(TFOL:CH19) THE FACE OF LOVE CHAPTER 19 ONE MAN'S FAULTS AND SINS ARE ANOTHER MAN'S SAVING GRACE

 

THE FACE OF LOVE

CHAPTER 19

ONE MAN'S FAULTS AND SINS 

ARE ANOTHER MAN'S SAVING GRACE

Why does God allow sin? -Because one man's faults, or, sin is another man's saving grace. When we reject God by sinning, failing to trust and obey Him, or, failing to believe in Him and His Son, God doesn't give up on us, for He wishes for no one to perish. Everyday, as we are faced with trials, tribulations, temptations, or, adverse situations and circumstances, God is pleading for us to come to Him. Each and everyday, God is pursuing us.

Why does God allow disease, sickness, disability, overindulgence, greed, corruption, loss of identity, loss of hope, loss of faith, loss of purpose, or, hardship and poverty? Each and everyday, God is pursuing us to guide us and commune with us to help us live in holiness and righteous, to show us unconditional love, and to perfect us, not the flesh, but, the spirit through His Son and Savior, Christ Jesus. Adversity reminds us of God's promises to man. Adversity is a sign of God's promise to us that there is more to life than just the flesh. Adversity is the refiner's fire to prepare us for the next life. Therefore, we can look at each and everyday not as a turn of the page, not as another notch on a calendar, not as another sunrise, not as just a constant physical occurrence in nature, not as only a sign of God's Grace and Mercy, but, as a manifestation of God's Grace and Mercy. Each day given to us to live is a manifestation of God's Grace and Mercy. Thank you, Lord. Praise God!

As God made time to mark the days and seasons for man, He was manifesting unconditional love for His creation by giving us His Grace and Mercy in increments of days and nights. Why? -To remind us, to remind us with each rising and setting of the Sun that He is there, within the light and within the darkness, showing us Grace and Mercy that it may bring us closer to Him. 

We are given each day to come closer to God, to learn of His Love, to grow in His Character, to bask within His Light, that we too may come to shine within and unto His Glory bathed in Holiness and Righteousness. 

As we look back into the Garden of Eden, we may ask why God allowed Adam and Eve to fall. Where was His Grace and Mercy? Why didn't He save them and keep them from sin? Taking a look through God's eyes we are given some perspective into His reasoning. God knew that the only way to draw man willfully to Him was through His allowing man to fall and to see others fall, falter, struggle, grieve, and know the hardships of life. We may see it as a cruel act if we don't look through God's eyes and see it as an act of Grace and Mercy. Why? -Because, God and God alone knows what is best for us. God knows what is instore for us, what He has purposed us for, and how we must be prepared to receive the gifts of His Kingdom. Therefore, God did not leave us to suffer without compassion and love. He did not finalize our tragedy and leave us in despair. He knew that in allowing man to fall, we would need His Grace and His Mercy. Only His Unconditional Love, His Agape Love could design such a thing, such a forgiving and lifesaving act to drive us to seek His Face and not His Hands--a relationship with Him, The One and Only God and not simply idol worshipping to a manmade false god.

Through conflict and crises, adversity comes into our lives, sometimes invited and sometimes uninvited. We don't always realize when we are inviting conflict and crises into our lives. We may invite adversity because of our expectations and desires, or, it may come to us through someone else, or, our circumstances. Yet, what we don't always realize is that God is holding up a mirror to our eyes in order for us to take a look at ourselves. He wants us to check ourselves all over inside and outside that our image may take on the form of holiness, love, righteousness, and the Fruit of His Holy Spirit. Through conflict and crises, God is making us into His image and character so that we may look like Children of God.

So often and too often, we allow people into our lives who help us to create conflict, chaos, crises, and adverse circumstances within our lives. Why would we allow such people into our lives? Do we know or think about what could happen? Can we see the future? Do we even care? 

For whatever reason we allow people to help us disrupt our lives, what we must focus upon is that it takes two. We cannot just blame other people, even when we have fallen victim. There is life with God after victimization. God does not blame us when evil befalls us, but, He has given us the ability to rise above our circumstances, lean upon Him, and allow Him to cleanse and make us whole. We do not have to remain a victim, even if our physical body is afflicted or impaired, our mind and spirit can OVERCOME through Christ Jesus. Through God's Grace and Mercy, we can be healed and renewed.

