting in the way
If they don’t edify then they are probably destroying us.
What are our thoughts? What are our attitudes? The Spirit of God and the word are here to help us discern the things that are’t helpful.
Unfaithfulness, dishonor, selfishness,
The vineyards are in Bloom! Ready to bear fruit… Now is the time to catch the foxes… so that the fruit of our labor isn’t lost.
The harvest is ready lets make sure we are rounding up the little foxes that hinder the fruit and destroy the Blossom.