Romans 15:4 "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
As believers in Jesus, we should be loving other people.
Yes, even those that are unlovely.
Why?
Because God loves us and forgives us even when we don’t deserve it.
And out of that love that we have been given, we should be loving others and leading them closer to Jesus.
1 John 4:8 Amplified Bible
8 The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.]
Part of knowing God, and being His follower is developing love in your life.
And it might take a little effort on your part.
And it might take a substantial effort on your part.
And it might even take a miraculous effort on your part.
Somewhere there might a hurt so unconscionable, it is beyond redemption.
You might be holding onto a grudge whose origin is utterly lost to the ages.
You might be used to gossiping, maybe even spreading rumors about others.
If you are reading this and can find no of God, love for God and for others, love bears all things at all times and perseveres for as long as forever lasts for You.
The encouragement is to keep praying even when praying is too difficult and keep hoping even when hope is the furthest thing from your mind, your soul –
God will always wait.
God will always and forever come to you when you choose to come to Him.
Luke 15:17-24 English Standard Version
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’[a]22 But the father said to his servants,[b] ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
And God will forever feel compassion for, to embrace, to celebrate, your life.
Psalm 42:1-3 English Standard Version
Book Two
Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?
To the choirmaster. A Maskil[a] of the Sons of Korah.
42 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?[b] 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”
“Christ Loved Me – Yes, Even Me.”
The distinguishing mark of a Christian is their measure of confidence in their Savior Christ’s love for him and in the offering of his love to their Savior Christ.
First, faith sets her seal upon the person by enabling their heart and soul to say with the apostle John, “Christ loved me and gave himself for me.”
Then love gives the countersign and stamps upon the heart and soul gratitude and love to Jesus in return. “We love because he first loved us.”
In those grand old ages, which are the heroic period of the Christian religion, this double mark was clearly seen in all believers in Jesus.
They were men and women who knew the love of Christ and rested upon it as a man leans upon a staff whose trustworthiness Christ, the Shepherd has proved.
The love they felt toward the Lord was not a quiet emotion that they hid within themselves in the secret place of their souls and that they only spoke about in private or when they met on the first day of the week and sang hymns in honor of Christ Jesus the crucified.
It was a limitless passion with them of such a vehement and an all-consuming energy that it was visible in all their actions, evident in their conversation, and unmistakably seen in their eyes, even in their casual glances – Boy, what a Love.
Love for Jesus was a flame that fed upon the core and heart of their being and therefore by its own force burned its way into their demeanor and shone there.
Zeal for the glory of King Jesus was the seal and mark of all genuine Christians.
Because of their dependence upon Christ’s love they dared much, and because of their love for Christ they did much, and it is the same now.
The children of God are ruled in their inmost powers by love.
The love of Christ constrains them; they rejoice divine love is set upon them, they feel it shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is given to them, and then by force of gratitude they love the Savior with a pure and fervent heart.
My reader, do you love Him with that self same passion He first had for You?
Before you sleep, give your Savior an honest answer to that weighty question!
When you wake up again, then give unto your Savior an honest answer to this next weighty question –
For waking me up, how will I give all my Love to my Savior today?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Prayer to Love Others as God Loves Me
Heavenly Father, I am so utterly blessed to be Your child, and that I can call You “My Abba Father,” for You are my loving Daddy! My heart overflows with gratitude. You have made me a partaker of Your divine nature, and Your love for me is so wide, so deep – it is beyond my comprehension. May the truth of my identity in You sink deep into my psyche, and impact my relationship with others. Dear Loving Father, may I come to love others as You have first loved me, with compassion and care. Amen.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
28 Then one of the scribes [an expert in Mosaic Law] came up and listened to them arguing [with one another], and noticing that Jesus answered them well, asked Him, “Which commandment is first and most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first and most important one is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul (life), and with all your mind (thought, understanding), and with all your strength.’ 31 This is the second: ‘You shall [unselfishly] [a]love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 The scribe said to Him, “Admirably answered, Teacher; You truthfully stated that He is One, and there is no other but Him; 33 and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to [unselfishly] love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully and intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one would dare to ask Him any more questions.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Sometimes, the most important things aren’t difficult to grasp.
If they seem difficult to grasp, it is most likely because we ourselves, in our all too clumsy humanity have made it so because we ourselves have deemed it to be infinitely more important to be complex than simplified – it just feels “better.”
God desires us to be exclusively devoted to Him with all of our being, and to also be loving to others who surround us.
The covenant demands of God placed square upon our character boil down to the observance of these two fundamental principles that go echelons beyond laws and reveal God’s character [God IS Love] to the very hearts of all people.
Love Your Neighbor As Yourself
Mark 12:29-31Authorized (King James) Version
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
We learn many rules growing up:
Brush your teeth,
Look both ways before crossing the street,
Always tell the truth.
Which of these is most important?
What do you believe is the single most important Truth you have ever heard?
Rabbi Jesus was asked a similar question by an expert in the Mosaic Law: Of the many commands and regulations in the law of God, which one tops the list?
Jesus did not hesitate: “Love God above all”—and he quickly added the second: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
And what kind of love does this refer to?
In connection with God’s love for us, this is unconditional, unconventional, love—totally gracious, totally generous, and totally with no strings attached.
Notice especially that Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
This means that if we are to love our neighbors unconditionally and generously, we will be required by God to love ourselves that self same way too!
God does not make junk.
God does not make mistakes.
We are created in God’s image; we are his masterpieces.
It’s not to just okay to love myself: God expects me to celebrate the person he created me to be – every moment celebrate God exactly as God celebrates us!
The Golden Rule Jesus gave us—“Do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12)—is another way of saying this command to love God and honor God and love and honor our neighbor as we love and honor ourselves.
Loving others well depends at least partly on our capacity to love ourselves.
What Does it Mean to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself?
Would it, Should it, Could it, surprise you to learn that loving your neighbor as yourself is found eight times in the Bible.
Not once, Not even twice but Eight times.
Go ahead and search for them – Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God.
Loving your neighbor as yourself is so important to God that He not only repeats Himself, He makes it a command.
And not just one in a list of many commands.
Rabbi Jesus coupled the command to love your neighbor as yourself with loving God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and with all of our strength.
James calls it the royal law.
It sounds beautiful, and it is when we obey it.
But loving your neighbor as yourself isn’t always easy.
That’s why God made it a command.
He knew we’d struggle.
Making it a commandment is actually to our benefit.
How is that?
We have to be reverently and deliberately obedient
We have to do it on purpose.
We have to be intentional about it.
Sometimes even out of our need.
But if we love God as God love us … obedience just flows from us naturally.
This is what it means to love your neighbor as yourself:
1. Loving your neighbor means receiving God’s love.
Too begin to love your neighbor as yourself, you need to know two things:
you need to know what love is and that you are loved.
The Bible tells us “this is love. Not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent his Son as a propitiation…” (1 John 4:10).
You and I are the object of this love.
God loves you.
God loves me.
Knowing this is imperative.
And not just that we are loved in a general kind of way, but deeply loved and unconditionally and unconventionally loved.
We tap into this when we understand that God loved us first. [John 3:16-17]
He’s the source of our love.
God loved us even before Jesus gave Himself for us.
God the Father is the source of all love.
Before we can give this love we need to receive it for ourselves.
You cannot give to someone what you yourself do not have.
2. Loving your neighbor means loving ourselves as well.
To love your neighbor as yourself as commanded, you need to measure love correctly.
The measurement within this command is—as yourself.
To love your neighbor as yourself you need to love yourself.
This is something that gets badly misunderstood in the body of Christ often.
It gets mixed up with dying to self and denying self as if we need to destroy our self.
This is not true.
Jesus died for each and every one of us.
If Jesus valued us enough to go through what He went through, we each have a sacred responsibility to Him to value what He values exactly as He valued it .
We need to love what He loves – us.
The Bible tells us the Father loves us as much as He loves Jesus (John 17:20-23).
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.[Authorized King James Version]
When we dare to simplify it: How dare we not love what the Father loves?
