All Things to All Men

“To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” 1 Corinthians 9:22.

Have you ever considered just how 'we' are going to be made into the Body of Christ? I'm not talking about the assumption that everyone who claims to have had a born-again experience already are the Body; I'm talking about being transformed, being made a perfect reflection of the nature of Jesus, right here, right now, in our daily lives.

Do you ever find yourself resistant to change?  Each one of us have our own personal struggles, all have suffered.  Most have been out of organized religion for years.  We all come from different backgrounds, with different family, economical, educational, cultural backgrounds. We are at different stages of spiritual growth, with different ideas of what we think it means to be living in the 'last days,' with different visions and expectations of what is going to happen. The only uniting thing is our love of the Lord. 

The thing is, for so many years its just been 'me and the Lord,' that many of us are resistant to open up and let strangers in.  I know, because I've been one of them doing the resisting.  There have been so many hurts inflicted by others who professed to be christian that there is a strong tendency to hold back and not let anyone get too close.  I think it is a flesh thing more than anything else; because the minute a red flag goes up over some different perspective or point of view we are ready to turn our back and go back to the 'just me and the Lord....don't need anyone else' lifestyle. 

It has really opened my eyes to see how monumental a thing it will be to bring true 'unity in the spirit' to the body of Christ.  I keep being reminded of what Paul said about 'being all things to all men,' as I was never clear on what he meant by that.  From the interactions I have been exposed to for the past couple of years, after being completely content with being separated for so many years myself, I am beginning to wonder if he wasn't just speaking of being dead to all of his own opinions/feelings - Christ is the only one Who can be 'all things to all men.'  Was Paul speaking of loving them where they are, not from our flesh, but by opening our hearts and allowing the HOLY SPIRIT the freedom to love them through us? 

In the past, we have tried to do that by having our doctrines in order, being 'right,' according to our own understanding and experiences in this life.  The things that got us this far, (into the wilderness, cut off and alone with God) have done their work and fulfilled their purpose, now it is time to move out into... we know not where, to do we know not what. It is much like a baby bird being kicked out of its nest and having to fly.... scary.

We can feel threatened, yes, even by other believers.  They come in with their concepts and their problems, and things don't always mesh.  We don't see eye to eye on every jot and tittle; we can't always relate to their history and how the Lord has dealt with them in their life, because it is so different from our own experience.  They may be in a place we haven't walked in yet, so we don't understand where they are coming from.  Our flesh just doesn't want to have to deal with it. We all have the ever present, 'why, why, why?' why did this happen? why did they say this or that? why do I feel this way? why can't they hear me? why am I even trying?'   And the answer is always the same...

Love them, no matter what, just as Christ loved us. 

Be willing to die for them, just as He died for us.

Romans 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; ... We want the glory; we want to know Him; but we can resist His ways (which are so not our ways).  We are all sinners saved by grace.  We all fall short when we say or do what seems right in our own eyes. Our flesh is satisfied with receiving grace, but not so generous when it comes to extending the same to others. Our flesh wants to set limits on who we love; they should be deserving; we should be in agreement with them;... Really? We will have to discard that attitude if we are committed to growing up in Christ.

“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit” 1 Peter 3:18.

Friends, we are being put to death in the flesh, that we may then be raised in newness of life by the Spirit.

Jesus tells us...

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” John 13:34.

There is a unity found where we can come together in mental agreement based on commonly shared beliefs, principles, etc., but this can also be nothing more than religious flesh. Then there is a unity brought about by the Spirit of God, which totally disregards all of the barriers our flesh can erect. We must ask ourselves then... what is going to distinguish the true from the counterfeit? The answer is simple: our love.

“Love is patient, is kind. Love is not jealous. Love is not bragging, is not puffed up, is not indecent, is not self-seeking, is not incensed, is not taking account of evil, is not rejoicing in injustice, yet is rejoicing together with the truth, is forgoing all, is believing all, is expecting all, is enduring all. Love is never lapsing...” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 In what Spirit are we coming together? Another spirit can imitate many things; but genuine love is not one of them. In our flesh we cannot love in the face of evil, we cannot see with the eyes of God, we cannot sacrifice for the unrepentant, the just for the unjust.

