People are Not Easy to Love (no. 9)

“Therefore, stand! Have the belt of truth buckled around your waist, put on righteousness for a breastplate, and wear on your feet the readiness that comes from the Good News of shalom. Always carry the shield of trust, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the Evil One. And take the helmet of deliverance; along with the sword given by the Spirit, that is, the Word of God; as you pray at all times, with all kinds of prayers and requests, in the Spirit, vigilantly and persistently, for all God’s people” (Ephesians (Eph) 6:14-18 CJB). A lot of merchandise exists about the armor of God and the often overlooked part comes right there at the end. I am to “. . . pray at all times, with all kinds of prayer requests, in the Spirit, vigilantly and persistently, for all God’s people.” People are not easy to love because we don’t rely on God to take care of everything.

Awake with a prayer, go to bed with a prayer, and pray throughout the day. Folks used to wear all those WWJD bracelets and gear and that isn’t far off from what I should be thinking and asking all day long. What does God think? How does God want me to act? How would Jesus handle this situation? Am I showing God’s love in this situation? Is the Spirit moving me to take action? Prayer is all about working on that relationship with Him. And if I am not looking to Him for guidance and correction in my words and deeds, then on whom am I relying? I had a conversation with a person the other day that thought we could save ourselves. We can’t. God does all the saving. God is the one with the plan. I can choose to accept that plan or fight against it, however, inevitably, God is still in control.

I need to pray for all God’s people. And who are God’s people? I think that question sounds an awful lot like who is my neighbor? Or am I my brother’s keeper? God created us all in His Image. He sent His son to triumph over sin and death. So when I think about for whom I am praying . . . it kind of looks like God’s people are all people. I was a God’s people, I am a God’s people, and I will be a God’s people. And so were you, so are you, and so you will be.

Let’s encourage each and every one of us to build that relationship with the Lord. Through our example of prayer, we can help all God’s people see His example. Jesus found a lot of time to pray to God and He was God, is God, and will always be God. So, I might need to do life a little more prayerfully. “And let us keep paying attention to one another, in order to spur each other on to love and good deeds, not neglecting our own congregational meetings, as some have made a practice of doing, but, rather, encouraging each other. And let us do this all the more as you see the Day approaching “ (Messianic Jews (Heb) 10:24-25 CJB).

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH

People are Not Easy to Love (no. 8)

“So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers. On the contrary, you are fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s family. You have been built on the foundation of the emissaries and the prophets, with the cornerstone being Yeshua the Messiah himself. In union with him the whole building is held together, and it is growing into a holy temple in union with the Lord. Yes, in union with him, you yourselves are being built together into a spiritual dwelling-place for God” (Ephesians (Eph) 2:19-22 CJB). Families love to disagree, argue, and fight. Hopefully, those same families that disagree, argue, and fight find the time to reconcile, heal, and love. Oftentimes that is not the case in many human relationships, however, that should be the normal for God’s family. There are many things for which we can disagree, argue, and fight BUT there is much more for us to rejoice and be thankful. People are not easy to love because sometimes they get in the way of His Way.

I read and study a lot. Not just biblical texts BUT all different types of literature and nonfiction. I am a huge fan of my own theories and philosophies and ways of doing things. Some of these theories and philosophies can become so rooted in my character that I tend to think of them as part of me. And heaven forbid anyone question the ideas I have formulated in my nearly five decades walking this earth. And I think we all have a lot of our own truths, whether spiritual or not, that we fight to defend when we should be loving each other.

A week does not go by without someone saying something that I don’t find in alignment with my walk with the Lord. And my natural reaction from my days past has been to tell you exactly why you got things wrong. And I see many other people doing the exact same things, constantly looking to be right rather than righteous. And, dude, it is a struggle. BUT let me tell you what puts everything in perspective to me. Not one of those disciples was reading books on theology. Not one of those disciples was attending Bible college. Not one of those disciples planned to be disciples. What they were was open to Him.

I have to really stop thinking I know anything of real value in fifty years of studying. I had a conversation with a minister yesterday that revealed to me just how conceited we can get about our knowledge. The idea that we can look at other folks in the Kingdom and make little of their work when we know nothing about their walk. We can sit here and judge them from a distance or closely BUT what do we truly know? What do we know that isn’t a gift from God alone? What is all my study and knowledge without Him? And I think that sort of humility is one of the problems in all families.

Folks like “to put on airs” when they figure out one little thing. I used to judge all the statists on my timeline because I had figured out something they didn’t. I used to judge the lost because I found Him. I used to judge the hypocrites in Christianity because I knew more. Dude, I don’t know anything that God has not revealed. And not one place has God ever told me that all I have learned is going to do me any good. That thief on the cross wasn’t reading The Bible, witnessing, or preaching and He still gets the same reward as me.

I think that thought needs to rest and marinate with some of us and me included. I can get so caught up in trying to have the right theology that I forget to have Him. What is the point of being right when I lose being righteous? We can argue, disagree, and fight BUT without Him none of this matters. Sometimes I get in His Way and that makes me not easy to love.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH