Standing For Truth
In some modern day church meetings the Bible is quoted, and if that causes people to seek its truth, then some good is accomplished.
On the other hand, if it means that people are bulldozed into following a movement or man-made traditions through skill of propaganda, or emotional appeal, and thus induced to support man-made theories based upon wrested Scripture, then it is to their great disadvantage.
It does not matter the name tag that is over the church door, any denomination that practices spiritual manipulation in using Scripture to further their own traditional beliefs and uphold man-made constitutions, does not honor God nor His Word.
If you choose to abide by the Word of God rather than some denominations constitution, watch out. You will experience what it costs to go all the way with God.
One of the fastest ways to loose friends, to be looked upon as odd, and to be despised is to go all the way with God. Once you become serious about spiritual matters--forsaking all your idols, taking your eyes of the things of this world, believing the Word of God above denominational beliefs or man made constitutions, turning to Jesus with all of your heart and hungering for more of Him--you suddenly become "a religious freak." And soon you will experience the worst rejection of your lifetime from church people.
Why this change? Why do people turn against you because you desire to know the truth? Why when you begin to get closer to God and in that process you see things different from the normal way your denomination sees them are you suddenly not good enough to be a part of their fellowship?
When you accepted everything that came over the pulpit as truth, without question; when you agreed with everything that the preacher said; when you were a lukewarm Christian you did not rock the boat, you were no trouble to anyone; not even the devil. You were neither overly sinful nor overly holy. You were just another of many halfhearted believers, and your life was quiet and untroubled. You were accepted. But then you changed. You got hungry for more of Jesus and you could no longer play church games. You began to search the scriptures to see if what was coming over the pulpit was indeed truth and in line with the bible. You questioned certain doctrines that did not line up with God's Word. Down came your idols of denominationalism, preachers, position, money, acceptance, fame, popularity, pleasure--anything and everything that was more important to you than Jesus. You repented and turned to the Lord with all your heart. You began to dig into God's Word and study it to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth. You entered into a new realm of discernment and began to see things in the Church that before had never bothered you. You heard things from the pulpit that broke your heart. You saw other Christians compromising on what the Word of God says in order to be loved and accepted by that denomination.
You reflect back and realize that you too were once that way, and you are hurt. You are hurt because you realize that you once were the same way, giving more allegiance to denominational creeds, traditions and constitutions than you did to the Word of God. You realize that you treated people the same way you are being treated by church people. You hurt because, they do not know what they are doing because they are self-deceived. But, you were awakened, turned around, made broken and contrite in spirit, and God gave you a burden for His people that they too would believe the Word above the philosophies of man.
What was the result of this? Now your friends and family think you are crazy, a false prophet, led astray and even controlled by demons. Instead of rejoicing with you or encouraging you, they ridicule you, mock you and call you a defector and a strife breeder. In fact some don't even consider you a believer anymore. Some have consigned you to hell.
One reason for this is their religious biases are threatened whenever someone from within their ranks takes spiritual commitment and the Word of God serious enough to question non-Biblical doctrine and refuses to play religious games with the living God.
If you have experienced this, don't be discouraged--you're in good company, several people in the bible experienced just what you're feeling. They did not give up and don't you give up in your desire to become more like Christ. The religious Pharisees may frown--Satan may rage--but go on. Live to obey God's Word, become more like Jesus.
Jesus was rejected; church people want to be respected. He was regarded as radical; church people want to be recognized as reasonable. He was accused of having demons; preachers are acclaimed for having degrees. He put no stock in the praise of men; the church world thrives on it. Is it any wonder that the nominal Christian, the nominal church makes so little impact on this earth for Him?
A testimony of true spiritual transformation will always drive the establishment crazy.
Moses for instance, was touched wonderfully by God, and was awakened in his heart concerning the bondage of his people. In fact Moses was so excited by this great revelation of deliverance that he ran to share it: "It came into his heart to visit his brethren. ...For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not" (Acts 7:23,25).
Moses and his vision was spurned. But why? Moses was the meekest man on earth, consumed with God. He was not acting holier-than-thou; he was acting prophetically according to God's will. He only wanted his brothers to understand what God was about to do. But his spiritually offended them. They rejected him saying, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Who do you think you are?"