It is not recorded, but it stands to reason that there may well have been other believers present when Stephen was stoned. And if so, then those same believers may have seen Saul of Tarsus there as well. They would have seen with their own eyes, that he was fully approving of the act. Having been witness to this, one can only imagine their skepticism when later this man, this Saul came to them, now bearing the name of Paul, claiming to having met with the Christ on the road to Damascus, and having been born-again. And we think we have been wronged and have the right to bear grudges? Just imagine how difficult it must have been for those believers to accept Paul into their fellowship?

The nature of mankind has not changed. We have leaned on the arm of the flesh and our carnal understanding all of our lives. To live by the Spirit, to judge all things by the Spirit is not something we can just talk about doing. Our words and our actions reflect what spirit we are of.

“Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit” 1 John 4:2-13.

Are we to believe that 'Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God' is limited to acknowledging that 2000 years ago a man named Jesus was born into this world? Or is there much more?... Jesus is the Head of the Body (church, ekklesia). The body is many membered, from every tribe and kindred and nation. For Jesus to come in the flesh, in every age, would mean that He came by His Spirit in His Body. In that light, we could understand that when we receive the Spirit of Christ in our brother and sister, in whatever measure it is there, we are receiving HIM. And when we reject and refuse the Christ in our brother and sister, we are rejecting and acting against Christ. That should sober us up in a hurry.

We need to start recognizing that it is by loving one another, that God dwells in us, and His Love is perfected in us.

All things to all men.....

“Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved” 1 Corinthians 10:33.

“That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another” 1 Corinthians 12:25.

“He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me” Matthew 10:40.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me” John 13:20.

Amen & Amen,

Cathy Morris

The Principle Thing (Danny Walters)

I would like to address this letter to the called out of the called out, the remnant of the remnant; to those that are going on. I put it like that because I see something happening, a scheme of the enemy if you will, a natural leaning of the rational mind. I see this movement taking place among the sons but as I see it, it’s not a movement of the Holy Spirit, but a rationalizing of a frustrating situation.

Many are being caught up in the ‘Love Movement’, for lack of a better term. They are saying that they’ve arrived at the place where all their years of searching and studying and learning has led them. And where they find themselves is wrapped up in Love’s embrace. Their message is that they’ve more or less arrived, in the sense that there’s nothing left to attain to, except Love’s perfection. They say that to continue to pursue revelation is vanity, as knowledge won’t break you through. The implication is that all that is missing at this point is for Love’s cup within to be made full; that THAT is the tipping point. So what you see is they’ve pulled up and are settling down and giving themselves up to His infilling of the Spirit of Love. And an interesting thing is that they’ve embarked upon a vocation, a vocation of opening up their homes and inviting all who will, to come in and be loved by the love of God that is flowing through them. And the thing is that that very mind of settling down into ministry is in direct opposition to everything we’ve been taught, which is that our first calling is to become – that no in-part ministration will be acceptable. We’ve been instructed to press on and NOT to act as though you’d already obtained, but continue to follow after that you may apprehend THAT for which we were apprehended, IN CHRIST – in FULNESS!

This movement casts knowledge as a by-word, a bent of those of a lesser calling or of those simply not walking in the Light of the moment. And we can agree that in an earlier time much of the revelation that had been imparted was an illumination of the son-adoption intention, but for quite some time now the revelation coming forth has become an illumination of Christ Himself, in ALL ASPECTS. Today all our seeking has to do with the revelation of Himself, for as the Spirit has spoken, in Him are hidden all OUR treasures. Those treasures are not only the riches of our relationship to Him, but also the vast store of riches locked up in The Great Mystery of Himself; of Whom we are to be conformed, of Whom we are made joint-heirs.

And without disputation, God is love. Love is perhaps His foundational characteristic, at least where we are concerned, or as pertains to us. But God is also a consuming fire, wisdom, our destination, our measure, and much more. Christ is not only our age-lasting abode, Christ is our vocation for the ages. And in Christ will be many and varying degrees or orders of the saints. To simply say that Love is our vocation is to stop short of WHAT Love’s vocation is, for we have far from apprehended His meaning behind it. God so loved THAT He gave His Son, who now reigns as THE age-abiding High Priest, ever living to make intercession. That’s what He’s doing now. Yes, love is the foundation, but it is a foundation upon which all His works – His High Priestly ministrations – through the ages are administered, and all His Father’s glory, built.

