Tag: Love of God

November 24, 2022 – How To Pray

Exodus 5, Luke 11, 1 Corinthians 11

There are so many “how to” books and guides out there. When I think about how to’s, I think about all of those for “Dummies Guides.” There is a Dummies Guide to Guitar Playing, a Dummies Guide to Dog Training, and, yes, you guessed it, a Dummies Guide for Christian Prayer.

The disciples often get characterized as not being too bright. However, in Luke 11, they seem to be doing the most intelligent thing they can. They ask Jesus, the Son of God, to teach them how to pray.

In Luke, we get an abbreviated version of the Lord’s Prayer. [Jesus] said to them, “When you pray, say: “ ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. ’ ” Luke11:2–4NIV

One thing that I want to point out first is that the prayer begins with Father. We are in a relationship with God. So by telling the disciples to address the Father in the beginning of their prayers, Jesus was making this communication personal and familiar. I have said this in the past, and I will say it again. God is interested in you knowing him. He answers prayers because he loves you and wants you to love him. Don’t think of this prayer as a magic formula to get God to do what you want.

According to this prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, we praise God for his Holiness. We express our desire for his kingdom to come. We share our needs. We recognize our sins and ask for forgiveness. We also, ask for deliverance from temptation.

Continuing in chapter 11, you have Jesus’ example of a man asking his friend for bread. The friend had already locked the doors and gotten ready for bed. He tells his untimely friend to come back later. Jesus says ultimately the friend with bread, will help the late arriver not because of their friendship, but because of his “shameless audacity.”

That is important for us too. We have been trained to think some things are too trivial to bother God with. Some of us are too cautious in leaving everything to God’s will. The Bible has several examples of when something was God’s will but someone prayed and God changed his mind. Jesus knowing it was the Father’s will for him to go to the cross, still prayed, “if possible, let this cup pass from me.” We need to be like little children asking our Father for our needs, and even our wants, with shameless audacity.

Your Heavenly Father loves you. He wants you to know and love him. He hears all of our prayers and answers out of his great love for us with what is best for us. Pray without ceasing!

Prayer:

Father, thank you for always hearing me. Thank you for always answering my prayers out of your great love for me and your desire to give me what is best for me. Help me to always pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

November 23, 2022 – Be a Neighbor

Exodus 4, Luke 10, 1 Corinthians 10

In Luke Chapter 10, you find one of the more widely known parables, the parable of the Good Samaritan. The term Good Samaritan has become a part of our language. We use it to describe someone who stops to help travelers in distress. Often, we just use it to describe someone who helps.

An expert in the law was trying to test Jesus with a question. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replies, what does the law say and how do you understand it?

He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke10:27NIV

Jesus affirms his answer and tells him to do this and live. But the expert keeps digging. Maybe you have done that. You should have stopped talking but you kept on. “But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”” Luke10:29NIV

This parable has several interesting twists or hooks. First, the religious people, like the expert in the law who was questioning Jesus, walked by this Jew, their own kind, with out even slowing. In fact, they saw the mess of the robbed man’s nakedness and blood and moved to the other side of the road. They went out of the way to avoid him.

The half-breed Samaritan, that’s how Jews saw them, stopped immediately and cared for the man, not deterred by nakedness or bloodiness. You could think of yourself in this parable and you should. That is the idea behind them. They are word pictures. Imagine yourself in them.

What type of person or race would be shocking for you to stop what you are doing and help? If you were naked and bloody on the side of the road, would it matter what type of person or race stopped to help you? When I work through this, it seems my neediness supersedes my prejudices. Seeing someone else’s neediness should breakdown our prejudice as well.

Look at how the Samaritan, goes above and beyond. In today’s terms he would have given the man first aid, taken him to the hospital, paid the thirty dollar co-pay and signed the contract with the hospital to pay any additional costs the man’s care and treatment warranted. That could be astronomically expensive. He didn’t just call 911 and after they got there, go on about his business. He was committed to the man’s well being with his time and resources.

The last hook or twist is, Jesus flips the answer to the expert in the law’s question. The man asks, who is my neighbor? Jesus, holds up this filthy, half-breed Samaritan as the hero, and tells the religious expert to go and be a neighbor just like him.

Everyone is your neighbor! Love them as much as you love yourself!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank you for making me, a filthy sinner, worthy to be in your presence by washing me in your blood. Lord, help me to drop any prejudices about others and help me love all people extravagantly! Amen.

November 20, 2022 – The Compassion of Christ

Exodus 1, Luke 7, 1 Corinthians 7

The gospels give us the teachings of Jesus. We read about his miracles. We read about his some of his interactions with his disciples and we read about his interactions with other people. There are times when Jesus seems frustrated. There are times, like when he cleared the temple, that he seems downright angry.

There are other times when you see the compassion of Christ clearly come through. One example is when he went to raise Lazarus. When Jesus saw the crowd weeping, he was deeply moved and the shortest verse in the Bible tells us, “Jesus wept.” John11:35NIV

Another example comes from the Luke 7 reading for today. A funeral procession is coming out of the town of Nain. A widow was on the way to bury her only son. When Jesus saw this widowed mother weeping, he was moved with compassion for her. “When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.” Luke7:13–15NIV

Why is this important? It is important because we know that Jesus is concerned with our difficulties and sorrows. Jesus is moved with compassion when he sees our sorrows. It reminds me of the song, There’s not a Friend like the lowly Jesus. When you hurt and are sad, know that the Lord is moved with compassion by your tears.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I am grateful that you know the struggles that I go through. Lord thank you for loving me so much that my pain moves your heart. Help me to trust you with all of my sadness and sorrows. I love you Lord! Amen.

November 19, 2022 – Judge or Fruit Inspector?

