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| John Wayne - The Hyphen
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Before you go on, please read:
"A Warning - Straight From My Heart" if you haven't already.
When WE choose to divide, we usurp God's authority, put ourselves in His place, and become as "gods" (Genesis 3:5). Our decisions come from our knowledge, the knowledge we inherited from Adam; the knowledge of good and evil without God's wisdom or discernment to know the difference. God is not above using a man's weakness to further His goals. Man is His creation and He has the right as God.
I wondered why God would allow the division of my church to happen; I knew there must have been a reason, so I started looking. I discovered that “division and unity” are tools that God has used throughout history to further HIS plan.
A carpenter also has tools, tools of destruction and construction; some tools can even be used for both. At times, the Carpenter must build a scaffolding, something that is incredibly important so that His intended plan can be accomplished, the scaffolding may be strong and have the shape of the final product, but it is not the real thing. There comes a time to tear down the scaffolding, when its purpose is fulfilled. Good scaffolding does not get thrown away, but is many times used as part of the final project.
Sometimes I can be as "dumb as a two-by-four", a piece of wood used in construction. When I think myself more important than I ought to think, or become inflexible, this is probably when God is using me as scaffolding. Ultimately, I must submit to the will of the Carpenter. I want to become part of God’s plan, not what I think His plan is. If He wants to use me as scaffolding for a while, I am willing. It is His right as God.
Division and unity; when the Bible talks about refining, the refining is something God does, not us. It was His plan to split my church for His purpose.
Zechariah 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
God is the only one who is really in control, it’s just hard for us to understand that we don’t have as much influence as we think we do. Division is HIS domain, not ours and it always has been.
Think back to the beginning of time when GOD divided the light from the darkness, the sea from dry land. HE separated Adam & Eve from the Garden of Eden, HE separated Cain from the rest of humanity by putting a mark on him when Cain hated his brother so much that he slew him. HE separated the animals 2 by 2 and HE saved Noah and his family from among the rest of the world that perished. HE divided the people at the Tower of Babel and HE separated Abraham from his homeland and as God’s friend, instructed Abraham how to divide sacrifices. HE divided the people of Goshen from the Egyptians when the Angel of Death came to call, HE divided the waters of the Red Sea and caused the Children of Israel to come to the Promised Land. HE was the one that caused all sorts of miracles to happen showing the contrast of before and after and HE was the One who rent the veil in two at Jesus’ death. HE used all these things and many many more for HIS reason, not ours. Division is the tool HE uses when something is not right. We have no choice in HIS judgment. It is HIS right as God.
God is the only one who is really in control, it’s just hard for us to understand that we don’t have as much influence as we think we do. Division is HIS domain, not ours and it always has been.
Think back to the beginning of time when GOD divided the light from the darkness, the sea from dry land. HE separated Adam & Eve from the Garden of Eden, HE separated Cain from the rest of humanity by putting a mark on him when Cain hated his brother so much that he slew him. HE separated the animals 2 by 2 and HE saved Noah and his family from among the rest of the world that perished. HE divided the people at the Tower of Babel and HE separated Abraham from his homeland and as God’s friend, instructed Abraham how to divide sacrifices. HE divided the people of Goshen from the Egyptians when the Angel of Death came to call, HE divided the waters of the Red Sea and caused the Children of Israel to come to the Promised Land. HE was the one that caused all sorts of miracles to happen showing the contrast of before and after and HE was the One who rent the veil in two at Jesus’ death. HE used all these things and many many more for HIS reason, not ours. Division is the tool HE uses when something is not right. We have no choice in HIS judgment. It is HIS right as God.
It may seem grevious at the time, but dividing is not a bad thing as God sees it. God keeps dividing and we keep getting another chance to get things right. Look in more, modern-day history and see God’s hand. History repeats itself because God is refining His people. Yes, we can learn from history.
When the Church of England became corrupt, it eventually split into 3 groups (like my church did).1. The Church of England – Power hungry and abusive.
2. The Puritans– Separated themselves within the Church of England because they wanted to purify, but not leave the church.
