music monday: hold us together by matt maher

When melted butter is needed in baking, it is usually recommended to cut up the stick in to smaller cubes before putting it in to the heat source. This makes it melt faster and who wants to wait when they are in the middle of making some gooey, chocolate brownies? Not this girl. Although while baking the other day, I placed my half stick of butter hastily in to toaster oven without cutting it. As I took it out to cut up because it was taking longer than anticipated, God reminded me that united we stand, divided we fall.

The division of the church and marriage and families and relationships cause the Christian community to falter. It is separation from God  and each other. This is true spiritual warfare. This is the melting of the church.

Dividing makes the church melt faster. Partitions in denominations. Separation of husband and wife. Dissecting economic status. Division is so easy. It is easy to put up walls with a single comment that does not meet your criteria. It is easy to push someone way when they do not meet your standards or leave the church when it does not fit your life style. It is easy to tear down instead of build up.

But ultimately, it is not about who follows Paul or who follows Apollo (1 Corinthians 3:5-9) or whether worship is modern or contemporary or whether your spouse really just did that again. It is about love.

Love makes a shelter. Love brings us together and reunifies. Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). Love means you are never alone. Love makes life worth living and memories worth sharing. There is something so comforting in knowing the gospel and having a relationship with Jesus and seeing the purest form of love (1 John 3:16).

This is the love that Matt Maher is referring to in his song, Hold Us Together. Have a listen. 

And love will hold us together

Make us a shelter to weather the storm

And I'll be my brother's keeper

So the whole world would know

that we're not alone

It is in this love that unity is made. It is the glue. People from all walks of life are bound together and rooted in the love of Christ.. United we stand. United as the body of Christ. United we are able to change the world for his glory and set the captives free. United we stand in lines at check out and greet the checker with a smile. United we love our neighborhood churches, not decimating because of denomination. United we keep loving our spouse or family or friend not because of anything they have done but because what has been done for us (Titus 3:5). 

Praying that you would be united, first with Christ, and then with you spouse and family and other believers around you. Praying that you would not be divided because of denominations or manmade rituals but would stand united because you know the power of the saving grace that was freely given to you and those around you.

Praying that you would disregard those issues that lead to the separation of Christ and others - malice, anger, gossip - and focus on building up the beautiful, imperfect people who are so intricately placed in your life. Praying that we would be brought to complete unity to let the world know about Jesus (John 17:23).

Here's to grouping and building and growing in unity. Here's to keeping the body together and increasing in the strength and power of Christ. 

music monday: healing begins by tenth avenue north

In our culture, so often when we hear the word neighbor, we think of the person living next to us that we occasionally wave at as our paths cross when we are pulling out of the drive way or grabbing the mail but we usually do not associate the term with family, rather merely as an acquaintance we hardly know. 

Jesus call us to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39). The word neighbor in the Greek is is plēsion, which is what the New Testament was written in originally. It is referring to those in our  neighborhood but also those who are nearest to us. 

The Blue Letter Bible gives these definitions for plēsion:

·        a friend

·        any other person, and where two are concerned, the other (thy fellow man, thy neighbour), according to the Jews, any member of the Hebrew nation and commonwealth

·        according to Christ, any other man irrespective of nation or religion with whom we live or whom we chance to meet

For most, family is near at one point or another, both physically and/or emotionally. Jesus is calling us to love our family members as ourselves. Relationships are messy. Especially when a lot of people are involved. But there is also a commonality that not found anywhere else. The longevity that has been weaved in and out of memories and years forms a beautiful bond.

God calls us to engage in difficult relationships. To be stretched past what we think we can handle to see how big he really is (Matthew 19:26).  Harboring bitterness, envy, anger is easy. It can be so easy to pit sister against sister and brother against father due to the longevity and history of the relationship. There are a lot of opportunities over the years for bitterness to creep in and frustration to form, whether between a husband and wife or the children. Choosing to forgive and rebuild is harder and is worth more in the end.

It is forgiving those God has put closest to you, who have openly hurt you, whether by choice or indirectly. It is loving them. A sister. Aunt. Mom. Friends. Whomever that may be in your personal community. Loving someone who does not deserve it and perhaps does not want it is what love is all about. That is how God has loved us. That is the change that God puts in us. It is the compassion that God gives towards us towards others, as well as understanding for the opposing view. It is new incite and perspective. It is healing. 

This song, Healing Begins by Tenth Avenue North conveys this quite well. Have a listen. 

This is where the healing starts

When you come to where you're broken 

within The light meets the dark. 

God can do anything, even fix a broken family and all its relationships. I know because he has been mending and shaping and restoring mine. He is still at work and I am excited to see where he will lead us next. 

Praying that God will move in your family and relationships and restore what needs to be restored. Praying for healed hearts and new beginnings. Praying that God will be praised throughout the difficult conversations and each warm embrace. Praying for God to show you what steps to take and guide your heart to truly forgive what or who needs to be forgiven. That you would open your heart and make the choice to make an effort and let God piece your lives back together. 

Here's to healing and new beginnings. Here's to seeing God move in your relationships and choosing to take the harder route.