Justice is Personal

Justice is Personal

Sacrificing to idols was very popular in ancient times.  Each country or tribe had its’ own idol or idols (statues set up on hills or in glitzy temples).   Going back three or four thousand years ago, almost everyone who lived on this earth believed they should sacrifice to idols to keep their idol gods happy. These heathen gods of antiquity were often considered angry and vengeful and must be placated.  Often worshippers would cut themselves and rage and scream and cry to get the attention of their idol gods.  Religious prostitution took place and things would get wild and ugly.  

 If a family sacrificed their best cow on the golden altar to their idol god, they believed that their idol god would give them a good crop that year and at harvest time there would be plenty.  Also if the family would bring more sacrifices to their angry gods, perhaps the wives and concubines in the family would have more babies.  Everyone wanted to have as many children as possible.   

The nation of Israel was the only nation that didn’t join in the frenzied worshipping of idols.   The Jewish people believed in one God, a God of love and justice.  And their just and loving God had strictly forbidden them from having any idol gods or sacrificing to them as their heathen neighbors did. God promised the Jewish people that He alone would take care of them and give them everything they needed if they would follow Him. They would not need to dance around  statues of colorful idols to have a plentiful harvest.  Israel did bring a sin offering to God when they sinned, but this offering only pointed them to the perfect future offering for sin, the Jewish Messiah, that had been promised as Savior from sin. Gods’ people were to trust God and obey Him and live a simple life.  They were to be different from the rest of the ancient heathen world. 

 Many of the Jewish people felt left out of the popular sport of idol worshipping.  All of their neighbors were sacrificing their animals and forcing their children to walk through fire.  Dark savage things were done to impress the idols.  Blood ran and terror prevailed.  Some of their idol worshipping neighbors were rich and famous and powerful.  The Jewish people wondered if these impressive idol gods were making their rich neighbors richer and more powerful!  Would Israel be richer if they had a few idols too?  Their just God was so different from their neighbors demanding gods.  Shouldn’t their God require something more of them?  

The Jewish people asked their religious leaders and their prophets and priests what more God wanted them to do.  How were they to live their lives so that they would please God?  And God answered their question through their prophet Micah.  Here is God’s answer. “He has shown you, O mortal human, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  (Micah 6:8)   

This answer is in our Bible in the book of Micah and it is not only meant for the ancient peoples of Israel, but it is also meant for all of God’s children – for you and me.  Not just in the book of Micah but all through the Bible God calls His children again and again to act justly and fairly and to help make a world that is just and fair. To be humble and to love mercy.  And to be people that are kind and loving and good.  God is a God of justice and He calls us to follow Him and be known as trustworthy, fair and just persons.  And also merciful and loving. 

Justice is not always found only in big things or in grand gestures.  But justice can come in small things and humble acts.  Love and hospitality can be platforms for justice.  Justice can take place by welcoming the stranger.  By seeing God’s image in each person, in the least and the lost. Scripture says that we humans are created in God’s image, each and every one of us.

We may not realize how important it is to respect and affirm the people we come in contact with.  A man who spent five years in solitary confinement in prison wrote this: “I would like to explain to people how much we need human validation.  The very essence of life is human contact, and the affirmation of existence that comes with it.  Losing that contact, you lose your sense of identity.  You become nothing.”  We must never treat another person made in God’s image as if they were nothing.    

We can help break down prejudice and restore justice by seeing God’s image in each person and by affirming that persons’ dignity. Each person receives dignity from God, and we trample that dignity when we refuse to speak to a person or when we treat a person badly.  But we can bring healing and restoration by loving people through the power of the Holy Spirit.  The way we treat another person is all important.  Justice requires tangible love. 

  We can let justice roll down by welcoming the stranger.  (Deuteronomy 10:19, Leviticus 19:33-34) Scripture says: “Love must be sincere.  Hate what is evil: cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in love.  Honor one another above yourself.  Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.  Practice hospitality.”  (Romans 12:9-13) 

We can bring justice to a situation by welcoming the stranger and the enemy. Any movement toward the stranger may be an act of justice.  Something happens when we show hospitality and make space for the stranger or the enemy. We can be open to what God has for us to do. He has a part for us to play in this world. Scripture says that when we have shown hospitality to strangers sometimes we have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2)   There is a spiritual world out there that is affected by what we do.

