Irreconcilable Difference - Minister Tara Gillins

 In “Irreconcilable Difference,” Tara Gillins delivers a thought-provoking message about the spiritual divide between the ways of God and the ways of the world. She explains that some differences cannot be blended or compromised, especially when it comes to living a life that honors God. This message challenges listeners to examine their choices, stand firm in their faith, and separate from anything that conflicts with God’s truth and purpose. 🙏 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

And I was trying to get a piece of a we had to study like the different reasons about divorce, and we're not going to get into it, but we studied something called irreconcilable differences, meaning that there was a core reason, or there was a core or fundamental problem inside the marriage that made uh the relationship not sustainable. Um, it wasn't just uh an argument about what color the the walls are gonna be. It wasn't just a simple, small issue. There was something major, a foundation of the marriage that made it um impossible, we'll say, that this man and this woman could no longer live together. It was so different that they could not be peaceable in one house. So, for that reason, the marriage would be dissolved because of irreconcilable differences. Praise God. And when we look at the word of God, it was the purpose and the plan of God that there would always be an irreconcilable difference for the people of God. How do we know this? The word of God tells us in 2 Peter chapter 2, verse 9, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, meaning that we were never designed by God just to cohabitate with the things of the world. It's not in our DNA, it's not the way he framed us or made us. If I find myself in a situation and I can just blend in with what's going around me, if it's not of God, there should be a discomfort in my spirit. It's not because I'm super spiritual, it's not because uh I'm better than anyone, it is just not ingrained, it is not in our DNA to fit. Praise God. That's why he called us a peculiar people. Why? That ye might shoe forth the praises of him who have called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. The word of God that they says that they those that sat in darkness have seen a marvelous light. Hallelujah. We recognize that the God that we serve has the ability to bring things together, he is the great combiner and creator. When we look at what he did, he brought something out of nothing. But we have to recognize not can only God bring things together, but we serve a God that knows how to separate some things as well. Hallelujah! The Bible says in the book of Genesis that God separated the light from the darkness, only God could do that. The Bible says that he separated the land from the sea. So we serve not only a God that can pull all the pieces together, but there is a time, and there is a place with the great creator becomes the great divider. And what we're seeing many times in the church of God, that we're trying to erase the ancient landmarks that God had put into place for a particular reason. So he separated the land and the sea, he separated the light and the darkness. But the Bible also lets us know that when sin tried to come into heaven, that God said that sin cannot enter here. And the word of God says, I saw Satan fall like lightning. Praise God. Because sometimes sin will try to come in and it will sit on our couch and try to cross its legs and cohabitate with us. But we need to let the enemy know no sin can enter here. There are just some things that cannot cohabitate in my mind. There are just some things that I just can't live within my spirit. There are some things, hallelujah, when we look at the Garden of Eden, the Bible lets us know that Satan came in the form of a serpent and he tried to slither his way up into the Garden of Eden, aka the Garden of Paradise. But as soon as sin entered the picture, the Bible says that God pushed out Adam and Eve. And the Bible says that he placed an angel with a flaming sword and said, Now that sin is in the picture, there has to be a separation. Because there was no shed blood of Jesus, there was a separation between God and man because there was sin. Praise God. And I know we like to talk the talk, or we are one. Praise God. I know the motto from home is out of many one people, but sometimes we got to draw a line in the sand and say, not here and no further. Praise God. In other words, man cannot live in a sinful state and cohabitate a holy place. There's far too great a difference between a holy God and a sinful state of man. I don't mean that we're gonna be perfect, but we strive for perfection. And what we've come to do this morning is to reestablish the lines that God has set in the word of God. We're living in a day where there is this androgynous form of Christianity. There's no clear distinction of what is a Christian now. Hallelujah. Sometimes we come into the house on a Wednesday night or a Tuesday night, and we're playing some music, and all I can do is put up the audio because if I put on the YouTube video to see who is singing the songs, no, we don't judge. But the church does not look like the church used to look. There is this melting of church. If I just put a little bit of truth in the middle of it and I just sprinkle it with the word, that's all I need to serve God. There is this mutated form of Christianity that says the right things and knows when to shout and knows when to say amen, but let the church be the church. Hallelujah. There are people that are trying to create a Frankenstein church, trying to join together pieces that don't belong to the body of Christ. Hallelujah. I still believe that the church is a holy place. Yes, we open the doors to everyone, but the church has got to be the church. