Tag Archives: Loving Like Jesus

God as Parent

Living in the Spirit

June 1, 2021

Scripture Reading: Genesis 3:8-15
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ He said, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.’ He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.’ Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent tricked me, and I ate.’ The Lord God said to the serpent,

‘Because you have done this,

   cursed are you among all animals

   and among all wild creatures;

upon your belly you shall go,

   and dust you shall eat

   all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

   and between your offspring and hers;

he will strike your head,

   and you will strike his heel.’

God as a parent is the oldest story in the Bible, yet, we tend to turn quickly from God as a loving parent to the God of wrath who punishes us for our sins. We all find ourselves in the story above. At times we are the caretaker giving the instructions and, at other times, the child trying to hide a failure to follow them. Part of maturation is the development of the self. We get a lot of bumps and bruises making that journey. We test the wisdom of our parents as that prepares us to test the integrity of all future influences in life. Parenting involves helping children discern the difference between right and wrong and how to manage the gray in between.

I find it interesting that God takes wrath out on the serpent who tricked Adam and Eve into disobedience in the above-quoted part of the story.  Woe to those who try to mislead and entice God’s children away from righteousness.

Prayer: Lord, guide us as we grow in wisdom and truth and as we work to transmit what we learn, in not only our words but our actions, toward others. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Removing Rust

Living in the Spirit

Living in the Spirit

May 26, 2021

Scripture Reading: Psalm 29

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
   the God of glory thunders,
   the Lord, over mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
   the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
   the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
   and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
   the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. –Psalm 29:3-8

How do we visualize God in our minds? Do we personify God, seeing the image of a human perhaps sitting on a throne? Do we perceive God’s presence with no visual identity? Is God’s image in your mind’s eye that of a loving father or an angry ruler or both or something else? Read through the quote from Psalm 29 above and consider how the Psalmist identified the voice of God. Most of us live in areas that are threatened at some time each year with floods, tornados, hurricanes, fires, or volcanos. These forces are fully capable of destroying everything around them. Yesterday, I saw pictures of the damage hurricanes did during the last year in Honduras. The homes were splintered wood on the ground peppered here and there with a bedframe or broken table. Worse yet, their crops were ruined—their source of livelihood gone in a split second. The story was about a young man trekking to North American in search of work to feed his family. He was turned back at the Mexican border.

I do not think the Psalmist writes to scare us. The poem highlights that God is more powerful than all the frightening experiences of life. We most often forget that truth when our lives are going well, and we begin to focus our attention on what Paul would call the flesh or the enticements of the world. That results in our getting rusty in our relationship with God–that is no place to be.

During 2020, we were thrown into multiple experiences of turmoil. We are now trying to deal with the challenges of pandemics and societal realities like racism and poverty we do not want to admit exists. Before we can refocus our priorities on the ways of God, we have a lot of rust we need to remove. The wonderful thing about an all-powerful God is God is stronger than any rust we may have developed that separates us from God. Getting rid of it may be painful as we have grown rather attached to it. God promises that God’s love can make all things new, if we follow God’s wisdom.

Prayer: Lord, remove the rust from our faith and bring us to wholeness in your love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Living in the Spirit

Greed vs Love

May 25, 2021

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.’
The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’ –Isaiah 6:1-5

Where is love?
Does it fall from skies above?
Is it underneath the willow tree
That I’ve been dreaming of?*

The orphan Oliver is cast out of the orphanage into a frightening world where he feels no one cares what happens to him. I sense that many of us may be feeling that way about our relationship with God. The last year has not been easy. Loved ones were gravely ill; others died. Work and earning a living were turned upside down. Some switched from an office to a computer at home and never lost any income. Others lost their jobs. Children fell behind in their learning, and many parents found themselves staying home from work not only to care for their children but to be their teachers, too. As an active retiree, I felt relatively worthless during those first few months of the pandemic when the best help I could give was to stay home, wear a mask, and socially distance. If God indeed is love, then where is love in times like these?

