AMT 5/1
When we were created (the beginning of humanity) Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden and interacted with God directly. He even walked with them in the evening! What a wonderful place this must have been. Not only that, God gave them (and us) freewill — our ability to make our own choices. What a great gift! Who could say no? OOPS! There was only one restriction. They could not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Other than that, they could do anything else. I am sure they explored for a long time. Why do I feel that way? In my experience with kids, college students, and adults – it is not until they are bored that they tend to get themselves into trouble. Who knows….
So, at some point, a serpent showed up. And in one brief conversation Eve and then Adam were persuaded to disobey God. (Don’t just blame Eve, God gave the rule to Adam in the first place.) Anyway, this was the beginning of trouble. When humans are left alone, given free will, they will have a tendency to do what they should not. Often this comes with little to no outward temptation. This wrong doing or disobedience to God has a name: sin.
At first glance, we might say, “How in the world were they persuaded to eat the fruit of the only tree in the garden that they were told not to eat? After all, they had everything else. And God, the one who created them told them not to do it! How could they be persuaded? We would not do that…or would we?
Let me give you an example that might help bring this into our time. You take a job, and you’re given the master key for all of the rooms except one. Your boss tells you that this room is always locked as it is where they keep the Personnel files. You are so grateful for this job and there is so much to do that you don’t think about that room…much.
After having worked there for a while you notice your boss is in and out of your department more frequently. Weird. The guy in the office next to you is always saying how he is sure that this boss is in and out so much so he can document every little thing they do and putting the negative things in your personnel file. It is evaluation time. In your mind you start thinking about what might be in that file.
And then it happens! One of your coworkers gathers a few of you into his office and pulls a key from his pocket. It is the key to the personnel office. He suggests meeting after work then returning to check out their files. They won’t look at anyone else’s…or at least that is what they say. You want to know. But you should not go with them. You need this job. You like your boss. Still, your friend invited you personally to join them. What if someone else looks in your file or does something to it? What if you are caught and lose your job. Wow isn’t the Bible realistic now? You could blame it on Adam and Eve, right?
Nope. You see, we are given the opportunity to be different. Jesus is our opportunity. He died to take away our sins. We are made new! We can continue to do as God guides us through the Holy Spirit. We can rise above the temptations in life. We can stand against temptation and live a Christ-like life. We are now persuaded by the Spirit of the Lord. In those times that seem impossible, we are guarded and guided by Christ. Familiar?
Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:11- 14 For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, 12 and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. 13 Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.
Better yet, a familiar hymn refrain and a moving verses:
Refrain:
But “I know Whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.”
Verse 3
I know not how the Spirit moves,
Convincing men of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word,
Creating faith in Him.
Prayer:
Dear Lord God, we thank you for the ability you give us to begin anew after having original sin and humanity from the Adam and Eve. We thank you for our re-birth from the death and resurrection of your Son. We thank you for the strength to continue to obey God and avoid thus avoid sin when temptation arises. Help us be Christ-like ambassadors to a world that seems very lost.
Seek Peace and Pursue it,
Pastor Charlene
AMT 1/5
You know what doesn’t seem hard? Sharing things that we have no business sharing or sharing information that we don’t really understand. We never have the whole story. When information about someone is shared from person to person it usually gets changed – especially when done so in a hushed voice of secrecy. If you have to whisper it, should it be said at all? It is like the game called ‘gossip’ or ‘telephone’ from childhood. Do you remember it? One person whispers a message to another who whispers to the next, etc…. Suddenly, “We wish you a Merry Christmas” becomes “There’s a fish in Harry’s britches.” Poor Harry. For the rest of the day, it was in the back of some minds that he may smell like fish, and thus, he is avoided. ‘
We humans want to know what is going on. When someone is missing, we want to know why. If someone is angry, we want to know what happened. Rather than contacting the one missing directly or praying for peace in conflicts, we share what we know in hopes that someone will give us more information back. If you want to know if Harry has a fish in his britches-ask him. If he doesn’t want to share, then fine. We love him anyway, fish or no fish.
