Posted on 04/23/2007 11:18:16 AM PDT by Quix
Have prayed since Jr High to be able to love like Jesus. That's a pretty hazardous prayer. The training for answers to that prayer is a lot like the training for wisdom, humility and patience. Lots of long dark nights of the soul; refiner's fires; being ground to powder, blown to the 4 winds--recollected--dipped in vinegar and ran through the manure spreader backwards . . . can all be SOP--common events.
Here are some questions to get us started prayerfully considering these principles and truths:
1. What is the nature of God's Love?
2. Is there any difference in Christ's Love?
. . .
3. How do we reconcile, manage living out God's model of Fierce Love AND Fierce Severity?
. . .
Romans 11:22 (The Message) The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
. . .
21-22If God didn't think twice about taking pruning shears to the natural branches, why would he hesitate over you? He wouldn't give it a second thought. Make sure you stay alert to these qualities of gentle kindness and ruthless severity that exist side by side in God—ruthless with the deadwood, gentle with the grafted shoot. But don't presume on this gentleness. The moment you become deadwood, you're out of there.
. . .
4. Is Christian Love 99% warm fuzzy and 1% severe or what?
5. How do we discern when to share the warm fuzzy aspects of Love and when the ruthless severity?
. . .
6. How do we keep an accurate, discerning check on our motives as well as our actions--doing what we can to insure that they conform to God's Christian Love?
7. How do we Love whole-heartedly as unto The Lord while still being human?
. . .
8. How responsible are we for the results of our efforts to Love?
9. How long do we wait to judge whether we were truly Loving, or not?
. . .
10. How do we deal with perceptions of receivers and others that we haven't been loving when our spirit indicates and God indicates that we have?
. . .
11. Is the Severity of God less loving than God's warm fuzzies?
12. How can we minimize errors in Loving?
Let us be iron sharpening iron to one another.
Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
I am constantly amazed at the vast number of people who believe that 'iron sharpening iron' refers to conflicts.
When sharpening two iron blades together it is not a matter of hacking and banging the two together in conflict. It is instead running the two blades down the entire length of each other at an exacting angle in a very harmonic and unified way over and over. Anything else does not sharpen, but instead dulls. When done correctly both blades are sharpened at the same time. When iron sharpens iron, both change to become more productive for His kingdom.
We are to be sharpened, and to sharpen others, in order to advance the Kingdom of God. Whether we are talking about a knife, a sword or ourselves, sharpening isn’t done for a passive activity. A blade is sharpened to accomplish a purpose. Christians need sharpening to be effective in the spiritual battle against sin surrounding us, not to battle each other.
PERSONAL REQUEST PERSONAL PING TO CONSIDER VOTING RE POST #36 INFLUENCING MY WRITING/POSTING STYLE.
I made no allegation against you. In fact, my post did not even mention you.
Wonderful points.
I’m not sure sparks never occur, however.
Thanks Bro.
True. I was inferring.
So, you did not have me in mind, at all? 0.00%?
Praise God for the accuser being cast down.
I’m not sure I have a lot of dignity. Has often seemed like an ill-fitting garment, to me.
Much appreciate all your inputs.
THanks much.
Your vote counts for about 10, at least, in my book.
Not absolutely certain how to classify your vote! LOL.
You’re quite welcome, dear brother in Christ!
No Quix, your satirical fierce dramatizations, are not “counterproductive, more destructive than fruitful.”
They are pointed and effective and useful for illustrating what you are trying to say.
Keep up the good work.
jm
Did you understand, have any added discernment re my tornness in post #34?
So although I can comprehend with my mind the tornness, the compulsion to meet fire with fire and such --- it doesn't register in my spirit.
IOW, the only possible reaction to being slapped, is to turn the other cheek. The only possible way to deliver a painful truth is with tenderness.
Thanks for your kind vote and supportiveness.
Much respect your inputs and discernment.
Thanks tons.
Ok let's talk about your dramatizations as you call them.
You need to remember who your audience is. There is no one-on-one talk or confrontations here. You are not face to face with the person you are posting to. No one can see you expressions, see your jesters or discern your tone, except through what you write. One cannot quickly reply to you or ask for clarification. Our responses are limited by our abilities to type and how much time we can afford to put into them. And there are those who never post or respond, but are affected by the way we conduct ourselves none the less.
This is not our living rooms or other such comfortable place where we feel unthreatened, but instead we are on the internet where all kinds of threatening things are going on. And we are huddled here together at FR in an effort to work together with like minded people to fight all of the threatening things around us. So you can see how it is even more disconcerting to someone who feels attacked here when they feel that we should be working together instead.
There is also the fact that we post anonymously here. Many feel emboldened by this anonymity and feel free to harass, annoy, provoke, lie, and try to intimidate others. There is no way of telling who is real or phony here except by the reputation that they build.
So you see that many of the tactics we use in our real lives while they may be productive even here at times, are not the right thing to do if they might be perceived as threatening. While we may be only posting to the few, many more people read what we have said than we will know. And when we say things that may be appropriate else where, here sometimes it can do more damage than good.
For every one person here that replies to us that we are being offensive, how many others just read our post, are hurt, shake their heads and never say anything? They just see us as another anonymous kook, bully or hater and judge our witness accordingly.
Well put.
Well reasoned.
Discerning exhortation with Spirit’s wisdom.
Thanks much.
Will record your vote as against.
It is kind of like the Wint-O-Green Life Savers, it has to be dark to see them.
Record my vote as disagree. I will never be against you.
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