Author: Thomas E Meyer Jr

James 2:8-9 Amplified Bible

⁸ If, however, you are [really] fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, if you have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit]” you are doing well. ⁹ But if you show partiality [prejudice, favoritism], you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as offenders.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning; is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

Par·ti·al·i·ty – unfair bias in favor of one thing or person compared with another; favoritism.

Are you, am I, showing partiality to people?

If so, are we even aware that we’re sinning?

Most of us might be quick to respond with, “No, I don’t show favoritism.”

But think about it very carefully.

When given the singular or habitual opportunity to choose, do we give gifts to people we believe deserve them over others who seem less deserving?

Are we more willing to help those people who we believe are “worthy” of being helped over those we, by some worldly standard of measure, deem less worthy?

Digging deeper, do we give our offerings to those we like better than others rather than asking God where to give, following His leading over our own?

Likewise, how do we decide whether to donate to someone’s mission trip or not?

What standard of criteria do we base our generosity on?

Even deeper, when it comes to prayer, do we pray more for people we believe deserve our prayer time and our efforts over those who seem beyond hope?

How might God react to that business of “partiality?”

Does God show favoritism?

Is God a “partial or impartial” God?

Does God’s love discriminate based on human standards – race, ethnicity, skin color, national origin, young or old, male or female and etcetera? (JOHN 3:16)

Although many believers may not consider favoritism a serious issue or even something to be dealt with, God makes it abundantly clear that our showing any partiality towards people is absolutely not okay. (read also Galatians 3:23-29)

It might be a hard concept for us to grasp because, as believers, we may think He does because of various passages in the Bible where God gives favor.  

But God clearly distinguishes between His giving favor and His showing favoritism, so quickly setting this misconception aside, His word tells us,

“For God does not show favoritism” (Romans 2:11).

It’s enormously challenging, too, trying to convince some Christians it’s not a good thing because some do not even minimally consider showing partiality sinful or view it as doing anything particularly divisive, or harmful or wrong.

There are likewise believers, too, who, by some rationale, will even think and believe it’s a wise and discerning practice, justifying favoring some individuals over others, seeing those certain persons as more deserving and responsible for receiving their kindness, generosity, helpfulness, and more. (read Acts 6:1-6)

Churches who play favorites: Acceptance With No Favoritism

Who hasn’t seen favoritism?

Sadly, partiality is widespread not only out in the world but in many churches.

James 2:1-4 addresses it within the Church, revealing the sinfulness behind it.

James 2:1-4 Amplified Bible

The Sin of Partiality

2 My fellow believers, do not practice your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of partiality [toward people—show no favoritism, no prejudice, no snobbery]. ² For if a man comes into your ^[a]meeting place ^[b] wearing a gold ring and ^[c]fine clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes also comes in, ³ and you pay special attention to the one who wears the ^[d]fine clothes, and say to him, “You sit here in this good seat,” and you tell the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down [on the floor] by my footstool,” ⁴ have you not discriminated among yourselves, and become judges with wrong motives?

The Bible makes clear that believers in Christ, enjoying the gift of God’s acceptance by grace, may not show favoritism, treating some people as better or more worthy than others.

This follows from God’s own practice of accepting all who call on his name (read also Acts 10:34-35; Romans 10:9-13).

James gives a specific example about favoritism in action, showing that there is no room for discrimination in God’s kingdom.

He adds, “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right.”

We must not miss this: “Loving our neighbors” means ­accepting one another!

We accept others when we make room at our table or in our circle of friends for someone we may not know.

It’s more than being friendly.

Jesus said, “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me” (Matthew 10:40).

Jesus identified with people who were poor, hungry, strangers, sick, and in prison. (read also Matthew 25:34-40)

We must do this too.

Loving one another means getting involved in the lives of others—as messy or as unwelcome as that may be.

It could involve inviting someone to join a Bible study at your home.

It could even be uncomfortable.

But you can do so, remembering that few are offended by Jesus.

Accepting one another as Jesus did ­honors God and brings rejoicing in heaven.

To whom can you show God’s love today?

Christians in Authority Who Play Favorites

God emphasizes in Ephesians 6:7-9 how He looks at showing partiality between people, especially in situations where some may believe they’re justified in treating individuals differently because of their various positions in life.

Sadly there are Christian leaders, bosses, parents who leave their Christianity at the door, believing they are in the right to play favorites at home or work.

But God calls us all to serve one another, regardless of rank or position in life. 

Ephesians 6:7-9 New International Version

⁷ Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, ⁸ because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

⁹ And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

Unfortunately, many humans, including Christians, struggle with wanting to feel more important than others.

Rooted in sin, Philippians 2:3 urges us to “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”

Overcoming Partiality

So how do we live a life free from partiality?

