Tag Archives: Love

Sunlight to Both

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I love the people who love me.  That’s only natural.

I love my family.  I love my children.  I love people who are nice to me and my family.  I love my church.  I love my friends.  I love lots of people.

I love Ole Miss, but I’m not sure why, since they aren’t very nice to me most football seasons.

Anyway, I love these people.

And, that’s nice.  Scripture tells us to love.  But, the command of scripture to love is not just the folks that are nice to me, and the folks that are easy to love.  But, to love everyone.  Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 5 today:

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.

Jesus says God sends sunlight to both – to the evil and the good.  God sends rain to both – the just and the unjust. God gives love to all. And, He calls us to do that.

Jesus tells us to be like our Father in heaven, and that means we are to love.

Not just the folks we like.  Not just the folks like us. Not just the folks that agree with us. Not just the folks that share our opinion.  Not just the folks that we are friends with.

We are to love everyone. Even the folks that have done things wrong, that have hurt us or others, that really aren’t nice people.

Why?

Because God loves them.

And, because the only way we can change people is not through hate. The only way we can change people, can change the world, is through love.

God changed us through the love of His son. That’s how He expects us to change the world. So, today, love. Love everyone. Show God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s grace.

To both. To all. To everyone.  Because that’s who God is. And that’s who God is calling us to be.

 

 

At the Foot of the Cross

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Our praise team at Asbury sang a song I just love yesterday.  I’ll have to confess it’s a song that I had never heard of before until recently. It’s called “At the Foot of the Cross.”

The basic theme of the song is that we are all equal there at the foot of the cross. No matter what we’ve done, who we are, what we bring to it, we are all equal.  Equal in our sin, equal in our need for grace, and equal in the eyes of God.

And we are all equally loved by God there at the foot of the cross.

Last week in our reflections we talked about “loving God.”  This week we are talking about the Biblical command to “love neighbor.”  And as I was reading a passage today in Proverbs that related back to love of neighbor, I thought about that song.  Listen to what Proverbs 29:7 says:

The godly care about the rights of the poor;
the wicked don’t care at all.

The Godly care about the needs of the poor.  Why?  That sounds nice to say that the godly care about the poor, but why? Why do they and why should they?

Because we are all equal a the foot of the cross.  Rich or poor, doesn’t matter.  Young or old, doesn’t mater.  Black or white, doesn’t matter. Male of female, doesn’t matter. We are all equal at the foot of cross.

So, we care about others, because God cares about them. And we are called to be like He is.

Today, may we care for all the folks in our lives, may we love all the folks in our lives. And may we try to point all the folks in our lives to the power and grace of Jesus Christ.

Because all are equal at the foot of the cross.  No matter what.

Why Its Called Grace

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You can’t make God love you.  You can’t.

I’ve said this before in sermons at Asbury, so of you may have heard this statement before and know where I’m going with this, but let me say it again.

You can’t make God love you.

If you are living your life doing all that you can do to earn God’s love, you will never earn it and you will live your life trying to earn something that simply cannot be earned.

You can’t make God love you.

You don’t have to.  He simply loves you.  NO.  MATTER.  WHAT.

Listen to what Paul tell us in Romans 5 today:

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Christ died for us not because we deserved it or had earned that grace and forgiveness.  In fact, He did it for the exact opposite reason.  He did it because we couldn’t.  He gave us grace because we couldn’t earn it.

You don’t need to live your life trying to earn God’s love.  You need to live your life as a response to God that loves you more than you would ever think possible.

You don’t need to make God love you. He already does.  You don’t have to earn God’s love.  It’s already given.  That’s why it’s called grace.  It’s not earned.  It’s not deserved.  It’s a free gift from an amazing God.

Today, you are loved.  Know that.  Believe that.  Live in that.  You are loved.  Today.

Live in the depth of God’s grace.  And in that, you’ll find life worth living.

How to be Somebody

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One of the things we see Jesus tell His disciples is this – they are called to be different.

They (we) must be different from the world they (we) live in.  There must be something about us that is different from the world.  While we live in the world and want to show the love of Christ to the world, we must be, well, different.

In today’s passage in Matthew 20,  John and James’ mother comes to Jesus and asks Him to let one brother be on His right hand and the other on His left.

Jesus says that’s not for Him to give, only the Father. But then, He says this:

But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus tells us, yes in the world, there is a certain way leaders behave. There is a certain way to gain power.

