Let all those rejoice
who put their trust in You O Lord.
Let them ever shout for joy,
because You defend them.
For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous
and with favor You will surround him
as with a shield.
PSALMS 5:11-12
In a discipleship counseling meeting this week, a man brought up the issue of how to respond to disparaging remarks against him. As always, the Lord ministered to my heart as I sought to minister His heart to this man. I don't give advice...I share living truths so others can hear directly from Christ. Following is a summary of truths the Lord nurtured in my heart to share. I don't understand it all, but I sense profound hope and freedom in these truths with Christ. :)
SELFISH DEFENSE
When someone hurts us, it is tempting to react out of being offended to prove we are right and to hurt the offender in return. This seems to be so right. However, this is actually a self-centered perspective. This is offensiveness is in the sense of being offended.
Our sufficiency is not from ourselves.
God made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant,
not of the letter of the law (doing right) that kills,
but of the Spirit of Christ (love) who gives life.
(2 Corinthians 3:5-6)
SELFLESS DEFENSE
The Spirit indeed does lead us to confront. Jesus angrily turned over the money tables and strongly called out the Pharisees in public. However, it was never to prove He was right...it was the most loving thing the Spirit led Him to do! He was revealing the only hope for all mankind. His confrontation was not about Him, but was about all of us who were blind to Him.
With Christ in us, we too can confront others in love. We don't have to defend our faith to prove to others we are right. We can simply and confidently testify a defense for the hope that others sense in us so that they might be open to receive this hope.
This is offensiveness in the sense of being proactive (on offense) in love.
Always be ready to give a defense
to everyone who asks you a reason
for the hope that is in you,
with meekness and fear.
(1 Peter 3:15)
VICTORIOUS WALK
The following verses reveal profound freedom, peace, and integrity of Christ that are now part of our nature. Oh how I want to experience Christ in this way!
The Pharisees rose up and thrust Jesus out of the city,
and they led Him to the brow of the hill
that they might throw Him down over the cliff.
Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.
(Luke 4:29-30)
Wow. Imagine that. Jesus was all alone, ganged up on, falsely accused, judged to be killed by simply speaking truth, and ridiculed incessantly as the mob led him to the cliff. You see, this mob was comprised of "religious" people seeking to do the most "right" thing.
However, Jesus did the most loving thing. In this case, He said not a word. He never defended Himself. He never tried to wrestle Himself free and run away. He never panicked. However, when He got to the cliff, He simply turned around and quietly and calmly walked away in His princely majesty! And no one laid a hand on Him.
Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.
I can only imagine the faces in the mob as they witnessed the
glory of God in that Man who walked away...a walk that ultimately led to the cross. Jesus knew His Father was in control. And Jesus
was obedient to the Spirit in Him. This Triune God now resides in us
with the promise to "with favor, surround us as with a shield."
CLOSING
May others take notice of Christ in us as we go about our way passing through the midst of the world with His confident hope!
Journey in Christ staff
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