Jesus’ ministry was both healing and being present to people.  Healing can be physical or social or spiritual.  And healing takes place when we restore peace again where there was not peace before. Jesus calls us to follow Him in this ministry.  We are called to love the enemy and to pray for him/her.  Not to get back at or fight with the enemy but to trust God to deal with the problem.  We have an awesome God who promises to take care of us and to restore what has been taken from us (relationships), if not here on earth, then in heaven. If we are not able to bring justice to a situation, we can pray and stand back and trust God to bring His justice in His time.  We can know that God is by our side.  He never abandons us. 

We are God’s people and He calls us, as He called ancient Israel, to stay away from other gods  or from idols. The gods that are worshipped in our modern world may not be giant statues on high hills like in the olden days.  But we have our own modern idols just the same, the many idols that take the place of God. The idols of our modern world appear to offer hope and money, success, power, entertainment and pleasure.  We are so tempted to dance and sacrifice before them. 

And we are tempted to build up our own reputation by turning our backs on the poor and by fighting our enemies.  Build ourselves up by putting them down.  We lie and hate and sacrifice to the gods of power, sex and money just like the heathens do.  And we tell ourselves that we can get ahead and make more people like us if we do these things. 

But God comes along and reminds us that we are His people and we are to put away all of these things. Our sins have been forgiven by Christ and we belong to Him and not to ourselves. We are to follow God and He will take care of all of our needs, through Christ He will forgive all our sins and in His time He will answer all of our prayers.  All He requires of us is that we “Act justly and love mercy and walk humbly with our God.”  (Micah 6:8)     

 

God Renews Your Youth like the Eagle's (Psalm 103)

God Renews Your Youth like the Eagle’s

Psalm 103

Psalm 103 is all about what a loving and forgiving heavenly Father we have.  And it is also about reminding us to bless and praise Him.  This Psalm begins and ends with “Bless the Lord, O my soul.”  And all throughout the Psalm, David the writer, reminds himself (his soul) to bless and praise his God.  He rehearses all of God’s blessings to encourage himself in his faith.  And we can do this too. 

Psalm 103 describe God as the One: “Who redeems your life from destruction.

Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies. 

Who satisfies your mouth with good things.

Who renews your youth like the eagle’s.”  (verse 4-5)

God redeems or saves our soul from destruction because of His great love for us.  (John 3:16)  And God places a crown on our head, a crown of His loving kindness and tender mercies!(vs 4)    In another Psalm we see this same theme: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”  (Psalm 23:6)  When we are crowned with God’s loving kindness and when His goodness and mercy are following us throughout our life, we are truly living a blessed life, wouldn’t you agree? 

Psalm 103 also tells us that God “renews our youth like the eagle’s?”  What could this passage mean?  The eagle is one of the strongest and longest lived birds on the face of the earth. Naturalists tell us that the eagle casts all her feathers or she changes them each year at molting time.  Fresh feathers replace the old ones and she renews her strength and appears young again..

 When we allow Jesus into our lives, we receive the graces and comforts of His Spirit, which renews our minds and souls from the decay of this world.  As we believers travel life’s journey the Holy Spirit teaches and leads us into all Truth which invigorates us and gives us peace and joy. And when we open our lives to Jesus, He fills us with new life and seals us with His Spirit which is the earnest or the guarantee of our eternal life. (2 Corinthians 5:5, Ephesians 1:14 and 2 Corinthians 1:22) With Jesus our life becomes a light and joyful journey! So it can be said that we return to the days of our youth.  (Job 33:25) Because our hope and joy and new life make us young in spirit. 

