Mercy

At that time Jesus went through the wheat fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry so they were picking heads of wheat and eating them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are breaking the Sabbath law.” But he said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and those with him were hungry? He went into God’s house and broke the law by eating the bread of the presence, which only the priests were allowed to eat. Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple treat the Sabbath as any other day and are still innocent? But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what this means, I want mercy and not sacrifice, you wouldn’t have condemned the innocent. The Human One is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:1-8, CEB)

I want mercy and not sacrifice,

Mercy is more important than the law or sacrifices.

Helping the hungry not be hungry is more important than following a rule.

When in doubt show mercy.

Loving People. Loving God.

Do good and share

Keep loving each other like family. Don’t neglect to open up your homes to guests, because by doing this some have been hosts to angels without knowing it. Remember prisoners as if you were in prison with them, and people who are mistreated as if you were in their place. Marriage must be honored in every respect, with no cheating on the relationship, because God will judge the sexually immoral person and the person who commits adultery. Your way of life should be free from the love of money, and you should be content with what you have. After all, he has said, I will never leave you or abandon you. This is why we can confidently say, The Lord is my helper, and I won’t be afraid. What can people do to me? Remember your leaders who spoke God’s word to you. Imitate their faith as you consider the way their lives turned out. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Don’t be misled by the many strange teachings out there. It’s a good thing for the heart to be strengthened by grace rather than by food. Food doesn’t help those who live in this context. We have an altar, and those who serve as priests in the meeting tent don’t have the right to eat from it. The blood of the animals is carried into the holy of holies by the high priest as an offering for sin, and their bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy with his own blood. So now, let’s go to him outside the camp, bearing his shame. We don’t have a permanent city here, but rather we are looking for the city that is still to come. So let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise through him, which is the fruit from our lips that confess his name. Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have because God is pleased with these kinds of sacrifices. (Hebrews 13:1-16, CEB)

What can the world do to us, when we have God as our helper?

Honestly, we have the best helper ever in the creator of the cosmos. Nothing can happen to us.

And what should this lead us to do?

To be good to all people, and invite them in and give them what they need, for we can not take anything with us when we leave this place and go to be with God for all time.

We need to share what we have been blessed with because God gave it to us to use to share God’s love.

So love as you go and do good to all.

Loving People. Loving God.

Fear of God…

Don’t be tied up as equal partners with people who don’t believe. What does righteousness share with that which is outside the Law? What relationship does light have with darkness? What harmony does Christ have with Satan? What does a believer have in common with someone who doesn’t believe? What agreement can there be between God’s temple and idols? Because we are the temple of the living God. Just as God said, I live with them, and I will move among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separated, says the Lord. Don’t touch what is unclean. Then I will welcome you. I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. My dear friends, since we have these promises, let’s cleanse ourselves from anything that contaminates our body or spirit so that we make our holiness complete in the fear of God. Make room in your hearts for us. We didn’t do anything wrong to anyone. We didn’t ruin anyone. We didn’t take advantage of anyone. (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:2, CEB)

I have to say as I started reading this passage I was struck and wondered the book it came from. And then I saw it was authentic Paul.

Righteousness covers that outside the Law and yet we are not subject to the Law. Light shows ud darkness and darkness helps us see the light. Harmony is an interesting choice for Jesus and Satan, and a believer can actually have a lot in common with someone who doesn’t believe. And what exactly are we believing?

We are called to be salt for the earth and a light on a hill. We need to be involved with the lives of those around us to share the light and love of God in everything we do. Now I also see that could mean we are not equal partners with someone who if not a follower of the way of Christ, and yet there are equal partners in many congregations where one or both doesn’t follow the way of Christ.

I was also struck by the fifth to last sentence, “we make our holiness complete in the fear of God.” We make our holiness complete in the fear of God. Is God somethign we shoudl fear? Is the chance we would be sent away from God the reason to make God happy? Are we supposed to only love others because we are afraid of what God will do to us?

God is inhabitating with us and that allows us to be in the world and not of it. Share God’s love as you go and help all see that they are loved.

Loving People. Loving God.

Faith

The promise to Abraham and to his descendants, that he would inherit the world, didn’t come through the Law but through the righteousness that comes from faith. If they inherit because of the Law, then faith has no effect and the promise has been canceled. The Law brings about wrath. But when there isn’t any law, there isn’t any violation of the law. That’s why the inheritance comes through faith, so that it will be on the basis of God’s grace. In that way, the promise is secure for all of Abraham’s descendants, not just for those who are related by Law but also for those who are related by the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us. As it is written: I have appointed you to be the father of many nations. So Abraham is our father in the eyes of God in whom he had faith, the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that don’t exist into existence. When it was beyond hope, he had faith in the hope that he would become the father of many nations, in keeping with the promise God spoke to him: That’s how many descendants you will have. Without losing faith, Abraham, who was nearly 100 years old, took into account his own body, which was as good as dead, and Sarah’s womb, which was dead. He didn’t hesitate with a lack of faith in God’s promise, but he grew strong in faith and gave glory to God. He was fully convinced that God was able to do what he promised. Therefore, it was credited to him as righteousness. But the scripture that says it was credited to him wasn’t written only for Abraham’s sake. It was written also for our sake, because it is going to be credited to us too. It will be credited to those of us who have faith in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was handed over because of our mistakes, and he was raised to meet the requirements of righteousness for us. (Romans 4:13-25, CEB)

The promise to Abraham didn’t come through the law.

Abraham was not counted righteous because of his adherence to the rules that some say we have to follow. Abraham was counted righteous because of his faith. His trust. His belief in God.

The law doesn’t make us right, it only helps to show how bad we actually are. And if we understand the commandments Jesus gave us, following the rules should be easy. Love God, Love neighbor. But even that we get wrong.

