mercy

Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the lake, to the region of the Gerasenes. As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out of the tombs. This man lived among the tombs, and no one was ever strong enough to restrain him, even with a chain. He had been secured many times with leg irons and chains, but he broke the chains and smashed the leg irons. No one was tough enough to control him. Night and day in the tombs and the hills, he would howl and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from far away, he ran and knelt before him, shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” He said this because Jesus had already commanded him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!” Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He responded, “Legion is my name, because we are many.” They pleaded with Jesus not to send them out of that region. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside. “Send us into the pigs!” they begged. “Let us go into the pigs!” Jesus gave them permission, so the unclean spirits left the man and went into the pigs. Then the herd of about two thousand pigs rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned. Those who tended the pigs ran away and told the story in the city and in the countryside. People came to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the man who used to be demon-possessed. They saw the very man who had been filled with many demons sitting there fully dressed and completely sane, and they were filled with awe. Those who had actually seen what had happened to the demon-possessed man told the others about the pigs. Then they pleaded with Jesus to leave their region. While he was climbing into the boat, the one who had been demon-possessed pleaded with Jesus to let him come along as one of his disciples. But Jesus wouldn’t allow it. “Go home to your own people,” Jesus said, “and tell them what the Lord has done for you and how he has shown you mercy.” The man went away and began to proclaim in the Ten Cities all that Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed. (Mark 5:1-20, CEB)

“tell them what the Lord has done for you and how he has shown you mercy.”

We are all not called to be with Jesus, but we are all called to share what Jesus has done for us.

We need to make our lives about sharing the mercy that God has shown to us.

In this world of evil and pain, God is with us and God’s mercy will see us through. We are never alone and God loves us as we are not how the world around us wants us to be.

So share love. Share mercy. Share grace.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Follow God

I want you to be free from concerns. A man who isn’t married is concerned about the Lord’s concerns—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the world’s concerns—how he can please his wife. His attention is divided. A woman who isn’t married or who is a virgin is concerned about the Lord’s concerns so that she can be dedicated to God in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the world’s concerns—how she can please her husband. I’m saying this for your own advantage. It’s not to restrict you but rather to promote effective and consistent service to the Lord without distraction. If someone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward an unmarried woman whom he knows, and if he has strong feelings and it seems like the right thing to do, he should do what he wants—he’s not sinning—they should get married. But if a man stands firm in his decision, and doesn’t feel the pressure, but has his own will under control, he does right if he decides in his own heart not to marry the woman. Therefore, the one who marries the unmarried woman does right, and the one who doesn’t get married will do even better. A woman is obligated to stay in her marriage as long as her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry whomever she wants, only it should be a believer in the Lord. But in my opinion, she will be happier if she stays the way she is. And I think that I have God’s Spirit too. (1 Corinthians 7:32-40, CEB)

Paul here gives us an outline for how you can follow God. Simply put, Paul says to be single. Because if you are single you only have to focus on God. But this is not always the best way for everyone. I think we all know instances where single people were not focused on God but on their own pleasure. But Paul says if you have strong feelings and need to marry, then marry. But Paul also commends us to be following after the Lord.

So in all you do follow God and do not set your mind on the concerns of the world.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Avoid…

When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us warmly. On the next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James. All of the elders were present. After greeting them, he gave them a detailed report of what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. Those who heard this praised God. Then they said to him, “Brother, you see how many thousands of Jews have become believers, and all of them keep the Law passionately. They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to reject Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to live according to our customs. What about this? Without a doubt, they will hear that you have arrived. You must therefore do what we tell you. Four men among us have made a solemn promise. Take them with you, go through the purification ritual with them, and pay the cost of having their heads shaved. Everyone will know there is nothing to those reports about you but that you too live a life in keeping with the Law. As for the Gentile believers, we wrote a letter about what we decided, that they avoid food offered to idols, blood, the meat from strangled animals, and sexual immorality.” The following day Paul took the men with him and went through the purification ritual with them. He entered the temple and publicly announced the completion of the days of purification, when the offering would be presented for each one of them. (Acts 21:17-26, CEB)

As for the Gentile believers, we wrote a letter about what we decided, that they avoid food offered to idols, blood, meat from strangled animals, and sexual immorality.

Don’t eat things offered to idols. Stay away from blood. Make sure the animal your meat comes from was not strangled. Do not be sexually immoral.

Unless you kill all your own animals how are you sure of the way the animal died? If you actually kill an animal, how can you stay away from blood? How are you certain the food set before you was not used as a sacrifice for an idol? What does it mean to be sexually immoral?

All of these are pretty straightforward, and yet also hard to say what they are.

We get into trouble when we try to define these things for others. We need to define these for ourselves and monitor ourselves and not others by our standards.

Love like Jesus and show mercy like God.

Loving People. Loving God.

