Do Christians Shoot Their Wounded? Maybe It’s Friendly Fire:

Do Christians Shoot Their Wounded? Maybe It’s Friendly Fire? Friendly Fire is when you are shooting at the enemy, but you hit one of your own. Many Christians have good intentions, but lack tact on what to say to a person. Some people can be like children who go to church and if you look at them cross-eyed than “I’m going to take my toys and go home.” I believe it’s the enemy that likes to speak through people to offend us, so we will take our toys and go home. People say offensive things all the time. I’ve not quite arrived at the demi-god status where what people say don’t bother me, but I am working very hard on my demi-god state of mind. Oh, maybe I still need to give and receive grace to people?

Anyway, even Jesus said that Peter’s well intentions were a stumbling block to him. I guess for now on when someone offends me I will say like Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind me Satan” to them. That would go over like a lead balloon. I may be saying that a lot to some people on numerous occasions.

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Matthew 16:23

But not all Christians have nice/good intentions. I remember one of my relatives was offended at his church as a baby Christian when he hand-made the pastor a podium for preaching, and someone criticized the podium. I don’t think he ever went back to church again. I still meet a number of people that are stumbling blocks in the Body of Christ and for some reason Jesus talked about them. I’m not sure what Jesus meant about this so I am just passing this scripture on. I know “no word of God is void of power” and God watches over his word to perform it and although I believe in not being a vindictive person, apparently God is not happy when people are stumbled. Since I’ve been single, I have dealt with men in the church that were stumbling blocks.

It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. Luke 17:2

Also, it is possible that many people are pretending to love Jesus. They don’t have a person relationship with Jesus. They are like Judas that stole the money bag for three years and Jesus said one of you is “a devil.” I went forward in a Baptist church when I was 12 years old to become a Christian and nothing happened. I got water baptized and sang in the choir, but nothing happened on the inside of me because I did it out of fear of going to hell. I did not come to the Lord out of understanding his love. After a year of pretending to be Christian, I gave up that it could not be real and then quit going to church until I was 17 years old and then really did come to Christ because of love. Is says the goodness of God leads us to repentance, not hell fire and brimstone:

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? Romans 2:4

Next, some Christians can be spending so much time in the world they don't renew their minds to God's world so they are carnal or worldly. They are not representatives of their new nature which is love,but they are representatives of their own flesh. That is why they have a critical/judging spirit.

You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 1 Cor. 3:3

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:5

We need to pray that God bind us together to be as one. Like those friendship braided bracelets or the shirts my daughter Sandy and her best friends made in high school….we are best friends…best buds in Jesus Christ! United we stand divided we fall. Divide and conquer. The calling and a mission is from our Commander and Chief of the universe. One of those purposes in God’s army is to keep the unity of the faith in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3). Jesus prayed that “they may be one.” (have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: John 17:22)

Bind us together Lord: Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Eccl. 4:12

One of the biggest changes I noticed in my walk with God from losing my husband is not having a daily prayer partner. In four years, I’ve not found a prayer partner to replace my husband. One puts a thousand to flight and two ten thousand so there is strength in having another person pray with you. Most of the time I just bear my own burdens, but I noticed when my grandson went into surgery and was born, having the prayers of the saints made a difference. I also noticed it when I had Lasik eye surgery, I felt like I had an army behind me in prayer. It’s finding a person who knows how to bear burdens and be an intercessor prayer warrior.

How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the Lord had given them up? Duet 32:30,
Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. Matthew 18:19

In this army of Christians, we can either focus on our faults or focus on our good points. It’s important to be bound together in love with believers. Love covers a multitude of faults. (Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8)

Notice it says “love each other deeply.” Maybe it’s because people don’t love deeply so they never cover the faults. They are not loving deep enough. After my husband died, I did not feel that anyone loved me. Everyone was busy with their own lives. It’s because we walked in a deep love together. It warns in the last days the love of many will wax cold. This scripture is obviously coming to pass because of the number of increased divorces in our society. Divorce is a hardened heart by at least one person. So many people have hardened their heart and they are waxing colder each day. God’s love can soften up a hard heart.

Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold, Matthew 24:12
They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away." It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. Mark 10:4-8

Christians need to learn to delegate or defer problems if it’s not their level of expertise. When my mother had health problems, my sister told my mother, “Quit going to the family practice doctor and go to an internal medicine doctor.” The scope of her problems, she needed a physician specialized in the field of adult medicine. My former pastor would not counsel my husband and I on blended family issues. He had an only child and he said he was not qualified. We paid for a professional Christian counselor to help us get through the blending of six children.

Many Christians are like general practitioners. Who wants to go to a general practitioner for emotional heart surgery? I like to go to a person who specializes in mending broken hearts.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

When I was in my twenties, I had a separated Christian brother whose wife was divorcing him who would cry on my shoulder, but I never had been through a divorce. I could pray for him, but I could only sympathize with him not empathize, because I never went through a divorce. I prayed for wisdom and the Lord gave me a word for him. I ended up meeting someone who knew his ex-wife and then I got to hear her side of the story. It gave me more insight into his problem. I like to pray for wisdom when it comes to talking to people and one is knowing both sides of the story. I found that with divorce many times people take sides and I like to be objective, but at times it’s hard when you know both people, if I know the wife better, to be objective. There are always two sides to a coin.

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1:5

It’s hard to find common ground and accept a person who has differences from us and has not gone through the same trials in life. My husband was always telling me how his dad would never understand my trials in being a single mother and raising little children since his wife was a full-time housewife over fifty years, or after I was married to my husband, he would never understand being a married working woman going to college and raising six children, or now the loss of a spouse. Thank you Jesus I’m not like my husband’s mother. Only in love can we accept a person with differences and first it’s saying to God, “God thank you that I’m different.” I embrace that I’m different than my mother-in-law. I embrace that I’m different from everyone. My DNA is not like the next person. Same with Christianity. It’s not the same as everyone else, but I am part of a unique body of believers. When Peter asked Jesus about John and that Jesus told Peter he was going to die for him, Jesus said it’s not your problem (What is that to you?)…You must follow me (John 21:22)

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Romans 15:7
Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. Romans 14:1

Each person has a different cross that they bear in life and your cross is not the same as mine. We are to bear one another’s burdens and a person helped Jesus carry his cross (Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2). He wanted his disciples to help him watch and pray and they fell asleep. At times we have to pick up the cross and go on without anyone carrying the cross with us. Jesus started carrying the cross by himself, and when it got too heavy and he kept falling down, is when someone helped him. (Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23).

“Father God thank you for showing us who you called us to be with to help bear our burdens in life, those you will bind us together with in this life. Maybe we have already met some of those people and are just blind like Elisha’s servant was blind to all those angels that were around him. Help us not be blind to the angels around us. And thank you for opening more divine doors of opportunities.”

And Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 2 King 6:17
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEH38evSbME&feature=related