Learning to love ourselves prepares and helps us to love our neighbor.
3. Loving your neighbor means showing grace.
Knowing God is love and that this love is for you is not enough.
It needs to be developed and matured.
Imagine if you had a field of good soil and a bag of top notch seeds.
Would they produce a crop all by themselves?
No. The seeds must be planted and cared for.
Grace takes the seed of His love and the soils of our hearts and souls and creates fruit for the kingdom of God.
The Bible says,“it’s God who works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2.13).
Loving Him and our neighbor pleases Him.
Grace helps us do this.
Grace teaches us proper love, honor and respect for ourselves and for our neighbor – our freely receiving His grace empowers us all to freely give it.
4. Loving your neighbor means acting with compassion.
From Luke’s Narrative of the Gospel, when Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” He responded with a story: the Good Samaritan [10:25-37].
Even those who have no love for God see the value of the story.
What is the bottom line of this story?
Who did Jesus say was being a neighbor?
The one who had compassion.
Compassion is not simply a warm fuzzy feeling in our hearts.
Compassion does something.
A heart moved by compassion cannot sit idly by while someone suffers a need.
Loving God and Loving your neighbor as you are Loving yourself is being moved by God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to help to the full extent of your ability.
5. Loving your neighbor means looking out for their wellbeing.
The NIV translation of 1 Corinthians 13 says, “love protects.”
In Philippians 2:4 it says, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
Loving your neighbor as yourself is to look out for other people’s wellbeing.
To look out for them is to pay attention.
You notice if they need something and then you help.
For example, their clothing tag is sticking out or they have food on their face so you let them know.
Or something more serious like when a neighbor has surgery or becomes sick.
Concerned for their health, well-being, I head over to their home with a meal or a loaded gift card so if they aren’t able to cook, they won’t have to cook, can eat.
6. Loving your neighbor means serving them.
Serving from the heart is kindness in action.
Kindness is one of the attributes of love listed in 1 Corinthians 13.
The surprisingly wonderful thing about kindness, though, is you can do acts of kindness without kindness residing in your heart.
If the kind thing is done out of duty then it isn’t love.
Jesus said he came to serve (Mark 10:45, Luke 19:10, Matthew 20:28).
God, who is love, came to serve.
Love serves.
For you to love your neighbor as yourself, you’ll have a heart to serve them.
Let them know you’re there for them.
If they need a ride somewhere, you drive them.
If they need their dog or cat checked on while out of town, you do that for them.
Other examples are getting their mail for them or taking them a meal if they’re not well.
Examples in a public setting are to let people in front of you in line at the store or in traffic.
7. Loving your neighbor means speaking kindly.
The childhood rhyme about sticks and stones versus words is not true.
To love your neighbor as yourself is to use words to build them up.
Speaking words of encouragement to someone who’s down is the most obvious example but there are hosts upon hosts and myriads and myriads of others.
We can be more intentional with our words by looking for and magnifying the good.
We can always find something good if we’ll take the time to look for it.
Examples of this are giving someone a simple smile, a simple compliment and simply telling someone how much you genuinely appreciate them.
8. Loving your neighbor means making allowances for other people’s humanity.
We live in a day and age when offense is as common as breathing.
Criticism is running rampant.
Love is not easily offended or critical.
Everyone does dumb things; no one is always right or knows everything.
We’re all a work in progress.
I remember sitting through a green light.
I wasn’t trying to inconvenience anyone.
I got stuck in grieving daze because a family member might die.
I remember that when I encounter people driving too slow, sitting at lights, or even cutting me off.
Maybe they have a reason.
Maybe they’re just being human.
We’re imperfect beings that do perfectly dumb things often.
Giving people the benefit of the doubt is loving your neighbor.
For example, I had someone honking their truck horn flailing their arms and cursing because I didn’t speed through an almost red light.
They were behind me and so they got stuck at the red light with me.
I don’t know why they were so angry but they may have had other pressing circumstances surrounding them that day – I prayed for them.
9. Loving your neighbor means sharing in their joys and sorrows.
The Bible says we are to“rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15).
Celebrating can be difficult for us at times, especially if our neighbor is getting something we have longed for.
For example, a new job, a raise, or a pregnancy.
Celebrating with them in spite of our own pain is a strong show of love.
Likewise, mourning with our neighbor can be hard if we don’t know what to say, or have recently lost something or someone ourselves.
Loving God, Loving your neighbor as yourself is showing up and being there with your heart open, allowing them to be what they are, and support them.
10. Loving your neighbor means forgiving.
Forgiveness is a big deal to God.
Bible says He planned it for us from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).
Jesus frequently spoke forgiveness over others that resulted in the healing of their bodies.
Forgiveness is freely given to us and to love your neighbor as yourself you’ll pass the forgiveness on.
Jesus highlighted this in His story in Matthew 18 when Peter asks how many times is he to forgive.
He tells the story of a king who forgave an enormous debt to one of his servants.
This servant failed to pass the forgiveness on.
He demanded payment of a small debt from his neighbor.
When the king heard of it, he had his servant remanded for his debt, revoking the debt cancellation.
Jesus’ story tells us that love always forgives.
We all need forgiveness, so loving your neighbor is to forgive them as you have been forgiven.
In both the Hebrew [Old] and New Testaments we are commanded by God to love our neighbors as ourselves.
On several occasions Jesus himself says that is a part of fulfilling God’s law.
Again and again God shows us how to love others.
The call to love our neighbor is not complicated, but it can be challenging to follow.
It means more than being hospitable, tolerant, patient, and kind.
It means more than showing respect and honoring others.
It also means more than just being civil with people you disagree with—even though it also means all of that.
Loving our neighbor implies that the well-being of others matters—so we should work for justice, protection, and opportunities for others to thrive.
It means listening to others.
It also shows that the possibilities for showing love and care for our neighbors is endless and could leave us overwhelmed by all the needs for neighborly love!
Yet all of us can love our neighbors in the name of Jesus Christ.
We can honor, love and respect them enough to show how the love of Jesus is forever shaping us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
As you are loved, Jesus says, so love one another (see John 13:34).
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Dear God, thank You for Your unconditional love. Lord, help me to know myself and to love myself. If I don’t feel self-worth, how can I expect someone else to cherish me? Help me to develop a healthy self-identity, remembering that I am a child of the King, created in Your image. Help me know who I really am, what I really want from life, and what I want in the person I will spend my life with. Thank you, Lord, for loving me so completely that I am being completely changed! Help me to be more aware of your Love so I may love my neighbor with the love you have for the world.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
14 For this reason [grasping the greatness of this plan by which Jews and Gentiles are joined together in Christ] I bow my knees [in reverence] before the Father [of our Lord Jesus Christ], 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth [a]derives its name [God—the first and ultimate Father]. 16 May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality], 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, 18 be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love]; 19 and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].
20 Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
God gave us Jesus as a way of saying, “I love you and you are special to me.”
That is a really great gift, isn’t it?
Much better than Valentine’s cards, or candy, or flowers.
Still, we have those special people in our lives whom we need to give our fullest possible attention to – our wives, our sweethearts, our very good friends, those co-workers who work with us and beside us and those whom we may supervise.
Treat them special because they are special – who and what and why they are is absolutely 100% irreplaceable – every single one of their lives utterly matters.
They need to know that they are truly respected, loved and deeply appreciated.
God’s Unconventional Love versus Valentine’s Day
Ephesians 3:14-19The Message
14-19 My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.
Everyday is a special day when we open our eyes, take that next breath, set our feet upon the floor, walk forth into the kitchen get that very first cup of coffee.
We look outside, greet the morning, are welcomed by the dawn’s new sun.
A hand that raises the blades of a Venetian blind to look out the window at the sky of a sunny day.
Tomorrow, however, is a wee bit more of a special day.
Yes, it is Valentine’s Day.
But does everyone know the origin of this day?
It is a very old tradition which started because of a Bishop named Valentinus.
He lived back in the days of the Roman Empire.
Long ago, Roman officials were against young people getting married in the church.
