There are no Jews, no Greeks, etc... Part 13

There is a brother I know who is a functional alcoholic, who could drink at night and work the following day and maintain his existence for a little bit. But it has begun to affect his work and his ability to care for his daughter when his wife must go out to the grocery or to pick up the other kids. He has come late to work, he blames his wife for not waking him up in time to get to work or church, he falls asleep when caring for his 3 year old daughter. His wife is not totally blameless though. She has in the past demonstrated lack of sensitivity and compassion for him, prior to his taking up with the friendship of the bottle. All the way around a touch situation, in which either one could get out of. Except that they are both part of the body. There are issues both needed to deal with that they haven’t dealt with, and the drinking is just a symptom of filling a deep seeded need to have someone to love that isn’t going to love him even if he wants it. And as long as there is life, there is hope. God in his infinite mercy has shown this man’s wife that this man really is not as bad as he seems, that while she makes him realize that he is in danger of becoming a full-fledged no-doubt alcoholic, when he confessed and said he would change it was up to her to forgive him. At first this was hard for her to do, because she was quick to point out the good aspects of her ex-husband. So I quickly pointed out if her ex had come to her and asked for a second chance she would have given it to him. If that was so, how was it that she couldn’t give her present husband this opportunity. It had to do with forgiveness. How willing is she to forgive him for giving in to alcoholism and not share with his wife. When he came to her especially. If it weren’t for God in their lives, their married life would have crumbled like the wind on a dandelion. Because of God these two will make it. They have decided to follow what God tells them to do, and he is committed not to drink anymore, and she is committed to forgive him and to see the Christ that is in him. Jude 22, “…and of some have compassion…” comes to mind. I need to remember that above all, being in Christ is about looking at the world with compassionate, sensitive eyes. I need to remember the covenant that not only the collective “I” makes with God every time we worship Him in unison each Sunday to love, honor and obey Him, but also the covenant I personally have made with Him when I said I would be His. I also need to remember just how seriously He takes those covenants. In Genesis 17:14, and again in Exodus 12:15, I see just how seriously God takes His covenant, when the male uncircumcised child is cut-off from the rest of the people. What God says I and “I” must do. In Exodus 30:33-38, there are consequences to the Israelites disobedience. And there will be consequences to mine. In Leviticus 7:27 and 17:8,9 there are consequences for not obeying the law. Especially if I am a to be a leader among people. I must be clean, much as the man in Leviticus 20:18 and Leviticus 22:3. What that means is that my heart has to be pure and unblemished and as Jesus’ analogy of the cup, the inside of the cup has to be clean. (Matthew 23:25) Paul warns the early Christians of this over and over and over to use the scripture not to bind but to teach by example.(1 Corinthians 10:6) There is very little in fact in scripture that God commands us to do. “Love God with all your heart, soul, body and mind…(Matthew 22:37) When I do that, everything in the 10 Commandments becomes a given. Honor your father and mother, well of course I will because if I don’t I won’t be loving God. Even if the parent abuses his child, God understands, sees, knows, and will repay. (Rom ???) for the perversion of abusive parents. But that vengeance cannot come from me, only God. I am no different from that person because I cut with my words. Repent and be baptized, again of course, if I love God and wish to obey Him I will do as He says, I will change my heart, turn from my sinful life and participate in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

