Video Transcript: A Peacefire Accelerant & God's Restoration Process

The characteristics of God's agape love are found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.  We read, “Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others.  It is not self-seeking.  It is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.”

God's agape love toward you and toward me is undeserved, it’s unearned, and it's unconditional.  The Lord reveals his love to us while we were still sinners who did not deserve his love.  Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  

The supernatural love that the father provides in a conflict wildfire is received when we abide in Jesus Christ, the Peacefire.  John 15:9-12, “As the Father has loved me,” Jesus said, “so have I loved you.  Now remain in my love, just as I have kept My Father's commands and remain in his love.  I've told you this so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this: love each other as I have loved you.”

The power of God's love sends us to the wildfire as an ambassador of reconciliation, an ambassador of the heavenly kingdom, to treat others the way we've been treated in that kingdom.  2 Corinthians 5:17-20 reads, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.  The old is gone, the new is here.  All this is from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them.  And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.  We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.  God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so that, in him, we might become the righteousness of God.”

We can love others in conflict because of the way that Jesus Christ loves us.  It is not a matter of whether they earn it or deserve it.  It is the love of Jesus Christ in us that empowers us and compels us to look beyond our desired outcome to pursue his desired outcome - reconciliation, and the restoration of relationships.  

It is the love that God extends to us that motivates us to leave the shallow conflict stories of the wildfire and pursue new stories of restoration at the Peacefire.  

Restoration of relationship is the manifestation of the presence of God's power in a conflict.  Rescuing a relationship from conflict wildfire is just like God pursuing a lost sheep trapped by offence.  

Here's what Jesus said in Matthew 18:12-14: “What do you think?  If a man owns 100 sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?  And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he's happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.  In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.”

So let's talk about God's path to restoration of a relationship.  It's a path that has three steps on it -  confrontation, confession, and forgiveness.  The war between the kingdoms will be encountered at any step on that path.  The path is not a formula that guarantees reconciliation if the steps are properly followed.  But the goal of every step of the path is the pursuit of reconciliation, the loving pursuit of a lost sheep who's trapped by offence.  And it's not the pursuit of our own agenda or our own desired outcome.  Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”  

Now regardless of how others respond to our efforts at restoration, we will experience the Lord's peace when we remain in God's love at the Peacefire, and treat others the same way that the Father is treated us in Jesus Christ with grace, with mercy, and truth.  

So step one on God's path of restoration is loving confrontation.  It is to go to the person we're in conflict with and seek reconciliation.  And we're instructed by the Lord to go whether we're the one who caused the offense or whether we are the offended person.  In Matthew 18:15, He said, “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you.  If they listen to you, you have won them over.”  And in Matthew 5, He said, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.  First go and be reconciled to them, then come and offer your gift.”

So that first passage, when someone sins against us, we’re to go to them.  In the second passage, if we've offended someone, if we know that someone has taken offense at something we've done, we’re to go to them.  It is always that his heart is for restoration.  It doesn't matter who's right or who's wrong.  That'll all get worked out.  We'll address those things.  Those things are important.  It's not that they're unimportant.  But the Lord's desire is to restore the relationship, and then working those things out becomes a much more rewarding process.  

If the initial confrontation does not result in reconciliation, The Lord then instructs us to take one or two others with us.  In Matthew 18:16, He said, “But, if they will not listen when you go to them, take one or two others so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”  And if the second confrontation does not result in reconciliation, the Lord instructs us to turn the matter over to the church.  He says, if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.  Go to your pastor, go to an elder; get some help from some mature believers who know that the pursuit is restoration and reconciliation and not proving who's right.  And get them to help you in restoring the relationship.  

When we confront a brother or sister in conflict, we're to go to them in a spirit of gentleness, remaining wary of temptation.  In Galatians 6:1, we read, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.  But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.”  Spending time with the Lord at the Peacefire prepares us for a loving confrontation that’s Spirit-led, rather than a hostile confrontation, motivated by our natural desires and the forces at work in the wildfire.

Some curious questions for you.  In your conflict story, is there anyone that you need to go to, to confront in order to initiate restoration?  Is there someone who can help you initiate your first step on that path?  And what is your motivation for seeking restoration of the relationship?  

Let's review the key points from this lecture:

• God's love brings God's power into a conflict wildfire.  

• God's love compels us to serve Him in all our conflicts as ambassadors of reconciliation.

• Restoration is the manifestation of God's power in a conflict wildfire.  

• The first step in God's restoration path is to go to those who we are in conflict with, to confront the situation.  

• When we confront a conflict situation, we are to go in a spirit of gentleness and meekness to avoid temptation.  

• We prepare for a confrontation meeting by seeking the Lord's presence at the Peacefire. 

• We don't confront because we're right.  We confront because Jesus Christ loves us and lives in us.  

Thank you for watching this lecture.  God bless you.  We'll see you next time.