When I read the above scripture, I thought of Oliver in the first stages of shock from feeling he was without anyone who cared about whether he lived or died. And, yes, I too think that was a rather odd reaction to this scripture. After pondering, I do no longer think it is strange. Isaiah saw the need for change in his people’s ways of being because of the situation in which they found themselves. They were a tribe of people who Keep listening, but do not comprehend** Jesus quoted this scripture in Matthew 13:13, and it describes us today.

We live in a world where the rich are getting richer, as the number of people grows who do not have enough resources to meet basic needs. That does not reflect a world ruled by God’s love. It does mirror a people putting greed over God.  Exile was where the Israelites landed. Where are we headed?

Denial of the need to correct our courses is a typical reaction. Being bound in that attitude only makes matters worse. Seeking God’s guidance, listening, hearing, and restoring our commitment to God’s plan is the path to fulfilling God’s vision of a Kingdom ruled by love.

Prayer: Lord, open our ears to hear your wisdom and give us the courage to follow it. Amen.

*Lines from musical Oliver from the song Where is Love?  See at https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/3270758/Mark+Lester/Where+Is+Love%3F+%5BFrom+Oliver%21%5D
**From Isaiah 6:9

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Send Me

Living in the Spirit

May 24, 2021

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.’

The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen King, the Lord of hosts!’

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’

Have we seen the King, the Lord of hosts? Where? Where do we see God at work in our lives or the lives of others? Or are we like Saul, a devout Pharisee of Pharisees? He never broke the law or missed a worship service or a class and paid his tithe on time in the proper amount.  He was diligently trying to rid the world of those pesky Christ-followers claiming Jesus was the Messiah, claiming he died to save all of God’s children. Saul even stood at the side, and approvingly watched Stephen, a Christ-follower, being stoned to death. Saul soon left Jerusalem to continue his work protecting his tradition among the people of Damascus when he had a direct encounter with Jesus Christ and was forever changed.

Few have such a direct encounter with the Lord, but we all have a call from God to serve. The above scripture describes Isaiah’s experience with the understanding that God was calling him to speak God’s truth to the people of Israel. Isaiah, at first, could not see in himself the skills it would take to answer that call as he was a man of unclean lips being sent to a people of unclean lips. God cleansed him of his fear and self-doubt, enabling Isaiah to answer Hear am I; send me!

We each were created with skills that are necessary to establish God’s Kingdom in this world. We need to pray for guidance in finding our niche and work with all our energy and courage to fulfill the task set before us. Yes, we do need to worship and study and support the church’s ministry, but that is just the foundation. Our calling is to tell and show the whole world about God’s love as we love our neighbors across the lands until God’s Kingdom is realized.

Prayer: Lord, open our minds and hearts to seek our calling and grant us the courage to fulfill it. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Called By the Spirit

Pentecost

May 23, 2021

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’ –Acts 2:1-13

The coming of the Holy Spirit was one of those events where one had to be there to describe what happened. Even with in-person witnesses, it was hard to explain. The event got the message across to Peter that the time had come to take the message of Jesus Christ to the whole world. What better means to do that than to have a large crowd of people who spoke various languages understand what Peter was saying. These people were sent home with curiosity to pave the way for the Disciples’ ministry. It also gave the Disciples courage to step out into strange lands, knowing that God would find a way for them to communicate God’s love.

We are called to share the love of God with the whole world still today. The world as a whole certainly needs to understand the power of God’s love. We are caught in a difficult time filled with people who have more than they need and people who do not have enough to meet their basic needs. The percent of people in the USA today who identify as Christians has dropped steadily for several years. Some Christians are caught in as much greed and lust for power as the non-faith-based populations in the USA. Other parts of the world are in a far worse condition where greater numbers of God’s children are dying from starvation or being killed by the ravages of terrorists.

How are we answering the call to love God and love like Jesus? Are we feeding the hungry, providing safe water for the thirsty, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, restoring the prisoner, and welcoming the stranger?

