merittmusings

To Love is Our Command

www.bible.com/1713/jhn.15.12.csb

Jesus our Lord orders us not to love Him, but one another. This is akin to a parent putting siblings in a get-along shirt, where each sibling get an armhole in a great big daddy shirt. This may be the hardest command He has ever given us.Today Christians exist in 1000 different denominations. Christians of different stripes have fought wars over doctrine with each other. Some Christians have rounded up other Christians just for printing Bibles. Even today some Christians are jealous because their church is smaller than their neighbor, or self-righteous because their church is smaller. Even when we have no reason to be petty with one another, we still find ways to dislike one another.

I think the kind of love Jesus is speaking of here is more than the toleration you have for family on Thanksgiving. It goes deeper than that. I think it may even be more like the love a parent has for a child who is addict, but who never gives up hope of their getting clean. Love is a hard taskmaster. It asks us to do things we don’t want to do, like get along.

The Methodist right now are going through these labor pains. They are looking to separate themselves one from another over the issue of homosexuality. Some want homosexuals to be their pastors. Others do not. As such, they are willing separate their common bond in Christ over the issue. For those who campaign that love must prevail, let me remind you that this is a truth that comes from Scripture. If you would honor the same God who commands us to love, you would also need to respect what else He has to say. You cannot take one piece out for your benefit and ignore the rest.

They should absolutely not separate. But as Paul once pointed, perhaps it is necessary to point out those who are Christ’s and those who are not. Christ also said, “if you love me, keep my commandments.” Jesus is very specific what constitutes the marriage relationship (Matthew 19). He tells us what relationship has the blessing and binding of God, and it not the homosexual one. This anyone who teaches and practices that homosexual relationships are okay by God is teaching blasphemy.

The basis for love in any relationship is and ought always to be truth. Without truth you do not have honesty. Without honesty there is no integrity and no stability in a relationship. As Christians, we need to be honest with one another, and stop hiding from one another. There is no such thing as “fine” in our world. No one is “fine” because we are all struggling. If you are in honest relationships with other Christians, you have found a rare jewel. Fight for it if you have to.

Heavenly Father, we have so totally messed up obeying this command that we don’t even know where to begin to obey it. We are scattered across a thousand denominations that can’t talk to each other. Father we have hurt each other, deeply. We have done the opposite of this command so many times. We repent Lord of the mess we have made. Show us Lord the path we would take to love our brother and our sister. We pray this in the name of Jesus, Amen.

No Comparison

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.
Romans 8:18 HCSB

https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/rom.8.18/5758

I can imagine brother Paul suffered quite a bit. If this had come from some fat cat stadium preacher, it would not sound believeable. But coming from Pauk, it makes sense. Paul nearly died suffering for the faith. In fact, some argue he did die outside of Lystra, having been stoned and left for dead. Have you ever had enemies that hate you so much they drag you out of town and throw rocks at you until they are sure you are dead? Yeah, me neither.

So when Paul says the sufferings of the present time cannot be compared with the joys of life to come, I can believe him. Many of us have been through some suffering. Whether it be physical pain, like a serious medical ailment, or it is mental anguish, like a family relationship that hurts the soul. We suffer a bit every day. We know what it is like to suffer. So we have a hard time imagine that there is no comparison. We have suffered much. How dare Paul belittle what we have been through.

But you see, he suffered too. And yet in that same suffering, he caught a glimpse of those glories to come. It was precisely as he lay there, stoned to death, that some believe he was caught up to the third heaeven, and heard things that cannot be spoken as he describes in 2 Corinthians 12. It is similar to folks that I have talked too who describe their own journey to heavenly realms and come back. They describe the joys and glories of that place far more wonderful than can be put into words. And sometimes, despite their family and health and wealth on this side, there is a longing for that place that nothing on this side compares with.

I believe that brother Paul points to that experience for himself when he tells us there is no comparison. It will all be worth the struggle, the pain and the suffering of this present life. Paul hints here that if we truly knew what waited for us, no suffering would seem too great. There is comfort in this, since many of us have come through great suffering.

Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning with heads bowed, many of us in the midst of great anguish and sorrow of heart. We truly do not know how much more we can take, and would that you lighten our burden a bit so that we could brrathe. Brother Paul reminds us this morning of just how wonderful it will be in glory, and we cannot wait to see you face to face. But until then, we know we have a purpose and a plan to fulfill. Let us pray for strength for this journey, peace in our hearts, and hope for the world to come. If brother Paul was so inspired as to journey to Rome for the sake of the gospel, grant us that same inspiration to choose to follow you in our day to day. We pray these things in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

According to Your Offering

Remember this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.
2 Corinthians 9:6 HCSB

https://bible.com/bible/72/2co.9.6.HCSB

Not sure which way to go with this one this morning. I mean besides the obvious. Obviously this text is speaking to the Corinthian Church about the nature of giving, this as Paul is encouraging them to lay aside a sin of money for the churches in Judea. The Judean churches at this time were undergoing a famine, and Paul was urging the Gentile churches to donate money to help them in their time of need. This in response to the gospel of Jesus being preached from the Jews to the Gentiles.

