Sowing seeds of peace

"Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace" (James 3:13-18).

 If we desire to have harmonious relationships within our families and communities of faith we must sow seeds of peace rather than selfishness, bitterness and strife. If a farmer expects to reap a harvest he must sow the proper seeds and work hard to cultivate that harvest. If he doesn't work hard at sowing and cultivating a harvest he will not reap. If he does sow the seed he will reap in accordance with what he sows. If we desire to reap harmonious relationships we must sow and cultivate the seeds of peace. We must deal with our pride and selfishness. And we must speak and act in accordance with godly wisdom, not worldly wisdom. Worldly wisdom seeks to promote self at the expense of others. Godly wisdom seeks to die to self to promote others and make God look good. What kind of seeds have you been sowing lately?

My Candidate & My King

My Candidate & My King

Bob Lepine Nov 07, 2012

Dear Friends,

I have watched all the debates.  I have listened as political reporters and commentators have discussed the good, the bad, and the ugly about each of the candidates.  I’ve read up on a few of the third party candidates.

And I’m ready to vote.  I’ve made my choice.

The candidate I’m supporting this year is…

…a flawed, sinful person.

He has said and done stupid things in the past.

As I’ve listened to his stump speeches and his debate rhetoric, I’m afraid he has vastly overstated what he can accomplish over the next four years if indeed he is elected.  He may or may not be able to get our economy headed in the right direction again.  He may or may not be able to enact policies that will stimulate the creation of new jobs.  Try as he might, there is no way this man can ensure our safety.  There are people in our world who are committed to acts of violence against others.  He can’t stop that from happening.

He will not fix the centuries-old divisions in the Middle East.

He will not be able to persuade the leadership of other nations to respect the human rights of their people.

Greed and corruption will continue to flourish around the world.

If my guy wins, we may be in a slightly better place as a nation four years from now.

Or slightly worse.

Maybe a lot worse.

Probably not a lot better.

If I sound cynical, I’m not.

If I sound pessimistic about where we are headed as a country, I’m not.

Honestly, I’m hopeful.

Not hopeful that “our way of life” will be preserved or that my candidate will make it possible for me to keep more of my paycheck.

Not hopeful that the threat of terrorism and genocide around the world will ebb.

Not hopeful that as a result of having the right man in the White House, our nation will once again embrace our Judeo-Christian heritage.

Here’s why I’m hopeful.

I had a long talk today with the King.

The King promised me that He will be watching things carefully over the next four years.  He didn’t say whether we will be facing hard times as a nation or whether we’ll see things getting better.  But He did say that He has a plan and He will be working everything together for good for those who love Him.  Whatever happens with our country and in our world, the King said, His Kingdom will not fail.

It turns out that whoever wins the race for the White House ultimately reports to Him anyway.

And the King is a very effective manager of people.

He also reminded me that sometimes, what is best for the Kingdom is for a nation - for His people - to go through some very hard times.  That’s often when the King’s men and women do their best work.

So, I will vote.  And I will pray for whoever wins.  And I will do what I can do to see that justice and righteousness will prevail in our country and around the world.

But my hope for the next four years is not built on who wins 270 electoral votes on November 6.

My hope is in the King.  And in His Kingdom.

All other ground is sinking sand.

What do we do now? (Living on the door step of heaven)

"So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world" (1 John 4:16-17).

The love that characterizes who God is ought to characterize the life of all believers. God is love. Therefore John the apostle wrote, "and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him" (1 John 4:16). How does God demonstrate his love? John writes, "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 John 3:16).  God laying down his life for us is a picture of His love and an example of how we ought to love one another. Do we put the needs, and interest of others before our own? Are we willing to sacrifice time, energy and money to help others in need without expecting anything in return? John adds, “But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:16-18).  Loving others in real tangible ways is not only at the heart of our Christian faith, but it is supreme evidence that we are in God and God is in us.

Although our love will not perfectly reflect the love of Christ to the fullest, we ought to be growing in it more and more every day. Notice that Paul commended the Thessalonians for their growing love when he wrote, "We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing" (2 Thess. 1:3).

In the context of John’s revelation that “God is love” he states, "...as he is so also are we in this world?" Can the same be said about you and me? Does God’s sacrificial love characterize our lives? If Christians are going to make a difference in this world God’s love must clearly be evident in their lives (John 13:35).  And that means not just loving others when there is something in it for us, but putting the interest of others before our own.

This election season has been a very ugly one not just for the candidates, but for Christians. I do understand the frustration that many feel about the direction that our country is going, but we must never lose sight that as believers we are to be the salt and light of the world. It's one thing to disagree, but as Christians we must speak the truth in love not hate.

Regarding the demeaning language that some Christians have used debating the issues during this election season and their bitter attitudes with the results of the elections before a lost world, one Pastor wrote, "It has not been a good reflection of the Christ we serve. Our Lord described us as salt and light. He said that we are to be the preserving and directing forces in our culture. He said that it would be our love–not our theology, our religious performances, and certainly not our political persuasions–that would be our greatest gift to our society. But he also warned that if we ceased to be salt, if we ceased to be light, and if we ceased to love, then we would become ineffective and lose our right to serve in his name."

In a society where people will throw others under the bus to get ahead, Christians should stand out by demonstrating a willingness to throw themselves under the bus, so to speak, to reach the lost with the saving hope of the gospel. Thomas Merton wrote, “To consider persons and events and situations only in the light of their effect upon myself is to live on the doorstep of hell.” Let’s demonstrate instead that we live on the door step of heaven by considering persons, events and situations, (in spite of their effect upon us), as opportunities to show the love of Jesus to the glory of his name.