Category: Walk with God

One of two commandments

I was looking for something to listen to and I cranked up the YouTube to see if I could find a speaker or video about this topic. I began to type – Love… lots of love songs pop up. Love your… yourself lots of self-love. Love your n… oddly enough love nature came next. Love your neighb… finally love your neighbour.

That took a lot of letters.

It says something about our society though.

Jesus said, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Note we don’t need to be instructed in how to love ourselves. Contrary to public opinion we do that a lot. Are we always loving ourselves in a productive and useful way, that is another story. But we are naturally absorbed in our own world and point of view. That is inevitable and we all do it. No we are told to love our neighbours as ourselves.

Are we told to love them when they agree with us or do the things we want them to do? No.

Are we told to love them when they are nice and worthy of our love and respect? No.

Love is work. People are messy. Loving people can be hard to do. But don’t pat yourself on the back and think, well I’ve done my best, I’ve tried, they are just unlovable. No. Jesus didn’t say ‘do this if you can, if it works out for you.’ It is one of two commandments he gives.

Love God with your whole self is the first, love your neighbor as yourself is the second.

As I listen to friends who are struggling with hurt and misunderstanding and anger even in their own families, I wonder: Are we getting this wrong? Do we know how to do this?

As I searched this morning I found this video on YouTube. It’s long, but listen to it. There is nothing I could say that he doesn’t say better. It is old – like 150 years old. Maybe Solomon was right – maybe there is really nothing new under the sun.

Matthew 22: 37-40 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Look to God

These are strange days. You know it. I know it. Something has gone wrong and everything that was chugging along nicely, now seems disconnected and broken. Relationships that used to be easy are now strained. Ideas that used to be commonly held are now questioned. Beliefs that were once respected are now considered immoral.

No matter where you come from the world is out of step. We no longer stand on firm ground. This uncertainty is making people angry and frustrated. We want to force our view on others, we want to fix the problems as we see them. This urge is visible everywhere.

As God’s people, what do we do?

First, we remember who is the great foundation of our life. We look to the rock on which we built our house. Focus on God.

Second, we emulate God. We “walk in the way of love.” By doing this we serve those around us, but we can also create a sense of stability. In the same way a flotation device offers safety to a drowning man. We can be that ‘something’ that people hang onto.

Third, we look to God for strength. We are not strong enough to tackle this world and its trials, but God is. Lean on him. Lean into His love and His salvation.

None of these actions are easy. It will take firmness of character.

What I am suggesting is radical. Stop listening to the world and its directions. Focus on God.

Ephesians 5: 15-16 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Noah built more than an ark

Noah built an ark. Noah who had never seen rain and had no idea what he was building, built an ark. He did it because God asked him to do it.

He endured scorn and ridicule. No one could figure out what crazy old Noah was doing. Even Noah couldn’t truly understand what he was doing. God asked him to do it, so he did it.

Astounding obedience and trust.

What Noah built, ended up being the salvation of his whole family. This ark was the vessel that saved his family from the coming flood. His obedience and trust had ramifications beyond his own life.

How often do we consider the impact of our choices on our own family? Are we building a better life for our children? A life of material wealth, comfort, success? Or are we building a life that will lead to their salvation?

Genesis 6: 17-18 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.

Love the poor

We live in an affluent time. We have so much. And yet the poor are among us. This can be hard to reconcile. On top of that we, as humans, tend to equate ‘blessings’ with material possessions. The rise of the dreaded prosperity gospel is testament to this tendency within us.

The Bible is not vague about the poor. It is not vague about what our response as God’s people should be to the poor.

Last summer, when we were struggling financially and still recovering from Wes’ stroke, our neighbours looked after us. One needed help with a storm door, one needed a fence, one needed a deck – all by some coincidence when we needed it most. Do I think it was a coincidence? No, I don’t. They saw a need. They had a need and they saw a way of helping us. But not just giving us charity, but by providing the opportunity for Wes to work and maintain his dignity. Other have also done this, some old church friends as well. We have been extremely grateful for their kindness.

I found this video very interesting and thought you might too.

7 Provocative Old Testament Facts About the Poor – What the Bible Says About the Poor – YouTube

We learn from our mistakes

My kids all like to cook. When they were younger it was a highly supervised endevour. Now as they get older it requires that I am close at hand but NOT interfering. I listen and interject when I hear statements like, “it calls for a 1/4 cup of salt.” No. Never, in any recipe, except perhaps a brine do you eve use that much salt. Or my son will ask, “What colour is this?” when cooking ground beef (he’s colour-blind).

I told my husband the other day that most times it is still easier and faster to do things myself. But, then they wouldn’t learn. He laughed and said, “Yeah, like me I had to learn how to cook after I left home.” I explained to him that what he did was keep himself alive, it couldn’t be described as cooking. I’m not a very nice wife!

When faced with my daily struggles there are many times that I wish God would just reach down and do it for me. It would be easier for both of us. But then what would I learn?

