Love like Christ

Luke 15:1-2 (NLT)
15 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!

From Matthew Henry’s Commentary:  Here multitudes of publicans and sinners drew near to him, with a humble modest fear of being rejected by him, and to them he found it requisite to give encouragement, especially because there were some haughty supercilious people that frowned upon them. The publicans, who collected the tribute paid to the Romans, were perhaps some of them bad men, but they were all industriously put into an ill name, because of the prejudices of the Jewish nation against their office. They are sometimes ranked with harlots (Mt. 21:32); here and elsewhere with sinners, such as were openly vicious, that traded with harlots, known rakes. Some think that the sinners here meant were heathen, and that Christ was now on the other side Jordan, or in Galilee of the Gentiles. These drew near, when perhaps the multitude of the Jews that had followed him had (upon his discourse in the close of the foregoing chapter) dropped off; thus afterwards the Gentiles took their turn in hearing the apostles, when the Jews had rejected them. They drew near to him, being afraid of drawing nearer than just to come within hearing. They drew near to him, not, as some did, to solicit for cures, but to hear his excellent doctrine. Note, in all our approaches to Christ we must have this in our eye, to hear him; to hear the instructions he gives us, and his answers to our prayers.

 

I like Matthew Henry’s summary - in all our approaches to Christ we must have this in our eye, to hear him; to hear the instructions he gives us, and his answers to our prayers. When we listen to Christ and heed his instructions we begin to realize we must minister to those such as Christ did. We are told to encourage fellow Christians and keep each other accountable; but we are also to reach out to those who don’t know Christ. There are many good people who don’t know Christ. There are also many who are outwardly sinful even in the eye of those who are good non-Christians. Christ ministered to all of these.  

Our duty as Christians is to reach out to people - even that one person who others may shun away from. Maybe that person is in jail. Maybe that person frequents bars. Maybe that person is homeless and survives in ways we would be critical of. Maybe the person has difficulties that make them unlovable. Yet we too are to find that one lost sheep and lead them to Christ. (Luke 15:3-7)

Some may find it uncomfortable reaching out to these people and may need the encouragement and support of fellow Christians. Sometimes it happens by accident. I once was placed at a restaurant bar because the restaurant was full and I was along. But then I found I wasn’t alone – there was a man sitting next to men who needed to be reassured about the love of Christ. We need to be willing to reach out and love these people and do so in a way that we remain open to the people but apart from the world.  I wasn’t drinking at the bar where the man was drinking and amazingly he stopped drinking to talk with me and left his drink behind and untouched.

Look for opportunities to reach out to people. Reach out in love as Christ did and just love on people when they are hurting. Love on the unlovable so they can understand love. Love as Christ loves and your heart will overflow with joy.

To those who know Christ I love you and encourage you to keep loving The One who loved you first. To others I pray my love for you would show you what Christ looks like that you would love Him too!

Live free for the sake of others

1 Peter 2:15-16 (NIV)
15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.

Matthew Henry writes about doing well in the face of those who would do us harm. [1.] The will of God is, to a good man, the strongest reason for any duty. [2.] Obedience to magistrates is a considerable branch of a Christian’s duty: So is the will of God. [3.] A Christian must endeavor, in all relations, to behave himself so as to put to silence the unreasonable reproaches of the most ignorant and foolish men. [4.] Those who speak against religion and religious people are ignorant and foolish. Matthew Henry goes on to explain that we are free in Christ and we should not abuse our freedom. [1.] All the servants of Christ are free men (Jn. 8:36); they are free from Satan’s’ dominion, the law’s condemnation, the wrath of God, the uneasiness of duty, and the terrors of death. [2.] The servants of Jesus Christ ought to be very careful not to abuse their Christian liberty; they must not make it a cover or cloak for any wickedness against God or disobedience to superiors.

