Seven Sacrifices to Joy

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Thanks for joining me today for our Coffee Hour and more of the Seven Sacrifices to Joy. I hope you brought your red Strand of Faith so we can tie some knots in it together! Let’s get back to a Sacrifice of Righteousness because there are so many things that count!
We left off with a thought-provoking teaching by Jesus Himself in Matthew 5:39 wherein He teaches us to resist evil. Oh, how freeing that can be. Often when we think of evil, or an evil doer, don’t we think of a non-believer? For me, one of the most disillusioning lessons in my earlier calling to ministry was dealing with those in the church who hurt others. I believe that He knew that the greatest wounds would come from within the church and this one verse is the greatest prescription for such a sick thing. I now know, through life’s experiences, that when Jesus was speaking to us about resisting evil, He was not and is not confining it to a person who is not a follower of Christ. The church is not a place for perfect people, or I surely wouldn’t be able to attend any church! Oh, that each church would recognize that they are to be like a hospital which doesn’t turn away sick and wounded patients, but takes them in and begins the symptom assessment through a history and physical and then begins treatment!
It is in the church that we are treated for and taught how to not act out of our flesh! How do we resist evil? By not reacting to it! The reason that’s difficult for us is because too many of us put unreasonable expectations upon others, especially those within the church, placing unrealistic hope in people instead of the Author of Hope. Psalm 146:3 tells us “Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is not help.”
I don’t want to belabor this sacrifice, but I feel in my bones that since we deal with people, and God uses relationships to heal us, we need to sit in this for just a bit more. Not that I have perfected this requirement, to resist evil, but now that I understand it I have begun to practice it and each time it gets easier. Now, prior to my truly listening in that example I shared last week, there have been many occasions that I did not turn the other cheek to receive any more words of wrath! In fact, I have been known to spit out a mouthful of nails! You may be saying, “Well, why would you? That’s not what Jesus is saying in that verse.”
I agree; we are not to be doormats; however there is a fine line between turning the other cheek and hurling nails out of our mouth to pierce the heart of the one who hurt us! Have you ever felt like that; like all you wanted to do was strike back and hurt the one who just hurt you? The fine line that must be looked at is the line of pride!
We cannot offer up a sacrifice of righteousness when pride is by our side!
Returning to the incident I shared with you last week, I remember praying before getting out of the car to meet with this person in an effort to resolve conflict, to help me leave my pride in the car. If pride were a child, the conversation would go something like this: I’ll be right back; you stay in the car, I won’t be far. I promise I’ll come back for you! Pride, you stay inside while I go outside!
When we push our pride to the side, we are better equipped to turn the other cheek emotionally from the evil acts of those who hurt us, and face them in love, without retaliating. Could this be a sacrifice of righteousness?
Oh, but I can see now how different it could have turned out; I could have been so ripped off of the spiritual and emotional victory I felt when leaving that meeting.
When dealing with conflict and wanting to offer up a Sacrifice of Righteousness, perhaps if we remember that no matter how right we feel about something and how wrong we feel about someone, in the long run, when we are face to face with Him, He’s not going to ask us about their side; we are going to only talk about our actions and our failure … or success to offer a sacrifice of righteousness! Which shall you choose?
Oh, Abba, I fall short, miss the mark every day, and some days are worse than others. I thank you for your mercies that are new every morning, for your Word that works as a double-edged sword, piercing my heart and trimming away what needs to go. Help me offer up a sacrifice of righteousness, even when I don’t feel like it! When it all comes down to it, Father, what matters is my relationship with you and my relationship with others affects my relationship with you. Help me to be Christ-like to those who slap me in the face with their evil acts.
Seeking to offer a sacrifice of righteousness

