Why Can't We All Just Get Along

                      Why Can’t We All Just Get Along

                   Hello and welcome to My Little House of Prayer. I am your host Dayla Smith. I am so very glad that you could join me today. We are still breaking down 1 Corinthians chapter 13. 1 Corinthians 13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

                 We are looking at the words at the end of verse 5 is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil. Have any of you taken a long hard look at society as a whole these days? As a Christian, I try to keep my focus on the Lord. To look at people and nature through the LORD’s eyes. This in turn causes me to walk in the peace and joy of the Lord. Today people are offended by this attitude. I look around me and people are just angry. They have no hope. No one to turn to that can bring them hope. 

                 But, may I say this? There is one we can turn to. He is our blessed hope. Nothing is impossible with Him. If His word says it, then it is truth. Not just a conditional fact. Jesus Christ of Nazareth says in John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Free of what? Facts of the impossible. Free from despair, hopelessness, illness, lack in our daily provision. You see, i strongly relate to Psalm 37:25-27   25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.27 Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore. 

                This freedom can only be found in the Holy Bible. Why else would the world we live in today consider it a dangerous book that needs to be done away with. James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

You see, people can know the Word all they want and not be saved. That is why faith without works is dead. We all have to put our money where our mouth is, so to speak. How else will we cause others to desire what we have and experience their own kind of freedom in His Holy Word? 

                We not only have to know the word, but also live according to it. Satan and his cohorts know the power in His Word. He knows that once it is spoken, it will not return to Him void according to Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. The LORD has given us the same power to speak life or death. He has also given us the same choice of which words do we want to speak. 

                        One of the greatest tools in the enemies toolbox is the art of distraction. Of where to get our attention set on. Most of it is set on self-preservation. It is ingrained in our nature like every other living creature on this planet to protect ourselves. This is not a bad thing as long as we remember who is the only one who can redeem all things. Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

                 You know we can easily be so offended that we believe the whole world is against us. Before I met Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I was so angry and bitter at the world. I walked around waiting for someone to attack me. No one was going to belittle me or even take advantage of me. I had control of my environment. No one else. I earned the nickname “Slugger” among my High School peers. My motto was not to get mad, but to get even. Keep in mind the absolute lie. To feel the need to get even, you have to have gotten angry. Hahahahahahahaha. I left a wake of people I hurt because of my anger. Some were completely innocent pawns of ones who wanted to see my reaction. It became not so funny. Then, I went through some years angry. I later got married to a man who also had anger issues. But, my anger topped his. He was actually afraid of me. Then, I was so angry and depressed that I became hopeless. That is when Jesus made His presence known to me. I was, is and never will be the same after that day. He put His mark on me that day and I accepted. He gave me hope. A reason to live. Then, He began to heal me of the anger and depression. 

               I had to acknowledge that I had an anger issue and a bitter root. I had to repent of it and denounce any association with it. Well, the day came when the Lord was ready to remove that bitter root. I was like a crazy woman. I argued with the people around me and the Lord. The Lord mostly. We got to my house to drop me off. That is when I jumped out of the car like someone was chasing after me. For

Those who want to experience the supernatural, sell out to the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I promise you that this walk is completely supernatural. I ran into my house, slammed the door behind me, locked the door, closed the blinds, and ran into my bathroom where I went into the fetal position while trying to hide from the Lord’s presence. He walked into my bathroom and said, “Child I Am the door. You can’t lock me out. Now, let me have your anger and bitterness. I want to heal you. But, you have to let me do it. I won’t force you into anything. No matter how bad I want to help you. You have to give me your permission to bless you.

               That is when I went into my living room and laid down on a plywood board on my couch. “I cried out, Abba it hurts.” It was about 3 in the afternoon when I fell into a deep sleep. I awoke at 9pm, disoriented and the feeling that I was different somehow. That somehow was the LORD. He put me in a deep state of sleep and surgically removed the bitter root from my soul. I was so disoriented that when I woke up, I thought that I was in my bed under my covers. I was not. No covers. No bed. Just a hard plywood board. 

                    I was different. I was able to learn about His agape love. How to live it. It has not been an easy journey. But, it is much easier without the bitter root in my soul and the Lord Jesus Christ by my side. He leads and guides me in my walk with Him. He eventually healed my emotionally charged memories that held the seed of anger. He is still healing me as I walk with Him. What a blessing.

                   I had an experience years later. A woman I knew, decided to come visit me. She was on a mission. She too was angry like me. She could not understand some of the decisions I had made. You see, when the Lord heals you in the way that He had, there is no longer any room for resentment or unforgiveness. And remember, if you do not forgive, the Father will not forgive you. Which means that if we don’t forgive, we will not make heaven our home. I had forgiven someone we both had reason not to. I had decided that if I wanted to make heaven my home, I must forgive people. People have taken from me what I did not give to them. The Lord showed up in my living room while I was worshiping Him and cleaning my house. I want my house to be a holy place the Lord is excited to dwell in. He said’ “That is way too much power to give a person. Yes they have taken what you did not give to them. Why would you hand over to them your salvation also?” I thought about it. And frankly, I got angry with myself for falling for that lie. That I could hold on to this little piece of anger and still make heaven my home. So, I forgave them. 

