Love God. Love People.

I read a study recently that lifted the lid on what worship involves. It said - To be a worshiper of God and lover of God is the greatest commandment of God—Deut. 6:5, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart andwith all your soul and with all your might.” Jesus picked up on this when he was asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” He quotes the Shema.
Nothing new here, nothing controversial or revolutionary. But then Jesus does the unexpected, he attaches another command to it, this one from Leviticus 19:18: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” And this is the genius of Jesus—heshows us that loving God, worshipping God, is intricately connected to loving people. Love God, Love People. Jesus was saying “If you love me, then love people.”

Take my breath away!

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." Quite an inspirational thought. There will be many moments in life when situations and circumstances will take our breath away like the birth of a child, joining in marraige, the death of a loved one, sickness.... Genesis 2:7 tells us that God breathed life into man. We carry His breath in us and we breathe this same breath back as we worship Him. His gives breath and He takes it away.

The Goodness of God

The Greek word used for "good" is kalos (kal-oss). This word signifies that which is beautiful, pleasing, acceptable, excellent, attractive, honest, serviceable, that which is good in the aesthetic, physical and moral sense. God’s goodness is perfect. His goodness encompasses His love, grace, mercy, pity, compassion, long-suffering, kindness, and other expressions of a tender and fatherly quality. We find God’s goodness manifested in forgiveness, in His supply and bounty of blessing the fruit of labor, body, cattle, lands, etc. He preserves humankind and animals. He delivers from distress, gives good gifts, satisfies hungry souls, provides rain and sun to all, is slow to anger. Even the unthankful and evil receive from God’s goodness. However, those who would call upon Him, ask of Him, seek Him, wait for Him, desire Him…those who would continue in His goodness…find even greater goodness and blessedness in their lives.

Steps of Faith

Martin Luther King, Jr once said "Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step". Consider the two statements - "what will happen if" and "what will happen now". The first statement remains a question while the latter is current reality. Peter stepped out of the boat, Abraham's elderly wife Sarah conceived, Mary accepted the word of the Lord and birthed the Son of God, Nehemiah built the ruined walls of Jerusalem, Noah built the ark and so on... There are steps we have to take to get our breakthroughs and walk into our destiny in Christ Jesus.I am concvinced that the first step is called obedience.

Seasons

Eric Butterworth once said "Don't go through life, grow through life". There are seasons of the soul. Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 says " To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance". Within the wisdom of the scriptures discover that life will bring many situations are way, but ultimately we will grow in faith as we look back on the faithfulness of God who always brings us through.

More Lord!

Psalm 63:1 says "O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water". Jesus is not using "hunger" or "thirst" as we would describe the emptiness or dryness we feel between meals, but a hunger or thirst that seemingly can never be satisfied. With physical appetite, this would be a hunger and thirst that, even after a full meal with plenty of drink, we would still feel as though we could eat and drink much more! One commentator describes it as, "a hunger of the man who is starving for food, and the thirst of the man who will die unless he drinks". Ever been that thirsty? It paraphrases the modern day cry of "More Lord!"

Sheer delight!

Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." Everyone wants to know how to get God to give them the desires of their heart. "Delight" here in Psalm 37:4 is the Hebrew word oneg, which means "to treat as a delicacy." So, how does one delight in the LORD? Well Isaiah 58:13,14 says that those who stop walking in their own ways and remember to keep the Sabbath holy will delight(oneg) themselves in the LORD. It seems that by obeying the commands of the LORD we will reap Godly benefits. Delicacy by definition is the appreciation of fineness. Let's obey His voice today and by so doing taste and see that He is good!

Is God making a point?

We all know the story. Jonah didn't think the people of Ninevah should escape God's wrath. Jonah had a "vengeance" issue! Despite Jonah's heart God shows Jonah kindness by providing a great fish to get him out of choppy waters and a plant to shade him from the sun. God then removes Jonah's comforts to make His point by providing a worm to eat the plant and a hot east wind to weaken his strength. There are times when you will feel out of your comfort zone and even weak in your own strength. We need to discern - Is God making a point?

Success?

Matthew 25:21 says, "His lord said to him, Well done, good and true servant: you have been true in a small thing, I will give you control over great things: take your part in the joy of your lord." This scripture is the best definition of success. The world measures success on a set of completely different principles to that of God's Kingdom. Character is the only thing we bring to Heaven. On that day the pressing issue will not be how "well known" you became on earth. Rather how well you were known in Heaven. Dwight L Moody said "Character is what you are in the dark". Who we are in private justifies who we are in public. That's true success!

Beams and specks

Matthew 7:3 says, "Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?". The Jewish Rabbinc style of teaching often used exageration to make a point...which makes for quite interesting word pictures, as in this case. It drives the point home. The true meaning of what the Lord Jesus was saying here is that we should not become critical of others in order to lift ourselves higher. There are plenty of places in the Bible that do call us to make judgement calls, and even correct others in a loving, humble spirit. Mother Teresa was quoted as saying, "If you judge people, you have not time to love them." This true statement also warns us of the pre-occupation of sitting in wrong judgement of others when there is so much loving to do.

Courage

Joshua 1:9 says, ""Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Courage is taken from the Latin Cor meaning heart. Our hearts are strengthened with this promise to Joshua that the LORD is with his servants wherever they go. Someone once said that "courage is often not a loud roar. It simply says that I will try again tomorrow". Don't give up. The Lord is with you. Take heart.

The measure of a life well lived

Corrie Ten Boon was quoted as saying, "the measure of a life is not in it's duration, but rather in it's donation". We must devote our christian lives to encouraging each other. What we donate will most likely be our legacy which will outlive us.