I beg to differ!

"Alone...just me and my Jesus" continued:

In this same time with God as my last entry (Alone...just me and my Jesus), after reading John 8, I was told to read Acts 15. Here the Spirit revealed to me the importance of restoration and unity in The Church. The Jewish Christians were demanding that the Gentile Christians must become Jews first (through circumcision) before they could follow Jesus. The Gentiles were confused and frustrated. So Paul and Barnabas called a meeting among the Jewish leaders to set them straight on this. God does not make differences between Jew and Gentile. Once one has accpets Jesus as Lord, the Holy Spirit is placed in them. There is no need for circumcision. The elders and deacons came to see the truth in this and decided it best to write a letter to the Gentiles freeing them from the religious Law of the OT. So, they sent the letter with some of the Jewish leaders along with Paul and Barnabas back to the Gentiles informing them. There was much celebration over this. Paul and Barnabas then felt they needed to go visit all the believers in all the churches from thier first missionary journey. Barnabas requests that John Mark accompany them. Paul refuses, becuase John Mark had deserted them when they were imprisoned. A heated argument ensues, and it is resolved with Paul and Barnabas dividing into 2 groups. Barnabas took John Mark with him to Cyprus, while Paul chose Silas to accompany him. (The start of Paul's second missionary journey)

BUT the story is not complete! There was a heated argument, which led to seperation... BUT was all part of God's plan to bring unity. WHAT??? How does a fight bring unity? Doesn't that bring discord?

Well, here are the parts that I left out... remember the arguing over circumcision? Well, Silas was one of the Jewish leaders sent to deliver the letter to the Gerntiles freeing them from this ritual. Paul chose HIM to go with him on his next journey. When the believers commissioned Paula and Silas for the journey, they sent them off ENTRUSTING THEM TO THE LORD'S GRACE!

And remember Barnabas and Paul's "split?" This too was God's plan... two great preachers formed TWO teams... TWO MISSIONARY ENDEAVORS INSTEAD OF ONE! The Gospel spread faster!

The Lord used this passage to show me that even when things get really ugly among Christians, HE is still in control. He is bigger than our plans, our minds, our vision. When we are FULLY reliant on the Holy Spirit in our lives, through adversity and hardship, God's grace is sufficient. Christians don't always agree. AND problems can be solved by seeking wise counsil (eg: Paula and Barnabas' wisdom in circumcision) and agreeing to disagree and letting God work his will. (eg: Paul and Barnabas' disagreement).

So what did I learn today? To sum it all up in a few short sentences:

When times get really ugly, and they will, I must rest in the Father, keeping my eyes on Jesus. Agree to disagree. And allow God to work his perfect will.