This Psalm is all about what God does for us.  And much here is written about God’s forgiveness of our sins.  He is a God who: “forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” (verse 3) A God who:” has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.” (verse 10) “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him.  As far as the east is from the west.  So far has He removed our sins from us.”  (verses 11-12)   We have a heavenly Father who abundantly pardons and restores!

When it mentions God healing our diseases, what does that mean? The Old Testament promise of bodily healing was based upon the character of God (Yahweh) who is our “Healer”.  Here in Psalm 103 we have a promise of spiritual healing that also includes physical healing. This involves the idea of mending or curing.  God is not only forgiving sins but He is healing diseases.

Until we take our place in heaven we are still sinning and repenting as God is still forgiving and healing.  Only when we are in heaven will we not sin any more at all.  We will be changed!  Changed by Jesus Christ!  (Revelations 21:4,27, Revelations 22:3, 2 Corinthians 5) Also our earthly bodies are now still mortal (they are imperfect, and won’t last -are dying) as God is mending and patching them for our use in this temporary earthly life.   But when we die these mortal bodies will be transformed into glorious immortal bodies (perfect bodies that will last and never die).  “This mortal (death) body shall put on immortal (life) body.” (1 Corinthians 15:53)

 When we take our place in heaven, our immortal bodies will not need any more mending or patching because they can no longer become injured or diseased.  God will completely heal them.  Jesus spent much of his earthly ministry healing the physical diseases of the people around Him.  But these people who Jesus healed eventually died and their healings lasted only for this temporary earthly life. But these amazing healing promises in the Bible reach across the divide of death and into the eternal.  They reach from the sinful, earthly and temporary to that which lasts forever and is sinless and victorious. The promises to heal will be completely fulfilled when we reach the glory land.    

Psalm 103 also speaks of God’s mercy toward us.  We read: “As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.  For He knows our frame: He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass:  As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.  For the wind passes over it and it is gone.  And its place remembers it no more.  But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting for those who fear Him.  And His righteousness to their children’s children, to such as keep His covenant and to those who remember His commandments to do them.  The Lord has established His throne in heaven.  And His kingdom rules over all.”  (Psalm 103: 13-19)

We have even more precious promises here in Psalm 103!  These promises are not for those who reject Him but for those who “fear” or respect and obey Him. And these promises to us for our children and even their children. (Verses 13-19) We have a picture here of our heavenly Father pitying and being concerned about us as we walk through our earthly journey.  He knows that we are vulnerable – that we were made from dust.  That our life can end in a moment, like a flower blown away by the wind.

 But our God and Father is on our side and He will keep His covenant to His children, to those who remember His commandments and try to do them.  Our part is to trust and obey. We are weak but He is strong.  His kingdom rules overall and His throne is established in heaven and He will keep His promises to us.  He will hold us in His hand and give us eternal life.  Sin and death have been defeated. What joy is ours!  Christians cannot be pessimists. When we have a God like this, how can we lose?        

“     

 

How are we Christians to spend our Money and Time?

How are we Christians to spend our Money and Time?

God has given us our lives and our intelligence, our abilities, talents, health, and our ability to make money. Every good gift that we have, has been given to us by Him.   Scripture says: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father…” (James 1:17a) God encourages us to pray and ask for what we need and He promises to provide for us.

 God has given us the power to live our lives.  But that God given power is on loan.  And the greatest power we have is the power of compassion and of love.  We can keep our focus narrow and just on our self.  We can put all of our power and our life into things that impress others and build up our reputation and help make ourselves richer.  Or we can invest or give our lives to God and to what is eternal by broadening our life’s’ concerns and giving to others and caring about others as well.  The choice is ours as to how we invest this one life of ours.  We have been given the freedom to do what we want. This is our life and our time.  But let’s not miss this time or waste our life.

Christ calls us to invest our lives in what is eternal.  We see Jesus in His sermon on the mount calling the crowds to invest their treasures in heaven.  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal:  but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is: there your heart will be also.”  (Matthew 6:19-21)   What we do with our life and our money is important to Christ.  He cares deeply about whether we give our life to Him or we keep it just for ourselves. Sixteen out of the thirty-two parables Jesus told had to do with money and how we should handle it!