What if we do know what is going on? What do we do then? Ask permission to share for prayer. What if there is a disagreement between friends? I love Proverbs 26:20 “Without wood a fire goes out, and without gossip a quarrel dies down.” It is only when a rumor dies out that there is any hope of working things out. How, then, do disagreements get resolved? God has a plan for that too. Encourage the people involved to follow Matthew 18:15-17. In short, if someone has a problem with another Christian, meet with them IN PRIVATE. If that doesn’t help, take one or two folks (normally elders or leaders of the church-staff can pray together for wisdom and/or have be praying for the situations as we have seen them) to witness what is being said. Then, we have to be very careful. If the person refuses to listen, it can be taken to the church. What if you are involved and the resolution doesn’t punish the other person to your satisfaction? Read further in Matthew 18:21 where Peter asks how many times he has to forgive someone. Seven? Nope! Seventy-seven times. (Some translate this as seventy times seven times)
Brothers and sisters – I love you. I don’t want gossip, misunderstanding or slander to hurt our worship. Don’t let this text make you wonder if something is going on…there is always something going on. The message here is an eternal message. Being careless with what a person says or feels can cause what Satan desires – a breach in the church. So, work things out, don’t just walk away. People today have problems trying to forgive, work things out, and change. Let’s show them how.
Dear Lord,
Help us to use communication as it was meant to be – constructive, not destructive. Help us share our concerns with you. Help us to communicate with others only when we have gotten permission. Do not let gossip or anger cause permanent wedge in our resolutions. Help us to re-build relations by starting with forgiveness. In Jesus name, AMEN.
Pastor Charlene
AMT 12/7
Out of the mouth of …. A donkey? Have you ever had a time where you felt like God wanted you to do something? Give something? Help someone? Visit someone? We might want not to do it because: it seems ridiculous, don’t have time, there are other things to do. Often, I think we don’t write it down so we forget it. Possibly, We don’t think God would use us in His plan. There is another part I have not mentioned. What if we don’t want to do what He is nudging us to do? If I refuse to do what God wants, then somebody else gets the opportunity… and the blessing. But I wonder what happens if and when I do nothing, and no one steps in? Wow. What if no one steps in? Think about the horror one would feel when rejecting a ‘job’ from God, and someone or something falls apart? Would there be consequences for you, for others as well? I want to share two stories with you. One is a story of an experience where I got the opportunity to be used by God. The second story is straight out of the Bible. Let me warn you, both are hard to believe…. My story is of a time where I did obey, but only as a vessel to do God’s work. I use it because it shows the awesomeness of God. Before I tell you my story, I want you to know the type of communication I felt from the Lord is not the normal way God communicates with me. This direct way has only happened twice in my life. Most times, His nudge comes as a tug on my heart or my conscience. Or a spontaneous idea to do something. The more I pray, the more I become aware of what God wants me to do. I also know I’ve dropped the ball at times. I apologize if you have heard this one before. Okay, here we go… I was in graduate school, working on my research. I was working on some calculations and writing some computer code. So, I was fully focused on completing this part of the project. Suddenly I felt like God was close to me. I could almost hear Him audibly telling me to get up and go across campus. Nah, that couldn’t be right. Plus, I was close to finishing this part… But within my head and heart there was God urging me to get up and go across campus. I could nearly hear His voice at my side this time. Okay. Sigh. I closed my notebook, and I obeyed God. I went across campus, toward the Student Center. I crossed over the hill and crossed the road. I was close to the curb when I heard that same voice from before say, “Stop and hold out your hand…” Are you with me? Good. Now you are going to have to wait for the ending until we look at the Bible to learn the story of Balak, Balaam and the donkey ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This story is in the Old Testament, but it still applies today. Specifically, we’re going to look at Numbers Chapters 22,23 and 24. This is one of my favorite childhood stories. A country named Moab was going to be attacked by a huge group called the Israelites (these were the chosen people of God). King Balak of the Moabites sent messengers to