H.U.M.P. Day!!!!!!!

Wednesday, August 16th, 2011

Today's Passage: Matthew 18: 1-17
Memory Verse: Matt. 18:4

In the heartwarming song by Kevin Lavar called "A Heart that Forgives", there's a part that says, "Just like little children playing on the playground, one minute they're fighting and the next they're laughing... Teach us to have a heart that forgives" [paraphrased]. There's something about children that's so refreshing. They're incapable of holding a grudge for long. No matter how mad they get over something that's been said or done to them, their short-term memories push those thoughts out almost as quickly as they go in. I can't give the scientific explanation for this, but I do know that this is the mindset God wants us to have if we want to see Jesus.

As believers, it's very easy for us to accept the parts of our walk where we get to walk in power and authority, telling the devil where he does and doesn't belong. We're even okay with having to go through for a little while as long as we know it's going to pass soon, and that God's blessings and favor will always be with us. But for some reason, we have a hard time letting go of hard feelings towards one another for past offenses. Well, today's passage tells us that we DON'T have the option of deciding whether or not we will walk in peace with our brothers and sisters.

Not only does God expect us to walk in peace, but He also wants us to walk in the same humility that children do, establishing the fact that it's not all about us. Furthermore, the Word tells us that we will NOT enter the kingdom if we use any of our members to sin, or cause others to do the same. On the other hand, He doesn't want us to ignore conflicts, either. He wants us to address them as they come up, so that resentment and bitterness do not creep in. So what is our H.U.M.P Day challenge? We've got some soul-searching to do. Have our alliances been spiritually sound? Have we stirred others up to want to serve the Lord even more, or is there a breach somewhere as a result of something we've said or done?

Remember, our goal is to get Home, and Father knows what He wants the condition of our hearts to be in order to get us there. Today, find someone that you may have had a misunderstanding with in the past. Ask to have an intimate talk with them (with one or both of your pastors there). Expose the issue(s) that have kept you alienated from that person, and don't stop until restoration has replaced the resentment. Let God's children play together again, laughing much with no malice... Only His love. Have a blessed H.U.M.P. Day!