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LOVE DIVINE
When hope is strong, but strength is weak; stay with hope.
When light is coming; but darkness is present; keep looking for the light.
When friends don’t understand, remember God can.
When you resent your circumstance, take a stand and find your rest in the Lord.
You may be angry at God, and too afraid to say it; but He cares for you, and still skillfully controls your fate.
Remember God loves you even when you hate yourself. He doesn’t need a reason. He just does.
Ahhhhhhhhh! That's Love Divine!
TOUCH
Remember to touch.
Touch is an expression of love.
Touch love is deeply sensory. And it is different from sex.
Sex is often robotic, and too often thrives off the short term, the animal instinct and the exotic. A friend touches.
Touch love is spiritual, sensory, soulful. Touch acknowledges a person’s being.
It says, “I am with you.” It says, “I care.”
Ambivalence is cold, unmoved. But touch warms. It activates.
The very nervous system is heightened with touch.
So, touch him. Touch his face; ease his fears.
Touch her! Touch her hand. Don’t hold it!
Hold it only, for security. But, touch it for sensory sensation.
Touch for affirmation.
Touch for love.
Don’t be afraid, touch me.
Husbands love your wives…
(Colossians 3:19)
“…the greatest of these is Love.”
(1 Corinthians 13:13)
...and the common people heard him gladly.
Mark 12:37
Some things are a mystery. Deuteronomy 29:29 tells us that. (The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.) Why do children die? You may not understand--why there is so much evil or bad in the world. Why do natural disasters destroy innocent lives? And Look! We cannot figure out how free will coexists with predestination. How can there be a thing called God's Sovereignty without God ever participating in sin, leaving man’s moral choices as man’s primary responsibility. We don't like it, but we cannot understand why it seems like bad people get away with everything, while good people suffer so much. But don't let what you don't understand stop you from responding in faith to what you do understand.
The Bible teaches us simple things that we can understand. Things like, God loves us. Jesus reminded us that, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). But, Jesus was not really interested in winning religious or philosophical arguments. He was not interested in scientific explanations or philosophical frustrations that dismiss God’s existence simply because a person cannot understand life’s major crisis and God’s place in them. Instead, Jesus was interested in getting people to enter the Kingdom that the Father was building through him. ...and the common people heard him gladly. Jesus did not seek out the deep thinkers like Nathaniel (John 1:46 - And Nathanael said unto him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?). Deep thinkers searched for Jesus. (For example, Matthew 23:35-36 35 - Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?) Even today, Jesus is not interested in helping you understand everything about the origin of man, the tension between free will and Providence, the detailed intricacies of human travel from life on earth to or through death; but there are things that He knew and knows that simple people need to hear.
Common people, simple people are both phrases that refer to people who live life based on a clear understanding about life. They are not "stupid" or "ignorant". They, like those who consider themselves to be educated, make a choice of what presupposition they will build their lives upon. Whatever they do not understand, they wait until it is revealed in some way. They do not try to solve the mysteries of the universe. Common people read the record that God left on the earth and His imprint in the sky. Common people heard Jesus say blessed are the poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3), and despite the crowd, they found themselves in (Matthew 4:24 - 5:2 “and they brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and He healed them. And there followed Him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain: and when He was set, His disciples came unto Him: And He opened his mouth, and taught them, saying…”) they say Amen. Common people understand Jesus' statement, "you must be born again” (John 3:3). They are not theologians who try to break down the process of salvation, if Jesus said it, they simply believed it must be done, and it can be done, and will be done for those who will surrender. Common/simple have no problem understanding that Jesus came to “seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10; Matthew 18:11).
Simple people know that there are moments that miracles happen; but they understand that not every moment is a miracle. They know that a daughter is healed when doctors have given up, is a miracle (Matthew 9:18). Simple people know that a terminally ill leper whose science and culture could not cure him, received a miracle (Luke 17). They need no deep understanding of fasting, and its relationship to preparing a path for God to work. Simple people are cognizant—mentally aware—that since there is God, a blind man may be made to see at any moment. They do not ask why every blind man is not healed, they simply trust that one day, God’s generosity will overtake them. Simple don’t try to explain things, they are just thankful.
