Seek First The Kingdom of God no. 16

“Whom do I have in heaven but you?

And with you, I lack nothing on earth.

My mind and body may fail; but God

is the rock for my mind and my portion forever” (Tehillim (Psa) 73:25-26).

Love never fails because God never fails. People fail all the time. I am a rolling history of failure. I fail God. I fail my family. I fail my friends. I fail my neighbors. I fail my enemies. BUT God doesn’t. And the more I center myself on the Spirit that dwells within me, the better I am at living out His love. And there is nothing more important in my walk with Him than love and forgiveness.

Why am I so prone to failure? Well, I think that Paul adds a great note when talking about love when he says, “For our knowledge is partial, and our prophecy partial; but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass” (1 Corinthians (1 Co) 13:9-10). I just don’t have a total understanding of just how important love can be. I overlook its power. I do that because love is a process. Love takes time. Love endures. Love empowers. Love isn’t microwaveable. Love simmers. And I need to remind myself that although I do not see the immediate manifestations of my love, love is still working. And that can really and truly frustrate folks because it is so easy to see the instant rewards of hatred.

I can strike out with mean words and violent hands and find an instant reward for my evil deeds. I can instantly find gratification through sin and destruction. BUT love takes time. “Love is patient and kind, not jealous, not boastful, not proud, rude or selfish, not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not gloat over other people’s sins but takes its delight in the truth. Love always bears up, always trusts, always hopes, always endures” (1 Corinthians (1 Co) 13:4-7).

I talk a lot about love and forgiveness because Jesus does too. I got accused of having a ‘squishy’ Jesus that can’t save anybody. I don’t know how loving and forgiving is ‘squishy’ because squishy is soft, yielding, lenient, or imprecise. And being nailed to a tree for love and forgiveness is not soft, yielding, lenient, or imprecise. Giving your life so that others might live isn’t soft, yielding, lenient, or imprecise. Living out God’s love on earth isn’t for the soft, yielding, lenient, or imprecise. It takes a lot to love and forgive. Jesus understood how much it was going to take when he was praying blood and tears. Jesus understood how much love would cost. And it wasn’t soft, yielding, lenient, or imprecise. “For now we see obscurely in a mirror, but then it will be face to face. Now I know partly; then I will know fully, just as God has fully known me. But for now, three things last — trust, hope, love; and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians (1 Co) 13:12-13). Don’t let anyone tell you that love is the easy way out. Love is never easy. There is no better example of that fact than looking at how often we choose not to love and forgive because hatred and retribution are much easier.

Seek first His Kingdom which rests on the foundation of love.

Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

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

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #NotMyWayYHWH

Seek First The Kingdom of God no. 15

“You have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Love your neighbor — and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! Then you will become children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun shine on good and bad people alike, and he sends rain to the righteous and the unrighteous alike. What reward do you get if you love only those who love you? Why, even tax-collectors do that! And if you are friendly only to your friends, are you doing anything out of the ordinary? Even the Goyim do that! Therefore, be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Mattityahu (Mat) 5:43-48). Nothing makes people more uncomfortable than talking about loving your enemies. People have countless excuses for why we don’t have to love our enemies. And no matter how well meaning, no matter how practical, no matter what excuse, if I am to love like Jesus then I need to love like Jesus. And living like Jesus will get you called all sorts of names by folks inside and outside churches.

As often as I talk about the Sermon on the Mount and love and forgiveness, just as often will I get criticism for making Jesus into something He isn’t. Basically, I am being called a liar about who Jesus says He is. BUT, I don’t see Jesus building walls to keep folks out of His Kingdom. He wants everyone to be part of His Kingdom. I don’t see Jesus bringing an army into the world to conquer at the edge of a sword. He wants everyone to see His Kingdom through love and forgiveness. I don’t think He’s lying about who He is. And if He is telling us who He is then I am rather certain He is giving us an idea of who God is as well. I mean that’s what He says. He says, “My Father has handed over everything to me. Indeed, no one fully knows the Son except the Father, and no one fully knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. Come to me, all of you who are struggling and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mattityahu (Mat) 11:27-30).

I think it all ultimately comes down to whether I trust in His plan or in my own plan. Have I enthroned Him or did I enthrone my version of Him? And there are a lot of dressed up Jesus versions out there. There’s CEO Jesus, soldier Jesus, culture Jesus, there’s a lot of reinventing Jesus being done. Or there is the Jesus that loved and forgave me when I was and still am a mess. There is the Jesus of the world and there is the Jesus for the world. And too often we are ready to throw out the forgiveness we received for a judgment for others. Whoa. Hold up. He came to save them too. And He called me to spread that Good News and not to spread His judgment. We so quickly want to bring about the judgment when we have a lot of work to still do today. We spend too much time looking for the end when we still have loving and forgiveness to do today.

So, let’s pump the brakes on judgment. We aren’t there yet. And when we get there, we are all going to be on the opposite side of Him. We are going to be right alongside the same folks we already want to throw out as deplorable and irredeemable. Give His love and forgiveness a chance today?

Seek first His Kingdom which rests on the foundation of love.

Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

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

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #NotMyWayYHWH