Month: October 2020

I have written about love more than any other subject. That is because it is who God is and it is who we should be as His sons and daughters. Have you ever noticed that a lot of love songs could also be worship songs when applied to our relationship with God? I saw a quote recently that read, “I love you not just because of who you are, but because of who I am when I’m with you.” I’m sure it was originally used in a more romantic context, but that summarizes my feelings about my Lord. I am a better, more loving person with His Holy Spirit dwelling in my heart.

Have you had a soul mate that made you a better, more loving person because of your close relationship with them? I had that privilege for over 50 years and it still lingers with me to this very day. That was because we were involved in a love triangle. Not the kind you may think. We were both Christians when we met and we vowed from the beginning to include God in our marriage and our love for each other. Our mutual love for Him made us even more loving to each other.

The English language is so confusing at times because we assign many meanings to the same word. Love is one of those words. When we like something a lot, we say we love it. We love our parents and family members, but it is a different love than the intimate love we feel for our spouse. As followers of Christ, we are told to love and care for our neighbor. Then we are told that our neighbor can be someone outside of our circle or community; even our enemy.

Getting back to the quote; have you ever felt like a better, more loving person yourself, because of who you are with at the time? Have you ever made someone else a better, more loving person because you were with them? I can honestly answer yes to both questions and I can assure you that both of those situations are extremely rewarding. We need to continually look for ways to use love and encouragement to improve the lives of others. We also need to be responsive to the love and encouragement others offer us. It will make the world a better place – one person at a time beginning with you and me.  

Most Bibles print the words of Jesus in red to give them emphasis and reverence. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are narratives of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection; so they are filled with red ink. We sometimes overlook that well after His return to heaven; Jesus spoke to John in a vision while he was exiled on the island of Patmos. John recorded that vision in the book of Revelation. Jesus dictated seven letters for John to write down and send to seven churches. In the letter to the church at Laodicea, He accuses them of being lukewarm. (Revelation 3:16) Jesus makes it clear that is not what He wants of His followers.

Have you ever noticed how quickly ice melts in a drink as it becomes room temperature – neither hot nor cold? By the same token, a hot cup of coffee or tea quickly loses heat and also becomes room temperature – neither hot nor cold. When my brothers in Christ and I meet for breakfast on Saturday mornings, we have a terrific server who continually brings fresh, hot coffee to our table. It isn’t just to refill empty cups, but adding a “warm up” of freshly brewed coffee to keep the coffee in our cups from becoming room temperature. I think that gives us a clue as to how we can keep from becoming lukewarm Christians like those in Laodicea.

When we accept Christ as our Savior and feel the Holy Spirit take up residence in our heart, we are hot with enthusiasm. We want to share God’s love, mercy and grace with everyone around us; with the entire world if we could. Instead of warming up our environment, we find the world around us blowing on us to cool us to their “room temperature” – neither hot nor cold. There is only one way to keep that from happening. We must continually return to the Source and refill our cup with fresh enthusiasm until it overflows with a hot desire to obey and serve our heavenly Father. That is why we need to take time each day to read God’s word and spend time with Him in prayer. At least once a week, we also need to fellowship with other Christians; sharing our prayer requests and praise reports and worshiping together. Without continually refreshing our cup with a warm up in that manner, we cannot avoid becoming the same temperature as the world around us – lukewarm or even cooler.

We are the light of the world. (Matthew 5:14) We are in the world, but not of the world. (John 17:16) If we allow ourselves to become the same temperature as those around us, how will anyone see the difference God has made in our life? Why would they want to become like us when we are lukewarm like them? Aside from the bad effect becoming lukewarm would have on our witness and our Christian walk, Jesus told the members of that lukewarm church in Laodicea that He would spit them out of His mouth like lukewarm water. That should be a wakeup call for us to keep the heat turned up in our relationship with God.            

I’ve written many times that Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship – a personal relationship between you and God. To understand how that relationship is built, let’s first look at how we build a relationship with another person. We are social beings who long for relationships.

