A Christian Overview Of In this present conflict, as in most things in our divided world, the temptation is to take sides. For Christians this can be a dangerous place to stand. We cannot serve two masters, for too often the master we serve is simply our own opinion. Self wears many disguises. One of its most common forms is a kind of indulgent self-righteousness in which we lash out at those who do not agree with us. In that moment we become the accuser. That is by design, but it is not the Lord’s design. We can measure how much the Lord truly occupies our thoughts by the peace that rests in our hearts. If our hearts resemble the turmoil of the world around us, we will find ourselves living in the same storm. Peace is our measure. Joshua faced a moment like this... And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, ”No ... but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and worshiped , and said unto him, “What does my Lord say unto his servant?” Joshua 5:13–14 The instruction to Joshua was to remove his shoes, for he was standing on holy ground. It echoes the moment when Moses encountered the Lord at the burning bush. We can say with confidence that Joshua was speaking to the Lord Himself. No angel in Scripture accepts the worship of a man. Jericho was about to fall. Yet the Lord declared Himself to be on neither side. The real question was not whether the Lord was on Joshua’s side, but whether Joshua was on the Lord’s side. Justice was about to come upon Jericho, but that was the Lord’s business. He is the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of heaven’s armies. The sword was in His hand. God does not join our side in a conflict, nor has He ever done so. We do not summon Him to our cause. He summons us to His. And as long as we remain near Him, as long as our hearts remain right before Him, as long as our shoes are removed because we know we stand on holy ground, then we stand in a safe place. Peace is the evidence that we stand on Holy ground, all other ground is sinking sand. Used with permission of Frank Mceleny on Facebook This is one Christian's overview of the conflicts in this world: his thoughts can apply to many situations. When we realize that God does not choose sides, but calls us to HIS side, our priorities shift. When we come near to Jesus, we are that much closer to authentic Truth. The world wants us to choose: Left or Right, Liberal or Conservative. But there are so many lies flowing from all directions that none of them are something I want to align with fully. Not that we should be fence-sitters: we need to stand for something. We need to have convictions. But we don’t need to join the circus.
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