There Are No Jews, No Greeks, etc... part12

So how do I overcome? How do I become enveloped with His spirit and learn what it is to walk as Christ walked, to be Christ’s bride. It all boils down to relationship. What relationship that I want with God matters only to the extent that it will dictate the effort I will put into the relationship. What kind of relationship God wants with me is the important part and He already spells it out throughout the bible. God wants me to be part of His family. He wants me to be the bride of His son, collective with the other members of Christ’s Church, and He wants to call me His daughter. As His family, Jesus is the head, ordained by God, part and parcel of God, part of the holy trinity. This has been His plan since forever. (Ps. 87:5) As His family, I must come together with those God also considers part of His family. I must, Debbie must, Beth must, Roger must, Ron must, Ena must….we must all come together to be a collective “I”, because it is in that bonding I am part of His people, Debbie is part of His people, etc. (Hebrews 10:25) And how do I walk as He walked? In love (John13:24) the only way. In a love so totally alien to our concept of it. In camaraderie (Phil 1:4), in a deeply rooted walk in servitude, no matter what my brother or sister is doing. It really doesn’t matter whether or not they choose to walk in love, only that I do, because my example can change people. It is in realizing that whatever I think is my point of origin, I am a sinner, Debbie is a sinner, Beth is a sinner, etc because there is not anyone who doesn’t do something no matter how paltry against the law. (1 John 3:4) How am I to be cemented and firmed? By staying with those who are blameless, for the most part, and who will not look to be divisive and selfish. God cannot bless those who are looking to please themselves, or to express themselves in a worship service, because that is expression is not about God, it is about how good I look, see what God has made in me. It is a testimony to me, not to God. (Rom 16:17) I am His, as are the rest of His children, not anyone else’s (1 Corinthians 1:10) and divisions cause undo suffering and pain and ultimately loss of focus. I lose focus when I look to divide rather than to bind because I then begin to celebrate my differences and what makes me separate. I become carnal and self-absorbed. (1 Corinthians 3:3) and Paul over and over pleads and preaches to me and all of us for oneness in Him. I need to remember whose I am, and that this is the long haul and that God brought me into His family for a purpose. (1 Corinthians 12:13) As Romans 12:16 says, my attitude should “Be of the same mind, one toward another, mind not high things but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.” It doesn’t matter to God how far I’ve gone away from Him, just that I have humbly gone to Him and allowed Him to use me. But He knows when I truly love Him, and when I am lip-syncing. When I put my selfish desires first, when I desire something that while it may not be spoken against biblically, when I am driven to get that one thing, I cannot expect God to say, “Of course you can have it”. What is my motive behind any of my requests, whether it is for a new refrigerator for the Church Kitchen, or to be able to successfully to put on a drama after church? What is my motivation? Am I doing this to benefit the congregation? Does it uplift the body? And if it does, if it is sweetness and sugar, while I am in church do I remember my sole purpose for being there, to immerse myself in the Godhead, to become so in tuned to His will that I can go forth the rest of the week and love everyone, my neighbor included? Are there divisions in the body, whether I cause them or not? People use the expression “comfort zone” to mean something other than the box we try to put one another in so that we may uplift one another the way we want them uplifted. Why do we always seek to have people see our way? Why not see things God’s way? Bringing me back to the point, what is God’s way? God surely gave me a free will, enabling me to use my own mind to understand or put two and two together to come up with four. He made me different from Russ, from Debbie, from even my mother, in shape, in physique, in strength, in the very component that makes me who I am. I am who I am. Isn’t that what God told Moses to call Him, the Great I AM? Well, I am, Debbie is, Russ is part of that I AM. There is no conjugation, our individual make-ups come together to form not a We Are but an I Am. We are all part of God, His children, His genetic component. And because of that, we all have an equal opportunity to be cut away should the branch die or be diseased. And all of us have those parts that need pruning each and every minute we walk this earth. We are all different, but we are all parts of the whole, and in God we who are many become the collective “I”. Because of that, each part is necessary and none is less or more important than the other. I am no more or less important that Debbie, than Russ, than Bill, than Gary, than Jane, than Cathy, than Tim. The list is endless. The point is, because there is no difference between another and I, I must be compassionate.

There are no Jews, Greeks, etc. Part 11

God writes those names in His book that reveals the faithful. (Rev 10:8) His name is the only name worthy of praise, and He is the only one who adds to the church.(Acts 2:47; Acts 5:14) And what I do in service for Him and how I love God and what respect I show Him will influence people to do the same. Nothing in and of itself will I be able to perform in order to get brownie points. He works through me to bring others to the understanding that He desires all to come to Him and join Him in heaven.

God’s view of His body is whole. This is demonstrated in Rom 12:5, where Paul says “so we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others”; in 1 Cor 10:17, “Because we are of one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of one loaf”; In 1 Cor 12:12, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body”; and in Ephesians 4:4-6, “There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” And in Gal 3:28, Paul further clarifies this, because he says in God, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are one in Christ Jesus.” Why? Because we need one another. None of us is perfect in and of ourselves. We must respect one another, love one another, be at peace with one another, for the sake of unity in the Father. As Christians, no one will deny the desire is to do the will of the Father. While none will deny His Word is the source of His will how we put this in action is by loving one another, by being kind, showing self-control and faith that is only from God above. We must see that to be divided is not in our best interest, because it is not what God wishes. To follow Christ according to Christ’s teachings and to walk as he walked is what God wills. Christ and God hold all wisdom and all truth, not us. When we are divided in our worship, when we pick and choose according to our desires, we neglect God and put our interpretations first. God’s Word is not subject to interpretation, simply because of its source. God is God, complete, whole, wise, holy, pure. We are not. Any interpretation we put on His Word, that this is important and that is not, better be backed by God. Otherwise it is only our interpretation and desires.

