Tuesday, November 7, 2017 The Acts of Submission Part 4 – Submission to Our Neighbors: The Discipline of Submission, Part 8 (Inspired by Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster)
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
The Acts of Submission
Part 4 – Submission to Our Neighbors: The Discipline of Submission, Part 8
(Inspired by Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster)
Scripture:
Mark 12:30-31
30 Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind and with all your strength.’
31 The
second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment
greater than these.”
Leviticus 19:9-18
Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
9 “When
you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to
its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip
your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your
vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am
the Lord your God.
11 “You
shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one
another. 12 You
shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I
am the Lord.
13 “You
shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker
shall not remain with you all night until the morning. 14 You shall not curse the
deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your
God: I am the Lord.
15 “You
shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer
to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.16 You shall not go around
as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the
life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.
17 “You
shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly
with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take
vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you
shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Matthew 5:13
“You are the salt of
the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?
It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under
people's feet.”
Romans 15:2
Let each of us
please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
John 15:12
“This is my
commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
Romans 13:8-9
Owe no one anything,
except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the
law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not
murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment,
are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
1 John 3:17-19
But if anyone has
the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against
him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word
or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the
truth and reassure our heart before him….
Matthew 7:12
“So whatever you
wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the
Prophets.”
Devotional:
God is so good. He is faithful, and He desires to bring us
all to a deeper place of knowing Him and living His Way. There are times that I
can read about what He has to say on a subject and feel I come from a place of
longevity and a solid foundation. Other times, He gently and lovingly shows me
that I have much to learn. In the area of loving my neighbor, I have struggled
with its reality. I do not want to make excuses, because I am deeply committed
to being real, vulnerable, and transparent so that I can be transformed into
the image of God. However, I have struggled since being a young child with
trust. I was on the receiving end of hostility often both through bullying at
school and with a difficult home life, and went from being a sweet, mild-mannered
and peacemaking little girl to a defensive, you can’t step on me
twentysomething. God has been unraveling that for years, and now in my forties
I can look back and see how I went into hiding over the years and isolated from
my neighbor (both in the sense of those living close by and those we encounter
day to day). I see my spiritual self as resembling the little girl who burned
her hand and hid it from her parents until it was sealed shut and needed
surgery.
I truly love others. I want the best for them. I love to
give generously, and I have all kinds of grand ideas for trying to reach out to
those around me. It’s in the unexpected daily challenges I struggle, and the
old wounds can pop up. Two teenage boys fly a video drone over my backyard where
my children are playing. I go into full mama bear mode and humiliate myself
with my own reaction, taking months to overcome the embarrassment. Service
people are rude and unmannerly to me. I aim to “fix it” and give them a few
choice words about how they “should” treat a customer or escalate to their
manager. These are worst case scenarios, and to be honest this transparency is
a little challenging. I don’t like the ugly parts of me. To ease of the
pressure a bit, this particular area has been one where God has helped me to
grow and blossom in the last few years. I have to take the time to allow God to
heal memories of the past, make an effort to make amends where I can —and more
importantly BE different with my neighbor. I am making every effort to incorporate
the 5 to 1 relationship ratio with my neighbors, a counseling tool that states
that for every one negative encounter, we need to balance it with five
positive. I hope to increase that ratio to 10 to 1, or even if at all possible eliminate
the negative altogether. It’s impossible to never say or do something wrong,
but by the Spirit it is absolutely possible to live at peace with my neighbor.
I share these things with you today because I hope that in
the sharing, it will release the perfection infection from all of us. We cannot
do this life perfectly, sweet friends. It is by God’s Spirit we move forward
and become more like Him every day. Thank you for walking alongside me as we
are all being perfected!
Prayer:
Thanksgiving:
Lord, I thank You even in the hard lessons. You are always
good, and You desire good for me and for my family. I thank You for my
neighbors, and thank You that You have placed each of them in my life for Your
purposes.
Confession:
I confess my heart before You today. (Take time to
acknowledge sins, attitudes, or worry. Mine today: I confess that I need You to
continue to undo places in my heart that might cause me to be reactive to those
around me. I give it up. I don’t want to hold on to it. Do surgery on my heart,
and remove roots that are deep and might spring up to harm others. I choose to
live without blinders on, and allow You to show me where I need to be
transformed by Your grace and mercy.)
Supplication:
I bring my day and my life before You today and ask You to
intervene (name area of concern or need. Take note of victory and progress.
Today for me: I have an important day, that if it goes well can be pivotal.
Cover the tasks at hand. Order our steps. Make us able to streamline the time
available and complete the tasks at hand. Let the tasks not spill into another
time but be finished.)
Intercession:
I lift my children to You today. They are a joy to parent.
Thank You for that privilege. (Journal needs and concerns, progress and
victory. Chloe today: Help us to get to the heart of her disobedience. Show us
what needs to be addressed and the right way to address it. Give us patience
with her and help us to remain on the same team and the same page with positive
and negative reinforcement. For Christian today: again with the constipation,
and hiding to have BM. Lord, I just want to be out of this stage. I want him to
be out of pullups. You can do it. It is not to difficult for You. If it is necessary
for this stage to continue help us to embrace it and not lose heart. Forgive me
for being resentful toward You about it. I know You love us. This is a very hard
thing to endure. I thank You that You see us. You are worthy, Lord.)
Thanksgiving and Consecration:
God, I honor You and worship You with my whole heart today.
I thank You that You are constantly at work in our home and family. I lift each
parent here and each child represented. Seal our time in Your Word and in Your
Presence. In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen!
Blessing and Benediction:
The Lord bless you
And keep you
The Lord make His face to shine upon you
And be gracious unto you
The Lord lift up His countenance on you
And give you peace
Amen
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