The above verse is ALWAYS true but not always easy to sense. But it is a truth we have to hold onto all the time.
Today I'm going to do something a bit different. I've been gone all week unexpectedly. One of my kids had unexpected surgery and it kept me and two of my kids from home. It was a very stressful time in some ways so at this present time this mama is hurting physically and stiff. So, the above verse really resonates with me.
What I am going to do is share a few quotes from a newsletter I get. The quotes are actually from a book called Changing the World Through Kindness.
Steve Sjogren is one I will be quoting. He talks about dealing with darkness. He says, "Christians take a number of approaches as they attempt to deal with darkness. Some try to bind darkness with an evade approach; that is, binding evil with the power of holiness . . .
"Other Christians try to bind darkness by pervading it; that is, overtaking it through the power of confrontation in the political, organizational, or spiritual realm . . . (yet) The more organized we become politically, the weaker our most powerful weapon -- love-- becomes."
Both of these approaches are appropriate at certain times, but they aren't always. Often, when taken to an extreme, they do harm rather than help. We can forget to love while taking these approaches and then no one will see Jesus. Let me share a few more thoughts from Sjogren. He writes,
"When Jesus confronted darkness he didn't use evasion or pervasion. Rather, he invaded it with his own light. In servant warfare we invade darkness with light. We operate on the assumption that 'greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.' Because he was convinced of the power of God, Jesus was in the world, but not of the world. He loved the world, but the love of the world was not in him. He desires the same paradoxical love to be in us."
Are you showing this kind of love to those around you? Often, it is a practical act that will show this love: meeting needs, praying, reaching out to the hurting.
One more quote:
"If we hope to approximate the lifestyle of Jesus, we must leave the safe confines of a Christians-only-world. To avoid building a Christian ghetto we must invade the world with the love of God . . . In the words of Paul, we must 'overcome evil with good.' (Romans 12:21)."
When done right, this kind of living is challenging, exciting and so powerful (because it lets the power of God flow through it).
What do you think?