"When The Worlds Collide" The Demand for Strife-free Living

The Demand for Strife-free Living
Pastor Freddie Steel – revfts@usa.net
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There are two worlds colliding – this physical, temporal world and the unseen Kingdom of God that has its domain in us and then works outwardly through us. It is a kingdom of righteous, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Suggestions for Strife-free Living -

- Paul emphatically tells us that the ‘servant of God’ must not strive.

* Strife is to a relationship what the absence of oil is to an engine – melt down.
* The enemy uses people, even well-meaning people, who are affected by the enemy’s agitations themselves who will pass along the virus of strife.
* Watch out for instances where people will want to draw you into conflict in these places:
- work; home; traffic; business places; church; etc;
- being on guard for the subtle attacks does not mean you are on the defensive – life does not mean to be lived that way. However, you must be sober and vigilant for your adversary has an agenda – it is to conquer and divide.

- Each time believers are drawn into strife, it is like pulling soldiers off of the front line or away from the battlefield itself and all are weakened.
* strife renders a ‘soldier’ ineffective because the Holy Spirit rules the Kingdom of God initially within – the Kingdom bears witness of its rule with unbroken evidence and fruit including righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost;
* whenever strife (which is the antithesis of God’s Kingdom and a tool of the enemy) is embraced, the believer is, in essence, collaborating with the enemy kingdom and betrays his devotion and commitment to the Kingdom of His Father.

- Agreeing with the adversary does not make sense. However, Scripture gives us that very instruction.

* agreeing with an adversary while you are ‘in the way’ seems like weakness and compromise. The wisdom in this strategy:
- keeps you from engaging in warfare alone, or in isolated places;
- helps you to submit your life to the promises and care of God by trusting Him to handle the issues of strife as He sees fit on your behalf;
- The patience, compromise, deflecting the assault rather than engaging it may look weak to Americans who want to save face publicly or feel we are all ‘self-made.’ However, there is nothing weak about it. Scripture tells us that Moses was the ‘meekest’ man alive. The word ‘meekness’ does not mean weakness but it actually means ‘power under control.’

- The enemy should never be permitted to set the stage and circumstances for engagement.

* the enemy lies in wait to provoke the believer to react and respond – he sets traps. When we respond to his trap, our warfare posture immediately becomes a defensive posture which is unfortunate because the church is best in warfare with the offensive posture.
- determine what things you really need to react to and defend and give them a rating of importance;
- make sure you do not engage in strife and debate for the sake of ‘saving face’ or out of responding to soulish insults;
- you have been crucified in Christ and raised to a new life in Christ; therefore, you cannot offend a dead man; you can’t insult a dead man; you can’t arouse a dead man; dead men are unoffendable;
- we are not called to debate and defend the Gospel nearly as much as we are called to liberally share ‘Good News.’
- do not engage in differences in doctrinal views that will engender strife and debate needlessly;
- determine to have fellowship, devoted, defended, unbroken fellowship, with your fellow believers based on the absolutes of the inerrancy of Scripture, the virgin birth, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus;
- refuse to pass along e-mails that may contain truth but also hold potential for creating offenses and further dividing the Body; save such information for settings where you can enlighten and inform like-minded or receptive people in face-to-face settings;
- check your motives for passing along e-mails that can incite; there is a huge difference between inciting and instructing;
- if every believer who uses e-mail would spend that same effort and energy in sending along the Good News, we will find that, prayerfully, the multitudes within the church who have been wounded and disillusioned might begin to find atmospheres of safety and healing within our ranks;
- the Church has been passed along, from Christ, His ministry – a ministry of reconciliation; we are to be bridge-builders who are establishing inroads between the unchurched and Jesus; go get some ‘wood’ and let’s take our energy and invest it in brining men, women, and children close and introduce them to One Who will be their new Best Friend.

While coming to the most important season in the existence of the Church, the enemy will throw every kind of distraction our way to draw our attention to base and temporary issues. Battles are lost and won depending on how effective the distractions can be.

The chattel of this life cannot fulfill as Americans have hoped they would. Let’s be mobilized as triage and paramedic units who will push past the screaming distractions and the many opportunities to be offended by the world and by one another and minister to and help heal every wounded soul Father God places in our path.
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Pastor Freddie Steel - Life Church of Chicagoland - revfts@usa.net - www.lifeinchicago.org