Your Daily Bible

12 Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.

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Our natural tendency is to hate our enemies or at least to avoid them at all cost. But if you run from conflict, you’re going to be miserable most of your life. Jesus calls us to a higher standard. He calls us to be peacemakers — not peacekeepers. There’s a huge difference. Peacekeepers avoid conflict and pretend it doesn’t exist. But peacemakers resolve conflict and reconcile relationships.

18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:18 ).

When you plant a seed, you always get back more than you started with. If you plant an apple seed, you get a whole tree full of apples in return. It’s the law of sowing and reaping. If you plant a seed of conflict, you’ll wind up with a lot more trouble than you bargained for. But the Bible says if you plant seeds of peace, you will reap a harvest of peace, kindness, and goodness in return.

So how do you do that? One of the most important life skills that you will ever learn is conflict resolution. 

Make the first move. Don’t wait for the person to come to you. You take the initiative. Buy that person a cup of coffee or go to lunch together. Jesus took the initiative to show mercy to us. 

The Bible says, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us .... While we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Romans 5:8b, 10a ESV).

 Jesus didn’t wait for us to apologize. He didn’t even wait for us to feel bad about our behavior. Jesus made the first move. And he wants us to do the same thing.

 Ask God for wisdom. God is always glad to help you when you’re doing what he says. The Bible says, 

 “If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you” (James 1:5a TLB). 

Ask God to help you decide the right time and the right place to plan a peace conference. Ask him to give you the right words to say and the right way to say them. 

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Matthew 18:21-35 (ICB)
When the US Civil War ended in 1865, more than half a million soldiers lay dead, the economy and infrastructure of the nation was shattered, and people remained deeply divided politically. The observance of Mother’s Day in the United States began with the efforts for peace and reconciliation of one woman In 1870, named Anna Reeves Jarvis. The daughter of a Methodist minister she began in her community a day called “Mother’s Friendship Day” in an effort to reunite families and neighbors alienated by the war. There is always great suffering when friends and families are fractured and unwilling to forgive.

The gospel of Jesus Christ brings the promise of peace and reconciliation with God and with each other. When Peter asked Jesus how often he should forgive a brother who sinned against him (Matt. 18:21), the Lord surprised everyone with His answer of “seventy times seven” (v.22). Then He told an unforgettable story about a servant who had received forgiveness and failed to pass it on (vv.23-35). As God freely forgives us, so He requires that we extend what we have received to others.

With God’s love and power, forgiveness is always possible.

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“Search for peace, and work to maintain it” (1 Peter 3:11 NLT). 

Today I want to help by giving some practical advice about how to help during a time of relationship conflict and that is to  emphasize reconciliation, not resolution. It’s unrealistic to expect everyone to agree about everything. 

Reconciliation focuses on the relationship, while resolution focuses on the problem. When we focus on reconciliation, the problem loses significance and often becomes irrelevant compared to the importance of the relationship itself. We can re-establish a relationship even when we are unable to resolve our differences. 

Christians often have legitimate, honest disagreements and differing opinions, but we can disagree without being disagreeable. The same diamond looks different from different angles. God expects unity, not uniformity, and we can walk arm in arm without seeing eye to eye on every issue.This doesn’t mean you give up on finding a solution. You may need to continue discussing and even debating, but you do it in a spirit of harmony. Reconciliation means you bury the hatchet, not necessarily the issue.

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“First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye” (Matthew 7:5 NLT). 

OK, so this week we so far we have been focusing on reconciliation and mainly we have talked about reconciliation between man and God but today I want to talk about reconciling our relationships with each other.

If you’re serious about restoring a relationship, begin with admitting your own mistakes or sin. Jesus said it’s the way to see things more clearly: 

You need to confess your part of the conflict. 

Because we all have blind spots, you may need to ask a third party to help you evaluate your own actions before meeting with the person with whom you have a conflict. 

Also, ask God to show you how much of the problem is your fault. Ask, “Am I the problem? Am I being unrealistic, insensitive, or too sensitive?” The Bible says, 

“If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves” (1 John 1:8 The Message). 

