Love Them Like Jesus!

This week, while Bev and I were walking through the deep water of her illness, our home was visited by Jesus!  For you who think literally let me make it clear -  the Presence of Jesus is always with us and He did not walk into our living room in the flesh.  Or, maybe He did.  He came with a loaf of fresh baked bread for our dinner one day. He came to help out and sit as company through long, pain-filled hours. He came with prayers of encouragement.  There are those who question the value of being part of a local congregation or who move every couple of years to the church where ‘the Spirit’s moving.’  I hope they never need the support that we are finding in long-time relationships, built with God’s people.

The gifts of encouragement that come our way – hugs, prayers, cards, visits, calls – are the only thing that keeps us going some days. This week, my knees were wobbling, my heart so crushed that I I thought I could not go on and then somebody would send a text or extend the love of Jesus.  In their encouragement, I found the strength to go on.

Joseph, who we meet in Acts 4, sold his possessions and gave the money to the church to help those in need. He came alongside of Paul, when the church was still very suspicious of the motives of the former Pharisee and offered his endorsement.  Over time, people forgot Joe’s real name. We know him as Barnabas.  Why that name? "Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus." (Acts 4:36, NLT)   Barnabas loved people and was Jesus with skin on to many, so they called him - Son of Encouragement!  What a model for us.

The Bible says, “If your gift is to encourage others, do it! . . . And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Don't just pretend that you love others. Really love them. . . Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” (Romans 12:8-10)   It is so practical and in the hustle of life so easily forgotten.  Again, the Bible says, "Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds." (Hebrews 10:24, NLT)

So, how you might be an encourager today?

1. Send a note of sincere appreciation to someone.
2. Take note of a ‘servant’ somebody working behind the scenes and compliment their efforts.
3. Offer to pray with a friend that seems overwhelmed by life, then pray a positive prayer full of words of blessing.
4. Go beyond the job description and do what needs to done, joyfully.
5. Listen when someone needs to talk. You do not have to ‘fix’ them with advice. Often they just want to know somebody hears their voice!

I do not know who said it first, but I love the phrase. “Be Jesus with skin on.”  
Love like He did. Forgive like He did. Serve like He did. 
You never know who is ready to give up on life, who will be saved by your genuine expression of concern.

Here’s the word from the Word - "This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another." (1 John 3:11, NLT)  "If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead." (1 John 3:14, NLT)

"We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God." (1 John 3:16-20, NLT)

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Love Them Like Jesus (Link to song by Casting Crowns)

The love of her life is drifting away,

They're losin' the fight for another day.

The life that she's known is falling apart,

A fatherless home, a child's broken heart.

You're holdin' her hand, you're strainin' for words.

You're tryin' to make sense of it all,

She's desp'rate for hope,

Darkness clouding her view,

She's lookin' to you.

Just love her like Jesus, carry her to Him.

His yoke is easy, His burden is light.

You don't need the answers

To all of life's questions.

Just know that He loves her

And stay by her side,

And love her like Jesus,

Love her like Jesus.

The gifts lie in wait in a room painted blue,

Little blessing from Heaven would be there soon.

Hope fades in the night blue skies turn to gray,

As the little one slips away,

You're holdin' their hand, you're strainin' for words.

You're tryin' to make sense of it all,

They're desp'rate for hope,

Darkness clouding their view,

They're lookin' to you.

Just love them like Jesus, carry them to Him.

His yoke is easy, His burden is light.

You don't need the answers,

To all of life's questions,

Just know that He loves them,

And stay by their side.

And love them like Jesus

Lord of all creation,

Holds our lives in His hands.

The God of all the nations,

Holds our lives in His hands.

The Rock of our salvation,

Holds our lives in His hands.

He cares for them just as He cares for you.

So love them like Jesus,

Love them like Jesus.

You don't need the answers,

To all of life's questions.

Just know that He loves them,

And stay by their side,

And love them like Jesus.

Bernie Herms | Mark Hall

© 2005 Word Music, LLC (a div. of Word Music Group, Inc.)

My Refuge Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

No more fear, child of God!

The woman coped with a physical problem that made her ‘unclean’ in her culture.  For 12 long years she was the object of rejection, her malady causing many to believe she was a sinner and her sickness the judgment of God.  I wonder how many tears she shed alone and afraid. Had she started to believe that God had turned His back on her, too?   But, then one day there was a flicker of hope, a wisp of faith that stirred her to a choice. She "had heard about Jesus. She slipped in from behind and touched his robe. She was thinking to herself, “If I can put a finger on his robe, I can get well.” The moment she did it, the flow of blood dried up. She could feel the change and knew her plague was over and done with." (Mark 5:27-29, The Message)

Jesus knew this woman’s need went beyond the physical. Her heart needed a touch, too. The rest of the story is, to me, even more wonderful.  As the woman tried to slip away, thankful but still ashamed and fearful, He stopped and asked, “Who touched Me?”   "His disciples said, “What are you talking about? With this crowd pushing and jostling you, you’re asking, ‘Who touched me?’ Dozens have touched you!” But he went on asking, looking around to see who had done it. The woman, knowing what had happened, knowing she was the one, stepped up in fear and trembling, knelt before him, and gave him the whole story. Jesus said to her, “Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague.”  (Mark 5:31-34, The Message)

Daughter! Nobody spoke to her with endearing terms like that. But, He, the esteemed Jesus, made it clear to her and the crowd gathered around them that she was a daughter of God, that she was not a reject or worthless. In that moment, she found her complete healing!