Teaching

Jesus and his followers went into Capernaum. Immediately on the Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and started teaching. The people were amazed by his teaching, for he was teaching them with authority, not like the legal experts. Suddenly, there in the synagogue, a person with an evil spirit screamed, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the holy one from God.” “Silence!” Jesus said, speaking harshly to the demon. “Come out of him!” The unclean spirit shook him and screamed, then it came out. Everyone was shaken and questioned among themselves, “What’s this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands unclean spirits and they obey him!” Right away the news about him spread throughout the entire region of Galilee. (Mark 1:21-28, CEB)

Jesus taught as one with authority, not like the legal experts.

And the demons knew who he was and were afraid of him.

Nothing is out of the power of Jesus.

Know you are safe with Jesus who will always be with you.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Torture?

When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake in the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed came from among the tombs to meet him. They were so violent that nobody could travel on that road. They cried out, “What are you going to do with us, Son of God? Have you come to torture us before the time of judgment?” Far off in the distance a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons pleaded with him, “If you throw us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” Then he said to the demons, “Go away,” and they came out and went into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned. Those who tended the pigs ran into the city and told everything that had happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the whole city came out and met Jesus. When they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region. Boarding a boat, Jesus crossed to the other side of the lake and went to his own city. (Matthew 8:28-9:1, CEB)

Have you come to torture us before the time of judgment?

This to me is an odd sentence to say to Jesus. There isn’t any justification for this, as we have no stories of Jesus torturing anyone from the scriptures.

But remember these are demons. Evil spirits.

But here Jesus tortures the pigs, by letting the demons enter them. What a waste of bacon…

But in everything Jesus is merciful. He didn’t send the demons away, he allowed them to do what they asked.

Be like Jesus and help people. Be merciful.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Change…

“Write this to the angel of the church in Pergamum:

These are the words of the one who has the sharp, two-edged sword: I know that you are living right where Satan’s throne is. You are holding on to my name, and you didn’t break faith with me even at the time that Antipas, my faithful witness, was killed among you, where Satan lives. But I have a few things against you, because you have some there who follow Balaam’s teaching. Balaam had taught Balak to trip up the Israelites so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. In the same way, you have some who follow the Nicolaitans’ teaching. So change your hearts and lives. If you don’t, I am coming to you soon, and I will make war on them with the sword that comes from my mouth. If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. I will give those who emerge victorious some of the hidden manna to eat. I will also give to each of them a white stone with a new name written on it, which no one knows except the one who receives it. (Revelation 2:12-17, CEB)

We can choose to follow after ways that are not the path set before us by God. When we do this we follow the path of Satan.

This is not what God calls us to and when we do this we need to repent and change our ways. We can change our hearts and follow after Jesus.

Follow Jesus and love the world as you are loved.

Love Like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

adoption

But it’s not as though God’s word has failed. Not all who are descended from Israel are part of Israel. Not all of Abraham’s children are called Abraham’s descendants, but instead your descendants will be named through Isaac. That means it isn’t the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children from the promise who are counted as descendants. The words in the promise were: A year from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son. Not only that, but also Rebecca conceived children with one man, our ancestor Isaac. When they hadn’t been born yet and when they hadn’t yet done anything good or bad, it was shown that God’s purpose would continue because it was based on his choice. It wasn’t because of what was done but because of God’s call. This was said to her: The older child will be a slave to the younger one. As it is written, I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau. So what are we going to say? Isn’t this unfair on God’s part? Absolutely not! He says to Moses, I’ll have mercy on whomever I choose to have mercy, and I’ll show compassion to whomever I choose to show compassion. So then, it doesn’t depend on a person’s desire or effort. It depends entirely on God, who shows mercy. Scripture says to Pharaoh, I have put you in this position for this very thing: so I can show my power in you and so that my name can be spread through the entire earth. So then, God has mercy on whomever he wants to, but he makes resistant whomever he wants to. (Romans 9:6-18, CEB)

Blood relatives are not always the best relatives. Sometimes the best family is the family you choose. Or the family that is chosen.

God chooses you to be a part of the family, God has grafted you into the family and made you a part. Even if you are not a descendant of Abraham or Isaac, you are a part.

God chose to be merciful to you. Share that mercy with the world and let them know that they too are loved.

Love like Jesus

Loving People. Loving God.

Disciples…

Jesus went up on a mountain and called those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve and called them apostles. He appointed them to be with him, to be sent out to preach, and to have authority to throw out demons. He appointed twelve: Peter, a name he gave Simon; James and John, Zebedee’s sons, whom he nicknamed Boanerges, which means “sons of Thunder”; and Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, Alphaeus’ son; Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean; and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus. (Mark 3:13-19a, CEB)

Who are the 12 disciples? According to the above passage they are: Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Thaddaeus, Simon, and Judas. But as you can see from the below chart from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostles_in_the_New_Testament it is not as easy as saying these 12.

Did some of them have 2 names, like a niche name, or where there different groups of people? This is the problem sometimes with multiple accounts of the same story. Who has the correct list of the 12?