My most lasting relationship is with my wife. It began when we were introduced to each other by a mutual friend. We spent time together and got to know all of the things we had in common. As I got to know her we began to trust each other and that trust became the foundation on which the framework of our loving relationship and life together was built. It was then I realized that I wanted her to always be a part of my life. She still is a part of my life six years after going ahead of me to heaven. I have built other close relationships since then with brothers and sisters in Christ. Those are also built with a framework of love on the foundation of trust, but without the complication of romantic love Carol and I also shared.

Because God is so far above us with unlimited power and He has a strong aversion to sin, a relationship with Him would be impossible for me if He had not provided a way for it to happen. Jesus is the Way. (John 14:6)  He spans the gap between God and me. His shed blood cleanses my sin so I can enter God’s presence and spend the time to get to know Him. When Jesus died on the cross the heavy curtain in the temple that separated people from God’s presence was torn from top to bottom as a sign that through Jesus Christ we can now enter into God’s presence and commune with Him without the intercession of priests. (Matthew 27:50-51) God didn’t stop there. Once Jesus returned to heaven, He sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in the heart of everyone who believes in Jesus and accepts His sacrifice. When I read and study God’s word and spend time with Him in prayer, the Holy Spirit reveals more and more of God’s love, mercy and grace to me. In this mortal body with a finite mind, I can never know Him as He knows me, but I can build a strong relationship of love with Him on the foundation of trust.

What a friend we have in Jesus! He introduces us to His heavenly Father and with the help of the Holy Spirit; we are able to build a personal relationship with God that will be complete when we leave this life and enter His Kingdom for eternity with Him and all of our loved ones who are already there. What a reunion celebration that will be!    

An ambassador represents his or her nation and is accountable to the leader of that nation. Paul writes, “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’” (2 Corinthians 5:20) Later, he writes, “I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.” (Ephesians 6:20) Are you and I faithfully fulfilling our duty as Christ’s representatives here on Earth? Do others around us get a clear picture of Jesus Christ when they hear what we have to say and see how we live?

As for me, I have never been an ambassador for my country, although I did represent my country in the uniform of the U.S. Air Force. I have been a representative of nine different companies or organizations in my lifetime. In each of those positions, I followed the Apostle Paul’s instructions to work enthusiastically and willingly as if I were working for the Lord rather than for people. (Ephesians 6:7 and Colossians 3:23) Fortunately, not one of those organizations asked me to do or say anything for which I would be ashamed. I represented them honestly and fairly.

As a Christian, I am actually more than an ambassador; I am a member of the royal Family; following the instructions of my heavenly Father. I am related to Him by blood; the shed blood of Jesus Christ. He wants me to represent Him truthfully and boldly. He will never ask me to do anything for which I would be ashamed; but He does ask me to leave my comfort zone and risk being ridiculed and shamed by others around me. If they hate my heavenly Father, they will hate me and my message from Him. I don’t see that as a burden of being a child of God. Rather, I see it as a blessing and evidence I am walking in the footsteps of my Lord.

I don’t always feel special, but I am special in the eyes of my Creator and so are you, my brother or sister in Christ. We are all members of God’s ambassador team, but each of us has a different gift and a specific mission as an ambassador for Christ. Let’s perform our missions enthusiastically, boldly, willingly, joyfully and lovingly until we are called home with mission accomplished.  

We can’t control what others say to us or how they treat us, but we can control our response to them. The Old Testament philosophy of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” isn’t the answer, because we would just wind up with a world full of blind people gumming their soft diets.

Jesus gives us the answer, but it isn’t an easy one. He set the bar really high for his followers when he said, “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! Do good to those who hate you! In that way you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.” (Matthew 5:43-45) I knew Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Christian man of God when I heard him say, “Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a downward spiral ending in total destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate instead of convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love.”

How does all of this apply to Christians living in today’s world? We face an “us or them” culture that often encourages hateful speech or even violence toward those with whom we disagree. I have 254 friends on Face Book that includes close friends, acquaintances and some people I have only met on social media through mutual friends. On that list there are Christians and non-believers; there are members of both political parties; there are people with every shade of skin pigmentation; there are men and women; and there are people of various ethnicities social status and backgrounds. Over the years, I have never unfriended anyone and I have only been unfriended once by a young man who chose to accept a lie about political history from one of his professors. It was history I lived through so I tried to tell him what really happened and he could not accept that his beloved professor was wrong about it.

