A time to be serious!

[Diamondlight]

If someone went to your wife/husband and made an unfounded accusation that you had been having an affair. Whether based on gossip or not, the person hearing it, though obviously immediately dismissing the allegation, has it there in their mind forever. any situation in the future that is in question, it is human nature that this would come into their mind.
So therefore...this would be a serious accusation.

If someone went to your work and without foundation or cause told your boss that they believed you had been stealing work stock...this would be a serious accusation for the same reasons as above. Worthy of further investigation and accountability for those words.

If someone insinuated that as an employer, you took on illegal immigrants and payed them 'under the table' as it were....this also would be a serious accusation.

Would it surprise you to know, that when another believer accuses me of 'purposefully twisting the word of God' ....because we are referring to the living word of Almighty God, i regard this accusation as deeply offensive and equally as serious as those mentioned above. Worthy of following up to see if i had indeed "twisted" it or if the accusation had no substance. Because if it did have substance, then i would be in need of some serious correction..and pretty quickly!

Am i alone or in feeling this way?

When i am having fun, then i am having fun and enjoy light-hearted conversation. However i take the word of God very seriously indeed. There is a time and season for everything (Ecc 3:2)...the word of God is definitely a 'time' to be serious!

Do any others feel similarly concerning the word?

 

[HisNicky]

Know the Living Word!

Hey Diamond

Seems to me that any unfair or unfounded or harsh accusation would be very difficult to deal with. It can be very deeply hurtful when we are accused or rejected by others.

However I think that we need to realise that we are not perfect and that we can make mistakes. The same applies to others - they are not perfect and they can make mistakes. To have grace and forgiveness really is the key. And to keep our hearts set on knowing God in and through His Word.

At the end of the day it's not about having knowledge and being right for the sake of being knowledgeable and right...it's about knowing the Living Word, our daily Bread, the One Who nourishes us and transforms us by His Spirit as He speaks to us through Scripture.

When we are unfairly accused, leaving our reputations in His hands is the best thing too...no matter what others might say to us or about us...God is the only One Who truly knows us...we need to allow Him to be our Vindicator and deal with our accusers when that is required, and we need to allow Him to be our Teacher at all times too. Especially when we are learning love and grace and forgiveness I'm thinking...He knows we all need lots of that to get along with each other! :wink:

God bless ya Diamond!

HisNicky :shade:

 

[Diamondlight]

Since i posted, i have rediscovered Matthew 18: 15

"Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear [thee, then] take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell [it] unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican"

This is what to do, Jesus' own words, when a brother sets out to cause offence and will not listen.

You're absolutely correct, forgiveness is the key and should always be given, along side love in action. Love, as we can see here in this example, holds people to account for their actions and through biblical standards it follows things through to restoration and resolution.

 

[Coconut]

A little less seriousness can go a long way...

I say take God most seriously, and self not so much.

(I should add, I am grateful for both those who will offer me a cup of cold water, and those who will throw it in my face, they both teach me something - one about God- the other about who self really is)

Self only gets upset easily when self is allowed to elevate itself...there goes the apple cart again! You would think after awhile, self would get tired of tumbling and learn its lesson!

It helps to remember that a Donkey is still a Donkey, even after God opens its mouth. And a preacher is no less a grasshopper for standing on a soapbox.

I read the word "grasshopper" in this passage the other day...and grinned...and said to self "very good little grasshopper"

Isa 40:21 Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
Isa 40:22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
Isa 40:23 who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
Isa 40:24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
Isa 40:25 To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.

To whom among us will we compare to God?

To the reverend reading this? To the evangelist? To the priest? To the self proclaimed apostle? To the theologian? To the prophet over there blowing his own horn? (k maybe He`s blowing Gods shofar, but still)

Grasshoppers on soapboxes.

Very good little grasshopper, you got a name that`s all that, but there is only one NAME that can help me, and its not yours...:wink:

A friend told me one time that he had received his ordination as a reverend. I promply asked, "I suppose now you expect me to revere you?" He roared and laughed... ahem!

