Sweet words from Julia…
If I have a poor attitude towards another brother in Christ, yet I don’t change my behavior and love that person in return, I know it to be sin. I keep my attitude, “If they were just more lovable it wouldn’t be a problem. Why should I be the first to change?” In reading 1 Peter 4:17, we receive a heavy exhortation as believers, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
In 1 Peter 4, Peter explains to us that as Christians, redeemed from sin, we are responsible to act in such a manner that would reflect to unbelievers that we are no longer finding satisfaction in the sinful life style. We should rather suffer for our faith verses suffer the effects of sin. He then goes on to say that the end is near, therefore there are a few characteristics that should be found among brothers in Christ, and the last exhortation is to be put above all others, “to have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” I find it interesting to see that it was not suggesting that there may be sins that love will have to override, it is definitive, the sins. The chapter continues to explain that as we all have received gifts from the Lord we are responsible to use them wisely as good stewards of His grace; they are to be used with His strength and for His glory.
It’s so easy to become content with the knowledge that Christ loves all and is all sufficient for everyone, that we somehow think that it’s not important for us to love others. But as Peter stated, we are to love not only because the opposite of loving is sin, but because it is a witness to the lost that we are conformed to the mind of Christ and no longer desire to sin as we once did before Christ. This love is no light commitment when it states that is it to overlook sin. We need to be actively pursuing Christ and seeking to honor Him in our actions toward one another. “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32

A sweet note from our friend Billy…

I recently began working with a young man from a country in Africa called Burundi. He had come to America two and a half years ago as a refugee with his wife and children. In Burundi, he shared with me, that the government would kill all those who opposed it’s rule. A massive genocide took place in 1993 that resulted in more than 25,000 deaths, and many of those being innocent civilians. Though the atmosphere in Berundi now is not that intense, it is still a place many are fleeing in fear. My co-worker shared with me that when villages were about to be attacked, the people would take the blood from those recently deceased and cover themselves with it. They would then “play dead” and when the attackers came they would pass through the village without harming anyone. Wow, covered by anothers blood would save their life.
I was sharing this horrific event with my wife when the Holy Spirit showed me, this was my current state. It is the blood of Jesus that has covered me, and has saved me from the death that judgment would bring. It is the blood that our Father in heaven must see upon us. It is not the good works , the attitude, the ambitions, the desires that will rend you faultless before our Father. It is only the blood. By that blood we are justified, and the process of sanctification begins. ” … for thou was slain, and hast redeemed us to God, by the blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.