 Evinda

Seven Sacrifices to Joy

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Happy day, Coffee Hour Friend! Thanks for joining me today for more of Seven Sacrifices to Joy! Grab your coffee and your Red Strand of Faith and let’s go back about 2000 years to Jesus and His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, and then we’ll do a fast-forward to apply His words to our lives.
Matthew 5:39 He says: “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”
Now let me share another life-lived experience that brought this scripture dancing to life within me!
As I got out of my car, armed with prayer for this conflict resolution meeting, I was confident that He was with me and would speak through me, after I kept my mouth shut and listened. Yes, that was the plan; to sit and listen as He had been teaching me to do so I could teach others, but I had never engaged in such a listening exercise; only read and taught about it. I greeted her with a hug, as if there were no problems to resolve, and I remember genuinely feeling the love which I offered. We got our drinks and went outside and sat down. I began the conversation by asking her permission to take notes, confessing this would help me to keep my mouth shut and truly listen to her. And then I shared that I wanted to show her more respect.
If eyeballs could pop out, hers would have and here’s why I say that: everything leading up to this conversation was problematic, putting it mildly, and I just don’t think she was prepared for me to show her kindness and respect. Trust me; it was Him in me, every bit of it, for when I am a vessel full of myself, nothing good happens, but when I got out of my car that day, I left pride in the passenger’s seat, assuring it I’d be back for it afterwards!
I don’t need to glorify the enemy and I won’t by repeating our conversation. However, and this is a big however, because I kept my mouth shut and my ears opened as she spewed out her hurtful comments and opinions, I was able to detect that much of her present was mixed with painful moments in her past of which she wasn’t even aware! She was/is so focused on others’ behavior that she was totally unaware of her own, and I don’t say that to be demeaning. Quite the contrary because it shed light and gave me compassion. It was as though there was this invisible connect-the-dots picture and each comment laced with hurt and anger equipped me to visibly connect the dots internally. It was this incredibly out-of-body experience where He equipped me to listen, and because I really listened, I was able to validate all of her misperceptions! It was the most freeing hour of my life!
Now let’s return to the words spoken by Jesus Himself in Matthew 5. I wouldn’t call this person who had been keeping this silent scorecard of wrongs evil, although her words and opinions felt evil. But maybe, just maybe there’s something to this verse that applies to these types of in-the-heat-of-the-moment situations. At least this verse is speaking to me ever so loudly in a soft kind of way. See, as I sat there and truly listened to this person spewing all of her misperceptions about situations we had been involved in, I listened, one insult after another … turning one cheek, then the other, and then turning back and repeating the cycle. This went on for over an hour and I have to tell you, because I chose to turn the other cheek, in other words, keep my mouth shut and truly listen, I was able to pick up some very enlightening information and understand why/how she had connected the dots the way she did.
Guess what? Her venom and bitterness really had nothing to do with me – she thinks it did and that’s okay -- but had I not turned the cheek … over and over again, I wouldn’t have recognized that powerful truth and my anger would have erupted and spoiled the victory!
Could it be that actively listening was accounted as an act of righteousness for me that day? Oh, please know that I take no credit for anything but showing up and shutting up … Oh, to continue seeking to offer a sacrifice of righteousness!
Please join us tomorrow for our Faith Filled Fridays with Debbie Croley!

Love,

Evinda

Seven Sacrifices to Joy

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

It’s a great day for more of this journey through the Seven Sacrifices to Joy! Grab your coffee, your Red Strand of Faith, and, please, come join me as I give you a front-row seat to yet another real-life lesson He prepared for me to learn in my quest for meekness!
I don’t know about you, but when I am having a really difficult time with a really difficult person, my first reaction is not to do the celebratory happy dance and high-five my neighbor. In fact, many times I just want to run, hide and the more invested, the deeper the heart hurts! But what if I were to tell you that it is possible to do the happy dance and experience victory when dealing with a hedgehog? I have experienced freedom in this area recently and I know that I know that I know that what I endured led to a sacrifice of righteousness, but I’ll explain that a little later. It would take me on a long detour and I want to stay on track!
This truth is becoming a more beautiful reality to me as I work with hurt people who continue to hurt people. The reality of it reminds me of Jesus’ lesson on retaliation that He gave to the crowd of people on the Mount, as well as to you and me. In Matthew 5:39 He says: “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”
Oh, but there’s a mouthful right here. Let’s explore what it means to resist because at first glance, this doesn’t seem to make sense without any digging. I mean, I’m thinking in my initial thought process that resist can mean to turn away from but let’s see what the Greek concordance says.
Hmm, the actual Greek word is interesting: “anthistemi,” pronounced “anth-is-tay-mee” and it comes from the Greek word anti. Well, looking at the prefix, I automatically go to anti being against but hold on here; there’s more. The actual definition for this context is: to stand against, i.e., oppose, withstand.”
So if we break it down, “anti” means against, and “histemi” means to cause to stand.
So, what is Jesus telling us? Is He telling us to stand face to face with the one who slaps us on the cheek and offer the other side? Is this really a sacrifice of righteousness?
What a baffling and mind-boggling question and/or concept, one that is too hard to digest without our spiritual selves, so please remember that component as we dig to understand what in the world Jesus is telling us in Matthew 5:39!
According to Matthew Henry, that is exactly what He’s saying! He says: “The plain instruction is ‘Suffer any injury that can be borne, for the sake of peace, committing your concerns to the Lord's keeping. And the sum of all is that Christians must avoid disputing and striving. If any say, flesh and blood cannot pass by such an affront, let them remember, that flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God; and those who act upon right principles will have most peace and comfort’.”
That may sound incredibly confusing, but oh my goodness; I just got a word picture! I hope with all my being that I can help you see it too! The “evil” that Jesus is referring to in this context is not the enemy himself, rather, the human acting in their flesh!!!!!
Oh, how easily I can see myself in that word picture now! Have you ever acted out of your fleshly desires or emotions, for example, out of anger or jealousy? This renders me humbled; what about you? But oh, the beauty of His grace that weaves forgiveness and favor in the tapestry of our lives, the very thread of grace having no obvious pattern for its necessity is everywhere. His mercies are new every morning because He knows we live in a tent of flesh and must resist the countless temptations to act out of our flesh!
Oh, friend, He who began a new and good work will be faithful to complete it … until the time of Christ! Stay in the journey and on the path of His grace and this tendency will decrease and your righteousness increase!

Until tomorrow,

Evinda