Let us focus upon the people that come into our lives and we might allow them access to either our mind, body, spirit, and emotions, without realizing that they function as a whole and whatever that person effects, will ultimately affect our whole person. Due to our expectations of this person, we don't expect them to effect us in other areas in which we have not allowed them to have access, or, to have an adverse effect. We cannot predict their actions and see the outcome, but, God can. God allows this person to adversely effect us because He has a plan to use them to bring us closer to Him. While we are going through conflict and crises, the mirror reflecting our image is always before our eyes, but, we must look into it. God is drawing us there to check ourselves all over to draw us to and keep us in holiness and righteousness, and to give us what is needed, which is His Character to OVERCOME. This wisdom is part of The Face of Love, God's unconditional love.

We are quick to recognize when someone affects us adversely. They may have injured us physically, mentally, spiritually, or, emotionally. They may have opened old wounds that have left what we believe to be permanent scars. There is no mirror image needed here, because, our memory serves us well and our heart remembers old feelings. Yet, what our heart does with those memories and feelings, depends upon what and who lives there and is treasured there. Those feelings and things that we harbor within us may override what we know we should do causing us to have conflict, chaos, and crises in our lives. However, should adversity find Christ treasured within our heart and His Character, the Character of God, reflected in our mirror, then, it will find that we can overcome whatever may come our way. 

When we are in conflict and crises, we can see the faults and sins of others very clearly, because, they are directly effecting us. Without the Character of God, our first response may be to point out these faults and sins to the other person and lash out at them, or, to use them to criticize them, and defend ourselves. What is behind this human, or, more correctly carnal and fleshly response? Pride. Even as a victim, we still most often rely upon our pride to comfort and defend us in distress. As usual pride brings along its associates, blame, shame, guilt, and a host of other negative and ungodly feelings and behaviors. Yet, many, who do not wear the Armor of God, see pride as the reasonable, sensible, obvious, and most applicable first line of defense.

Has pride worked for us in the past? Well, that depends upon whose eyes you are looking through. If you feel pride has worked for you in the past, perhaps, just perhaps, you are in jail or prison, in the hospital, divorced, unwilfully unemployed, plagued by domestic violence, cursed by family disassociation, and in other circumstances involving conflict, chaos, or, crises. Pride just doesn't get the job done. It can only produce other problems to go along with it.

Within your conflict, it is clear that the other person has a problem, or, many problems and issues that they refuse to face and resolve. Why would God allow you to come into contact with such a person? You see yourself as being free from their problem or issues, or, free enough that you can form opinions and judgments to suggest that they correct their behavior in order for the conflict to be resolved. If not, then pride tells you that condemnation is in order and you must either remove yourself from their presence or take actions to correct things yourself either in retaliation, gossip, abuse, neglect, or, self harm, some other unhealthy, unholy, unrighteous act, which by being blinded by your pride, you cannot see as being wrong. So, we end up with two wrongs that cannot possibly equal what is right to do. Pride has increased the darkness in your life because you chose SELF and fighting FLESH as the answer to your problems.

You see, the adversary knows when Peace (Jesus) is absent within us, or, when we take our eyes off of Jesus and fail to abide in Him. The adversary knows that then, it can play with your emotions, those feelings that are capable of overriding the mind, because, the mind follows the heart. So, the adversary works on changing your heart. 

YOUR PRIDE DEFINES WHAT PEACE IS TO YOU! YOUR PRIDE CHANGES YOUR HEART. HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR PRIDE TO YOU? DO YOU CHOOSE YOUR PRIDE OVER ABUNDANT AND EVERLASTING LIFE?!

Pride dictates what course of action you must take to regain what it has defined as peace in that moment or instant. -And from this cauldron of dark, murky, evil definitions comes forth sin in any and every form to steal, kill, and destroy mankind. If we allow pride to control us, it will keep us from trusting and obeying God, by creating a false narrative by which to see ourselves, others, and the world.

EXAMPLES AND SCENARIOS

Person A and Person B cannot discuss a certain topic, issue, or, problem because of their pride. Instead of focusing upon the topic or issue at hand, the discussion turns into an unresolvable disagreement or argument. Instead of trying to solve the problem they focus upon themselves. Each person wants to be heard because of their pride and feelings of entitlement. Each person feels they have a right to an opinion. Each person feels that they are right. How can this be resolved? Can a group of people who disagree ever have a consensus on issues that effect all of them? Many people would say no, because, you can't please everyone. However, that is exactly the problem, that is, trying to please everyone. When and where there is no one who is willing to humble themselves, then, there can be no pleasing everyone. Someone has to want to please God.