Jesus was asking his followers, and He is asking us, not to selfishly invest our time and money on useless things. Things that won’t last.  Or greedily keeping everything for ourselves.  But Jesus is calling us to invest in the kingdom of heaven.  To invest in what is durable and in what lasts.  Have a purpose for living. Scripture tells us that our generosity to the poor is a lasting investment!  Giving to the needy is a way of investing in the kingdom of heaven.  Our love and concern for the welfare of others pays dividends.  Jesus calls us to be His hands and feet and feed the hungry and visit the sick.  To take care of orphans and to spread the gospel.  He says that giving to the needy is the same as giving to Him. He calls us to a generous joyful way of being together.  To a loving life of sharing and giving and looking out for others as well as ourselves.  (Matthew 25:35-40)

We are caretakers of all that God has given us.  But how does God want us to live our lives in caring for ourselves and others?   How do we handle the time and money we have? Keep it selfishly for ourselves or keep what we need and give generously to a favorite cause?  And there are so many needs and causes.  Where is that place in our lives between “enough” and “excess”?   Each of us has to, with prayer and searching, find where that place is in our lives.  What is right for one Christian may not work for another. 

What does giving mean in our lives?  Are we givers or are we takers?   Do we keep everything for ourselves or do we reach out to make our world a better place?  Do we volunteer our time and talents?   Or do we work just for ourselves and our own benefit? Grasp for as much as we can get and turn our backs on those who have problems?  How do we handle money and how do we handle the stuff in life? 

 And how do we cast our vote as to how our society will live together and share resources?  Should our vote be in favor of our country raising taxes to provide opportunities, health care and a safety net for all?  Or should we keep taxes lower to help individuals and struggling business owners?  Should our taxes be given to people who don’t try to help themselves and live in ways we don’t approve of?  God calls us to struggle with many issues that are sometimes confusing.  We don’t always know which way we should go!  I believe that there are Christians on both sides of these issues. As Christians I believe that God calls us to love and cooperate with one another and work together as we try to follow Him.     

  Jesus warns that money is a terrible task master.  He says: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and money.”  (Matthew 6:24)   This statement of Jesus’ makes us ask ourselves, Is the accumulation of wealth in the driver’s seat in our life or is God in the driver’s seat?  

 And Jesus also warned: “Whoever finds his life will lose it and whosoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”  (Matthew 10:39)   I picture one Christian we knew who was a big show off and spent his time and money on himself.  His vision for his life was that of having as much pleasure as possible and making a name for himself.  He bought the priciest seats at sporting events, wore the most expensive name brand clothes, watches and jewelry, and drove only the fastest and snazziest cars. And he sued anyone who got in his way. He bragged about being a  spiritual Christian professor but rejected an offer to teach at a Christian university because he felt he was worth much more than this institution could offer him in a paycheck.  When this man died he left millions of dollars in his bank account but few showed up for his funeral! Do you think he was the loser or the finder of the life that Jesus talked about?

 The other person Jesus speaks of, the one that loses his life for Christ’s sake but finds it, this person sounds like another dear friend we knew who died a few years ago.  This friend was a dear Christian minister who loved people and served as a pastor to a large influential church for twenty-five years. As time went by he became concerned that his denomination was changing and slipping away from the gospel of Christ and was not serving God the way it once had.  He prayed and believed that God would have him move to another denomination.  But moving to another denomination would be costly for him and for his family.  He was not allowed to keep the money he had saved for retirement and he had to take a much smaller pay check.  He went ahead and moved to the other denomination and was again able to serve God the way he felt he should as pastor.  He lost money by changing denominations but he gained a better witness in his ministry. He died a poor man with little earthly goods, but many hundreds attended his funeral since he had loved and changed so many lives over the years.  Do you think he was one of the ones Jesus spoke of who would find his life?  I think so.

Jesus knew a secret that many of us may not have grasped.  When we give Him our lives, He never lets us lose.  We are always winners with Him. Always victors in Christ. We may lose money or friends or reputation.  It may seem that we are losing so much according to worldly standards.  But we are victors and winners according to heavenly standards.  If Jesus fed the five thousand people with that one small lunch the little boy gave Him, what will Jesus do with what you give Him?  I believe God will take what you give Him and multiply it beyond your wildest expectations!  He will expand your work in ways you can’t possibly imagine now!  Not until you reach the other side will you understand how glorious your life has been in Christ!  

.     

This Psalm Foretells Christ's Suffering, Death and Triumph Psalm 22

 The Psalm that Foretells Christ’s Suffering, Death and Triumph

Psalm 22

 

Psalm 22 describes and pictures Christs’ future sufferings on the cross. It even tells us what Jesus was thinking and feeling and how He was praying!  Intricate details of Jesus’ suffering and death are spelled out here. This amazing Psalm was inspired by the Holy Spirit and written by David a thousand years before these things ever happened!  This is indeed a prophetic Psalm.

 

The ridicule that Jesus received from the religious leaders is predicted here in Psalm 22 verse 7-8.  “All those who see Me ridicule Me.  They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying. ‘He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him:  Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!’”.   Those very same words of ridicule were actually spoken by the chief priests at the cross.  (Matthew 27:36-44)   

 

Second, in verse 16 b of this Psalm we read that Jesus’ hands and feet would be pierced.  “They pierced My hands and My feet.”  This prophecy was fulfilled at Jesus’ death.  (John 20:25)  Also the casting of lots for Jesus’ clothing was predicted in Psalm 22, verse 18.  “They divided my garments among them and for My clothing they cast lots.”  This was fulfilled at Jesus’ death and recorded here. (John 19:23, 24) 

 

Perhaps the most significant statement in Psalm 22 is the very first verse. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  Jesus cried out these very words from the cross as He was dying.  (Matthew 27:46)   When Jesus in agony was calling out to God, we see God turning away from His beloved Son who is bearing the sin of the world.  Jesus is bearing our judgment and also He is bearing our separation from God because of sin. 

 

Let’s read Psalm 22 now. 

 

Psalm 22

 

1)      “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?  Why are You so far from helping Me.  And from the words of My groaning?

 

2)     My God, I cry in the daytime but You do not hear:  And in the night season, and am not silent.

 

3)     But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.

 

4)     Our fathers trusted in You.  They trusted, and You delivered them.

 

5)     They cried to You, and were delivered.  They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.

 

6)     But I am a worm, and no man:  A reproach of men, and despised by the people.

 

7)     All those who see Me ridicule Me:  They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

 

8)     “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him:  Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him! 

 

9)     But You are He who took Me out of the womb:  you made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts. 

 

10)  I was cast upon You from birth.  From My mother’s womb You have been My God.

 

11)  Be not far from Me.  For trouble is near:  For there is none to help.

 

12)  Many bulls have surrounded Me: Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.

 

13)  They gape at Me with their mouths, Like a raging and roaring lion.

 

14)  I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint:  My heart is like wax:  It has melted within Me.

 

15)  My strength is dried up like a potsherd.  And My tongue clings to My jaws:  You have brought Me to the dust of death.

 

16)  For dogs have surrounded Me:  the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.  They pierced My hands and My feet:

 

17)  I can count all My bones.  They look and stare at Me.

 

18)  They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.

 

19)  But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me:  O My Strength, hasten to help Me!

 

20)  Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog.

 

21)  Save Me from the lion’s mouth And from the horns of the wild oxen!  You have answered Me.

 

22)  I will declare your name to My brethren: In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.

 

23)  You who fear the Lord, praise Him!  All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him.  And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel! 

 

24)  For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted:  Nor has He hidden His face from Him:  But when He cried to Him, He heard. 

 

25)  My praise shall be of You in the great assembly, I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.

 

26)  The poor shall eat and be satisfied, those who seek Him will praise the Lord.  Let your heart live forever!

 

27)  All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord.  And all the families of the nations shall worship before You.

