Hello, my friends,
These are emotionally precarious times. I know you’re feeling it. At least, I know, I am.
We used to know where people stood on most issues. You could anticipate where people landed with some level of confidence. But these days, every conversation feels like testing the waters. I often find myself assuming incorrectly another’s views and paying the price for it.
Our beliefs and theories and opinions have been elevated to the level of facts and knowledge in our own minds, and we’ve become so emotionally defensed. And often it would seem that the best defense is a good offense. When you disagree with someone, what you often get in return is anger and attack, or a look of pity, or even worse, disgust.
In Hosea 4:6, God says to his prophet, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” But the knowledge here isn’t whose facts are right and whose are wrong. It isn’t about who is giving you the real story…CNN or Fox? It is about worldview. It is about revelation. It is knowledge of reality itself.
When we are split along the obvious polarizing political lines that the world gives us, we feel like we are making a choice, when in fact, Scripture would tell us that these are two sides of the same coin. Both fall under the category of worldly wisdom. We are setting our eyes on things below. And this type of wisdom naturally yields the fruit of selfishness, contention, jealousy, and disorder.
Which is why Paul admonishes us to set our eyes on things above. Jesus tells us to seek first his kingdom and all these things will fall into place. In other words, it isn’t about right versus left. It is about above vs. below. it is about heaven transcending the things of this world. And what you find is that this heavenly kingdom has wide arms. It pulls us all together in its grace. And the wisdom and knowledge that it gives yields the fruit of peace and gentleness. It is open to reason, impartial, and full of mercy (James 3:17-18).
Tonight at Deeper Walk, we are going to be returning to Psalm 128 and asking ourselves how we align our lives with the blessed life God promises us. How this knowledge of God’s kingdom allows us to do so much more than survive but to thrive and yield good fruit.
I hope you can join us! We will be meeting from 7-8 in the Fellowship Hall or on Zoom, meeting ID: 652 073 534 and the password 424026.
Also, this Sunday evening at 7 PM we’re having our first prayer and worship service in our sanctuary. We need this time to come together and bring our praises and requests before God! Our desire is that it would be a time of deep infilling of God’s Spirit as we spend time mutually encouraging each other in our faith. Please come!
And just a reminder, but during these in-person events, we would ask that you practice a heartfelt consideration for the safety of those around you. We will have the pews sectioned off to allow distancing. Seating will be first-come, first-served. Wear a mask. Sanitize your hands as you arrive. And refrain from attending if you have any flu symptoms.
Thank you so much! We’re going to get through this, and maybe even learn a few things during this time! And together we will keep the main thing front and center… “may your kingdom come to earth as it is in heaven!”
I sure love you guys!
Jeff