To say that our ministry is to simply Love is to deny “study to show thyself approved” (why study if all we need to do is love?). The Truth is that while Love is the foundation, we are to become Lovers of Wisdom, for “Wisdom in the principle thing: get wisdom and in all thy getting, get understanding”. Why? Because we are not just to be Lovers, but co-Laborers. We are to be a Kingdom of Priests, a Royal Priesthood, and we know almost NOTHING as to how to administer this office of Melchizedek. It is a HIGH spiritual office. It is Christ’s ordination, and we have been made partakers with Him in His ordination. And we know NOTHING about it. We are spiritually ignorant regarding the binding and loosing, the remitting and not remitting, when to pluck up and when to plant, to save or destroy, to kill or make alive. We are to be the Reconcilers, as if God did beseech by us! And it’s not just a message of Love. Yes Love is the foundation, and the reason, but we need to become AS HE IS. We need to become Spiritual as He is Spiritual that we might spiritually administer Life. A Day of Judgment is coming, and yes, it is in essence a Day of Light, but its ministration will involve cutting and burning and crushing and bruising, as well as deliverance and healing and restoration. Everyone must come through the Fire, and the higher order of the sons, His Royal Priests, will be scrutinizing these sacrifices brought to be laid at His altar. They will know where and what to look for in the way of blemishes, and know how to train those bringing their sacrifices to the Altar in what to look for and where to look that the sacrifices they bring will be unblemished, and accepted.

As we’ve said numerous times as of late, all that we have learned will not get us through; but neither will love. Just as in marriage, a couple can have hearts filled with love for one another but unless they are willing to demonstrate that love – unless they are willing and able to learn how to apply love one to the other; unless they educate themselves and become intelligent in their love one toward the other – their love will have no power for life and will in the end, leave them both desperately wanting.

We have been called to a high calling, and Love has called us, and love within us has responded, but unless we are willing to grow up into Him in ALL aspects we will not fulfill our calling and will be useless to Him as Priests. If we love but are unable to Intelligently and strategically apply Loves ministration, then we are nothing more than ornaments or window dressing. We are to become surgeons, lasers even; rebuking, rebuffing, cauterizing, healing, and rehabilitating. His ordination is in effect until all His enemies are under His feet, and that is the ordination of all those joined to the Firstborn. He has demonstrated in every conceivable way that we will not be simply endowed with His Divine Nature, but have been given EVERYTHING we need that we might BECOME partakers of it.

There is the verse that says “Keep yourselves in the love of God”, but then it says: “of SOME have compassion, making a difference”. And then continuing: “others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” (Jude 1:21-23).

My point is this: we have A LOT of growing up to do. Which of us is able to make the distinction? Who knows on which ones to have compassion and on which ones not? Who is able to distinguish? Obviously, we are NOT done. We haven’t arrived simply because we’ve discovered that Love is the foundation. What’s happened is that everyone has discovered that all that they’ve learned isn’t going to carry them over; and as I’ve said: that’s true. But they’ve then interpreted that to mean that they have arrived at all there is to arrive at, and that whatever else is lacking, God will just put on them. NOT TRUE. What’s happened is that we have finished Primary School and it’s time to enroll in Secondary. It is NOT time to go out and assume you are trained for Life’s vocation. There is a whole other level of training to be had, and it is personally administered by the Holy Spirit. And you are going to say that it has ALL been personally administered by the Holy Spirit. But what I’m telling you is that THAT was PRIMARY school, where yes, our Overseer was the Holy Spirit, but we were under various tutors and governors. It is NOW TIME for our SPIRITUAL education/training. We are completely lost to the Spiritual dynamics of things and it is NOW TIME for that phase of Higher Learning. It is now time for the High School of Wisdom’s Mind.

God has many children but as we know: “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of KINGS to search out a matter.” (Prov. 25:2). What I’m saying is that all those who are pulling up are either missing the boat, or not called to the Office. Those who are of Royal Birth – meaning called to full redemption; destined for Adoption; destined to Reign with Him – are pressing on. Those called to serve those who are the Royal Born Priests of Christ are perhaps pulling up because their cups are full. It is not their Office to administer His High and Holy Things, but only those Court ministries. Perhaps they are the Greeters, greeting all who enter, but there is a Higher. And while my heart is filled with as much Love as I have of Himself, Love’s election is calling me on.