How do I remain on good terms with all of those diverse people? I refuse to stereotype any group or resort to name calling. I don’t take anything they share from their favorite website personally (even when it appears to be). I state my perspective using personal experience instead of opinion without demeaning other views. But most importantly, I express my love for each of them and I consult the Holy Spirit before posting a comment. Anyone whose anger has a hair trigger should stay away from social media altogether or only use it with close friends.  

I recently ran across a quote from Richard Dehmer; “A little kindness from person to person is better than a vast love for all humankind.” One reason I like that comparison is because it links kindness with love. I have quoted before that kindness is love with work boots on. I have also said before that love is not just something we say or even feel; it is something we do. Love is a verb. To feel love for someone and not express your love with acts of kindness is like wrapping a present for them and never giving it to them.

I know people who profess a love for all of the poor, needy and homeless, but instead of reaching out to someone in need, they campaign for government to use the tax dollars of others to help those in need. It may make them feel a little better about themselves, but it is not the most effective way to provide help and it certainly does not express love or kindness. Government programs are always wasteful and sometimes even corrupt. The motive behind such programs isn’t love or kindness, but an attempt to buy votes and make people rely more on government.  The ruling government in Jesus’ day was Rome. I cannot find a single time in scripture where Jesus encouraged the Roman emperor to protect, feed and care for the needy; but he did instruct his followers (including you and me) to do just that.

Jesus gave us the perfect example of person to person loving kindness, even from a very unlikely source, when he told the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). It illustrates what loving your neighbor with acts of kindness looks like; even when that neighbor is outside of your circle or your community. Don’t overlook Jesus’ instruction at the end of that story, “Now go and do the same“. Imagine how things would be different in our nation if every Christian believer would reach out with kindness across racial, ethnic, political and religious divisions to help someone who is hurting or in need.

With this emphasis on person to person kindness, I don’t want to minimize the good we can do by supporting faith based organizations that provide needed food, clean water or other provisions to people around the world. I just want to make sure that we don’t use such support to replace our personal kind acts.

We have witnessed how an unseen virus can spread around the world from person to person. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has spread around the world in that same manner; from person to person. Let’s infect everyone with whom we come in contact with God’s love through our acts of kindness in response to His Holy Spirit within us.

I ran across a song on YouTube by the Gaither Vocal Band titled Make It Real. It describes so well the search for a relationship with God. I want to share the lyrics with you. “I’ve seen a lot of crazy things done in Your name. I know the tricks behind the magic show. I’ve almost thrown the towel in a time or two and walked away from everything I know; but I can’t fill this emptiness inside of me or calm the troubled waters of my mind. So if You’re really out there and You’re listening, then prove to me that those who seek will find. If You can just see fit to show me some of who You are; if You can shed some light into this broken sinner’s heart. I need to know the truth and I need something I can feel. I need You to make it real. There must be some good reason why You’ve brought me here through valleys where the shadows hover close. Down here there’s a mask to cover every face. It’s Your sweet face I long to see the most; so if You think there’s just the slightest hope for me in spite of all my questions and my doubts; then let me hear Your still small voice speak out my name and let me know what others talk about. If You can just see fit to show me some of who You are. If You can shed some light into this broken sinner’s heart. I need to know the truth and I need something I can feel. I need You to make it real.”

Most of you reading this have already found your relationship with God; some of you have enjoyed it for almost as long as I have. But it is good once in a while for us to remember what it was like when we were seeking, so we can truly appreciate how far we have come by God’s mercy and grace. It will also help us relate to those around us who are still groping in the dark for the light switch of faith.

If you have come across this blog and you are still seeking for truth and something you can feel to fill that empty void inside you, I have some great news for you. God is seeking you just as fervently as you are seeking Him. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)       

When you repent of your sins, then believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ died on the cross in your place and then rose from the dead to prove His gift of eternal life, God’s Holy Spirit will come to dwell in your heart to fill that void just meant for Him. It is then you will begin your personal relationship with God. He will guide and comfort you through all of the challenges of this life and then He will bring you to be with Him forever. All of my other blog posts will begin to make sense to you as you live out your Christian faith. I can tell you from personal experience that God will make it real!