Being on staff during a church split is horrific, gut wrenching, rudely awakening...just plain awful....but that was the place I was supposed to be a few years ago...I was reminded of this event this week as I was reading 1 John and Jesus, our advocate...
The body at the time was not showing much brotherly love...and not walking as He had walked...
I remember standing as one part of the staff with the others...vulnerable, speechless while anger was spewed forth over and over again for various offenses, of which I was not a part of. Later, one person after another came to my defense. I loved both sides of the parting groups and continued to show that then and over the years...what loss and gain...of witness, time and energy for that body of believers...
I look at these families now, where they are, how they are standing, how they are serving, how the children fared, ....some have fallen, some have deepened their walk, many are scattered as the first Christians, some still maintaining their hold on tradition.....I honestly look at where I am as well...much personal loss since then...but much personal gain as well...God has a way of trimming life down to the basics...Our life with Him...His advocacy for us through the trials here...Jesus stands and takes our sin before an unruly crowd, shoulders it, dies for it, and raises again...claiming us as His own...Thank YOU....for being my advocate...I am cherished....
Jesus calling-I want you to be all Mine. I am weaning you from other dependencies. Your security rests in Me alone—not in other people, not in circumstances. Depending only on Me may feel like walking on a tightrope, but there is a safety net underneath: the everlasting arms. So don’t be afraid of falling. Instead, look ahead to Me. I am always before you, beckoning you on—one step at a time. Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, can separate you from My loving Presence.
The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, “Destroy him!”
—Deuteronomy 33:27
—Deuteronomy 33:27
Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39
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