 

28)  For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations. 

 

29)  All the prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship.  All those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him.  Even he who cannot keep himself alive.

 

30)  A posterity shall serve Him.  It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation.

 

31)  They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, that He has done this.    

 

God speaks about Christ’s future sufferings through David in this Psalm and God also speaks through Isaiah about Christ being our suffering Servant.  (Isaiah 53.)  Psalm 22 is similar to Isaiah 53 describing Israel’s future Messiah as a Man of Sorrows as well as the Savior and God the Son. The religious leaders who ridiculed Christ at the cross must have overlooked those passages of Scripture describing their future Messiah.  They didn’t recognize their Messiah when He came to save them.  Are there religious leaders today who fail to see their Savior and persecute Him instead?  Do we always recognize Jesus today in some of His disguises?

 

In verse 21b of this Psalm it says: “You have answered Me.”   This is saying that God came and answered Jesus’ cries on the cross.  This great evil – the cross – was turned around to be the salvation for all who would not refuse. The resurrection of Jesus was an answer to Jesus’ prayers on the cross and to the prayer of every sinful human.  Christ has paid the price and triumphed over sin and death through the cross.  He is victorious over death!  And we are victorious in Him!  Because He lives, we shall live also!  Five things are spoken here of the satisfaction and triumph of Christ in His death. 

1)     That He should have a Church in the world.  The Church is called the “Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16)

2)     That God would be honored and glorified in Christ by that Church.  He foresees this with pleasure.   As His Church, we are called to praise and glorify Him in verse 23.

3)     That those who seek Him will praise Him and live forever.  Verse 26

4)     That the Church of Christ will extend itself to all the corners of the earth. (verses 27-28)

5)     And that the Church of Christ should continue through all the ages of time. 

Those last verses of Psalm 22 read: “All those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him.  Even he who cannot keep himself alive.” (Verse 29b)  We will all die because none of us can keep ourselves alive past a certain point.  But we commit our souls to Jesus Christ who is able to save us and keep us alive forever!

 

And Psalm 22 closes with: “A posterity shall serve Him.  It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation.  They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will yet be born.  That He has done this.”  (Verses 30-31)  We are part of this glorious universal Church which is the body of Christ, and which will continue on through all time.  Many of us heard the gospel of Christ from Christians who lived in our parent’s generation.  And we accepted Christ as Savior through their prayers.  And now our privilege is to pass on this precious gospel to the next generation. The Church of Christ will continue through all the ages of time. 

 

 

    

 

 

 

Rules for Living the Christian Life

Rules for Living the Christian Life

 

John Wesley (1703-1791) was used by the Lord to reform England. He was one of the founders of the Methodist Church which was an offshoot of the Anglican Church of England. Wesley’s Methodist followers became a national force.  He rode around England preaching the gospel to all who would listen.  John Wesley wanted everyone to know Jesus as their Savior.  And wherever he preached, lives were changed.

 

In 1739 a group of Wesley’s followers came to him and asked that he give them some rules about how a Christian should live.  Wesley taught his followers to live a Spirit filled life and to allow the Holy Spirit to guide them and to pray and read the Bible.  But they begged him for some simple rules to follow. So John Wesley came up with what he called the “General Rules.”  And here they are:  1) Do no harm.  2) Do good of every sort.  3)  Stay in love with God.

 

These rules sound simple enough but watch out because they are not always so easy to follow.  And John Wesley’s rules agree with what Jesus had to say about how we are to live our lives.  When Jesus was asked what God’s Law calls on us to do, He also kept it short and simple and answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength, and all your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)  

 

 John Wesley’s “General Rules” for living are really similar to Jesus’ simple rules.  If we love our neighbor as our self we will do him/her no harm.  And when we love God first of all and our neighbors as ourselves, our great love will fill our hearts to overflowing and drive us to do good of every sort everywhere we go. 

