The Simple Truth…

Matthew 22:36-40…"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

What’s interesting to me about this scripture is how the two commands are similar/circular. If you ask the questions, how can I love God, how can I show my love for God, how can I prove to God that I love Him, scripture answers it by saying that your love for God is revealed by following His commands. What is His most important command other than loving Him? Loving one another. So, in reality, to show your love for God, you are commanded to love your neighbor as yourself….THAT is showing your love for God. And notice, the command isn’t just to love your neighbor….it’s to love your neighbor as yourself. In other words, putting their importance, and their needs, on the same level as yours. It’s like sharing yourself with the world. Instead of being this little self contained entity, this center of the universe thing, you become part of all of humanity. Love is a spreading out of yourself…a giving up of yourself. He who is least is the greatest. He who is greatest is the servant of all. (Mark 9:35, Mark 10:33)

Matthew 7:12…So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

John 14:21…Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

John 15:10…If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

John 13:34…"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

John 13:35…By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Romans 13:8…Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.

1Peter 1:22…Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

1John 3:11…This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

1John 3:23…And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

1John 4:7…Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

1John 4:11…Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1John 4:12…No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

2John 1:5…And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.

1 Peter 4:10…Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

Matthew 25:34-40…"Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ "Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ "The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Is the love that is in you, finding its way out?

Forgiveness…

Mark 11:25…“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

Matthew 6:15…“But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Taken literally, these scriptures would not make much sense. Consider that God is love (1 John 4:16) and God directs us to forgive others….but then if we don’t….he doesn’t forgive us? Does that make sense to you? It sounds hypocritical to me, and I know God is not that. I’m convinced that these scriptures are really talking about fellowshipping with God, communing with God. You see, God doesn’t change (Mal 3:6). In Him is no shadow of turning (James 1:17). He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). For us to commune with God, we have to go where He is. You might say that God lives on that narrow road that Jesus speaks about in Matthew 7:14. Indeed, if we fail to forgive, hold grudges and ill will, etc, we cannot stay on that narrow path because it is the path of love, light, and life. Indeed, anytime we allow bitterness, hatred, ill will, anger, vindictiveness to control us, we are tormented (gnashing of teeth), and you might say, cast out into outer darkness. We will stay there until we learn otherwise (pay the last penny).

Personally, I don’t think these scriptures relate to salvation. If you truly have accepted God’s provision…namely Christ....you are saved. That doesn’t mean you will not fail at times. What that does mean, though, is at times you will fall out of true fellowship with God. Hopefully we will notice very quickly, repent, and enter back into fellowship with Him.

Matthew 18:34-35… In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

Matthew 5:25…"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.”

Matthew 13:34…Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.

Do you need to be loved…

…to love? In other words, can you truly love others, if you, yourself, did not receive that kind of love when you were growing up? Can it be formed in you without having learned it in that way?

Is God mad at you?

Everything going smooth in your life? No? Hmmm. Maybe God is mad at you? Have you been a good little boy or girl? Pretty good you say? Any ideas then why God would be punishing you? Let me think about that. Hmmm. Nothing really stands out, but I know I’m not perfect. I must have done something wrong that God is punishing me for. Ahhh. Maybe it’s not God. Maybe it’s just life? Maybe it’s the corruption of the flesh? Maybe it’s satan? I wonder, would great parents smack you in the face as a discipline but not explain to you what they are disciplining you for? No, you say? Interesting. Then I don’t think God would do that either, do you? I mean, if no one explains to you what you have done wrong, but only punishes you, how do you learn? You guess? You become neurotic? On the other hand, satan would love to confuse you, he would love for you to blame God for all the bad things that happen, wouldn’t he? We don’t need satan to explain his purposes, do we?

On the one hand I hate to give satan any attention whatsoever. On the other hand, he needs to be exposed.

Helping others…

What kind of help do people need the most? For instance, If you know someone that is really unattractive, what might be the best way to help them? Tell them that they need plastic surgery? Point out their flaws? How about loving them, being a true friend to them, just the way they are?