Scripture provides direction on how to overcome the tendency to play favorites.

1. Ask God for Direction

When tempted, look to God for help.

Proverbs 3:5-8 Amplified Bible

⁵ 
Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
^6 
[a]In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
⁷ 
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord [with reverent awe and obedience] and turn [entirely] away from evil.
⁸ 
It will be health to your body [your marrow, your nerves, your sinews, your muscles—all your inner parts]
And refreshment (physical well-being) to your bones.

2. Freely Received, Freely Give what was Freely Given

Freely give because God has freely given us all things (Romans 8:32), not based on who someone is or isn’t, but because it pleases God. 

Proverbs 3:27 encourages, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.”

3. Sacrificial Transformation, Spiritual Renewal of our Thoughts

Romans 12:1-5 Amplified Bible

Dedicated Service

12 ^[a]Therefore I urge you, ^[b]brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. ² And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be ^[c]transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].

³ For by the grace [of God] given to me I say to everyone of you not to think more highly of himself [and of his importance and ability] than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has apportioned to each a degree of faith [and a purpose designed for service]. ⁴ For just as in one [physical] body we have many parts, and these parts do not all have the same function or special use, ⁵ so we, who are many, are [nevertheless just] one body in Christ, and individually [we are] parts one of another [mutually dependent on each other].

Paul’s urging of each of us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices is based on Christ’s ultimate act of service and ultimate act of sacrifice for all of our sake.

Baptized believers, transformed and renewed, living sacrifices serve because they’re steadfast immovable followers of Jesus, who served by giving his life.

Yet, as one pessimist I know put it, “The problem with living sacrifices is that they’re always crawling off the altar.”

Being a living sacrifice, with Christ as our supreme example, calls for sincere commitment to serve faithfully, selflessly and no matter what, to not give up.

Healthy worship and prayer life, Healthy family life, healthy church family life, means serving the all members of the family by doing whatever it is we do best.

Healthy church family life means freely serving fellow members of the body of believers with the gifts God has entrusted to us.

It means sacrificing biases, prejudices, valuing to the utmost, service to one another because together we form a body belonging to God and to each other.

Paul put it simply: “As Christ’s body, each member belongs to all the others.”

Intersecting Faith and Life: 

Hebrews 13:1-2 English Standard Version

Sacrifices Pleasing to God

13 Let brotherly love continue. ² Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Ask God today to reveal to you opportunities how to be genuinely Christ-like impartial and to reveal to other neighbors any ways you’ve been practicing it.

When confronting an un-neighborly situation where you can choose how you respond to people, ask God to lead you and to transform you and to renew your thoughts towards heavenly things, lean on His understanding over your own.

You simply never know what difference you would make in another’s journey.

But believe that God already knows what difference you absolutely did make!

In the name of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Oh, Lord, we often fall into determining someone’s value based on their wealth. Their wealth tells us nothing of their heart or their love for you. Help us not to insult the poor and elevate the rich. We pray that you will help us reach out to others without selfish motives like James addresses here. Help us not to disregard those in humble circumstances in order to try and elevate ourselves with those who show their disdain for you and treat others badly. You have called us to honor you with whatever you have blessed us with, and at the same time you call us not to play favorites. Help us to have humble hearts, to follow your example of loving all and not judging a person by their economic status or what they can do for us. In the One who is the richest of all and yet humbled himself on the cross for our sake – Amen!

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning; is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

https://translate.google.com/

Isaiah 12 THE Message

My Strength and Song

12 And you will say in that day,
    “I thank you, God.
You were angry
    but your anger wasn’t forever.
You withdrew your anger
    and moved in and comforted me.

² “Yes, indeed—God is my salvation.
    I trust, I won’t be afraid.
God—yes God!—is my strength and song,
    best of all, my salvation!”

^3-4 Joyfully you’ll pull up buckets of water
    from the wells of salvation.
And as you do it, you’ll say,
    “Give thanks to God.
Call out his name.
    Ask him anything!
Shout to the nations, tell them what he’s done,
    spread the news of his great reputation!

^5-6 “Sing praise-songs to God. He’s done it all!
    Let the whole earth know what he’s done!
Raise the roof! Sing your hearts out, O Zion!
    The Greatest lives among you: The Holy of Israel.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

Surely God is My Salvation

It is great to be reminded that we have salvation through Jesus.

In Isaiah 12, the promised Messiah, Jesus, had not yet come to earth.

However, the people of God believed Him at His Word.

The Lord used many prophets to speak truth into hard situations and to share about the coming Savior.

Isaiah was one of these prophets.

In Isaiah 12, Isaiah writes a song of praise after Isaiah 11 just shares about the coming Messiah.

