July 25,2021
Sunday
Psalm 133:1-2 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Running down on the beard,
The beard of Aaron,
Running down on the edge of his garments.
It’s good and it’s pleasing to God, for His people to sit and dwell together in unity. We have been born of God, we are brothers and sisters now! We have to view ourselves as a family. Every church has a head; every home and family has a head. The anointing always starts at the top and flows down. The picture here is Aaron as the high priest. It started at the head and flowed down to the beard. A beard always represents maturity. When there is strife and contention, it is because people are immature. Churches and families have been destroyed from this very thing. God can bless unity. You don’t know the desperate need of the person sitting beside of you. The need that only the anointing of God can meet. If there is strife there, it will stop the anointing, and that person will leave without their need being met. We have to make it a mandate and require that our church walk in love.
Genesis 12:1-11 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. 6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”
10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.
You have to choose not to let any ill-will into your heart. If you let it get in you, it creates a root of bitterness, hatred, and revenge. When people enter into strife and contention without resolving the issue, you end up separating yourself. This is not a good attribute of a Christian. That’s not a good example of walking in the love of God. Lot and Abram were two different men looking for two different things. Lot was looking for a way to better himself. He wanted more things. He lifted up his eyes and saw all of that land that was well watered and green, and he had his own things and growth in mind. He made a decision that looked better in the natural. He was drawn in by the wrong things and if it had not been for Abraham, He would’ve lost his life. He did lose his wife and his two sons-in-law because of this decision. He exposed his daughters and family to that situation based on that decision. Strife and contention will destroy lives and families. Lot should have recognized the importance of being connected to Abraham and His God. And made whatever decision necessary to stay connected to them. Separation was not the right path.
We have to learn to let things go. People get stuck in unforgiveness for many years, not knowing that they could be free if they just let it go. Families and churches are destroyed because of this very thing. It has affected all of our lives to some degree. How sad it is that a family is driven apart because of pride. When you forgive and let it go, it does not make the other person right, it sets you free! You must set a standard in your life to walk in love! Make that decision! Aren’t you glad that God is a forgiving God? He has forgiven you of so much! As christians, we have to strive to do the same.
Matthew 5:43-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Love, bless, do good, and pray for. If you want to make it in life, do these four things. Do these and God’s blessings will rain in your life. Why? Because God is that way. What if God cursed everyone who has ever cursed Him? He is kind to the thankful and the unthankful. What do you do when people hurt you? This will locate you in your development of your love walk. It requires love to walk in unity. It takes the love of God to pray for your enemies. You have to have something greater in you, than what’s working in them.
It’s those who work through the worst of times that get to enjoy the best of times. Jesus went through a lot of difficulty. So did His followers. People seem to have a fairy tale vision of church. It is simply not so. It is real people, real life, real world, and real problems, real devil, and real God. It would be a lot easier if we went through it all together with unity and love! Make it a priority in your life. Follow after love! Pursue it! It won’t just fall on you! If you yield to love it will grow and get stronger in your life. You can also yield to strife and contention, and the same thing will happen. That will grow and get stronger. Choose to walk in love! Recognize that people’s rejection of you, is not God’s rejection of you.
1 Corinthians 13:1-8 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. 8 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.8 Love never fails.
The motive of natural love is always selfish. The motive of divine love is always selfless. It always has the other person in mind. Love always wins. Choose love.