Matthew 6:1-6; 16-21; KJV; Ash Wednesday; Impressing others will not get you into heaven. Only faith in the one who sacrificed himself will. He should be your first love.

 

Christians Persecuting Christians!?

Isaiah 58:3-9 KJV; 5th Sunday after Epiphany; Christians persecuting Christians is not the Lord's will. Be kind!

God Is Love!

1 John 4:7-16 KJV; Christmas Eve; God is love and His light of love shines through us unto others.

Don't Fret About The Evildoers

Psalm 37:1-7 KJV; Don't worry so much about the damage evildoers are doing. It is but a distraction to keep you from turning to the Lord in prayer and trusting that He has a good plan. He will work things out. But, don't isolate so much that you don't know what's going on in the world. It helps to know what to pray for.

Let Us Build A Name For Ourselves

Genesis 11:1-9 KJV; Pentecost Sunday; God was not impressed with the people trying to build a name for themselves when they built the tower of Babel.

Husbands And Wives

Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it...

                                            (Eph 5:24-25 KJV)

There was a time when men used the verse from St. Paul regarding wives having to be to their own husband in every thing as justification to subjugate them. It still happens and is legal in some countries. It still happens in some households even in the United States. But, that only happens when we neglect to read the verse about husbands loving their wives as Christ loved the church. Jesus loves us enough to die for us. He loves us enough to have died for us.

Marriage is not about what you can get out of it; but, about loving and supporting one another. Wives give freely to their spouses; putting their personal desires after their desire to please their husbands and to live as one with them. Husbands love their wives in such a manner that they are willing to give completely of themselves even as Christ gave himself for all people. For many that might and most probably means dying to the desires of a self-serving ego.

After God created man and woman He said that they would be joined together and become one. When addressing the topic of divorce, Jesus said:

"But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; 

And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh." 

                                                                                      (Mark 10:6-8)

The majority of people would not willfully harm themselves so it would behoove us to remember that as we hurt our spouses we harm ourselves as God has ordained that we are one. 

Live in peace; live in love with one another.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

By Love Serve One Another

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

                                                                                  (Gal 5:13-15 KJV)

If our sole purpose in this life is to gratify our own egotistic desires we will most probably find ourselves spiritually and emotionally empty and hungry. We will find ourselves with divisions between ourselves and others so numerous that we cannot count them.

On the other hand, if we would but love others as ourselves, we would be more able to live with the differences between us and them in peaceful reconciliation. As we go about our daily lives let us give consideration to how we would have others treat us and treat others in that way. Consider if when you are lonely or depressed would you want someone to be with you to comfort you. Then be there for those who are also alone and depressed. If you and your family were without food or shelter would you have someone assist you? Then, do likewise to those who are in need. If you would live in peace; then let others live in peace. Do not intentionally cause them anxiety or worries of any kind. And, when you help someone; when you are there for them, let it be done with a joyful heart. Do it in a manner that they know that they are loved and not merely a good work that you know that you should do.

Out of love, be there for the people around you. Our personal times and agendas are not more important than loving our neighbors right next door, in our own households, or on the other side of the world.

Loving and serving others will give us purpose that will bring about peace rather than divisions among us.

May God help us to always remember that Jesus so loved us, that he was willing to serve us by giving his life on the cross for us. Being generous and going a little out of our way for the sake of others can't even begin to compare to that!

God's Peace - Pr. J

Our Aim Is To Forgive

Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. (Col 3:13 KJV)

Now, that is a tall order! All we can do is remember that Christ forgave us and forgives us for turning out back on him even though he died for us. All we can do is remember that and try to live, love, and forgive as he did. 

We sometimes also need to discern if it is actually the other person that needs forgiveness or if it was us who sinned against others. Our perceptions of what others have done to us can be skewed. Our own egos can very easily con us into thinking that we are the ones who have been offended when in reality we offended others by putting our desires before theirs.

We are humans. We are not perfect. We are not God. But, because He loves us so much, we aim towards loving forgiving others as He loves and forgives us. 

God's Peace - Pr. J

The Ego Must Die

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you." (James 4:10 NRSV)

Let that ego die! Let it die, now!

Jesus did not exalt himself on earth. He humbled himself. He was willing to even suffer death on the cross for our sake. Why should we think that we ought to be more exalted than the one who was willing to give his life that we might live?

St. James wrote:

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you." (James 4:8-10)

It is folly to attempt to exalt ourselves. "He (Jesus) sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, 'Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.'" (Mark 9:35)

In the end, all of our vain attempts to gain recognition for ourselves will fail us. It is only God who can lift us up. We will be lifted up by His own hand. Remember, too, that when Jesus was lifted up, he was lifted up on the cross. He was exalted through death.

Let that ego die so that you might live more fully in Christ.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Mind Not Your Own High Things

Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. (Rom 12:16 KJV)

I was listening to Jordan Peterson on YouTube again last night. He was saying  (and I am paraphrasing) that it is difficult for him to profess that he is a Christian publicly because he understands that to be a Christian means that we are called to something very difficult. 

Essentially we are called to make a lot of changes in our lives. We are called to put God and His will above all things. We are called to serve others, even before ourselves. 

One of my daily disappointments is to hear professed Christians talk about their personal goals. I do not hear about what God has called them to be or do; but, what they desire for themselves. Of course, this is not everyone. I also know some very faithful Christians. But, one or two a day is enough to cause me to wonder about the real state of Christianity.

To seriously desire to follow Jesus and to desire to do God's will even above our own will is really tough! I read again this morning of another execution of Christians. A Pastor and five members of his congregation in Burkina Faso were killed for their faith.  He was unwilling to leave the village he had been serving even though he knew his life was in danger from Islamic Terrorists. He chose to be faithful to God's will that he minister to the people of the village even in the face of death.

And... so, I get a bit disillusioned and disheartened when I hear of professed Christians who cannot set aside their own egos and wills in order to serve those whom God calls us to serve.

"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God's Peace - Pr. J