Many young Christians wanted to be married by the priest, in the church, with God’s blessing.
Valentinus was sympathetic to these people and continued to help marry them, even though he was often threatened by the government authorities.
Sadly, he was taken to Rome and put to death for his faith and his defiance of the Emperor’s rule.
In memory and honor of Saint Valentinus, young couples started talking about choosing a Valentine, when they were actually talking about choosing a bride.
Now we call this day, Saint Valentine’s Day.
In the modern era, many people give their sweethearts Valentine’s Day cards with hearts all over them.
Some people give candies or flowers.
A red carnation or a red rose means “I love you.”
These are all ways that people show their love.
But God also gave us a gift to show us that He loved us.
It was Jesus. God gave us Jesus as a way of saying, “I love you and you are special to me.”
That is a really great gift, isn’t it?
Much better than cards, or candy, or flowers.
Today, let us meditate on biblical love, the greatest love of all time.
There once was a very old pastor, who was suffering from a long battle with cancer.
A few days before his death, he continued to hold on to a special verse that was the source of his inspiration.
He placed a bookmark where his favorite scripture passage was written:
“Who shall separate us from the love Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:34-35 KJV).
Despite facing such a trail in his life, the old pastor was most certainly blessed with the power “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ;” a love that surpasses knowledge.
As children of God, we understand the fact that the root and foundation of creation is love.
It “surpasses knowledge.”
We know about human love.
Human love comes with the understanding that love comes as a reward for being good, for being faithful, being trustworthy and true, for being kind, for giving gifts, and for acting and for responding with appropriate behavior.
But this is not the same as the love which is embedded in the foundation of creation.
This is not the love that surpasses knowledge.
This is not the love that Paul prays we might have the power to grasp.
God’s love flows freely, without consideration of reward or any plan of equal or unequal or non-existent compensation.
This is a love that is not inherent to human nature.
We are more inclined to return love for love.
But the Scripture says,
“… how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps”(1 Peter 2:20-21).
If we are to approach love in the way of biblical love, we must meditate on what it means when the Bible says, we must love God and each other as ourselves.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit–fruit that will last–and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.” (John 15:13-17)
Today, I would like to meditate on 3 questions about this amazing kind of love.
The first question is this:
Where does Love come from?
Where Does Love Come From?
Now some of you would answer, ‘that’s easy–it comes from within.’
Some may say, ‘It’s something that happens naturally as we mature as human beings.’
However, remember how hard it is to teach children to share?
That sharing instinct is not natural to them, but it is taught.
A human instinct is: self-survival.
C.S. Lewis, the famed English scholar, studied the various Greek words for love.
He came to distinguish the difference between what he called “needed love” and “gift love.”
Needed love is described as self-evident.
It is the most common kind of love in our world.
It is a mortal and human concept of love.
I love you, BECAUSE you love me.
I love you, because you provide for me, because you support me, and because you meet my needs.
Mr. Lewis illustrates that when we humans say to another, “I love you,” what we are really meaning is, “I need you, I want you. You hold value in my life.”
Now in contrast to “needed love” Mr. Lewis describes “gift love.”
This form of loving is born of fullness and wholeness.
The goal of gift love is to enrich and enhance the person whom it loves.
It does not require anything in return, nor does it hold requirements.
“Gift love moves out to bless and to increase rather than to acquire or to diminish. Gift love is more like a bountiful, artesian well that continues to overflow than a vacuum or a black hole. (C.S. Lewis)”
Mr. Lewis concludes this is what God’s love is all about. God’s love is gift love, not needed love.
This, of course, is the meaning of agape love; unconditional love.
Are we capable of agape love– loving as God loves?
To an extent we are.
But, we must go to the source of love, and the source of all love is God.
Jesus says in John’s narrative today, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. (John 15:13)”
Perfect love does not come from within, it only comes from above.
And when God lives within us, we become capable of expressing perfect love.
Please take secure hold of your BIBLES and turn with me to 1 John 4:7-11.
In his first epistle, John writes,
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” So, that is the answer to the first question: where does love come from? It comes from God. Then John adds, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:7-11).
The Second Question is ….
What does this Love look like?
A young girl came home one day bursting with good news.
“Mom, Dad, I know why we had to learn grammar!” she exclaimed.
“It is so we can understand God.”
Her mom and dad gave her a puzzled look, so the young girl explained.
“God is love, and love can be a noun, an adjective, an adverb, or a verb.”
What a powerful concept!
Now doesn’t that preach a sermon or three lasting all the live long day!
Love isn’t just a vague feeling.
It is an action, an attitude, a spirit, and a character trait.
Since Jesus was filled with the Spirit of God, his every attitude, thought, word, action and deed was motivated by the love of God for Him and too, vice versa.
He was motivated completely and without reservation by love.
So, what does love look like?
Gift love is best illustrated with Jesus, a blameless man, hanging on a cross simply and solely because of God’s love for us.
We cannot meet any of God’s needs or even all of God’s commands.
But God’s nature is to give love, unconditionally, unconventionally, even at times when we do not deserve it.
As John writes,
“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10)
God’s gift love is a pure and perfect love.
It is an unconventional, never-ending, and everlasting kind of love.
It does not ask for you to meet up to requirements, and it does not ask for compensation.
No matter how many times we sin or fall short of the Glory of God, His love never left us.
No matter how many times the world rebuked Him, His love never left us.
What does love look like?
There is no Greater and more Powerful image than Jesus on the Cross.
That is perfect love.
Perfect love looks like God, for He is love.
God and love are not two realities; they are one.
God’s infinite power of being is: the infinite power of love.
In every movement of love we are dwelling in God and God in us.
And when we accept the Holy Spirit into our lives, we allow God’s perfect love to be pictured through us.
We can also illustrate perfect love through the way we live.
Through every attitude, thought, word, and deed, we have.
Christians are called to be a reflection of the image of God.
We reflect God’s perfect love so that others can also see what true perfect love looks like.
Love unconditionally, unconventionally to all.
Now, the third and last question is:
What does such love require from us?
Jesus answers this question in John 15:13-17,
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit–fruit that will last–and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.”
Jesus has issued the command: “Love each other as I have loved you.”
We are required by God’s command to love others as he has loved us–not with needed love, but with gift love.
Not because of anything they can or have done for us, but because of what our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has done for us.
Luke 6:27-32Amplified Bible
27 “But I say to you who hear [Me and pay attention to My words]: [a]Love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, [make it a practice to] do good to those who hate you, 28 bless and show kindness to those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 Whoever [b]strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other one also [simply ignore insignificant insults or losses and do not bother to retaliate—maintain your dignity]. Whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you. [c]Whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. 31 Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. 32 If you [only] love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
The world lives by the philosophy: “Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”
To do good for people who are incapable of doing anything for you in return.
This is gift love, agape love. It is the love of God.
And of course, dear brother and sisters, this is the hardest form of love to give.
It is hard to love someone unconventionally when they cannot or will not or refuse to do the same for you.
But when the Spirit of the Lord is within, He will give you the strength to love.
The strength to be patient and compassionate.
The strength to reflect agape love to others who do not know God.
For the greatest command was to love God, and the second greatest command was to love one another.
Concluding Reflection’s: Love That Surpasses Knowledge
Ephesians 3:16-19Easy-to-Read Version
16 I ask the Father with his great glory to give you the power to be strong in your spirits. He will give you that strength through his Spirit. 17 I pray that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. I pray that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. 18 And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide, how long, how high, and how deep that love is. 19 Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with everything God has for you.
Love is commonly considered an emotion—a feeling, inclination of the heart.
Love involves knowing the person we love, and yet even that knowledge is not the end of love.
Paul reminds his readers of this basic truth when he prays that they may “know this love that surpasses knowledge.”
Paul is talking here about the love of God, and he’s saying that it’s not enough to know about God without having love for God.
The standard of love that believers strive for is to “be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
That’s a high standard indeed!
God is, in every way, far beyond what our minds can comprehend or our hearts can contain.
We will never achieve this total fullness!