 

 

The daughter of missionaries to the Congo Republic told Pastor Leith Anderson this story: As a little girl, she participated in a daylong rally to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the coming of missionaries to that part of Africa. At the close of a long day of speeches and music, an old, old man stood before the crowd and insisted on speaking. He soon would die, he said, and if he didn’t speak, information that he alone possessed would go with him to his grave.  He said that when the missionaries arrived, his people thought them strange and their message dubious. The tribal leaders decided to test the missionaries by slowly poisoning them to death. Over a period of months and years, missionary children died one by one. Then, the old man said, “It was as we watched how they died that we decided we wanted to live as Christians.” Those who died painful, strange deaths never knew why they were dying or what the impact of their lives and deaths would be. But through it all, they didn’t leave. They stayed because they trusted Jesus Christ. [Leith Anderson, “Mystery Martyrs,” Men of Integrity, (January/February 2004)]

My friends live as a Christian should live. The Bible tells us our salvation is not dependent upon our good works, but by our faith and trust in Christ who paid the debts for our sin. We are to repent and turn from sin and live as Christ did although we have the freedom to live sinfully. But living sinfully confuses others as to what Christianity means for we have been freed from sin, so why live in sin. Live instead that your life might be a witness to others. Live that God’s light shines through you and touches the lives of those who don’t know Christ. Live such that even in death others see the life you have been granted. I pray God will keep you faithful to Him and will keep you from wavering in your dedication to live as Christ lived.

Our closest friend

Philippians 4:8 (NLV)
8 Christian brothers, keep your minds thinking about whatever is true, whatever is respected, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever can be loved, and whatever is well thought of. If there is anything good and worth giving thanks for, think about these things.

The apostle exhorts us to dwell upon the true and good things of life. Keep those things close to our hearts for others to see the goodness of truth and righteousness in us so it also becomes their desire.  Matthew Henry gives these observations: Observe, 1. The apostle would have the Christians learn anything which was good of their heathen neighbors: "If there be any virtue, think of these things—imitate them in what is truly excellent among them, and let not them outdo you in any instance of goodness.’’ We should not be ashamed to learn any good thing of bad men, or those who have not our advantages. 2. Virtue has its praise, and will have. We should walk in all the ways of virtue, and abide therein; and then, whether our praise is of men or not, it will be of God.

 

According to a 2006 study, our circle of close friends is getting smaller. Over the past twenty years, the number of people we can discuss "matters important to us" dropped nearly a third. The number of people who said they had no one to talk to about important matters more than doubled, to nearly 25 percent.  It's an amazing conundrum; in a world of increased communication and higher technical advances, people feel more isolated and alone when it comes to real, legitimate friendship. "A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."  Proverbs 18:24 Even on days when it seems like our "friendship circle" is closing tighter and tighter, we still have a friend in Jesus! Thank goodness for Christ walks with us each day, listens to our problems, and speaks to our hearts about what we must do. We need friends, but when our friends are not with us remember Jesus always is!

Freedom from sin

Isaiah 1:18 (NLT)
18 “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.

Through Isaiah God tells the people that though their sin covers them as one covered in blood He is willing to cleanse them if they are willing to draw close to God and repent of their sin. It is hard to reason against such a generous gift. They are stained by sin and for their willingness to turn from sin God is ready to restore them to a pure and clean life.

 

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23

Dorothy Sayers, the mystery writer, was also a devoted Christian. Dorothy Sayers was attempting to explain the moral law of God. She pointed out that in our society there are two kinds of laws. There is the law of the stop sign, and there’s the law of the fire. The law of the stop sign is a law that says the traffic is heavy on a certain street, and as a result the police department or the city council decides to erect a stop sign. They also decide that if you run that stop sign, it will cost you $25 or $30 or $35. If the traffic changes, they can up the ante. That is if too many people are running the stop sign, they can make the fine $50 or $75, or if they build a highway around the city, they can take the stop sign down, or reduce the penalty, making it only $10 if you go through. The police department or city council controls the law of the stop sign.

But then she said there is also the law of the fire. And the law of the fire says if you put your hand in the fire, you’ll get burned. Now imagine that all of the legislatures of all the nations of the entire world gathered in one great assembly, and they voted unanimously that here on out that fire would no longer burn. The first man or woman who left that assembly and put his or her hand in the fire would discover that the law of the fire is different than the law of the stop sign. Bound up in the nature of fire itself is the penalty for abusing it. So, Dorothy Sayers says, the moral law of God is like the law of the fire. You never break God’s laws; you just break yourself on them. God can’t reduce the penalty, because the penalty for breaking the law is bound up in the law itself.