The Israelites were well aware that they were sinful and rebellious people.

This start to Isaiah 12:2 “Surely” is a confidence that the promised Messiah would be coming and their faith in the Lord who had a redemption plan to cover their sins once and for all.

I Will Trust and Not Be Afraid

The Israelites were a fearful people.

Soon after their release, many of them wanted to go back to slavery in Egypt in the difficulty of escape, many of them did not trust in God and took matters into their own hands, and many of them lived out of fear and not faith in the Lord.

In this time, Isaiah is reminding the people of their anchor in the Lord.

The Prophet Isaiah now encourages us still today to place our trust in the Lord because He is our Peace, we do not have to be afraid when we are resting in Him.

Our momentary trials and hardships might be extremely painful and difficult, but we can get through knowing that the Lord is with us and we have eternal security in Heaven because of Jesus.

We can each declare this in our own lives today, “I will trust and not be afraid.”

The LORD, the LORD Himself Is My Strength and My Defense

When LORD is mentioned in all caps, it is referring to the proper name of God, YHWH.

We as believers agree with Isaiah’s statement that God, our God Himself, is our strength and our defense.

He helps us to move forward but also protects us from the attacks of the enemy.

He is the perfect sacrifice from eternal separation from the Lord.

When we undergo spiritual attacks from the enemy, His Spirit within us strengthens and empowers us to stand steadfast and firm not in our own strength but in leaning on God’s strength and God’s immovable promises.

In what ways do we need to be reminded God is our strength and our defense?

He is fighting for us, and He is guarding us.

I love how we know that it is the Lord who holds the victory, and we are His beloved children.

Even when the war seems to tarry, our Savior reminds us of His everlasting presence and His power in the midst of the battle.

We can have eternal mindsets with the help of His Spirit.

He Has Become My Salvation 

More valuable than a temporary victory is the fact that when we place our faith in Jesus, He has become our forever salvation.

This is eternal security.

This is forever hope and confidence of life with Him in heaven.

I love how Isaiah begins and ends this verse with this truth.

He is reminding us twice that our story, our lives, begin and end with God.

He is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, Beginning and the End.

Intersecting Faith and Life

Is Jesus your salvation?

If you have never accepted this gift through His death and resurrection, ask Him into your heart today.

When He is our salvation, we have full victory in Christ.

In what ways has it been difficult for your trust to mature in God right now?

How can this verse remind you not to be afraid and to fully rely on Him?

How does this verse remind you not to be afraid and to fully rely on Him?

How has the Lord been a strength and defense on your behalf in the past?

How does this ancient passage give you encouragement that He is fighting for you now and in the future?

If you were to sit down and write a song of who Jesus Christ is in your life ….?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 16 The Message

16 ^1-2 Keep me safe, O God,
    I’ve run for dear life to you.
I say to God, “Be my Lord!”
    Without you, nothing makes sense.

³ And these God-chosen lives all around—
    what splendid friends they make!

⁴ Don’t just go shopping for a god.
    Gods are not for sale.
I swear I’ll never treat god-names
    like brand-names.

^5-6 My choice is you, God, first and only.
    And now I find I’m your choice!
You set me up with a house and yard.
    And then you made me your heir!

^7-8 The wise counsel God gives when I’m awake
    is confirmed by my sleeping heart.
Day and night I’ll stick with God;
    I’ve got a good thing going and I’m not letting go.

^9-10 I’m happy from the inside out,
    and from the outside in, I’m firmly formed.
You canceled my ticket to hell—
    that’s not my destination!

¹¹ Now you’ve got my feet on the life path,
    all radiant from the shining of your face.
Ever since you took my hand,
    I’m on the right way.

Heavenly Father, you are the Author of our Salvation. It is by your Hand that we have received deliverance and to you, dear God should be all praise and glory, for it is your divine plan for mankind that rescued us from terrible peril and made us co-heirs of your Heavenly Kingdom, alongside our Messiah Jesus Christ in Whom we repose complete faith and trust. Jesus has promised eternal life and a place in heaven which he will prepare, for all who are beneficiaries of your grace, by their faith in Christ.

We find rest for our soul when we live by your Holy Word, Lord, for only you can offer us refuge and sanctuary. With you, nothing is impossible When the going gets too tough, we turn to you for peace and protection, comfort and assurance, and we find it, for your promises to us are unshakable and all we ask for in Jesus’ Name, is readily granted to those who believe.

Our trust is in you Lord, for you are unchangeable and omniscient, the very foundation of our strength, for you have uplifted us, filled us with your Holy Spirit, and we are fortified and unafraid of evil machinations. For with you as our Father, we need have no fear and can worship, offer songs of praise for being in the ranks of the righteous. We surrender to you, consecrating our lives to you, in Jesus’ Name.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

https://translate.google.com/

John 3:19-21 The Message

^19-21 “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

Christians in Crisis – Preferences for Running to the Darkness?