There is a certain way to be important or to have a status.

Not so among you.  That’s not how we operate. That’s not what the Body of Christ is about.

Yes, in the world, fame and money and power and status, these things reflect on who is important.

Not so among you.

You want to be great for God? Serve. Love. Care. Forgive.

Jesus said even He came not to be served, but to serve.

If we want to be “somebody” you want to know how?

Serve.

Serve as God served. Today, help someone.

Give a smile. A help.  A hug.  A world. A piece of yourself.

If we want to be someone for God, today we can do it. Today, we can be different. Today, we can make an impact.

How?

Serve. Show the love of God. Love as God loves you.  You are vital to Him.

So is everyone we meet.

Today, may we love each other. As God loves us.

How Do We Come to Jesus?

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One of the things we see over and over again in the New Testament is the religious leaders come to Jesus and test Him.

The come to Him, not really seeking wisdom, but they come to Him, asking Him questions, seeking to have Him fall in a trap or answer the question in a way they do not like.

That way they can point and say – aha!  See, He isn’t who you thought He was! Trust us, not Him.

We see this in one of today’s readings from Matthew 16:

1 One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.

They didn’t come to Him, seeking His wisdom to change their lives. They came to Him for the wrong reasons. They came to Him seeking their purpose, not His.

As I read this and thought about it, it made me reflect, why do I come to Jesus?

To get Him to bless MY plans?

To get Him to ok what I want to do already?

To get from Him what I want?

Or, do I go to Him, realizing that only He gives true life?

That my plans do not measure up to His plans? That my vision for my life doesn’t measure up to His vision for my life?

That it’s not about what I get from Him?  It’s about the life that He wants to give me.

But, that life He wants to give me comes only from Him.

I must put down my “stuff” and come to Him with humility.  Listening. Seeking. Learning.  Realizing it’s not about me.  It’s about Him.

Our life is not about us. It’s about Him.

As long as we make our lives about us, we’ll never find true life. The moment we make our lives about Him, that’s the moment we find life.

They came testing Jesus today. How do we come to Jesus?

 

He Delights

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Someone once said that we should read 3 Psalms and 1 Proverbs a day, and it will really enrich our life and our faith.

I don’t quite do that, but I do try to spend some time in the Psalms each day, and each day something different or new jumps out at me.

Something that I didn’t see before. Something that was unexpected.

Today, I was reading though part of Psalm 18, where the Psalmist writes this:

20 He brought me out into an open place; *
he rescued me because he delighted in me.

The part that just really spoke to me today is the reason why God rescued the Psalmist, why He rescues us . . .

He delights in me.   He delights in you.  He delights in each of us.

That same joy, that same just awesome rush you feel towards your kids, your grandkids, those in your life that you love, that’s the exact same way God feels towards you right now.

Except more so. God delights in you. God loves you.  God takes pleasure in you.

You are His prized possession.  You are His treasured creation.  You are His joy.

He delights in you.

And because of that, He will rescue you.

Rejoice in that. God  Delights in you.  No matter what’s happening, what has happened, what will happen.

God delights in you today.  Live with that knowledge.

Heart’s Desire

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There’s a concept in scripture that we see a several times throughout the Bible, and it’s a powerful, powerful concept.

It’s something that can provide us great hope and great peace and joy.

It’s also a concept and passage that can be looked at the wrong way and provide us some problems.

We see this concept in one of today’s readings, from Psalm 37:

4 Take delight in the Lord, *
and he shall give you your heart’s desire.

Now, that sounds awesome, doesn’t it?

My heart desires lots of chocolate today. . . .

Or an Ole Miss victory over Arkansas this weekend. . . . .

Or a new computer. . . . . .

And, didn’t the scripture just say that God will give us our heart’s desire? So, doesn’t God want to give us these things?

I’ve heard that passage read in that way before. Some of us may be tempted to read it in that way today.

But, let’s look at what it says, – take delight in God and He will give us our heart desires.

When we delight in God, when we spend time with God when we grow closer to God, He changes our hearts.

And then, because our hearts are more like His heart, He gives us what our heart desires – more of Him.

Today, God wants to great you what your heart desires, or what your heart truly needs, more time with Him.

A deeper walk with Him.

More of His grace.

More of His mercy.

God wants you to know Him more and more and more.

