Love? Is it real?

Jesus Himself said that love is the mark of His genuine followers. “By this will all people know you are my disciples – that you love another.”  You’re nodding your head in agreement, right?  Yet, think about it.
We are capable of ripping each other to shreds over when our traditions are threatened, our comfort impeded, or our beliefs challenged.
When a Christian fails or falters, observe the cruel, loveless judgments that come flooding on social media.
I have been appalled by the public musings of so many conservative Christians about various subjects that show hearts and minds that are anything but loving!

Love can be fragile, too, can’t it? Everyone knows the pain of a failed friendship. An angry word is spoken, a misunderstanding blows in like a summer thunderstorm, offense takes hold and becomes a fortress wall. A friend becomes an enemy and the wound goes deep! The love once enjoyed mysteriously turns into a bitter hatred.

Even familial love fails! Sons and mothers do not speak over some insignificant slight. Lovers who once could not stand to be apart for a moment become enemies who actively desire the destruction of each other.

So, can we really love? Is love just a mirage or momentary emotion or is it a profound choice for life, a way we learn to live to know the highest and best of the promises of Jesus?

One of the best books I have ever read on the complicated subject of human relationships is titled – Bold Love- (Dr. Dan Allender, NavPress, 1993). One of his assertions is that 'love is not natural.'

Allender writes, "There is an enormous drive in the fallen human personality that impedes the process of learning to love and an equally powerful force outside of every person that labors to destroy every effort to love. ... Complacency and presumption work hand-in-hand to blind even Christians to the importance of love and inherent battle involved in learning to love. IF we are to learn to love, we must begin with an acknowledgment that love is not natural and that love's failure is not easy to admit."

Let me rephrase that paragraph!
Sin and selfishness work inside of us and the Devil works outside of us- conspiring against love's birth and/or survival. Then, too, there is the false belief that love does not need daily care. Neglect allows it to cool until it dies, all the while we live in denial of the truth!

The only way we learn to love and remain loving is to be renewed constantly in the love of Christ! "We love each other because he loved us first." (1 John 4:19, NLT) Authentic and deep love like that of Jesus requires dying to Self. He insists that "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other." (Matthew 6:24, NLT) We cannot love God and ourselves at the same time. We cannot love others deeply while selfishly serving our own needs, either!

Is love challenged in your life?

Before you form a fist and attempt to force a change, go to your knees! Let the Lord of Love, love you!
Before you pray, "God make them change!" give the Holy Spirit full access to your heart and mind and let Him change you! Before you walk away, expressing hatred through cool contempt, ask God to help you love others - the same way that He loves you.

Love is a force for change that is more powerful than any weapon ever devised by human beings. At the same time, genuine Christ-like love often appears to be weak on the surface as we seek to understand others, when we are gentle and allow ourselves to be vulnerable. In fact, real love leaves us open to real HURT. C.S. Lewis wrote, “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken.”

The word from the Word- "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." … "There are three things that will endure—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7,13, NLT)

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Video at https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55

Compassion for Clancy?

Given all the attention the story has received recently you must know at least the outlines of a horrific story out of Massachusetts. A young mother, Lindsay Clancy, killed each of her children not long after the birth of her third child, then cut her own wrists and jumped out of a 2^nd story window in attempted suicide. The tragic aftermath so very dark – there are three little bodies buried, she lives as a paraplegic, her marriage ended, and an extended family lives with awful grief.

Her trial ended this week with a hung jury, 11 voting to acquit her by reason of insanity, 1 voting for conviction on murder charges.

I listened to people talk about the case this week and heard a range of responses. Some think she should receive a death penalty. A few suggest she should die an awful death like her children did. Some think she really was out of her mind and should be treated with compassion.

Ours is a culture that knows little about mercy. “Give’em what they deserve,” we insist. American jails and prisons are full to overflowing. Our political system is in a state of constant war, the ‘win’ valued more than trying to think about the issues with an understanding for the other guy. We take a perverse delight in the fall and/or destruction of the famous, the powerful. 

So, on which side do you tend to lean – for blind justice or tender mercy?

Having known grace, the mercy of God, I desire to lean into it for others. Yes, I find the results of evil often repulsive, and my reflex is to “Give that person what he deserves!”  But, often with a silent prayer, I ask God to forgive me first, and then to create a tender heart in my that is willing to enter the experience of another with the hope of redemption.

What is mercy? It is showing another compassion or forgiveness when it is without your ability to punish or condemn them. It goes beyond withholding judgment out of politeness as in thinking ‘what an idiot’ but not saying it aloud.

Mercy causes a person to consider the needs of the other, to actively pursue the best interest of one that may well justly deserve anger or rejection. Mercy is not to be confused with being naïve or incapable of facing reality like a grandmother who just cannot face up to the truth about her beloved grandson who is a brat for whom she makes all kinds of excuses.

Evil is real. People do awful things, sometimes because they are truly evil, without conscience, consumed by sin’s darkness. It is wrong to excuse all wrong, to ignore the need for justice and judgment, however, we should come to that place carefully, prayerfully, and only after weighing ALL the factors.