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Enough with us trying to identify with Christ on Sunday, but on Monday and on Tuesday, we're trying to mesh with the world. Then we come again on Sunday, we gotta wash the sin and the heaviness of our off of the world off. We're trying to get the best of both worlds, but the word of God tells me in James chapter 3, verse 11 sweet water and bitter water cannot flow from the same source. No matter how we want to cut it or trim it, it cannot flow from the same source. Hallelujah. Yes, I've got to love my neighbor as myself. Yes, I gotta let my light shine before men that they might see my good works and glorify my Father which is in heaven. But the word of God also says, What fellowship has light with darkness? The Bible also says, How can two walk unless they agree? We're so quick to say, judge not lest ye be judged. Hallelujah, but we only read half of the scripture, hallelujah. The word of God says, Let judgment begin in the house and let it begin with me. Praise the name of Jesus. I am not intimidated by the difference, I dare to be different. I am different, and that is okay. There is a mindset that if I'm different, something is wrong. If I have to stand out, I feel uncomfortable. If anybody's looking at me, something is wrong, and I can testify because I hate being the center of attention. So every time my husband introduces me, I feel strange because I don't want to stand out, I don't want anybody. If I can go into the church, get my praise on, do my two-step, and be out, I'm a happy. I don't need any platform. I've been saying it for 39 years and somehow it still follows me. Praise God. I don't need any recognition, I don't need to be called first lady. There's some people chasing, and their hat is as big as the platform. Hallelujah. That is not me. If nobody knows my name, I'm fine. But when it comes to God, I strive to be different, I strive not to blend in, I want to be identified with Christ. I don't want the world or the church to know me, but I want God to consider me. That is my goal in life. Praise God. So in our reading this morning in Daniel chapter 3, we find Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And we all know the story. The Bible lets us know that there were three Hebrew boys. But when I read this scripture this past week, there is something that stood out to me. Praise God. These three Hebrew boys found themselves in a pagan nation with Nebuchadnezzar. And we know the story that Nebuchadnezzar in his pride built a statue or an idol, a golden image as a tribute to himself and his God. And the story goes on that when the music played, everyone was to bow down to this graven image when the music starts going. Praise God. But the Bible lets us know that there were three Hebrew boys that made up in their mind that we will not bow. No matter how loud the music is, no matter how much pressure there is around me, we will not bow. And the thing that I noticed, the story is told of three Hebrew boys. But there were not only three Hebrews that were there. So out of thousands and thousands of people, only three stood up. Because these three Hebrew boys had heard as a child, I am the Lord your God, you shall not have any other God beside me. These three Hebrew boys heard the laws of Moses that said, I will not make any false idols. But out of thousand of Hebrews, there were only three that dared to be different. I remember hearing that story, and in my mind, when I began to think about it, oh, there must have only been three of them. But where were the other Hebrews? They bowed when the music played. Can you imagine them standing next to their brother and their sister and their cousins and their uncles and their mother and their father? All of them were bowing because of the pressure. But three young men says, I don't care what mommy and daddy are doing. I refuse. Hallelujah. What you're telling me to do goes against the principles that I built my life on. And I refuse to bow to the enemy, even if it costs me my life. It's easy to stand if there were thousands of Hebrews standing. Praise God. It's easy when everybody is at your back, but it is hard when you're on your place of employment and they're pressing you, saying, You must bow. Can you stand at the enemy's face and say, I shall not be moved? Can you stand all by yourself? Yes, we can stand in the middle of song service and testimonies, but can you stand when nobody is supporting you? When no one is cheering you on? Can you stand when it's gonna cost you everything? When I read that and I thought about it, and there are words that say, even if God doesn't send an answer, even if God in this moment turns his back on me, I shall not be moved. Three Hebrew boys with their life on the line. Can you imagine the betrayal as they stood there? As the song and the timbrels began to go, and all these people that they looked up to begin to bow. That's why you can't put anybody on a pedestal. You've got to know God for yourself. Can you imagine the old high priest that they used to sit down under as he began to bow? Can you imagine the person that used to teach them about the law as they bowed, but yet they stood there and said, All that I know is passing away, but something in the inside of me is telling me I refuse to bow. What a testimony! And as I read on, the Bible lets us know that when Nebuchadnezzar came to the fiery furnace, it was Nebuchadnezzar that looked in and saw that fourth man in the fire. But there is nowhere in the scriptures where it says that the three Hebrew boys saw a fourth man in the fire. So when they