Posted in The Hard Truth

A dear friend sent this to me today, to admonish and encourage me with some of the areas I am currently being tested in. She said it is from Bill Gothard devotions, but unfortunately there wasn't a link.  May more of God's love be evident in all of our lives. <>< Kelly

Day 64: Love Your Enemies

Welcome God’s “Hewers”!

Do you ever wonder why God allows so many people to annoy, despise, and provoke us? They disrupt our lives and dominate our attention. One answer is given in a profound analogy. God compares believers to stones that are being perfectly hewn out so that they fit together with every other believer in God’s Temple (see I  Peter  2:5 and Ephesians  2:19–22).

The phrase fitly framed together is a present passive participle, which expresses continuous or repeated action that we receive. During the construction of Solomon’s Temple, there were 80,000 “hewers of stone” in the quarries. Each stone was so perfectly prepared that it needed no further hewing after it was put in place for the Temple (see I  Kings  5:15–18;  6:7). If we view those who are hostile toward us as God’s hewers, we will be ready for the next command:

Command Ten:

“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew  5:44).

David describes the “hewing” action of opponents: “Before I was afflicted, I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. … The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart. … It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes” (Psalm  119:67–71).

This testimony has certainly been true in my own life and ministry. The most powerful truths presented in the Basic Seminar have been “hewn out” by critics. They have motivated me to study the Scriptures more intently to clarify and refine what I teach.

The Basic Seminar itself was the result of hewers who were associated with the first youth ministry I directed. The Board fired me, with the challenge to prove the effectiveness of the Biblical principles I had been teaching young people. The promise expressed by the Apostle Peter has become a reality for me:

“…  After that ye have suffered a while [the God of all grace] make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you” (I  Peter  5:10).

One reason God commands us to love our enemies and bless those who curse us is that He has higher purposes for them than simply making our lives miserable. He wants us to cooperate with Him in the process of developing maturity in our lives. The command does not apply only to conflict from “outsiders,” but also from those in our own families who “chip away” at us on a daily basis.

Let’s purpose now to welcome those who react to us, not as intruders into our lives, but as hewers sent by God to assist Him in improving our character and conforming us into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Day 65: Love Your Enemies

Listen to Your “Perfectors”!

The problem with God’s “hewers” is that sometimes they are so loud, aggressive, and forceful that we close our ears to what God is trying to say to us through them. Often God is trying to tell us:

Find balance in your life and message, because truth out of balance leads to heresy.

One of the most powerful diagrams in the Basic Seminar describes the development of concupiscence. This diagram has a “perfector” story behind it. The diagram was first presented to the student body of a Bible college. After this and other teaching was shared, a spirit of revival spread throughout the campus. Based on this overwhelming response, the college president urged me to return the following year.

When I arrived on campus, I was informed that one of the professors did not agree with my teaching and had been freely sharing his reaction with the students. The president and I met with him, and I asked what caused him to disagree. He said that the chart on the development of concupiscence was incomplete.

I had diagrammed only the spiritual aspects. Following our talk, I realized that there were also psychological and physical developments. By adding these two dimensions to the chart, it took on a whole new perspective, with much deeper meaning and clearer information on how immorality develops in a person’s life. In retrospect, I am very grateful to God for raising up this hewer, because millions of people have benefited from the outcome of the reaction that God stirred up in his heart.

Imbalance in one area of life will usually result in an opposite imbalance in another area.

Parents who become too strict with their children with rules in one area will often become too lenient with their children in another area. For example, one family overemphasized strict rules against any identification with the world, yet they failed to teach their children to love the Lord and walk in His ways. They emphasized religion, but not relationship. As a result they experienced reaction, not only from their children, but from other people as well.

As we continue to meditate on Matthew  5:44, we should ask ourselves if we have created enemies because they have seen imbalances or inconsistencies in our walk with the Lord. If this is the case, then God may be using our enemies to send us a message. If we listen to them and correct our imbalance, we will have new reasons to bless those who curse us.