Yes, justice is good, but our ‘justice’ is frequently flawed, often colored by self-interest, or fails to account for the context of the actions of another. We need to think about the possibility of redemption or change. We get angry when someone is unkind, or selfish, or hurtful and we want them to pay … except that Jesus calls us to be different. Are you full of mercy? Jesus says that it is a pathway to joy! "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." (Matthew 5:7, NIV)

The mercy to which God calls us is modeled after His own. He knows us inside out, seeing our core motives, knowing even our ‘secret’ sins. And He holds out hope and renewal. "Where is another God like you, who pardons the sins of the survivors among his people? You cannot stay angry with your people forever because you delight in showing mercy. Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!" (Micah 7:18-19, NLT)

If we keep a careful record of every slight, every hurt, refusing to be merciful – we become a captive of anger, turning into a sour, cynical individual. No wonder Jesus tells us mercy is a choice that leads to ‘blessedness.’

Dear Christian, are you harsh?
Are you quick to judge?
Do you live in the Old Testament law – “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth?”
Are you a critic?
Do you cast blame on others?

Our word from the Word calls us, in the Spirit, to a new way. "Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible. Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God.

For it is written, “I will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it,” says the Lord. Instead, do what the Scriptures say: “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink, and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you.” Don’t let evil get the best of you but conquer evil by doing good."
(Romans 12:17-21, NLT)   

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Father, help us! It’s hard to let You judge,
to release those who hurt us from our condemnation.
Teach us to be merciful, compassionate, and wise through the Spirit.
In Jesus’ name. Amen

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Video at https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55

Morning Prayer 91

 

Abba, a new morning brings challenges, dreams, work, and hopes – some old, some new. I pray that the Spirit will renew my heart and mind making me ready to meet this day as You would desire. May my will be shaped to Yours.

This world shudders and quakes;
floods, fires, wars, and human cruelty visiting suffering on millions.

Oh, Lord, I pray for that “Your kingdom would come, that Your will would be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”  Come, Lord Jesus, and reign over us, defeating sin’s curse and bringing Heaven’s joys to earth.

Make us aware of our own failures to love well. When we turn to You may the Spirit flow into us and then through us so that we will be a source of hope and genuine care for others. Take our selfishness away and give us generous hearts that choose the best, the highest, the true.

I thank You for the profound grace in the Gospel of Christ Jesus – the message of restoration to You, our Father, through Him. Keep us from religious pride, from trying to do what You have already fully done – remembering that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

I love you, Lord, and pray these things in the Holy Name of Jesus. Amen.

Heart Broken?

Are you crying? Is your heart broken?

I do not like to spend time talking about sorrow. It is not my way to ‘moan’ my prayers or to rehearse my disappointments, and yet I know that our days include many things that cause pain, that we walk through seasons of terrible grief. Yes, I have known a broken heart and my life as a pastor has led me close to the tears of many.

When tears flow and my heart is crushed, I bring this Word to mind: "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." (Psalm 34:18, NIV)  

John’s Gospel lets us see the heart of Jesus. His friend, Lazarus, died and when Jesus went to Bethany, Mary and Martha, both accused Him of being uncaring, for not showing up when they called on Him. Their words are full of both grief and anger - “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  And how did the perfect Man respond? Not with defensiveness nor by pulling away from them. John tells us simply that “Jesus wept." (John 11:35, NIV) We have the advantage of knowing ‘the rest of the story’ and see that Jesus was displaying His authority even over death itself when He raised Lazarus from the dead. But it moves me to know that He entered into the grief of those sisters letting His heart be broken with theirs.

My friend, He knows your sorrow. He knows the sting of rejection. He knows the disappointment of being misjudged and/or falsely accused. He knows the pain that comes with suffering in the body. Isaiah, that that majestic 53^rd chapter, reminds us that "He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief ..., it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.”  The prophet goes on to tell us that from His willingness to endure that grief came our salvation, our healing, our hope of restoration to our Father.

My friend, your broken heart can be the means that God uses to turn you to Himself or a way that He makes you aware of the need to lean on Him with true faith. “If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.” (Oswald Chambers) From experience I know that suffering can break us from self-reliance, from pride making us grace-filled, tender hearted, focused more clearly on eternity.

Not long after I walked with Bev through months of awful sorrow and pain and then lived with the crushing grief of her death, someone told me - “You are a much better Pastor these days. You know how we feel when we are sad.” I am not just trying to find a silver lining in those dark clouds! While I still wish my lovely wife walked by my side, it is clear that the sorrow of that loss has made a true difference in me.

Are you dealing with a broken heart? Be willing to let God do His work. The natural desire is to find some diversion, some way to avoid sorrow. Instead, let yourself feel the suffering and enter into it with Christ at your side. Don’t try to numb your soul by turning up the noise or burying yourself in pleasure. Those things offer no balm for the soul.

