destruction of fortresses

I, Paul, make a personal request to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ. I’m shy when I’m with you, but I’m bossy when I’m away from you! I beg you that when I’m with you in person, I won’t have to boss you around. I’m afraid that I may have to use that kind of behavior with those people who think we live by human standards. Although we live in the world, we don’t fight our battles with human methods. Our weapons that we fight with aren’t human, but instead they are powered by God for the destruction of fortresses. They destroy arguments, and every defense that is raised up to oppose the knowledge of God. They capture every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Once your obedience is complete, we are ready to punish any disobedience. Look at what is right in front of you! If anyone is sure about belonging to Christ, that person should think again. We belong to Christ just like that person. Even if I went on to brag about our authority, I wouldn’t be ashamed of it. The Lord gave us that authority to build you up and not to destroy you. I don’t want it to seem like I’m trying to intimidate you with my letters. I know what some people are saying: “His letters are severe and powerful, but in person he is weak and his speech is worth nothing.” These people need to think about this—that when we are with you, our actions will show that we are the same as the words we wrote when we were away from you. (2 Corinthians 10:1-11, CEB)

Destruction of fortresses!

They destroy arguments and every defense that rises against God.

They oppose the things that battle the knowledge of God.

We do not fight on our own when we are a child of God. God intercedes.

We just need to be and love in the world and know we are never alone.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Look!

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is really greater than me because he existed before me.’ Even I didn’t recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be made known to Israel.” John testified, “I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and it rested on him. Even I didn’t recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit coming down and resting is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and testified that this one is God’s Son.” (John 1:29-34, CEB)

Behold! How many times do we tell people to look at Jesus?

John knew his place and knew who he was. One who pointed to Jesus, not Jesus.

He helped people understand who God was and how God was moving in this place.

Do you do that?

Do you shine a light on the love God has given to all the world?

Does your life point to Jesus?

Loving People. Loving God.

God calls

When they heard him address them in Aramaic, they became even more quiet. Paul continued, “I’m a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia but raised in this city. Under Gamaliel’s instruction, I was trained in the strict interpretation of our ancestral Law. I am passionately loyal to God, just like you who are gathered here today. I harassed those who followed this Way to their death, arresting and delivering both men and women into prison. The high priest and the whole Jerusalem Council can testify about me. I received letters from them, addressed to our associates in Damascus, then went there to bring those who were arrested to Jerusalem so they could be punished. “During that journey, about noon, as I approached Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven encircled me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice asking me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you harassing me?’ I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are harassing,’ he replied. My traveling companions saw the light, but they didn’t hear the voice of the one who spoke to me. I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ ‘Get up,’ the Lord replied, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told everything you have been appointed to do.’ I couldn’t see because of the brightness of that light, so my companions led me by the hand into Damascus. “There was a certain man named Ananias. According to the standards of the Law, he was a pious man who enjoyed the respect of all the Jews living there. He came and stood beside me. ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ he said. Instantly, I regained my sight and I could see him. He said, ‘The God of our ancestors has selected you to know his will, to see the righteous one, and to hear his voice. You will be his witness to everyone concerning what you have seen and heard. What are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash away your sins as you call on his name.’ (Acts 22:2-16, CEB)

Who are we to judge who God calls to be a part of God’s ministry?

Saul was a persecutor of the way. He arrested and harassed people who followed Jesus, and yet Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and changed his life, and then Saul was an apostle for Jesus.

And who are we to judge?

Just because you knew someone does not mean you know what has happened in their life so to keep someone captive because of their past is not loving.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

not earned…

So what are we going to say? Are we going to find that Abraham is our ancestor on the basis of genealogy? Because if Abraham was made righteous because of his actions, he would have had a reason to brag, but not in front of God. What does the scripture say? Abraham had faith in God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Workers’ salaries aren’t credited to them on the basis of an employer’s grace but rather on the basis of what they deserve. But faith is credited as righteousness to those who don’t work, because they have faith in God who makes the ungodly righteous. In the same way, David also pronounces a blessing on the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from actions: Happy are those whose actions outside the Law are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Happy are those whose sin isn’t counted against them by the Lord. Is this state of happiness only for the circumcised or is it also for those who aren’t circumcised? We say, “Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” So how was it credited? When he was circumcised, or when he wasn’t circumcised? In fact, it was credited while he still wasn’t circumcised, not after he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that comes from the faith he had while he still wasn’t circumcised. It happened this way so that Abraham could be the ancestor of all those people who aren’t circumcised, who have faith in God, and so are counted as righteous. He could also be the ancestor of those circumcised people, who aren’t only circumcised but who also walk in the path of faith, like our ancestor Abraham did while he wasn’t circumcised. (Romans 4:1-12, CEB)

Faith is not earned.

Abraham did not earn his righteousness, it was gifted to him by God.

That is grace.

We do not earn righteousness. We do not lose righteousness. It is given by God, not for what we have done, but because God loves us.

Not because we earned it or did anything to get it.