These High and Holy things can and will only be administered by Christ in His body, which is the Holy Spirit, and those fully enChristed; those made One with Him in His Spirit. It is a High Calling to be called to be made One with the Holy Spirit of God, in Christ. HIGH, I tell you! And MOST have NO CLUE what that means. They think that because they’ve been made alive in Christ that they’ve been made One with Him. They have NO understanding as to what it is to be made One with the Holy Spirit of God. It is more than being born again, obviously. Being born of God doesn’t make you One with Him; it makes you one of Him, and there’s a BIG difference!

Wisdom is the Principle thing my friends; being renewed in the spirit of our mind; transformed by the renewing of our minds; becoming One with our covenant spouse, joined to that Life in the seed and eating of its choice fruit until the coalesced Life becomes a mature and holy Life – a Tree of Spirit-Life – so great that the birds of the air are able to nest in its branches.

There are those who are called:

 “holy brothers”. Selah   (pause and think about that).

“partakers of a heavenly calling”. Selah.

These are instructed to “consider Jesus, THE Apostle and High Priest”. And the insight: “He was faithful to Him who appointed Him”. This Jesus is a builder, building on a foundation, yes, but building a house of kings and priests unto God His Father (Rev. 1:6); a Royal Priesthood. He is “a Son over His house – whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.” (Heb. 3:1-6).

With regard for you who are scattered abroad,

danny

Weaned from the Breast of the Adam-mind (Danny Walters)

We long so much to be abiding in His place of things. We are operating for the most part out of a mind just below – of a state just below – and so our thoughts and impressions and understandings are so very inferior to the Mind of the True state of things. We may be abiding in the outer-bounds of this lesser state, and feel and receive kudos that we are ascending into His heights, but soon our nose begins to bleed – not because we’ve ascended into His upper atmospheres, but because we’re continually bumping up against the invisible barrier that separates this realm from His. Oh how we long to break through into that beyond of His open expanse of abiding, where the realities are experiential, satiating every thought and sense with the matchless wonder of Himself, meeting us with a personating elucidation, flooding to overflowing all capacities with palpable, corporeal realization; finding ourselves fully coalesced in the state of His abiding.

We have given ourselves over to a daily routine of drinking-in the matter of His indwelling deity. It is our daily bread, our water of life, the subsistence of the spirit-matter of our life; His life has become the bread of our table. And we are sensing that there is a power emerging, an intelligence coalescing, a Mind forming regarding our piercing through the husk of the temporal seed body of the adam-mind (Rom. 6:6). Being joined to His Life in the seed is giving rise to an activation of Mind, and even a seasoning or maturing of some elements.

We are abiding in His tabernacle body of the Holy Spirit, longing to fully become of the body which is Christ – which is the Christ in expression, in manifestation, appearing with power and great glory (Matt. 24:30); the Body which gives expression to the invisible. We are longing to become of that purposed tabernacle body of His olam-abiding; that Great City wherein the Lord God Himself has become the brightness of its lumination. Therefore we wait before Him in the holy of Holies, abiding within that secret place, awaiting the descending of His glory.

It is quiet here; sometimes deathly quiet. But sometimes we catch a glimpse of His majestic glory, almost as if He removed His hand after passing by. There’s a lingering fragrance that captivates us, filling all of our senses – we never want to leave this secret place of love’s communion; this cleft in the Rock. We will continue to wait, to press ourselves into Himself until one with that rock we have become, until our expression has become His. This tabernacle has become our home; nothing outside its curtains has any appeal. Even the requirements of the physical body become a bother to have to attend.

What a blessing it is to be granted access here. We’ve been linked to His ordination, become partakers of His heavenly calling. He is fitting us with His holy breast plate, where the Urim and Thummim are fixed to reveal His Mind in every matter that pertains to us.

We are being made all-one again, coalesced with His olam-Spirit essence. Wisdom is characteristic of The Name; the character of that Mind to whom we’ve been joined and are growing up into. His burning love has sparked a sincere flame in us. Loves burning has become our resting place, our light, our hope, our personal prophecy. “I have loved you with an olam-love, a never failing love; I will never fail thee”.

“O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; nor do I involve myself in great matters, or in things too difficult for me. Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child against his mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forever.” (Psalm 131).

Forgiving Others is Critical - (HALL WORHTINGTON)

From the Voice of the Lord:
“Salvation is not judging.”
"As your eyes are closed to the sins of others, so doubly are my eyes closed to yours."

Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:13

Do not judge, and you will not be judged.
Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.
Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37

Forgiveness is the key to spiritual progress. Unless we forgive the injustices done to us, we do not receive the forgiveness of God for our transgressions. Look at the Lord's prayer: there is only one requirement for us identified in it: forgive our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. We forgive to become free of the disease of resentment, which eats away our peace, our love, and our happiness. We forgive and don't take revenge, knowing that vengeance is reserved to God: Vengeance is mine. Deu 32:35, Rom 12:17-19

George Fox has said: "Forgiveness is more than with the mouth."

The challenge for all of us in this life is to forgive and forget. We can know something is wrong, attempt to forgive in our mind, but can't forget; which prevents us from forgiving in our heart. The symptom of this bondage is to constantly recall the circumstances of the injustices and replay them in our minds, which only reinforces our resentment of the original injustice.

The Lord is our example. As he was crucified, he prayed for the Father to forgive those who were crucifying him for they didn't know what they were doing. He is the ultimate example. There is no greater injustice than for his own people to have crucified him, when he had healed entire cities of every sickness and disability, raised the dead, restored the sight of the blind, and spoke nothing but truth; yet as he was in unimaginable pain and dying, he prayed for their forgiveness. Now, if there ever was a justification for anger, this horrible crucifixion of the most humble man to walk the earth, had to be the one; yet the Lord did not get angry. So, by his monumental forgiveness of those who murdered him, we know there is never justification for us holding onto anger. He was sorrowful, with sorrow almost to death, knowing what would happen to him. And his reaction was sorrow at the colossal injustices he suffered, but not anger; sorrow, not for himself, but sorrow for how wrong his errant children were.

There are many who justify their anger saying: "the Lord got angry when he drove the moneychangers out of the temple." My reply is: "no, he was not angry like a man gets angry; he was under perfect control and knew exactly what he was doing, for he said he never judged anything himself, but only as he heard the Father's judgments; further he only said what he heard the father tell him to say, and only did what the Father showed him to do."  Anger is a judgment that we make ourselves, and when we judge someone else critically, we suffer the same judgment: Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37

Until we are perfected, we cannot help getting angry in some circumstances, but we are told: do not let the sun go down on your anger. Eph 4:26

This is not saying that nothing is wrong that anyone can do. I deplore wrongful acts, but those dealt out to me, I realize I must forgive the person and forget, otherwise I suffer even further. Love keeps no record of wrongs. John says: Anyone who hates his brother has committed murder in his heart. (1 John 3:15). Anger is the opposite of forgiveness. You cannot forgive someone and still be angry with them.

So, the solution is two-fold:

1) to realize all anger is a false illusion to disguise your own failure to deal with an injustice by overlooking it, and when you find yourself swirling in recall of an injustice, to remember anger is false and stop entertaining it, no matter how logical it all seems. Your mind will try to convince you that this injustice is the exception and all anger is not wrong; but that is just your carnal (Satanic) mind trying to justify itself.

2) more importantly, when you find yourself swirling in remembrance of injustice, to fervently pray for the person who wronged you. I pray for them to be helped to find true happiness. (This is not praying for them to be happy in the midst of their wrongness, for despite appearances, they suffer for every injustice they deal out.)  I leave their route to happiness with God. I just want them to eventually be happy, and that is what I specifically pray for. Also pray for the Lord to help you be rid of the anger and resentment.

There is another powerful tool in that prayer. Visualize yourself hugging and embracing that person with affection. If I have trouble doing this, I ask myself this question: do I wish this person to suffer the pain of Hell, when I myself have done equal or worse things, for which God has forgiven me? No, I would forgive everyone of every wrong done to me, to prevent them from suffering in Hell. And so, I then find it possible to visualize embracing them in love. You cannot imagine what a relief this is, to be free from resentment in this manner, for blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Mat 5:7

This prayer and visualization can be done in meditation, when the negative events come up for replay. Pause to remember there is no justification for anger, and immediately start praying for those who have hurt you. This is how to receive the Lord's help, which is often necessary to help us remove the hurt from our heart, so we can forget.

William Penn has said: "When you neighbor wrongs you, do not resent him; rather have pity for his lack of wisdom and understanding that would prevent his wrongful acts. We should make more haste to do right to our neighbor, than we do to wrong him; and instead of being revengeful, we should leave him to be judge of his own satisfaction or dissatisfaction with his unjust acts."