God wants you to fall in love with Him today.  God wants you to have what you really need –  not stuff, not more, not power, not prestige, not any thing like this.

He wants you to have more of Him.

He is where life is found.  He is what is our hearts truly need.  He is what our hearts truly desire.

And He offers Himself to us today.

May we take Him up on His offer.

No Lone Rangers

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One of characters that we look at as a “hero” is the Lone Ranger. Kids that don’t know who that is, think of Batman, sort of, as a cowboy.

He’s a true hero. He rides in to save the day.  He’s out there all alone, and doesn’t need any help.  He can do it all alone.  He doesn’t have a team, he doesn’t have a partner, he doesn’t need anyone.

It’s just him against the world.

That’s not the way Jesus wants us to do it. That’s not the way that Jesus wants us to live. That’s not the way that Jesus wants us to serve.

We see how he sends His disciples out to do ministry today in Luke’s Gospel:

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go

He sent out a lot of folks to be His witnesses, but notice what He did.

He sent them out two by two. He sent them out in pairs.  He knew He was sending them out to do some tough stuff. As we read the text, we see that they will have real challenges and real trials.  We see that it would not always be easy.

We see they were not supposed to be alone in this. So Jesus sent them out together.

We need each other. We need each other’s support and help. We need each other’s strength.  We need each other’s encouragement.

We need each other.

We need support.  We need friends.  We need our team.

We need church.

You were not created to live alone.  You were created to be in relationship with God, and with others.

You were not made to be the Lone Ranger.

Today, let folks into your life.  Love and be loved.  Care and let others care for you.  Support and let others support you.

You were made for this.  You were made to be loved.

Amazing Love

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One of my favorite works by Charles Wesley is “And Can it Be?”  It has that awesome chorus “Amazing love! How can it be, That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”

We know God loves us. We’ve heard that from the time we were children. We’ve song the songs, read the verses.

We know God loves us.

But, I think we can forget, or maybe not really know, the depth of God’s love for us.

Listen to what happens in Luke’s Gospel today:

43 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her…. 47 When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48 He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.’

She was sick, she had been bleeding for years. This made her unclean, according the Law.

Because of her illness, she couldn’t go to the Temple (church). She couldn’t go to the Market (Wal-Mart). She couldn’t even go to her family. For, simply touching someone that is unclean would make you unclean.

She was separated from all that she loved. She was cut off from everyone and everything.

Desperate, she sees Jesus walking in a crowd and she. . . . . touches him.

Probably the first touch she’d received in many, many years.

And in touching Jesus, she could have made Him unclean.  Not could have, would have.

He could have responded in anger.  The text said she was trembling. Why?

She knew what she had done. She knew the risk she had taken.  It wasn’t even a risk, it was a certainty.  In touching Him, she had risked everything.

She didn’t know what His reaction would be, or the crowd.

How did He respond?  Amazing Love – you are healed.  You are whole.  You are loved.

He responded to in amazing love.  In spite of her condition which had left her cut off for years.  In spite of her doing something, by the Law, she shouldn’t have, in touching Him.  In spite of these.

He healed her.  He loved her.  He made her whole.

Today, no matter who we are.  Jesus loves us.  He wants to make us whole today.

He wants to restore us.  He wants to love us.

Amazing Love, how can it be? That’s the love of Jesus Christ for you.

Today, may we each realize how much we are loved.

What Does God Require?

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One of the questions that is asked a lot in the prophets is what does God require of His people?

Through the Old Testament, the Law is given. The people are told, you are commanded to this,  you are commanded to do that.

The Law was given and the people were told to follow.

And that’s all that God requires, right? That’s all that He wants, right?  Follow the letter of the Law and it’s all good.

We see that addressed today in Hosea:

6For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

God wanted the people to follow the Law. God wanted the people to do what He had commanded.  God wanted the people to be the people that He had called them to be.

But, it all starts first, not with following the Law. It starts with a broken heart.  It starts with a heart in love with God.  It starts with a spirit that willing to grow and be devoted to God.

God wants your actions, yes. God wants everything you do to glorify Him and serve Him.

God wants you to live for Him fully each day of your life.

But, God knows that the only way you will live for Him and follow His law is for Him to have your heart.

What does God require?  What does God want?

He wants your heart.  He wants your devotion.  He wants your spirit.

And, if He has that, He will have your actions.

May He have all of our hearts today.  And in that, He will have all of our actions.