Have the Holy Spirit ever awakened you and you began to embrace the Lord's call to expound the truth that was revealed to you. You began to stand for what the Word of God said and you began to see things regarding the issue that you never saw before and you wanted to share it with people. You talked to leaders and pew people, You opened your bible to them so they could see the truth for themselves.
You hoped these believers would see these truths too--that they would love the Word and fall on their knees with you and pray for a greater understanding of these truths. Instead, you found that most of them became very angry and upset. you were accused of being a strife breeder, turning against your denomination, trying to split the church and giving heed to doctrines of demons. The more you sought God and tried to expound the truth about the matter the angrier they became until you lost all positions you held in the organization and you ended up being shunned by them. They refused to listen to anything about the subject.
If this has happened to you since God awakened you, you are not alone. God's Word warns you what to expect if you are determined to go all the way with Him.
1. You will be rejected.
2. You will be cast out.
3. You will be stoned.
This is the question that every Christian must answer in these last days: Will we turn aside from truth that compels us--that points out our errors, our sins and commands us to tear down our idols. Will we ignore the truth that points out the error of our pet doctrines, that tells us we must walk holy if we are to see His face. Will we allow the Holy Spirit to expose all man-made traditions and help us to tear down denominational walls that separates members of His body and obscures the person of Jesus.
Somebody has said "When truth is found it stands in judgment of us, we never stand in judgment of it." Every lover of truth desires to come to the light of God's Word so our deeds and doctrines can be subjected to the search light of the Holy Spirit to see if they line up with God"s Word or not.
Multitudes of Christians today do not love the truth. They love their traditions, their leaders, their constitutions and their denominations. This is proven by their adherence to what the above says rather then what the Word of God says. These compromising believers are deceived but, like the Jews of Jesus' day, they are convinced they see clearly. They say they adhere to God's Word but, the truth is, only if it agrees with their denomination's belief. Something other than truth holds their hearts; they do not embrace God's Word like a priceless pearl. Instead they coddle whatever the preacher says, or the constitution says, or some false teaching that caters to their flesh.
But a day of reckoning is coming. The Bible says that those who turn a deaf ear to the truth is in danger of missing it altogether:
II Th 2:8-12.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
In the minds of those who reject you and forsake you because of truth have good reason: It is because they see you as a threat to something they hold dear. Your stand for truth is a rebuke to their compromise.
Paul experienced this numerous times. He wrote to Timothy, "All those in Asia have turned away from me" (2 Tim. 1:15). Paul had given his all to these people, declaring to them the whole council of God. He was blameless before them, holy and reproach. Yet the churches of Asia rejected Him and his own spiritual children avoided him. Why? Because Paul was now in prison. He was suffering--in deep affliction, bound by chains, "a prisoner of the Lord." In the meantime, a new teacher had become popular, one who brought an ear-tickling message to the people Paul had taught. "Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm, may the Lord repay him according to his works" (2 Tim. 4:14).
Alexander and Hymenaeus were teaching a false gospel that catered to the flesh. Their doctrine denied all suffering and hardship. Alexander's name means "man- pleaser." Hymenaeus was named after the god of weddings; he represented a gospel of love, blessing, joy, celebration and man-pleasing without holiness. Scripture says Paul turned these men over to Satan that they might learn to stop blaspheming (1 Tim. 1:20). This was for the destruction not of their bodies, but of their flesh doctrines. A lot of churches need to be turned over to Satan in order that they may be disciplined, and get rid of their man-made, flesh-pleasing doctrines. Not for their destruction but that they may repent and turn back to righteousness.
Jesus warned His disciples of the further rejection they would face: "They will put you out of the synagogues; (John 16:2). Jesus was saying, "I am telling you these things so you won't stumble" Don't be surprised when the traditional church throws you out. They don't accomplish this by expelling you or saying that you can't worship here, no, they make you feel so uncomfortable, unloved, unwanted and use this as a means of freezing you out. They may think they didn't kick you out but they did by giving you the left boot of fellowship.
If you intend to go all the way with Christ, you must be prepared to bare His sufferings. Who reproached Jesus, heaped shame upon His head and vilified His name as filthy? It was the so called religious crowd whose traditions he questioned and lambasted. If the religious crowed persecuted and reproached Him, they will do the same to all who will die to self for His sake.