His teaching here is about their practice of giving. The promise is fulfilled by God. You have control on the amount that you give. But you have no control over how much you reap. Circumstances too big and too complicated for us control dictate the crop we recieve. But God controls those circumstances. God determines the size of the crop that you reap. So Paul is saying that the amount you sow will be determined by the heart that gives at the first. If it gives sparingly, then the return will be minimal. But if a heart gives generously, then that crop will also be generous. We may plant, but God gives the increase.

What seeds are you planning today? As you go about your daily tasks, will you be planting seeds of joy? Or doubt? Will your seeds be of love or of apathy? What you plant will come in harvest. When you sow trust and faithfulness, God sees your seed and rewards you according to your planting. Do you sow yourself into relationships? Parenting? Your spouse? A slim planting will result in a slim return. Says it right here in God’s word.

Father God, may you draw out eyes to the seeds we are planting today. Show us the fields in which we labor, so that we may sow bountiful and in not for the harvest to come. Only You can control the weather and the circumstances which whose seeds grow. May you see the heart that planted and reward accordingly. And Father, may the most important see we plant today, the gospel, sprout and grow in others as it has in us. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

Prayer and Petition

www.bible.com/1713/php.4.6.csb

Need something? Ask. That’s basically what God is saying here. Just ask for it. Have a problem? Lift it up to God. He will hear your request. There is no promise here of satisfying that need, but in every request there is surrendering your right to worry about it when you ask God about it.

Is it any wonder that we have an epidemic of anxiety in this world? Did you wake up this morning worrying about something? Are you anxious about today? As much as depends on you, you do what you can. But we trust in an Almighty God. He sees around the corners. He looks ahead in time and can see what’s coming. He knows what the circumstances will be and prepares ahead of time for what you will face. There is nothing that catches God by surprise.

So if God prepares the future for your arrival, then He knows what you will need before you do. If you are going through a test right now, it is because you are being tested for something in the future that you will need today’s lessons for. My hope and prayer for you is that you will learn on the first try.

We were not put on this earth to be happy. That is not our purpose. Sorry. Our purpose is to be joyful followers of Him, finding our true joy in obedience to His will. We were made to conform to the image of His Son. We are most happy when we see His face in the mirror. God is the highest and and best good, the standard of beauty, and the epitome of joy. If you are striving to be happy in this world, you will fail. You can only be truly happy when you are fulfilled in Him.

Dear Father, we come to you this morning with heaviness in our hearts. We come upon another Monday, with the worship of Heaven still fresh in our ears. We pray Father that you would look upon our downcast faces and grant us joy. Show us a glimpse of hope for the joy You posses so that we may long for that true joy. May You fill us Lord today with that hope and direct our steps to walk in Your direction. May we lift up to you today our prayers and petitions of our ordinary life that You May transform our everyday tasks into works of eternal significance. We ask these things today in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Faith and Strength

www.bible.com/1713/isa.40.31.csb

If I only had enough faith. Then I would be as strong as … who? Whose faith do you envy? Whose faith do you look upon as better than yours? I’ve seen a lot of people who say they have great faith, but much of it is misplaced. I was called a few years ago to the ER where a family stood waiting. When I arrived, they promptly asked me to raise the dead. Their loved one had just passed and they expected this particular representative of God to raise their deceased loved one. I think they were of the delusion that all one needs to do is ask, and God will give whatever you ask for for, if you ask for it in faith. Sadly, neither my prayers nor theirs were enough to raise the dead that day.

There is a popular notion in our area that faith merely needs to be claimed, merely apprehended by a word of faith and it will become reality. It is a poor understanding of God’s purpose. As Han Solo once said, “That’s not how the Force works.” That’s not how faith works either.

If we have have a request of God, we make it known to Him. We lift it up in prayer. We can pray for as often as we like. He is not obligated to satisfy that which does not fit into His will. His chief goal is that all come to the knowledge of the truth. How does your prayer fit into that? Not every prayer will fit. Some have to be “No” and others may be “wait.” But none will be “Yes sir, right away sir.” God is not at our beck and call. We ought to be at His, and He just might be more likely to answer if we are.

In fact this verse and it surrounding passage fees more like the latter. If we are serving God in all that we do and say, our will is more like His. And the things we ask for are more in line with what He wants, and He is more likely to answer as we ask. Faith is just asking God for stuff when you want. It is living your life as He wants, so that as you are carrying out His will, He is more likely to supply you with the strength you need to carry it out.

Lord, help me today to live my life according to Your will. Help me recognize in my own life those things I need to be rid of so that I can fill those places with You. Lord I am but human. I can’t see and know all things as You do. Help me Lord each day to make my life more in line with Your blessed will do that I will have that strength to carry it out. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

Slow or Patient?

www.bible.com/1713/2pe.3.9.csb

Would you say the Lord is slow or patient? Tolkien once wrote from the mouth of his wizard Gandalf, “A wizard is never late. He arrived precisely when he means to.” I believe God is a lot like that. God is never late. He works precisely when the time is right.

