Tag Archives: brotherly love

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Warring Against the Mess in the Flesh

How many times have you started out doing what was the right thing to do but it turned out worse? You started out with a good intention. Did you know that good intentions are not good enough? We try to do things that our Lord would be happy and pleased over. In dealing with life itself you must understand that the first word that you see in the word “intention,” is intent. The word intent is starting something, but not completing that thing. For example, he did have intentions to save money, but he never held on to any money. She intended getting a good job in her field, but never took the time to search out her field. There needs to be some action behind the intentions. I have intentions to go get food, but if I don’t cough up money to get the food, I won’t get it. With intentions there is always a presence of a struggle with you or some opposing factor in your life that causes you not to fulfill the intention. Good intentions are not good enough.

Good intentions without action behind it means nothing. If you don’t put fire behind your intention, that intention dies. How would you like if the Lord only intended to die for us? If He’d not put action behind it, we’d be a most miserable people. If you really intend to do something, it would have been done. So when you are in a warring with your flesh, its a conflict. I’m glad the Lord didn’t get cold feet when it came to us. I’d rather for someone to say that they can’t do something, than to say they intend to do something, and don’t do it. When thinking if a person will go forward with doing something for someone else they say “Well how did they treat me last week? They didn’t treat me right. They borrowed money from me last time. No I don’t like them. You borrow money and didn’t pay me back.” The other person says “I was intent on paying you back.” We’re always in a conflict with ourselves. We do things for people according to if they did something for us. Conflict and intentions have a hand in hand relationship, because conflict keeps you from carrying out intentions. Opposition keeps you from carrying out intentions. Your attitude towards a person keeps you from being a brother or sister in Christ to that person. There is war between brothers and sisters in Christ. If a brother or sister didn’t do something we didn’t like, we hold back brotherly love. The Bible says we should care about others more than ourselves. If we don’t, we spread discord because a sister or brother didn’t get the love needed, and so they spread bitterness and it trickles down to the next person. We ought to know how to talk to our brothers and sisters, motivating them to do good and not to do jackedupness. I don’t want you to leave hurt. If we don’t do go to our brothers, their hurt will be internalized and the hurt will be spread. Care about your brother or sister. Isn’t something how we get jealous? We have so much opposition. Why because there is a selfish nature inherited by humans. Jesus with the disciples who were going to dinner rebuked Jesus for sitting with publicans and sinners. Jesus said He came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. We must not have a selfish mentality.

James 1:5-8

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

We want to look good before other peoples eyes, because our intentions are not good. There is a war and conflict going on. Don’t think God is going to answer you when you have a mindset to do things for show. Did you know being a Christian is a lonely road? You go through a lot of trials and tests, because He wants to make you. We say to the Lord, why are You taking me through all this? Why me? I don’t want to go through another test? We complain through the entire thing, then at the end, we say Lord, it was good for me to go through that. There is always a conflict because our flesh wants to kick against everything. We say I’ll go help sister or brother so and so clean their house, because its filthy. You work tirelessly. When you get to your own house, you’re so tired and fall asleep, and miss your time with Lord because you were too busy doing something for someone else. When you have an intent to do something, make sure you carry it out.

How do we get beyond not carrying out our intentions? Its selfishness. It’s alright to be selfish, but not to the detriment of being with Him. When we have intentions the pray, and we don’t what kept us? Its the warring that takes place in our lives, souls, and day to day operation. We intend to do good, but you can’t be double minded as James says. When you’re warring it means a struggle between opposing forces. The word conflict is a clash between forces. There is a clash inside of you. What are you warring against? What things are distracting you? Phone calls, frivolous things? But you just told Jesus that you don’t have time. We make the time for what we want to make time for, and then we complain when we think Christ isn’t coming on time. When we get in trouble when do we want Jesus? Before hand so when we get in trouble we don’t need to worry about calling Him. Can you imagine Jesus talking to the Father about us saying “oh Lord.” Then the Father says to Jesus, “Well You died for them.” Our intent needs to be carried out. The Lord asks one thing of us: to Love Him. Then He said after you love Me, love others. He didn’t ask you for your car or to burn 20, 000 houses to sacrifice to Him, He just said love Me, and as you love Me, love one another. Its your reasonable service just to love. So when you intend to do something, don’t intend, just do it. Its you who makes the promises you don’t keep.

Do you remember Samson? He had all that strength to be used for Lord, but he was fighting against the people who were fighting against his people, the Philistines. He had a conflict. How about David? He had conflicts. How about Saul? People don’t realize that these conflicts in their lives were destroying their communication and walk with God.

Proverbs 16:1-9

The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits. Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established. The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished. By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right. A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.

A man plans his ways, but God guides his steps in the way they should go. There is a way that seems right to a man, a woman, a child, but the end thereof is death. Your mind plays tricks on you. If your mind is jacked up, then how will your way be? Those who think themselves something are nothing. When you think your something, your nothing, there is a way that seems right to man, but the end thereof is the way of death. When you think you’re something, then your end is death.