But what a powerful prayer this is—and what a wonderful goal to guide us in living our life!
To be continually growing in this “fullness of God” and his love is the delight of discipleship.
This is a wonderful prayer offered for us—but it’s also a prayer to offer on behalf of others.
What a transformation of our relationships when an entire community of Christ’s disciples experiences together a growing fullness of God’s love.
It’s beyond our ability to imagine!
Valentines Day is known as the day of love.
But God’s love lasts for eternity.
It is a perfect LOVE that loves unconditionally and unconventionally.
Where does perfect love come from?
It comes from God alone, and works within us when we become His children.
What does perfect love look like?
It looks like Jesus, a blameless man, hanging on a cross, for a world which did not deserve Him.
And as His children we reflect that image through our actions, our attitudes, thoughts, words, and deeds.
And what does such perfect love require out of us?
It requires us to move beyond “needed love” and give “gift love”.
To look around at others who are in need of God’s love and to give it to them–not asking what they can do for us, remembering what Christ has done for us.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
We bow our hearts before You, Father God.You are the Creator of everything we seein heaven and on earth.We pray that out of Your glorious, unlimited resources,You would strengthen our hearts and minds through the power of Your Holy Spirit.May Your love be the rich soil in which our lives are rooted.May Your love be the only firm foundation upon which we build,so that, together with all Your people everywhere,we would come to truly understand how long, how high,how wide and how deep Your love really is—how it far surpasses anything we can imagine.God, fill us with the fullness and the power that comes from You alone, so that our lives would reflect your goodness and grace to the world around us. Lord, fill us to overflowing with the knowledge and the wisdom of your fullness so that we love you more and serve you better. Help us to keep offering this prayer for others, that we may all grow in you.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
A psychology professor at a Midwestern University recently asked faculty members for the ‘most unusual, bizarre, and amazing student excuses’ they had ever heard. He got dozens of responses from his fellow professors:
* Grandparent death:
an old favorite, but one professor’s class established some sort of record when 14 of 250 students reported their grandmother’s death just before final exams.
In another class a student reported that he could not take a test because of his grandmother’s death.
When the professor expressed condolences a week later, the student replied, ‘Don’t worry, she was almost terminal, but she is feeling much better now.’
* Car Problems: “I had an accident, the police impounded the car, and my paper is in the glove compartment.”
* Animal Trauma: “I can’t be at the exam because my cat is having kittens and I am her coach.”
* More Animal Trauma: “At dinner last night, my dog ate all of my study notes, and he has not pooped yet this morning – can we postpone this until he does?”
We seem to have an excuse for everything, don’t we?
There are even websites on the internet that will help you generate an excuse!
It is true… you type in the type of excuse you need, and it generates one for you (www.zompist.com/excuse.html).
Also, you can even learn about how to
“Deliver a Fake Doctor’s Note and Making It Stick: 6 Must-Use Tips!”
I find that totally amazing!
What exactly is an excuse?
In a court of law, “an excuse is a defense in which a defendant argues that he or she was not liable for his or her actions at the time a law was broken and thus he or she should not be held liable for a crime. Excuses include diminished responsibility, duress, infancy, insanity, involuntary intoxication, mistake, provocation, and unconsciousness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excuse).
I think my favorite excuse from that list is ‘infancy.’
“I was a baby when the crime happened… it wasn’t me!”
Excuse is a reason we give when something happens that does not go our way.
It is the ‘why’ we did something when we get caught.
It is our reasons for not doing something we know we should do.
The Bible is full of people making excuses and making excuses is as old as human beings.
You know the story from Genesis chapter 3. Adam ate the forbidden fruit, then when confronted about it, he came up with an excuse: “The woman you put here with me– she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it” (verse 12).
Then the blame was shifted to Eve. What did Eve have to say? Genesis 3:13 records her excuse: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
It was the serpent’s turn, and guess what – he didn’t have a leg to stand on!
Exodus 32 shares with us the story of the Golden Calf.
The people of God finally arrived from Egypt and settled at the mountain of God to receive the Ten Commandments.
Moses was gone a long time and the people became restless.
The people wanted Aaron, Moses’ brother, to make idols they could worship.
They gave him gold. Aaron made a calf. They were persistent in their request.
Moses returned with the Ten Commandments in hand and asked Aaron if he had made the idol.
What was Aaron’s response? Aaron is trying to explain himself and says,
“So, I told them, ’Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” (Exodus 32:24).
Aaron was not to blame… the fire was. Ridiculous and almost comical if the sin were not so grave, have such a bitter taste and have such lethal consequences.
God wants to have a relationship with us, and He wants that relationship to be the most important.
But we default to our sinful unrighteous humanity, and we make our excuses.
It is the great conundrum of mankind – We always have excuses after excuses.
We are going to look at a parable today where the invited guests made excuses.
Let’s read this story from Jesus.
Luke 14:16-24Amplified Bible
Parable of the Dinner
16 But Jesus said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many guests; 17 and at the dinner hour he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is ready now.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have purchased a piece of land and I have to go out and see it; please consider me excused.’ 19 Another one said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have [recently] married a wife, and for that reason I am unable to come.’ 21 So the servant came back and reported this to his master. Then [his master,] the head of the household, became angry [at the rejections of his invitation] and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the disabled and the blind and the lame.’ 22 And the servant [after returning] said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled [with guests]. 24 For I tell you, not one of those who were invited [and declined] will taste my dinner.’”
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
The parable from Luke’s narrative describes for us a great banquet to which the master of the house had extended invitations far and wide.
No time had been noted in the invitation, but the understanding of the day was, once all was ready, notification would go out to all who accepted.
The moment arrived.
The servants were dispatched to gather the guests.
The minimal, if not automatic expectation would be that those invited would drop what they were doing and simply come, because to accept the invitation beforehand and then make an excuse when the day came was a grave insult.
And yet the excuses come.
Everyone knew that the banquet was being prepared and they were supposed to have cleared their schedules.
All who were invited gave excuses.
Other things and other people were subtly, suddenly taking priority over the banquet that was prepared.
Excuse One:
One man said he was too involved in his business.
The man had bought a piece of ground and needed to look after it.
A person can become too involved in any business, not just the business of developing property or farming.
A person’s business, profession, and affairs can often consume all of life.
Other things fall away, and the business is all that matters.
Excuse Two:
Another man said that he was too wrapped up in new purchases.
The oxen had just been purchased.
They were a new possession and the owner wanted to try them out.
So, it is with new purchases such as houses, cars, bikes, records and CDs, books, radios, televisions, and a host of other material things.
The Bible tells us over and over again, over emphasizes material things can take root in our lives and the love of things can become most important in our lives.
Excuse Three:
Still another man said that he was too wrapped up with his family.
This man had just got married.
We know that marriage is ordained by God and that getting married is certainly a good thing.
I think the master of the banquet would have liked it if preparations had been made to attend. Maybe this man could have brought his new wife along, but just says, “I can’t come.” Family can also become an all-consuming issue in our life.
ONE INTERPRETATION
So what does this parable mean?
As in all parables, there is a surface story and then the spiritual meaning underneath.
This is a story about a prepared banquet and all the guests excuse themselves from coming.
The key to interpreting this parable comes in Luke 14:15 right before Jesus gives the parable.
Jesus is eating in a pharisee’s house (Luke 14:1-14) and is discussing spiritual matters with those attending.
One of the people at the table says,
“Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” (Verse 15)
Who is the one preparing the banquet in the parable? God.
What is the banquet?
The Kingdom of God / Christian Faith and Life / Christianity
Who are those invited? Us / People / Believers / Non-Believers
ONE APPLICATION?
How does this parable apply to us?
What is the meaning of Jesus’ story about this banquet and the excuses?
How are we to strive to understand the complexities of this parable in our lives?
One 2022 application for this parable comes I believe, in looking at our own personal application of our daily Christianity in the different excuses given.
You see, God absolutely wants us to make Him a priority.
Except, too any of us absolutely do not want God being their #1 priority!
The parable is all about this prepared banquet that all of these people were supposed to attend and were supposed to make a priority.
