out of control

God didn’t put the world that is coming (the world we are talking about) under the angels’ control. Instead, someone declared somewhere, What is humanity that you think about them? Or what are the human beings that you care about them? For a while you made them lower than angels. You crowned the human beings with glory and honor. You put everything under their control. When he puts everything under their control, he doesn’t leave anything out of control. But right now, we don’t see everything under their control yet. However, we do see the one who was made lower in order than the angels for a little while—it’s Jesus! He’s the one who is now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of his death. He suffered death so that he could taste death for everyone through God’s grace. (Hebrews 2:5-9, CEB)

It seems to me the world is out of control.

We have people trying to legislate other humans out of existence.

We have people running for office who say they are followers of Jesus when they want to keep the sojourners and the strangers from being allowed to enter our country.

We are not loving like God loves us, and yet this passage says when God puts everything under their control, God leaves nothing out of control.

I believe we are still waiting for God to give us control. Maybe until we figure out the love thing.

Love like God. Unconditionally. Do not put limits or constraints on who is in or out, that is not your decision.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Practice…

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. When an unclean spirit leaves a person, it wanders through dry places looking for a place to rest. But it doesn’t find any. Then it says, ‘I’ll go back to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house cleaned up and decorated. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself. They go in and make their home there. That person is worse off at the end than at the beginning.” While Jesus was saying these things, a certain woman in the crowd spoke up: “Happy is the mother who gave birth to you and who nursed you.” But he said, “Happy rather are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” (Luke 11:14-28, CEB)

A house divided can not stand. Satan can not cast out demons, it doesn’t make sense.

You will be happy when you hear what God is calling you to do and do that. Regardless of what other humans tell you. Do what God is leading you to do.

Love like Jesus, unconditionally.

We do not make the rules for who is in or who is out, only God gets to do that and the way I read the scriptures, God says everyone is in and no one is out. And when we try to make rules for who is in and who is out, we divide the house.

Do not divide. Include and love.

Loving People. Loving God.

second death

When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison. He will go out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog. He will gather them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea. They came up across the whole earth and surrounded the saints’ camp, the city that God loves. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them. Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet also were. There painful suffering will be inflicted upon them day and night, forever and always. Then I saw a great white throne and the one who is seated on it. Before his face both earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. Another scroll was opened too; this is the scroll of life. And the dead were judged on the basis of what was written in the scrolls about what they had done. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and the Grave gave up the dead that were in them, and people were judged by what they had done. Then Death and the Grave were thrown into the fiery lake. This, the fiery lake, is the second death. Then anyone whose name wasn’t found written in the scroll of life was thrown into the fiery lake. (Revelation 20:7-15, CEB)

Did you know there is a second death? But if your name is written in the scroll of life you will not go through second death.

Do not fear first death, it is part of the journey. God is waiting for us and is also always with us. Death does not keep us from God.

We should also work to help other know that God is always with them and for them. The things we do in this life should point to a loving God and not keep people from knowing that love.

Are your actions loving and showing that God cares for all? Or are you helping people die over and over again?

Love.

Loving People. Loving God.

first resurrection

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain. He seized the dragon, the old snake, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the abyss, then locked and sealed it over him. This was to keep him from continuing to deceive the nations until the thousand years were over. After this he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and people took their seats on them, and judgment was given in their favor. They were the ones who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and God’s word, and those who hadn’t worshipped the beast or its image, who hadn’t received the mark on their forehead or hand. They came to life and ruled with Christ for one thousand years. The rest of the dead didn’t come to life until the thousand years were over. This is the first resurrection. Favored and holy are those who have a share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will rule with him for one thousand years. (Revelation 20:1-6, CEB)

This is the first resurrection? There are multiple resurrections?

This is a vision of what eternity and heaven will be like. And it is to give hope to those who were under oppression.

Those who didn’t follow the beast or get the mark will be a part of the first resurrection and rule with Christ for 1000 years.

If you are a follower of Jesus and love like God told us to, you will be a part of the first resurrection. We will show that love is king and God loves all, and human rules and divisions do not apply.

Love like Jesus, unconditionally, and know that is what God calls you to do.

Loving People. Loving God.

never be forgiven

Jesus entered a house. A crowd gathered again so that it was impossible for him and his followers even to eat. When his family heard what was happening, they came to take control of him. They were saying, “He’s out of his mind!” The legal experts came down from Jerusalem. Over and over they charged, “He’s possessed by Beelzebul. He throws out demons with the authority of the ruler of demons.” When Jesus called them together he spoke to them in a parable: “How can Satan throw Satan out? A kingdom involved in civil war will collapse. And a house torn apart by divisions will collapse. If Satan rebels against himself and is divided, then he can’t endure. He’s done for. No one gets into the house of a strong person and steals anything without first tying up the strong person. Only then can the house be burglarized. I assure you that human beings will be forgiven for everything, for all sins and insults of every kind. But whoever insults the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. That person is guilty of a sin with consequences that last forever.” He said this because the legal experts were saying, “He’s possessed by an evil spirit.” His mother and brothers arrived. They stood outside and sent word to him, calling for him. A crowd was seated around him, and those sent to him said, “Look, your mother, brothers, and sisters are outside looking for you.” He replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Looking around at those seated around him in a circle, he said, “Look, here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does God’s will is my brother, sister, and mother.” (Mark 3:20-35, CEB)

