People are Not Easy to Love no. 30

“For it was through letting the Torah speak for itself that I died to its traditional legalistic misinterpretation, so that I might live in direct relationship with God. When the Messiah was executed on the stake as a criminal, I was too; so that my proud ego no longer lives. But the Messiah lives in me, and the life I now live in my body I live by the same trusting faithfulness that the Son of God had, who loved me and gave himself up for me. I do not reject God’s gracious gift; for if the way in which one attains righteousness is through legalism, then the Messiah’s death was pointless” (Galatians (Gal) 2:19-21). Some folks want a set of rules and not a relationship. Rules are easy to figure out. Relationships are between people. Relationships are cooperative. Relationships require work and learning. Some folks are not easy to love because they want The Bible to be a rule book.

Rules will not change you, relationships do. Life is all about relationships. Most importantly is my relationship to God. Then I need to work on my relationship with myself as well. And then I get to move on to relationships with other people. That first relationship is the most important because my relationship with God permeates all my other relationships. How I treat God is going to color the way I treat myself and others.

Relationships are difficult. Relationships require conversation. Relationships require spending time together. Relationships require an investment of yourself. Rules are just a list. And the problem I face is turning The Bible into a book of rules rather than an explanation of who God is. I look for a list rather than a relationship because the list is easier. The relationship demands time. The relationship demands learning. The relationship demands me.

And a lot of folks are not ready to give themselves to God enough to have a relationship. They would rather show up, sit down, put in their time, and clock out. They would rather do what they think is just enough. They would rather do the bare minimum. Is that the way to build a healthy relationship? Is that the kind of friendship you want? Is that the kind of marriage you want? Is that the kind of family you want?

Unfortunately, it is the relationship most Americans have with other people and themselves. If we want to work on relationships, the first relationship to fix is the one we have with God.

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. 29

“Then he said to his talmidim, ‘The harvest is rich, but the workers are few. Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out workers to gather in his harvest’” (Mattityahu (Mat) 9:37-38). I am sure folks are still saying it today, “No one wants to work.” It is kind of a boomer mantra that ends up infecting our minds as we grow old. Folks get old and start to romanticize their youth and grow in disdain for the new youth. And a lot of that focuses on putting in the work. BUT I think if we are honest with ourselves, we can easily observe that we fail to put in the work too. I know that for decades I was not putting any work into my physical, mental, or spiritual health. I was doing better than other folks and that was good enough. And that life of complacency is a reality that a lot of us are living in daily. People are not easy to love because they are not willing to do the work.

A lot of our work ethic problem in Christianity is rooted in the church of Christendom. Folks are worried about getting themselves to Heaven. Then they get worried about getting their family and friends to Heaven. And there it ends for a lot of folks. Or maybe it’s not so much about Heaven and more about being sure they aren’t going to Hell. And if that is what Christianity has become to you and I, then we have missed the whole point of Jesus. Christendom and Churchianity have made folks complacent. Folks are more worried about what happens after they die than what they should be doing here and now. And what they should be doing here and now. What I should be doing here and now is living a righteous life.

I need to be less worried about “saving” folks and more worried about getting folks to repent. Getting “saved” requires very little work. You say a prayer and God takes care of the rest. Repentance is about change. Repentance takes work. Repentance is a daily commitment to doing better. And it’s a lot easier to be “saved”.

Grace is awesome. Without grace we have no hope. Nothing I do can “save” me. And that is why we need a reminder that, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith but has no actions to prove it? Is such ‘faith’ able to save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food, and someone says to him, ‘Shalom ! Keep warm and eat hearty!’ without giving him what he needs, what good does it do? Thus, faith by itself, unaccompanied by actions, is dead” (Ya'akov (Jas) 2:14-17). Salvation is all the work of God. Repentance is the work of being Christian.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

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

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH