How Much Is Too Much?
“But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, quarrels, and fights about the Torah; because they are worthless and futile. Warn a divisive person once, then a second time; and after that, have nothing more to do with him. You may be sure that such a person has been perverted and is sinning: he stands self-condemned.” Titus 3:9-11
How many times have we had the arguers, the nit-pickers, the fault finders, the accusers, the pessimists, the more than healthy debaters? How many times have we been these? Or even one of these?
When we know what the truth is, and someone disputes the truth, our feathers get ruffled for one, and secondly, we are so passionate about the truth we, as Christians, want to prove to the other person that what they are saying is wrong. I’ve already encountered this myself. I have found with some people, who when I tell them I love them and that I do not argue, but merely state what I believe, explaining to them I refuse to argue the word of God, they sometimes become even more irate.
So, the big question; God wants us to witness, of course…but when a person argues you (which oftentimes is going to happen upon witnessing to many types of people), how much is too much?
The Bible clearly tells us here in Titus 3:9-11 what to do…two times, and after that, have ‘nothing’ more to do with that person. Furthermore, the disciples were told that any place they went who rejected them, to shake the dust from their sandals and don’t look back.
If it is someone who is in our lives on a somewhat regular basis, are we ‘not’ to continue to witness to them? Yes, but in a different way.
If a person will not receive the truth, at that point, we need to pray for them earnestly; conduct spiritual warfare on behalf of the person. Secondly, we need to be a good example. Always be kind, generous, and loving toward them, never showing any anger, hatred, or partiality. Live your life around them and away from them righteously, and with love. Do to them as you would do for yourself. If you are able, post things with scriptures around your work area; pray over your food openly at lunchtime; perform kind acts toward others..not for eye service, but for God. Do all things as if for God, because everything you do, both good and bad, will be counted as though we did it to God when we must kneel before Him in judgment. Live your life each and every moment as if Jesus Christ is right there with you. Let me remind us all; whether saved or unsaved, we are always being watched by angels of light who report our every move to the Father, and by angels of darkness who report our every move to Satan…and when I say ‘everything’, I mean everything! There is not a thought that goes through our minds, a word that proceeds from our mouths, or an act that our flesh commits that goes unnoticed…not even one. For nothing is hidden from the Lord our God.
As I’ve said before, and I’ll say again, I am a firm believer that everything happens in the spiritual places first. So what we say, what we do, what we think, and what we pray is going to predict what happens in our tomorrow, as well as in other people’s tomorrows. We move mountains, boulders, the earth, and the heavens when we spend quality time kneeling before Adonai, our heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Over and over in Proverbs, King Solomon reminds us that gentle words are more effective than harsh words, and a gentle spirit is more effective than a harsh spirit. We are reminded in James of the power of the tongue. We are reminded in Hebrews that faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen…repetitively in the Holy Scriptures, we are reminded that anger, hatred, brash words, haughtiness, arrogance, pride, stubbornness, revenge, jealousy, mockery, rivalry, etc. do not work, and only wreak havoc on our own spirits, and in our own lives. We will be the branch that withers because it does not produce, and therefore gets cut off and cast into the fire.
Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 11:1-5 “Trusting is being confident of what we hope for, convinced about things we do not see. It was for this that scripture attested the merit of the people of old. By trusting, we understand that the universe was created through a spoken word of God, so that what is seen did not come into being out of existing phenomena. By trusting, Hevel (Abel) offered a greater sacrifice than Kayin (Cain); because of this, he was attested as righteous, with God giving him this testimony on the ground of his gifts. Through having trusted, he still continues to speak, even though he is dead. By trusting, Hanokh (Enoch) was taken away from this life without seeing death—“he was not to be found because God took him away”—for he has been attested as having been, prior to be taken away, well pleasing to God.”
The other evening I was praying, and the Lord asked me, “Lyn, who are you striving to please as you are writing these posts; man or God?”
I already knew the answer, but because He was asking me this, I pondered it anyway before answering. “I feel that I am doing this for you, Lord. Sure, it pleases me when people compliment what has been written with my hand; though this is not my intention. My intention is to glorify You, to please You, and to be a vessel through which you can tell people what it is you want to share. I love to talk about You, write about You, and share with the world the joy I have in You, and through my experiences, how You have brought me up from the miry pit and saved me. I want people to have the same hunger I do, and I want them to know that the day is at hand that was spoken of in Your word. I am so passionate about You, Father. This is how I feel; but Father, if inside of me somewhere that I am not seeing there is some other motive, I pray You reveal this to me so that I can repent before You and fix it.”
Then the Lord replied, with a smile in His voice, “Very good. I wanted you to think about it so that you never allow your motive to change in the future. Continue in humility, and continue in solely desiring to please me, and in that, blessing shall come to you, and to those who receive me through you, by the power of My Holy Spirit.”
What is your motive? Be honest with yourself. If your motive is to please God and to save the lost through the power of God’s word, then your motive is true. If your motive is self-glorification, then you will find you will become angry and defensive more often than not. There is a difference between righteous anger and righteous defensiveness of God’s word, and personal anger and defensiveness. Think about it, and ask God, and if after having done this there is even so much as a little bit of self included, then go to God and repent, and ask Him for His help; He will help you.
I know this mentioning is somewhat off of the topic, but felt it went in its own sense, and felt moved to say this. We are here for the same reason—to win the lost, and to help our sisters and brothers who are struggling. Let us not be separated by pride, silly rules, haughtiness, or arrogance. Let us all strive to please Him; and if someone else posts something that is of the Lord on your page, who are you to judge that the Lord didn’t have that person do that because, though it was away from your topic, maybe someone who needed to read/or see that post that person made would swing by your page, but not the person’s page who posted the comment, video, song, whatever it was? How would you feel if God did indeed cause that happen, and you reprimanded that individual, and deleted it from your page? Maybe it was just the thing someone else needed to stumble upon. Pray and think before you do. His word tells us to consider Him in “ALL” things..not some things, but all; and we cannot let our own selfish pride or ego rule what we do here.
I’m not here to receive glorification, and I’m not here to ‘own’ MY page..because it’s not my page..it is God’s page…if it’s inoffensive and glorifies Him, I welcome it, and I welcome you, my dear friends in the body of Christ.
Amen.
Reblogged this on Women Divas 4 God Ministry.
Lyn, as long as I got God’s approval I don’t need man’s applause!
Blessings to you for following God and not spirits of men.
Shenine
Thanks for reading…and thank you for your comment! Blessings back to you for being such a passionate follower of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lyn, your initial questions about disputes and our role in them is an excellent one, especially in the context of our motives. Are we speaking His truths to add to His kingdom or to pad our egos? Do we think we know more than others which hinders our ability to deliver what we do know in a loving manner? Do we care more about what we think we know than sharing what we do know? Are we too legalistic, acting like robots, epecting others to be the same? Has it become all about me instead of Him?
Keep the Faith!
Yes this was inspired by a situation I had with someone on their site the other day and how I was treated for posting a link to an article and posting a praise and worship video..I was just in the Spirit and thought they were my friend here…passing around the glory. I don’t have rules..this site belongs to God…it’s not mine. So as long as it glorifies God, post away. I’m not going to ever restrict the flow of the Holy Spirit by man made rules that glorify none other than myself. Once i start doing that, then His anointing will not be upon it. I was also cussed in abbreviations as well. I’m a little sensitive, I’ll admit that, but I got teary eyed..I guess it just threw me off. The person yelled and accused I was spamming, and that I was all about me, and told me I was trying to sell something. In all honesty, the books that my hands wrote; it’s never been about money. Of course if God blesses me with the books that way, that would be wonderful. The whole thing all along in my mind is getting the word out before it’s too late and ministering to others. I want my agent to hurry up. That’s why I’m posting so many excerpts to get some of it out. I promise this before my Lord and Savior…the moment it is about money, the moment my heart is not in the right place. I love people, and I love the Lord..and I always want to give back because everyone gives to me. I learn a lot from other people here, and am blessed. God bless you.
Lyn, I have always believed manners belong in blogging as in face to face communication. In my mind there is no excuse for rudeness or vulgarity especially when communicating God’s truths; such behavior destroys any attempt to show God’s love. My Dad would tell the six of us when we were young, “don’t let the bullies get to you. Kill ‘em with kindness.” And, people think bullying is a new social problem.
As for wanting your publisher to get on the stick, what is wrong with that as long as your heart is where God wants it?
Keep the Faith, my friend!
Yes, I sense an urgency, as if there is not much time. I sense strongly in my spirit and am overcome with the knowledge deeply that there are so many sitting at home right this very minute who are not ready, and they believe they are. They’re home right now in front of the television, all kicked back, not realizing there are things in their lives that are very wrong, and they’re sold out and brain-washed with the misconception that all is okay, and even though their life is basically the same as it was before, heck, they called on Jesus years ago..and that’s all that was necessary. 21 Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?”