meet up with a well-known generic prophet named Balaam. He was not an Israelite. Balak sent money too. Balaam told them that God said no. Balak sent more important ambassadors with a message that Balaam could name his price. Balaam went back to God. This time, God said Balaam could go. The next morning Balaam put his saddle on his donkey. God was angry. There are several theories from the scholars as to what made God mad. First, is it possible Balaam was way too happy about this trip? Money hungry? Secondly, perhaps God was angered because He had clearly said NO the first time yet now Balaam is back asking again. Thirdly, God knows the heart of all, Balaam laterr told Balak how to tempt the Israelites into sin so that they would lose the battle.. No matter what angered God, He sent the angel of the Lord to kill Balaam on his way to Moab. However, we know that God always gives us a way to be saved. Right? . Just ahead there was the angel of the Lord standing in the middle of the road with a sword drawn. Balaam did not see it, but the donkey did! The donkey saved her master by running off the road and refusing to get back on the path. Balaam jumped down and started beating the donkey. Later on the journey, there was a narrow path. The donkey saw the angel of the Lord with a sword again. The donkey ended up squeezing past the angel. Unfortunately, squeezing by meant she crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. OUCH! Balaam beat the donkey again. The third time the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, there was no way to go around. So, the donkey just laid down in the road. She was beaten again! (Each of these times salvation by God came through a donkey.) But wait. How would Balaam and those with him know that it was God that punishes but yet forgives? God always provides a way to find forgiveness. God will use anything to teach us a lesson-even a donkey. The Lord let the donkey speak! Yes – I said the donkey was talking. The donkey said to Balaam – “Have I ever interfered with your travel before? Why did you beat me?” Balaam did not say anything about what had happened. Instead he said, “You made me look like a fool.” My first question would be, “How are you talking?” I would look for a couple of batteries. A ventriloquist, something. Anyway, Balaam then said, “If I had a sword I’d kill you.” The donkey asked Balaam if she had ever been like that in the past? Balaam should have known his faithful beast is still faithful. Balaam had to say no because it was the truth. And then God opened Balaam eyes to see the angel standing with a sword. Balaam was scared and kneeled in front of the angel. As we pray more and more, we will hear what God wants us to do. If we are not in His will, He will provide a way to get back to Him. God gave hints to Balaam using his donkey. However, Balaam didn’t get it. Then, God did a miracle. The donkey was speaking. He got it then! At least for a little while… ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OH! Back to my story: “What?” I said out loud. “Stop and hold out your hand.” I figured I was going to look crazy, but listening to God goes before feeling silly. I stopped and put my hand out. Then, I heard a noise. I almost missed the fact that there was a young student sitting on the curb in front of me. She looked up at me with my hand out. Of course, she had to ask me what I was doing. Imagine her look when I said, “I don’t know. God sent me.” She started crying. She told me she was just praying to God that if she wasn’t supposed to kill herself, send somebody to stop her. She then put a bottle of pills in my outstretched hand. My heart fell and came back up again. I talked with her and took her to the student counseling center. God can use anyone or anything to accomplish His will. Pray and listen. You most likely will not hear it, but He will nudge you in a way just for you. We must be willing to step out in faith. We need to do only what God asks and no more. I hope you have a week of listening and learning of what you can do for God. Prayer: Dear Lord, Thank you for letting us participate in your plan. Help us listen to what You are saying to us. Help us step forward and do the things You are nudging us to do. Help us to keep You as Number 1 in our life. Open our eyes so we can see You. In the Name of the One who lets us participate in life, Amen. Pastor Charlene |
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AMT 11/10/17
Thoughts and Prayers On the news, there has been conversation about using the phrase “you are in our thoughts and prayer.” The idea is that we have become desensitized to that phrase, and that politicians just use it whenever there is a disaster. The gist I got was that politicians say that phrase rather than proposing an action. However, I heard a reporter say that in general the phrase has lost its meaning. Should we stop using such a phrase?