If you’ve ever been praying for something, like relief from stress, pain or suffering. If you’ve been praying for direction or hope, you may have felt that God hasn’t heard you. You may think that your prayers aren’t going anywhere because you haven’t had any change in your circumstances.

But this is where God’s promise is needed. If God is not slow in keeping His promises, then we definitely need to know it. What we do find is that He is patient. Why is He being patient? Because He is waiting for repentance. For this let a man examine himself. For what do you need to repent of right now? What sin in your own life are you holding on to so that God is waiting? Are you begging God to love and act in your life while still harboring a secret sin that you know He doesn’t approve of? How can God lead if you are not willing to follow Him?

What you describe as God being slow or hard of hearing may well by your own sin for which He is patiently waiting for your repentance. Are there areas in your own life to which He has clearly spoken and you have yet to listen? Perhaps.

Father God, please accept our humble repentance today. We acknowledge that there may be areas in our lives to which You have already spoken and in which we have failed to act because of our own sinfulness. We repent today before you of this sin and ask for your forgiveness. We pray Dead Lord that you being to our minds those areas in our lives to which you have clearly spoken that we may also repent of our sins there as well, as our memories are not always good. If you would be gracious to us in this, then may you give the answer to our long-sought prayers and prepare us for the way forward. We thank today for these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Common Guard

www.bible.com/1713/heb.10.24-25.csb

Did you know that you have a responsibility to your fellow Christians? Perhaps one of the greatest sins we can commit against our fellow Christians is to discourage them. If you catch yo it fellow Christian in a sin, you are right to rebuke them, but you cannot leave them there. You cannot love another Christian’s life for them. Each of us needs to bear our own loads. But each of us can help bear one another’s burdens, lightening the load by offering encouragement.

Some time ago, one of my kids managed to destroy the door of our oven and stovetop. The stovetop was hopelessly cracked. It needed to be replaced, but our funds were needed elsewhere. My wife was so discouraged. She related this to a friend at church. Our friend gave us a check and said, “go get a new oven.” We had no expectation for such help, but it meant far more than an oven. For my wife and family, it was a shot in the arm that was far more effective as encouragement.

Are there people around you silently suffering? Offer encouragement. We can encourage by correction. But also by offering a kind word. By reminding them that the community is there for them. Do not neglect meeting together, because we all need the encouragement from week to week. If you try to practice this faith on your own, it will fail you when tested.

Look for someone today to encourage. It will help you both. God bless you today!

New Songs and Old

www.bible.com/1713/psa.98.1-2.csb

I love it when an old song comes on the radio that I know. I hear the first few notes and I am taken back to when that song plucked my heartstrings, and the song’s power comes back in all its glory in memory and joy. New songs don’t do that, because new songs emerge in the present, with my present circumstances. It takes a bit for new songs to become familiar and find their context that make them memorable.

But here is the things about songs and worship. Old worship songs you can sing by heart. You can also sing them without thinking about them. Because you know them so well, you can “go through the motions” of singing it without really feeling it. New worship songs don’t do that. They require concentration, effort, conscious thought. It is nerve-wracking when your church decides to sing several new songs every week. But it also forces you to concentrate and not go on worship “auto-pilot.”

I like a nice mix of the familiar and the new. Give me some old songs that I know so that I can feel confident when I sing that I know the words. But also give me a new song to force me to think and engage my mind and heart together. Sing unto the Lord a new song. Song Him an old song. But sing from your heart, and not your lips alone.

May God bless you today as you continue to serve and bless His kingdom.

What’s New?

www.bible.com/1713/isa.43.19.csb

So what are you bringing into the New Year? Are you bringing joy and hope with you? Are you bringing new opportunities and exciting potential to grow in your faith? I hope so.

Because if you are bringing old baggage from 2019, despair and hopelessness, I got bad news for you: 2020 probably isn’t going to be much better.

But this is what a new year and new opportunities offer. And let me tell you something else. You are not alone. You may have tried to tackle 2019 alone, but 2020 doesn’t have to be a solo mission. It can be a team. God is working in you. He wants you to succeed in His mission. Whatever that may be for you may be the question you need to answer in this coming year, but it is a question the Almighty God wants you to answer.

May I suggest first looking in His word. Make each day a commitment to reading His word. The more you read, the better you can hear His voice. The more you pray the better you get at listening.

And you are not alone in this. I too need to work on all of these things in order to make 2020 a better year to see what God wants from me. So may we find together God’s work in us to work out His will for His good.

May God bless you today and everyday. Amen.

Resolution Kept

This picture represents completion of a resolution I made 1 year ago today. Every day I have sought to make one blog post based on the verse of the day. As of this day, I can happily say I’ve been able to do this. And I want to extend my thanks to each and every one of my followers who take the time to read every day. Thank you especially to those who offer a comment or a like. You have helped make this page a success.

Happy New Year to All!