My thought is, it doesn’t really change the story. There were 12 men chosen by Jesus to follow him and learn from him, which was not the way teacher-student relationships worked then. Students had to prove to the teacher they would be good students, teachers didn’t select their students. And they were chosen by God to be a part of the family.

In a sense all of us are disciples. We are all apostles. In the sense that disciple means learner and apostle means one sent. We are all supposed to learn from Jesus and go into the world to share the good news.

So don’t worry about the details of the story and get the point.

God loves you.

God wants you to love God’s creation.

Go and show love in everything you do.

Gospel of MatthewGospel of MarkGospel of LukeGospel of JohnActs of the Apostles
Simon (“also known as Peter”)Simon (“to whom he gave the name Peter”)Simon (“whom he named Peter”)Simon Peter/ Cephas “which is translated Peter”Peter
Andrew (“his [Peter’s] brother”)AndrewAndrew (“his [Peter’s] brother”)Andrew (“Simon Peter’s brother”)Andrew
James (“son of Zebedee”)James (“son of Zebedee”) / one of the “Boanerges”Jamesone of the “sons of Zebedee”James
John (“his [James’s] brother”)John (“brother of James”) / one of the “Boanerges”Johnone of the “sons of Zebedee” / the “disciple whom Jesus loved”John
PhilipPhilipPhilipPhilipPhilip
BartholomewBartholomewBartholomewNathanaelBartholomew
ThomasThomasThomasThomas (“also called Didymus”)Thomas
Matthew (“the publican”)Matthew / LeviMatthew / Levinot mentionedMatthew
James (“son of Alphaeus”)James (“son of Alphaeus”)James (“son of Alphaeus”)not mentionedJames (“son of Alphaeus”)
Thaddaeus (or “Lebbaeus”); called “Judas the Zealot” in some translationsThaddaeusJudas (“son of James,” referred to as brother in some translations)Judas (“not Iscariot”)Judas (“son of James,” referred to as brother in some translations)
Simon (“the Canaanite”)Simon (“the Cananaean”)Simon (“who was called the Zealot”)not mentionedSimon (“the Zealot”)
Judas IscariotJudas IscariotJudas IscariotJudas (“son of Simon Iscariot”)(Judas replaced by Matthias)

Loving People. Loving God.

Can’t stop it

When the council members heard this, they became furious and wanted to kill the apostles. One council member, a Pharisee and teacher of the Law named Gamaliel, well-respected by all the people, stood up and ordered that the men be taken outside for a few moments. He said, “Fellow Israelites, consider carefully what you intend to do to these people. Some time ago, Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and some four hundred men joined him. After he was killed, all of his followers scattered, and nothing came of that. Afterward, at the time of the census, Judas the Galilean appeared and got some people to follow him in a revolt. He was killed too, and all his followers scattered far and wide. Here’s my recommendation in this case: Distance yourselves from these men. Let them go! If their plan or activity is of human origin, it will end in ruin. If it originates with God, you won’t be able to stop them. Instead, you would actually find yourselves fighting God!” The council was convinced by his reasoning. After calling the apostles back, they had them beaten. They ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, then let them go. The apostles left the council rejoicing because they had been regarded as worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of the name. Every day they continued to teach and proclaim the good news that Jesus is the Christ, both in the temple and in houses. (Acts 5:33-42, CEB)

How many of you ever heard of Theudas, or Judas the Galilean?

One can suppose from this reading they were people who started an uprising that went against the norms of the time. But when they died what they started just fizzled away because it was not true.

The apostles were sharing the truth of God and Gamaliel gave good advice, let them do their thing, because if it isn’t of God it will not continue, and if it is of God, do you want to be fighting God?

I personally do not want to be fighting God, which is why I try to error on the side of grace and love.

God calls us to love all.

In Loving we give grace. So Choose to love all and give grace.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

What matters is…

Nevertheless, each person should live the kind of life that the Lord assigned when he called each one. This is what I teach in all the churches. If someone was circumcised when called, he shouldn’t try to reverse it. If someone wasn’t circumcised when he was called, he shouldn’t be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing; not being circumcised is nothing. What matters is keeping God’s commandments. Each person should stay in the situation they were in when they were called. If you were a slave when you were called, don’t let it bother you. But if you are actually able to be free, take advantage of the opportunity. Anyone who was a slave when they were called by the Lord has the status of being the Lord’s free person. In the same way, anyone who was a free person when they were called is Christ’s slave. You were bought and paid for. Don’t become slaves of people. So then, brothers and sisters, each of you should stay with God in the situation you were in when you were called. (1 Corinthians 7:17-24, CEB)

What matters is…

following God. This means worrying about how you are doing what God called you to do and not what everyone else around you is doing.

What matters is…

being who God created you to be. This means not being who others or society want you to be but being authentic to who God created you to be.

What matters is…

Loving like Jesus. This means not judging, but loving all unconditionally as we are loved.

So love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.