 

Wesley’s first rule, 1) “Do no harm” is probably the hardest rule to keep.  We are to do no harm to ourselves or to our neighbors or to the people who do harm to us! There are so many ways to do harm.  Cutting a person off in traffic or not speaking to a person.  Being rude or making an unkind remark. Gossiping and passing on destructive rumors and listening to negative gossip. Being passive in a destructive relationship. Insulting or making fun of another person or persons.  Lying about others.  Robbing another of their possessions or their reputation or their life.  Tearing apart a family by committing adultery.   Dishonoring one’s parents.  The list goes on and on.  We need to keep track of ourselves to see that we are doing no harm. To love others, even our enemies.  God will help us do this. If we can’t say something good to say nothing at all.  Pray that God will show us where we are sinning and where we need to change.  

Actions speak louder than words.  If you want to lead people to Jesus but you are un-kind towards some, your witness for your Lord will be a poor one, if you have any witness at all.  Some Christian groups today are so constantly mean spirited and critical of our nations’ leaders at the same time that they are insisting that they know Jesus that I fear they drive people away – people who are searching for God.  It’s heartbreaking to watch!

 

We are called to be fishers of men. (Mark 1:17)  To bring people to Christ. Many people are looking for the right way. They have a void in their lives that only Christ can fill.  These people go to church and find that the Christian folk who can lead them to Christ and show them the Way are also the same folks who are doing harm to others!  These Christians who have the light have hidden their light under a bushel.  Their anger and hate have covered up the light they have.

 

People will notice when they can trust you to do no harm. They are searching for what is right and good, searching for light in a dark world.  And Jesus is the Way and the Light. And if we believe in Jesus we have His light in us.  Jesus calls us to hold our light up high and let it shine for all to see.  To not hide our light under a bushel.  Scripture says: “Let your light so shine before other people that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”  (Matthew 5:16)  This Scripture in Matthew 25 goes on to tell us what Jesus warned would happen to those who refused to feed the hungry and help the poor. One of the ways we can let our light shine for Jesus is to be a person who does no harm to others.

 

The second of Wesley’s general rules is:  2) “Do good of every sort.”  Jesus calls us to feed the hungry, take in the stranger (immigrant), visit the sick and the prisoners, give to the poor, and help the hurting.  He says that when we do these things we are doing it to Him.  (Matthew 25:35-40)   When we help others we enliven our own faith.  And we will be blessed too. To have faith but to not put it into practice is to not have much of a faith at all.  Scripture says: “Faith without works is dead.”  (James 2:14-26)  Let’s not have a dead faith!

 

 We can do good in small ways, as well as large ones.  A smile, a kind word, a helping hand.  I believe that our Father in heaven will multiply the good that we do. That’s the kind of heavenly Father we have!  We serve a loving, forgiving, generous and merciful God!  With God our good deeds will increase and expand and bear interest in ways that we may never imagine.  It’s exciting to serve such an amazing God!  Yes, one of the ways we can let our light shine for Jesus is to do good of every sort.

 

John Wesley’s third general rule for living the Christian life is to: 3) “Stay in love with God.”  In any relationship, in order to keep the flame burning brightly we need to be faithful and work at it.  And it is the same in our relationship with our heavenly Father.  Scripture says: “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”  (James 4:8)  We will be drawn to God by the Holy Spirit.  But we need to do our part and keep our faith in Him active.

 

 By staying close to God we need to guard our precious faith and never let anyone water it down or take it away.  Stay away from those false

teachings and build up your faith by believing God’s Word, the Bible. Staying in love with God means recommitting ourselves to Him each day.  Obeying Him. Confessing our sins and turning from them. Staying in communion with God. Praying, singing praises to God, worshipping Him, studying the Bible and joining a group of fellow believers.  Our faith and joy in the Lord will grow by getting involved.  We need to find a loving, Bible believing church and then join it.  Help support it with financial gifts or teach a class, usher or sweep floors.  Each believer has something to offer

 

. When we are in love with God we will hear His Voice.  There will be a cross to carry but we will also have a life of joy and adventure. We will hold our light up high and our light will shine brightly for all to see when we always keep staying in love with God.