Let us just consider that the person we are trying to please is God and everyone wants to please God. God has shown us and told us how to please Him through His Son, Yeshua, our Lord and Savior. He has given us His Word and His Holy Spirit to guide us and give us wisdom all of which we have access to. Another problem arises whereas we must consider that not everyone has accepted Christ and been Reborn to abide in God's Holy Spirit. So, what do we do? In a relationship, God tells us to be evenly yoked, whereas, each person has taken on the yoke of Christ, living to please God FIRST.

However, in today's society, we find that societal norms has changed the definition and responsibilities of relationships and marriage.  People feel free to develop relationships that suit their specific needs and lifestyles, even if they don't align with the Word of God. This presents another problem. God is not placed first in their relationships and first in their lives and lifestyle. Without following Christ, they do not know The Truth, The Way, and The Life that will please God.

So, Person A bases their opinions upon their knowledge, understanding, life experience, and feelings. Person B does the same. As individuals, they have different knowledge, understanding, life experience and feelings. It becomes almost impossible for the two to agree if one does not submit, surrender, or, cooperate with the other. Cooperation requires someone willing to humble themselves in order to benefit the cause, but, Person B does not always want to be the one doing this because they feel controlled, defeated, used, abused, neglected, cast aside, unimportant and insignificant, even when they know they are the one in the right. Hard or ill-feelings develop which put a strain on the relationship, feelings that are dredged up anew, anytime the subject or any disagreement emerges. God has a solution to this in having us to attach ourselves to The Vine, Christ Jesus, and come under One Mind, the Mind of Christ.

• Well, how can two people of different minds come under ONE mind? How is this possible? Pride anchors us to literal interpretations to hinder us from seeing through God's Eyes. When we hear such phrases as, "Joy! The world didn't give it to me and the world can't take it away," we love the sound of God giving us joy that can't be stolen. -But, do we understand how this transpires? How does God do this? Do we understand that this concept does not only pertain and apply to joy, but, to all of the Fruit of God's Holy Spirit? What God has given to you, no one can take away because of His Almighty Power that is EVERLASTING! Only you can give away what God has given you by allowing the enemy to deceive you. There are so many people who forsake others and miss out on their blessings because they believe that the enemy can steal their love, joy, peace, forbearance (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Therefore, they fill their hearts with hatred, sadness, conflict, anxiety and depression, impatience, unkindness, ill-feelings, unfaithfulness, harshness, and uncontrol. These illnesses or vices, unholy feelings and acts lead to mischief, conflict, violence, abuse, other illness, heartache, and pain.
• 
  

Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness and self-control.

How do you get back on track? Who and what can get you back on track? Were you ever really on the right path to solving conflict and crises? What will pride tell you to do in the event the conflict or crisis cannot be solved because it is the Will of God? Most often, pride tells you to harden your heart, to become cold-hearted, to harbor ill-feelings that linger inside of you and eat away, or, corrode love and goodness to replace it with resentment, bitterness, and hatred. Oh, you might not even realize that these feelings are there because they hide until just the right moment where they can once again cause conflict, chaos, and crises.

When we approach each relationship and issue in our lives, putting God FIRST to PLEASE GOD and not ourselves. Then, yes, we can come under One Mind to coexist and love one another as God loves us. We can attack each adversarial circumstance and each pressing issue under one mind, taking the focus off of ourselves and looking to God for answers. We make the conversation and discussion not about us, but, about how we can make the situation FRUITFUL, PRODUCTIVE, HOLY, RIGHTEOUS, and PLEASING TO GOD. This is how we look to Heavenly Things and stay ATTACHED to the Vine being FRUITFUL!

If we are to solve problems in our lives, we must look at them from a Kingdom Perspective and see how we can help them be more fruitful. Parents can agree on how to raise their children if they are trying to raise their children for the Kingdom of God to be fruitful and please God. Often, we are expecting our children to please us. We want to raise our children to respect us without even having them to respect God FIRST. Hence, they grow up unable to respect themselves, their parents, or, God, let alone the atmospheric pressure they may have upon them day-to-day to respect their teachers and authority. They don't know how to give the respect that is required of them because they come from an environment of conflict, chaos, and crises wrought by the confused adults around them steeped in pride.

