Quiet Time
Remain Faithful
Date: November 16, 2008
Read: Jude 1:14-25
There are always those who grumble and complain and discourage us in our walk with the Lord. These scriptures warn of those who try to cause division in your relationships and in the church. We all know people like that who are always putting down their family members, friends or church leaders. They leave you feeling frustrated, confused, angry, sad and a million other negative emotions because God's Spirit is not in them.
Our responsibility according to God is to build each other up, show mercy and keep ourselves safe in God's love. When the Holy Spirit indwells in us and we spend time together, there should be no room for negativity. Personally, a negative comment or attitude wears me out emotionally and physically and I purposefully choose NOT to be exposed to that type of personality. I have always believed that if I expose myself to anyone with a critical nature for any amount of time they do great harm to me and what God is able to do in my life. It doesn't take long to listen to someone to know if they are the kind of individual that will bring the best out of you or the worst and we have a responsibility to God, to others and to ourselves to protect our minds and our hearts from the harm of a negative spirit.
Pray for those in your life who you know fit this description and leave them to the Lord and then take yourself out of the line of fire and remain faithful to God, to His Word and to His purpose for your life. Our lives should be such that when we leave each other's presence we are blessed with the time spent, the words we shared and the time we took to care. If not, evaluate that relationship in your life so that you are better able to be used by the Heavenly Father for His Heavenly Kingdom because there is no room there for criticism or negativity.
Published: November 16, 2008
Author: Donella Gallo