~THE ATTITUDE OF JESUS~

The person in Christ's effectiveness in mission can be greatly affected by his/her attitude. Because of the importance of this we will look at how Jesus worked among men and His attitude with them:

1. He was sure of His calling
2. He really loved people
3. He cared deeply about unwanted individual
4. He was slow to condemn
5. He saw them as they might be
6. He did not easily give up
7. He saw them as whole people
8. He spent himself for others

The church, the world, must become ready to adopt the role as servant and be ready like Jesus, to spend themselves for others.

~Oh The Glory Of Your Presence~

~Walking In The Light~

He who says he is in the Light, and hates his brother, is in darkness even until now. He who loves his Brother abides in the Light and there is no occasion of stumbling in him. But he who hates his Brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and knows not where he goes, because that darkness has blinded his eyes. {1 John 2:10}

~Fellowship with God depends on loving members of the family of God~
~It must be a vertical and horizontal relationship with God and mankind~
How can we claim to have love, an at the same time hate our Brother? This love is the God kind of love that only can happen if one is saved. To walk in the light is to be governed by love which removes all stumbling blocks. The individual who has once known the Lord but is losing his way with God simply because of hatred in his heart for a fellow Christian can only walk in darkness, because God is love and His love is light which dispels that darkness. The sad thing is when one is living in spiritual darkness they merely do not see, but that person goes spiritually blind which makes an individual an open target for false doctrine. This blindness keeps one from seeing clearly the path before them so they are blind- sighted and led astray down a different path or a different doctrine. We cannot hate our brother and walk in the light simultaneously.

There is strong opposition of feelings between God and the believer who hates his fellow Christian because God is pure and absolute light. Darkness means in this context to be out of fellowship with God or carnal. We cannot claim to be in the light and hate fellow Christians. We test our fellowship with God by whether we love Christians. There is no gray area between light and darkness when it comes to God for He is perfect in His character. We cannot be in fellowship with God and out of fellowship with a Christian at the same time. It is not God’s divine order. Christians who characteristically hate their brothers are in the darkness of being out of fellowship with God. This is the absence of fellowship with the God of light. God’s love cannot be neutral. Genuine Christians can sometimes hate other Christians. That is why John challenges the believer to radical love. We cannot toy with divine love if we love biblically. A Christian loves self-sacrificially.

Be of The Same Mind!

All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. Philippians 3:15-16 NIV

So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it.
Philippians 3:15-16 The Message

Wouldn't the world be a boring place if we all looked the same, acted the same and thought the same? God is amazingly creative. He made each person unique - all the way down to the number of hairs on your head. There is no one else quite like you. You are uniquely "you" - just because that's the way God wanted it. Instead of embracing our differences and learning from them, often these differences are the source of great conflict. Wars have been fought over differences, Churches have split over them. Families and marriages have fallen apart because of them. People who profess Christ as their Savior are called Christians - and even when agreeing over something a big as that, still there are differences that separate us.That's what Paul is talking about in Philppians .

Using himself as an example for Christians to follow, Paul is encouraging the Philippians to be like-minded - focusing their hearts upon Christ and heaven - instead of focusing on the things we don't agree upon. Despite the many things we differ on, focusing on Christ is something all Christians should be able to agree upon. Paul is encouraging us all to bear with one another and not judge each other because of our differences. We should focus on the goal - knowing Christ and making Him our all. As for our differences, we shouldn't stress over those things. We should join together and wait for God to give us a greater understanding of those things we differ on.So instead of focusing on the things that make us different and separate us, I am trying to focus on the things that unite us. One of which is knowing that Jesus died for each of us and He loves each of us the same and it's more than we can measure or imagine and there's nothing any of us can ever do or have ever done that will change that.

Praise Him!