Good morning people who have set a new course in their relationships

(Today’s BIY written by Pastor Garry Leech)

Ephesians 6:18 (NIV) And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

When our relationships are under attack and we are committed to restoring them and to reconciling with people, there will be times when we catch ourselves reverting back to our old ways of dealing with relationships.

Here Paul encourages us to STAY ALERT! We’re in a fight not against people, but for people.

Jesus has just finished His last meal and washed His disciples feet when He headed to a secluded spot. It’s a place He had made His own, where He went to talk with His Heavenly Father. He walks a small distance away from His disciples, kneels down and prays. He’s about to go through something so horrific and painful. I don’t know what Jesus prayed, what He said to His Father. I don’t know what He was thinking. But I do know He was willing to do whatever it took to mend the rift between God and man.

God the Father wants to be in relationship with mankind. God the Father wants mankind to be in relationship with each other.

There’s a fight on for our relationships. There’s a choice to be made and it’s one of the greatest challenges in our relationships: “Will we respond God-ward or will we react Man-ward?”

Using the armour God has made available to us, we can effectively fight for the people in our lives. The reality is that we won’t win this fight for everyone, but let’s not give up before we’ve even started!

This week, can I ask each of us to prayerfully think about seeing conflict and tension in a relationship differently, and respond by fighting for people, not against people. Who knows, we just might be the person to see people restored to relationship with God and with people.

(Today’s BIY written by Pastor Garry Leech)