Who is greatest?

24 An argument broke out among the disciples over which one of them should be regarded as the greatest. 25 But Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles rule over their subjects, and those in authority over them are called ‘friends of the people.’ 26 But that’s not the way it will be with you. Instead, the greatest among you must become like a person of lower status and the leader like a servant. 27 So which one is greater, the one who is seated at the table or the one who serves at the table? Isn’t it the one who is seated at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 28 “You are the ones who have continued with me in my trials. 29 And I confer royal power on you just as my Father granted royal power to me. 30 Thus you will eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones overseeing the twelve tribes of Israel. (Luke 22:24-30, CEB)

Who is greater? The one who is served or the one who serves?

Of course we would all answer that the one who is served is greater, but Jesus turns this on it’s head. The one who serves is not lesser than the one they serve, nor are they greater. We have a way of wanting things to be laid out in order and know who is above another, yet in the kingdom of God there is no one greater than another and we are all equal.

We need to understand what it is to be a servant of others in order to lead people to the place God has for us.

So lower yourself and love as God loves you.

Love People. Love God.

remain

26 I write these things to you about those who are attempting to deceive you. 27 As for you, the anointing that you received from him remains on you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you the truth. But since his anointing teaches you about all things (it’s true and not a lie), remain in relationship to him just as he taught you. 28 And now, little children, remain in relationship to Jesus, so that when he appears we can have confidence and not be ashamed in front of him when he comes. (1 John 2:26-28, CEB)

The anointing you got from Jesus stays with you always. Do not be deceived by others as they will come to deceive you.

Know that Jesus wants to be in relationship with you and wants to remain in that relationship.

Keep the confidence you have with Jesus and walk always with him.

Love People. Love God.

Who is the liar?

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)

This is interesting. Who is the liar? Isn’t it the person who denies Jesus is the Christ? Does Satan deny Jesus is the Christ? Yet we call Satan the Father of Lies.

And there are many who say Jesus is the Christ and yet really don’t love their siblings from God because the say they need to be separated from those obtaining glory because they are sinful. How do we know who is really following after where God is leading us?

I say error on the side of love. This made me think of a new game we got the other day that laid out the rules, but then specifically said that if a card in your deck every says to do something that is different from the these rules, the card trumps the rules and you follow what it says. The Bible is the set of rules, and the card says to love regardless of what the rules say. God loves us even when God shouldn’t and that is according to the rules.

Love People. Love God.

You are seriously mistaken

18 Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Jesus and asked, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a widow but no children, the brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman; when he died, he left no children. 21 The second married her and died without leaving any children. The third did the same. 22 None of the seven left any children. Finally, the woman died. 23 At the resurrection, when they all rise up, whose wife will she be? All seven were married to her.” 24 Jesus said to them, “Isn’t this the reason you are wrong, because you don’t know either the scriptures or God’s power? 25 When people rise from the dead, they won’t marry nor will they be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like God’s angels. 26 As for the resurrection from the dead, haven’t you read in the scroll from Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God said to Moses, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? 27 He isn’t the God of the dead but of the living. You are seriously mistaken.” (Mark 12:18-27, CEB)

You are seriously mistaken.

No one is married in the fulfillment of the kingdom. But that would cause an issue when you see the woman as property and belonging to each of the seven men. They don’t even react when Jesus says we will all be like God’s angels, meaning all of us men, women, children, we will all be the same. I’m surprised they didn’t throw a fit about that.

You see we are all the same in the eyes of God and none of us are better than the next person. God is our God and we will live forever. So let us now love as God does, equally all people.

Love People. Love God.

cravings

12 Little children, I’m writing to you because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus’ name. 13 Parents, I’m writing to you because you have known the one who has existed from the beginning. Young people, I’m writing to you because you have conquered the evil one. 14 Little children, I write to you because you know the Father. Parents, I write to you because you have known the one who has existed from the beginning. Young people, I write to you because you are strong, the word of God remains in you, and you have conquered the evil one. 15 Don’t love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them. 16 Everything that is in the world—the craving for whatever the body feels, the craving for whatever the eyes see and the arrogant pride in one’s possessions—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world and its cravings are passing away, but the person who does the will of God remains forever. (1 John 2:12-17, CEB)

Love God and nothing else.

This passage made me think of the song If You Wanted Me by Todd Agnew. Todd talks about all the things around us that are so right in creation and made for us, that we aren’t supposed to love. Because God’s creation is a temptation.

But if we love God and follow God, God will work in and through us to show love to the world.

We all have things to over come and gifts to use. Let us all love God and allow God to work in and through us so the kingdom will come.

Love People. Love God.

Here are the lyrics for If you Wanted Me and a video for your enjoyment.

I’ll admit I’m glad we’re not disciples
Out on a lake paralyzed with fright
Cause I’m afraid I might have laughed at Peter
Until he stepped into that stormy night
If You wanted me to walk on water
Why’d You make the solid ground seem so right?

And I’ll admit I’m glad I’m not King David
Ruling over everything I see
Cause I think I’ve fallen for more than Bathsheba
Your creation’s a temptation for me
If You wanted me to love You only
Why’d you make the moonlight sparkle in her eyes?

I’ll admit I’m glad I’m not John the Baptist
In a jail cell waiting for my day to die
Cause at least down here I know what we’re chasing
And it’s hard to trust Your dreams are so much better than mine
But if You wanted me to die to myself
Why’d You make me fall so deeply in love with life?