English cleric William Farrar wrote, “I am only one, but I am one; I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do. And what I ought to do, by the grace of God, I will do.”

Reverend John Wesley founder of Methodism famously wrote: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

What amount of “everything possible whenever possible” can one person do?

Biblically, A whole lot.

The Bible tells the story of one woman who was determined to save a nation.

Esther may not have been the first woman people would have imagined for this assignment – but for such a time as it was, a mounting darkness was coming.

After she won a beauty contest, she became queen in the Medo-Persian Empire.

And in that position of influence, Esther, who was Jewish, discovered that her people faced a serious threat.

Because Mordecai would not bow to him, a wicked and self serving man named Haman had devised a plot to exterminate every Jewish person in the empire.

Queen Esther considered appealing to King Xerxes on behalf of her people.

But by doing so, she would be risking her own life.

The king could have her executed for approaching him without his invitation.

But her cousin Mordecai sent her a message, which said,

“Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13-14 NLT).

In other words,

“Esther, God doesn’t depend solely on you. But He can use you in a powerful way. Will you step up?”

Esther did, and as a result, the Jewish people survived.

One person stepped forward at great risk to their lives, made a difference.

John 3:16-18 The Message

^16-18 “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

Some weeks ago I was reading a lengthy devotional from Genesis 3 (about Adam and Eve’s fall into sin).

In it, a little girl, while picking noisily at her dinner plate with her fork, had whispered to her mother, “Mommy, can’t Adam and Eve go to heaven now?”

She understood that something very serious had happened, and she wondered if anything or anyone could undo the damage the darkness had done on that day.

Though as young as she was, she wisely asked her mother the right question:

Could anyone pick up the pieces of a creation threatened by growing darkness?

Were we too accustomed to being helpless, accepting our helplessness, in the towering presence, greater power and overwhelming strength of the darkness?

Or are we faced with the dilemma of an old nursery rhyme:

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall;/ Humpty Dumpty had a great fall./ All the king’s horses and all the king’s men/ couldn’t put Humpty together again.”

What no one else could do against the brokenness and darkness ushered in by sin, in one matchless moment, God did by sending his Son, the Lord Jesus.

Through his coming, his birth, life, death and resurrection Jesus ushered in the kingdom of heaven, and by fully believing in him we can enter that kingdom.

But IF we WILL walk in the Light as He is in the Light …

1 John 1:6-7 The Message

^6-7 If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.

There is a great contrast between a life that is being lived in the darkness and one that is being lived in the light, a point that John expounds upon in his text.

As life in the darkness is not indicative of Him, it can also be said that the life in the light is one that is lived in Him.

John continues with his imagery of walking, indicating that living with the light, who is God, is a chosen lifestyle.

Because it is a lifestyle that is founded in Him, it is a life that reflects Him.

It shines light outward into the lives of others, confronting, challenging the darkness by exposing truth to those who come in contact with a Christian.

John further reveals that the lifestyle is also characterized by something more.

It is a lifestyle of continuous fellowship, one of worship, one of diligent study and prayer, one of John’s major emphases in these first verses of his writing.

John also further extends the idea that connection and fellowship with others is related to connection and fellowship with God.

Apart from Him, no true fellowship can exist.

As light is necessary for the nourishment and growth of all things, God is necessary for the nourishment and growth of people.

Any connectional relationship absent this light will not ever blossom into any relationship that is founded in true Christ like love, including not only kindness and companionship, but also true accountability, responsibility, and discipline.

And thus, because there is no blossoming, no fruit will be produced, something evident in the life of a true Christian (cf. John 15:1-8).

The Vine and the Branches

15 ^1-3 “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.

⁴ “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

^5-8 “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.

Finally, because one who walks in the light is defined as one who is a child of God, they can experience the cleansing power of the blood of Christ.

In the Old Testament, blood was connected to purification, and thus is seen often in the sacrifices (Leviticus 16:30; Hebrews 9:21-22).

Now, in the New Testament sense, the blood is connected with Christ’s atoning sacrifice, which fulfills God’s requirements for the punishment of sin allowing for believers to be declared ‘acquitted’ of charges.

This does not mean that one does not still battle with sin.

Currently we still live in the flesh and thus battle with it.

However, it does mean that one no longer needs to fear separation from God as a result of that sin.

Therefore, You, too, can make a difference.

So make the decision to be the godly representative that Jesus called you to be.

Removing the Buckets off from the tops of our heads

Matthew 5:14-16 The Message

^14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

We live in a dark world where people are comfortable existing in darkness.

Too many people enjoy their darkened hidden places, their secret places.

They have become PhD’s accustomed to 5 star living and being in the dark.

But take the buckets off of their existence?

After the capture of the Bastille in 1789, a story emerged about a prisoner who had been confined to a dark, dingy dungeon for years.

When he was released and led outside into the Paris sunlight, he begged to return to the darkness of his prison cell.

His eyes could not endure the sun’s brightness.

His only desire was to die in the very darkness where he had been a captive.

That is how a lot of people are today.

They live in darkness, and they are comfortable there.

Their eyes , their hearts, souls and lives are too accustomed to the darkness.

They see no purpose to trying to become accustomed to the light of the day, the light of salvation in Jesus Christ alone through whom darkness is made null and void and completely helpless and powerless.

But the Bible says that when we come to Christ, we “turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18 NLT).

Almost certainly everyone knows somebody who is too accustomed to the dark.

Almost everyone knows someone who is just too afraid to open their eyes to the light – too much pain. no heart desire, no motivation, no empowerment either.

We need to share the light, shine the light of Jesus Christ into our dark world.

We must take it more seriously than a widow making heart attack and seek to make even a .01% difference in our culture wherever we go, whenever we can.

You make a difference.

Be a difference maker

Be the difference maker.

You have a strategic and important part to play.

Never doubt your ability to make a difference and to actually be a difference.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 139:23-24 The Message

^23-24 Investigate my life, O God,
    find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
    get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
    then guide me on the road to eternal life.

Questions to pray over: dare to ask the following questions of yourself:

• What darkness dwells in me?
• How much time and effort do I devote to embracing and loving my darkness?
• What am, how much am I sacrificing to remain in my embrace of my darkness?
• What am I afraid of God is going to find within my dark and secret places?
• What am I afraid of about God? Why am I afraid of God? Condemnation?
• Spend some time in prayer asking God to humble you so that you can accurately look at your life. Dwell a bit on things and see if there are recurring areas that may exist and add those to your list as well.
• Take an opportunity to thoroughly examine yourself and identify those areas of darkness in your life that cannot exist with God. Perhaps make a list, pray over them, confess them, and be free of them.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

https://translate.google.com/

Matthew 5:14-16 Amplified Bible

¹⁴ “You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

Light is quite remarkable if you think about it.

It travels at 186,000 miles per second and behaves as if it were both a solid particle and a wave of energy.

It always overcomes darkness–in fact, the darker the night, the more impressive even the slightest glow.

And it exists by constantly giving itself away.

Jesus calls us to be light in a sin-darkened world.

We are light when we live all of life in the way God calls us to live.

We are light when we treat our neighbors with integrity, and when we treat bullies with kindness (though without letting them get their way).

We live as light when we represent a cause that may not be popular but is right.

In fact, Jesus explains that it is impossible for Christians not to be light.

We are either his followers—his light—or we are not.

A candle under a bowl goes out.

A city on a hill lights the countryside.

Authentic Christians outwardly His radiate righteousness, truth, and grace.

Jesus says of us, “You are the light of the world.”

This imagery suggests that the life God’s Spirit kindles within us, while powerful and delightful, is meant not only for us to enjoy.

It’s a life that’s to be given away for others.

In fact, a candle placed under a bowl will soon suffocate and die.

Our lives, rather, should have a giving quality about them and be marked by an outward flow.

After all, this is the quality of the life of the Father within us, who so loves the world that He gives and keeps on giving. “

Of course, this light does not come from within ourselves.

We are the light of the world only to the extent that Jesus, the true light of the world, lives in us.

When we were lost in darkness, Jesus came to us, full of grace and truth, and drew us into his light.

How will you shine the light of Jesus into your world today?

Inescapable, Irresistible Light

Matthew 5:14-16 The Message

^14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

When you are living for Jesus Christ, your very presence sometimes will bother and mightily offend the darkness others because His light is shining out of you.

When in this age too many are trying too hard turn off all the lights, to take every opportunity at avoid giving any offense You may even try to hide it too.

But it shouldn’t be that way.

Just stand still in any room you are standing or sitting in

Just let His light shine for people to see.

Jesus said, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.

No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket.

Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house” (Matthew 5:14-15 NLT).

We’ve all heard the well-worn excuses, eye rolling rationales and the so-called reasons as to why people don’t come to Christ.

But here’s the reason that most people don’t come to Him.

This, by the way, is according to Jesus Himself:

“God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil” (John 3:19 NLT).

The reason people don’t believe is they don’t want their sin exposed.

They don’t want to acknowledge their shortcomings.

