What this taught me is that God can't be expected to behave like we do, to think like we do. After all, God's ways of thinking created an entire universe!
Our beloved creator has so much patience with human beings. His loving mercy grants us the opportunity and the time to change our ways from the doing of wrong to the doing of right.
Respecting this wonderful opportunity, when we read or hear something preached that stirs us up, we should try and at least consider what we are hearing and don't get locked into something just because someone we loved and trusted said it, especially when when we can read it in the Bible for ourselves. God's word at times demands that we change our thinking and our behavior.
God's ministers are going to be abnormal compared to everyone else. When you think about Jeremiah, he was thrown in a pit of no. 2 and was kept there for several days because he told the people that God wasn't happy with the wrong that they were doing and punishment was coming. He wasn't trying to please the people or get them to give some big offering. And he certainly wasn't concerned with his appearance or the consequences of speaking God's words. This is found in the King James Bible Jeremiah chapter 38 verse 6.
Then you have John the Baptist who told people constantly to repent, who stayed in the wilderness barely dressed and eating locusts and wild honey, who came out the wilderness to baptize, who rebuked the preachers of that day (the Pharisees). During his baptizing, Jesus came up and was baptized by him. Jesus wore nicer clothes and would sometimes eat and drink with the sinners!
Neither one of them had a 'church' - they both walked from town to town preaching to a changing congregation! No books or tape sales for those guys! Neither one had nice suits, nice cars or bling on their wrist. What they had was a 'calling' by God to speak HIS words and the relationship with the Lord to back that up.
If you are going to judge by appearance, it would deceive you, but what matters is the relationship they had with God. It is that relationship that can heal you.
With Love,
~ Miss J
http://ThingsYouWantedToSay.com