I have heard hungry Christians say, "Our church is dead, we have talked to our leaders, and they see nothing wrong and say, 'if it is dead all the blame lies with the congregation.' What should we do?' The answer can be found in the book of Acts. Paul went into every synagogue he encountered and tried hard to persuade any lukewarm churchgoers about Christ, hoping they would hear. But the leaders response was to kick Paul out of the synagogue and out of town.
If you hold fast to your commitment to Christ, even in the face of being rejected and cast out, the same religious majority will stand ready to stone you. This stoning will not likely be a literal stoning as they did to Stephen but they will stone you nevertheless. Think of it this way: Today, in this age of grace, if a man looks upon a woman with lust, in God's eyes he is committing adultery. If someone hates, he is a murderer. Conversely, if vicious words are hurled about you, for believing the Word above a constitution or a denomination, you are being stoned: "[They] sharpen their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows--bitter words" (Ps. 64:3).
Why did a call to obedience, to go in and take the country, provoke such a reaction in the Israelites that they wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb? Because compromise and unbelief go hand in hand. Once the heart is captured by traditional beliefs, unbelief takes hold. And after that happens, all preaching against compromise is referring to some long held tradition or denominational doctrine that is not founded on God's Word. Without knowing it the people of such a church end up fighting against God, even while blindly confessing His name.
How should we react when rejected, cast out and stoned? We must follow the example of our Master, who "opened not His mouth." We are to "Pray for those who spitefully use us" (Matt. 5:44). "Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure" (1 Cor. 4:12).
Friend we face a cost for going all the way with Jesus, but we also receive a reward: it is simply the blessing of having Christ stand with us. You see Christ will not stand with some denomination's tradition that is against His Word, He will always stand for the truth of His Word. So count the cost and know that your reward in all things, is the precious presence of Jesus Christ.
Let me ask you a sobering question. What has been your reaction to the church and the people of that church that forced you out from among them? What has your thoughts been toward them? What has your talking been about them. What has your attitude been towards them? Have you let your tongue hinder God from accomplishing His work through you?
In order for God to work through us we must have our relationships in order. We must first and foremost develop a relationship with God that is second to none. We develop and maintain that relationship by being obedient to God's Word. All other relationships: Husband and wife, parents and children, friends and neighbors, and relationships towards those who have done us wrong can only be made right if our relationship with God is what it ought to be.
In order to have a right relationship with God there are several keys we must practice.
1. There must be two way communication, where we talk to God and God talks to us. Prayer and the Study of God's Word is of vital importance. We must also try to establish communication with the ones who have done us wrong to let them know that you hold no ill feelings toward them and that you forgive them. How they react is not your concern, they will answer to God for that.We must maintain a relational journey with God and with people.
2. In our communication with Him we must be honest. Never put on a facade pretending to be something we are not. God knows who and what we are anyway. But He still requires us to be honest and up front with Him.
3. We must be a people of praise and worship. Praise and worship simply means being what we are supposed to be in God, then doing what we do on a daily basis is praise and worship unto Him. For that is the purpose for which we were created. God moves on the behalf of His people in the atmosphere of true praise and worship. Satan cannot stay in an atmosphere where true praise and worship, coming from a people who abide in Christ and is a daily practice of believers.
4. We must be a giving people. We must give ourselves 100% over to the control of the Head of the Church, Jesus. Then we can give of ourselves and our things to advance the kingdom of God.
5. We must be a listening people. We must listen and act on what God says to us in prayer and through His Word.
If we fail in any of these five areas we will not develop a right relationship with God, therefore we will not have a right relationship with others.
The first step in developing a right relationship with God as Christians is we must repent.
Rev. 3:19, The Amplified Bible says, Those whom I [dearly] and [tenderely] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and REPENT [changing your mind and attitude].
2 Chr 7:14-15:
14 "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
15 "Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.
Jer 3:12-13:
12 "Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: 'Return, backsliding Israel,' says the LORD, 'I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I am merciful,' says the LORD; 'I will not remain angry forever.
13 Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the LORD your God, and have scattered your charms to alien deities under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,' says the LORD.
Jer 6:16:
16 Thus says the LORD: "Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'
You may ask, what will it take for us to experience New Testament Christianity that will turn the souls of many to God?
We must hear and heed God's warning...
Confess our sins...including the sin of unbelief...
