divided

Jesus was throwing out a demon that causes muteness. When the demon was gone, the man who couldn’t speak began to talk. The crowds were amazed. But some of them said, “He throws out demons with the authority of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons.” Others were testing him, seeking a sign from heaven. Because Jesus knew what they were thinking, he said to them, “Every kingdom involved in civil war becomes a wasteland, and a house torn apart by divisions will collapse. If Satan is at war with himself, how will his kingdom endure? I ask this because you say that I throw out demons by the authority of Beelzebul. If I throw out demons by the authority of Beelzebul, then by whose authority do your followers throw them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. But if I throw out demons by the power of God, then God’s kingdom has already overtaken you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his possessions are secure. But as soon as a stronger one attacks and overpowers him, the stronger one takes away the armor he had trusted and divides the stolen goods. “Whoever isn’t with me is against me, and whoever doesn’t gather with me, scatters. (Luke 11:14-23, CEB)

A kingdom divided can not stand. Satan can not cast out Satan’s demons. This would be the downfall of Satan.

So has the kingdom come?

Are we under the power of God, and how was Jesus casting out demons?

God is all-powerful and able to do whatever God wants. So know God’s power has overtaken you.

Know you are loved, and held by the creator of all.

Loving People. Loving God.

Needs

Now, about what you wrote: “It’s good for a man not to have sex with a woman.” Each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband because of sexual immorality. The husband should meet his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should do the same for her husband. The wife doesn’t have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Don’t refuse to meet each other’s needs unless you both agree for a short period of time to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come back together again so that Satan might not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I’m saying this to give you permission; it’s not a command. I wish all people were like me, but each has a particular gift from God: one has this gift, and another has that one. (1 Corinthians 7:1-7, CEB)

Interesting the word here translated as sexual immorality often has the implications of prostitution. To engage in sex with someone who is not a partner or love.

We all have needs and those needs should be met, but we do not own others and partners are not responsible for fulfilling desires.

Paul was able to not have sex, and did not have those desires, or had found a way to control them. Perhaps Paul was asexual. And while not everyone was like him he wanted people to be about loving God and others rather than pursuing desires.

Know desires are not sinful, but others do not need to fulfill your desires.

Love like Jesus and show that love to all.

Loving People. Loving God.

Free gift

When Simon perceived that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money. He said, “Give me this authority too so that anyone on whom I lay my hands will receive the Holy Spirit.” Peter responded, “May your money be condemned to hell along with you because you believed you could buy God’s gift with money! You can have no part or share in God’s word because your heart isn’t right with God. Therefore, change your heart and life! Turn from your wickedness! Plead with the Lord in the hope that your wicked intent can be forgiven, for I see that your bitterness has poisoned you and evil has you in chains.” Simon replied, “All of you, please, plead to the Lord for me so that nothing of what you have said will happen to me!” (Acts 8:18-24, CEB)

What God gives to each of us is a free gift that we can not buy or earn. We can make requests but it is ultimately the gift giver that decides what gifts are given.

We can not earn an inheritance nor can we earn grace.

I do feel Peter’s response is a little much and I hope he prayed for Simon’s forgiveness, as Simon requested.

God decides who is in and out and who gets what or doesn’t get that.

We have no say.

Know you are loved because God wants to and gives you gifts and grace to share with others.

Loving People. Loving God.

light

“People don’t light a lamp and then put it in a closet or under a basket. Rather, they place the lamp on a lampstand so that those who enter the house can see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is full of darkness. Therefore, see to it that the light in you isn’t darkness. If your whole body is full of light—with no part darkened—then it will be as full of light as when a lamp shines brightly on you.” (Luke 11:33-36, CEB)

Allow your life to shine the light of God in all the places you go.

The light should shine from you as you have been filled with Christ to disperse the darkness and show love to the world.

Be light.

Share love.