They surrender to their darkness

They do not want to surrender their darkness .

But it is inevitable that the darkness will surrender because it has not the ability nor the power to overcome what it can never hope to understand. (John 1:5)

And the more godly a Christian is, the more obviously this surrender will take place just by the life they live, that believer’s great example – loving neighbors. 

1 John 1:6-7 The Message

^6-7 If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.

Jesus went on to say,

“All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants” (verses 20–21 NLT).

Few things are harder to put up with than the sudden revelation of a bright light of a Christ like life which will command an entire room with its good example.

And when you live it, it really stuns the senses, it really gets people’s attention.

Light not only exposes what the darkness hides, light also shows the way out.

John 1:1-5 The Message

The Life-Light

1 ^1-2 The Word was first,
    the Word present to God,
    God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
    in readiness for God from day one.

^3-5 Everything was created through him;
    nothing—not one thing!—
    came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
    and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
    the darkness couldn’t put it out.

And in the same way Christ came, the light that shines from us not only shows people their shortcomings and their sins, but it also shows them the way out.

The darkness must surrender.

The darkness will surrender.

Sin must surrender its power over the Children of God.

Sin will surrender its power over the Children of God.

The revealed Word of God to light the narrow way for the Children of God.

It shows them the way to the inevitability of Jesus Christ as their forever Savior.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

God of light and life and peace, I bring before You a world that is ravaged by war and suffering, disaster and distress, through the actions and attitudes of selfish men. I pray that the light of Christ would illuminate a dark world that has chosen to turn its back on the One Who is the true Light of the world and Who brings life and love to all who believe. I pray that You use me in the corner of the world where You have placed me, to bring the light, the life, and the love of Christ to a hurting world. Keep me ever mindful that without You I can do nothing, but in the strength and power of Your Holy Spirit, I am thus enabled to reveal your path to salvation and act as Your hands, Your feet, and Your heart, to those in need. In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

https://translate.google.com/

John 17:13-19 The Message

^13-19 Now I’m returning to you.
I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing
So my people can experience
My joy completed in them.
I gave them your word;
The godless world hated them because of it,
Because they didn’t join the world’s ways,
Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways.
I’m not asking that you take them out of the world
But that you guard them from the Evil One.
They are no more defined by the world
Than I am defined by the world.
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;
Your word is consecrating truth.
In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,
I give them a mission in the world.
I’m consecrating myself for their sakes
So they’ll be truth-consecrated in their mission.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning; is now and ever shall be; world without end; Amen, Amen.

When Jesus prayed these words for His disciples, He prayed them aloud.

And so this prayer was also an instruction to them about how to interact with the surrounding world.

The “set aside” life that Jesus sets forth here is one that is neither comfortably indistinguishable from the world nor comfortably separate from it.

This is Jesus’ vision for His people: to be in the world but distinct from it.

This is, in fact, what God’s people have always been called to, as a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9-10).

The Psalms are abundantly clear that evil is always a clear and present danger.

People and groups of people are consistently described as “enemies” and also “bloodthirsty men” (Psalm 59:1-2), “evildoers” are all around (94:4), and there are some whose ways can only be described as “crooked” (125:5).

Therefore, the great challenge for Christians is knowing how to honor Christ’s words—and Christ’s works and the greatest challenges Christians face are how to refrain from being compromised by the persistent evil which surrounds us.

Our greatest form of defense is seen in Jesus’ request to the Father: “Guard them and Keep them from the evil one.”

Guardianship, protection is available to all who entrust themselves to God.

This truth is articulated in the Psalms too, where we read of God’s protection being offered to the needy.

The Lord says that “because the needy groan, I will now arise” (Psalm 12:5).

In other words, it is not the arrogant and boastful that He protects but those who recognize their dependence on Him.

Theirs are the groanings the Lord hears.

And the Lord’s protection for the needy is also protection from the wicked.

David confesses that God “will guard us from this generation forever” (v 7).

Wicked people may hurt God’s people but they cannot do so in any permanent way, for ultimately they can’t hurt our souls.

God will keep us from everlasting harm.

The protection of God is for the needy and from the wicked, but how does it come to us? 

The Word of God for the children of god

Divine guidance and protection comes to us Through the word of God, which provides a lamp for our feet and a light to our paths (Psalm 119:105).

His every word proves true, offering a shield against all foes (Psalm 18:30).

³⁰ 
As for God, His way is ^[a]blameless.
The word of the Lord is tested [it is perfect, it is faultless];
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

If we want to live faithfully in the world, we must devote ourselves to the Scriptures.

To think rightly about the evil around you, then, the word of God must be in your heart, in your mind, on your tongue – God has given it to you to keep you.