Repent...turn away from our ungodly ways...
AND TURN BACK TO GOD!
On the other hand, if it means that people are bulldozed into following a movement or man-made traditions through skill of propaganda, or emotional appeal, and thus induced to support man-made theories based upon wrested Scripture, then it is to their great disadvantage.
It does not matter the name tag that is over the church door, any denomination that practices spiritual manipulation in using Scripture to further their own traditional beliefs and uphold man-made constitutions, does not honor God nor His Word.
If you choose to abide by the Word of God rather than some denominations constitution, watch out. You will experience what it costs to go all the way with God.
One of the fastest ways to loose friends, to be looked upon as odd, and to be despised is to go all the way with God. Once you become serious about spiritual matters--forsaking all your idols, taking your eyes of the things of this world, believing the Word of God above denominational beliefs or man made constitutions, turning to Jesus with all of your heart and hungering for more of Him--you suddenly become "a religious freak." And soon you will experience the worst rejection of your lifetime from church people.
Why this change? Why do people turn against you because you desire to know the truth? Why when you begin to get closer to God and in that process you see things different from the normal way your denomination sees them are you suddenly not good enough to be a part of their fellowship?
When you accepted everything that came over the pulpit as truth, without question; when you agreed with everything that the preacher said; when you were a lukewarm Christian you did not rock the boat, you were no trouble to anyone; not even the devil. You were neither overly sinful nor overly holy. You were just another of many halfhearted believers, and your life was quiet and untroubled. You were accepted. But then you changed. You got hungry for more of Jesus and you could no longer play church games. You began to search the scriptures to see if what was coming over the pulpit was indeed truth and in line with the bible. You questioned certain doctrines that did not line up with God's Word. Down came your idols of denominationalism, preachers, position, money, acceptance, fame, popularity, pleasure--anything and everything that was more important to you than Jesus. You repented and turned to the Lord with all your heart. You began to dig into God's Word and study it to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth. You entered into a new realm of discernment and began to see things in the Church that before had never bothered you. You heard things from the pulpit that broke your heart. You saw other Christians compromising on what the Word of God says in order to be loved and accepted by that denomination.
You reflect back and realize that you too were once that way, and you are hurt. You are hurt because you realize that you once were the same way, giving more allegiance to denominational creeds, traditions and constitutions than you did to the Word of God. You realize that you treated people the same way you are being treated by church people. You hurt because, they do not know what they are doing because they are self-deceived. But, you were awakened, turned around, made broken and contrite in spirit, and God gave you a burden for His people that they too would believe the Word above the philosophies of man.
What was the result of this? Now your friends and family think you are crazy, a false prophet, led astray and even controlled by demons. Instead of rejoicing with you or encouraging you, they ridicule you, mock you and call you a defector and a strife breeder. In fact some don't even consider you a believer anymore. Some have consigned you to hell.
One reason for this is their religious biases are threatened whenever someone from within their ranks takes spiritual commitment and the Word of God serious enough to question non-Biblical doctrine and refuses to play religious games with the living God.
If you have experienced this, don't be discouraged--you're in good company, several people in the bible experienced just what you're feeling. They did not give up and don't you give up in your desire to become more like Christ. The religious Pharisees may frown--Satan may rage--but go on. Live to obey God's Word, become more like Jesus.
Jesus was rejected; church people want to be respected. He was regarded as radical; church people want to be recognized as reasonable. He was accused of having demons; preachers are acclaimed for having degrees. He put no stock in the praise of men; the church world thrives on it. Is it any wonder that the nominal Christian, the nominal church makes so little impact on this earth for Him?
A testimony of true spiritual transformation will always drive the establishment crazy.
Moses for instance, was touched wonderfully by God, and was awakened in his heart concerning the bondage of his people. In fact Moses was so excited by this great revelation of deliverance that he ran to share it: "It came into his heart to visit his brethren. ...For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not" (Acts 7:23,25).
Moses and his vision was spurned. But why? Moses was the meekest man on earth, consumed with God. He was not acting holier-than-thou; he was acting prophetically according to God's will. He only wanted his brothers to understand what God was about to do. But his spiritually offended them. They rejected him saying, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Who do you think you are?"