Parents pride themselves on loving their children without giving them the basic knowledge, experience, and examples they need to not only survive, but, to thrive. Parents can be so wrapped up within themselves and their own happiness and not knowing how to be happy that they cast a dark cloud over their own household, stifling, and stunting the growth of themselves and their children.

Thus, we must be able to see the error of our ways and if we cannot or refuse not to first see it within ourselves, then, God must show it to us through another, even through our children. Sins of the father and mother can be passed down from generation to generation, not because the curse is irreversible, but, because we refuse to humble ourselves and submit to the Will of God.

Therefore, when conflict, chaos, and crises arise, we must first take a look into the mirror that God has provided for us, be it through a friend, spouse, significant other, parent, relative, boss, co-worker, pastor, fellow Believer, enemy, stranger, animal, situation, or circumstance. God is trying to tell us something through those we point a finger at to expose their faults and sins. We cannot see that God is using them to deliver us from the bondage that we have become comfortable living within. This is the purpose of our trials and tribulations. They are not the ending, but, the beginning to our deliverance through humility, prayer, repentance, and seeking the Face of God to reflect His Character. 

Instead of asking why me, we must say yes to our trials and tribulations, knowing that God has allowed them to bring us closer to Him. However, if we only see them as an opportunity to blame and point the finger at someone else, we have missed our blessing and missed our deliverance. We have missed the opportunity to surrender to God and let Him mold us to change what is unpleasing and unfruitful. We have missed the opportunity to manifest the Character of God to bring about true change in our lives and the lives of others.

We must not confuse God's Character with the idea of personality. I say personality, for indeed it is an idea. It is a way that we choose to see and portray ourselves, given the mind, body, and spirit that we possess. It is the way that we adapt to our environment and the people around us. It is the way we shield ourselves and disguise ourselves to keep from being hurt. It is what we imagine ourselves to be even if God created us to be something or someone else. Personality is the vanity we hold on to and the self we cling to that threatens our very existence because it can keep us from dying daily and abiding, living in Christ. Our personality develops from our feelings, which unfiltered can often be laced with pride.

People want to be in charge of their own personalities. They see their personality as their unique identity--that which makes them special, as they feel the need to be special within and without to remain attached to the world, keeping them of the world. If they knew who they were in Christ, they would know that it is not their personality which makes them unique and special. God did not give them traits to enhance their importance to the world, which is at enmity with God and therefore has no love for them. God gave us what we needed to overcome this world to be used for the good of the Kingdom. We were unique and special when we were created and even before we emerged from the womb. 

The world cannot see what God sees within us and that which it can see is of a superficial and vain nature. God doesn't want to take away your uniqueness, He gave you that uniqueness when He made you. Yet, the world wants to claim credit for being able to make you unique. Most of us fall for this ploy when we buy into the things that the world sells us. We fail to understand what makes us unique, believing we can create our own uniqueness. Let us be clear on what is unique. Uniqueness does not come from your ability to adapt to a lifestyle of sin. Uniqueness does not come from your ability to try to recreate your looks or personality. Uniqueness does not come from the way you dress, the house you live in, your taste in food and art, or, the way you sing or dance. Being unique does not define your identity or value. These are things the world looks at and promotes.

Your identity does not come from the world or things of the world. It comes from who God created you to be in Christ. When you are attached to The Vine, becoming Fruitful, functioning under the Mind of Christ, trusting and obeying God, then, you have found your identity and purpose. Then, your personality is defined by your holiness and righteousness and your ability to conquer the world. Until then, you are mimicking those lost within the world. You are a puppet of the adversary displaying the behavior that he would have you display and speaking words of pride and iniquity, not knowing that your living is in vain.

RETRAINING THE BLINDED EYE

Your eyes that have been trained to see things through the eyes of the world can and will deceive you. Your reaction to what you see is based upon past experience and knowledge of what you are seeing and feeling. Like many things that we have experienced in the world, while we were of the world, what we see might offend us in some way and must be overcome.

