FILLING IN THE BLANKS

GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF JESUS:


   In our local Men's Bible Study we are in the middle of a study in Romans where Paul has been desperately trying to bring the Jews and the Gentiles together as children of God by breaking down the barriers of a religious tradition that had caused the Jews to reject anyone else as an infidel or a (None believer) in God.  What Paul was trying to tell them is that in the new covenant of Jesus Christ who had come to fulfill all of the Old Testament laws there was no division between Jews and Gentiles in Christ.

  That has caused much discussion between the men of the study about what that means for those in this community who continue to divide themselves from one another through denominational traditions, and in most cases, we are finding that there is no difference  in what we are doing than what the Jews were doing with those that lived all around them.

We are no doubt going to find pot-holes in the road we travel with one another. There will be things that we may feel so strongly about from the traditions we have grown up with that it seems impossible for us to get past them in order to fellowship with someone else outside of our tradition of worship, but I can assure you that if we focus on the teachings of Christ alone instead of being pulled away by any doctrine we may have been had pounded in our brains we ill find there is nothing that should separate us in our love, fellowship and unity in Christ Jesus.

 In fact, at that point, we have to make a decision about our stance in some of these things that we have felt we are divided on by taking those things to compare to the actual teachings of Christ.  We will not find a reason for any of them to divide us from one another.  In fact, most of these things end up being individual teachings from leaders who have adopted attitudes and ways of worship not found in the teachings of Christ at all.  We have men in our study group from all walks of faith in our community and yet we come together as brothers in Christ as we learn from one another through the power of the teachings of the Holy Spirit which we trust in one another.

 Each time we come together in this way we are taught by God's Spirit by allowing the Spirit to flow through each of us. God becomes the instructor each time instead of being lead by a preconceived idea of instruction lead by the wisdom of men.  We are not supposed to be the teachers God is...and in that light, we submit ourselves to learning from Him through one another.  It is amazing the number of scriptures that are brought up and discussed on all topics because we are relying on God's Spirit and not our knowledge.  It takes some time to be able to break down the walls that divide us from fellowship. We have to work on trusting God in one another first.  There needs to be a personal fellowship started and a willingness to listen to what God is actually saying in each one who speaks out.  Some may remain silent for some time before they feel comfortable speaking their mind, but slowly you will see the bond develop that allows each one to express themselves. The growth and the closeness in Christ creates a bond that cannot be broken from person to person.  You may want to try to start that kind of thing in your area, and then let me know how God operates through it for your growth in Christ.  May you richly bless God through your life in Him.



THE UNWORTHY SERVANT