Have the Holy Spirit ever awakened you and you began to embrace the Lord's call to expound the truth that was revealed to you. You began to stand for what the Word of God said and you began to see things regarding the issue that you never saw before and you wanted to share it with people. You talked to leaders and pew people, You opened your bible to them so they could see the truth for themselves.
You hoped these believers would see these truths too--that they would love the Word and fall on their knees with you and pray for a greater understanding of these truths. Instead, you found that most of them became very angry and upset. you were accused of being a strife breeder, turning against your denomination, trying to split the church and giving heed to doctrines of demons. The more you sought God and tried to expound the truth about the matter the angrier they became until you lost all positions you held in the organization and you ended up being shunned by them. They refused to listen to anything about the subject.
If this has happened to you since God awakened you, you are not alone. God's Word warns you what to expect if you are determined to go all the way with Him.
1. You will be rejected.
2. You will be cast out.
3. You will be stoned.
This is the question that every Christian must answer in these last days: Will we turn aside from truth that compels us--that points out our errors, our sins and commands us to tear down our idols. Will we ignore the truth that points out the error of our pet doctrines, that tells us we must walk holy if we are to see His face. Will we allow the Holy Spirit to expose all man-made traditions and help us to tear down denominational walls that separates members of His body and obscures the person of Jesus.
Somebody has said "When truth is found it stands in judgment of us, we never stand in judgment of it." Every lover of truth desires to come to the light of God's Word so our deeds and doctrines can be subjected to the search light of the Holy Spirit to see if they line up with God"s Word or not.
Multitudes of Christians today do not love the truth. They love their traditions, their leaders, their constitutions and their denominations. This is proven by their adherence to what the above says rather then what the Word of God says. These compromising believers are deceived but, like the Jews of Jesus' day, they are convinced they see clearly. They say they adhere to God's Word but, the truth is, only if it agrees with their denomination's belief. Something other than truth holds their hearts; they do not embrace God's Word like a priceless pearl. Instead they coddle whatever the preacher says, or the constitution says, or some false teaching that caters to their flesh.
But a day of reckoning is coming. The Bible says that those who turn a deaf ear to the truth is in danger of missing it altogether:
II Th 2:8-12.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
In the minds of those who reject you and forsake you because of truth have good reason: It is because they see you as a threat to something they hold dear. Your stand for truth is a rebuke to their compromise.
Paul experienced this numerous times. He wrote to Timothy, "All those in Asia have turned away from me" (2 Tim. 1:15). Paul had given his all to these people, declaring to them the whole council of God. He was blameless before them, holy and reproach. Yet the churches of Asia rejected Him and his own spiritual children avoided him. Why? Because Paul was now in prison. He was suffering--in deep affliction, bound by chains, "a prisoner of the Lord." In the meantime, a new teacher had become popular, one who brought an ear-tickling message to the people Paul had taught. "Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm, may the Lord repay him according to his works" (2 Tim. 4:14).
Alexander and Hymenaeus were teaching a false gospel that catered to the flesh. Their doctrine denied all suffering and hardship. Alexander's name means "man- pleaser." Hymenaeus was named after the god of weddings; he represented a gospel of love, blessing, joy, celebration and man-pleasing without holiness. Scripture says Paul turned these men over to Satan that they might learn to stop blaspheming (1 Tim. 1:20). This was for the destruction not of their bodies, but of their flesh doctrines. A lot of churches need to be turned over to Satan in order that they may be disciplined, and get rid of their man-made, flesh-pleasing doctrines. Not for their destruction but that they may repent and turn back to righteousness.
Jesus warned His disciples of the further rejection they would face: "They will put you out of the synagogues; (John 16:2). Jesus was saying, "I am telling you these things so you won't stumble" Don't be surprised when the traditional church throws you out. They don't accomplish this by expelling you or saying that you can't worship here, no, they make you feel so uncomfortable, unloved, unwanted and use this as a means of freezing you out. They may think they didn't kick you out but they did by giving you the left boot of fellowship.
If you intend to go all the way with Christ, you must be prepared to bare His sufferings. Who reproached Jesus, heaped shame upon His head and vilified His name as filthy? It was the so called religious crowd whose traditions he questioned and lambasted. If the religious crowed persecuted and reproached Him, they will do the same to all who will die to self for His sake.