Loving People. Loving God.

sin

I write these things to you who believe in the name of God’s Son so that you can know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence that we have in our relationship with God: If we ask for anything in agreement with his will, he listens to us. If we know that he listens to whatever we ask, we know that we have received what we asked from him. If anyone sees a brother or sister committing a sin that does not result in death, they should pray, and God will give life to them—that is, to those who commit sins that don’t result in death. There is a sin that results in death—I’m not saying that you should pray about that. Every unrighteous action is sin, but there is a sin that does not result in death. We know that everyone born from God does not sin, but the ones born from God guard themselves, and the evil one cannot touch them. We know we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. We know that God’s Son has come and has given us understanding to know the one who is true. We are in the one who is true by being in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, guard yourselves from idols! (1 John 5:13-21, CEB)

Can I be honest? I have an issue with sin. Sin as something defined by the Bible, sin as something corporate that we humans do. Sin as something only those not a part of God do.

The reading above says, “We know that everyone born from God does not sin,” and again if I’m being honest, I am in God and born of God and I sin. I think about my self and what I will get from something rather than loving my neighbor and loving God.

I mean what is sin? Is it a laundry list of all the things we shouldn’t do and a list of rules to keep us holy? Because some of the things that I struggle with have no bearing on anyone else. So what is sin for me may not be sin for you, or someone else.

And what is the sin that results in death, and why should we still not ask God to forgive that? The only thing Jesus ever said around this topic was blasphemy of the Holy Spirit was the only unforgivable sin (Mark 3:28-30, Matthew 12:31-32). These renditions say the person will not be forgiven but how do we really know what God will choose? And what is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit anyway? If it is as Matthew says and is speaking against the Holy Spirit, is that saying someone who is a child of God is not, because more of us are probably guilty of that than we really want to admit.

Sin to me is personal, it is what separates me from God.

I strive to live love and show all that God loves them. I do not have to understand them, or endorse them or their life, but I do have to love.

And when we do not love, we are not following God.

So love. and worry about yourself, and let others work out their salvation with awe.

Loving People. Loving God.

Armor

Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and his powerful strength. Put on God’s armor so that you can make a stand against the tricks of the devil. We aren’t fighting against human enemies but against rulers, authorities, forces of cosmic darkness, and spiritual powers of evil in the heavens. Therefore, pick up the full armor of God so that you can stand your ground on the evil day and after you have done everything possible to still stand. So stand with the belt of truth around your waist, justice as your breastplate, and put shoes on your feet so that you are ready to spread the good news of peace. Above all, carry the shield of faith so that you can extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word. (Ephesians 6:10-17, CEB)

The armor of God to me is less about being protected myself and more about being an advocate for those who seem to have lost their voice or their place.

All of the things above seem to protect ourselves, but if we are truly following and doing what God has called us to, we have the Spirit with us and we will always be with God. So standing for the last, lost, least, little is what we are called to do and if that brings harm, them we are always with God.

The armor is us, protecting those you society no longer sees or wants to see, and holding them up as part of the body.

We are all the image of God and we need to be there for those who have no voice.

Loving People. Loving God.

Child?

The people were filled with expectation, and everyone wondered whether John might be the Christ. John replied to them all, “I baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than me is coming. I’m not worthy to loosen the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. The shovel he uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can’t be put out.” With many other words John appealed to them, proclaiming good news to the people. But Herod the ruler had been criticized harshly by John because of Herodias, Herod’s brother’s wife, and because of all the evil he had done. He added this to the list of his evil deeds: he locked John up in prison. When everyone was being baptized, Jesus also was baptized. While he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit came down on him in bodily form like a dove. And there was a voice from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.” (Luke 3:15-22, CEB)

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

A baptism of fire? Maybe an understanding that when the Spirit comes upon you you will be changed and propelled into the world to change the world? In doing this you will be put at odds with the world and there will be pushback and tension and it will feel as if you are with Rack, Shack, and Benny in the hot firey furnace.

If this is true, I think many have not been baptized with fire.

Are we complacent to let others not be fully human and not be seen as part of the body of Christ?

Would God look at us and say “You are my child, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness?”

Do our actions spread love, or are we like Herod who wants to maintain the status quo for power and ease?

Choose love, and know you will never walk alone in the fire.

