sinner

14 The Pharisees, who were money-lovers, heard all this and sneered at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before other people, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued by people is deeply offensive to God. 16 Until John, there was only the Law and the Prophets. Since then, the good news of God’s kingdom is preached, and everyone is urged to enter it. 17 It’s easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for the smallest stroke of a pen in the Law to drop out. 18 Any man who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and a man who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. (Luke 16:14-18, CEB)

Here is the good news for those who are divorced and remarried, when someone says what are the sins you are guilty of, you can honestly say adultery. Name it and claim it as your sin.

Now that may sound wrong. Pastor, why would you say that is good news? Well we all try to hide our sin and not let others know what it is. We are afraid people will judge us based on the sins we commit.

He is a murderer, and she is an adulterer. Well we all do it and those who are divorced and remarried can own it.

And see that is really the truth. We do not need to hide our sin, because God already knows it and forgives us. So why do we care what others think about how we sin? It means nothing what someone other than God thinks about your sin.

Sin is something that separates us from God and that relationship is not controlled by anyone but you and God. So don’t judge others, and don’t be worried about what others think of you.

Love People. Love God.

based on

So now there isn’t any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 God has done what was impossible for the Law, since it was weak because of selfishness. God condemned sin in the body by sending his own Son to deal with sin in the same body as humans, who are controlled by sin. 4 He did this so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us. Now the way we live is based on the Spirit, not based on selfishness. 5 People whose lives are based on selfishness think about selfish things, but people whose lives are based on the Spirit think about things that are related to the Spirit. 6 The attitude that comes from selfishness leads to death, but the attitude that comes from the Spirit leads to life and peace. 7 So the attitude that comes from selfishness is hostile to God. It doesn’t submit to God’s Law, because it can’t. 8 People who are self-centered aren’t able to please God. 9 But you aren’t self-centered. Instead you are in the Spirit, if in fact God’s Spirit lives in you. If anyone doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, they don’t belong to him. 10 If Christ is in you, the Spirit is your life because of God’s righteousness, but the body is dead because of sin. 11 If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your human bodies also, through his Spirit that lives in you. (Romans 8:1-11, CEB)

What is the focus of your life?

Why do you do the things you do?

Is your life based on the Spirit, or on yourself?

Those who live a life of the Spirit are focused on others before themselves. They look to the needs of the other rather than what they need. They are not self centered, but are focused on the people around them and what the situations call for to bring light and love to the world.

So focus on others, and know that God is always with you to fill you.

Love People. Love God.

One in Christ

23 Before faith came, we were guarded under the Law, locked up until faith that was coming would be revealed, 24 so that the Law became our custodian until Christ so that we might be made righteous by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian. 26 You are all God’s children through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 Now if you belong to Christ, then indeed you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:23-29, CEB)

There is neither Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female…

Did you catch that?

Jew or Greek. In Jesus day and in the understanding of the Jewish nation there were Jews and those who were not Jewish, or what they termed Greek, or what gets translated as Greek and is really the nations.

slave or free. You were either a free person or a slave of someone. And slaves in this time are not like now but were fulfilling a repayment to someone.

male AND female. Why is this one and and not or? That is interesting. Maybe it is because the first two are creations of human kind and this one is not. Maybe God created this category and it is not under our control.

We are all one in Christ regardless of who we are or where we come from. We are all one in Christ regardless if we see this is true. God created all of us and we are all equally loved by God.

So don’t judge someone because they are different than you. Love them like God does, and remember we are all one in Christ.

Love People. Love God.

Integrity

6 “As for whoever causes these little ones who believe in me to trip and fall into sin, it would be better for them to have a huge stone hung around their necks and be drowned in the bottom of the lake. 7 How terrible it is for the world because of the things that cause people to trip and fall into sin! Such things have to happen, but how terrible it is for the person who causes those things to happen! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to fall into sin, chop it off and throw it away. It’s better to enter into life crippled or lame than to be thrown into the eternal fire with two hands or two feet. 9 If your eye causes you to fall into sin, tear it out and throw it away. It’s better to enter into life with one eye than to be cast into a burning hell with two eyes. (Matthew 18:6-9, CEB)

This passage can be summed up in the title of this devotion, integrity.

