"Never be sympathetic with a person whose situation causes you to conclude that God is dealing harshly with him. God can be more tender than we can conceive, and every once in a while He gives us the opportunity to deal firmly with someone so that He may be viewed as the tender One....People want the blessing of God, but they can't stand something that pierces right through to the heart of the matter.
If you are sensitive to God's way, your message as His servant will be merciless and insistent, cutting to the very root. Otherwise, there will be no healing...Deal with people where they are until they begin to realize their true need. Then hold high the standard of Jesus for their lives.
Jesus Christ came to "bring...a sword" through every kind of peace that is not based on a personal relationship with Himself."
As we celebrate what many people in my host country call "the holiday of love", I am reminded that the entire reason Jesus entered our fallen world was to bring the kind of love that would fully restore humanity to the Father. That love is not an 'ooey gooey' kind of sappy love full of hugs and kisses, but a heart-wrenching, life-giving, sacrificial, selfless, unconditional love that is willing to die...willing to lay one's life down for another. And then Jesus said something quite radical: "They will know you are my disciples by the way you love one another." He spoke difficult words for people to hear, but He loved them, unconditionally. He forgave. He accepted. He saw them as the Father sees them. And He still does that today through us, His followers.
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