Serve One Another in Love no. 10

“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). If you ever want to know someone’s real character, then disagree with them on an issue they find important. It could be politics, government, economics, family, religion, or entertainment BUT disagree with someone about something they value and treasure to know how much they are capable of love. I think about how many folks disagreed with Jesus when He brought the message of His Kingdom to earth. I think about Paul standing before the Greeks in Athens continuing to preach the Good News. And I don’t see them getting angry and storming off. I don’t see them unfriending folks and blocking them. I don’t see them calling unbelievers names or accusing them of being heretics and condemning them to hell. I don’t see it because it is not there. And it is not what Jesus commands.

How you fight says a lot more about you than you think. When folks call me names anymore for not holding the same theology, same politics, same philosophy as them I can only laugh at their irritation because it isn’t important. I think a lot of folks have a really narrow view of God as looking for reasons to punish every one for every little thing. And that just either makes me sad or fills me with laughter. If I am free in Him then why am I afraid anymore. Sure, the beginning of knowledge is fear of God BUT that isn’t the end of understanding. We don’t just stop with being afraid of Him. We have to move forward into a relationship where we know more about Him.

I was talking Sunday about how we get comfortable with God and that I shouldn’t be the same Christian today I was ten years, ten months, or ten days ago because the relationship I have should be growing. And growing in relationship with God means moving forward in understanding of Him. And understanding His love is something I see more and more when I look back at The Bible. I don’t see a God always ready to judge BUT a God always ready to redeem and restore. He gives endless chances to His people. He only expects that we give that same type of love to our neighbors. And we give that love whether we agree with them or not. I don’t have to agree with you in order to treat you like an image bearer of Him. And that is what He expects and what He teaches. Be careful how you argue because it shows your heart.

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. 5

“For, brothers, you were called to be free. Only do not let that freedom become an excuse for allowing your old nature to have its way. Instead, serve one another in love. For the whole of the Torah is summed up in this one sentence: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’; but if you go on snapping at each other and tearing each other to pieces, watch out, or you will be destroyed by each other! What I am saying is this: run your lives by the Spirit. Then you will not do what your old nature wants. For the old nature wants what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is contrary to the old nature. These oppose each other, so that you find yourselves unable to carry out your good intentions. But if you are led by the Spirit, then you are not in subjection to the system that results from perverting the Torah into legalism” (Galatians (Gal) 5:13-18). Run your lives by the Spirit. Sounds so simple yet it proves daily to not be so. As a Christian, I supposedly have the Spirit dwelling inside of me. So, it should be really easy to let the Spirit direct and guide me. Sounds really easy BUT how many times do I daily hear the Spirit and ignore it? How many times do I daily fight with the Spirit when it leads me to act? 

A lot of folks have an easy and comfortable walk with the Lord. I don’t. I am stubborn and intelligent and want my own way based on just wanting my way. Sometimes being stubborn is in direct opposition to what I know works. I have often seen that I don’t know what I am doing, yet I still choose to do things that bring death into the world. Jesus first warns in the Sermon on the Mount against speaking death when He says, “You have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Do not murder,’ and that anyone who commits murder will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who nurses anger against his brother will be subject to judgment; that whoever calls his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing!’ will be brought before the Sanhedrin ; that whoever says, ‘Fool!’ incurs the penalty of burning in the fire of Gei-Hinnom’”(Mattityahu (Mat) 5:21-22)! I have the ability to murder with my tongue, with my actions, and with my thoughts every day. BUT I also have the choice to speak life, act life, and think life through the Spirit, “The activity of the righteous is for life; the income of the wicked is for sin” (Mishlei (Pro) 10:16).

So what is going to win today? Am I going to let the fleshly desires of being stubborn and knowing better for myself win out when I already know that I don’t know better and that I should listen to Him? Or am I going to let the Spirit direct my heart, my tongue, my feet, and my mind? And am I going to refocus on Him as I walk throughout the day? Too often devotions are once a day and that is all. Too often we pray once a day and we are done. One prayer covers the day, the week, the month, or the year. That is a horrible relationship model. If I really need God as much as I profess then I need to be talking to Him a lot more than I am. And I talk to Him a lot. BUT it is never enough if I want to know Him better.

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