God wants to be a priority in our lives.
He wants His Word to be the primary influence in our lives.
He wants our Sabbaths to be dedicated to Him.
He wants our worship to be directed at only Him.
He wants the “first fruits” of our resources to honor Him first.
God absolutely wants to have a relationship with us, and absolutely He fully wants that relationship to be the most important of all of our relationships.
But we default to our sinful and unrighteous humanity – and we make excuses.
* Maybe your business has taken over your life and you have no time for God. What is your excuse?
* Maybe the ‘things’ of life and the pursuit of them is more important than God in this moment, this time and this season. What is your excuse?
* Maybe you haven’t cracked open your Bible in quite a while. Have not had a conversation with Father, Son and Holy Spirit lately. What is your excuse?
* Maybe you are holding onto a grudge and just won’t forgive someone. What is your excuse?
* Maybe you are living like a “Christian” on Sundays, but on Monday through Saturday, you are not so sure you can account for “faith.” What is your excuse?
* Maybe all the effort you expend in your devotion and obedience to God has “tired you out,” “completely exhausted your spirit.” What is your excuse?
* Maybe you have decided not to give of your “first fruits” and your tithing. What is your excuse?
A whole lot of “Maybe’s” are going on all around us – so, our excuses are flying.
We are struggling to generate “just one more excuse” to get through our day.
There is no one alive right now who can deny “wanting just one more excuse!”
You see the Christian life is an exhausting one, all about giving God the priority and living and loving and moving forth in ministry under His Lordship alone.
When you accept Jesus Christ into your life, you accept Him as Savior and Lord.
Most of us have no problem with accepting Jesus as Savior.
We know that we cannot earn our way into Heaven, and we need God, and we need our sins washed away. We need Jesus. Yet, we cannot forget that He is Lord of our life as well. He is our priority, and it’s His will that should be sought after.
I have no idea what your excuse is for God or what the issue is. We all do it. We all give God excuses of why we can’t be faithful. I want to encourage you this day to rid yourself of your excuse and commit yourself to being faithful to God.
As tired and exhausted as we all undoubtedly are in these 2022 times, seasons, there is no excusing our way out of our innate needs for connections with God.
God is absolutely aware of these needs.
There is no time when He is not absolutely aware of these needs.
Isaiah 1:18-20Amplified Bible
“Let Us Reason”
18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord. “[a]Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be like wool. 19 “If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the best of the land; 20 But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
The “Invitation to Come and Let Us Reason” is always there.
It has been in the Scriptures for thousands of years.
Ancient Biblical Editors have had uncountable opportunities to remove it.
What if they had removed those words all those thousands of years ago …?
Would that have given us “that one more final excuse” to give to God for why we are such prolific excuse makers – “It was nowhere in your Word, God!”
“Since it was not there in the first place – how can I be held accountable now?”
Do you believe our Lord God has a severe, chronic case of: “exhausted ears?”
His invitation has, in absolute fact, withstood the test of time and mankind.
It is our choice to stop – even for a few brief moments – “why all the excuses?”
There’re definite consequences for not stopping – “but if you refuse, God says.”
There are very definitely, decisively, eternally, consequences to continuing.
One day, Church – All of our excuses will have to absolutely have to stop!
One day, Church – All of our excuses will stop – then God our righteous Judge ….
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Lord God, my Way-maker, I know you have a destiny for me to achieve in this life. I want to follow the plan that you have laid out. Help me to understand and follow your call. Show me your will for my life and what I need to do right now to get started. Enable me to know who I am in Christ, and the special gifts and abilities you have given me. Give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation as I seek to know you more intimately. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Probably most of us have heard people speaking about their faith in humanity as a very intimate and private thing, something you feel in your heart, in your soul, with all of your might, all of your strength something you don’t talk about.
Sometimes you hear politicians say that they have a deep personal faith in God, but they assure us that they won’t let their religion, or lack of it, have any sway or influence on the decisions they make in office on behalf of the people served.
Corporate executives are expected to toe the line of maximizing profits above all else and not worrying about the impact that their decisions have on society.
And they might just face severe backlash and stockholder lawsuits if they stray.
Social commentator, Glen Beck has said if you are in a church and the pastor is about to teach or sermonize about social justice, quickly get out of that church.
He felt rather strongly that talk of social justice has no place in church.
I must confess right here and right now, that until rather recently, I would have readily agreed with the Social Commentator, avoided such teaching, sermons.
Right now, my attitude about “social justice” and the Body of Christ, the Church in God’s neighborhood, God in God’s own neighborhood, is being re-written by my intentional and my purposeful engagement with our God’s Holy Scriptures.
My own deeply held personal beliefs wrought through the fires and floods and furnaces and crucibles of my lifetime of experiences, I now find were informed by biases and prejudices I was not wholly aware of nor would ever acknowledge.
My information was faulty and based almost exclusively on my floods, my fires, my crucibles and my furnaces.
My purposeful, intentional engagement with the “deepest truths” of my God’s Word is now being weaved into and throughout my heart, my soul, by my God.
I am learning to ask questions – learning to challenge my biases, my prejudices, and where God, the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit inform my soul differently through His Scriptures, I repent of the former, to seek out the latter.
Isaiah 1:10-26Amplified Bible
God Has Had Enough
10 Hear the word of the Lord [rulers of Jerusalem], You rulers of [another] Sodom, Listen to the law and instruction of our God, You people of [another] Gomorrah. 11 “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me [without your repentance]?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of [your] burnt offerings of rams And the fat of well-fed cattle [without your obedience]; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls or lambs or goats [offered without repentance]. 12 “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires this of you, this trampling of My [temple] courts [by your sinful feet]? 13 “Do not bring worthless offerings again, [Your] incense is repulsive to Me; [Your] New Moon and Sabbath [observances], the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure wickedness [your sin, your injustice, your wrongdoing] and [the squalor of] the festive assembly. 14 “I hate [the hypocrisy of] your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 “So when you spread out your hands [in prayer, pleading for My help], I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you offer many prayers, I will not be listening. Your hands are full of blood!
16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Get your evil deeds out of My sight. Stop doing evil, 17 Learn to do good. Seek justice, Rebuke the ruthless, Defend the fatherless, Plead for the [rights of the] widow [in court].
“Let Us Reason”
18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord. “[a]Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be like wool. 19 “If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the best of the land; 20 But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Zion Corrupted, to Be Redeemed
21 How the faithful city has become a prostitute [idolatrous, despicable], She who was full of justice! Right standing with God once lodged in her, But now murderers. 22 Your silver has turned to [b]lead, Your wine is diluted with water. 23 Your rulers are rebels And companions of thieves; Everyone loves bribes And chases after gifts. They do not defend the fatherless, Nor does the widow’s cause come before them [instead they delay or turn a deaf ear].
24 Therefore, the Lord God of hosts, The Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah, I will be freed of My adversaries And avenge Myself on My enemies. 25 “And I will turn My hand against you, And will [thoroughly] purge away your dross as with lye And remove all your tin (impurity). 26 “Then I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning; Afterward you will be called the city of righteousness, The faithful city.”
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
For our scripture text this morning we are still in Isaiah chapter 1.
Will God ever let us get out of chapter 1?
It takes 66 chapters to save all of Isaiah’s writings; will we ever get out of chapter 1?
Yes, eventually, by God’s grace alone we will be released from chapter 1.
But first, there are still many important lessons we can take with us into 2022.
But please remember, chapter 1 introduces many of the themes developed in the following 65 chapters, so I’m happy to hang out in chapter 1 for a while longer.
Our scripture lesson is Isaiah 1:10-26. After I read it, and then re-read it, I now challenge you to read it and re-read. You tell me whether Isaiah saw religion as an inward thing, related to the realms of personal faith and feelings, or whether he saw religion as something impacting all of life, even including social justice.
Yesterday we talked about God’s complaint against the people of Judah, which was a very personal complaint. They were his beloved children and he wanted them to love him as He loved them, but we read they were rebelling and getting themselves into serious trouble and he really wanted them all to come back.