Do you diligently read and study His Word, diligently pray for yourself what Jesus prayed for His followers on that night before He died?

Consider whether you are more in danger of becoming like the world or of removing yourself from it.

Ask the Lord for the protection and guardianship of His love, His wisdom, and courage required to live as He did: in the world, yet gloriously distinct from it.

We are in the world, yet too gloriously distinct from it

Even today, I can still remember a friend of mine telling me a lesson she learned about life.

“We choose our hard,” she said, repeating what she had heard.

She provided me with an example.

Being overweight is hard.

Losing weight is hard.

Then she brought the focus back to our conversation.

Addiction is hard.

Sobriety is hard.

Christianity is hard.

She told me to choose.

No matter what, no matter who we are or where we are or when we are. life is always stacked with the challenges that we foresee, and others that we do not.

Either way, life is hard, but the kind of hard we face is strictly up to us.

Following my open heart surgery on July 17, 2023, that got me thinking hard.

Being a Christian is hard too, but so is not being a Christian.

Just as I struggle to remember my worth in God, I can imagine non-believers and atheist’s who don’t define themselves by God are stuck chasing after self worth through things that are indefensibly temporary and undeniably fleeting.

If you look at your own life, with a well considered eye towards on those tough choices, surely, truly you too can relate to the challenge of things being hard.

Trusting God is hard, but so is not trusting.

Finding community is a challenge, but so is having no one.

Whatever the case, please don’t ever think of yourself as alone.

You are not.

Walking the Christian life is difficult.

Doing so every day requires a radically hard core commitment to Jesus Christ.

If you need some encouragement, as I have over these last six weeks since my open heart surgery when they literally stopped my heart for 80 long minutes, I genuinely encourage you all keep reading – seeking Holy Spirit empowerment.

I have thought deeply and here are the six hardest things to do as Christians.

1. Waiting on god

Psalm 27:14 Amplified Bible

¹⁴ 
Wait for and confidently expect the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord.

Patience is a virtue, they said.

Patience is impossible, that didn’t say.

And for good reason.

Patience is both a virtue, and possible, but very difficult to attain.

Tuning your heart to waiting on God can feel like waiting an eternity, like the boredom of watching paint dry or the agony of five and a half of heart surgery.

Figures in the Bible waited on God to act in various ways.

Abraham waited on God to have children.

Job waited on God to be restored.

Sometimes we know what God will do next, and sometimes we don’t.

The latter makes the waiting process much more difficult.

We have no idea what to expect on the other side.

Consider your own life.

Are you feeling bored during your wait, angry, sad?

Whatever you’re waiting for, take heart in knowing that God hears your prayers and is aware of your situation.

Rather than lamenting the wait, which believe me I can easily understand, what else can you do to make the most of your life while you wait for God’s miracles?

I’ll tell you what one person told me. “Worship the Great I AM while you wait.”

2. TRUSTING IN GOD

Proverbs 3:5-8 Amplified Bible

⁵ 
Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
^6 
[a]In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
⁷ 
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord [with reverent awe and obedience] and turn [entirely] away from evil.
⁸ 
It will be health to your body [your marrow, your nerves, your sinews, your muscles—all your inner parts]
And refreshment (physical well-being) to your bones.

Having faith in God when we’re on a mountaintop – easy.

Having faith in God when we’re sinking low into a valley – hard.

Trusting that God has our best intentions at heart is not something we want to hear, let alone believe, when the heart of life is seemingly collapsing around us.

Even when we are not the ones specifically suffering, when we see calamities happening around the world, lives threatened we question God’s whereabouts.

This is the natural human response, but as Christians the Word of God is clear we should first seek out and strive the hardest for the supernatural response.

As punishment, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into a burning furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar.

They refused to worship the king’s gods and his golden statues.

Despite knowing their consequences they would not commit idolatry.

They outwardly expressed their trust in God to the king.

They believed that God could rescue them, and even if not, God was still the only god.

Their trust paid off big time for them and the king (Daniel 3)!

God is willing to work in our lives too, and He does all the time.

We simply don’t recognize or understand everything that God does.

But whether we do or don’t, we should always strive our hardest to trust.

3. serve our enemies

Matthew 5:43-48 Amplified Bible

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor (fellow man) and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, ^[a]love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may [show yourselves to] be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on those who are evil and on those who are good, and makes the rain fall on the righteous [those who are morally upright] and the unrighteous [the unrepentant, those who oppose Him]. ⁴⁶ For if you love [only] those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers [wishing them God’s blessing and peace], what more [than others] are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles [who do not know the Lord] do that? ⁴⁸ You, therefore, will be perfect [growing into spiritual maturity both in mind and character, actively integrating godly values into your daily life], as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Forgiveness is one thing, serving our enemies, well, that’s something completely different.