23 And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”
What if everyone who believes differently than this is wrong…and when they do find out it is true…well then, it will be much too late. I say this everytime I bring this up, but I do that because someone might read this and didn’t read the other articles where I say this…but we will make many mistakes, and we will fall, and will stumble and we will make mistakes…but I am speaking of purposeful, living in without repentance, disobedience..no cutting away of the heart…the old man still rules over the new…Jesus said you can’t put new wine into old wineskins.
I believe wholeheartedly God is a God of love…immense love beyond what we can fathom. This is why He wants us to wake up because He does not want us to be taken to hell by Satan. He wants us with Him forever, not away from us. The thought of us suffering deeply anguishes Him.
The day is near…very very near. He is telling so many people right now. Are we sure we’re all ready? Or are there some things we need to take to the cross and lay down?
It’s funny…whenever I “kill ‘em with kindness” how much more angry they get. The devil gets so mad when he can’t get under your skin. He’s like a nasty little baby throwing a vehement temper tantrum..and he reveals himself everytime in a person. That serpent of old. How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how are you cut down to the ground, who did weaken the nations!
It is a very easy thing to get caught up in serving the Lord for all the wrong reasons. It is only through His intervention and leadership that we can continue to serve Him with the right motives and desires. Lord bless you.
Yes it is; we’ve seen how many men and women of God have been lured away by greed, sex, lust, pride, and many more worldly things. We have seen our “stars” (so to speak) fall from heaven on many occasions; and boy, when they fall, the media is right there like vultures ready to chew them up and spit them out. Satan is always ready to glory in the mistakes of God’s people; so when we live in a world who is watching, we need to be pure, clean, and have a mind and a heart likened unto Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
Some would say that the church itself is lost. Indeed what you mentioned in the last paragraph (pride, etc) is even more prevalent among some churches and Christians than it is outside of the church. Great blog though!
Pride is very prevelant on these blogs. I’ve seen it, witnessed it, been yelled at, argued, cursed, everything. There are those who worry you’re stealing their audience, or their thunder, so to speak; this is completely outside of the goal of what we’re here for. Who cares about ‘my’ thunder..and as far as the audience, no one here belongs to me, and I hope people meet other people from my website and read their wonderful posts as well. That’s a blessing! If they find something from here that blesses them, that is absolutely wonderful! God uses all of His children for something. Like I said, this isn’t ‘my’ page. It was said to me the other day that “you are in my house” meaning their blog… I am happy to say that although they may have ‘their’ page, this one isn’t mine, and I don’t want it to be mine. If it is mine, then it is corrupt and nothing blessed or anointed will spring forth from it. I am flesh; myself alone without Christ is destined for doom. This place is His house to do with as He wishes, praise God.
Silly man made rules, especially those made without the consideration of God first, only hinder the flow of the Holy Spirit. I am here to increase the flow of the Holy Spirit, praise God, because without Him, nothing here in Christ can be accomplished. We see in the New Testament this exact happening among the Pharisees and Saducees, and I refuse to have the spirit of the Pharisees and Saducees upon me; which is the same exact spirit of Satan, who was cast from heaven as Lucifer when he rebelled against God.
So true! We should always seek a heavenly approval rather than an earthly one. And Oh how important it is to always keep that in perspective.
Thanks for the post!
Yes we should. I have seen all too often people who have the overall attitude of “My page!” There are offensive people out there who post things that do indeed take away..and this is the work of the devil..and those things must be removed…just like the woman who followed Jesus yelling out, and Jesus rebuked the demon in her because it was distracting from what was being done..so are some people like that woman.
What I am speaking of here are the things that glorify our Lord; and so what if it’s outside the topic? Maybe that’s where God had that person post it, because like I said, maybe someone on the internet is doing a search for something, and boom, they hit your page and see that seemingly irrelevant post. If we are all in harmony together, united by the power of the Spirit of God, then God will use us all, ‘together’. Thanks for the comment and the like, and God bless you my sweet sister and brother in Christ Jesus.
I so agree! And God Bless you to my sister.
Adonai, Yeshua, and the Holy Spirit, our wonderful counselor who brings us comfort and truth and power, be upon your household always! Psalm 91 is your victory prayer for our beloved’s protection over you! Claim it daily!
For He has called you blessed, therefore be blessed!