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged [from the heart]. Prov 16:6

And his lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due to him.
So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also to you, if each of you from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses. Mat 18:34-35

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression. Pro. 19:11

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. James 1:19

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matt 6:14-15
forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Luke 11:4.

But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Col 3:8

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. Eph 4:31

To pray for enemies helps us, and it also helps those who have hurt us. The Lord told us to love our enemies and pray for our enemies, to bless those who persecute us, to repay evil with good -- because that not only helps us, it helps the enemy to see his faults and motivates him to change.

Therefore "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he thirsts, give him a drink.
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head."
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Rom 12:20-21

If you don't get angry at someone who is treating you wrong, your peace and love convict them of their wrongness on the spot. But if you get angry at someone who hurts you, all they see is your wrongness, and they feel even more justified in their injustice.

The just shall live by faith. Rom 1:17, Heb 10:38

If you are seeking God as your first priority in life, the sooner you understand that everything that happens to you has been arranged to help you grow, the sooner you will be able to forgive, and the sooner you will be at peace, rather than angry or resentful. This life is an illusion. God is far more powerful and at work around you far more than you can imagine. For those whom he loves and calls, he controls everything around them. (This arrangement of circumstances only occurs for those whom he loves and calls.) All things [people included] work together for good for those who love him and are called to his purpose. Rom 8:28. And if you have a deep hunger, he loves you and has called you. The hunger is his gift to you. It is his way of drawing you to him. So you will starve and mourn, and starve and mourn.  But you will eventually be filled and comforted. It works. Trust Him. He created you. He is in you. He knows you much better than you do. He will change you to be like Him, leading you to purity and then to union with Him in the Kingdom within, where you walk by the Light of God.

The Word of the Lord within has told me, "live in the fortress of faith where it doesn't matter if someone gives you a kiss or hits you with a baseball bat," knowing everything that happens to me is totally under his control and direction. So if I get hit with a baseball bat, he is teaching me the necessity of forgiving, to ignore it, despite the pain suffered and wrongness of the person wielding the bat. Your life is an obstacle course, designed by God, for you to crawl over and through, learning to forgive and love despite the pain and injustice. This life is a boot camp to produce a soldier of love, whose weapon is the sword of the Spirit, the living word of God. When you realize it is God who has allowed that person to be rude, ugly, and painful to you, you can easily forgive them because they are just an obstacle of potential resentment, whose offense is to be overlooked, (or if not overlooked, to produce the pain of resentment), thus being used by God to help you spiritually progress.

How do I live in that fortress of faith? The Word of the Lord within taught me "to expect nothing;" therefore I am not surprised or disappointed. I am not perfected, so sometimes I have to just remain quiet, or withdraw. Other times I am able to simply understand that what is happening to me is arranged by the Lord to help me overcome a problem I have; then I can fall back on my faith and not react. I have to realize that I can't overcome a problem, until I am faced with the temptation to be angry and say something critical back; so I can see the injustice as just a test to help me grow, and it is much easier to forgive the person dispensing the injustice.

Others have written that when faced with any temptation, they simply flee to the Lord, and depend on his grace. My wife has been taught by the Lord to just be sad when attacks occur, as the Lord himself reacted to the injustices he suffered. For me, I need to remind myself that what is happening is the Lord's will to help me grow - and that really works for me. I can relax and even internally smile when I remember that.

Forgiveness is part of carrying your cross. To forgive is to deny your human nature that wants to strike back; even if you don't actually strike, you want to. Denying that impulse and falling back on your faith, to accept everything as from the hand of God, is carrying the cross; saying to yourself: the Lord's will be done, which is the opportunity for my own growth in overlooking this offense, even if it is loved ones delivering the injustice, which makes you sad.

Loved ones often treat us unjustly as a way to unconsciously control and manipulate us; as you cease to react, (even if only with your eyes and facial expressions), they will not get the satisfaction of the control they were seeking, and eventually drop their normal routine, searching for some other way to pull your chain. Expect your close family to be the source of many of your troubles because the Lord told us: Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. I did not came to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man at variance against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter in law against her mother in law. A man's foes shall be those of his own household. Mat 10:34-36. He uses our family as the polishing stones of temptation, which are designed to grind off our rough edges until we are smooth.

