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6/15/2009 - Harmony Begins At Home Psalms 133:1
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Harmony Begins At Home
REFERENCE: Psalm 133:1 How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! 2 For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron’s head, that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe. 3 Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion. And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing, even life everlasting.
Observation: The Word of God tells us that the world will know that we are Christians because we love each other. We are charged with loving and caring for each other, as believers, over and over again.
Yet, the history of the church is not anything if it is not the story of division, dissention and disputation. One website lists 9000 denominations world wide and 635 just in the United States. Admittedly, many denominations are simply preferences and minor differences in doctrine. They do not reject others or see them as their enemy. Unfortunately, however, there are way too many Christians who hate other believers simply because they do not believe as they do in every detail. We know that this hurts the heart of God and limits the effectiveness of the church.
For each of us we must ask if we are allowing division to exist in our hearts and minds. It is so easy to allow ourselves to hold on to hurts and pain and, by it, to allow broken relationships to exist. If there are others that we have not forgiven or made things right with, we need to do so, right away. Harmony begins at home, in our hearts and minds, and we need to makes sure ours are right.
The health and effectiveness of the church depends on each of us taking this to heart and doing something about it.
Application/Confession: I am working to stay in a state of forgiveness and acceptance for those who have hurt me. It is not my place to judge them or punish them and, so far, I am staying in that place of freeing them from my unforgiveness. I am accepting and loving them instead. Frankly, it is not easy but God gives me the grace.
PRAYER: Lord, I want to promote unity. Help me to do so and remind me when I become a divider instead of uniter, even in my heart. You love harmony. May I love it as much as you do.
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