It's All About Relationship

A minute in God’s Word will change your life. Take a moment to read the text below and then answer the questions at the bottom of the post.

Then God gave the people all these instructions[:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.
3 “You must not have any other god but me.
4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. 6 But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those[b] who love me and obey my commands.
7 “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.
8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
12 “Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You must not murder.
14 “You must not commit adultery.
15 “You must not steal.
16 “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.
17 “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”

What are the first four commandments about?
What are the last six about?
Given this, what do you think is important to God?
Is there another Bible text that sums these up?

Imitating Perfect Love

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! 1 John 3:1 (NLT)

Recently I was spending time at my daughter’s house loving on my two grandsons. This, by the way, is one of my favorite thing to do! I was holding the new baby and telling him what a precious boy he was and my oldest grandson suddenly looked at me and said “Yiayia, I still your boy?”

My heart melted. I said “Yes! You will always be my boy. Always. You are also Mommy’s boy and Daddy’s boy and Papou’s boy”….and I listed other people in his life that he adores. He was reassured by that answer and continued doing what he was doing.

Made me think of us and God. Sometimes we wonder how God can love us each equally and so intimately. It seems impossible doesn’t it? But that’s because we are only seeing with our human hearts. Think about it.

If we can love many people with the same intensity, can’t God do even more? If our hearts can grow every time someone is added “to the family” or to our world, can’t God exceed that capacity? If our faulty hearts can do that, can’t God’s perfect heart love perfectly?

But it gets even better. When we enter into a relationship with Jesus and we spend time with him, our capacity to love increases and the way we love becomes more and more selfless. Maybe that’s why God tells us to love him first and then our neighbors. If we tried to do it the other way our love would surely not be Godlike.

My grandson needed to know that he was still the apple of my eye. He doesn’t understand yet that I can love many people with all my heart. Maybe we don’t understand that about God either. But, my grandson trusts me when I tell him that he is mine. Perhaps that’s where we start with God too.

Whisper In The Wind

“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:11-13 (NLT)

Elijah was tired. He had just prayed down fire from heaven; prayed for rain to start again; fought the prophets of Baal and faced down King Ahab. He suddenly felt alone and afraid. And he ran away from all of the things that were overwhelming him.

After he got to Mount Carmel, God showed up. Funny thing though, God did not show up in the windstorm, the earthquake or the fire. God showed up in a very quiet whisper. And in that whisper, he started a conversation.

So many times when things are going all wrong, we want God to show up in something huge and miraculous. We want him to come in and “fix it” for us. But more often than not, God shows up in a soft voice whispering to our hearts. We tend to tune it out because we want to see God’s power. What we don’t realize is the power of that conversation.

There is power in a whisper that tells you he sees. There is power in a gentle thought that shows he understands and there is power in the fact that the Almighty God of the Universe has chosen to draw very near to one of his kids.

Don’t discount the whisper. There is more power and love in that gentle whisper than there is in all the windstorms, earthquakes and fires that you encounter. Because God is the one whispering to your heart. Listen for him and like Elijah, come out of the cave and talk to him.

What Is Your Sign?

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”Matthew 22:37-40 (NLT)

A few weeks ago I was driving home from a weekend away and I saw a sign in front of a church that read "What If God Asked You For A Sign?" Made me pause.

What kind of sign do you think he'd ask for? Would he ask for some heroic act? Would he want me to do something really incredible to show him that I love him? Would he say to me "If you love me, you will do this one thing for me."? Would he say "I will love you forever if you only......"?

Wait. I think that's what we say to God, right? We ask for proof that he is there. We ask for proof that he is who he says he is. All the while, God is there providing for us and loving us just because.

God does ask us for a sign.  But it’s subtle. When you do it, it’s quiet and sometimes not even noticed. But, it speaks volumes. Everyone will eventually see it but it might take them years. This sign says we are who we say we are, Christians. It is the sign of Love. It’s when we live like we love God more than anything. It’s when we live like we love each other more than ourselves.