There are no Jews, no Greeks, etc Part 10

Who truly rules the Kingdom? Who is its Creator? In Isaiah 4:5, the answer is plain, “The LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night”. Much as God did in Exodus, God will provide a place of refuge and that is His Kingdom. It is God’s Kingdom, He created it, He set it in motion, but it didn’t come into fruition until Jesus gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom. Jesus is its manager, as stated in PS 89:18, “Indeed, our shield belongs to the LORD, our King is the Holy One of Isreal” and he delivers those who are held captive, as in Isaiah 49:25. Because He loves us so much, He has set His son to establish His Kingdom, so that He can demonstrate that He does rule supreme. Our little corner of heaven, where we are protected by Him. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus has established his stronghold in the church by giving Peter the keys. He has established that once and for all He is the Rock, the solid Rock upon which we stand, as the song says. I Peter2:3, Peter demonstrates the humility of a Christian in the presence of the Rock of Ages. And this is the support that God provides and God promised and continues to remind us of this promise to lead us, as Jeremiah said in Jer 3:15, “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” God provides his Church with what they need, and no one is any less important than the other in this Kingdom. God’s main thrust is not what I can do as a performer for Him, but what I can do as a service to the church. My strong point may not be someone else’s. And our connection is that we all help one another. And we are collectively the King’s daughter, as spoken of in Ps 45:13, as He dresses us in fine robes and linens. And because of our connection to Christ via baptism, we can be presented as a “glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but should be holy and without blemish”.(Ephesians 5:27)

There are no Jews, Greeks, etc.. Part 8

Do we know what lies ahead for all of us? Do we know what being in His kingdom and preparing ourselves for it’s coming means, today of all days? Jesus came to establish His kingdom. (Matt 12:28) on earth. If we really examine the Lord’s Prayer, this is what indeed he is doing so that his apostles and ultimately future generations know what it is to get into the Kingdom of God, as well as to be prepared for what lies ahead. He doesn’t want us to get caught up in the wiles of time He wants us to be aware that once we are God’s children, time is no longer an issue, except that the race we run toward introducing souls to God continues to the end and our faith must continue forever. But time, in terms of how we enter His Kingdom, is eternal now. God doesn’t give us any more assignments except to live our life as His Son did. Once He is here, demons run from him, and we are told in James that’s what will happen if we invoke God. Demons come in all shapes and forms. Unless they looked appetizing or appealing and gratifying, none of us would want to defrock and give in. But the demons of this world, money, power, beauty, sex, entertainment, etc. are a mere stranglehold on us, a pair of blinders that we must take off to be in His Kingdom of Heaven. (Matt 19:24). Does food control me? It is a demon and can lead to a downfall for me. What of alcohol, drugs, or other items? Is shopping something I am just totally obsessed with so much so that I have to go in every store I see? Realize that food and shopping are necessities, but we can be so self-absorbed that we hoard those items and believe they are ours and we have a right to them and that other people are trying to steal them from us. Our desires become our God. God says if this is the case, we must re-route our attitude. When I allow something other than God to control my life and my habits, then I have forgotten whose I truly am. I have forgotten my citizenship in His Kingdom, and how close I can come to losing this citizenship. While Christ died for me and there is nothing I can do to work my way into heaven, I don’t realize that when I deny His Lordship, when I deny God is the only God by my actions, God will not stand for it. There are things that God wants me to put in my life, He wants me to behave a certain way and He wants me to be humble. To humble myself in His sight, to not be dependant on anyone, anything other than Him. Jesus told the Pharisees to repent for the Kingdom was at hand. (Matt 4:17) Much like an Olympic torchbearer, he carried this torch, showing all the way until the day he died and was resurrected. And he made his apostles carry the torch, as the Spirit descended upon them in Matt 10:7. And we are told to carry it too, in Acts 2:38, the promise was given for all generations in the past and in the future. And so the torch is lit for all generations to come. And through this we will enter the Kingdom, if our focus and movements and actions are based on doing only the Father’s Will.