There is a vast need for racial sensitivity and diversity training in the world. We be accustomed to our own environment and culture and often ridicule or abhor the cultures of other people and races. Our eyes tell us that their culture is inferior to ours even before we understand their culture. Our eyes have been trained to be automatic and instant judges of what is agreeable or disagreeable to us. They take a picture and our heart translates what it sees by what we harbor within our heart. If our heart is not filled with unconditional love, then, our understanding will be tainted, blinded, and misled. So, how do we retrain our eyes to see beyond one's culture, ethnicity, habits, and faults, which we might find foreign, intolerable, disgusting, inferior, or, even sinful? 

Jesus was criticized for associating with the publicans and winebibbers, prostitutes and those cast aside by what we would call mainstream society. Those finding themselves as upright citizens and so-called holier than them would not consider even speaking to those considered to be outcasts. So, how did Jesus come to place himself in the midst of the unwanted and untouchables? Did He turn a blinded eye to what they were doing and how they lived, knowing that it was unacceptable to His fellow Jews? 

To understand Jesus's heart we only need to look at His mind. He was and is The Word of God and within that Word is unconditional love to look beyond one's faults to see their needs. Jesus's eyes were fixed upon Heavenly things because His heart was always there with His Father. Our eyes have become earthbound, judging everything by the world's standards, making it difficult for some and almost impossible for others to see beyond their own flesh and life experience. Therefore, our relationships suffer; our relationships with one another and our relationship with God; for if we cannot love our brother as we love ourselves, then, we cannot fully love God.

Sadly, we are unable to see that our vision is impaired. We are so use to judging what we see others do by our own perception of what the world should be and how people should live their lives. If we would not do what the do, then, it must be wrong. If we find something disgusting, then, it must be wrong. Yet, we have not walked in their shoes and started at their beginning. 

We cannot enjoy and appreciate our own blessings because we have judged and condemned another's. We fail to see that God's blessings come in many forms according to our needs and not what others think we need. That's why Jesus was able to watch others committing sin and not be repulsed or disgusted, but, to feel compassion, love, and understanding. 

Understanding...understanding is like patience. Understanding is extremely lacking in the world today and so very needed. People don't always want to have understanding of others because it would mean questioning their own beliefs. When it comes to our beliefs, we don't want to change. We grow apathetic and lazy about learning more about others and ourselves. We want things to stay the same so that our pride is not challenged.

Yet, Jesus did not need to tolerate the behavior of sinners because of being without sin. The Son of God knew that He was the Saving Grace for our faults and sins. There was no need for Him to shun sinners or fear being tempted or offended. There was no need for Him to cast judgment or ridicule them for what they did, for, He UNDERSTOOD. His understanding enabled Him to say upon the cross, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Retraining our eyes to see beyond what the world has taught us to see means to understand what it is to die to oneself. If you are still seeing with the world's eyes, then, you have not died to yourself and you have not been made PERFECT IN LOVE. Perfect love compels us to see the hearts of others and not just their flesh. We come to understand how and why people interact as they do in different cultures instead of ridiculing and judging, and, like Jesus, we have compassion and love. If they are indeed sinning, we offer them another way by showing them Jesus. This is our Saving Grace, Brothers and Sisters. If we are to abhor anything, we should abhor the ways of the world.

We must retrain our eyes to see Jesus everywhere we go and in every situation in need of His Love, not our misguided vision, judgment, condemnation, and lack of understanding. Our untrained eye may tell us that what we are looking at has nothing to do with God, because, our standards are within our own comfort zone, experience, and knowledge. We cannot judge how God comes to others, neither why, when, or, by what vehicle. God might have sent blessings to other cultures, races, ethnicities, and nations in forms that we are not familiar with and have no need or taste for, yet, they are still blessings from God. We must remember that our carnal vision is limited, but, spiritual eyesight has no limits. Therefore, one may see as the Apostle John, whom the Lord allowed to see into the future. Yet, while experiences their vision from God, their eyes may be open or closed, cast upon an object or into the darkness of the night. Is it that we are qualified and have the authority to judge another man's servant, and even to judge God? Our carnal eyes will not only deceive us, but, condemn us. 

If something offends your eyes, then, first search your heart. If you find Jesus there, you need not worry, for Jesus will keep you from temptation and sin. Then, filled with His unconditional love, following His Mind and not your own, you will find understanding and peace. My Brothers and Sisters, let us think, walk, talk, and see Spiritually Minded, following the Mind of Christ. For, when we judge, even within our hearts, we have cut off our vision. We have blinded ourselves and cut off our blessings from God. 

your soldier and servant, united with the One

mishael