By reading and re-reading these verses, I hope and pray you heard that for God, being a Christian, even in 2022, can never stop with just a heart relationship with God. It also includes a right-relationship with our fellow human beings.
And this day, which the Lord hath made for you and me and all of His children, I want to try to look quickly at 5 commands in verse 17 that make that concrete.
God told His Children, the people of Israel to “always learn how to do good.”
In the New Testament the apostle Paul repeatedly told the early Christians to do good works, and when he specifies what he’s talking about, often the context is clearly the good work of sharing with others in need.
That’s a Christianity that goes many echelons beyond feeling good and secure inside. It’s a Christianity that purposely, intentionally, reaches out for others.
Then, also in verse 17, Isaiah tells the people of Judah to “always learn how to seek out justice and learn how to always walk humbly with your God.”
Now there are a lot of different ways of defining justice.
There’s a kind of justice which says,
“I’ve got mine, and nobody’s going to take it from me.”
And we believe in protecting personal and property rights.
We are against theft and criminal behavior.
That’s kind of, sort of, a start to defining, writing, an encyclopedia of justice.
But Isaiah tells the people of Judah, and he tells us, too, that we need to go beyond that encyclopedia.
“I’ve got mine” justice can be content to look at a kid whose lost his parents or is born into a one parent situation where one party felt incapable of meeting the demands of parenthood and maybe feel sorry for the kid but feels no obligation to go “the extra mile or two or three or more if necessary” to volunteer, “help.”
And that’s no justice at all. It’s not fair to that kid at all.
The kid has very little chance in life. The kid is really hurting inside. Justice shouts out to us, “When the parents aren’t there, we need to help that kid.”
“I’ve got mine” justice can build a really nice life for itself, but it takes upon itself limited accountability, personal. professional, responsibility for others.
The Word of God revealed through Isaiah in chapter 1 tells us that justice is about more than me. And our responsibilities in life never stop with just me.
These verses from the first chapter of Isaiah calls for God’s kind of justice that intentionally, purposely watches for the oppressed, those who are held down.
And what are we supposed to do when we see them?
Are we supposed to feel sorry for them?
Are we supposed to analyze whose fault it is that they are in that shape?
Are we supposed to argue about whose job it is to help them, the government, the church, business or private charity?
God’s Prophet Isaiah does not let those arguments distract him.
What do we do if we see someone oppressed? Strive to Rescue them?
And who is that talking about?
The idea is someone who is weighed down, held down, doesn’t have a fair chance. How does one, in 2022, define what “have a fair chance” means?
If we’re talking about people who are oppressed, how about the people whose homes and businesses and livelihoods were just wiped out by “Acts of God?”
UMCOR is there.
FEMA will carry the bulk of the assistance, but UMCOR is great about finding the people who fall between the cracks and for sending in teams long after the immediate emergency to help people clean up, rebuild, restore what can be.
UMCOR goes straight to the United Methodist Churches who have been on the spot, who know the needs, who know who is hurting, so it can intentionally do the most good, efficiently, purposely, conscientiously, serve the most people.
Isaiah gives another example of what biblical justice looks like by calling us to defend the orphan.
What theory of justice in this world could say “I’ve got mine, too bad about that orphan”?
For Example ….
Today, it is estimated that Africa has some 17 million children who have lost their parents to AIDS.
How big a number is 17 million orphans?
Take the entire population of metro Chicago, some 8.9 million, and then add to that population the entire population of San Antonio, Texas being 2.413 million plus the population of the Baltimore, Maryland metro area being 2.845 million plus the population of the Portland Oregon Metro area being 2.5 million plus the population of the Buffalo, New York metro area being 1.137 million people.
That’s approximately how many children are AIDS orphans in Africa today.
What chance do they have as orphans in villages where there isn’t much hope of healthy food, clean water, quality healthcare for kids who have both parents?
What justice would there be in a world that does “not nearly enough” to defend, place greater value on the sanctity of the lives and wellbeing of those children?
Well, Praise and thank God for volunteers, organizations like World Vision and UMCOR and many others who are there. And let us do all we can to help them.
But there are a lot of vulnerable children and adults in all areas, too.
What about underserved kids whose parents are failing them, in jail or even abusing them so badly that the court needs to take them out of their home?
We have dedicated social workers to help them, but as budgets have been cut their ability to give the kids the support they need is really, really stretched.
What about the Homeless populations? The Homeless Veteran populations?
Right now, our nation is in a major crisis as we have spent a whole lot more money out of the national treasury than we could afford, and we are desperately looking for places to more efficiently, more intentionally, purposely, love our God in His Neighborhood, serve our communities, our neighbors in some way.
Let’s remember that Isaiah calls us, that God calls us through these timeless and most ancient of words from Isaiah chapter 1, to defend the orphans.
And I think it’s exceedingly, abundantly fair to expand that to include children who have both parents, and those single parent households where economically parents can’t provide proper nutrition or proper medical care for their children.
And in all the talk of needing to cut our government deficits, too often it is programs to defend vulnerable children that people want to cut. I think that rigorous and vigorous advocacy is most definitely appropriate ‘social justice.’
And, finally, the words of Isaiah chapter 1 tell us to plead for the widow.
Isaiah lived long before social security, in a time when women may not have even had clear property rights.
And if their husband died, they could be in big trouble. Today our government has stepped in with social security and Medicare and they really, really help.
But any sense of God’s justice calls us to watch out for our widows, to comfort, advocate and support them as they grieve, to support them as they may struggle with maintaining their homes, providing meals, and to visit them when lonely.
While we are engaging God in His neighborhood, what more can be done here?
But still, the lingering questions always remain when we engage our Faith in Humanity with our Faith in an Engaging and Intimate and Loving and God.
1 John 4:7-21Amplified Bible
God Is Love
7 Beloved, let us [unselfishly] [a]love and seek the best for one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves [others] is born of God and knows God [through personal experience]. 8 The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.] 9 By this the love of God was displayed in us, in that God has sent His [One and] only begotten Son [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind] into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [that is, the atoning sacrifice, and the satisfying offering] for our sins [fulfilling God’s requirement for justice against sin and placating His wrath].11 Beloved, if God so loved us [in this incredible way], we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time. But if we love one another [with unselfish concern], God abides in us, and His love [the love that is His essence abides in us and] is completed and perfected in us. 13 By this we know [with confident assurance] that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given to us His [Holy] Spirit. 14 We [who were with Him in person] have seen and testify [as eyewitnesses] that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses and acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 We have come to know [by personal observation and experience], and have believed [with deep, consistent faith] the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides continually in him. 17 In this [union and fellowship with Him], love is completed and perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him]; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love [dread does not exist]. But perfect (complete, full-grown) love drives out fear, because fear involves [the expectation of divine] punishment, so the one who is afraid [of God’s judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love]. 19 We love, because [b]He first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates (works against) his [Christian] brother he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should also [unselfishly] love his brother and seek the best for him.
Before we begin to or continue engaging with God in God’s Neighborhood,
Before making a personal decision about where we engage our neighbors,
Many, Many Examples of Essential Questionsto ponder with God about:
Decisions, Actions, and Consequences
What is the relationship between decisions and consequences?
How do we know how to make good decisions?
How can a person’s decisions and actions change his/her life?
How do the decisions and actions of characters reveal their personalities?
How do decisions, actions, and consequences vary depending on the different perspectives of the people involved?
Social Justice
What is social justice?
To what extent does power or the lack of power affect individuals?
What is oppression and what are the root causes?
How are prejudice and bias created? How do we overcome them?
What are the responsibilities of the individual in regard to issues of social justice?
How can literature serve as a vehicle for social change?
When should an individual take a stand against what he/she believes to be an injustice? What are the most effective ways to do this?
What are the factors that create an imbalance of power within a culture?
What does power have to do with fairness and justice?
When is it necessary to question the status quo? Who decides?
What are the benefits and consequences of questioning / challenging social order?
How do stereotypes influence how we look at and understand the world?