Psalm 139: 23-24 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Our path in life

We were able to attend a small graduation celebration for my niece and nephew last night. It was a joy to be able to celebrate with them. These two young people, full of youthful promise and expectation. As their Aunt, it made me feel rather old, but mostly nostalgic. These two little bundles entered the world almost 18 years ago and now they stand on the cusp of adulthood.

Almost eight million years ago, I was also in their situation. A young woman looking at the rest of my life. All the plans! All the dreams! I could do anything. I began charting my course. There was a definite idea of where my life would head and how life would go. It makes me smile now, as well, little or none of those plans happened as I expected.

I know this is universal. I know you have felt this way too. Our lives unfold, one step at a time. We do have agency. We do chart our course. The largest decisions we make to go left or right belong to us. But the rocks and bumps in the road are hard to navigate and God guides us through this. He is the good shepherd leading us by calm waters and protecting us through dark vales.

Proverbs 16:9 In their hearts humans plan their course,
but the Lord establishes their steps.

A friend of God

I have been thinking about what it means to be a friend of God. This term is used several times in the Bible. Abraham is described as a friend of God. It says Moses talked to God as a friend. And then there is Enoch who “walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”

What would this look like now, in our day and age? Can we be a friend to God.

I was puzzling over this idea yesterday and couldn’t wrap my head around it. But this morning I understand. Why?

I was driving my husband to work, my strong, intelligent husband, who can no longer drive because of the stroke. He doesn’t have much in the way of worldly wealth or prestige. People pass him by, he is unimportant and undervalued. He is soft-spoken and reluctant to push himself forward, but his mind is always full of ideas and potential. He has the most optimistic soul. In fact, he doesn’t care what other people think, he isn’t in the game of ‘impressing.’

I have been driving him to work this week. He likes to ride his bike, more independence from the old wife. But last Friday a car turned in front of him, and he was thrown from his bike. Thankfully he is just bruised and battered. This morning he sits beside me in the car, while I’m stewing and angry about all the ‘slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” My resentment building over all the difficulties we have faced.

He calmly says, “You know, I was thinking. It was such a good experience for me to have a paper route when I was a kid. It taught me so much.”

My jaw dropped and I felt ashamed of my own anger. This is the best man I know.

He is straightforward and honest and always hopeful. I believe this is what it means to be a friend of God.

Micah 6: 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

The old passes

We see it everywhere, it’s all around us and it’s so ever present that we expect it. We never doubt that it will happen. The seasons; they come like clock work every year. They vary in their expression but the change is inevitable. As a Canadian I often vainly hope that this is the year that winter won’t arrive, but it always does. If we’re lucky it’s mild and short-lived, but come it does.

As I clear away the dead from the winter, I discover the new growth underneath. Brave little starts pushing their way through the dirt. The difficulty of shedding the old and starting the new. All things must pass. Everything will die. But new growth comes, as sure as the seasons.

I believe deeply we as a culture are in a transition between the passing of winter and the burgeoning of spring. The dead needs to be shed and the new growth encouraged and safeguarded. Believe in new beginnings and nurture all that is good.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:
The old has gone, the new is here!

Fight fear

Fear. It’s black and dark. It can swallow you whole. Once it gets a grip of your heart it will squeeze and squish the hope from your life.

What can we do?

We fight! We kick and scream and push it back.

We read the Word. We allow God to build in us the resistance we need to fend it off.

We put on the armor of God. We go into battle against fear.

In the morning when we wake up we decide; today God is bigger than my fear.

Psalm 34: 4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

Only a glimpse

Moses was born for a task. From his very birth he was set apart for this task. He was protected from the infanticide of the Egyptian Pharaoh. All his life experiences were designed for the unique part he would play in history of the Israelite people. He fulfilled the most extraordinary exodus, with the help of God.

But Moses didn’t cross into the promised land. He did all the work but didn’t get to take part in the reward. I always felt this was rather unfair.

While he didn’t get to enter the promised land, God gave him a view from atop the mountain. But God still has work for him to do, he is to encourage Joshua. His final role is as a mentor. Joshua will take over the final stage and help the people of God enter and inhabit the promised land.

It occurred to me this morning that this is far from unfair or unusual. This is pretty typical of life. We rarely ever get to see a project from start to finish and enjoy the reward. A baker makes the most beautiful cakes, but sells them to others who will get the joy of eating them. A builder builds a house for someone else to live in. And those are rare jobs. Most of us do our little part of a much bigger puzzle. Each important in our own way, but one cog in a big operation.

Moses wanted to go into the promised land. He desired to see the work of God completed. But this task was too much for an old man. A younger man of strength, courage and faith was required. God knew this. Moses had done his part. He had completed his task. God gave him a view of the land from afar.

We don’t always see and enjoy the fruits of our labour. It is enough to know that we are useful to God and that we have done our part, however small.

Deuteronomy 3: 27-28 “Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan. But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.”