Help Us To Understand

2nd Sunday after Christmas; Psalm 119:97-104 KJV; Hear, read, and meditate on the Word of God and receive the wisdom to walk in the way of the Lord.

Jesus Abides In His Followers

John 15:4-12 KJV; Jesus who is the Word abides in us and we in Him.

Love The Lord Your God

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 KLJV; The Lord has set before us life and good, and death and evil. Follow the good; follow Jesus.

Caring For Others

John 15:9-17 KJV; 6th Sunday of Easter; Caring for others at the expense of even others.

Love Is More Than A Word

1 John 3:16-24 KJV; 4th Sun of Easter; Love is about being and doing. It is not just a word to say to appease others.

The Law As A Gift

Deuteronomy 6: 6-7 KJV; The law as a gift to help us live in peace with God and with one another.

Love Is The Greatest Commandment

Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 

                                                                                  (1 John 5:1-6 KJV)

We are to  "love the Lord our God with all our hearts and souls and minds." (Matt 22:37) We show this love by loving and respecting His children. We show this love in what we say and in what we do.

The world throws temptation after temptation at us. The world would tell us that other people's problems are not our problems. When God asked Cain what happened to his brother that he had murdered. Cain's response was a very unloving response "Am I my brother's keeper?" Cain ended up exiled.

According to the Christian Martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

As Lutheran Christians we are taught that not only are we are not to covet or steal or bear false witnesses; but, we are to help and support those in need. We are to help them keep their property and their loved ones. Sometimes that means defending them against those who would harm them. Sometimes it means we may have to confront them when their own actions are putting them in peril. Sometimes, we may have to give them a helping hand. We do this not out of fear of the consequences of not obeying the law; but, out of love. We do not tear down. We help to build up.

A friend of mine once told me that she doesn't bother worrying about keeping all of the commandments. She said she just focuses on doing the loving and right thing for others. Love, she insisted is the fulfillment of the law. Of course, none of us can do this perfectly. We will all fall short. We will find all kinds of excuses to not love and do what is right for others. The only one who is and was able to fulfill this law of love completely is Jesus the Christ.

St. Paul wrote to the Romans: "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Rom 13:8-10)

"Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:5) This Son of God is a gift of love to the world. Let us abide in him and live in his love now and for all of eternity!

God's Peace - Pr. J

Too Much Slanderous Drama; Too Much Strife

"A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends.

A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good." 

                                         (Prov 16:28-29 KJV)

Somewhere, somehow, we must take a stand and protect the innocent from slander. There is so much slander, so much aloneness in this world, and so much depression resulting from it. It often comes from one source: the ego or maybe it would be more accurate to say the devil who resides within us. Those in whom the Spirit of Christ does not reside often attack their neighbors; their friends; their enemies unjustly, causing much chaos, pain, and sorrow for their own gain. 

Standing idly by because you do not want to become involved or become the next target is not all that helpful. Rather, as most of us confess on Sunday mornings, we end up sinning by what we have not done; by not supporting and helping our neighbor in need; by not supporting those who are being wrongly slandered or persecuted.

We need to confront those who would entice others to follow in a way that is not good for anyone even while we support and protect those who are falsely accused. 

We teach our children in Sunday School and in Confirmation classes the eighth commandment; "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." We also teach them, as Luther taught, that this means: "We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way." (Luther's Small Catechism) How soon we forget what we have learned!

May God help us to love our neighbors and not cause them to suffer any form of anguish because of our actions or inactions.

God's Peace - Pr. J

For The Sake Of Others

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:12-13 KJV)

Jesus gave us the commandment to love one another. Then he showed us how much we should be willing to love by dying on the cross for us. 

Today is Memorial Day; the day we remember the many that died so that others might live in freedom; freedom to worship; freedom to speak the truth; freedom to live without persecution. They died to preserve freedoms here at home and around the world. They died not just for their friends; but, for people they did not even know. 

Today is a day not just to remember what they have sacrificed for us; but, maybe it should be a day to ask ourselves what we would be willing to give for love and for the sake of others. Would we give up our own safety for the sake of the well-being of others? Sadly, from what I am seeing in this country today; many would not. Safety, it seems, too often comes before serving those in need. 

As we remember the fallen today, let us thank God for the men and women who have loved humanity so much that they were willing to give their lives for us. 

Today as we thank God for the sacrifice that the many made so that we could enjoy our freedoms; let us not neglect to thank God for the sacrifice of His Son on the cross for us. Let us thank God, for Jesus who showed us what it means to truly love one another.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Grateful For His Mercy

"But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them." (Psalm 103:17-18 KJV)

If we are grateful for His mercy, we will listen to Him. We will strive to do His will. We all fall short; but, we try because "We love him, because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19)

May all of God's children honor Him by following in the way He has shown us through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God's Peace - Pr. J