One Another (Christian Caucus/Devotion) [For loving mutual edification, building up, encouragement]

BIBLE, Loving FREEPERS | 4 APR 2007 | God, Knitting a Conundrum, Quix

[Quix]

ONE ANOTHER DEVOTIONAL CHRISTIAN CAUCUS:

Knitting a Conundrum: We are coming together in love, and to share the love of Christ, and therefore, even if we disagree, we need to remember to avoid things that are not said kindly and in love. Each of us holds our beliefs because we do it for the love of Christ, and even if you don’t accept the conclusion of a person, honor it by not saying harsh or hurtful things because it’s done to honor Christ.

Kind and respectful discourse. Avoid words that you know will cause a kneejerk reaction. If a person uses terminology that seems wrong to you, ask them to define it the way they use it, and accept the fact that it might be used differently than you use it. Together we can work on ways of discussing our love of Christ in a language we all understand.

Above all, treat others like fellow lovers of Jesus.

ONE ANOTHER DEVOTIONAL CHRISTIAN CAUCUS:

We construe that to mean—ABSOLUTELY NOTHING PERSONALLY NEGATIVE will be posted to another FREEPER Christian.

Generic Biblical points, MINOR, essential comments about flaws of generic groups of Christians MIGHT--with hopefully rare exception--MIGHT be allowed but are NOT to be the focus or emphasis of this thread.

We seek the awesome possibility that this thread could be an overwhelmingly positive example of:

THE WORLD
CAN TELL
WE ARE CHRISTIANS
BY OUR LOVE
FOR
. . .
ONE ANOTHER.

We call and challenge ourselves and other BELIEVERS IN CHRIST AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR to respond to each ONE ANOTHER as posted for that day as though delivered from the hand or mouth of our Lord and Savior directly that day at the moment of first reading it.

By respond, we mean to prayerfully ponder it—FIRST—THEN type.

Ask The Lord where in one’s life HE would like to see that expressed more fully, earnestly, Spirit-led-ly, routinely.

Ask The Lord where in the FR Religion Forum network of RELATIONSHIPS it might be better expressed more faithfully as unto The Lord.

Share the resulting Spirit-born insights as led on the thread.

< If The Lord reminds one of where one has done well with that ONE ANOTHER to good effect in an individual’s life for The Kingdom and their relationship with God—sharing that in a humble, edifying way could be helpful.

Perhaps most redemptive would be a walking out of that ONE ANOTHER in a growthful, amplified way ON THE THREAD WITH ANOTHER FREEPER BELIEVER(S) with whom one has been less than ideally Christian in threads past.

Above all, let this thread more than any other prior— BE A VIVID EXAMPLE OF THE WORLD KNOWING WE ARE CHRISTIANS BY OUR LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER!

Accordingly:

THINGS TO AVOID

1. Anything which arises out of our flesh nature—especially with a gritch, jab, tweak attached—particularly one designed to leave the other person one down and us one up.

2. Anything designed to/out of any motivation to shove our presumed saintliness and saintly perspective down anyone else’s, everyone else’s throat.

3. Anything which would detract from, sabotage the goal of a mutually supportive; mutually loving, mutually edifying CHRISTIAN CAUCUS thread. Anything UNloving.

THINGS TO DO

1. Show ourselves and the world that we ARE CHRISTIANS by our LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER. If the flesh is weak, ASK GOD for more umph in the love department before finishing typing and hitting POST.

2. Build other posters up; edify; encourage; clarify; support; affirm; BE KIND; be gentle; . . . be CHRISTLIKE in word, tone, deed.

3. Word things as you might during your most fervent courtship--to a young gal/man you were hoping to marry—i.e. attractively, winsomely, invitingly, maturely, responsibly--LOVINGLY.

Romans 15:7
Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.

Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Not I!

Which is why I am so thankful that God is God, and I am not!

[Quix]

Am humbled and blessed by your kind words.

Just figured we ought to have your perspective on the truths in the ONE ANOTHER’s.

[Quix]

Good points.

Thanks.

[Quix]

Me 3!

[fanfan]

marking

[WileyPink]

I had a friend e-mail me this and I thought it very encouraging.

Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand, "Today my best friend slapped me in the face."

They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath.

The one who had been slapped, got stuck in the mire and started to drown but the friend saved him.

After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone, "Today my best friend saved my life."The friend who had slapped and saved this best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand. And now, you write on a stone. Why?"

The friend replied, "When someone hurts us, we should write it in sand so the winds of forgiveness can erase it. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where the wind or waves of time can never erase it.

Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was like engraving it in stone. The world, the Earth, nor the devil can never erase His forgiveness.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

That is a nice story. I like it.

[Quix]

VERY MASTERFULLY PUT.

Thanks for sharing it.

[Quix]

Thanks thanks.

May your reading be fruitful whenever you get to it.

[markomalley]

Coptic Icon of the Resurrection

We celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord during this season of the year. He is the firstfruits of us who shall be raised.

1 Cor 15:12-23 Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
 
For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.
 
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

Eph 2:1 And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
 
But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Pondering the import of the Resurrection never ceases to awe-inspire me. It is what gives me hope, what gives me a reason to live on in this life.

It is the Resurrection that enables our regeneration (consider this: if not for the Resurrection, our baptism would be merely a baptism for the remission of sins, rather than a baptism into new life). It is the Resurrection that allows us to be joined with Christ and part of His body. It makes it possible for us to be "heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ..." (Rom 8:17)

Meditating on the Resurrection and its impact, not only on our hope of eternal life but on our life in Christ each day, is something that daily can fill us with joy. It puts things in context when the pressures of this temporal life build up.

Thanks be to God for His ineffable goodness to us.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Verse for the Day

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Context of the passage:

Philippians 2: 1-15

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form
he humbled himself
and became obedient unto death,
even death on a cross.
Therefore God has highly exalted him
and bestowed on him
the name which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.

[Quix]

AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!

Thanks much. Getting around slowly today.

REGARDING OTHERS AS MORE IMPORTANT THAN OURSELVES

Would sure go a long way toward increasing humility and trashing pride.

I think it has been good that folks mangled by poor early parenting have also learned to balance that with LOVING OTHERS AS ONE LOVES ONE'S SELF. DYSFUNCTIONALLY feeling that one's self is more worthless than slug ______ doesn't help one's spirituality in most respects.

I'm not one to change "such a worm as I" in the hymn to "such a man as I" as my Baptist boss did. I think there is a spiritual truth that is very real, humbling and fitting to "such a worm as I."

But we are ALSO MADE IN GOD'S IMAGE FOR HIS PLEASURE. And He delights in us and we are the apple of His eye. And we do well to accept that and stand in that place--in humility.

And, considering others as to be preferred ahead of us is CHRISTLIKE. And being conformed to His image is what we are to be about. And that's more than in glib religious platitudes. It's nitty gritty real.

I think it helps to really construe preferring one another ahead of ourselves as doing so literally to Jesus, Himself as He indicated. . . . unto the least of these, you do it unto me.

That's REAL. There's a SPIRITUAL, EXISTENTIAL, ETERNAL REALITY there that we miss out on and lose the treasure of when we glibly pass by without living that verse out. Christ gave us an instruction, an invidation--in a sense--a command. But we treat it as a minor, lower level option when we are perfect, rested, all the bills are paid and we have nothing better to do. WRONG!

That is to be our mode of living 24/7.

And THEN the fruit flows accordingly--through our lives from our Lord and into our lives as well.

Thanks much for your labor of love on this thread and others.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

My mom had real self-esteem issues.

We need to remember 2 things:

We are not worthy, but we are invited anyway, so we are worth something in the eyes of God — he gives us value.

But then, too, we see how Jesus modelled behavior, so we need not to be puffed up, either:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant.

For love, even God the Son was willing to empty himself, to put the needs of all of us ahead of his high place in Heaven, to reach out and save us.

We are of worth because God loves us. But all of us are of worth because God loves us, not just one or two. So how should we behave? Thankful, because of that love. And in thankful gratitude, we should try our best to stop seeing ourself as top dog, and honor each other, submitting the way Christ submitted, out of love and thankfulness.

MUCH, MUCH easier said than done. A whole life’s work!

[Quix]

AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!

Well put. Thx.

[Between the Lines]

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.

I have been thinking about this all day. Is this not the very definition of agape love?

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Exactly!

[Quix]

Certainly putting the other one and their betterment first is Agape Love.

Thx.

[Quix]

Would you be willing to post the ONE ANOTHER for tomorrow, too, please. Don’t have my quiz grades posted on the students’ grade sheets and I’m tired and probably wandering to bed shortly.

If it’s inconvenient, I can probably get to it before school tomorrow but later than it should be. Would be nice to have it the night before but not at all critical, for sure.

Thanks for you being you and all you do for so many of us.

LUB,

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Be happy to.

I KNOW what it’s like to have a bunch of papers/grades to deal with! I usually taught 5-7 sections of composition at the college level and they had to write twice a week...I always was behind in grading and such....

You have my empathy!