who can save us

Who can save usReturn, O Israel, to the LORD your God,
for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
Take words with you
and return to the LORD;
say to him,
“Take away all guilt;
accept that which is good,
and we will offer
the fruit of our lips.
Assyria shall not save us;
we will not ride upon horses;
we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds mercy.”
I will heal their disloyalty;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
I will be like the dew to Israel;
he shall blossom like the lily,
he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon.
His shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be like the olive tree,
and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.
They shall again live beneath my shadow,
they shall flourish as a garden;
they shall blossom like the vine,
their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
(Hosea 14:1-7, NRSV)

Have you ever walked away from God?

Done something that you know the sovereign Lord would not want you to do?

And if so who will save you from the wrath that is to come?

If we but return to the Lord, and say to Him, “Take away all guilt; accept that which is good, and we will offer the fruit of our lips. Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.” If we confess with our lips and put our trust in Him, He will save us!

Nothing other than God will save us.

Return to the Lord and put your trust in Him!

Proud

In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: Mortal, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes: Whom are you like in your greatness?  Consider Assyria, a cedar of Lebanon, with fair branches and forest shade, and of great height, its top among the clouds. The waters nourished it, the deep made it grow tall, making its rivers flow around the place it was planted, sending forth its streams to all the trees of the field. So it towered high above all the trees of the field; its boughs grew large and its branches long, from abundant water in its shoots. All the birds of the air made their nests in its boughs; under its branches all the animals of the field gave birth to their young; and in its shade all great nations lived. It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its roots went down to abundant water. The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it, nor the fir trees equal its boughs; the plane trees were as nothing compared with its branches; no tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty. I made it beautiful with its mass of branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height, I gave it into the hand of the prince of the nations; he has dealt with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. Foreigners from the most terrible of the nations have cut it down and left it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs lie broken in all the watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth went away from its shade and left it. On its fallen trunk settle all the birds of the air, and among its boughs lodge all the wild animals. All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to lofty height or set their tops among the clouds, and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For all of them are handed over to death, to the world below; along with all mortals, with those who go down to the Pit. (Ezekiel 31:1-14, NRSV)

The trees towered into the clouds and was proud in its heart of its height.

It put its trust in itself.

What more did that tree need?

It was tall. Taller than any other tree.

It was the biggest and the best.

And it knew it. and it flaunted it.

So trust not in your own achievements, but rest in the hope we have in God. For if we are proud of ourselves in our hearts, what is to stop God from taking us down like this tree?

So trust in God, not yourself!

casting seed

Mark-4-26-34-2drevbn-269x300He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.” He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. (Mark 4:26-34, NRSV)

The kingdom of God is as if…

With what shall we compare the kingdom of God…

We need to know what the kingdom of God is.

But interestingly Jesus does not say this is the kingdom of God, but He gives analogies.

The smallest of seeds growing into a mighty bush!

Or seeds planted and then the earht giving forth the plants!

It is a mystery. Even if we could undertand it we don’t. The seeds are planted and the plants come.

God is the one who does it.

God brings the kingdom.

But He needs us to scatter seeds.

You scatter the story of His love, mercy and grace. He waters and brings the growth.

God’s kingdom will come and be brought on by Him in His time. You get the honor of casting seed!

how far?

Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits—
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the Pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good as long as you live
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The LORD works vindication
and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion for his children,
so the LORD has compassion for those who fear him.
(Psalm 103:1-13, NRSV)

God has removed our sin from us.

He has forgiven us, and will continue to forgive us.

There is nothing we can do that can not be forgiven.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us!

As far as the east is from the west! I love this, because we just don’t really see how far that is. Mark Hall of Casting Crowns explains it in the teaching video for the song East to West.

You see if you look at the directions on the compass and then you start going north, at some point you will reach the north pole and then you will be going south. You can go south until you reach the south pole and then you will start going north again. There is only so far you can go north or south until you go the other direction. But if you go east, you will never start going west. Or if you go west you will never start going east. Unless you turn around and go the other direction!

God has removed your sins from you as far as the east is fromt he west! And He lost them in the sea of forgetfulness!

God’s forgivenenss is nothing we can comprehend. He loves you more then we can know.

As far as the east is from the west!

born of God

Love-One-AnotherBeloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:7-12, NRSV)

If you love one another then you are born of God…

So who is the one another we are to love?

Just those in our congregation?

Just those in our denomination?

Just those in our wider understanding of the body of Christ?

Everyone that God has made (which would be everyone…)?

Whoever does not love does not know God.

So I would say we need to love everyone. But then how do we love them? With agape, or unconditional love? Or with tought love?

Do we judge them for what they do, but still love the person?

Jesus loved people where they were, forgiving their short comings, helping them up when others had knocked them down and sending them off to be new people.

How can we love others, the way Jesus loved us?

How can we show we are born of God?

 

Hospitality

This post is part of the June synchroblog that invited bloggers to write about “Hospitality”.

And I wondered what is hospitality?

Merriam Webster Online defines Hospitality as:

:  hospitable treatment, reception, or disposition

So hospitality has to do with being hospitable. But what does that mean?

Again Merriam Webster Online defines Hospitable as:

1 a :  given to generous and cordial reception of guests
b :  promising or suggesting generous and cordial welcome
     :  offering a pleasant or sustaining environment
2   :  readily receptive :  open to new ideas

So now I wonder if we as a church are hospitable?

Do we give a generous reception of our guests, or do we look out just for ourselves?

Do we welcome the stranger and the foreigner into our midst and accept them where they are.