Maybe our joy and our commitment to witnessing about the presence of Christ in the world would increase, if we spent less time looking for deep sayings from all of the deep thinkers in the family of God. Our experiences with God are profound without any attempt by us to magnify our journey. Christ does the common things for common people. He gives healing, assurance, and provision. He makes us aware of our place in the Kingdom of God.
Finally, simple people do not need to be impressed; they need direction. They need encouragement. They need the power of a word from Christ. Simple people heard Jesus because His message was simple, plain. In the context of Mark 12, Jesus had refuted religious arguments and openly dealt with an ernest seeker. But when he turned to the common people, the simple people, He gave them a simple narrative question that presupposed that their answer would be, “because He is God.” That’s all they needed. Simple interrogations! Simple declarations! The narrative itself put to rest the questions about who He was and where He came from, so that Jesus could return to the plain/simple teaching of the Kingdom.
This week, why not try to listen to the simple things that Jesus had to say. You will find yourself refreshed in the spirit and ready to live this new life in Christ with new excitement.
It's bad enough that another man was killed. It's sad that their reporting about the incident is being analyzed, and made to look like the wrongness or rightness of the killing is simply a matter of racial perspective. The only possible good (and this is minor) that may come out of this is the acknowledgment of a constantly denied fact that the basic fabric of our country's social and legal structure is predicated on racism, classism and fear. This is not an indictment of all white or non-African people. It is a fact that remains, regardless of the skin color and culture of the highest officers in the land. The structure in which we work to secure the rights of all people has shown itself historically to be jaded against AFRICAN AMERICANS particularly.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death: even the death of the cross (Phil 2:5-8).
Christmas is the "most wonderful time of the year." For Christians it is, and always should be more than just another holiday. The celebration is not merely about gift-giving and receiving, nor about bright lights and gayly played music just to lighten the mood for shopping. This day is about the blessed moment when God--in his own mysterious and unique way--entered time and space as we know them on earth, in order to provide for us a way to be born anew into relationship with Himself, and changing the way we continue relationships in earthly society forever!
God, the Son, at that moment, gave up the glory of Heaven and traded it for a body that would suffer the indignity of death. There are simply two thoughts that I would like to share with you in hopes to encourage your life in Christ:
1. Christmas is about redeeming humanity and serving humanity. In our world where people are naturally separated from God, and the God goodness that would accompany our fellowship with Him, we are infected with such a self will that leads us both to evil and even to do good for selfish gain or acclaim. The story of God the Son coming into the world however, is about bringing those people who are so loved by God back into fellowship with God on God's terms. This itself is salvation. Jesus, the Son of God, came to save His people from their sins.
2. Christmas is about surrendering to the will of God. The Philippian Church was a loving and faithful Church; but it was not perfect. Paul's letter to them compliments them, but also encourages them to continue to give themselves to the service of God no matter what their human or community situation might be. He says, "Let this mind be in you..." The encouragement is this ,"Despite your knowing well your situation, and knowing what you are capable of "Let this mind be in you..." The idea here is that each of us would allow the "mind of Christ" to replace or displace our desire to control life events.
But what does this mean? What is the mind of Christ? The mind of Christ is a mind that causes change for the good of all human-kind. It is a mind that sacrifices to make those changes. Jesus--God the Son--traded the glory of Godness for a body to be offered as a substitute and sacrifice for all who would believe (John 3:16). The mind of Christ is a mind of service. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews reminds us in chapter 1 and verse 3 that God's Son (Jesus) is the express image of God himself. In a true sense, to have the mind of Christ is to have the mind of our Creator (to share His compassion, intentions). The mind of Christ is a mind of love and forgiveness. It is also a mind that confronts evil, and its damaging impact on the lives of other men and women.
"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus..."
The God-man (Jesus), while in the flesh did not think it robbery to associate Divinity with humanity; and despite his heightened consiousness while in the flesh, he humbled himself to the will of the Triune God, and was obedient even to the point of His own physical death on the cross. If Jesus--God the Son--would do this to secure our ETERNAL LIFE, we should also surrender ourselves to work for Lifestyle change and for Eternal Change (i.e. growth in grace) in the lives of others.
The story of Christmas is a story of traded glory. But it is also the story of ended tragedy. The content of the story is God's work to remove the effects of sin upon the minds, hearts, and bodies of His people. Imagine the affect upon our own world when we begin to mimic the life of our Savior.<< Previous 1 - 2 Next >> |