Thought of the Day !!

Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters.  Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it.  Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself.  Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.

                                    Hebrews 13:1-3 (NLT)

The first sentence here could be said to be the theme of these three verses.  "Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters."  

Each Sunday we have a time during the service when we lift up people's names to be prayed for.  Most of these are those dear to us.  But sometimes we get general requests for groups of people like those serving in the military or those Christians being persecuted in the Middle East.  I believe it is good to lift up people we don't even know that are going through difficulties.  It shows that we are thinking about people other than ourselves and those closest to us.  Please don't get me wrong.  God wants us to pray for both ourselves and our families.  But this shows that our love goes beyond that.

Do you know someone who is in prison?  If you don't, can you at least imagine what it would be like to be there without the freedom to come and go as you please?  Can you imagine those who have made mistakes and are now sorry for them who might be afraid of the meaner, stronger inmates who might bully them?  Whether you know someone or not, we all have some idea of what it might be like and definitely hope we never find out first hand.  But how about praying for someone in prison that you know or someone in general?  How about trying to put yourself in their shoes?  Assume you messed up big time.  Assume you are now paying the consequences.  And pray for them as you would for yourself.

The same goes with anyone who is being mistreated, persecuted, unfairly judged, racially profiled, etc.  Put yourself in their place and imagine how you would like to be prayed for.  We do this not because we need to learn some great lesson.  We do this because of that first sentence I mentioned earlier.  "Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters."  In praying for those who are hurting, either unfairly or as a punishment for their own wrongdoing, we show genuine love.  And who knows?  Maybe it will be your prayers that help someone come to Jesus.

In the love of Christ,

greg

Thought of the Day !!

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

                                  Luke 22:39-42 (ESV)

On the night that he was taken into custody, where he would be unjustly accused and beaten and eventually crucified, Jesus prayed for God’s will to be done.  How often does our prayer life lead to things like, Lord please do this or please do that? Please bless this thing that I want to do, or pave the way for me to get the thing I want?  

On the other hand, how often might we truly let go and ask God to have His will be done, even if it’s contrary to our own?

That’s exactly what Jesus did.  We see that he didn’t particularly want to be tortured and die on a cross.  Remember that Jesus was fully human as well as being fully divine.  His humanity would have loved it if the Father would have chosen another less painful way.  But he lets go of all his desires and tells his Father in Heaven, “Your will, not mine”.  Can we do that when we think we’ve been called to do something we don’t want to do?  Can we do that when we have a great desire for something to happen a certain way?  Can we let go and pray “Your will, not mine”?

In the love of Christ,

greg

Thought of the Day !!

Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 

                                      Romans 14:1 (NIV)

Think about people that you might have disputes, disagreements, or differences of opinion with.  It is very easy to judge them based on your own perceptions.  Is it possible that you are judging people based on any perception that you may have of them?  

Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

                                     James 4:11-12 (NIV)

In judging others we take on the power of God.  We claim that we are right and they can't possible be if they disagree with us.  Ask yourself, "Am I really qualified to judge somebody else?"

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
                                                  

                                        Matthew 7:1-5 (NIV)

How many of us have no planks in our eyes?  In other words, how many of us are without sin?  We should be working on our own selves and leaving the judging up to God.  We can always pray for people and try to persuade them in love to be the people that God wants them to be.  We can lovingly point out that there might be some sin in another person's life that is harmful to them.  But we should always do so in a manner that shows that we're not perfect either.  The key is to care about people and look up to them in humility, not down on them in judgment.  

In the love of Christ,

greg

Thought of the Day !!

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever would lose his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

                                           Mark 8:34-35 (ESV)

Just how serious do we take this passage?  In light of what our culture teaches us, which is to deny ourselves nothing and strive for everything, this can seem pretty incredulous.  The only time we are taught to deny ourselves is when we are being denied certain foods so that we can gain a better looking body, which according to the world today means skinnier.

Some Christians are denying something in their lives over the season of Lent.  They are basically fasting for this season, giving up something that was important to them for Christ.  I remember one year giving up caffeine.  When Easter morning came I gorged myself on coffee and then later soft drinks.  I was on a caffeine high all day.  Is this truly denying ourselves for Christ?

So what does it mean to deny myself and take up my cross and follow Jesus?  The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that for me it is taking a stand against what the world teaches me is important in lieu of what Jesus teaches me.  It means that my success is not all about numbers or what the world sees as success.  It's about what makes my Father in Heaven proud of me.  I can be a huge success in this world, but if I have to do so by living by the world's standards, then I lose any rewards I could have stored up in Heaven.  

In this life we can lean on Jesus in the difficult times of our lives.  But we need to learn what it means to lose ourselves for Him in the other times as well.  For our success is predicated only upon how much we are willing to lose our lives for Him and the Gospel.  

In the love of Christ,

greg

Thought of the Day !!

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

                   Luke 22:44 (ESV)

This all happens right before Jesus is betrayed and turned over to the Jewish leaders and then to Pilate.  It takes place in the Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives.

As Jesus prayed, he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.  What was Jesus agonizing over so much?  Was it his impending torture and death?  Was it that his closest friends still didn’t understand?  Was it how the religious elite had become so corrupted and misused their services to his Father in Heaven?  Was it the lostness of world?

Maybe he was agonizing over all of this.  And the agony of it all led to him pray his heart out.  I can just imagine him pouring his heart out to the Father.

How many of us have prayed till we sweated drops like blood?  How often are our prayers so intent that we get lost in ourselves and absorbed in the presence of God?  It’s then that we really connect and often times are strengthened, given understanding or given peace.

In the love of Christ,

greg