What does it mean to be invisible? (context: minorities)
In what ways can a minority keep their issues on the larger culture’s “radar screen?”
What creates prejudice, and what can an individual overcome it?
What are the causes and consequences of prejudice and injustice, and how does an individual’s response to them reveal his/her true character?
What allows some individuals to take a stand against prejudice/oppression while others choose to participate in it?
What are the causes and consequences of prejudice and how does an individual’s response to it reveal his/her morals, ethics, and values?
Culture: Values and Beliefs, Traditions and Rituals
How do individuals develop values and beliefs?
What factors shape our values and beliefs?
How do values and beliefs change over time?
How does family play a role in shaping our values and beliefs?
Why do we need beliefs and values?
What happens when belief systems of societies and individuals come into conflict?
When should an individual take a stand in opposition to an individual or larger group?
When is it appropriate to challenge the beliefs or values of society?
To what extent do belief systems shape and/or reflect culture and society?
How are belief systems represented and reproduced through history, literature, art, and music?
How do beliefs, ethics, or values influence different people’s behavior?
How do individuals reconcile competing belief systems within a given society (e.g., moral beliefs conflicting with legal codes)?
When a person’s individual choices are in direct conflict with his/her society, what are the consequences?
What is morality and what are the factors that have an impact on the development of our morality?
What role or purpose does religion / spirituality serve in a culture?
What purpose or function do ethics / philosophy have in governing technological advances?
How do our values and beliefs shape who we are as individuals and influence our behavior?
There are undoubtedly many more questions to ponder as anyone individually seeks to engage God side by side with His Words of hard truth and harder love.
In such weighty matters, be patient with God and be patient with yourself ….
Matthew 6:25-33Amplified Bible
The Cure for Anxiety
25 “Therefore I tell you, stop being worried or anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted) about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow [seed] nor reap [the harvest] nor gather [the crops] into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 And who of you by worrying can add one [a]hour to [the length of] his life? 28 And why are you worried about clothes? See how the lilies and wildflowers of the field grow; they do not labor, nor do they spin [wool to make clothing], 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory and splendor dressed himself like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive and green today and tomorrow is [cut and] thrown [as fuel] into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 Therefore do not worry or be anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted), saying, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ 32 For the [pagan] Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; [but do not worry,] for your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.
This morning I want to affirm, with Isaiah, that our faith in God is not just an awkward, inward, personal thing. Our God is very concerned we “do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” AMEN?
1 Corinthians 15:58Amplified Bible
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord [always doing your best and doing more than is needed], being continually aware that your labor [even to the point of exhaustion] in the Lord is not futile nor wasted [it is never without purpose].
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit ……
“I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”
“Cause and effect” are a relationship between events or things, where one is the result of the other or others. This is a combination of an action and a reaction.
Something happens (a cause) that leads to an effect.
For Example ……
Cause: As we were waiting for a bus, we received 7 inches of rain in 4 hours.
Effect: My Umbrella did not keep me dry. The roadways were flooded.
Cause: I flipped the light switch.
Effect: The light came on and I saw the mess I made last night all over again.
Cause: The boss was busy.
Effect: Their secretary rolled their eyes skyward, took a telephone message.
THE REALITIES OF CAUSE AND EFFECT
From the time you are a child until you die, you understand cause and effect.
“Cause” is the action that produces a result or consequence.
And “effect” is the product, result, or consequence of that action.
As a baby you learn that if you cry, mom or dad will change you, feed you, or hold you.
As you grow into a toddler you learn that if you drop something from your highchair, somebody will pick it up.
As a kid working your way through school, you learn that if you study hard, you will earn good grades and increase the likelihood you will receive scholarships.
As a college student you learn that if you study hard, you increase the likelihood of receiving great grades and Latin Honors and the likelihood of that great job.
As a young adult you learn that hard work pays great dividends and increases the likelihood you will gain an excellent reputation and promotions on the job.
As an adult, you also learn that if you are not a particularly hard worker and are making excuses, chronically late to work, you get into trouble and lose your job.
Proverbs 24:30-34 The Message
One day I walked by the field of an old lazybones, and then passed the vineyard of a slob; They were overgrown with weeds, thick with thistles, all the fences broken down. I took a long look and pondered what I saw; the fields preached me a sermon and I listened: “A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next? Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, with poverty as your permanent houseguest!”
This thought comes to King Solomon after he considers the fields of a lazy man:
The field is overgrown and in general disrepair.
He sees the danger in staying in bed too long, although most of us might enjoy more of this practice. Poverty and lack attack if this behavior is not conquered.
There is always a cause and effect.
This same principal is found in the kingdom of Heaven:
The Cause: God loves you with an everlasting love. God gave His Son as a sacrifice so that you could be reconciled to Him. Love has victory over death.
The Effect: You experience the love of our Father, which fulfills you in a way that nothing else can. You share in His victory over death. You desire to share God’s love with others, so they, too, will experience His 100% love for them.
There can be no effect without a cause. God’s love for you should always be the cause for your walking with, for Him. If it’s not, then your work will be in vain.
Without faith in God, it is impossible to please God.
Without hope in God, it is impossible to please God.
Without love for God, it is impossible to please God.
Without faith, hope and love in and for God, it is impossible to walk with Him.
Walking with God does not lead to God’s favor, but God’s favor leads to walking in favor with God. If I walk with the world, can I genuinely say I walk with God?
Deuteronomy 5:32-33Amplified Bible
32 Therefore you shall pay attention and be careful to do just as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left [deviating from My commandments]. 33 You shall walk [that is, live each and every day] in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long in the land which you will possess.
Deuteronomy 5:32-33 The Message
32-33 So be very careful to act exactly as God commands you. Don’t veer off to the right or the left. Walk straight down the road God commands so that you’ll have a good life and live a long time in the land that you’re about to possess.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
After Moses instructed God’s people in the Ten Commandments, he added the Cause: they must walk “obediently in God’s way.” Then added the Effect, he said, God would bless them richly and make them prosper in the promised land.
To interpret this promise wisely, we need to know that prosperity in the Bible has more to do with spiritual blessings than material or physical things.
All over the world there are people who interpret God’s blessing mainly as a promise to make them healthy and wealthy and wise. But that is a mistake.
While some people do experience blessings of “never having spent a day in the hospital” or “never worrying about how to pay the bills.”
There are also those who have experienced the blessing of “having spent time in an ICU Bed, an Oncology ward or other long term care facility, their health in a critical state of flux: of life versus death.” Likewise, there are those who have experienced day to day struggles with how to pay the bills and feed their kids.
Trying to survive on our own strength and our own wit and wisdom is costly.
Frankly, genuinely walking with God can be even more significantly costly.
So many have lost their jobs and their health and their marriages. Have found themselves struggling through circumstances in life for which only the biblical Patriarch Job could Identify with, give the best counsel for surviving day to day.
Yet, amazingly, these same Christians will declare that in the midst of deep sacrifice they were blessed. Even Job declared his blessings. (Job 1:20-22)
When we walk with God, we live in community with our Lord. We feel God’s delight in all things good, and we sense his pain in the face of sin and evil. Such a close walk with God is itself a blessing. The joys and peace that flows from our relationship with God far outweigh the cost of being a follower of Jesus Christ.
Living our lives with God in it, makes things easier and gives us hope.
We may not be the most cognizant.
We may take God for granted, not realize it, not consider it for one moment, not pray over it, but walking with God is so much better than walking without him.
and here is why.
1. Walking With God Makes Things Possible
The Lord never said that our lives here on earth would be easy.
We are all absolutely going to go through hard times, and we are absolutely going to have our struggles. But our time here on earth will be worth it.
We are here to spread the Truth of God’s Gospel, the Truth of God’s love and light to others and spread the absolute greatest news ever that he is our Savior.
When we walk with God, it may not make things any easier, but it certainly and surely makes them infinitely more possible.
Walking with him gives us blessed assurance of his presence and power in our lives. Our God is powerful! With him all things are possible. We can endure trials and heartache. Because of Christ’s resurrection power in us, we can overcome.