Confession is a powerful tool for reconciliation. Often the way we handle a conflict creates a bigger hurt than the original problem itself. But when you begin by humbly admitting your mistakes, it defuses the other person’s anger and disarms their attack because they were probably expecting you to be defensive. 

Don’t make excuses or shift the blame. Just honestly own up to any part you have played in the conflict. Accept responsibility for your mistakes, and ask for forgiveness.

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2 Corinthians 5:18  (NLT)
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.

 Your mission is simply to pass on to others the same Good News about God’s love that somebody told you.

 But God doesn’t expect you to fulfill your mission on your own. He gives you other Christians to support you. In fact, evangelism is something you can do as a small group.

God has given us a wonderful example of this in Luke 5:17-26. It’s the story of a group of friends who brought someone to Jesus. They couldn’t find a way to get into the house where Jesus was, so they lowered their paraplegic friend through a hole in the roof on a stretcher, right in the middle of everyone and in front of Jesus. Jesus was impressed by their faith and told the man to get up and walk, and the man immediately did! The people were amazed.

Are you willing to go through the roof for a friend? Everybody needs to know Jesus! Without Jesus, people have no hope in eternity. The Christian who doesn’t care about the lost is really saying to the world, “I don’t care about you. I don’t care about where you will spend eternity.” But the Bible says, 

 “The Lord is . . . not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 NKJV).

 Don’t get discouraged, and don’t give up. Keep praying, keep asking, keep inviting, and keep working to reach that person for Jesus.

Helping people get into Heaven is the greatest act of mercy you can do for them.

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Matthew 28:18-20
18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Jesus’ last assignment to his disciples was impossible. There was no way they could possibly take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. It could only happen through his power. God will often give you an assignment that looks physically impossible, but he will make it possible.

“The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24 NIV).

God’s authority and anointing makes the impossible possible.
In your business, marriage, health, and relationships, you’re going to come up against insurmountable problems. God is a competent Father and His heart beats with restoration and reconciliation. He can handle any problem you give him. Nothing is beyond his ability or his resources.

“What is impossible for people is possible with God” (Luke 18:27 NIV)

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2 Corinthians 5:19-20 (NLT)

For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

The greatest thing you can do with your life is to tell somebody about Jesus and invite them to come to know him. If you help somebody secure their eternal destiny that they spend the rest of their life in heaven and not hell that’s what I would call making your life count! Nothing matters more than helping get their eternal destiny settled. They will be forever, ever grateful and thank you for the rest of eternity. That is the greatest  thing you can do with your life

 And God uses ordinary people. Not just pastors and missionaries. Just ordinary people to advance his Kingdom.

Ordinary people

Empowered by God

Making a difference together

Wherever we are.

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Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7

We all worry. But for some, worry defines and dominates every waking thought. Imagine being able to live with a peaceful, quiet mind. In Jesus, it is possible. Just as Daniel slept peacefully in the lion’s den, we can be free from constant worry even in a world filled with opportunities for anxiety. Daniel’s secret is available to us. Daniel regularly cast all his anxieties on the Lord through prayer and petition. He spent time thanking God for his blessings and making his needs and requests known to God.

God promises to protect our hearts and minds from worry. Having all that free space to peacefully think about other things would truly be hard to imagine. You might say that it would transcend all understanding.

Reflect: 

Why don’t we pray more?

What could you do with the extra time you spend in worry?

What are you worried about right now? Why not take a minute now to talk to your Father?

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And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.- Philippians 4:19

In Christ, we understand more fully the lengths our Father will go to meet the needs of His children. The Bible promises that from the wealth of His glory in Christ, God will supply our every need. 

He sent His one and only Son to seek and save the lost, die for our sin, and resurrect victoriously from the dead. So, we are not positioned as beggars or thieves but as sons and daughters. Because of God’s glory on display in Christ, we have confidence that our eyes have not yet seen, nor our ears heard, nor our hearts imagined how God will provide for us.

 Reflect: 

How do you see God providing for His children in Scripture?

How have you seen God provide for your needs?

What are you asking God to do right now?

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