Live your life in such a way that it points to the love that God has given you. Show forth the grace and mercy you have received and live your life like you should. Say what you mean and mean what you say and allow your life to show that you live the love you received.

Do not lead others astray, just love.

Love People. Love God.

Eternal Life

18 Little children, it is the last hour. Just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not really part of us. If they had been part of us, they would have stayed with us. But by going out from us, they showed they all are not part of us. 20 But you have an anointing from the holy one, and all of you know the truth. 21 I don’t write to you because you don’t know the truth but because you know it. You know that no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? Isn’t it the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This person is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father, but the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, what you heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you will also remain in relationship to the Son and in the Father. 25 This is the promise that he himself gave us: eternal life. (1 John 2:18-25, CEB)

The promise we have from God is eternal life. Not a life that is to come but a life we live here and now, eternally.

We know the truth and we know God is good to the promises that have been made. Do not lose sight of this, even in the midst of those who would lead us astray from God.

Hold tight to the truth and know that God is always for us.

Love People. Love God.

goal of your faith

3 May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! On account of his vast mercy, he has given us new birth. You have been born anew into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 4 You have a pure and enduring inheritance that cannot perish—an inheritance that is presently kept safe in heaven for you. 5 Through his faithfulness, you are guarded by God’s power so that you can receive the salvation he is ready to reveal in the last time. 6 You now rejoice in this hope, even if it’s necessary for you to be distressed for a short time by various trials. 7 This is necessary so that your faith may be found genuine. (Your faith is more valuable than gold, which will be destroyed even though it is itself tested by fire.) Your genuine faith will result in praise, glory, and honor for you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Although you’ve never seen him, you love him. Even though you don’t see him now, you trust him and so rejoice with a glorious joy that is too much for words. 9 You are receiving the goal of your faith: your salvation. (1 Peter 1:3-9, CEB)

your inheritance is kept safe in heaven…

And the goal of your faith is your salvation.

Well Peter seems to make it sound like our faith is responsible for our salvation. Yet that isn’t really how I read this. You see, the author here says, “Through his faithfulness, you are guarded by God’s power so that you can receive the salvation he is ready to reveal in the last time.”

You see it really isn’t our faith, but the faithfulness of Christ to follow the plan that is what gives us salvation. God did it from the beginning and there is nothing we can do to get it. God gives us to us because Christ is faithful.

Grace. A gift. You can’t earn it.

Live into it and know that God loves you.

Love People. Love God.

chop it off?

38 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone throwing demons out in your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.” 39 Jesus replied, “Don’t stop him. No one who does powerful acts in my name can quickly turn around and curse me. 40 Whoever isn’t against us is for us. 41 I assure you that whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will certainly be rewarded. 42 “As for whoever causes these little ones who believe in me to trip and fall into sin, it would be better for them to have a huge stone hung around their necks and to be thrown into the lake. 43 If your hand causes you to fall into sin, chop it off. It’s better for you to enter into life crippled than to go away with two hands into the fire of hell, which can’t be put out. 45 If your foot causes you to fall into sin, chop it off. It’s better for you to enter life lame than to be thrown into hell with two feet. 47 If your eye causes you to fall into sin, tear it out. It’s better for you to enter God’s kingdom with one eye than to be thrown into hell with two. 48 That’s a place where worms don’t die and the fire never goes out. 49 Everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good; but if salt loses its saltiness, how will it become salty again? Maintain salt among yourselves and keep peace with each other.” (Mark 9:38-50, CEB)

How many people do you see with one hand, or one foot or one eye because they chopped it off or tore it out?

Does this mean that we aren’t sinning? I doubt it…

We get so caught up on saying that other people are sinning, Jesus is telling us here that we should really focus on our own sin rather than the sins of others.

And we shouldn’t stop someone from helping others because they worship a little different than us or they aren’t doing the healing the way we think they should.

We are all in this together. And just because I sin different than you do doesn’t mean you don’t sin. And it also doesn’t mean that we aren’t following the same God.

Let us light up the darkness by getting along and not trying to tear each other apart.

Love People. Love God.