We would like to delude and comfort ourselves by thinking that God’s laws are all just like the law of the stop sign, and not like the law of fire.  They’re not.  We think that we may just bruise ourselves a bit when we violate one of His laws, but Romans 6:23 says it’s a far more serious thing to violate His law and put our hand into the fire of sin: the result of that is death.  And that’s a lot more serious than a bruise or two.

PRAYER: Father, give us the gift of discernment and wisdom to grasp the seriousness of our sin. Let us be thankful for Jesus who cleanses us of our sin. Let us never forget what Jesus did for us!

 In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Serve The Lord

Joshua 24:15 (NIV)
15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Matthew Henry writes, “Never was any treaty carried on with better management, nor brought to a better issue, than this of Joshua with the people, to engage them to serve God. The manner of his dealing with them shows him to have been in earnest, and that his heart was much upon it, to leave them under all possible obligations to cleave to him, particularly the obligation of a choice and of a covenant.”

 

The snow covered the ground, and three young boys were playing in it.  A man said to them, "Would you like to try to race, with the promise of a prize for the winner?" The boys agreed, and the man told them that his race was to be different.  "I will go to the other side of the field," he said, "and when I give you the signal, you will start to run.  The one whose footsteps are the straightest in the snow will be the winner." As the race commenced, the first boy began looking at his feet to see if his steps were straight.  The second lad kept looking at his companions to see what they were doing; but the third boy just ran on with his eyes fixed on the man on the other side of the field. The third boy was the winner, for his footsteps were straight in the snow.  He had kept his eyes on the goal ahead of him. A long time ago, another man using similar words taught the same principle.  It was Paul who said, "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:13-14).

We have a choice in life as to who we can serve. Joshua told the people gathered around him you can serve other gods or you can serve the true Lord. If we are to serve the Lord we are to keep our eyes fixed on Him, watching him and our steps in life will always fall straight towards him.

I pray your household would serve the Lord and that your days would go well for you even under the duress of life. I pray God would strengthen you, guide you, grant you wisdom and help you endure against temptations that will come your way. May God touch your heart and let the love of Jesus Christ shine through you to all people. Let’s us thank The Lord for His love, mercy and grace. Amen.

Prayers for all

1 Timothy 2:1-2 (NLT)
1 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.

Here we find Paul urge Timothy along with the Christians for which he is responsible to pray for all people. There are to be prayers for ourselves. There are to be prayers for our family. There are to be prayers for our neighbors; and there are to be prayers for those foreign to us. Leaders and those in authority should also be prayed for so that God can supply all needs and make our lives peaceful and quiet.

 

The election results are in and some may be overly exuberant in their wins while others may be overly disgruntled in their losses. However, now is time for all people to come together, praying for one another and especially praying for our leaders that the right decisions might be made. Don’t allow your personal feelings on election results go towards hurting others, but instead allow yourself to do good for others. Give congratulations where congratulations are due. Give accolades for those who lost in their attempt to do what they felt was right.

Pray such as this: Heavenly Father we are a country that was formed for freedom of worship. Let us not forget that we are not to exclude you Father from our daily lives nor exclude you from our country. Lord please bless each person in this country. Help those who are in need. Help our neighbors who might be struggling with financial or personal issues. Lord guide our leaders and help them to be good examples of what a leader should look like. Let us put aside our personal feelings and instead work together to do Your will. God bless this country and continue to make it a country that stands firm against evil and has the best interest of people at its heart. Amen.

The Bridegroom of the church

Ephesians 5:25-33 (NIV)
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Here we find the apostle writing about the responsibility of husbands in marriage. The apostle also relates the covenant of marriage to the covenant Jesus made with the church. Just as a husband is to watch over his wife, Christ watches over the church.

 

 

This past weekend our daughter got married in a lovely wedding ceremony. The beautiful part of a Christian wedding is the reminder that the wedding symbolizes what Christ has done for the church. Jesus several times referred to Himself as the bridegroom of the Church.  Even John the Baptist said that the bride belongs to the bridegroom referring to those who have placed their faith in Christ in as the bride and Jesus as the bridegroom who would receive them unto himself as their protector.

While many debate the meaning of marriage we all need to remember that Christ promises to be the bridegroom who will love, honor, cherish and protect us as our lord and savior. It is a promise we should never forget.