While we are all certainly special and unique, our diversity must never be miscast as division that becomes a stumbling block to our unity and our ability to serve others well.
One of the great challenges of our humanity is the temptation to self-sort – to segregate ourselves – based upon our differences and proclivities. Sadly, this tendency has become an albatross for the church.
Our unity is integral to our identity and witness as followers of Jesus. It is the answer to Jesus’ prayer:
I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
John 17:23
Yes, we are many but we are of the one and same Spirit – graciously woven together by God.
We are a tapestry that honors God’s creativity while also celebrating our uniqueness and diversity.
If the same Spirit that raised Christ also quickens us, then it follows that this same Spirit will produce in us the virtue and character of Christ, yes?
God’s word is true. The Holy Spirit
dwells within all of those who by grace, have faith in Christ. The seed of grace has been sown in our hearts. Nursed and properly nourished, this seed grows up into a hearty plant. The seed becomes the plant, and when the plant matures, the plant bears fruit, yes?
The same Spirit that raised Christ, dwells in us. The seed of grace has been sown. The fruit will follow.
What is this fruit? I’m glad you asked.
Paul wrote:
2 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
The fruit of the Spirit is love.
With all its emanations, the fruit of the Spirit is love…
When our minds are heavy with worry and anxiety, and when we’re tempted to despair, it may be that we have focused too much on what’s going on around us rather than who dwells within us…
The scriptural record is full of examples of God’s people beating the odds, overcoming obstacles, and achieving incredible goals. We draw strength from their witness, but there is no greater hope than the hope we have in the Resurrection of Jesus!
And, guess what?
The same Spirit that raised Jesus is also at work in us! As He got up, so do we! Amid trials and struggles, from darkness and beyond despair, we rise! And, if you are reading these words, God has done it again!
Now, let’s get up and get going!
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Everybody wants a friend when they need one. When needs or crises arise, it is comforting to know that we have those who will respond to our calls.
In the midnight moments of our lives, no one wants to face them alone. The companionship of a good friend becomes a cherished gift.
So, then, it must be that as we desire such a gift, we must also be willing to become one.
No one wants a knock at midnight. No one craves disruptions or inconveniences. But for a friend – for our beloved – we welcome these.
Though sometimes tiring, and often frustrating, friendship endures adversity, answers when called, and is available when needed.
Everybody wants a friend when they need one. So, each of us should strive to be the friend that can be relied on when needed! Get it?
God hears our knocks at midnight; Jesus hears our cries and calls. The Spirit meets us in our neediness.
Now, go and BE the kind of friend you NEED! Midnight comes for all of us!
I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.
Friendship is both a gift and a responsibility with coinciding elements that include both burdens and blessings.
There’s little that is more encouraging than having someone remember a special day or having someone you can’t wait to call when something good happens. There’s also little that is more comforting than having someone sitting with us when sorrows descend and grief visits us.
But in order to enjoy such comfort and encouragement, we must also be willing to be the one who shows up when we receive the call!
While sometimes inconvenient and often requiring time, energy, and resources , it is one of the most satisfying, gratifying, and humanizing investments we can ever make. Friendship allows for the multiplication of joy and the division of sorrow. Friendship is the ultimate win-win situation!
So, seek friendship but also make yourself a friend. Show up. Make yourself available. You may be astounded at how the rewards of friendship far outweigh any of its potential risks. Friendship is not only worth it, but it adds meaning to our lives.
Do you need a friend? Be one!
A friend loves at all times,and a brother is born for adversity.
All of us need friends. We are not meant to go through life alone. But instead of just searching for friends who share our interests or hobbies, perhaps we should ask God to send people into our lives who love and care about our souls.
It is a rare gift to encounter those who look out for us – not just in material ways – but who care about our souls. When you encounter this type of friendship, we should hold onto, take care of, and cherish them as a gift!
To have someone who cares for our soul more than our feelings, who is not two-faced or duplicitous, who covets nothing but what is best for us, and who defends and speaks well of us even when we’re not in the room – this is a gift.
This is the friendship we encounter between Jonathan and David…
Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.
