Serve One Another in Love no. 14

“Let them praise the name of Adonai, 

 for his name alone is exalted; 

 his glory is above both earth and heaven. 

 He has increased the power of his people, 

 granted praise to all his faithful, 

 to the descendants of Isra’el, 

 a people close to him. Halleluyah”

(Tehillim (Psa) 148:13-14)! 

Worship and praise have been a focus of my studies over the past few weeks. Too often folks forget the importance of being thankful and praising God for all He has done. Worship is the way we show His worth. Worship is the way we show Him love. Expressing our thankfulness is an important part of our walk with Him.

“The fear of Adonai is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of holy ones is understanding. For with me, your days will be increased; years will be added to your life. If you are wise, your wisdom helps you; but if you scoff, you bear the consequences alone” (Mishlei (Pro) 9:10-12). I began this walk with God out of fear BUT not fear of Him. I was afraid of everything else out there. When I was a child I was afraid of God because I didn’t have my own understanding of Him. I leaned on the understanding of others who wanted me to be afraid of Him. Fear is a great motivator to start a journey BUT living in fear is not the walk with Him. Countless times folks are told to not fear throughout The Bible. Fear should be replaced with a respect and honor for God as the creator of all things. If we are His children, then we need not be afraid of our Father. 

A lot of our depictions of God as fearful are the result of some of our messed up relationships with fathers and father figures and role models. Folks get some really messed up ideas of what discipline and discipleship are to be like from the poor examples in the world. BUT we do have a perfect example of God in the example of Jesus. He tells us, “'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 . . . Whoever has seen me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’”(Yochanan (Jhn) 14:6-7,9)? Have you seen Jesus? Then you have seen God.

I know that we too often get confused and rest in Old Testament misunderstandings of God as wrathful and vengeful and mean and cruel BUT that is not the picture that we get through Jesus. How cruel is God that He makes a way for all of us to be at one with Him? How cruel is God to become one of us and make a Way to Him? How cruel is a God of love? I think a lot of our misconceptions about God are rooted in our misunderstandings of reconciling Jesus with God. He is who He says He is. And we need to stop acting like He isn’t. And a lot of that misunderstanding is having the wrong perspective about God. When we read The Bible, what are we reading into it? Are we reading our bad relationships, our poor role models, our imperfect relationships, our need for revenge, our influenced stereotypes into His Word? Or are we looking for the fruits of the Spirit, “. . . love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, self control. Nothing in the Torah stands against such things” (Galatians (Gal) 5:22-23)? He is worthy of our worship because He is who He says He is. He is our loving Father in Heaven that came here and made His Way through love.

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. 12

“Furthermore, we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called in accordance with his purpose; because those whom he knew in advance, he also determined in advance would be conformed to the pattern of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers; and those whom he thus determined in advance, he also called; and those whom he called, he also caused to be considered righteous; and those whom he caused to be considered righteous he also glorified” (Romans (Rom) 8:28-30)! Sometimes it is difficult to see how everything is going to work for His glory and honor. Sometimes it is difficult to see how things are going to align with His purpose. But that is where we need to trust God. 

If there is one thing that has moved me further along my walk with Him is that, “But for now, three things last — trust, hope, love; and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians (1 Co) 13:13). I have to trust Him even when the plan does not make sense. I have to trust Him when I don’t see the plan. He has a purpose for me that I do not understand all the time. When I first started walking this journey almost four years ago, I had no idea I was going to be a Christian. I had no plans on reading The Bible and experiencing a relationship with Him. Absolutely no plan. Yet, here I am anyway. 

He has led me into places where I am uncomfortable and placed me there. And I have had to learn to be hopeful about situations. I have to be hopeful because I trust Him. I trust that He has put me in these places because it is His purpose. And I am hopeful that Him placing me into these places is going to turn out for His purpose. And that I think is the place I am weakest. I want to be hopeful about people and situations BUT I am weighed down by experience with people and situations. I have seen how these sorts of people and these types of situations turn out in the past and it is so difficult to be hopeful that the outcome is going to be different this time. BUT it can be because He can make it that way. He can move that way. I just have to get over my preconceptions and judgments about what He can and can’t do. No matter how unlikely I think the outcome is positive, I have to trust and hope that He has a purpose. 

And finally, I need a lot of love. And I am working on that more than anything else. I have to work on disagreeing with people that I love in a way that shows I love them. And that is tough for me. I have way too much experience in doing things my way and not His Way. I have love for people BUT a lot of baggage that makes that love difficult for others to see. I need that love to be more like His love, His service, His sacrifice. 

And I think that type of love helps build hope. Jesus saw what sorts of people we were and He still came to restore our way back to Him. He came to make the way when there is so little hope in us. BUT He had hope in us and He loved us enough to trust that we would make the right choices. Either that’s really stupid or really naive or really comforting. He trusts me and hopes that I will find His love and show it to others. Love helps build our trust and hope in Him and our neighbors. So that we can be that, “. . . light for the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Likewise, when people light a lamp, they don’t cover it with a bowl but put it on a lampstand, so that it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they may see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven” (Mattityahu (Mat) 5:14-16). 

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