Prayer: Lord, visit us once again with the strength of your Spirit to help us know we can love as you love and address the needs of all your children everywhere. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Cluttered Souls

Eastertide

May 22, 2021

Scripture Reading: John 3:1-17

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is Spirit. –John:1-6

According to the Christian Calendar based on Acts 2, tomorrow is the anniversary of the day we now call Pentecost, where God shared the gift of the Holy Spirit with all Christ-followers. John 20:22 records Jesus giving his disciples the gift of the Spirit after the Resurrection. I think both instances are valid. The Spirit has always been with us throughout the story of God. Sometimes we need to be reminded of that.

God created us as sentient beings able to discern right from wrong. That characteristic is necessary if we are to understand and practice God’s righteousness. I think God wanted partners, not puppets. Partners must internalize God’s mission and intentionally choose to make it their own. God came to dwell among us in the person of Jesus and remains with us in the presence of the Holy Spirit. We are never left alone without help as we strive to follow the example of Jesus Christ.

Whoever wrote the book of John surely had access to Paul’s writing as that person, too, differentiated between the flesh and the Spirit. There is a purity about the Spirit that we can sometimes miss if our humanness, our flesh, gets in the way. I call them filters. From birth forward, humans create filters to simplify our lives. Children touch a hot object that burns them, and instantly their minds start building a filter that says do not touch hot things. Filters are necessary, but when our filters build up some messages, they can be dangerous to our lives and our connections to the Spirit. I think it was in David Wilkerson’s story recorded in The Cross and the Switchblade where he described learning not to call God father when working with children in the intercity. Fathers to many of them were undependable flashes in their lives.

We are called to love like Jesus, and that requires us to look for the dirty filters in ourselves that limit our ability to love others. We must retain our relationship with the Spirit to keep our filters clean. We are called to love one another, enabling others to form a relationship with the Spirit.

Prayer: Lord, search me and cleanse me of any wicked ways. Help my love to enable others to free their souls of clutter, too.  Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Angel Unaware

Eastertide

May 20, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Romans 8:12-17
So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. God knows who God’s children are. We were not given the job of that discernment. Thus, we are called to love ourselves and all others. Hebrews 13:2 says it this way: Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. The Vatican amplified this idea with the Angels Unawares sculpture by Timothy Schmalz installed in St. Peter’s Square on September 29, 2019, the 105th World Migrant and Refugee Day.

Dale Evans’ book Angel Unaware taught me about welcoming all people as children of God. Dale Evans and Roy Rogers were movie and TV stars who had a baby they named Robin. Robin was born with Downs Syndrome. Rather than sending her to a home for children with special needs, they chose to raise her at home and ended up changing the way all children with disabilities are welcomed. Robin died when she was two years old, and Dale Evans poured her grief into the writing of this book. She wrote it from Robin’s perspective, looking down from heaven telling God about how she had completed her mission of love. That love continues to be shared here in Oklahoma City at the Dale Rogers Training Center.

Paul reminds us in this scripture that God is the final judge, and our job is to follow God’s example of loving one another until love rules the world. Loving-kindness can restore people to wholeness, and sharing it usually grows our ability to love.

Prayer: Lord, teach us the truth of Robin, whose short sojourn in life spread love throughout our land. Please help us to do the same. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Holy Spirit

Eastertide

May 17, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Acts 2:1-21 or Ezekiel 37:1-14

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
“In the last days it will be, God declares,
   and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
   and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
   in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
     and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
   and signs on the earth below,
     blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
   and the moon to blood,
     before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” –Acts 2:14-21

The Holy Spirit is a mysterious messenger and guide in our lives. Our ability to interact with the Spirit enables our work toward building a homeland for all people ruled by love. As a young child, one of our neighbors invited my family to a revival meeting at their Pentecostal church. We slipped into seats toward the back of the church, and by the time the first few songs had been sung, I was under the pew watching the service from between my parents’ legs. I had never experienced anything like that. I remember it but I do not think it left any lasting impact on me. My Mom explained that people worshipped God in different ways.