Forgiveness is understandable, and can be easy to do, though not always. Humbly serving our enemies – I don’t usually see people electing to do that.

Whether that person is a mean coworker, a disgruntled boss, an angry neighbor, putting ourselves out there to serve others can feel like a chore.

If you’re already introverted and aloof, serving an enemy is bound to feel contrary to your human nature.

Yet, despite how we feel on the inside, or what we see on the outside from others, scripture is pretty clear on this topic.

We are to forgive others and bless them.

We can pray and if given the opportunity, should serve them.

Now, there’s no need to take Scripture to the literal extreme.

Jesus often spoke in parables, and for good reason – we can take away multiple meanings.

We should be willing and ready to serve our enemies, but this does not literally mean doing anything and everything asked of us.

If your enemy asks you to rob a bank on their behalf.

The obvious response is no.

If your enemy asks you to hand over all of your finances, the answer is again no, but if they wanted a cup or bottle of water, what’s the worst that could happen?

Pray for ways to serve your enemies and seek discernment for how to best do so.

4. remember the goodness and mercies of god

Isaiah 63:7 Amplified Bible

God’s Ancient Mercies Recalled

⁷ 
I will tell of the loving kindnesses of the Lord, and the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
According to all that the Lord has done for us,
And His great goodness toward the house of Israel,
Which He has shown them according to His compassion
And according to the abundance of His loving kindnesses.

Speaking of enemies, trusting, and waiting, sometimes calamities stack up so much in our lives we begin wondering if God is really on our side.

If God is so good, why does He let such awful things happen to us?

And not just to us, but people across the world.

Whenever God’s goodness comes into question, we should do like the figures of old did in Scripture – remember God’s ancient mercies to all.

Doubt occurs because we forget the good God has done on our behalf and for other people.

Our focus shifts from the positive to the negative.

When we remember God’s goodness, we reverse this process.

Then suddenly, the doubt fades away.

The best way to remember God’s goodness is to seek what reminds you of God.

Reading Scripture, journaling, praying, and good community all help, but they aren’t the only methods.

What’s something you else can do or encourage others to do today?

5. finding friendship and community

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Amplified Bible

⁹ Two are better than one because they have a more satisfying return for their labor; ¹⁰ for if ^[a]either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and does not have another to lift him up. ¹¹ Again, if two lie down together, then they keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? ¹² And though one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

One unfortunate trend that affects the church is superficiality, where people only reveal their surface-level selves, thus, prevent any sort of deep connection.

For Christians looking for community, this poses an immediate barrier for those who want depth.

Scripture states that iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17), but how much can we sharpen one another without allowing ourselves vulnerable among each other?

Sharpening requires exposure, and exposure requires vulnerability.

And the issue of being superficial is not confined to one church or one denomination.

Most churches have become much like the rest of our culture, inwardly focused even as we talk about serving others – We just focus far too much on ourselves.

If community is what you’re after, know that there are people out there for you.

Finding them will require effort on our part, also praying and waiting on God.

Trust Him to provide.

6. be like christ

Ephesians 5:1-2 Amplified Bible

Be Imitators of God

5 Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]; ² and walk continually in love [that is, value one another—practice empathy and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others], just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God [slain for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.

Part of the reason people doubt the Christian faith is that they see us as hypocrites.

We encourage the world to behave in one way, but we very often act just like them.

Licentiousness, avarice, theft, and more.

What we have to remind the outside world is that church is for broken people.

We are broken people, and that is why being Christ-like is difficult.

There will never be a day when we are exactly like Him.

There can’t be.

But the goal is to try, aiming for perfection though never arriving.

We struggle day by day with the flesh, maintaining faith, waiting, and the list goes on.

It is reasonable and quite rational to believe and teach others that we will never be perfect, but the more we strive, to be like Him, the more we live for His glory.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt being a Christian is hard, but much like the other decisions we make in life, we choose our hard.

To be a Christian or to not be a Christian.

To work hard at becoming a better Christian or to not work hard at being a better Christian.

The choice is up to us, but the benefits are clear.

Choose your easy.

Choose your hard.

In the name of God, the Father and God the the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

God, my Guide and Guardian, Grant me courage and compassion, dear Father, as I live in the place of both danger and grace — that place of redemption where light penetrates the darkness, and lost men and women are rescued from the decay and despotism of the world and its dark prince. Keep my heart on the light, and my strength renewed when I face the powers of darkness and the hate this world might offer. Please, dear Father, guard my heart against cynicism and hate, so that I can be one of your many tools of redemption. In Jesus’ name. Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning; is now and ever shall be; world without end; Amen, Amen.

https://translate.google.com/