Loving People. Loving God.

known

Who knows a person’s depths except their own spirit that lives in them? In the same way, no one has known the depths of God except God’s Spirit. We haven’t received the world’s spirit but God’s Spirit so that we can know the things given to us by God. These are the things we are talking about—not with words taught by human wisdom but with words taught by the Spirit—we are interpreting spiritual things to spiritual people. But people who are unspiritual don’t accept the things from God’s Spirit. They are foolishness to them and can’t be understood, because they can only be comprehended in a spiritual way. Spiritual people comprehend everything, but they themselves aren’t understood by anyone. Who has known the mind of the Lord, who will advise him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:11-16, CEB)

God is the only one who knows you beyond you. The Spirit lives in you, dwells within you, and knows you. Not only knows you completely but loves you deeply.

We can not know the mind of God, but God knows us and loves us as we were created.

Know you are complete and loved as you are.

Loving People. Loving God.

preach

When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I didn’t come preaching God’s secrets to you like I was an expert in speech or wisdom. I had made up my mind not to think about anything while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and to preach him as crucified. I stood in front of you with weakness, fear, and a lot of shaking. My message and my preaching weren’t presented with convincing wise words but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power. I did this so that your faith might not depend on the wisdom of people but on the power of God. What we say is wisdom to people who are mature. It isn’t a wisdom that comes from the present day or from today’s leaders who are being reduced to nothing. We talk about God’s wisdom, which has been hidden as a secret. God determined this wisdom in advance, before time began, for our glory. It is a wisdom that none of the present-day rulers have understood, because if they did understand it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory! But this is precisely what is written: God has prepared things for those who love him that no eye has seen, or ear has heard, or that haven’t crossed the mind of any human being. God has revealed these things to us through the Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, including the depths of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-10, CEB)

I completely get where Paul is coming from in this passage. I tremble every time I get up to preach, and proclaim and good news of Jesus Christ and the love of God for all. I worry that I won’t say the right thing or I’ll lead someone somewhere they shouldn’t be. My words are not eloquent or wise and sometimes I wonder if I am the one who should be doing this.

But the Spirit is in me and the love that overflows is filling my life so I can not be quiet. Even when others do not want to hear, I must speak the love of God for me and for all humanity.

It may not seem wise or fit in with the world’s thoughts but it is what God needs done. And therefore we must all speak.

Boldly share God’s love in all you do, knowing the Spirit is with you.

Loving People. Loving God.

Wisdom

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved. It is written in scripture: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the intelligence of the intelligent. Where are the wise? Where are the legal experts? Where are today’s debaters? Hasn’t God made the wisdom of the world foolish? In God’s wisdom, he determined that the world wouldn’t come to know him through its wisdom. Instead, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching. Jews ask for signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, which is a scandal to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. But to those who are called—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom. This is because the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Look at your situation when you were called, brothers and sisters! By ordinary human standards not many were wise, not many were powerful, not many were from the upper class. But God chose what the world considers foolish to shame the wise. God chose what the world considers weak to shame the strong. And God chose what the world considers low-class and low-life—what is considered to be nothing—to reduce what is considered to be something to nothing. So no human being can brag in God’s presence. It is because of God that you are in Christ Jesus. He became wisdom from God for us. This means that he made us righteous and holy, and he delivered us. This is consistent with what was written: The one who brags should brag in the Lord! (1 Corinthians 1:18-31, CEB)

I think about a tomato when I read the beginning of this passage. A tomato is a vegetable, or at least I was taught that, but in reality, it is a fruit. So knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad, and philosophy is wondering if ketchup is a smoothie.

But honestly, does the ways of God make sense? There has to be someone in and someone out right? I mean everyone can’t be a part. That doesn’t make sense.

We think we understand the ways of God and try to set up boundaries to keep those who are in in and those who are out out. But when we actually look at what God is doing and follow it, we see our boundaries are done away with, and when we think God has excluded those we want to exclude, we have merely put ourselves in the place of God and for the one who did this, it did not go well. (For those wondering, that was Satan, and he was cast out of heaven…)

We need to not see God’s ways according to our wisdom because God’s wisdom doesn’t need to be comprehended by us to be right.

Be a fool for God and love unconditionally, as God loved you.

Loving People. Loving God.