For me, there are two parts here: Thoughts and Prayers. I have heard them used individually and together in a sentence. I must admit, I do wonder what it means when someone says I will be in their thoughts. At my age, thoughts don’t stay long unless I write them down. How long or how many times would they think of me? Will they sit down and spend intentional time thinking about me? Will their minds drift to other thoughts or questions related to me? Are they thinking that my hair is not naturally purple? Are they internally weighing how I will handle this disaster or that emergency? Maybe, he or she will think of me overcoming whatever the circumstance might be! When there is a disaster, are they going to just think of me standing in the flood looking for my rubber duckie? (Don’t laugh, I lost him in this last move.) Will the thought of my failure come up each time they think of me? I don’t really get it. Prayers are different to me. If I am in your prayers, I am assuming you will purposefully be praying that God will heal, help, and/or protect me. This will take more time than a thought. Hopefully it will feel very important to you. You are going before the King of the universe to ask for help for me! Am I just being one-sided? Maybe thoughts are more than I give them credit for. What are human thoughts compared to our prayers? I wanted to have a spiritually- “educated” opinion on this topic, so I did a search on the words ‘thoughts’ and ‘prayers’ in the Bible. (You may get different results if you search using a different translation.) Thought or Thoughts: I found 132 occurrences.
So, to be a thought in a human mind may not be as good as you think. If we are a positive or even neutral thought, is there any compulsion for the thinker to do more than give a thought? Moreover thoughts of humans tend to be negative. (She is never going to find that rubber duckie!) I am not saying that we don’t act on our thoughts at times. However, there is not a lot associated with just a thought. Furthermore, thoughts seemed to be internal and not relational. How much can one thought by one person do? So what about our prayers? I narrowed my search to prayer or prayers to stay in alignment with the concept of thought and thoughts above. I assumed I could divide prayers in a similar way: positive, neutral and negative. I quickly realized that this comparison was not going to be apples to apples. There were 154 mentions of prayer or prayers in the Bible. Some of those were simply in a title added by the editor as in the Psalms. In the end 141 mentions of the words were found. How would I categorize a negative prayer? A prayer against an enemy? That might be positive in the end. Would it be neutralized after that? How do I count ones that we don’t know if they will ever be answered until the end times? Would neutral be when prayer is just mentioned as a thing, a definition. Positive prayer is what? Answered prayer? Shared prayer? Praying at all? I decided to follow the nature of the prayers and not try to fit the positive, neutral and negative categories. When I finished categorizing, I had prayers that were prayed and then answered. There were prayers prayed, but the individual would not know if the prayer was answered, corporate prayer, prayer against the enemy, etc. I had over 10 categories, so I combined some. Below is the best that I could do.
Interestingly, prayer for others or their situations, whether the praying one knows the outcome or not, is 78% of all mentions of prayer. Why is that different than humanities’ tendency to think positively? I think part of the difference is that prayers are conversations. You communicate with our Lord, and He communicates with you. You are assuring an individual that you will make a time for conversation with the Lord of the universe in their honor or for their situation! Saying you will pray means, you will listen (hopefully) for any aid God shares with you through the Holy Spirit. Can this be a negative thing? NO. We rise above our own tendency toward negativity toward the higher levels of God. Does praying have any impact on the issue at hand? YES. God has a great track record for answering prayers throughout the Bible. Furthermore, we see and hear of His miracles today, even in the midst of hurricanes and earthquakes. They may not get much press, but the miracles are still there if you look for them.
We also pray corporately. This means in or as a group. That time when church service pauses for the mention of prayers, that is our corporate prayer. During this time, we all focus and hear/read/speak the names of those who need prayer. When you do this for someone (GET that permission) on the prayer list, now, the phrase becomes “we will be praying for you.” We can pray as a group for someone or a disaster.
Maybe, just maybe, God hints to someone a humanly way to help in that exact situation. To me, it seems if there are multiple people praying, there is more of a chance someone may feel they can act on that information too. What if each time there is corporate prayer during our service (that time when we pray for people and look at the prayer list) each person took one person or issue from the prayer list and did something for that person or that situation? It might be a donation, time, knowledge, anything. Ok. I am getting really excited about this. Let it be said that LifeStream prays with action.
I cannot answer for the politicians, but I personally want friends to be praying for me in tough times. I want folks to know I am really going to pray for them too. What do I say when it seems there is nothing I can say? What about this: I am here for you. What can I do for you? I will be praying for you. (It’s my way*)
*It’s my way: in sticky situations, adding “It’s my way” or “my belief,” means I usually don’t get any push back- even in DC. We should ALL be allowed to have freedom of religion.