Jesus said, “I assure you that human beings will be forgiven for everything, for all sins and insults of every kind.” All sins will be forgiven. The only thing that is not forgivable is insulting the Holy Spirit. The reading says Jesus said this because the legal experts were saying he was possessed by an evil spirit. I take this to mean they were saying Jesus was doing what he was doing because he was evil and not because the Spirit led him to do what he did.

This could be a problem because we are separated on what the spirit is leading people to do. Whoever does God’s will is my family. And who determines what God’s will is? God and God alone. But we as humans think we know what God’s will is.

I know that I could be wrong in my interpretation. However, I will err on the side of love. Love unconditionally. I believe the Spirit leads us to love, and anything that doesn’t lead to love is not of the Spirit.

I chose love. And I hope you will too.

Loving People. Loving God.

Are you good soil?

When a great crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from one city after another, he spoke to them in a parable: “A farmer went out to scatter his seed. As he was scattering it, some fell on the path where it was crushed, and the birds in the sky came and ate it. Other seed fell on rock. As it grew, it dried up because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorny plants. The thorns grew with the plants and choked them. Still other seed landed on good soil. When it grew, it produced one hundred times more grain than was scattered.” As he said this, he called out, “Everyone who has ears should pay attention.” His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, “You have been given the mysteries of God’s kingdom, but these mysteries come to everyone else in parables so that when they see, they can’t see, and when they hear, they can’t understand. “The parable means this: The seed is God’s word. The seed on the path are those who hear, but then the devil comes and steals the word from their hearts so that they won’t believe and be saved. The seed on the rock are those who receive the word joyfully when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while but fall away when they are tempted. As for the seed that fell among thorny plants, these are the ones who, as they go about their lives, are choked by the concerns, riches, and pleasures of life, and their fruit never matures. The seed that fell on good soil are those who hear the word and commit themselves to it with a good and upright heart. Through their resolve, they bear fruit. (Luke 8:4-15, CEB)

It seems interesting to me that we have this parable during Pride Month.

Some seed fell on the path where it was crushed and devil stole the word before it makes a way to change a life. Some seed fell on the rocks and they heard the word and when the world around them said that can’t be they faltered and went away from God’s word. The seed that fell in the thorny plants heard it and thought that can’t be right because that isn’t about me and they gave it up. But the good soil, heard the word and despite the grumblings of the world stuck to the word and loved like Jesus.

The good soil people know that love is love and God’s love is unconditional, unlike our human love. We say people need to fit our box and our understanding. You do not need to understand someone to love them. All humans were created by God as they are. To quote the great theologian, Jon Bon Jovi, “When you’re about to give up and your heart’s about to break, remember that you’re perfect, God makes no mistakes.” No matter what anyone else tells you, God knows you are perfect as you are.

Love like Jesus and do not let the world stop that.

Loving People. Loving God.

Down payment

We know that if the tent that we live in on earth is torn down, we have a building from God. It’s a house that isn’t handmade, which is eternal and located in heaven. We groan while we live in this residence. We really want to dress ourselves with our building from heaven— since we assume that when we take off this tent, we won’t find out that we are naked. Yes, while we are in this tent we groan, because we are weighed down. We want to be dressed not undressed, so that what is dying can be swallowed up by life. Now the one who prepared us for this very thing is God, and God gave us the Spirit as a down payment for our home. (2 Corinthians 5:1-5, CEB)

Interestingly here Paul refers to the Spirit as a down payment for our home. Our home with God for all eternity. And the Spirit being with us is the foretaste, the sneak peek at what all of eternity will be like.

You see this place is merely a stop on the way to our life for all eternity. It is a way to travel and a place to help others be more like God. Loving in every aspect and understanding of those around them.

We are called and invited to be God in the world.

You are to shed the tent of this world and show this world the grace, mercy, and love of God.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Love

The end of everything has come. Therefore, be self-controlled and clearheaded so you can pray. Above all, show sincere love to each other, because love brings about the forgiveness of many sins. Open your homes to each other without complaining. And serve each other according to the gift each person has received, as good managers of God’s diverse gifts. Whoever speaks should do so as those who speak God’s word. Whoever serves should do so from the strength that God furnishes. Do this so that in everything God may be honored through Jesus Christ. To him be honor and power forever and always. Amen. Dear friends, don’t be surprised about the fiery trials that have come among you to test you. These are not strange happenings. Instead, rejoice as you share Christ’s suffering. You share his suffering now so that you may also have overwhelming joy when his glory is revealed. If you are mocked because of Christ’s name, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory—indeed, the Spirit of God—rests on you. Now none of you should suffer as a murderer or thief or evildoer or rebel. But don’t be ashamed if you suffer as one who belongs to Christ. Rather, honor God as you bear Christ’s name. Give honor to God, because it’s time for judgment to begin with God’s own household. But if judgment starts with us, what will happen to those who refuse to believe God’s good news? If the righteous are barely rescued, what will happen to the godless and sinful? So then, those who suffer because they follow God’s will should commit their lives to a trustworthy creator by doing what is right. (1 Peter 4:7-19, CEB)

Above all, show sincere love to each other.