I have heard hungry Christians say, "Our church is dead, we have talked to our leaders, and they see nothing wrong and say, 'if it is dead all the blame lies with the congregation.' What should we do?' The answer can be found in the book of Acts. Paul went into every synagogue he encountered and tried hard to persuade any lukewarm churchgoers about Christ, hoping they would hear. But the leaders response was to kick Paul out of the synagogue and out of town.
If you hold fast to your commitment to Christ, even in the face of being rejected and cast out, the same religious majority will stand ready to stone you. This stoning will not likely be a literal stoning as they did to Stephen but they will stone you nevertheless. Think of it this way: Today, in this age of grace, if a man looks upon a woman with lust, in God's eyes he is committing adultery. If someone hates, he is a murderer. Conversely, if vicious words are hurled about you, for believing the Word above a constitution or a denomination, you are being stoned: "[They] sharpen their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows--bitter words" (Ps. 64:3).
Why did a call to obedience, to go in and take the country, provoke such a reaction in the Israelites that they wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb? Because compromise and unbelief go hand in hand. Once the heart is captured by traditional beliefs, unbelief takes hold. And after that happens, all preaching against compromise is referring to some long held tradition or denominational doctrine that is not founded on God's Word. Without knowing it the people of such a church end up fighting against God, even while blindly confessing His name.
How should we react when rejected, cast out and stoned? We must follow the example of our Master, who "opened not His mouth." We are to "Pray for those who spitefully use us" (Matt. 5:44). "Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure" (1 Cor. 4:12).
Friend we face a cost for going all the way with Jesus, but we also receive a reward: it is simply the blessing of having Christ stand with us. You see Christ will not stand with some denomination's tradition that is against His Word, He will always stand for the truth of His Word. So count the cost and know that your reward in all things, is the precious presence of Jesus Christ.
Let me ask you a sobering question. What has been your reaction to the church and the people of that church that forced you out from among them? What has your thoughts been toward them? What has your talking been about them. What has your attitude been towards them? Have you let your tongue hinder God from accomplishing His work through you?
In order for God to work through us we must have our relationships in order. We must first and foremost develop a relationship with God that is second to none. We develop and maintain that relationship by being obedient to God's Word. All other relationships: Husband and wife, parents and children, friends and neighbors, and relationships towards those who have done us wrong can only be made right if our relationship with God is what it ought to be.
In order to have a right relationship with God there are several keys we must practice.
1. There must be two way communication, where we talk to God and God talks to us. Prayer and the Study of God's Word is of vital importance. We must also try to establish communication with the ones who have done us wrong to let them know that you hold no ill feelings toward them and that you forgive them. How they react is not your concern, they will answer to God for that.We must maintain a relational journey with God and with people.
2. In our communication with Him we must be honest. Never put on a facade pretending to be something we are not. God knows who and what we are anyway. But He still requires us to be honest and up front with Him.
3. We must be a people of praise and worship. Praise and worship simply means being what we are supposed to be in God, then doing what we do on a daily basis is praise and worship unto Him. For that is the purpose for which we were created. God moves on the behalf of His people in the atmosphere of true praise and worship. Satan cannot stay in an atmosphere where true praise and worship, coming from a people who abide in Christ and is a daily practice of believers.
4. We must be a giving people. We must give ourselves 100% over to the control of the Head of the Church, Jesus. Then we can give of ourselves and our things to advance the kingdom of God.
5. We must be a listening people. We must listen and act on what God says to us in prayer and through His Word.
If we fail in any of these five areas we will not develop a right relationship with God, therefore we will not have a right relationship with others.
The first step in developing a right relationship with God as Christians is we must repent.
Rev. 3:19, The Amplified Bible says, Those whom I [dearly] and [tenderely] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and REPENT [changing your mind and attitude].
2 Chr 7:14-15:
14 "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
15 "Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.
Jer 3:12-13:
12 "Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: 'Return, backsliding Israel,' says the LORD, 'I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I am merciful,' says the LORD; 'I will not remain angry forever.
13 Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the LORD your God, and have scattered your charms to alien deities under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,' says the LORD.
Jer 6:16:
16 Thus says the LORD: "Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'
You may ask, what will it take for us to experience New Testament Christianity that will turn the souls of many to God?
We must hear and heed God's warning...
Confess our sins...including the sin of unbelief...
Repent...turn away from our ungodly ways...
AND TURN BACK TO GOD!
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