Serve One Another in Love no. 22

“For God’s grace, which brings deliverance, has appeared to all people. It teaches us to renounce godlessness and worldly pleasures, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives now, in this age; while continuing to expect the blessed fulfillment of our certain hope, which is the appearing of the Sh’khinah of our great God and the appearing of our Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah. He gave himself up on our behalf in order to free us from all violation of Torah and purify for himself a people who would be his own, eager to do good” (Titus (Tit) 2:11-14). Folks really do not want to learn. They would rather keep the same understanding and stick to their old routines and habits even when there are better ways. I spent a long time superficially looking for a better way. By that I mean I told myself I was looking for a better way while I was too mired into the muck of my habits to actually ever change. I was gluing feathers to me and deciding that made me a chicken rather than making actual change to my life. Changing my ways. Repentance. That is a really important first step in becoming someone and something new.

God’s grace teaches us all to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives NOW. See, it isn’t about us when we die. It is about us right here and now living the life of Jesus out on earth. I tire so much of folks being told to say a simple prayer and then you’re all good. Jesus did not go around preaching the Good News of saying a little prayer. He went around teaching people how to live out His Kingdom, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make people from all nations into talmidim , immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son and the Ruach HaKodesh , and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember! I will be with you always, yes, even until the end of the age” (Mattityahu (Mat) 28:18-20). Teaching them to obey everything I commanded you by making disciples of the world by teaching them to follow. And the best tool for teaching is a good example. I need to follow Him first before I can teach others to do the same.

Are we teaching others to be like Jesus or to be like us? Jesus showed us an example to follow of sacrifice and service. Too often churches are filled with folks dressed to impress during service that can not be bothered with serving others. It is a situation that permeates our society and our American culture. A situation of folks looking to elevate themselves, stick to their routines, and serve themselves rather than sacrifice and serve others. A society and culture focused on the individual rather than community and service is going to distort the Good News and make it all about ourselves. Jesus did not come to save Himself. He was good. He came to make sure we could become good. And we shouldn’t be looking to save and serve ourselves BUT others. Repentance is not a single prayer and walking the same path. Repentance is a drastic change of ways. Repentance is taking up His cross and following Him obediently wherever He leads. Repentance is uncomfortable because it leads to change. Are you comfortable or are you changing? 

Serve His Kingdom by serving one another in 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 #ServeOneAnotherIn Love #NotMyWayYHWH

Serve One Another in Love no. 19

“Using the grace God gave me, I laid a foundation, like a skilled master-builder; and another man is building on it. But let each one be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Yeshua the Messiah. Some will use gold, silver or precious stones in building on this foundation; while others will use wood, grass or straw. But each one’s work will be shown for what it is; the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire — the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. If the work someone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward; if it is burned up, he will have to bear the loss: he will still escape with his life, but it will be like escaping through a fire” (1 Corinthians (1 Co) 3:10-15). Folks ask me all kinds of questions about The Bible and God. Folks have a lot of motivation for those questions, however, I think most are honestly seeking truth. One of the things I am focused about doing in this current walk with Jesus is to not be a stumbling block. I do not want to be a hypocrite or a problem for folks honestly seeking truth and answers. Now, I know not every question is asked in the spirit of truth and honesty. I am aware that some folks are trying to be adversarial and twist my words just like they twist His Truth. BUT that should not prevent me from being honest just like it does not keep God from being honest about Himself. He is wh He says He is.

So, back to the scripture from today and how that relates to honesty. I think about this idea of going through the fire a lot when I talk about death and the inevitable judgment all must face. Some of us have taken the call to follow Him to heart. Some of us are out there changing our hearts and minds. Some of us are taking up our crosses and following wherever and whenever He leads. Some of us are out there with a partial heart for Jesus and His commandments. Some of us have a warped understanding of God and the Truth. No matter our dedication to Him, we build upon His foundation with the materials we have at hand. His foundation is not going to catch fire BUT what we build upon that foundation is definitely going to burn. Or, at least, something is going to burn because what we build is not going to be perfect. And some of our building projects are going to be singed, some scorched, and some burnt to the ground. BUT that foundation is still going to be there. And I think that foundation is important to understand.

Some of us have foundations that need examination. There are cracks and places where the foundation hasn’t settled correctly. There are, as Jesus said, some problems with our structural integrity, “So, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on bedrock. The rain fell, the rivers flooded, the winds blew and beat against that house, but it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the rivers flooded, the wind blew and beat against that house, and it collapsed — and its collapse was horrendous” (Mattityahu (Mat) 7:24-27)! That is the end of the Sermon on the Mount, in case you didn’t know. Those three chapters in Matthew are a great place to start working on our foundation in Jesus. 

I get asked a lot of questions about The Bible and about truth. And quite often I am pulling directly from Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 to guide my understanding of what Jesus reveals about God. He is the best representation of what God is like, “Yeshua said, ‘I AM the Way — and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me. Because you have known me, you will also know my Father; from now on, you do know him — in fact, you have seen him’” (Yochanan (Jhn) 14:6-7). So the stories about Jesus reveal God because those folks have seen Him. And when folks see me they should also see Him. And what should they see? That’s your foundation.

Serve His Kingdom by serving one another in 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 #ServeOneAnotherIn Love #NotMyWayYHWH