God loves you as you are and makes you righteous.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Baptism of our Lord

John the Baptist was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins. Everyone in Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to the Jordan River and were being baptized by John as they confessed their sins. John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. He announced, “One stronger than I am is coming after me. I’m not even worthy to bend over and loosen the strap of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” About that time, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. While he was coming up out of the water, Jesus saw heaven splitting open and the Spirit, like a dove, coming down on him. And there was a voice from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.” (Mark 1:4-11, CEB)

As we start the season of Epiphany and the Wise People found Jesus by following a star and the world knows the coming glory, it is interesting to me that the story of Jesus’ birth is only in two gospels. The visit of the Magi is only in one gospel, yet all four gospels record the baptism. Which is more important? The birth, the magi visit, or the baptism?

And this version only has Jesus seeing the dove, and hearing the voice. So is it for the people he is baptized or for himself?

I posted a meme the day I wrote this: “There will always be someone who can’t see your worth. Don’t let it be you!” Maybe even Jesus needed the reminder of who he was.

Baptism makes you God’s child. You are a part of the family, not because of what you have done, but because God says so. Nothing you do can break that relationship either.

Know whose you are and how much you are loved.

And share that love with all the world.

Loving People. Loving God.

Epiphany

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We’ve seen his star in the east, and we’ve come to honor him.” When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and everyone in Jerusalem was troubled with him. He gathered all the chief priests and the legal experts and asked them where the Christ was to be born. They said, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:
You, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
        by no means are you least among the rulers of Judah,
            because from you will come one who governs,
            who will shepherd my people Israel.”
Then Herod secretly called for the magi and found out from them the time when the star had first appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you’ve found him, report to me so that I too may go and honor him.” When they heard the king, they went; and look, the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. They entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother. Falling to their knees, they honored him. Then they opened their treasure chests and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Because they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route. (Matthew 2:1-12, CEB)

The Magi arrived on Epiphany which is January 6, 13 days after Christmas. Christmas is a season that is 12 days long, hence the 12 Days of Christmas.

And the Magi arrived some say 2 years after Jesus was born. We read above that the Magi found Jesus in a house, not a stable where he was born in Luke. In passages after this, we read that Herod had male children 2 and younger slaughtered to stop the prophecied king from growing up and taking his throne.

We meld these stories into one but they aren’t and they should stand alone as parts of the whole. Birth is in Luke and Magi in Matthew. 2 separate stories that are part of the whole of Jesus and our story.

Follow Jesus like the Magi did the star, knowing it will lead you someplace you otherwise would not go.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Love

“But I say to you who are willing to hear: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on the cheek, offer the other one as well. If someone takes your coat, don’t withhold your shirt either. Give to everyone who asks and don’t demand your things back from those who take them. Treat people in the same way that you want them to treat you. (Luke 6:27-31, CEB)

Treat people in the same way that you want them to treat you.

Seems easy. We all want to be loved. So why can’t we all love everyone?

No one is someone who is devoid of God. God loves all creation and we are not any better than anyone else.

So love everyone.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

evil

Brothers and sisters, don’t say evil things about each other. Whoever insults or criticizes a brother or sister insults and criticizes the Law. If you find fault with the Law, you are not a doer of the Law but a judge over it. There is only one lawgiver and judge, and he is able to save and to destroy. But you who judge your neighbor, who are you? Pay attention, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such-and-such a town. We will stay there a year, buying and selling, and making a profit.” You don’t really know about tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for only a short while before it vanishes. Here’s what you ought to say: “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” But now you boast and brag, and all such boasting is evil. It is a sin when someone knows the right thing to do and doesn’t do it. (James 4:11-17, CEB)

Do not insult or criticize others. Do not judge your neighbor.

Only look after your own life and keep yourself in line with where God is calling you to be. That is doing what you need to do.

Others will not fit in your box, only you can.

Love like God does and accept others knowing that God is working in their lives as God is working in yours.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Humble

What is the source of conflict among you? What is the source of your disputes? Don’t they come from your cravings that are at war in your own lives? You long for something you don’t have, so you commit murder. You are jealous for something you can’t get, so you struggle and fight. You don’t have because you don’t ask. You ask and don’t have because you ask with evil intentions, to waste it on your own cravings. You unfaithful people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy. Or do you suppose that scripture is meaningless? Doesn’t God long for our faithfulness in the life he has given to us? But he gives us more grace. This is why it says, God stands against the proud, but favors the humble. Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you. Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Cry out in sorrow, mourn, and weep! Let your laughter become mourning and your joy become sadness. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:1-10, CEB)

Cravings are when we are jealous of others and want what they have and we will do anything to make it ours.

We need to humble ourselves and know that we are not other people and we will not have what they have.

We will have what we need. Trust in God and know that God is always with you.

Love like Jesus

Loving People. Loving God.

living in ways that deny the truth

Are any of you wise and understanding? Show that your actions are good with a humble lifestyle that comes from wisdom. However, if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, then stop bragging and living in ways that deny the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above. Instead, it is from the earth, natural and demonic. Wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and everything that is evil. What of the wisdom from above? First, it is pure, and then peaceful, gentle, obedient, filled with mercy and good actions, fair, and genuine. Those who make peace sow the seeds of justice by their peaceful acts. (James 3:13-18, CEB)

If you are jealous of others and selfish in the ways you do things.

If you only think about yourself and what is in it for you, then you are living in ways that deny the truth.

The truth shows love for all. It does not stop to see if the fit the mold or follow all the things I want them to, it loves.

Live in the truth and love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.