DO YOU HAVE A SEVERED RELATIONSHIP?

Recently, I heard a man say words along the following lines:-

" Very often God will meet your needs in a way which you may not understand because you are commanded to walk by faith.

Your need will be for the most part be met through people. For instance, God will put people together through divine appointments. They will have assets, gifts, talents and knowledge which are the answer to your problems. You may be the answer to their needs. "

I thought at the time it was prophetic and the first scripture which came to mind was:- 1 Kings 17.

In this passage God sends Elijah to Zarephath and says," I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee." (v. 9 )

During the prophet' s stay with the woman and her son three people survive the famine because of miracle provision day after day. Later God uses the prophet to raise the son from the dead.

Similarly, in 2 Kings 4 the woman provided Elisha with a " furnished room" and in exchange the prophet prophesies she will have a son and later is instrumental in raising this child from the dead.

Therefore, if a relationship is severed then we cut off our supply. One shoots one' s self in the foot. Somebody once said, " Don 't bite the hand that feeds you. "

We have to be careful not to get into strife. Strife is the works of the flesh (Gal. 5: 19-21). When there is strife there is confusion and every evil work (James 3: 16).

There is another wrinkle with respect to strife and it is found early on in the Bible. The first mention of strife in the Bible is Genesis 13. God had told Abram previously to separate from thy kindred (Gen. 12: 2). And it appears that God may have allowed this strife to get Abram away from Lot because Abram wasn't totally away from his family. I am not saying that this applies to you and your situation - I am talking generally here about strife.

Perhaps you have a broken relationship with your natural father and / or mother. The scripture which has to be relevant here has to be:- Honour thy father and thy mother ... ( e.g. Ex. 20 :12; Matt.15;4 and Eph. 6: 2 ).

Possibly you have a problem with some other member of family of God, e.g. spouse.

Recently, a survey was made of 200 married adults in regards to forgiveness (1). The researchers were wondering how one?s ability to forgive others would affect their marital satisfaction and personal well-being. The results were astounding! This research suggests that there is a huge relationship between marriage satisfaction and forgiveness. In fact, it appears that as much as one third of marriage satisfaction is related to forgiveness. Not only does the ability to forgive impact the marriage relationship, it was significantly related to personal emotional distress. As forgiveness ability went up, individuals reported fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety, and fatigue! These results are powerful and suggest that all counsellors, both secular and faith-based, should be helping people develop the skill of forgiveness.

More importantly you may have a severed relationship with God. Even if a person claims to be a Christian there is an important situation which may cut you off from God' s supply.

Consider the Lord's prayer in the Matthew' s Gospel Chapter 6.

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Notice in the subsequent verses Jesus gives some exposition on the subject of forgiveness.

14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Therefore, if God will not forgive one's sin then one is separated from God and in my opinion is cut off from His grace.

Later in Matthew Jesus gives instruction on how to treat our offending brethren (Matthew 18:21-35). It is obvious in this illustration that the servant has put himself / herself in bondage by refusing to forgive.

We know of a retired pastor who has a successful Christian newsletter who is now about 80 years old. His name is Papalou (2). He wrote in one of his ezines the following which to me displays an excellent attitude, ' Some have sent some "nasty" emails when they unsubscribe. I will not repeat them here. ... One went as far as using profanity! However, that doesn't bother me. I spent five years in the Marine Corps during WWII, and you can't use any profanity that I haven't heard. I just feel sorry for them and I pray for them. That is what my Lord taught me to do. I just say "Forgive us of all our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." '

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, help us not to get into strife and help us give a soft answer ( Proverbs 15: 1 ). Give us the grace to keep out of strife and also grace to forgive people that have offended us. Also set a watch, O Lord, before our mouths; keep the door of our lips.( Psalm 141: 3 ). In Jesus' name, Amen.

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1. Peter J. Larson, New Forgiveness Research Jan. 27, 2003


2. Papalou ( Lou Powell ) http://www.Papalou.net April 26, 2002

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