were walking and they were praising, they were not aware that God was in the situation with them. Sometimes you're walking around, hallelujah, and it feels like you're all by yourself and you don't see God and you don't hear God. You're just walking and praising. But when the enemy comes, the enemy will be able to testify that your God was a fourth man in the fire. I know you might not see God, but I'm telling you, God is there. It would have been easy for them to sing and to worship if they could look around and they could see the manifestation of God. But when they looked around them, all they saw was fire, all they saw was smoke, all they saw was their own demise. But if I can get to the place where I'm living for God so consecratedly that when the enemy shows up, he can testify of the goodness of my God. Praise the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. In the book of Acts, chapter four, the Bible says that there was a story of Peter and John. The Bible says that after the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, that Peter and John were walking up to the temple for the hour of prayer. And while they were heading to the church house, because sometimes a need will show up on the outside of the church house. Not all the blessings, not all the miracles. The God on the inside of the church is still the God on the outside of the church. I don't have an option to put on my Holy Ghost when I come in through the back door. I don't know who I'm gonna come in contact with while I'm on my journey. So the Bible says that as they went towards the temple, they encountered a lay man, and we know the story where he looked to Peter and John, and Peter and John said, Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee. And the Bible lets us know that that man was healed and he went into the temple. And the Bible lets us know that the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin of that time, brought Peter and John before them. And when we look in Acts chapter 4, the Bible lets us know that they were confounded or confused. The religious leaders were speechless when they heard and they saw the boldness of Peter and John. Hallelujah. They, in their understanding, they were just unlearned men, is the words that the Bible used. They began to judge and say, Well, these are just simple fishermen. How is it that they've become so bold? How is it that a man that has no formal education became so articulate and they were confused? So they brought them in to figure out what is it that made a change? What is it that transformed Peter and John? But the closer they looked, the more intently they studied. The word of God says in verse 13, they said that they could realize that Peter and John had been with Jesus. What was the change? Is that they had been and spent time at the feet of Jesus. There is a difference that comes over our life when we have been with Jesus. What I was and what I did and my limitations are changed because I have spent time with the master. Because you see, in Acts chapter 2, they had an encounter with Jesus. What will give you the strength to be different? What will give you the strength to stand firm is when you have been with Jesus. There was something about them that has changed. When you come to God, yes, come as you are, but don't stay that way. There should be a change that takes place. Jesus on the inside working on the outside. Oh, what a change in my life. There was something different, so much so that the Sanhedrin couldn't put their finger on it. But the more Peter began to declare the goodness of God, the more John began to talk, they began to hear something come through. Hallelujah. They had not experienced God, but there was a lingering aroma. There was something that was beside their natural self. It is because they had spent time in the presence of God. When we leave this place, will there be a lingering of the presence of God? When I walk into the office tomorrow, will there be something attached to me? And that coworkers may not understand it, but there should be something where they can testify that Brother Richardson was in the presence of God yesterday. I can't quite see and understand, but as soon as Anya walks into the classroom, there should be a shift in the atmosphere as she sits at her desk, that there should be an aroma that is left behind because she was in the presence of God. There should be something. Praise God. Hallelujah. I know in my secular world, I spend a lot of time going, meeting people in the community. So I'll go to a Panera, I'll go to a Starbucks, I'll go even to a Dunkin' Donuts, and we'll have a meeting for 45 minutes, and I'll get out and I'll go into my car and I'll smell like coffee. Praise God because of where I was. And when we leave here, Sister Janet's gonna go down the street and the Dunkin' Donuts that's four those down. She'll be in the drive-thru. Praise God. I know she must have a perfume that smells like coffee beans because there's nobody that loves Duncan's the way Sister Janet loved Dunkins. Praise God. There is a lingering that goes even on your clothes because of where you are. And I could come into my house and I'll smell like coffee beans, and my husband will know where I was because of the lingering sense. But more than a smell of coffee, I want the aroma of Christ to travel with me. That even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, is the aroma of God with me. Sister Sandra, when you get on the plane, I don't know if you're flying into Kingston or Montego Bay, but when you go, let the aroma of God go into that cockpit with you. When you step out into the airport and you hug your children for the first time in seven years, yes, they're hugging