Bear Ye One Another's Burdens

Bear ye one another's burdens
and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Cain asked, 'Am I my brother's keeper?' 
The carnal christian will wonder the same thing.
It is no mistake that the Spirit placed hatred, murder, 
and heresies in the same list of 'the works of the flesh'. 

But he that is spiritual knows that he IS indeed his brothers keeper. 
He knows that he is duty bound by the Word of God to seek their restoration. 
"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, 
ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; 
considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." Galatians 6:1

Bear ye one another's burdens
and so fulfill the law of Christ.

But some may say, 'I have tried and they will not hear it.' 
Then you have delivered yourself from anyfurther obligation besides love. 
If they refuse then forbear WITH them in love but 
if they be divisive then you have no choice, 
you are also bound by theWord, to walk AWAY.

They shall bear their own burden.
But consider yourself lest you are tempted to 
respond in anger, wrath, or malice.

Bear ye one another's burdens
and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Count it ALL Joy

We never enjoy the forms our trials take.
Always quick to complain or cast in our minds that
there must be some easier, more desirable way. 

But no, if we desire that good, and acceptable, and perfect way of God
then there is no other way; it must be as He has decreed.

If He chose some other way,
would it be any less painful and still
perform the intended transformation? 

No we never will enjoy the trials we endure,
that is why they are so effective.
He who knows our hearts also knows
what it will take to subdue the will.

But when at once we acknowledge that God has
determined to form in us something stronger,
and to prepare in us a work more effective,
then we submit to His omniscient way
and our trial becomes a trying of our faith.

Only then by faith, can we count it all joy.

"My brethren, count it all joy
when ye fall into divers temptations;"
James 1:2

EMMANUEL

Christian friend,

We serve an incredibly wise and gracious God.
"God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself."
He, the omnipotent God, walked here among men as a man to save mankind. (all of whosoever will) In His omniscience He knew you before you were born.

He is all powerful and all knowing but
let me ask you something friend, 'where is God?'.

You say 'well God is omnipresent, He ...is everywhere.'
And I say true He is. "In Him we live and move and have our being."

But that is not the most powerful answer you can give.
The most meaningful answer for me is 'God is here'.
"He is an ever present Help in time of need."
He is here with me at this very moment.
And He is there with you also.
That is powerful.

The omnipotent,
omniscient God is
our constant Companion.

'Here' makes it personal
and not simply doctrinal.
God is very near!
Incredible!!!

Terrific Tools OR Deadly Distractions

Imagine if you had an open invitation into another Christian’s life for just a few minutes on an almost daily basis. What would you do with that kind of privilege? Would you squander it and waste time with them on frivolity? Would you seize the opportunity for self aggrandizement? Or would you use the opportunity to build up others? I certainly hope you would use the time wisely; that you would use it to build up others and to build healthy, deep, meaningful, mutually fulfilling relationships.


Building relationships with other church members and friends is an exchange of ideas and interests that takes time. I have found in order to build deep friendships it takes much more than learning someone’s name and saying ‘hello’ on a frequent basis. It takes time, a lot of time; it takes caring and sharing, it takes compassion and cooperation. Time is a scarce commodity. If your church is like mine, usually everyone is so busy doing one thing or another that there is scarcely time for fellowship in, and around, and between various ministry activities and services.  So imagine if you had an open invitation into another Christian’s life for just a few minutes on almost a daily basis. What would you do with that kind of privilege?

Before Dr. Franklin discovered electricity, and before Alex Bell ramped up communications, and before Mr. Tucker or Ford or whoever it was (it wasn’t Flintstone, :-), but before someone discovered motorized transportation, and before the Wrights discovered we could fly; Before the Industrial Revolution things were simpler, relationships were simpler.  People are busy today.
Very busy. And church people are busy too.

I have come to the conclusion that among the other more Biblical things that the church is, It is a group of very, very, very busy people, with their own problems and concerns, and their own goals and dreams, and their own pressures and trials, all coming together in one place where they have One Person as their concerted, holy, supreme focus for a few hours.  And since His desire is towards people, and the love of Christ constrains the spirit-filled believer, we have a burden for the lost and a desire to encourage our brothers. (and sisters too.)



But people are busy today. Very busy. And church people are busy too. So imagine if you had an open invitation into another Christian’s life on almost a daily basis. What would you do with that kind of privilege?As we moved from the Industrial Revolution into a highly technological era, there are helps to building relationships that I think we have only begun to make proper use of in the church. Text messaging and e-mail have been among the most commonly used, but the internet and social networks such as FaceBook, Twitter, Google, and others have become the daily ‘meeting place’ for many. Now it’s not just the younger crowd getting comfortable with the tools of this century; there are many more 'technologically challenged' folks who are seeing the benefits of these tools as well. Also pastors, teachers, counselors, and other mentor type relationships are growing on the social networks at phenomenal rates. Pastors are building strong bonds of friendships with ‘their’ flocks, and others who have a heart for souls also, on an almost daily basis.


I have found that a Bible verse, or the words to a favorite hymn, or just some God-honoring thought can change a persons perspective and can turn a persons day around. We all need encouragement. I am so very encouraged when I get a text saying, "Hey Buddy, I just want you to know, I'm lifting you up to Jesus today." That does something in my soul friend. I certainly hope you will use the tools of our century, and use the candid moments wisely; that you would use them to build up others and to build healthy, deep, meaningful, mutually fulfilling relationships.

But there is another aspect of relationships, specially with regard to  personal time and private time, that I have not yet mentioned. It is the need for healthy boundaries and limits. Online we need boundaries to limit what we say to others and what we will allow others to say to us. There are predators out there that want to seduce you and eat up everything precious in your life. You must have solid, pre-defined boundaries. Also Paul warned the Galatian church, "But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another." (Gal. 5:15) And if this fleshy kind of thing can happen in our churches friend, don't you know that it can happen exponentially online. We need healthy boundaries. And we need to be careful what we text and type. Some things require a face-to-face meeting. Lets not be guilty of laziness in our communications.



You also need limits with regards to how your online activity affects your offline relationships, namely your relationship with your spouse and your children. I am told that here in Maine some guy named Farnsworth from Ellesworth invented something that has become of little worth to me. It's the television. The television is a major distraction for some, but so is the internet. Don't you know that these techno-tools that can help build relationships, can also tear them down. If we do not guard our time with our precious families we may find that we have much more 'free' time than we ever dreamed. It is deadly, it will kill your relationships. We need proper boundaries and we need to prioritize our use of time. Face to face encounters with those dear to us, and dear to Jesus, must not suffer because we are too busy trying to build techno-tolerant relationships.

A final thought;

Relationships require ‘give and take’, and truth is, often it is much more ‘give’ than take. If we have in mind to love and edify others, rather than love and exalt ourselves, then it should be our desire to give, to make investments in the relationship. To give without regard to whether or not we ever make withdrawals. We will want Jesus to become the supreme focus of another persons thoughts. (not us.) If this is our desire it should not bother us if the give is more than the get. Imagine if you had an open invitation into another Christian’s life for just a few minutes on an almost daily basis. What would you do with that kind of privilege?


Jesus must be first.
He must increase, WE must decrease!