Beloved, The below article, "Strife Among Us", is to me just a reminder to GUARD OUR HEARTS, because satan is the king of division and disunity. However, we are of the KING OF KINGS who loves to see His Beloved together as ONE as the Blessed Trinity are one. Amen.

Unity brings us to victory for Jesus as His Church, and we all know what the opposite brings us, so let us all "GUARD OUR HEARTS" - FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.

Love and Blessings,

Joan Ann

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Coffee Break

"Strife Among Us"

"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." Philippines 2:3

Let me be frank and talk very plainly this morning. For sometime I have noticed that there is a spirit of jealously and competition in the body of Christ. Instead of rejoicing that the Lord is moving through His people, we get jealous over other people's gifts. It's as if we can't stand to see God using someone else besides us. We are so afraid that they are going to get a little more recognition than we are. I have seen this in pastors too. There are many pastors who won't promote an event that is taking place at another church because of this same reason. They want to be singled out and have their church in the limelight so they won't put forth an effort to help make anything a success for someone else. I want to go on record this morning as saying, "God hates this." "There are six things that the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: A false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers." (Proverbs 6:16,19-NAS) God is a God of unity, not strife and division. Whatever gifts He has given to us are to be used for one purpose only... to glorify Him... not glorify self. The gifts and talents that He has given us are meant to "complement" each other's gifts and talents..not try to out do them.

When you move in jealousy and competition, you are operating under the same spirit that Cain was when he killed his brother Abel. (Genesis 4) Cain was jealous and his jealousy turned to murder. All strife does is cause division. It keeps us separated instead of unified. If you are jealous over another member of the body of Christ- because the Lord is using them, because they seem to be more talented than you, because they are getting more attention, then you need to let it go. You need to repent and turn from this. It will cause you to do things that are unChristlike- like Cain. It will cause you to wander around like a "vagabond" -like Cain- finding no rest and no peace. It also hinders the work that we are to be doing... reaching lost souls for Christ. There are too many souls at stake for us to be competing with one another. We need to learn how to work together and rejoice that God is using ALL of us to accomplish the task at hand... after all, that's why He has given gifts and abilities to any of us... to use to reach the lost.

Have a great day. God hates strife and division among His peoople.

More scripture reading:
Proverbs 17:14,19; 20:3; 28:25
Romans 12:9,10; 13:13
1 Corinthians 3:3; 12:6,7
Philippians 2:4
James 3:14,16

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc. Please feel free to call (601) 833-5278 or E-mail: """"mailto:mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net"""" Visit us on the web: """http://www.mastersbusiness.org""""

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