So, do you deal with being ashamed, fearful, or guilty? 

Christian, even though Jesus has forgiven you, gave you the gift of eternal life, and invited you to ‘’come boldly to the Throne of grace to find mercy,”  are you still praying timid prayers, hiding, afraid to accept His love?  Perhaps  you have been told – with actions if not with words that   “You are too ________ (fill in the blank - ugly, stupid, fat, old, sinful) to be valued.”  Maybe you grew up in a home where words of value were rare as diamonds, where criticism was the norm.  It may be that you did fail spectacularly at some point, falling into sin.  After all this time there are those who remind you of what you did or just maybe you still have a hard time forgiving yourself.

Then, too, perhaps you come from the other side of that equation. With rigid self-discipline, you have pursued accomplishment, controlled your impulses, and made all the right kind of choices.  You got the right degree, live in the right neighborhood, married the right person, drive the right kind of car, dress in the right style …  Yes, your life is enviable because you ‘have it all together.’  But, you are afraid because that kind of life, built on being better, is just one slip from disaster and you know it.  You think that God loves you because you keep on doing more, but you wonder how long it is before you collapse.

Failure or ‘perfect’ (Nobody really is, by the way), God loves you because He is good.  The One who knows you best, loves you most!   God’s Word assures us that "since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings..." (Romans 5:1-4, NIV)   If we receive the grace of God by faith, accepting that we are justified; not excused but completely made ‘just as if we had never sinned,’ we are set free from feelings of shame, worthlessness, and guilt that keep us from running to the arms of our Abba and we actually learn to rejoice in the hard times because He is there with us.

Jesus Christ came to bring you home to your Father.  Accept His love.  Find freedom to live the ‘abundant life.’

Here is a word from the Word. "We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we are like Christ here in this world. Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that his love has not been perfected in us. We love each other as a result of his loving us first." (1 John 4:16-19, NLT)

Listen He is inviting you to His Table – child of the Heavenly Father!

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A Child Of The King

My Father is rich in houses and lands.

He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands.

Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold,

His coffers are full, He has riches untold.

I once was an outcast stranger on earth,

A sinner by choice and an alien by birth.

But, I've been adopted, my name's written down,

An heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown.

A tent or a cottage why should I care?

They're building a palace for me over there.

Tho' exiled from home yet still I may sing,

All glory to God, I'm a child of the King!

I'm a child of the King,

A child of the King,

With Jesus, my Savior,

I'm a child of the King!

Harriet Eugenia Peck Buell | John Bunnell Sumner

© Words: Public Domain

Investment advice - more than double your money

Ever hear of a “Ponzi scheme?”  Wikipedia defines it as “a fraudulent investment operation where the individual or organization pays returns to its investors from new capital paid by new investors rather than from profits earned.”  Bernie Madoff put together a swindle that stole an estimated $18 billion from investors over a long time.  His scheme finally collapsed in 2008 and since then his dishonesty has brought him a 150 year prison sentence, caused one of his sons to commit suicide, and destroyed his family. Thousands of individuals and organizations were financially ruined by Madoff’s fraud. What attracts most people into a Ponzi scheme? Usually it is a friend’s recommendation of a ‘fund’ that pays higher returns than average.  Often it is just an additional 2 or 3 percent higher promised return on their money, and for that, they risk it all!

The investor’s ‘rule of 72’ is fascinating. Want to know how long it will take to double your investment, if you allow the interest to compound?  Just take the interest rate and divide 72 by that number. For example, if you invest at 6%, it will take about 12 years to double your original investment.  God does so much better than that!  If you invest in His plan, you will never regret it.  It will take sacrifice, will cost you everything, but the return is beyond amazing! The returns are not merely doubling. They are a hundred fold. That’s right, 100x!  God’s never a debtor and what we invest in Him will find an amazing, rich reward. Here’s the prospectus:  "Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first." (Matthew 19:26-30, NIV)

Many people never realize a return on investment because they cannot ‘see’ that far into the future. Even though I lived on a small salary while raising a family each month I took a small sum and placed it in an account where I ‘forgot’ about it.  Some of those dollars have been there for 30 years! When I look at the balance sheet from time to time, I am fascinated by the growth of the fund.  I am a conservative investor so I have never enjoyed the large rates of return that some see, but I have not lost great sums either.  God willing, those savings will help to support me in the years when I am no longer working.

Some Christians cannot ‘see’ the value of investing in eternity. They love Jesus, but mostly for what they can enjoy in Him today. They do not tithe, serve, or consistently give themselves in worship preferring to spend their resources for temporary things.  He counsels a longer view. "Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be." (Matthew 6:19-21, NLT)

Are you investing in eternity?  Are you anticipating a rich reward?  God is never debtor!  What we put in His care is never lost and will find a hundred fold return on investment!

Here is the word from the Word - " Jesus said to the disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?" (Matthew 16:24-26, NLT)

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AIN’T THAT GOOD NEWS?

I ‘ve a crown in the Kingdom!

Ain’t that good news?

I’ve a crown up in the Kingdom!

Ain’t that good news?

I’m going to lay down this world,

Going to shoulder up my cross,

Goin’ to take it home to Jesus.

Ain’t that good news?

W. Work, 1940