Reach A Little Further

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Philippians 2:1-2

Reach A Little Further
How proud must Satan feel fight now? Imagine how he gloats as he looks over the world and says “See what I have done? The people live in fear. They are fighting in the streets and spewing hatred towards one another. They hoard things for themselves. They are all separated.  The doors of the churches are closed. The doors of the schools are closed. The unity of mankind is fractured – greater than it has been in a long time. Best of all, they are disconnected.”

People are tired. There is no end in sight to the mess we are living in that has disrupted our lives so much. We long in our hearts for fellowship and some normalcy. We long to look at each other’s faces and see the smiles beneath the masks. We need to see those smiles. We are isolated – and some have not had another soul in their life since this all began.  We haven’t been to church in so long we have forgotten what community feels like. As we grow more and more distanced from it, we will become indifferent and we will fill the need in some other way. This is exactly what Satan hopes – that we will give up the fight and give in. We will give up on going back the way it was, meeting together for worship, discipling one another, sharing life together. He knows there is strength in numbers and if he can isolate us, he can tear us down individually.

This is what we cannot let happen, no matter how long all the mess lingers on. We cannot give up the fight of getting back what we have lost. We cannot become indifferent to what is going on in each other’s lives, and more importantly in each other’s hearts. We must stay connected so we can continue on being of the same mind.

Where is our singleness of mind?  It is on Christ Jesus and His truth. There are so many uncertainties and it seems there are more every day. As Christians, we know what is certain and we need to fix our minds on Him. We need to meet together in small groups when possible so we can take care of each other the way He instructed us to.  When we are of the same mind, and loving each other, we can be Jesus to the rest of the hurting world so much better. He built us for relationship! 

Ways Satan tries to keep us isolated:

·         We stop seeking help from God – We believe the lies that we are unworthy, that we are a lost cause in His eyes. We believe He doesn’t care what happens to us and we deserve it.

·         We stop seeking help from others – We believe the lie that if others knew all the things about us, they would not want us in their lives; we believe the lie that we can handle things on our own; we believe the lie that we shouldn’t bother others with our mess – they really don’t want to know.

Right now we need to be caring for our souls and our relationship with Jesus, and loving each other better than ever. Loving each other and serving each other will bring us so much closer to God. Taking the focus off ourselves and turning to others heals brokenness and lifts the heaviest spirits. Reach out to your friends and loved ones. Reach out to your neighbors. Spread some love and care to those He has placed in your life, and then reach a little further to someone you don’t know. There are lots of people out there feeling very hopeless, who would benefit greatly from the love of Christ.

We can’t know God without others. We were built to be seen and loved, and that’s exactly
why the enemy of our soul wants to take that from us. Jennie Allen

Lara Cook