Point your finger at yourself and say “You’re always getting me into trouble.” No one makes you do anything. You do things because you want to. You remember the old song “The devil’s on my back.” The devil isn’t on your back, if he was, you’d be all jacked up. He doesn’t care about you. He has too many other things to do than to be on your back. The Lord is the one that cares about you. Satan just doesn’t want you to win more souls to God. Satan knows there is a God and he trembles. You hear some people say “I ain’t scared of no God,” meanwhile, Satan, God archenemy trembles at Him. We need to realize that we can’t beat God or jack Him up.

Make sure the intents of your heart are genuine.

Further reading on this topic: Proverbs 17:14-20,1 Corinthians 1:9-17, Philippians 2:1-16

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Judge Not

Matthew 7:1-2

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Key word is judge. In this life we’re consonantly judging our situations, our families, friends and jobs. Being a judge, if you look at that word, it implicates to condemn, punish, avenge, conclude, damn, decree, determine; the Greek word for Judge is: kree’-no which means to decide. When you look at the triune structure of man, we tend to judge from our soul, not from the Spirit of God inside. Our souls contain our imagination, conscience, memory, affections, and reason. When we make a determination about a situation, or in other words judge, we’re not basing our judgement on facts, were basing our judgement on what our soul says or psyche. So, if we have preconceived notions about a thing, person, or situation, then we’re going to make a judgement call based on our experience with that situation we’ve encountered in the past. So to make a fair and Godly type judgement, we need to allow the spirit that God has placed in every human being be the deciding factor in our decision making. I advise you if you don’t know to go to the resources, under articles, and look up the Triune Structure of Man, and use that as your footnote for Matthew 7. It explains to you how man perceives his world around him.

2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

When you make a judgement and don’t have the right decision making structure, when the judgement is made and wrong because you don’t have the information, the Word is saying that that same judgement will be placed on your head. Whatever results come from that judgement being made it shall be also placed upon you. Some people like to say that the Lord says we will judge the world (1 Corinthians 6:2). Yes when He comes back because you’ll have already been worth to judge the world. As long as we have a fleshly nature, and our souls are the determining factors for judging other or a situation, we will not come up with a righteous judgement. That is why the Word of God tells us not to judge, because when we do, we have issues going on with ourselves. There is a saying I heard my family say: “The pot can’t call the kettle black, when they’re both black.” You can’t find problems with me because you have your own. What makes you think you can decide judgement over me when you have issues? The fact of the matter remains is this: as it says in the Word of God, judge not.

3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

You making a determination about someone else’s sin and your the biggest sinner in there. You nit pick over someone else life, about the little things you think are important to you because it effects you and low and behold, you’re jacked up. God does not want us to go around and find fault with people concerning their walk, their talk, and concerning their views on life.

4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. 6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

You sit there and judge a person to the untimpth degree, and judge in their life what you perceive, according to your understanding, but after you make that determination that this person is guilty based on your understanding, then you see yourself as being a righteous judge, and begin to pronounce punishment for the judgment. A lot of times people them to point their fingers at other people to hid their own sin so no one will notice them, so they won’t be found out. So the innocent will be crucified and judged. And what innocent person in the Bible was judged and accused wrongly?  Our Lord and Savior Jesus, wrongly accused, lied upon then the sentence of death placed upon His head. Have you crucified someone lately and the sentence was placed on their head, all because of what you said, your testimony? Have you placed someones life in jeopardy because of a lie you told in your judgment of a situation, thereby leading them to be wrongly accused. If so, then you need to cross examine your intentions. You need to begin to judge yourself, and if you find yourself guilty, do you want that same punishment placed upon your head?

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

Would you want to get the same judgment you passed on another? That’s the situation judgment. What Judgement? So why would you pronounce the sentence of death on someone because you don’t like what they stand for, or because you don’t like what they look like, or you don’t like that they have more than what you have. I tell you jealousy, envy has cause a lot of false judgment in this world today, and in the House of God. You have son against father, father against son, mother against daughter, and daughter against mother, saint and saint, pastors against pastors, bishops against pastors, bishops against pastors and pastors against bishops, all because of jealousy and envy. If both of you believe in God, how long halt you between two opinions. If God be God serve Him. But I dare you having an ought against your brother or sister, and you allow it to harm your brother or sister. A lot of us have killed and destroyed our bothers and sisters and ministries all because of a lie, envy, jealousy. What about husbands and wives? Sometimes, husbands get jealous of the wife because she is more popular than he is, and vice versa. A lot of times wife’s get jealous of husbands because they have more charisma, people look up to them more than they do their spouse, causing division in the house. Satan doesn’t care who you are, what you are, if he can get you to judge brother, sister, husband or wife, and it destroys that union, he’s won. So, I ask you in closing, have you judged someone today? The word of God tells us that, if you have an ought against your brother or sister, go to them get it straight. If they won’t hear you than take a witness with you. And if they don’t hear you, bring them up before the Pastor of the Church, so that things can be resolved, because Satan only comes to kill, steal, and destroy relationships, ministries, and anything God has ordained to be establish on this earth.