Salty light

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how will it become salty again? It’s good for nothing except to be thrown away and trampled under people’s feet. 14 You are the light of the world. A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on top of a lampstand, and it shines on all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven. 17 “Don’t even begin to think that I have come to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I haven’t come to do away with them but to fulfill them. 18 I say to you very seriously that as long as heaven and earth exist, neither the smallest letter nor even the smallest stroke of a pen will be erased from the Law until everything there becomes a reality. 19 Therefore, whoever ignores one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called the lowest in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps these commands and teaches people to keep them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 I say to you that unless your righteousness is greater than the righteousness of the legal experts and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:13-20, CEB)

You really can’t dim your light. Doing this is not being true to yourself and to the grace and mercy you have been given.

We can’t dim our light to match the darkness around us, we need to let our light shine and light the place up.

We don’t light a lamp and put it under a basket, because that would dim the light and probably catch the basket on fire. So not really helpful.

We need to share as we have been given. Grace and mercy sprinkled through out our lives so that all may come to see and know the love that God has for them.

So go into the darkness and shine your light and season the place up.

Love People. Love God.

glory

20 Herod had been furious with the people of Tyre and Sidon for some time. They made a pact to approach him together, since their region depended on the king’s realm for its food supply. They persuaded Blastus, the king’s personal attendant, to join their cause, then appealed for an end to hostilities. 21 On the scheduled day Herod dressed himself in royal attire, seated himself on the throne, and gave a speech to the people. 22 Those assembled kept shouting, over and over, “This is a god’s voice, not the voice of a mere human!” 23 Immediately an angel from the Lord struck Herod down, because he didn’t give the honor to God. He was eaten by worms and died. 24 God’s word continued to grow and increase. 25 Barnabas and Saul returned to Antioch from Jerusalem after completing their mission, bringing with them John, who was also known as Mark. (Acts 12:20-25, CEB)

Who gets the glory for the things that happen in your life?

The Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach wrote the initials “S. D. G.” at the end of all his church compositions and also applied it to some, but not all, his secular works. Soli Deo gloria is a Latin term for Glory to God alone. Bach said that the glory for his compositions was to be given to God alone, and not him. The things we do in our lives are because of the grace we have been given by God.

And so we need to let everyone know that the reason we live and love is because of God.

Love People. Love God.

We can’t stop

13 The council was caught by surprise by the confidence with which Peter and John spoke. After all, they understood that these apostles were uneducated and inexperienced. They also recognized that they had been followers of Jesus. 14 However, since the healed man was standing with Peter and John before their own eyes, they had no rebuttal. 15 After ordering them to wait outside, the council members began to confer with each other. 16 “What should we do with these men? Everyone living in Jerusalem is aware of the sign performed through them. It’s obvious to everyone and we can’t deny it. 17 To keep it from spreading further among the people, we need to warn them not to speak to anyone in this name.” 18 When they called Peter and John back, they demanded that they stop all speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus. 19 Peter and John responded, “It’s up to you to determine whether it’s right before God to obey you rather than God. 20 As for us, we can’t stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” 21 They threatened them further, then released them. Because of public support for Peter and John, they couldn’t find a way to punish them. Everyone was praising God for what had happened, 22 because the man who had experienced this sign of healing was over 40 years old. 23 After their release, Peter and John returned to the brothers and sisters and reported everything the chief priests and elders had said. 24 They listened, then lifted their voices in unison to God, “Master, you are the one who created the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. 25 You are the one who spoke by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant: Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers gathered together as one against the Lord and against his Christ. 27 Indeed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with Gentiles and Israelites, did gather in this city against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and plan had already determined would happen. 29 Now, Lord, take note of their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with complete confidence. 30 Stretch out your hand to bring healing and enable signs and wonders to be performed through the name of Jesus, your holy servant.” 31 After they prayed, the place where they were gathered was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking God’s word with confidence. (Acts 4:13-31, CEB)

People will go to great lengths to stop a person from doing something that goes against their power. The leaders here knew they couldn’t do anything to John and Peter and yet still told them not to talk about God. But Peter and John said, you can not talk about God if you like, but we have to tell people about what we have seen. We can not be quiet because God has moved in us to tell the people of the love and mercy that flows freely to all.

You see, no one can take away from you the love God has given.

No one can take away from you the grace that God has given.

We are filled with the Holy Spirit and moved in God’s love to share the love, grace and mercy we have received and seen poured out on the masses.

Share the love you’ve been given and live in the light if God’s grace.

Love People. Love God.