1 Samuel 18:3
Thank God for those who love and care for our souls! Thank God for the gift of friendship – this is soul care!
We’ve been miseducated. From very early on, we’ve been guided to base friendships on mutual affections and proclivities. We learned to establish relationships with those with whom we shared common interests, hobbies, or at least backgrounds.
It’s totally understandable. And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be around people ‘like’ us, who will agree with and affirm us. But when our circle of friends becomes an echo chamber, we may be in trouble.
We need contrasts to create distinction. And distinction allows for clarity. We need to be challenged, critiqued, and corrected every once in a while. We need those who will say things that might make us uncomfortable but are actually meant for our good. We need friends who risk encountering our rage, rather than lie to us. We need people who stretch us. We need friendships that provide creative tension that inspires us to grow.
Everyone who agrees with you is not your friend. And everyone who disagrees is not an adversary. Sometimes it’s the exact opposite!
The proverb writer says it like this:
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
Friendship is one of the most precious gifts one human being can offer another.
Sadly, many of us never encounter such grace. Seeing someone and allowing oneself to be seen demands vulnerability. And while this is risky, when met with compassion, it creates a confidence that allows us to relax into being our best and most authentic selves.
Friendship is a remedy for loneliness and the reward for those brave enough to open their hearts and hands, to both give and to receive a love that challenges and comforts us. Friendship brings out the best in us.
And the best part of it is that it does so by not seeking her own satisfaction, but rather by always looking to what is best for the other – no matter what!
Jesus put it like this:
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Most of us went to sleep last night with the subtle assumption that we would rise this morning.
At the beginning of what, for many of us, will be a long weekend, we’ve already planned trips and vacations to mark the near ending of summer.
But before we head off in a thousand different directions, I hope we take a few minutes to pause and give thanks for the grace of God that allowed us to see this day.
The troubling times we are facing should remind us of the amazing gift we receive, with every single day the LORD allows us to be here. We are not here by right or by our own might; today is a gift and not an entitlement…
We laid down last night and slept, not realizing that this day was not a guarantee. We laid down and slept, every single one of us, suspended between life and death, sustained only by the grace of God.
Every breath, and every single heartbeat, a gift from God, for which we at least owe a debt of gratitude.
Pause with me, before we go off to the races or dare to grumble or complain, and let’s give thanks for God’s goodness, grace, and generosity towards us…
I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
Psalm 3:5
The Lord sustained me, the Lord sustained us! Thanks be to God!
There’s a story about a farmer who planted wheat only to discover that an enemy came and secretly sowed weeds among the good seeds. The farmer’s servant immediately wanted to uproot the weeds but was warned against it. He was told to leave them be until harvest time when the reapers could separate the wheat from the weeds.
The farmer understood that weeds, though annoying, wouldn’t keep the wheat from reaching maturity and that trying to uproot them too early could be potentially dangerous to the good seed that was growing. So, he left them alone until the harvest.
Though confusing and probably a bit frustrating, the weeds were left to grow alongside the wheat. Only at the harvest, would the reapers do the separating. But in the meantime, the wheat grew among the weeds…
We must learn to grow among the weeds.
We may never find ourselves in ideal circumstances. There’s no such thing as a pristine environment. There’s no escaping the presence of sin in a fallen world. While we covet and crave a perfect situation, it’s unrealistic.
Grow anyway. Flourish anyway. Mature anyway. Create anyway. Be fruitful anyway – even among the weeds!
Jesus said that while we are in the world, we must not be of it! We must learn to grow – even among the weeds! And God, in due season will bring about a harvest and do the separating!
I do not know all the particulars of your circumstances, but I want to encourage you to grow anyway! I know you see the weeds sprouting up and spreading around you, but don’t be discouraged or distracted!
God planted you, and it is His will that you become who you were created to be, and nothing can prevent that!
So, focus on your own growth, and trust God to deal with these weeds! Don’t allow your energy or attention to be diverted from God’s plans and purposes for your life! Trust God!
Grow anyway – even among the weeds!
29 But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ”
pastorpoet 