I AM going to take another little detour from our normal path of study in Principles of Spiritual Growth. In the past I have occasionally shared comments from Lamplighters Publications, Mark Hamby I thought especially worthwhile.
THERE is a book that has been on my shelf I’ve been meaning to slowly reading through, “Gleanings from Paul, The Prayers of the Apostle” by Arthur Pink. So far, it has been most instructive and insightful. Of late I have become convinced of a reoccurring theme is scripture, the “unity of the spirit in the bound of peace.” In the opening drama of human history, Satan successfully introduced disunity, and Proverbs 6 states rather emphatically that one thing God hates above all else is discord among the brethren. Redemption is in fact the process of reconciliation, a oneness with God and His own, unity. In my readings in “Gleanings” by Pink, he made an interesting observation, quoting Charles Hodge, saying in reference to Rom 15:1-5 & Phil 2:2-20:
…”like-mindedness does not signify uniformity of opinion, but harmony of [heart]”
I DID a quick word study of the word “like-mindedness,” and yes it does not mean mental agreement, rather it is as Pink further defines it: 1) obedience to the command of Christ, “love for one another,” 2) according to the example of Christ, an acceptance of one another, even to the condescending to washing one another’s feet, and 3) making Christ the Center, in other words it is not about us, but to a higher calling, Christ. (Again, the monumental problem of “self” stands before us.)
PINK has much to say on this to the practical side; and as to why much prayer is given to the honor of Christ, that unity and concord may obtain for the glory of His name. Pink quotes another author saying, “For [when] the patient and comforted mind can join in praise with those from [which] there is dissent of opinion, this is true Christian union. ‘Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God’ (Rom 15.7).’ This is not an exhortation to one class of individual only, but to both the strong and the weak alike”.
WELL, I’m going long with this. But my point in sharing this is that what came on the heels of this reading, a comment from is Mark Hamby below. (Another little providence.) There is much that can be discussed here, but when we think on unity there is one practical side to it, “relationships” – relationships on the vertical and horizontal. I’ll leave that thought for you to muse upon as you consider how these things may tie together with Pinks’ observations above, and what Mark Hamby has to say below. At first you will probably wonder at the connection, but read to the end, this being in two parts, this being Part 1 of Permission or Presumption.
With regards in Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10, Isa 30:15, James 1:2
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Permission or Presumption Part 1
By Mark Hamby
In Judges chapter 1, Israel asks God who should go first into battle to defeat the enemy. God says that Judah should go up first. So after prayer and direct revelation from God, Judah goes out to war and annihilates the enemy. Wouldn’t it be nice if we, too, could hear from God each time we had a battle to fight?
In Judges 20, Israel again asks God who should lead the way into battle. But this time the battle is against their own brethren, the tribe of Benjamin. Once again, through direct revelation, God says that Judah should go first. Now if you asked God for direction and received indisputable evidence that He was leading you, how would you respond if His direction led only to your defeat and destruction? Twenty-two thousand–dead! To make matters worse, they asked God a second time, only this time with prayer and weeping. The result was the same! Eighteen thousand more–dead! Can you imagine? Why would a God of love lead a praying people into such catastrophic defeat? Perhaps you have experienced something similar. You prayed for your marriage, but it ended in divorce. You prayed for your teen, but he ended up enslaved to drugs. You prayed for your daughter, but she ran off with an undesirable young man. You have prayed and prayed and prayed, yet you have experienced utter defeat. Why? The answer is found in the book of Judges, where we learn that every man did that which was right in his own eyes. And tomorrow we will learn . . . the rest of the story. ..to be continued
