2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down on the collar of his robe.
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
Psalms 133, (Today's New International Version)
This past weekend another independent church congregation came and worshipped with ours. The unity in the worship and the diversity represented was absolutely beautiful! Two pastors spoke, choirs combined, and the congregations embraced and welcomed one another. Songs and praises were loud as many shouted unto God and we could see the wonderful working of a God thing. Great unity in the faith and the joy of the Spirit in the house.
It will continue for at least another 3 weeks.
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14
A few quotes to consider; which are your favorite?
"United we stand, divided we fall."-- Aesop (620 -560 B.C.)
We have the ability to achieve, if we master the necessary goodwill, a common global society blessed with a shared culture of peace that is nourished by the ethnic, national and local diversities that enrich our lives.-- Mahnaz Afkhami
cultural differences should not separate us from each other, but rather cultural diversity brings a collective strength that can benefit all of humanity.-- Robert Alan
"Peace requires everyone to be in the circle – wholeness, inclusion." -- Isabel Allende
"We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race." -- Kofi Annan
"There are no nations! There is only humanity. And if we don't come to understand that right soon, there will be no nations, because there will be no humanity." -- Isaac Asimov
It is thus tolerance that is the source of peace, and intolerance that is the source of disorder and squabbling. -- Pierre Bayle
We are of course a nation of differences. Those differences don’t make us weak. They’re the source of our strength.-- Jimmy Carter
"We live now in a global village and we are in one single family. It’s our responsibility to bring friendship and love from all different places around the world and to live together in peace." -- Jackie Chan
Let us have but one end in view, the welfare of humanity; and let us put aside all selfishness in consideration of language, nationality, or religion. -- John Comenius, 17th century philosopher
Internal peace is an essential first step to achieving peace in the world. How do you cultivate it? It's very simple. In the first place by realizing clearly that all mankind is one, that human beings in every country are members of one and the same family.- The Dalai Lama
The wise man belongs to all countries, for the home of a great soul is the whole world -- Democritus
"I know there is strength in the differences between us. I know there is comfort where we overlap.”-- Ani DiFranco
"Human diversity makes tolerance more than a virtue; it makes it a requirement for survival." ~ René Dubos
"My country is the world; my countrymen are mankind."-- William Lloyd Garrison
Peace is not unity in similarity but unity in diversity, in the comparison and conciliation of differences -- Mikhail Gorbachev
...to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. -Ephesians 4:12,13
From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.
Ephesian 4:16
Rom. 12:9-14, 20-21 (KJV) "Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."
ReplyDeleteThe context of this passage is in reference to the body of Christ. Therefore it describes the type of love we should have for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Dan's paraphrase of Rom. 12:9-14, 20-21
Brotherly love is to be sincere and without hypocrisy. Don't just say that you love the people you fellowship with, but let your actions prove it. Definitely don't let your actions differ from your words. God knows the motives behind everything you do. So let your true motive always be for doing good. Having an evil motive should be far from you.
If you want to show your brothers and sisters in Christ that you really care for them then you need to learn ways to express your affection to them. This may include, small gifts of appreciation, greeting them with a hug, thoughtful notes and cards, remembering their birthdays and anniversaries, just look for anything that meets their everyday needs. Reach out to them socially, emotionally and spiritually. Be like a mentor, the goal is to demonstrate brotherly love. The key to making a relationship is starting with getting to know one another, so open up and learn about one another.
Build trust, if you tell them you are going to do a favor for them, get to it right away, procrastination shows your disinterest in them and tells them that you really don't care. If they want you to pray for them, don't just offer to pray for them later, why not pray with them right then about it. Together the two of you can pray fervently in the spirit with one another.
As brothers and sisters in the family of God you should be active in ministry together, and as you serve God, share the hopes and dreams you have for following Christ and then rejoice with one another as you see your dreams come true. When times get tough don't be a fly by night friend, but be there for them, be a hand to hold or a shoulder to cry on. Be available for prayer in the spur of the moment, hard times call for being instant in prayer.
Give freely of what you have if your brothers or sisters need it more than you. If there is a need, open up your home and say my door is open to you, my refrigerator is your refrigerator.
There may be people in the church that have not treated you right. They may have talked about you behind your back or slandered your name. When this happens make sure you return their evil with kindness. Don't do to them as they did to you, but rather go out of your way to seek to do extra special things for them. Difficult time happen to everyone, so be sure you are the first to come to their rescue. If something bad happens to them, don't give in to the temptation to rejoice in their suffering, rather weep with them in their pain.
Brotherly love like God expects from us is the same kind of love the Son of God revealed when He came to die for us. God trusted Adam and Eve, He gave them Paradise and they betrayed Him. The world has rebelled against God. We are so undeserving of the reckless forgiveness God has freely provided for us. Because of Gods compassion for us we should have the same kind of reckless love for our brethren. God was not narrow minded and turned off by our filthy condition. Anyone else would have taken one look at our planet and said, "those people down there are just gross, we need to just stay away from them." But God decided not to leave us in our filth to rot. God was broad minded enough to see potential for our restoration. When anyone else would have said, "They made their choices, now they will have to suffer the consequences." God said, there is no sacrifice too great I am not willing to make in order to save them.
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