No, we need not wallow in self-pity, nor must we live with a long face! But, there are times when we do well to quietly wait on God. There can be healing when we allow our tears flow. Be gentle with those who try to rush you from the process of grief offering well-meant platitudes and clichéd words of ‘comfort.’  Perhaps they have never hurt in the way that you do but they mean well.

Do not forget to ask the Holy Spirit to protect you from becoming a cynic, seeing only the worst, the awful, and the failures of others. Descending into that way of life does not heal or help. It just makes a person one who is self-absorbed and mean!

Finally, I want to tell you, with the words of David that “weeping may remain for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”  (Psalm 30:5) Truly God is the healer of broken hearts. Our ultimate hope rests on the promise of an eternal home.

The word from the Word is a shout of triumph from John, the apostle who had known great sorrows. The Spirit inspired him to assure us of this -
"I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making all things new!” (Revelation 21:3-5, NLT)

Hold on! Let sorrow do the work it must and, by faith, let Jesus walk through the darkness with you. Then, receive the joy that comes with the morning.

Amen.

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Video at https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55

Courage+Faith=Victory

The teenage shepherd arrived at the camp of Israel’s army with food for his brothers. He was not held in high regard by those older siblings who saw his sheep-tending, harp-playing, and song writing as unmistakable evidence of his inferiority. He found his brothers and the army cowering before a Philistine champion who roared out his challenge to both Israel and God every day! “Why are you all coming out to fight?” he called. “I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down here and fight me! If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves!" (1 Samuel 17:8-9, NLT)

The man was a freak of nature who stood at least 2 feet taller than the tallest Israelite soldier. His armor alone weighed more than 100 pounds. Who could meet him on the field of battle and succeed? It was an impossibility, or so it appeared to every reasonable man with military experience!

David did not see a force of nature; he saw an insult to the Lord God of Israel.
Faith rose up in him. He asked, "Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Samuel 17:26, NLT)

The boy’s words grated on his brothers who dismissed him as a stupid and arrogant child! Goliath mocked him. "The Philistine ridiculed David. “Am I a dog that you come after me with a stick?” And he cursed him by his gods. “Come on,” said the Philistine. “I’ll make roadkill of you for the buzzards. I’ll turn you into a tasty morsel for the field mice.”  (1 Samuel 17:43-44, The Message)

Faith fed courage and we know the story well. It’s been told a billion times. David pulled one of the smooth stones from a pouch at his waist, put in his slingshot and dropped the champion on the field, then using his own sword to separate his head from his body!

What defies the Living God in your life?
Does doubt shout inside your head?
Does fear of the future paralyze you?
Does hatred squeeze life out of you, defying your attempts to go around it?
Is the lure of materialism drowning the voice of the Spirit and beating every attempt to defeat it?

What or Who is your giant?

David’s story inspires us and teaches us that COURAGE that is fed by FAITH will lead us to victory. We cannot sit passively and hope to be rescued. We will not succeed if we determine, by our own wit or wisdom, to take on the giant. But, if we pray for faith, feed that faith with Word and worship, courage will grow and lead us to take on the giant and find victory.

Faith that flows from a daily conversation with God and truth of the Scripture. Pray often, "Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions." (Psalm 119:18, NLT)  

Ponder this - Do you see only the probable or do you see the possible?
Is your vision sharpened by faith that allows you to walk in the power of the Spirit, doing the supernatural work of a living God?

Faith is not an easy choice, nor will it thrive without care. A man brought his tormented son to Jesus asking for healing IF Jesus could do it. The Savior’s answer was to ‘believe.’ The man knew his own doubts, his fear. Here is the passage that inspires ME. “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly replied, “I do believe, but help me not to doubt!”" (Mark 9:23-24, NLT) Don’t you love that? He turns even in his doubt to faith in the Living God. Yes, friend, we should too. We do not have to wait for some special feeling of faith, some stirring of emotion. We lean on the Spirit and pray for greater faith, then we take a step of courage.

Here’s a word from the Word. Read it slowly, prayerfully. Let the amazing promise soak into your soul and mind today; then take on that giant!

"When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.

And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.

Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:14-21, NLT)

Amen.

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Video at https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55

Morning Prayer 89

 

Abba, I come to You with a heart of gratitude for Jesus, for the assurance of “life abundant” and eternal! That the Creator of the Universe would come to us, giving us hope and showing us love stuns me, leaving me only to be quiet before You.

Storms are raging across our land, Father. Floods, fires, and terrible winds are destroying property and disrupting the lives of thousands. I ask that You speak “Peace, be still” to the tempests. Help us to remember our neighbors with more than words.

Forgive us, Lord, for seeking comfort, status, or fulfillment in things and temporary pleasure, spending ourselves into debt and consuming far more than we should. Teach us to live this wisdom from Your Word: "Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. …
 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction." (1 Timothy 6:6-9, NIV)

Keep us from the wiles of the Tempter.
Hold us near to the heart of God.
Teach us to seek You – first.
Let the way we live match our profession of faith.

In Jesus’ Holy Name. Amen