Mountains part 4
Its like we look for things to fight about sometimes. I don't understand it. "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9). And by "called" I think we're talking about "being identified as." Because we ARE the Son(s) of God. 1 John 3:2, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." So its not, "Make peace in order to be a Son of God." Its, "When you make peace you are manifesting the nature of God." We've been talking kind of a lot about Jesus fighting (and winning) the war to end all wars on the cross. But He didn't do that to be known as a great warrior. In fact, Jesus won that war by surrendering. He laid His life down so that He could pick it back up. And He did it to make peace. Its like how Jesus had the Word (love) and ministry of reconciliation, and how He gave us that Word, and ministry. Being a peacemaker--now that the war is over and the work is finished--doesn't mean you fight until there's no one left. It means you destroy your enemies by making them your friends. Kill 'em with kindness, right? So these mountains that we make out of molehills sometimes... these lines or walls that we put between us... a lot of the time its unnecessary. And, as always, I DO believe that there are things you should stand for. And there are things that you should not tolerate. But I believe a quote from Men In Black kind of sums up what I'm trying to say today: "Don't start nothing... won't be nothing." Sometimes we get all fired up about things that really don't need that much room in our lives. Or our heads. We let things that really aren't important become very important. And in that way we give those things power. Isn't that silly? Love is all-powerful. Which, as usual, doesn't mean MOST powerful. It means love has all of the power. Love IS all of the power. And yet we let things into our lives and we let those things run (or, worse yet, RUIN) our lives. Instead of taking things as they come, and learning and growing from them... or understanding that all things are under our feet and walking accordingly... we put obstacles in our own paths. I think your worst enemy is right between your ears. I think that we make things a lot harder than they have to be sometimes. When, really, Hebrews 12:1 (NLT) lays it out for us, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." Strip off that weight. The KJV says, "lay aside." Let it go. Let go and let God. If God puts somthing in front of you--and I'm NOT talking about physical sickness, for the record--it is for your benefit. Others might mean it for evil, but God means it for good. All things work together for the good. So don't create problmes for yourself. Don't let things that don't matter... matter. If its a legit mountain, look at it as an opportunity to learn how to climb. And if its just a molehill... step over it. Don't stress about it. Walk by faith, not by sight. Don't pick fights. Be a peacemaker!