The worst part about being attacked by members of your family, is that they know you so well, their attack twists your innocent actions to look evil; and that can be frightening. Realize, that is exactly the way the devil condemns us; he twists our actions into the worst possible light, accusing us of evil motivations, hoping to depress us, discourage us, or make us angry. When you have been under instruction from the Lord for awhile, he will tell you: "Let no one judge you." He is the only judge. Paul said he didn't even judge himself. Remember, that people are only trying to pull your chain and get the satisfaction of making you angry or depressed; your best defense is to remain calm. The Lord has told us, "drop out of the conversation; let their words go over your head." After you drop out, with no one fighting back, some will abandon their attack. Others will continue; when they pause, calmly leave. If you get angry, withdraw at the earliest moment and then pray for them, to release your anger. The Lord has told us, "don't stand in front of volcanoes;" volcanoes being angry people erupting— calmly withdraw at the first pause. Why should you listen to irrational angry people? When people are angry, they are taken over by their emotions; what they say is not what they would say without anger. It is their anger that speaks, not themselves; anger is irrational, so don't bother to consider if what they are saying is true. When you leave, you might, (only if you think the subject needs resolution), say to them: "when you have calmed down, I am available to discuss this further, but it is pointless to continue our discussion now."

There are some people who have been conditioned by their upbringing to think that if someone is angry at them, it is their fault. Others are conditioned to fight back. Both are equally wrong. Drop out; if that doesn't work, walk away.

Forgiveness, mercy, and not judging are all related. Judge not, so that you are not judged. Mat 7:1. To judge and be judged is not God punishing you; rather it is you punishing yourself by harboring resentment that results from your judging. You can't correctly judge someone because you have not walked in their shoes, but God has from the time they were born; he has witnessed every word, every thought, every action, every incident in their lives. So only he can understand their background enough to make a correct judgment. For example, there was a study of prostitutes on the streets of San Francisco: ninety-five per cent of them had been raped by a member of their family in their childhood; even our neighbors, who seem to be much like us, have had significantly different experiences in their lives, of which only God is aware, and so only He is capable of rightly judging others' behavior. If your neighbor wrongs you, forgive him and resist anger by turning to sadness for his lack of wisdom that you have been fortunate enough to receive.

Recently I was beyond disappointed in someone I had attempted to help. The Word of the Lord within said to me: "he is of the same earth as you;" which caused me to consider that both he and I were created beings from one blood and one mold, and that I really didn't know his background of experiences that might have programmed him to have certain weaknesses. Further, I could begin to see that it is without foundation, for one created being to be critical of any other created being. Later I heard the Word of the Lord within say, "Your challenge it to consider yourself equal with everyone else." Thinking about this, I understood the only difference between myself and everyone else was that I had been taught wisdom; and everyone else will be taught wisdom too, some later that others; but eventually as Jesus said: "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'" John 6:45. Another related teaching we have had from the Lord is that those people still locked in sin are just spiritually younger than us; their spiritual maturity is yet to come, and most will not mature until the next life, (See Is There Hope for All for more on the next life's learning process).

I concluded that my disappointment was really veiled anger at his failure, and I had no right to conclude that just because I could clearly see myself doing right, he was not yet able. So, I worked at ignoring his weakness and failure, substituting compassion for the price he continues to pay; and then I heard the Word of the Lord within say: "Love mercy." Like the warnings on judging, anger, and forgiveness, so too we are warned to be merciful: "He who has shown no mercy, will receive judgment without mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment." James 2:13.

From the Word of the Lord within: "Never speak critically of any individual or any organization, no matter how deserving of criticism they are;" and "be blind to other's oppressive faults." Especially be blind to your fellow believer's, (those who believe in the true gospel, have the true hope, and who are fervently seeking the kingdom), oppressive faults, which we all have until we have been purified.

When you have sufficient Spirit of God within you, you may be specifically prompted with words from God to pass judgment on someone else in particular; but that would not be you judging, that would be God. Just like Jesus did not judge himself: By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, John 5:30... whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak. John 12:49-50... the Son is able to do nothing of Himself (of His own accord); but He [the son] is able to do only what He sees the Father doing, John 5:19.

Do you have trouble not getting angry at injustices? If so, then expect more injustice to come your way because that is how you are going to get cured. The Lord works on us, one problem at a time, until we are cured from the pain of failure. And even after we are cured, we will get occasional mini refresher courses to remind us of the reward of forgiving or the pain of resentment.