From All-Creatures
Christian Living
True Christian living requires us to live according to Kingdom standards which bring Heaven to earth
“Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
Psalm 127:1
1 Corinthians 1:10
King James VersionI went by a construction site several times in the past three weeks and every time I passed by the site I saw the workers helping each other. Once I saw a worker carrying something that was too heavy for him and I watched as another worker took the other end and helped him carry it. I thought “How tragic it is that Christians sometimes fail to carry the other end of a heavy load for another Christian”.
Sometimes pastors will ask the members of their congregations to do something and asks for volunteers. Usually the people that raise their hands are the ones who are already active in most of the projects of the church. I used to be just as guilty concerning this issue. When my pastor would ask for volunteers, I never raised my hand. May God forgive me for my lack of compassion.
The main reason I didn’t raise my hand was because I didn’t think I had any talents so there wouldn’t be anything that I could do. One day, my pastor said when he called for volunteers for a project in the kitchen “Anybody can wash dishes and set tables”. It felt like somebody had plunged a sharp knife deep into my heart as the Holy Spirit convicted me of my lack of concern, obedience and compassion. I asked God to forgive me for being so selfish and disobedient.
However, it doesn’t matter if every person in the congregation works together on a project because it will never succeed unless Jesus is the builder. We can’t do anything that will last in our own strength. It takes Jesus working through us to effectively accomplish what He has called us to do. So many times we try to do things without Him and we fail every time. When will we ever learn that without Jesus, nothing is of any value and is only temporary?
There are some churches that have the policy that if a person doesn’t attend that particular church and is a member of another church, they shouldn’t have anything to do with that person. That not only is not scriptural; it hurts Jesus and it breaks the heart of our precious Saviour. The Bible says “that there be no divisions among you”. When we get to Heaven there won’t be different congregations, we will be one family just as we are now.
We are brothers and sisters in Christ and it is time that we stop hurting people by rejecting them just because they go to another church. One day, we will stand before a Holy God and give an account of way we treated one another. How tragic it would be if we had to look away and hang our heads in shame because of the way we rejected somebody just because he or she wasn’t a member of our church.
Joanne Lowe
September 9, 2007
Return to Food for Thought
The purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate,
and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom
come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells
us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the
Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with
your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning,
or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the
standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for
the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not
Christian.
Your comments are welcome:
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All Creatures Guide to Kingdom Living includes such subjects as: life, heaven, earth, peace, justice, Bible study, discussion, commentary, God, Christ, Christian, Jewish, Jesus, Holy Spirit, vegetarian, vegetarianism, vegan, veganism, cruelty free, love, compassion, lifestyle, Bible, recipes, sermons, stories, animals, animal rights, Judeo Christian, health, ethical, environment, living, meditation, perfection, prolife, pro life, pro-life, abortion, capital punishment, war, hunting, fishing, trapping, farm, farming, factory, fur, meat, milk, dairy, slaughter, cattle, beef, pork, chicken, poultry, hens, battery, debeaking