If you know someone that is unhappy, what might be the best way to help them? How about telling them how stupid it is to be unhappy? Try to convince them that being happy is better? Or how about just loving them, being a true friend to them, just the way they are?

If you know someone that is judgmental, what might be the best way to help them? Pointing out the error of their ways? Judging them for being judgmental? Or how about just loving them, being a true friend to them, just the way they are?

What if a person is negative/pessimistic? What might be the best way to help them? Shoot them and put them out of their misery? Call them names? Insult them? Or how about just loving them, being a true friend to them, just the way they are?

In my examples above, I mentioned both physical and behavioral issues. Some might think that they are very different things, but I don’t think so in the context of this writing. If a person is physically challenged, indeed, they did not choose that. On the other hand, if a person was born into a family that exhibited negative behaviors, they would likely inherit those traits as well, and again, neither did they choose that. The behavioral traits of a person may even be more insidious in that they may be completely unaware that they even exhibit those traits. It’s who they are….not who they are trying to be. Therefore, when someone attempts to correct that behavior, they are, in essence, insulting the very person exhibiting the behavior. Make sense?

I’m of the belief that love cures all, and the lack of love is at the root of most human psychological issues. It seems to me that criticism (accurate or not) only makes matters worse and is fodder for the devil. Criticism does nothing to build a person up and that is what we are called to do (Eph 4:29).

As we all know, love in word only, is hypocritical and useless. My Christian Interpretation would be that true love is loving in actions and in truth (1 John 3:18), and a person that is truly loved will find healing without even looking for it. It takes time, though. In many ways, we are the sum of our experiences, and I’m certain that virtually every one of us could use and benefit from a heaping helping of love and acceptance.

True motives?

First off, let me just say that I’m not a republican and I’m not a democrat.  I’m just an American.

As you probably know by now, we lost our bid to host the 2016 Olympic games here in the USA. You may also know that, President Obama, got personally involved in an attempt to secure those games. Why? The Fox News channel, of course, is spinning the negative and saying that the president did so for all the wrong reasons…selfish and vain reasons. Of course, they are not quoting the president, just telling us what they ‘think’. I also have a thought. Maybe the President went out of his way to try to bring business here? Maybe he was willing to humble himself and make a plea to the IOC for the games for the benefit of Americans? After all, we all know that hosting the games creates jobs and increases tourism which helps our economy. Right?

The power of thought…

How much real power is there in thought? For instance, if people around you are coming down with a cold or the flu and the thought crosses your mind that you, too, may be in jeopardy of that same fate, does that actually improve your chances of catching that same sickness? Have you opened the door? Have you given sickness permission just by considering the possibility? Or is it more about whether or not your body has built up a resistance to whatever germ is infecting people at that time? Does it have more to do with whether you have been taking good care of your body by feeding it properly, getting enough rest, fluids, etc. Could it relate to genetics and how well you manage stress? How about good hygiene? Could it be about a combination of any or all of the above? Some people seem to think that if you get a cold it’s because your faith is weak. If you get cancer, it’s because your faith is weak. For me, that begs the question. Why did Paul have the affliction he had? Did Paul try to just believe it away? Nope, he sure didn’t. He did pray, though…he did ask. What answer did he receive? Why did Epaphroditus almost die for the work of Christ (Philippians 2:27)? Was Paul and Epaphroditus’ faith too weak? What about Timothy?  Paul speaks of his frequent illnesses (1 Timothy 5:23).  Was his faith weak? My Christian Interpretation would be that I don’t think so. Illness and affliction are a part of life on planet earth. Notice that children get sick far more often than adults. Why is that? Weak faith, or they haven’t built up any resistance yet? Building up resistance is part of life, too. In Matthew 5:36 Jesus informs us that we cannot make even one hair on our head white or black. Try it. Find a hair on your head, close your eyes and imagine (until you are blue in the face) it a different color (no cheating). Now open your eyes. Any luck? If it’s all about your thoughts…here is a better test. Stop the aging process. Do you want to get old and decrepit? Just don’t buy into it then.