WALKING IN LOVE WILL FREE YOU FROM UNTIMELY DEATH

I went to hold a meeting for a fellow in the state of Oklahoma, and I was glad on that occasion that I went by myself (without my wife). At that time the children were small, and my wife couldn't travel with me all the time. This pastor lived in a nice parsonage, and his church was one of the better well-made brick churches in that area. You have to understand that back in those days, not many Full Gospel churches were made of brick. Some wooden churches existed, but there were very few brick churches. But this pastor's church was one of the nicest churches in this town, and so was his parsonage. Well, holding a meeting in this church, I had another opportunity to work no ill toward my neighbor. You see, this man gave me accommodations out back behind his parsonage—in his chicken coop! He hadn't even cleaned it out very well; there were chicken droppings all around. He just put a bed out there, and that's where he put me……

……Well, you can imagine how you'd feel about that. And, of course, I've got the flesh to deal with just like you do. My flesh rose up, and I thought, I don't have to put up with this! I'll just leave. But then I realized that I couldn't leave because it might hurt the flock of God. They would wonder why I'd left, and they would have gotten suspicious of their pastor. You see, love worketh no ill to his neighbor, and God's love in us never takes account of a suffered wrong. So I couldn't do that. I decided to tough it out and stay one week so it wouldn't make the pastor look bad. I said to the Lord, "Lord, I'll tell You what I'll do. I know the meeting is set up to go longer, but I will finish out the week." In the first meeting, I announced that I'd only preach through Sunday night. I made it look as good on the pastor as I could, and I left on Sunday night…….

……You ask, "Whatever happened to him?" He died at age 39 with cancer of the throat. That was the last church he ever pastored. In fact, he wasn't even pastoring a church when he died. He was working in a grocery store. You see, if you don't walk in love, dear friends, you just throw yourself wide open to the devil's attacks. You'll find out that one reason there is so much sickness in the Body of Christ even among preachers is that believers don't walk in love toward one another. Then people can't get healed until they make adjustments in their heart and begin to walk in love toward one another. Walking in the love of God is the way to prosper in life. You can't prosper in God if you don't treat other people right or if you're holding on to grudges in your heart. (Kenneth E. Hagin)