STORM - Disagreement

-

Acts 15:38-39

But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work.

Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus.


When people look at some relationships they envy the supposed perfect fit, the great friendship, the couple's love, the unity of the brethren etc. However, that doesn't mean that there was no storm, there is no storm and there will be no storm. Nope.


As believers we are expected to be one, Christ prayed:


John 17:21

I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.


However there will come times when there will be disagreement, one yet has to stand for the truth. Not judging anyone in this dispute, it is of note that it was Paul and his new companion Silas that was blessed by the brethren:


Acts 15:40

Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord’s gracious care.


Furthermore the story continues making reference to Paul's side of the ministry . . .


Does this imply that Paul was right? Maybe, because we remember that John Mark left them:


Acts 13:5,13

There, in the town of Salamis, they went to the Jewish synagogues and preached the word of God. John Mark went with them as their assistant.

Paul and his companions then left Paphos by ship for Pamphylia, landing at the port town of Perga. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem.


Why he left I do not know, well it is not for me to worry about, however Paul strongly felt that he should not be invited for the revisit journey.


Two things we can take from these scriptures:


*You must revisit the brethren, that new birthed church must be encouraged and nourished, that is the role of bishops.


*The fact that there are disagreement must not mean that the mission has ended. The work must continue.


Every storm will come and also pass, it doesn't last forever, don't get caught up in the storm, see the signs and take cover. You live to rebuild even if anything is destroyed. Live first.


May we not be stopped by the storm instead every challenge will see us coming out triumphant, better, stronger and moving forward.


So help us Good Lord.


He calls us blessed.


Love

@the watcher.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DO YOU STILL SEE?

-
Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, it will not tarry. It may have been easy when we first believed, to visualize the promises. We reach out with zeal, loving God, seeking to do exploits. That was when we first believed, just as Jesus said: John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." When we become born again we see God's kingdom, our spirit man is reborn and we count the flesh as nothing. Then time passes by, we are in the world, all its distractions, temptations, responsibilities, challenges and so on begin to reveal themselves. The question then is: * Can we still see heaven? John 3:3 * Are we still zealous? John 2:17 * Are we continuing in those things? Acts 2:42 * Are we walking in love? 1John 4:7 or Has the cares and worries of life and service ta
Read more

DO UNTO OTHERS . . .

-
Matthew 7:12 "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. It is hypocritical of us to expect people to stand with us when we are experiencing challenges yet when we see others face their own challenges, we begin to imagine what they must have done wrong or maybe they annoyed God or did one evil or the other instead of reaching out to help as we would desire others to do for us. The same thing goes for prosperity, when the Lord opens a door for us and we have abundance of wealth or a breakthrough we expect others to rejoice with us, more so, some would even find it hard to give to others. What is our reaction when someone else gets this breakthrough, do we get suddenly suspicious without reason. Do we expect the person to reach out to us? It is better to stay on the side of encouragement than to sit as a judge or prosecutor. Jesus said, Matthew 7:2 "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same
Read more

MY YEAR OF FULFILMENT

-
Psalms 57:2 I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me. We just finished the book of 1Samuel, in this book we see the cry of Israel for a king and how God raised Saul to rule them. We also saw how Saul disobeyed God and lost kingship for himself and his generation. He did not stop there, he went on to seek for the death of David, whom he saw as the next heir of the throne. In chapter 31, the last chapter, we see how Saul and all his sons and men were killed, it was tragic, however it was as a sign of relief for David. We could go on counting all the struggles and difficulties we faced in the past year. No, we should not, we should begin to look at all the positives, remembering all the good things God has done for us. If He promised it, He will do it and that is what we hold onto as we go through this year. Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. This is the year of fulfilment, and
Read more