SUNDAY EDITORIAL

John 2:14 & 15
And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;

God bless each and everyone of you this morning. I want to apologize to each of you for the delay in the series covering Psalms and Proverbs. LJG and I always get attacked when we get into something like this. We kick the doors open when that happens, and the series will start Monday. We are both sure it will be a blessing to you as it is to us.

I would like to write on something this morning that is heavy in my heart. Sometimes it seems that nothing we do is right to others when we act as Christians. People seem to think we are not supposed to react, or have emotions. Some people think that because we are Christians that they can just do whatever they want to us and we will turn the other cheek, and let their abuse continue. But Christians there comes a time when we do need to stand up and say no.

Jesus did not intend for His children to be a whipping post for anyone. Yes, we are to forgive those that attack us in any way. At the same time, we are not to stand idly by and let someone hurt us. That is with their words or actions. Yes, we do need to pray and seek the Lord in prayer concerning these people. But actions, yes we do need to take.

As children as God we are to behave in a way that will glorify God. That means we might need to bite our tongue and walk away from someone. But let me be clear if someone is causing strive in your life, they are in fact pulling you down. They have to go. If it is a friend, let them go. Family member, tell them no more and then put your foot down and stand your ground, which is God’s ground. If it is in your work place, then ask the Lord about it. If God put you there then He will take care of the problem. But you need to ask the Lord is this a learning experience for you. If the Lord shows you that He did in fact not put you there, then go job hunting and this time let the Lord lead you.

Strive does not come from God, it comes from the devil. His job is to make you slip and fall. Rebuke him, and get the strive out of your life.

For those that do not believe you are a Christian, well to begin with it is not up to anyone but God, and He knows our hearts.

Be blessed today and every day that the Lord gives you.
rECj/LJG

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY

MARK 3:5
And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out; and his hand was restored whole as the other.