Prayer: Dear All-Powerful Lord, So much violence is occurring in the world. Help us know how to pray. Help us to be good neighbors. Remind us to check on the sick and the elderly. Let us not be afraid in our workplace and community to say “I am praying for you.” Help us to keep that commitment. Let us listen to your Holy Spirit so that we understand how to put actions to our words. In Your Holy Name, AMEN Pastor Charlene |
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AMT 10/12
I am sorry for the delay in sending this. And this is shorter than it looks. I put in a lot of spaces for the conversations and such.
Have you felt tapped out recently? I mean we had the hurricane in Texas (Harvey), then Irma, then the earthquake, and flooding, and then, and then….Wow! What is one to do!
When I was a child, I heard a folktale that I now know as nail soup. Variations of this story pop up every once in a while. I am going start today’s sharing by sharing the version I heard.
Once upon a time there was an old man who came into a small town, A teeny tiny town. A village, really. He was kind of shaggy looking, but not in a mean, angry way. He went up to the door of the first house he came to, and began to knock. At first, she did not answer, but he had seen an older woman peek through the curtain. So, he continued to knock. Finally, he heard her say, “Oh, for goodness sake! Why doesn’t he go away!” She opened `to the door.” Then, again, she heard a quiet, “Knock, Knock.” She got up, shuffled to the door and asked what he wanted (I am sure she said it nicely – aren’t you?”. She had nothing, she said. “I am within a day of starvation. I have no food and no money for you to take.” Surely, he would leave now. She started to shut the door; but he didn’t back up.
“I don’t have money either,” he said. “So, I know how you feel.”
–
I know your kind, she said, if I let you in you won´t leave before you have eaten everything I have. And I tell you, I´m so poor I haven´t had a bite for two days. So you just go away!” However, she found herself opening the door.
“Thank you! I only need a warm place to sleep.” He said as he walked past her and into the living room.” When she looked past him she saw that there were drops of rain just beginning to fall. She wanted to say no. She oughta say no. But then she said with a humph,”Okay! But you sleep on the couch and I’ll have a shovel right next to my bed.” (Now remember I said this was a long time ago when you can trust people a little bit more.) So she pointed toward the couch and he sat. She went to the hallway closet and brought out an old pillow and old blanket and an old sheet. There was no use in making anyone feel like they might want to stay any longer than one night. She went back to the couch and handed him the things that she brought out of the hall closet. Now don’t expect any food she said. Neither one of us is eating tonight. The man jumped off the couch and said, “don’t worry I will feed us a meal fit for a king. She looked at the guy and saw no bags, no pockets that were big enough to hide food in. “I don’t see where you have it,” she said.
“I carry it right here he said.” He pulled a bent nail out of his pocket. She rolled her eyes,”You’re kidding.” She said. “Oh No! I’m going to make nail soup for us tonight.” Great she got a Looney Tune…Just what I need for tonight.”
“I do need a pot. Probably need a big one we might have leftovers for you to have tomorrow, probably enough for your neighbors too! Bring a HUGE pot!”
He put the nail into the pot and ran the water over the nail. “Yummy this will be a meal like no other. Sigh, it would be good if we had just a little bit of salts or seasonings you know I kind of like my soup to be seasoned just a little bit. Still, it will be as good as gold.” He kept stirring. She said, “Oh wait a minute I think I have a little bit of salt and herbs in the cabinet. These were left over from Easter.” She gave him the seasonings. He carefully looked at it. “Beautiful. Herbs do not expire.” She watched as he carefully smelled and portioned out the herbs and seasonings into the pot.
: Perfect! He said rather loudly. “Isn’t it to just wait and watch it come to a boil. Growing up I always like some vegetables in here. My mom said I was the only kid in the area that would eat vegetables.” He stirred and stirred the ‘soup.’
After watching him stir the pot a bit more she exclaimed,”Wait a minute! She said “I think I have some dry it out old vegetables down in the cellar.”
“Why that would be awesome! You know dried out vegetables become plump again when you put them in soup.” She was catching his excitement as she exclaimed, “I’ll get them!” You know, she saw him start with just a bent nail but boy it was starting to smell pretty good. “Nail Soup.” As she was thinking, the man started talking, “Now, the thing about Nail Soup is that it is the best when shared. I’m so glad you’re here. If I don’t have somebody to share it with… It just tastes like plain “Ole nothin’.”. He was humming and stirring. “I have served this soup to many, many folks. Why it’s fit to serve to a King. Well I would add a bit of meat or a bone with some meat on it.”
