Distance, Separation and the Cure

Written and published by Jean-Louis Mondon - http://thelightseed.blogspot.com

“See. I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the heart of the children to their fathers: or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” Malachi 4:5.

The ministry of reconciliation
“Therefore if anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. As ambassadors committed with the ministry of reconciliation, as though God were making an appeal through us, we implore you on Christ‘s behalf:
Be reconciled to God." 2 Corinthians 5:17-20.

Distance and separation
And the space between ourselves sometimes is more than the distance between the stars. By the fragile bridge of the Servant's bow we take up the basin and the towel. Read more, The Basin and the Towel


Definition of “Far away” in The Fuegian language of Tierra del Fuego. A seven syllable word which means:
“They stare at each other, each waiting for the other to do what each wants but is not able to.”

One can appreciate the rich and insightful imagery of primitive language, but the question remains: Is it a matter of inability or unwillingness?
When the Lord Jesus was approaching the hour of His death, He himself prayed giving us a model prayer: “Father not my will, but yours be done”
What keeps us separated? Basically it is our pride and unwillingness to humble ourselves. We prefer to remain in a prison of our own making, when the key has been given to us that could release us from being captive to our own will and stubbornness.

Every argument won in a verbal conflict at the detriment of forgiveness and reconciliation ends up being one more brick we use in building a wall of separation protecting us from the very ones that Christ has sent our way to help them in their struggle to find forgiveness and freedom from spiritual captivity.
Every argument won ends up being one more shovel full in digging deeper the ditch of distance between persons whose ministry is to be a bridge builder, not a wall builder or a ditch digger.

The remedy
Do we have the key that opens the door onto light and life? Only God can give us this key to freedom.

Isaiah declares: “He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge;
The fear of the Lord is the KEY to this treasure.” Isaiah 33:6.
Do we need a sure foundation in our present time of confusion, perplexity, and contemplating our navel and worshiping the earth to find the solution with the greatest brains as guides in our cultures of death?

The Lord Jesus to John the apostle in Revelation chapter 3:7: “These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”

There is a time and a season for everything under the sun, but Jesus is sending his servants to proclaim that "NOW is the day of salvation and that there is no other name under heaven but the name of Jesus by which man can be saved"
The only way men can experience real peace and reconciliation with others is to first be reconciled with God.

Oh, that we would heed the command of our Lord Jesus to build bridges and tear down brick by brick the strongholds in our hearts that we have erected patiently, day after day, month after month until it becomes the very fabric that makes up the callous covering of protection keeping other people from being welcome in our hearts.

So looking forward to this year´s Resurrection day celebration, this is my hope and prayer for the readers of this blog that do not know the Lord Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Be reconciled first with God through recognizing and accepting the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus for you, He brought peace to us who were enemies of God; receive the pardon and salvation that are already paid for by His blood shed for you on the cross and the free gift of eternal life available to all who humbly turn to His light and life from their slavery to sin.

If you already know the Lord Jesus, His peace to you and may His grace and love abide and rule in your heart as you seek to do His will, to be fruitful and keep looking for His soon return.

Heavenly Father, by your grace and the power of your love through your Holy Spirit, free the prisoners in our families, our churches. You alone can penetrate through and behind those brick walls and fill those ditches of separation. You alone can heal bitter, broken hearts and restore us to our call to love you and serve you as we obey your command to love each other sincerely from the heart and serve our brothers in humility and submission to your will and purpose in our lives.

His Name is a strong tower and we are victorious by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony that Jesus alone is Lord of Lords and King of Kings and worthy of our praise. Blessed be His holy Name. Amen.

Jean-Louis 14/4/2017 Edited and from previous posting 12/2009.

The Greek Geek Aπολύω: Divorce

Republished from blogos.org

By Chris Conner

Jesus said, "And I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery." Matthew 19:9

Stop. Before you read this give it a chance. You might find more grace and mercy on this subject than you ever knew. We are going to talk about divorce, but we're going to talk about it in context, which will provide some very interesting insight.

"The man who hates and divorces his wife," says the Lord, the God of Israel, "does violence to the one he should protect," says the Lord Almighty. Malachi 2:16 (NIV)

First: in Malachi 2:16 the personal pronoun "I" is not in the Hebrew or the LXX text. Even though it may not say, "I hate divorce, says the Lord," we all know that God hates the breaking of covenants. The better rendering of this would be: "'The man who hates and divorces his wife,' says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'does violence to the one he should protect, says the LORD Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.'"

The word "divorce", or ἀπολύω (transliteration: apolyo; phonetic pronunciation: ap-ol-oo-oh) means "to free fully, i.e. (literal) relieve, release, dismiss (reflexive depart), or (figurative) let die, pardon, or (specifically) divorce; (let) depart, dismiss, divorce, forgive, let go, loose, put (send) away, release, set at liberty.)"

Now from the beginning we know that God only wanted one husband for one wife: "Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement'" (Genesis 2:18). The ideal in life is: "One man for one woman." The reality is: "We live in a real world in which there are many divorces." The Bible not only acknowledges the concept of divorce but also legislates it: "If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds something improper about her, he may write her a divorce certificate, hand it to her, and send her away from his house" (Deuteronomy 24:1). This verse never demanded divorce but allowed it to take place. A person does not have to divorce; he/she may want to forgive that person and be reconciled. Moses' legislation would have discouraged divorce because, now, you had to take the time to write up the bill, get witnesses, take it to the proper authorities etc. This would allow you time to "cool off" and re-think the issue.

To read further, click Blogos - The Greek Geek