their mom, but they are grabbing on to the aroma of what you're getting a hold of at this moment. My God, let it linger, let it linger. No matter how much I wash my clothes, let the spirit of God linger. Hallelujah. Everywhere I go, let them say there is something different, and it might conflict with the demons in the room, but let the demons tremble because of the aroma of God that is on my life. Yes, I may be different, but let it happen anyway. There is a lingering of the Spirit of God. There is a marking that is left, hallelujah, when I have been with Jesus. There was a marking that was on Peter and John that they could not remove. The Bible lets us know that in the Old Testament, God signed his covenant with Abraham. He said, I'm gonna bless your people, I'm gonna bless your descendants, I'm gonna bless your children, and to signal which children are you, they are yours. He implemented the covenant of circumcision. Praise the name of Jesus. There was a physical marking to designate the descendants of Abraham. There was a mark, an undistinguishable or distinguishable mark that they carried so they knew who were the children of promise. Hallelujah! And I'm hearing the Spirit of the Lord God saying, Are you still marked with purpose? Can they still identify me as one of them that shall reign with him? Is there something in my life that gives me away as a child of God? There are too many children of God, too many Christians walking around without the markings of God on their life. Hallelujah. My husband made reference of those athletes that were uh uh paraplegic or struggling because of a physical limitation. Hallelujah. We preached a message a few months at the Haitian church, the markings of a good soldier. I am concerned about a soldier that does not have any battle scars. I am concerned with a soldier that does not know what it's like to be hurt, because that lets me know I'm talking about a soldier that was not in the position of a place to battle. Don't tell me about what you knew, don't tell me about what you learned in both but oh my gosh, don't tell me what you learned about in boot camp, but show me your scars, show me your wounds, show me what you've been through. Praise God. It was Thomas that told Jesus, show me your wounds and your scars, so I know who you are. But the spirit of the Lord of God is saying, I'm turning the tables, and God is asking us this morning, show me your wounds and show me your scars so I know who you are. We have no business asking God to show us his nail-scarred hands. It's time for us to extend our hands and our hearts and show him, God, that I might know you in the power of your might and in the fellowship of your suffering. I am different from the person next to me because I have been crucified with Christ, but yet I live. When I stand before God on that last day, I can't show God Brother Moody's scars and say, God, let me in because of the scars Brother Moody sustained. As much as I would love to, and as proud as I would be, I can't pull Sister Matt to the front of the line and say, God, look at the scars that my parents went through. Should not I also enter, look at the battle scars my father has. Should not that allow me access? But I have to stand in front of God for myself. I don't want God to say, Depart from me, for I never knew you. But I have got to stand now that I might be able to stand before Him on that day. If I don't stand now, I cannot stand then. So while it might hurt in this moment, while I might be embarrassed, while I might be in pain, I dare to be different. Praise God. Is there enough evidence in my case file to convict me of being a Christian? Hallelujah. If they open up the manila file on my life, is there an exhibit A that shows that I am a Christian? When they turn the pages, can they convict me of one of those followers of Jesus Christ? Or is my file empty? Hallelujah. Is there enough to convict me? The Bible says, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. I cannot go back to just blend in, but I have come into the presence of God to be changed. I have drawn a line in the sand. I fully recognize what I was, but I'm recognizing who I now have become in Jesus Christ. Praise the name of Jesus, and we're almost done. Praise God. I want to look like Jesus, I want to talk like Jesus, but I want to be what Jesus has called me to be. Yes, we serve a God that can reach into chaos and bring order and alignment. But I believe that God has challenged us to sever and to cut something off and to cut some people off. Not because you don't love them, not because you're not praying for them, not because you won't testify them, but I've got to be different. Praise the name of Jesus. Let's all stay and I'm done. We've got to be changed. The word sanctified means something that has been drawn out for a particular purpose. Jesus Christ sanctified with for you with his own blood. He drew you out for a reason. He drew you out for a purpose. He pulled you aside to be different. I believe that we serve a God that can hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. You might be the only hope in your group of friends, you might be the only source of peace. And you don't know why God pulled you aside. But there is something on the inside of you that when it's all said and done, like Joseph, those that tried to ostracize you and made you feel strange because you were different, those same brothers came with their tail between their legs to Egypt and had to bow down before Joseph for their very life. Don't be afraid to be different. Hallelujah. In that difference, in that irreconcilable difference, is the preservation of not only your soul, but your family and your children and your grandchildren and to