What does Psalm 119:89 have to do with Christians, members of Christ’s body, the church, and how should we align our lifestyle with this verse of Scripture?
Psalm 119:89—89 Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.
We might not have wisely understood God’s word is firmly settle; there are no assumptions of what God is saying, for it is straight forward, to the point, and what God says, He means, nothing more, nothing less, which is exactly what Jesus, in Matthew 5:33-37, commands of Christians, members of His body, the church, and what James 5:7-12 commands of us.
Matthew 5:33-37—33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
The longer we allow attitudes and personality conflicts to fester and spread, the more control Satan gets, and the more people he infects, when we should have humbly walked in our God-given authority and sweetly, honestly, and lovingly stopped it, so he did not infect people.
James 5:7-12—7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! 10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. 11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. 12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes,” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.
It is not pleasant or unfair to put a stop to bully attitudes and personality conflicts, before it involves a group of people, for it is better to lose one or two dictatorial church members, than to lose several families, but a caring, loving, forgiving, church leader must be wise enough in Christ, to face problems head-on, with sweet truth to the avenger, a satanic spirit is behind.
Jesus, in Luke 18:1-8, gives us a parable (comparison) of a widow being harassed by someone, so she goes to the local judge, asking for help, and at first is rebuked by the heartless judge, but when she prays night and day, God turns the judge’s mind in her favor, and Jesus says this is what He will be looking for when He returns—looking for faith working through love (Galatians 5:6), that is doing what is fair, honest, truthful, and beneficial to everyone involved.
In agreement with Scripture, let our “Yes” be a firm “Yes” and our “No” be a firm “No”.
Luke 18:1-8—1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ” 6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
Church leaders must never be self-centered, using their position to appease a few good tithers, or family and close friends, but to promote unity, by faith working through love, which must be the lifestyle of the church leaders, and enforced by caring and lovingly walking in God-given authority, or someone with a strong-willed attitude will take it from us and use it against us.
When reading God’s word, we marvel amazingly at Jesus’ firm Holy Spirit guided answers, so everyone knew exactly how God and He felt about everything He encountered, even though God had already planned for Jesus’ firm, truthful answers to promote crucifixion on the cross.
Church leaders, Galatians 6:14-15, assures us in Christ Jesus, we are already crucified to the world and the world already crucified to us; therefore, since we are already crucified, then surely, we can honestly and truthfully represent Christ Jesus, so He is seen in every firm “Yes” or “No” we make.
Galatians 6:14-15—14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and me to the world. 15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.
Do everything possible to get the avenging person to become a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17), and if that fails do what Jesus commands in Matthew 18:15-20, for these conflicts must be solved or the devil will use it to destroy the church.
Immediately stop disunity, bossy attitudes, and personality conflicts, as soon as they spew out of an undisciplined heart and mouth, or the devil will use it to infect the entire church body.
Until we mature spiritually into a problem solver, we should not become a church leader, for we will allow the satanic spirits to rule the church through those who listen to and obey him, and God never intended others to pastor or rule the church through weak pastors or leaders.
Jim Nabors