Do we offer a pleasant and sustaining environment for those who are not a part of the inner circle or are different from us? Who may or may not agree with what we believe?

Are we receptive and open to new ideas? Not that we have to accept them and change to them, but are we open to seeing things from a different point of view than our own?

Jesus told us to be welcoming of the stranger and the foreigner. We are to look out for the down trodden and the orphans and the widows. We are to look to the needs of those who have no voice, or whose voice is ignored.

Are we doing this as a church, or are we simply being a club that looks out for the needs of its members and makes sure that the people who “join” are just like us and will not change us?

I think if we are truly going to say we are the body of Christ we have to be open and welcoming of the stranger, the orphan, the widow, the foreigner, the one who is not like us and maybe never will be. We have to be open to the ideas of others, not so that we are changed, but like Christ changed us, we can be in a relationship with the other, so that they might see Christ through us.

You see Christ ate with the stranger. Christ mingled with the whores. Christ fellowshiped with the tax collectors, and looked out for the ones the religious authorities were going to stone. He accepted them where they were and lived with them in a relationship. Not accepting their ways of lives, but also not shunning them for where they were. He found them and accepted them. And just like you and me raised them and us to a different place through His relationship and acceptance.

Christ was hospitable to us, giving us  a generous welcome when others would not let us in.

Christ was hospitably to us, giving us a pleasant and sustaining environment in which to grow in His love, rather than rules and conditions that have to be met.

If we are to be the body of Christ we need to welcome the stranger and the foreigner, not to grow the body of Christ, but to be like Christ in the world and to allow Him to shine through us!

So let us be open to the other, so that Christ may give them what He has already given us!

 

 

Other posts from June Syncroblog on Hospitality:

Carol Kuniholme – Violent Unwelcome. Holy Embrace.

Glen Hager – Aunt Berthie

Leah Sophia – welcoming one another

Mary – The Space of Hospitality

Jeremy Myers – Why I Let a “Murderer” Live in My House

Loveday Anyim – Is Christian Hospitality a Dead Way of Life?

Tony Ijeh – Is Hospitality Still a Vital Part of Christianity Today?

Clara Ogwuazor Mbamalu – Have we replaced Hospitality with Hostility?

nothing with out _______

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:1-7, NRSV)

Do you see you can do many things…

Speak in tongues of mortals and angels.

Have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge.

Have all faith to move mountains.

I can give away everything and hand over my body, but if I do it to boast then I’ve missed the mark.

You see anything is possible, but if not done for the right reason, it is just noise, or nothing, and a waste of time.

But if we love. and Love leads us to do these things, then we have all things through Him who gave us His love so that we can love.

You see we are nothing without love.

hard to see

My child, keep your father’s commandment,
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
Bind them upon your heart always;
tie them around your neck.
When you walk, they will lead you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
and when you awake, they will talk with you.
For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
(Proverbs 6:20-23, NRSV)

As I typed the title for this blog I heard Yoda speaking it.

Hard to see the future is.

Hind sight is 20/20. Which means if I knew then what I know now I would not have done that.

Children do not always see what their parents are doing. I know there were times in m youth when I wondered if my parents really knew what they were doing. I know my kids think that. And the answer is, no they really didn’t know, but they were doing the best they could. Just like me. I did not get an owners manual, (not like I would have read it any way) and there were no new parent classes. God blessed us, and here we are.

So we try to raise our children with the right skills and in the right way so they will grow to be wonderful functioning adults. And sometimes our children just don’t understand.

But always in motion is the future, and if we knew what was going to happen to you we would tell you how to handle it, which still wouldn’t be the right thing, because it is going to happen to you, the kid, and not us, so how we as your parent would react is not how you should react. But listen to your parents teaching and learn from them, because they have been there. And yes they messed it up, even if they won’t tell you, and sometimes they did ok, even when they say it was great.

For their teaching and wisdom is a lamp and a light to help you follow God, and really that is all we really want, for our children to have faith in God and to follow Him.

convicted…

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—this is the first commandment with a promise: “so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:1-4, NRSV)

Ok when I read this one it hurt a little bit.

For those of you who don’t know, I am a father of 3 beautiful, smart girls.

They are the apples of my eye and I love each of them as much as they need to be loved for their own abilities and talents. No matter what happens or how old they get, all of them will be daddy’s little girl!

But I have a tendency to provoke them. And yes they get angry. And as each of them shows their beauty and wisdom in their own unique way, they always do that with their anger.

And had this pericope stopped at verse 3 I would have been fine, but verse 4 came along for the ride and now fathers are not supposed to provoke their children to anger.

Well all I can say is, I try. I am sorry. I am human and not a perfect father.

My only hope is that I have raised my daughters to know the Lord and to follow Him. I hope that they know that even when I make them mad, or they make me mad, I still love them and no matter what just like God loves me, I love them.

So children obey your parents and fathers do not provoke, but be a guide to your children, the world is hard enough without us causing our children more problems.

And girls (my girls) if you are reading this, daddy loves you and is so proud of the woman you are and are becoming. And always remember that no matter what happens you will always be, my little girl!

love

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, because we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church. Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:25-33, NRSV)

Husbands are to love their wives as Jesus loves the church!

If we love our wives we love ourselves, and by doing this we love her and the world as Jesus first loved us!

Love your wife as you do your own body.

Without blemish your love should be for her. Pray for the strength to be for your wife, what God is for you.

And allow the one flesh to be like the Trinity, 3 in one, you, your wife and Christ! a cord of 3 is never broken!