Monday, July 2, 2018

Dispensers of Hope and Grace

““Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.     Job‬ ‭6:14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

One of the values we hold is that of God’s grace.  When we have received undeserved kindness from the Lord, how can we withhold it from others?
Therefore when we are seeking to walk along side current friends or encountering a new friend, our countenance and words should ooze of grace.  Grace is given as a signpost for healing.  It points the way to the solution.  Grace is one wounded person who has found healing telling another wounded person about the remedy for their condition.Job was suffering.  Terribly.  And his friends, rather than helping to point him to the solution, were busy telling him about his failings. They were trying to explain to him how his arrogance, his pride, his self-righteousness, were the cause of all his problems.  The problem is that they were wrong.  Totally wrong.Friends don’t need us to diagnose the cause.  They need a remedy.  And the remedy is the grace of God.  And that remedy is obtained by confession of our neediness and repentance of any sin that we have committed.  Challenging conditions do not always mean we have sinned.  The Lord may bring a situation to us to strengthen our trust in him, like He did with His friend Abraham in Genesis 22.  But even those situations demonstrate our need to turn to and depend on Him.So don’t neglect kindness when dealing with your friends.  Point them to Jesus just as you have turned to Him many times in your life.  Friends are not dispensers of justice but of grace and hope.#summerofwon

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