This morning I am speaking on 2 corinthians 13:5. It states "Examine yourselves to see if your faith is really genuine. Test yourselves. If you cannot tell that Jesus Christ is among you, it means you have failed the test. New living translation.
Jesus among us...what does that look like? The bible states Jesus said He was the exact representation of the Father...The Father states He is God....God states He is love. This word love is where it gets confusing. Paul states clearly what love is in 1 cor 13:4-8.
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love is not jealous
Love is not boastful
Love is not proud
Love is not rude
Love does not demand its own way
Love is not irritable
Love keeps no record of wrongs
Love is never glad about injustice
Love rejoices when the truth wins out
Love never gives up
Love never loses faith
Love is always hopeful
Love endures through every circumstance
Love lasts forever
Its a formidable list to say the least. A list that makes me see just how far away I am from where I need to be. A list that almost overwhelms me when I compare it to the state my heart really is in. Last night as I was working on this lesson I had to go in my room, plop down face first on my bed and just cry out to God because I saw how short I was on love. As I looked at the list through tears in my eyes...suddenly that small voice in my head began to talk to me. It said "wait a minute....who is love?"
Me: "You are love"
Him: "Do you believe that?"
Me: "Yes"
Him: "Are you sure"
Me: "You say you are"
Him: "Do you believe that?"
Me: "Yes I do.'
Him: "Why are you crying then?"
Me: "This list overwhelms me! I cant do it!"
Him: "Do you want to know a secret?"
Me: (through sniffles and mildly curious) "Yeh"
Him: "Since I am love, replace the word "love" with "God".
Me: " Yeh"
Him " I love you"
Him "All better now?"
Me: "Yeh"
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Re-inventing the wheel
I have noticed something new under the sun. It is a yearning for new truth and love within the circle of my christian friends. The characteristics of it are a remarkable tolerance for others, an acceptance of others in their beliefs and lifestyles, and a general feeling of cant we all just love one another and get along. In theory its a great attitude to encompass. My guess is the hope here is that once we have accepted all and love them, then one can sway the one who is loved to find the truth, which at this point is still up in the air. By that I mean what I am seeing has evolved past basic bible teaching to a higher learning.
Jesus gave us two commands...Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love is patient, kind,does not envy, does not boast,is not proud, is not rude,is not self seeking, is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil, rejoices with the truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and never fails.
God also said in the last days men will be lovers of themselves...following different gospels, and forgetting His truths. I have attempted to use the gospel for truth in disagreements, but have been told in response that the gospel, while an interesting book, is flawed, and misinterpreted, and so I can not base my beliefs completely on it, as it is imperfect. The bible cannot be taken literally....so when it says certain people will not get into heaven, well it doesnt really mean that. When it tells us to snatch people from the fire....well how can we know for sure, and after all no one is going to tell us how to interpret scripture and in what way. We will do that for ourselves because that is what people who have evolved to a higher learning do... the old fashioned narrow minded cannot be trusted in this.
My biggest fear is people will go to hell. Because we wont confront in this new found love. We will stop calling sin sin (such a dirty word these days) and people who dont acknowledge Jesus as savoir will be ok with that because they are loved and tolerated right where they are at. Parents who spare the rod.....spoil the child, and the bible says they do so because they love themselves more than their child. While I am all for love...i still believe love is telling the truth, and I still believe truth is found in the bible....and that makes me old fashioned, out of touch, and archaic in my thinking......be honest now....for some of you it does.
Jesus gave us two commands...Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love is patient, kind,does not envy, does not boast,is not proud, is not rude,is not self seeking, is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil, rejoices with the truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and never fails.
God also said in the last days men will be lovers of themselves...following different gospels, and forgetting His truths. I have attempted to use the gospel for truth in disagreements, but have been told in response that the gospel, while an interesting book, is flawed, and misinterpreted, and so I can not base my beliefs completely on it, as it is imperfect. The bible cannot be taken literally....so when it says certain people will not get into heaven, well it doesnt really mean that. When it tells us to snatch people from the fire....well how can we know for sure, and after all no one is going to tell us how to interpret scripture and in what way. We will do that for ourselves because that is what people who have evolved to a higher learning do... the old fashioned narrow minded cannot be trusted in this.
My biggest fear is people will go to hell. Because we wont confront in this new found love. We will stop calling sin sin (such a dirty word these days) and people who dont acknowledge Jesus as savoir will be ok with that because they are loved and tolerated right where they are at. Parents who spare the rod.....spoil the child, and the bible says they do so because they love themselves more than their child. While I am all for love...i still believe love is telling the truth, and I still believe truth is found in the bible....and that makes me old fashioned, out of touch, and archaic in my thinking......be honest now....for some of you it does.
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