That folks, is the sign that God would ask us for. If he asked you for this sign today, would you be able to give it to him?

A Minute In It - I Want To Love Like That

A minute in Gods' word will change your life.  Read through the Bible text and answer the questions at the bottom of the post.

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

(v4) Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
1 Corinthians 13:1-7 (MSG)

Paul says that we can do amazing things but if we don't love, it's worth nothing. Do you agree?
How in your life could you love others better?
Fill your name in the blanks below.  Are the statements true about you? If not, how can Jesus help you?

_________ never gives up.
_________ cares more for others than for self.
_________ doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
_________ doesn’t strut,
_________ Doesn’t have a swelled head,
_________ Doesn’t force itself on others,
_________ Isn’t always “me first,”
_________ Doesn’t fly off the handle,
_________ Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
_________ Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
_________ Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
_________ Puts up with anything,
_________ Trusts God always,
_________ Always looks for the best,
_________ Never looks back,
_________ keeps going to the end.
 

Tools To Love God And Others

He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”  Luke 10:27 (MSG)

Passion - strong and barely controllable emotion
Prayer - a conversation saying thanks, asking for help, both sharing and listening
Muscle - physical power and strength
Intelligence - applying knowledge and skills

In the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus asked the scholar what the law said about how you should live your life.  I love how The Message translates this verse.  Makes you think. If you define each of those, it is clear you are all in.  You should use every aspect of your being, including your faith, to love God and your neighbor.

A paraphrase might be:

Love the Lord your God with a strong and barely controllable emotion, with all the physical power and strength that you have, using the brain you were given to learn and apply that knowledge while remembering, you need to pray.  Because you can't do it by yourself.

Those are some lofty goals. I have to go pray now.  Because I can't do that by myself.

Weeds or Flowers?

Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT)

As I sat and looked at the tan, brittle sticks - which are called weeds - growing out of the planter on my deck I thought "This is where my life has gone."

In years past, the planter would have been full of beautiful flowers and the entire deck would have been filled with lots of hanging baskets and flower boxes with lots of brightly colored petals of happiness. But things had taken a turn and life isn't what it used to be.

I got up and walked back into the house not bothering to pull the weeds in that box (or any of the other boxes on the deck). Funny thing is, while I don't like the weeds, I understand them. When life gets turned upside down, sometimes you have to choose what to focus on. And in this time, our focus isn't on beauty on the outside. It's on beauty on the inside.

Inside the house is an elderly parent who needs a lot of care, a married couple that has to find time for each other. Involved with this house are adult children and grand-children that need love and hugs and time. Extended from this house are family and people - lots of people that God has shared with us. People who need love and encouragement, people who need to see Jesus with skin on. We don't always manage the chaos well but, we try to put our focus where it needs to be.

Yes, I do prefer flowers instead of weeds in my flower boxes but there is one thing I prefer more than that. It's planting flowers in people's lives. I tolerate the weeds until I can get to them. I guess somewhere along the way you have to choose where you want to see the brightly colored petals of happiness.

Can Witnessing Really Be That Simple?

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-19 (NLT)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  Acts 1:8 (NLT)

In Matthew 28, Jesus tells us to go - in other words - live your life. Live - BE. This term can be translated to mean "as you go". So, as you go, make disciples.  In Acts 1:8 it tells us that we are to be Jesus witness. To witness is to give "evidence of something." As you are living and being and experiencing, your reactions, your responses, your actions should give evidence that Jesus is in your heart.

So, would an accurate paraphrase of these two combined verses be

"Live your life and as you are doing that, show everyone what you know about me so that from your life they have proof that I am alive. When you do that, people will follow me. And remember, you are not alone. We will be with you."

Or maybe more simply.....

Love Me With All Your Heart
Live Your Life Fully
I'll Do The Rest