Kinsman Redeemer

Just the other day a heated argument errupted in the house that I should have never allowed myself to engage in. However, the damage was done, I said what I said. It is not what I said, but it was just the fact that I allowed myself to even become involved that was the problem. When fiery darts come at us from the enemies campfire, we have to learn to walk away. It is not profitable for us to turn around and  launch arrows back to the enemy. The bible reminds us in Ephesians 6:12 that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Your family is not the enemy! When you allow yourself to engage in a heated discussion instead of walking away, you allow yourself to become entangled again with a yoke of bondage. When we learn to walk away, the fire can be put out much faster, and with less damage, because you are not there adding fuel to the fire by backlashing and trying to prove your point. Besides, we don't have to prove our point with man. As long as we are upright before God, than he alone will justify us.

As it turns out, at the end of this fiery discussion where my character came under attack by the enemy, I left the house, and it just so happened that a faithful leader of the church was out front speaking with my daughter. So as I approached her with smoke coming from ears, fuming red, about to explode, her wisdom brought me quickly back to reality and quenched the ungodly fire that was in me. She reminded me, of who I was in Christ, the power that was in me, and gifts that God had so freely given me. I quickly realized how right she was, and the frustration disipated almost immediately. I cannot stress to you the importance of having Godly people in your life. It can mean the difference of life and death. She was able to bring me quickly back to my "reality in Christ." She didn't feed off of my anger, and add fuel to the fire and encourage me to continue to sin. Psalm 4:4 says to "be angry, and sin not!" We are going to be angry at times, but the key is not to sin. You are NOT the "weakest link" if you walk away!! In fact you are the link with the most wisdom.

The title of this message is Kinsman Redeemer and you are probably wondering what this message has to do with that. You may remember in the book of Ruth, where Ruth and Naomi return to Naomi's homeland as widows. The way it was back then, when a woman became a widow, her husband's brother or closest male relative would have the opportunity to redeem the widow's husbands blood line. In this scenario the family member had declined to be the redeemer, and so Boaz who had fallen in love with Ruth became the Kinsman Redeemer for Naomi and Ruth. This is truly an amazing story of love and redemeption and a picture of Christ redeeming us, and reconciling our relationship with the father.

The way this story relates to mine is this: First of all, many of us, including myself have longed for acceptance from our families. Whether it's our father, mother, brother's or sisters. We all have a desire to be loved and to be unconditionally accepted. We want our achievements to be recognized by those we love, and we want our mistakes to be forgotten. The truth of the matter is, your justification will not come from these sources. As my character came under attack that day, I quickly forgot who I was in Christ. I didn't use the weapons I had been given to me, which are the words of God!! I became blindsided by my anger, and to be honest at the time, not one redeeming scripture came to mind. All I could think about, was proving my point with man (which is futile). So now, two days later, during worship, all I heard from God is that he is my Kinsman redeemer!!! When family and friends have left you dismayed and disappointed, God comes alongside you and tells you are anointed and appointed!!! Of course because I am under excellent leadership at Rehoboth, I have heard this before. Although I heard it, I didn't truly hear it. Sometimes God has to allow us to live thru something, in order to teach us something. I now know after multiple teachings on this topic, that Jesus is my Kinsman Redeemer. He is what defines me, he lives in me and thru me, and no matter what anyone else thinks or does to me, I am Redeemed by the blood of the lamb!!! He alone can Justify me, He alone has sanctified me, He alone died on the Cross for me!!! And I know, my Redeemer Lives, and I live in Him!!!