Fast forward to the 1970s, when the charismatic movement was popular, I was invited to a house meeting where people shared their experiences with the Holy Spirit. I was encouraged to kindle my relationship with the Spirit. I thanked the friend who had invited me but did not attend again.

Even though these corporate experiences did not appeal to me, I wanted to understand this third part of my relationship with God. I am a monotheist and recognize God’s omnipotence. I adopted Jesus Christ quickly as my role model and teacher. And I finally came to realize that this mysterious messenger and guide had always been with me and would always be. The Holy Spirit, for me, is more akin to Elijah’s still small voice or Jacob’s wrestling match on his return trip home. Now I recognize that those two understandings differ significantly. Thus, I have concluded that the Holy Spirit molds its responses to my needs. The Holy Spirit knows when I need to be consoled and when I need to be stirred into action, thus following its guidance is an ultimate act of faith.

Prayer:
Spirit of the living God,
Fall afresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God,
Fall afresh on me. Amen*.

First verse of Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me, by Daniel Iverson, see at https://hymnary.org/text/spirit_of_the_living_god_fall_iverson

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Truth and Consequences

Eastertide

May 16, 2021

Scripture Reading: John 17:6-19
‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

I find myself wondering whether what I write is understood the way I mean it. I have learned the hard way that I should never respond to a social media post with a correction of a statement someone had made, even one I considered a neutral issues, that was not the way the authors perceived them. I appreciate someone calling my attention to a typo or a wrong fact. I am learning the hard way that in our society today, truth is flexible. What does Jesus mean when he prays Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

To sanctify means to make holy. That tells me that we must delve deeply into the word of God, asking God’s guidance in understanding. It also means we must take truth seriously and live with mercy in our hearts.  

I would be true, for there are those who trust me;
I would be pure, for there are those who care;
I would be strong, for there is much to suffer;
I would be brave, for there is much to dare,
I would be brave, for there is much to dare.

I would be friend of all, the foe, the friendless;
I would be giving, and forget the gift;
I would be humble, for I know my weakness;
I would look up, and laugh and love and lift,
I would look up, and laugh and love and lift.

Prayer: Lord, guide me as I try to communicate what I perceive as truth that others do not. Help all your followers as we dialogue about your word, listen and learn, and share as we try to discern the source of differences on our way to truth. Amen.

Hymn I Would Be True by H. A. Walter see at https://hymnary.org/text/i_would_be_true_for_there_are_those

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Whose Testimony Do We Follow?

Eastertide

May 14, 2021

Scripture Reading:

1 John 5:9-13
If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Much chatter in our lives makes the discernment of what is of God and what is not hard. We fall prey to being manipulated by someone else’s ideology rather than identifying God’s truth. Messages are honed to target our areas of vulnerability. One word or image hits us like a tiny shock wave designed to enhance our support of or discredit a product, an issue, or a candidate. Some persons have very successfully adopted this form of communication in selling their understanding of God’s message. How do we discern the testimony of God?

One of the most powerful messages we receive is that we are not good enough. Whether we are told we need whiter teeth or a bigger house or more money, we are constantly barraged by media offering ways to improve. The problem that results from being persuaded that we are not good enough is that humans tend to compare ourselves with others so that if we think we are better than someone else, that somehow raises our good-enough status. In our heart of hearts, where God’s testimony rest, we know that is not true, and we think less of ourselves for it. God’s testimony at creation was that God looked on humankind and called it good, which is true today as much as it was on the first day.

Humans tend to cluster in groups of like-mindednesses. The strength of one’s group enhances the power of influence. Whole societies develop based on similarities of human testimony. Such groups choose to integrate their testimonies for the betterment of all or battle for dominance, with one group pressing its testimony on others. As I write this, the Israelis and the Palestinians are bombarding each other toward determining authority.

God’s testimony in Jesus Christ is that we are to share our witness to the world wrapped in God’s love and the love of one another.

Prayer: Lord, as we are called to be witnesses of your love, instill in us the wisdom to live your love in ways that open doors of understanding and pathways to peace. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.