If You wanted me to surrender
Why’d You make these hands able to hold on so tight?
So tight?

And if You wanted me to be like You
Why’d You make me like me?

Claims

3 This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments. 4 The one who claims, “I know him,” while not keeping his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in this person. 5 But the love of God is truly perfected in whoever keeps his word. This is how we know we are in him. 6 The one who claims to remain in him ought to live in the same way as he lived. 7 Dear friends, I’m not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the message you heard. 8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light already shines. 9 The one who claims to be in the light while hating a brother or sister is in the darkness even now. 10 The person loving a brother and sister stays in the light, and there is nothing in the light that causes a person to stumble. 11 But the person who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and lives in the darkness, and doesn’t know where to go because the darkness blinds the eyes. (1 John 2:3-11, CEB)

The one who claims to remain in him ought to live in the same way as he lived. Meaning look at this post from 2 days ago about judging. Jesus didn’t come to judge, so we have to live like him and not judge. And if you judge, then you are not living like him.

If we are saying that someone is sinning different than us, or living in a way that will not allow them to be with God, we are judging and hating our sibling. We need to love freely as God has loved us.

Love wins all. Hate and judgmental living only spurs more hate and fear. God is love and that love needs to be shown.

So love as you were loved.

Love People. Love God.

Doubt?

19 It was still the first day of the week. That evening, while the disciples were behind closed doors because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you don’t forgive them, they aren’t forgiven.” 24 Thomas, the one called Didymus, one of the Twelve, wasn’t with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples told him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger in the wounds left by the nails, and put my hand into his side, I won’t believe.” 26 After eight days his disciples were again in a house and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus entered and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here. Look at my hands. Put your hand into my side. No more disbelief. Believe!” 28 Thomas responded to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus replied, “Do you believe because you see me? Happy are those who don’t see and yet believe.” 30 Then Jesus did many other miraculous signs in his disciples’ presence, signs that aren’t recorded in this scroll. 31 But these things are written so that you will believe that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Son, and that believing, you will have life in his name. (John 20:19-31, CEB)

This translation gets closer to what Jesus was recorded saying to Thomas. In the original text Jesus says, “καὶ μὴ γίνου ἄπιστος ἀλλὰ πιστός” And in Greek you would put an a in front of a word to negate it. Jesus said to Thomas, “and do not be unbelieving but believing.” or “and do not be untrusting but trusting.” or “and do not be unfaithful but faithful.” In the version most of us heard or read growing up it was translated as do not doubt but believe. As is doubting was the opposite of belief! I doubt all the time but still believe. I doubt that the world will be loving, but I believe that God is always loving and working through us we can be loving too.

We have come to understand questions as bad and doubt as unfaithful, when questioning and doubt is what leads us to deeper faith, trust and belief.

So question and wonder. Also notice that Thomas didn’t do what he said he had to to believe, when his questions were answered he believed.

Don’t let anyone tell you it is unfaithful to question or doubt. Keep on believing.

Love People. Love God.

judge

44 Jesus shouted, “Whoever believes in me doesn’t believe in me but in the one who sent me. 45 Whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. 46 I have come as a light into the world so that everyone who believes in me won’t live in darkness. 47 If people hear my words and don’t keep them, I don’t judge them. I didn’t come to judge the world but to save it. 48 Whoever rejects me and doesn’t receive my words will be judged at the last day by the word I have spoken. 49 I don’t speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me regarding what I should speak and say. 50 I know that his commandment is eternal life. Therefore, whatever I say is just as the Father has said to me.” (John 12:44-50, CEB)

How many of us judge other people? I think if we are honest we will all say that we judge other people.

Jesus here says he doesn’t judge people. Jesus didn’t come into the world to judge the world, but to save it.

So if Jesus doesn’t judge, who are we to judge?

We should love everyone, as God loves us. We do not deserve the love God gives us, because we are all sinners and all have fallen short of what God needs us to be to be in a relationship with God, but Jesus came and lifted us up even when we didn’t deserve it. So we should not tell someone else that they are sinful and can’t be with God. We are just like them.

Don’t judge, love.

Love People. Love God.

Filled and speaking

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 4:23-31, CEB)

God gives us all the confidence we need to speak God’s love into existence.

We are filled with the Spirit and guided in truth to speak for all to see God’s love.

How can we be silent?

God will fill you with the Spirit and use your life to show others God’s love.

Love People. Love God.

Who added?

42 The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers. 43 A sense of awe came over everyone. God performed many wonders and signs through the apostles. 44 All the believers were united and shared everything. 45 They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them. 46 Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes. They shared food with gladness and simplicity. 47 They praised God and demonstrated God’s goodness to everyone. The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47, CEB)

The believers, or followers of the Way, devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles’, to the community, to eating together, and prayers. Awe from God filled the gathering.

They were together for meals and held each other up. They prayed and learned together.

They worshipped God and learned about who they were as individuals and together in God.

And because of all of this, these believers added new believers to their ranks every day. No that isn’t what the passage says. It says, “The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved.” God added to their number because they were doing/being who God needed them to be.

Learn from God, be with God and the community around God, pray and eat together. Then be amazed at what God does!

Love People. Love God.