“I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be my people” – Leviticus 26:12
2. He Is Our Comfort
The Lord is always walking beside you.
The Lord is always walking beside me.
He is going through every situation with you.
He is going through every situation with me.
He loves and cares for you and will always stand by your side.
He loves and cares for me and will always stand by myside.
Walking with Him will give you and me the absolute comfort of knowing that He is always there for you and me. He is always with you and me when we need someone to lean on and a shoulder to cry on; He is always there with open arms.
“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” – Psalm 23: 4
3. He Will Help You
No matter what you and I are going through, God will help you and God will help me. We can always cry out to him for help. When we are frustrated and angry, cry out to him. When we are upset, feel like we cannot go on any longer, cry out to him. He will always be there to pick us up and move us ever forward.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” – Hebrews 4:15-16
4. Walking Without Him Is an Unnecessary Struggle
When we are not walking with God, we are going to struggle even more because we are completely on our own. We feel we have no other choice but to just figure things out for ourselves, we are the only ones with all the right questions, all the correct, viable answers, and it will be much more difficult than it should be.
God is the only genuine light illuminating our path.
He will show us the way, but without him, we have to find our way through the darkness. Why do we permit the struggle, when we can have God to guide us?
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12
Hebrews 11:1-6Amplified Bible
The Triumphs of Faith
11 Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. 2 For by this [kind of] faith the [a]men of old gained [divine] approval.
3 By faith [that is, with an inherent trust and enduring confidence in the power, wisdom and goodness of God] we understand that the worlds (universe, ages) were framed and created [formed, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose] by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which it was testified of him that he was righteous (upright, in right standing with God), and God testified by accepting his gifts. And though he died, yet through [this act of] faith he still speaks. 5 By faith [that pleased God] Enoch was caught up and taken to heaven so that he would not have a glimpse of death; and he was not found because God had taken him; for even before he was taken [to heaven], he received the testimony [still on record] that he had walked with God and pleased Him. 6 But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek.
We know very little about Enoch.
His father was Jared, and his son was Methuselah, who lived longer than anyone else.
The most surprising thing about Enoch is that he did not die.
“By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: ‘He could not be found, because God had taken him away.’ For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.”
Enoch was one of two people in the Bible who never experienced death.
The other was Elijah. (See 2 Kings 2:1-14.)
Enoch’s walk with God made him stand out from the crowd.
Only a few generations later, God would send a flood to wipe away a humanity that no longer understood what it meant to live close with God.
Only Enoch’s great-grandson Noah and his family would be spared so that human beings could make a new beginning.
God’s special gift to Enoch reminds us walking with God is the way to true life.
Of course, unless the Lord returns in our lifetime, we will all face death.
But Jesus, who identifies himself as the way to God (John 14:6), also said,
“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25).
Then Jesus turns that belief around and against us – “Do we Believe this?”
With Faith pleasing to God ….
With Hope pleasing to God ….
With Love pleasing to God ….
Do we believe the cause: walking with God in faith has this effect: puts us on a level road that moves us forward and takes us beyond death to life eternal?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
God, my Guide and my Guardian,
Take me to task today,
Search me, and know me …..
Hold me accountable to thy Gospel Truth,
I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, Exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O Glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, Let it be ratified in heaven. Amen
We all face situations in life when we feel scared and alone. We are in that pit of indecision. “Do I stand still and do nothing – Am I a Coward?” or “Do I stand my ground as David did before his Goliath?” “Do I go forward?” or “Do I retreat?” “Do I stay in the pit I have probably dug for myself or fight, claw my way out?”
“Do I turn to the right or to the left?” “Do I take out my compass?” “Do I stand firm in the faith, hope, love and trust of my Savior Jesus Christ?” “Do I stand upon the power, presence of God as revealed through His Word?” Or do I just choose: “talk a great game when I need to because I’m waiting for another to come along and give me a vaccination against the call of God for my lifetime?
Many tough and very legitimate questions believers and non-believers alike are confronted by. However, we can all take some measure of courage from what today’s Bible verse offers our tendency to commit to a course of timidity. We don’t have to be scared or dismayed because the Lord is with us wherever we go.
One too many times, we can want to turn away from situations that seem scary or overwhelming. such as the calling God has placed into our hearts. However, we can face those situations with confidence when we begin believing what this verse says. We begin to believe that we’re not alone and that we’ve got God with us wherever we go we can face any situation. We’ve got God’s help on our side!
Joshua 1:1-9 Holman Christian Standard Bible
Encouragement of Joshua
1 After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua[a] son of Nun, who had served Moses: 2 “Moses My servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving the Israelites. 3 I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great Euphrates River—all the land of the Hittites—and west to the Mediterranean Sea. [b]5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or forsake you.
6 “Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance. 7 Above all, be strong and very courageous to carefully observe the whole instruction My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. 8 This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite[c] it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. 9 Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
There he was, a summer camper, about halfway up a 100-foot-high rock face.
He started the climb with plenty of self-confidence, but now his palms were sweating, calves were quivering, and fingertips were slipping. He looked down, confirmed the instructor was definitely right when he said not to look down.
How much longer could he hold on?
One of the main reasons he came to rock-climbing camp was to show to his friends exactly how “strong and courageous” he was. He thought they’d all be suitably impressed when he “scampered up the rock wall like a mountain goat chugging a gallon of energy drink.” And now everything was coming unraveled.
Joshua 1:9 These ancient words speak to us today, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” What are they saying to you now?
Rock climbing takes a good healthy dose of both strength and courage. And God definitely calls us to be “strong and courageous.” In fact, He repeats it 3 times!
In fact, in this verse, he COMMANDS it. That’s no mere polite suggestion. If you believe in God, it should inspire confidence and courage for everything you face! Ah, but here’s the catch: This whole “strong and courageous” thing isn’t really about rock climbing, and it isn’t about your strength and courage.
Notice what this verse says is the basis of our strength: “for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” This verse is not describing a kind of strength and a courage that’s based on our own ability to be “strong and courageous.”
No, it’s an invaluable lesson on character building and development: strength and courage based only on who God is; on how strong and courageous HE is.
Like when the neighborhood bully was about to give you a new “lesson in life” (so nice of him), but as the lesson was to begin, you both saw your dad coming.
A new surge of strength and courage rushed over you, not because you were suddenly bigger and stronger, but because of the strength and courage of your dad, and you trusted in that. That’s the kind of “strong and courageous” this verse is talking about. This kind of courage is based on something stronger than us: Something significantly, immeasurably, undeniably stronger outside of us.
Back to our climber left dangling on the rock face. At just about the point, he was going to give up, the guide yelled down “I’ve got you! Just sit back in your harness and take a break: lean into the strength of the rope.”
See, he began the ascent by strapping into a harness and attaching that to a rope so that he couldn’t fall. He leaned back on the rope for a moment. His legs stopped shaking. Arms stopped quivering. His toenails recovered. He realized he was safe. He couldn’t fall. Even if he slipped. He was soon able to relax himself, regain his strength and footing and his courage and continue up the mountain.
When you encounter the difficult trials of life, you can try to lean on your own strength and courage for some measure of time and long concourse of seasons, but there comes a point you need something stronger than yourself to continue.
Lean into the strength and the courage and the wisdom of the Lord.
Lean into the promises and truths of the Word of God.
Use God’s Rope, His Knot, Live Life Upheld by God – Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Who do you think of when you think of someone who is modeling “strong and courageous?” What person comes to mind? How do you want to be like them? What do you think is their main source of strength and courage? What area of life do you feel like you need a healthy injection of strength or courage today?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
God, My Father, we all face situations every day when we need strength and courage. And we are often too tempted to lean on our own strength and courage, to depend on ourselves. Help us to look unto you first and foremost and to lean upon the strength and courage of who you are in every situation. Give us your strength and courage to boldly trust you completely to meet our every need. I pray this in the strength of the name echelons above all other names – Jesus Christ, My Life, My Lord, My Rock of My Salvation! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