The thing we can do to show we follow God is to love each other.

When you speak you should speak love.

We are to be the voice of love. We are the hands of love.

We show the world how God loves them, by speaking and doing love in everything we do and say.

Above all, show sincere love to each other.

Loving People. Loving God.

Heal others

After this there was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate in the north city wall is a pool with the Aramaic name Bethsaida. It had five covered porches, and a crowd of people who were sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed sat there. A certain man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, knowing that he had already been there a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I don’t have anyone who can put me in the water when it is stirred up. When I’m trying to get to it, someone else has gotten in ahead of me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Immediately the man was well, and he picked up his mat and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It’s the Sabbath; you aren’t allowed to carry your mat.” He answered, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” They inquired, “Who is this man who said to you, ‘Pick it up and walk’?” The man who had been cured didn’t know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away from the crowd gathered there. Later Jesus found him in the temple and said, “See! You have been made well. Don’t sin anymore in case something worse happens to you.” The man went and proclaimed to the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the man who had made him well. As a result, the Jewish leaders were harassing Jesus, since he had done these things on the Sabbath. Jesus replied, “My Father is still working, and I am working too.” For this reason the Jewish leaders wanted even more to kill him—not only because he was doing away with the Sabbath but also because he called God his own Father, thereby making himself equal with God. (John 5:1-18, CEB)

The religious leaders were so concerned with maintaining power and control, that they lost the vision of what we are called to do and be.

Love.

Love looks past rules to see the humanity of every person and their needs in the given moment.

The person Jesus healed didn’t even say he wanted to be made well, he made excuses for why he had not made it into the water yet when it was stirred. Jesus plainly asked him, “Do you want to get well?” He did not respond “Yes” but with excuses. What would you say to Jesus if he asked, “Do you want to get well?”

What would we say to others who ask to be made well? Would we find excuses not to help or see the humanity of the one asking and know that love is the answer?

Error on the side of grace and love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Antioch controversy…

Some people came down from Judea teaching the family of believers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom we’ve received from Moses, you can’t be saved.” Paul and Barnabas took sides against these Judeans and argued strongly against their position. The church at Antioch appointed Paul, Barnabas, and several others from Antioch to go up to Jerusalem to set this question before the apostles and the elders. The church sent this delegation on their way. They traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, telling stories about the conversion of the Gentiles to everyone. Their reports thrilled the brothers and sisters. When they arrived in Jerusalem, the church, the apostles, and the elders all welcomed them. They gave a full report of what God had accomplished through their activity. Some believers from among the Pharisees stood up and claimed, “The Gentiles must be circumcised. They must be required to keep the Law from Moses.” The apostles and the elders, along with the entire church, agreed to send some delegates chosen from among themselves to Antioch, together with Paul and Barnabas. They selected Judas Barsabbas and Silas, who were leaders among the brothers and sisters. They were to carry this letter: The apostles and the elders, to the Gentile brothers and sisters in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings! We’ve heard that some of our number have disturbed you with unsettling words we didn’t authorize. We reached a united decision to select some delegates and send them to you along with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul. These people have devoted their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we are sending Judas and Silas. They will confirm what we have written. The Holy Spirit has led us to the decision that no burden should be placed on you other than these essentials: refuse food offered to idols, blood, the meat from strangled animals, and sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid such things. Farewell. When Barnabas, Paul, and the delegates were sent on their way, they went down to Antioch. They gathered the believers and delivered the letter. The people read it, delighted with its encouraging message. Judas and Silas were prophets, and they said many things that encouraged and strengthened the brothers and sisters. Judas and Silas stayed there awhile, then were sent back with a blessing of peace from the brothers and sisters to those who first sent them. Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, where, together with many others, they taught and proclaimed the good news of the Lord’s word. (Acts 15:1-5, 22-35, CEB)

Early people who followed Jesus were Jewish and held that those being a part of the religion needed to follow the ways of becoming a Jew which meant for men they needed to be circumcised. Paul did not believe this was the case and tried to show others this was not what God intended.

There was a fight about who was right and how people showed they were a part of the way. Paul talked about this in his letters specifically Galatians. Circumcision is an outward sign of the covenant and really doesn’t show how one lives and is devoted to God. This was a conversation that went on for a while, but we need to know that nationality or lack of a foreskin doesn’t make one a follower of Jesus.

God welcomes all, regardless of any mad made division.

Love like God.

Welcome all.

Loving People. Loving God.