                 I am still forgiving people who wrong me. Even though they don’t deserve it as far as my finite human brain can see it. I had been asking the Lord to help me see people as He sees them. And He has. That day, this person came to see me with one of her friends. The friend was supposed to have her back in this argument of forgiveness. We spent an entire two hours of her accusing me of having rose-colored glasses on. I kept telling her why I had chosen forgiveness. Her friend knew what Christ said about forgiveness and couldn’t help but agree with me and the Word of God. At one point, the friend realized that the person would not make heaven her home if she held onto unforgiveness. She began to tell that person that she needed to hear me out. That is when the person realized that they were not going to change my mind. And, they weren’t ready to forgive yet. I hope and pray every day that they eventually will forgive.

               I went back into the house of a friend that I was visiting. I sat down at the table shaking violently. Neither one of us said a word to each other. She could see that I was troubled by the visit of the other person. She waited patiently without saying a word. All I kept thinking was, “ She said that I have rose-colored glasses on Lord. Am I wrong. Do I really have rose-colored glasses on?” That is when the Lord spoke to me so loudly that my friend heard the noise of His voice. Her eyes grew so wide that I thought they were going to pop out of her head. “What did He just say to you?! I heard something. Tell me what He said!” I told her what I heard. It was an exclamation with power in it. He said,” You do! You have my glasses on! I Am the rose of Sharon and the Lily of the valley! You see people with My eyes!” I'll tell you what. I was never so encouraged.

                      At this moment, I was so encouraged to really look at people through His eyes. To begin to pray that I might see past the smoke screen and walls that people try to put up so that we do not see where all the pain and anguish comes from. I have so many testimonies that have taken place since that day. When I leave my home, I picture myself going out into the Lord’s mission field. I ask Him to give me His wisdom that will speak life and hope in His people’s lives. 

                I always ask people how they are doing. But, when I can tell that they are giving me what I want to hear, I look them in the eye and say, “I really am asking you how you are doing today. Don’t give me a flippant answer that is not the whole truth. I really do want to know.” I always leave telling them, “May you have a blessed day.” You can’t believe how great an effect one A.R.K. (act of random kindness) can have on people. Just a smile to begin with can go a long way.  

                   One day, I was at the register to check out at Wal-Mart. This particular cashier was always quiet and very unhappy. Well this particular day, as usual I asked how she was doing. She tried to give me the usual answer of “I’m fine”. But then, she grabbed her chest. I asked her if I could pray with her right then. Her eyes got wide with the fear of losing her job as she looked around. I boldly told her, “ I am opening this conversion. I am the one asking you. Anyone tries to report this, here is my name. I will fight for you by letting them know if they want my business they better not penalize you. Cautiously she began to tell me what was going on and we prayed together. The person behind me agreed with us as we said amen together. After that the cashiers are calling out to me to come to their register. It is so precious to me. How walking in tandem with the Lord Jesus Christ and guided by His precious Holy Spirit can have so great an effect on people. 

                 Another example, when I find myself in the hospital, I like to call on this scripture. Genesis 50:19-21   19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them. At shift change, some of the nurses and CNA’s would come into my room. They would come in and be a bit curt and rough. I would already be praying for them. The Lord would reveal to me what was causing this. You see, He doesn’t like band-aids. He likes to get to the root of the problem. I would start talking to them kindly. Pointing out and asking questions about their day and whatever was going on in their lives. Their attitudes and the atmosphere in the room would turn to peace. The Lord would not only work in my life, but theirs, also. And, like Wal-Mart, they know me. They cannot wait to see me. 

                         You see, we can all react to each other in anger, opening the door for only more death, hate, and darkness. Or, we can allow the Lord to use us to be the bringers of peace into someone else’s life. Matthew 10:1-14   10 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.11 And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.12 And when ye come into an house, salute it.13 And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.

               We are called to walk in the peace of the Lord. We are to bring His peace with us wherever we go. We are to be His love, light, and life wherever we go. We also have to protect that peace. Not to allow Death, hate and Darkness to take over our thought life. Not everyone is willing to accept the Lord’s free gift of salvation then and there. We are called to plant, water, and reap His harvest. Give them the truth we know. Then, leave them in the Father’s hands who can love them perfectly.          

                   So, if you do not know the Lord Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Let me introduce you to Him. It is really simple. First you must acknowledge that you are a sinner in need of a savior according to the mirror of the law of the Lord. Ask Him for His forgiveness for all of your sins and call them out to Him. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Then, forgive those who have sinned or transgressed against you. Then, repent. Repent means to change your mind concerning sinful habits. Change your choice making decisions. Let Him influence your choice making decisions as you get in His Holy Word. Ask Him to be Lord over your life. I want to pray this prayer with you. But, this is just an outline. The real work begins after I pray with you because it is a very personal walk with the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth. 

                    Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and ask for your forgiveness. Please come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord for saving me and for answering my prayer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

                               If you have made the decision to give your life to Jesus, let me be one of the first to welcome you to the body of Christ. All of heaven is greatly rejoicing over your decision today. Please let me know of your decision today. I want to pray for you. If this message has brought up any questions or spoke to you in some way, or if you have any prayer requests; please let me know by commenting below, private messaging me, or you can email me at my1littleafmp@aol.com. I would greatly love to hear from you. Remember I love you with the Love of the Lord but Jesus will always love you more.

(close in prayer)