Genesis 50, Luke 6, 1 Corinthians 6

I once heard someone say, “we aren’t supposed to judge, but we should be fruit inspectors. Today in Luke chapter 6, Jesus says to his followers, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke6:37NIV

However, a few verses down we hear Jesus tell us how to judge the motives of a person’s heart. “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Luke6:43–45NIV

Here is another of those Biblical tensions. We are not supposed to judge but, in the next breath, it seems we are told how to. We are told a good person consistently brings good things out of their heart and an evil person consistently brings out evil.

I have always thought of judge not as, if I don’t say anything about your sins, you won’t say anything about mine, and we will get along fine. However, that doesn’t seem right. I don’t think it was ever God’s intention that we get comfortable with our sins.

Maybe judge not is not, you don’t judge me and I won’t judge you, but because of Christ’s death and resurrection God doesn’t judge me, so I don’t judge you. I wasn’t worthy, neither were you, but Jesus made us both right. If I judge you unworthy of God’s grace, God will judge me. If I refuse to forgive you your sins, God will refuse to forgive mine.

Judging fruit is supposed to be looking at the lives of those who profess to be God’s people. There are some things to keep in mind when we carefully do that. The first heart to examine for consistent good fruit is our own. Is what we are doing in the world bearing witness to God’s goodness in our hearts? Before we start looking at other trees for fruit, we should inspect our own.

I do think we should examine the lives of those who profess to be Christians who would be our leaders. If one who desires to be a leader, preacher, teacher, influencer, etc., doesn’t consistently show by their actions that they belong to God, then we should be wary of following them.

I don’t mean someone has to be perfect in holiness and sinless. Holiness is the goal we are all working toward with the help of the Holy Spirit and each other. However, none of us is completely sin-free.

If a person is consistently honoring God by living a life of love for God and neighbor, we can feel safe with their instructions and teaching. However, if a person throws around a few Christian buzz words, like church, pray, or God, but consistently lives like the devil, we may need to inspect a little more carefully before emulating their way of life.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus to die and rise again so my sins could be forgiven! Remind me to never judge someone unworthy of your love and grace. Help me examine my heart to see if I am consistently producing what brings you glory. Help me to carefully examine the lives of those I am inclined to follow to see if they are yours. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

November 5, 2022 – Abba, Father

Genesis 36, Mark 8, Romans 8

Do you have a special name for your father? When I was small I called my father, Daddy. Later, when I matured, I shifted to calling him Dad. Different languages have different affectionate names for father. In Spanish, it is Papi. In German, it is Vati. In French, it is Papa. For years scholars have told us that Abba is an affectionate Aramaic name for Father, like Daddy is for us.

That sounds good when you are reading it in a footnote in your Bible. It may sound surprising if you hear someone praying to “Daddy God.”  I heard someone praying that way once. It was a bit surprising for me even though I had read the footnote and knew what they were doing by calling God, Daddy.

The concept comes from today’s reading of Romans 8. The Apostle Paul is telling the Romans of their new standing with God thanks to what Christ has done for us on the cross. He says, “…those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” Romans8:14NIV  Now we don’t live in fear of the Father because, “the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans8:15NIV

Paul goes on to say, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans8:16NIV  We are now adopted in the family because of Christ’s death and resurrection. We are not shunned stepchildren. We are brothers and sisters of Christ. We share all the benefits of the family, including the affectionate name for our Father, Abba!

It may be shocking. It may feel weird, but it certainly isn’t disrespectful to call God, Daddy. Thanks to Jesus Christ we have been brought that close to God!

Prayer:

Daddy God, Thank you for loving me so much that you brought me back through the atoning sacrifice of your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Thank you for welcoming me in to the family as one who enjoys every benefit. Help me to cherish this intimate relationship you confirmed by giving me your abiding presence, the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

November 2, 2022 – At Just the Right Time

Genesis 33, Mark 5, Romans 5

If you have had any dealings with me, you know that I like to arrive right on time. I don’t like to be too early. I don’t like to be late. However, trying to cut it so close as to be right on time has occasionally made me late. In my area, it is not uncommon to end up behind a slow moving logging truck or a tourist taking in the scenery. One of my favorite quotes is from The Lord of the Rings movie. The wizard Gandalf the Grey is being accused of being late by Frodo to which he answers, “A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.” I don’t think a preacher can use that line but it would be a good one.

In Romans 5, we hear about Jesus arriving at just the right time. It was at the pinnacle of history when the Gospel could easily be spread thanks to Greek being the common language. It was also the right time thanks to the advances that the Romans made to infrastructure. Their expansion, taking the common language and culture to further than it had been before, made this the right time for Christ to come and deal with our sins.

I love Romans 5:8. It is part of our communion liturgy. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans5:8NIV  Think about that statement for a few minutes. There are so many people who don’t go to church because they believe they have to get their life cleaned up first. You may be able to straighten out a few things but cleaning up your life is exactly what Christ came to do. God doesn’t expect that we would clean up first. Christ knew every sin we would ever commit… past, present, and future… and loved us enough to die for us anyway.

We do yield our lives to the direction of the Holy Spirit and work toward holiness, perfection, and Christlikeness. However, those things come after we embrace the call to claim what Jesus did for us on the cross and in his resurrection. Even our repentance is after we realize what Jesus did for us.

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That is a statement we need to share with those in our community who are trying to get cleaned up before coming to church. They need to hear that we were messy sinners just like they are, but Christ died for us anyway.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank you that you were not late. Thank you that you were not early. At just the right time, when we were still powerless and filthy with our sins you came and died for the ungodly. Lord, help us to be your witnesses and share the Gospel with those around us who are trying to get cleaned up before coming to church. In your name, Amen.