Friday, July 8, 2016

Soul & Spirit

"And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, He has identified you as His own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you."
We human beings are born with a soul. That soul is you.
It's not your skin color, hair color, or the color of your eyes. Your soul is your personality. It's who God created you to be. Do you have a love and passion for helping people? God made you that way. Do you enjoy teaching? God gave that gift to you. 
When we give our life to God and ask Him to be Lord of our lives, the Holy Spirit then comes in and dwells within us. 
His job is to help us grow spiritually. He nudges us to do things God wants us to do. He whispers to us to remind us that we are loved. He teaches us things in the Bible and lets stuff jump out at us just when we need it.
Therefore, as Christians, we are soul and spirit.
What is going on in the world today is grieving the Spirit. What's worse is how some Christians are acting. Some are allowing that soul to speak instead of the Spirit.
Listen, I agree with the Bible and God that innocent people should not be killed. Period. That includes babies for me. It's one of the 10 commandments. "Thou shall not kill." 
However, what I have read all over social media this week is disturbing. I take that back, even what I read a few weeks ago.
Let me tell you what's happening for real. Are you sitting down? 
The enemy is conquering and dividing. He is working on splitting up people. He's got Christians saying stupid stuff like the Orlando victims deserved to die, and black people scared of the police. I am not saying that what the police have done is right, but FEAR has taken over a good bit of the black community. That's a trick of the enemy. Fear is not from God. 
As a Christian, we are called to live by the fruit of the Spirit. (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self control, goodness, faithfulness Galatians 5: 22-23) The Scripture I wrote above tells us to get rid of all anger, hate, bitterness, harsh words and slander.
These events are making us angry, bitter, and use harsh words towards each other. That's not Christ like!
I know, you are thinking, "But Jill, what's going on is wrong and there is injustice." I agree. 
There is something else that we are forgetting. GOD will handle this if we allow Him to. 
Wednesday night I went to our youth service because we aren't having adult Bible study this month. Our youth pastor's wife spoke and she reminded me of a Scripture...
Romans 12:19, "Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written, "It is mine to avenge. I will repay," says the Lord."
Here in the US, we want justice. We want people to be punished the way we think they should be punished. We do have laws in place. Sometimes, some people end up getting away with things, but as a Christian, it's not our place to throw judgement on folks. That's God's job. And, if you decide to take revenge, you will be allowing bitterness, anger, slander, and harsh words to take over your heart. Don't do that.
Pray for the people who are doing crazy things. Pray for the families who are affected by these crazy events.
If you don't hear anything else I say, please hear this:
Do not let your Christian witness go because you have an opinion on something that's happened. 
We need to unite, as one under God and pray for this world. There is an old southern slang term that I was reminded of this morning, "This world is going to hell in a hand basket." That's how it feels. All hell literally is breaking loose in the world and it's the scariest, craziest time to be alive.
BUT GOD.
God is still on the throne. God is NOT making this stuff happen. Our enemy is running back and forth on this earth trying to find people to devour and I think he's doing it. He's got people killing people, people fighting over social media, and division among races. 
Let's not let him do this any more. Ok? Stand with me. Live in the Spirit. Grow the Spirit in your life by reading the Bible, praying, worshiping God, attending Bible studies, attending church.. stuff that will allow the Spirit to speak, learn, and grow.
I love everyone. I don't care what the color of your skin is, if you like someone of the same gender, if you attend a different church than mine, if you don't attend church at all, and even if you aren't a Christian. We are called to LOVE. Period. So, that's what I do.
Will you join me? Let's start a LOVE moment!
God bless you today and always.

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