3. The Separatists (Pilgrims) – Saw corruption in the Church of England and disconnected themselves entirely. They didn’t want anything to do with the church.
After even more fragmentation, George Whitfield came along and preached to the different factions that Christ was not divided. George preached UNITY. George was a special individual in history, a tool God used to bring together the different factions under Christianity… he was the instrument God used to unite the country right before the Revolutionary War.
The people had begun to discover a basic truth which would be a major foundation stone of God’s new nation, and which by 1776 would be declared self-evident: that in the eyes of their Creator, "all men were of equal value". Does this sound familiar? It ought to... this phrase comes straight from the Declaration of Independence. It was the message George Whitfield preached.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."Wikipedia states that "This has been called "one of the best-known sentences in the English language"[4], containing "the most potent and consequential words in American history."[5] The passage came to represent a moral standard to which the United States should strive."
It was imperative that this unity happen for the United States to win the War for Independence.
Men started to forget this point by the Civil War. Pride and arrogance in men's hearts caused them to undervalue their brother, it made them think their brother was inferior. Division over slavery pitted North against South, even dividing families. The resulting "brotherly hate" of the Civil War caused more men to die than in all wars fought by this country in combined history. Both sides were American.
Pride is the first thing listed in Proverbs 6:16-19 that God hates. Our arrogance causes us to undervalue others. Why should we each think that we are better than our neighbor?
I remember people in the church I used to attend coming back from church conventions and saying, “Thank God I am from this church”. This always made me cringe.
I believe the breakup of my old church was God showing His love to us, giving us another chance to get it right through division.
Hebrews 12:11 says, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby”.
Even Abraham had a rough time of it when God had him do some dividing in Genesis 21:12.
“And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called”.
I think division is so hard on us because deep down, people don’t believe God is real enough to be involved in their personal lives, that God is more like a "good coincidence", it's really a lack of faith. We experience tough times because we don't believe God has our best interests at heart. We don't trust him enough to look forward with anticipation to His next move. It makes you wonder how Isaiah must have felt when he wrote Isaiah 64. He wanted people to know how REAL God is. You can see how strong of an emotion he felt when he wrote them; I can imagine him groaning as he speaks to God.
1Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
2As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!
3When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.
4For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
5Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
6But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
7And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
8But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
9Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.
10Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
11Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.
12Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?
1Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
2As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!
3When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.
4For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
5Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
6But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
7And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
8But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
9Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.
10Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
11Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.
12Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?
The Bible shows that God is in a continual state of refining, threshing and culling. He breaks or divides, and then re-opens the playing field to “whosoever will” to become more like Him and He continues His plan. Division and unity, division and unity…
Ezekiel 34:16 "I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment."
Isaiah 61:1 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound".
Isaiah 61:1 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound".
These are just a few of the many scriptures dealing with division and unity - breaking apart and healing.
It can be painful, but pain is not what we should be focusing on. Division is the tool HE uses when something is not ONE with Him. GOD is the only thing eternal, so we must learn His wisdom to see things the way that He does, change and become one with Him. We must be on His side, not the other way around. He wants to bring us all together, He wants to become one with us. In the end, we will be one, but it will take time.
John 17:20-23 "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."
2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new".
God has given us a guidebook of His plan through history that parallels our spiritual journey. To become a new creature, one with God the Father and Jesus, we must have divine help in replacing our human nature with His; replace the seven abominations He sees in all humanity with His characteristics, the seven spirits of God.
God has given us a guidebook of His plan through history that parallels our spiritual journey. To become a new creature, one with God the Father and Jesus, we must have divine help in replacing our human nature with His; replace the seven abominations He sees in all humanity with His characteristics, the seven spirits of God.
The abominations are listed out in the Old Testament as those nations we are to overcome when we take the Promised Land, a personal and spiritual correlation to conquering evil and its influence in our lives. There ARE giants in the land. Don't be afraid, God is BIGGER!
We have only just begun our battle for the Promised Land.
Good thoughts. Thanks for sharing.
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