Thankfully we are made right because God chose to. We can trust that promise and know we are in the kindom.

Loving People. Loving God.

mercy

As Jesus departed, two blind men followed him, crying out, “Show us mercy, Son of David.” When he came into the house, the blind men approached him. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “It will happen for you just as you have believed.” Their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly warned them, “Make sure nobody knows about this.” But they went out and spread the word about him throughout that whole region. As they were leaving, people brought to him a man who was demon-possessed and unable to speak. When Jesus had thrown out the demon, the man who couldn’t speak began to talk. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “He throws out demons with the authority of the ruler of demons.” (Matthew 9:27-34, CEB)

The two blind men approached Jesus and Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can do this?”

Do you believe Jesus can heal you?

Do you believe God will have mercy on you?

We tell everyone else that God will heal them and prayers can help, and God gives grace and mercy. Do we believe that?

And more importantly, do you believe God will do these things for you?

You deserve mercy.

You deserve grace.

You deserve healing.

Do you believe Jesus can do this, for you?

Loving People. Loving God.

Kindness

After reaching land safely, we learned that the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us extraordinary kindness. Because it was rainy and cold, they built a fire and welcomed all of us. Paul gathered a bunch of dry sticks and put them on the fire. As he did, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, latched on to his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer! He was rescued from the sea, but the goddess Justice hasn’t let him live!” Paul shook the snake into the fire and suffered no harm. They expected him to swell up with fever or suddenly drop dead. After waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to claim that he was a god. Publius, the island’s most prominent person, owned a large estate in that area. He welcomed us warmly into his home as his guests for three days. Publius’ father was bedridden, sick with a fever and dysentery. Paul went to see him and prayed. He placed his hand on him and healed him. Once this happened, the rest of the sick on the island came to him and were healed. They honored us in many ways. When we were getting ready to sail again, they supplied us with what we needed. (Acts 28:1-10, CEB)

When the ship made it to land, those who lived there showed great kindness to Paul and his companions.

Paul and all those on the ship survived the waters, but then Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake, but he was not harmed so the islanders thought he was a God. And when he had healed many people they helped them when they were ready to leave.

It is interesting to me they didn’t try to make him stay, or that there is anything written about how Paul reacted to this treatment. We assume Paul would have told them it is not I but God that does this miraculous work.

How would have you handled the treatment if you were Paul, or in Paul’s place?

Would we seek the limelight? Or would we give that to God?

Loving People. Loving God.

Human

These false teachers are springs without water, mists driven by the wind. The underworld has been reserved for them. With empty, self-important speech, they use sinful cravings and unrestrained immorality to ensnare people who have only just escaped life with those who have wandered from the truth. These false teachers promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of immorality; whatever overpowers you, enslaves you. If people escape the moral filth of this world through the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, then get tangled up in it again and are overcome by it, they are worse off than they were before. It would be better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having come to know it, to turn back from the holy commandment entrusted to them. They demonstrate the truth of the proverb: “A dog returns to its own vomit, and a washed sow wallows in the mud.” (2 Peter 2:17-22, CEB)

It is human nature to want to be your own boss.

To wallow in the mud you know.

We easily go back to our own ways of self-preservation.

Moral Filth of this world is not seeing our fellow humanity in places they should not be and leaving them there. We need to love as God did and help all rise to the place they belong, child of God.

Do not not love. Love as God loves you.

Loving People. Loving God.

Companion

“I have spoken these things to you while I am with you. The Companion, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I told you. (John 14:25-26, CEB)

God never leaves us alone. Jesus was here to teach people how to live and love and when Jesus went to be with the rest of God, God sent the Spirit to be with us.

We always have a companion and are never alone.

Know you are never alone.

Loving People. Loving God.

one Spirit

There are different spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; and there are different ministries and the same Lord; and there are different activities but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good. A word of wisdom is given by the Spirit to one person, a word of knowledge to another according to the same Spirit, faith to still another by the same Spirit, gifts of healing to another in the one Spirit, performance of miracles to another, prophecy to another, the ability to tell spirits apart to another, different kinds of tongues to another, and the interpretation of the tongues to another. All these things are produced by the one and same Spirit who gives what he wants to each person. Christ is just like the human body—a body is a unit and has many parts; and all the parts of the body are one body, even though there are many. We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jew or Greek, or slave or free, and we all were given one Spirit to drink. (1 Corinthians 12:4-13, CEB)

No matter who you are or where you come from, you were brought into the kindom of God through the Spirit.

The Spirit gives us each the gifts we have for ministry and enables us to be part of the kindom of God we are. It is this Spirit that unites us across the barriers we create as humans to separate us.

Y’all means all!

Loving People. Loving God.

ignorant

Brothers and sisters, I don’t want you to be ignorant about spiritual gifts. You know that when you were Gentiles you were often misled by false gods that can’t even speak. So I want to make it clear to you that no one says, “Jesus is cursed!” when speaking by God’s Spirit, and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:1-3, CEB)

Paul doesn’t want the Corinthians to lack knowledge or understanding about spiritual gifts.

There is so much information out there and we wonder what is true.

The thing about this text that really gets me is the second half of the last sentence, “no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.” If someone claims Jesus is Lord, then the Holy Spirit is in them.

So even if they say Jesus is Lord and then say that LGBTQIA+ people are not a part of God’s kingdom (which they are, all people are included) they are filled with the Spirit. I wonder how that works really. Seems they are ignorant to what God has told us, and yet I don’t understand so in the dictionary meaning of ignorant, I am ignorant.

Who or what is right and true?

All I can really say is, just love, and follow God.

Loving People. Loving God.