 

[Rev T.S.Perkins]

The word does say not to think more highly of youreself than you ought...I know my God has a very serious side .But my question is this ..was it not the rightious and over serious that Christ called whited seplicures...we need to learn that Christ had a serious side yes ..but He also says a merry Heart does good like a medicence..More will be brought to Christ if we remind our souls and faces to smile more..and as far as defending this line of thought .....MY GOD IS THE DEFENDER OF THE DEFENSLESS..we should be more in tune with the needs of those lost in darkness than with our own pyisness towards God...and if we are taking HIM SERIOUS ENOUGH....Didnt we do that when we came to Him and He touched our lives .?.....IMHO

 

[Fragrant Grace]

Coconut:
I say take God most seriously, and self not so much.

(I should add, I am grateful for both those who will offer me a cup of cold water, and those who will throw it in my face, they both teach me something - one about God- the other about who self really is)

Self only gets upset easily when self is allowed to elevate itself...there goes the apple cart again! You would think after awhile, self would get tired of tumbling and learn its lesson!

Yes this is so true!!

Today I felt like throwing the cup of water over someone......took a lot of reigning in of my 'proud niggly self' to stop myself.


Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord,
Oh, to be lost in Thee,
Oh, that it may be no more I,
But Christ that lives in me*

He must increase, but I must decrease....John 3:30

 

[Coconut]

Today I felt like throwing the cup of water over someone......took a lot of reigning in of my 'proud niggly self' to stop myself.[/COLOR]

haaa...i`m grinning! Coconut says (thats like 'Confucius says' only much smarter ) She who throws cold water at someone gets in hot water!

 

[Coconut]

we should be more in tune with the needs of those lost in darkness than with our own piousness towards God

That is a whole tree full of fruit ripe for the picking right there! Bless it and slice it and pass it around....feed the whole multitude...and then be amazed at how many baskets are left over :wink:

 

[Fragrant Grace]

haaa...i`m grinning! Coconut says (thats like 'Confucius says' only much smarter ) She who throws cold water at someone gets in hot water!

Ha very true but even worse.....twas chocolate pudding in the other persons hand at the time

 

[Coconut]

Ha very true but even worse.....twas chocolate pudding in the other persons hand at the time

ahahaaaa woman to woman, baptizing the chocolate pudding would have been a sin! but I guess you knew that already

 

[El Hombre viejo]

If someone went to your wife/husband and made an unfounded accusation that you had been having an affair. Whether based on gossip or not, the person hearing it, though obviously immediately dismissing the allegation, has it there in their mind forever. any situation in the future that is in question, it is human nature that this would come into their mind.
So therefore...this would be a serious accusation.

If someone went to your work and without foundation or cause told your boss that they believed you had been stealing work stock...this would be a serious accusation for the same reasons as above. Worthy of further investigation and accountability for those words.

If someone insinuated that as an employer, you took on illegal immigrants and payed them 'under the table' as it were....this also would be a serious accusation.

Would it surprise you to know, that when another believer accuses me of 'purposefully twisting the word of God' ....because we are referring to the living word of Almighty God, i regard this accusation as deeply offensive and equally as serious as those mentioned above. Worthy of following up to see if i had indeed "twisted" it or if the accusation had no substance. Because if it did have substance, then i would be in need of some serious correction..and pretty quickly!

Am i alone or in feeling this way?

When i am having fun, then i am having fun and enjoy light-hearted conversation. However i take the word of God very seriously indeed. There is a time and season for everything (Ecc 3:2)...the word of God is definitely a 'time' to be serious!

Do any others feel similarly concerning the word?

Romans 8:1-2 (King James Version)




1There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.


The accuser comes to accuse. but the verse above is for you.

 

[Diamondlight]

I've read all of your replies and thought about them a lot. It's true Jesus did have many people accusing him of some pretty serious stuff which were all unfounded and most often he didn't even bother about it as he knew it wasn't true.

I think possibly rather than validating another person's words, it might be better to just be silent and get on with what my focus should be.

Thank you everyone, you have really helped. I love that we all learn from each other.