She slapped her knees and said “I got it! Downstairs, in the cellar, I have an old ham bone with a little bit of meat left on it I think. Not much though.”
“Not much?! Why that’s the makings of a king’s soup! Bring it on!!”
She ran to get the hambone. She could not believe she was going to have such a delectable smelling soup. She was starting to just imagine being before the king. She began to hum as well. “You know,” she said, as she gave him the bone, “I think since it’s a meal fit for a king, we should actually put my best dishes and silver.” And so they did. And the soup was so filling. Both of them had full bellies after that. He said he would put away the extra soup. What she did not know was he used every container that she had. She had fallen asleep long before he made his bed.
In the morning, the woman rushed out of her bedroom. Overnight she was awoke with a thought. What a great thing this would be to share with the neighbors. There was so much soup left over that it could feed the people in her small neighborhood. Everybody’s looking for jobs and surely this would be helpful until jobs were found. She would ask the gentleman if she could buy the nail from him. Surely if the neighbors all learned about the nail and tasted it, they could pitch in whatever they had in order to make this wonderful soup. To her horror, the sheets and blanket and old pillow were acts neatly the corner of the couch. She checked the bathroom, and he wasn’t there either. He had gone. ‘OH NO! She exclaimed. Tears filled her eyes. However, as she sat down at the table in order to just mourn the loss she felt, she saw it. In her place in the middle of her knitted placemat was the nail from last night.
I know you probably get the point. Even when we feel we have done everything for something for people who have suffered, something else comes up. And…if we follow the story, we can scrounge around and find what we need to provide for it all – with God’s help. You may think that it is easy to find a made up story to encourage us to give and give and ok, give some more. But what does scripture say? There isn’t any thing like this in scripture – right?
The one most close to this story is “The story of the widow woman.”
2 Kings 4:1-7 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
Oh! There are so many scriptures that let us know about the provision God gives us!
Here are a few more that come to mind. However, there are many verses of God’s provision.
16:12
For the greatest gift, better that food or drink, we receive a gift that we cannot find within our homes or ourselves. We are given a gift better than any earthly thing. We have our Lord. We are given eternal life. We will be satisfied.
4:14
Can you think of others?
Prayer: Dear Lord,
We understand that our tithes are there to support the running of the church and the support of all staff. Yet you also ask for our offerings after that. Help us when we reach for our offerings. Whether there is a little need that we can see or a big need, or a bunch of needs – help our offering flow easily from our pockets to Your Hands. When the need seems too big, or we have already given to one suffering, help us look further for the dried vegetables that can be given. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Pastor Charlene
AMT 9/28
Hi Church, I have been thinking about something…There are a lot of problems with the idea of sharing our ‘needs’ with others. This includes asking for help, sharing distressful concerns, helping others, and remembering to pray for folks…especially that guy with the ugly tie. It takes risk. Many of us feel we have been ‘burned’ before by doing so. Why? Let me introduce you to a group of folks you might know. You may even be one of them! They are at church with us, in our workplace, even in our homes.
Each of these folks might easily ask themselves what it means to do all this sharing and caring. They know that it is part of loving each other but what do we really have to do.
Remember the good Samaritan? He saw a stranger from another land, helped the man out. We learned that we are all neighbors.
Well, just that one story tells us that loving includes helping. Helping would mean we need to see or know what someone needs. Means listening. Listening means being quiet too.
Maybe we must share our needs too. Tough request. Can’t we just ask for unspoken prayer and not tell anyone what that need really is…Doesn’t sound like it.
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Yep. Got to share, got to help. That’s what you do with your burdens. You gotta pray too. Ephesians 6: 18
Hebrews 10:24 says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” We need to be examples, help others to live up to loving others, and encourage them. It means lovingly helping them to share, to care, and to bear one another’s burdens.
Prayer: Dear Lord,
Help me to reach out to my neighbors in love and in faith that, with you, we can walk through the tough times. Help us to learn to be in relationship with people so we better know their needs and more readily share our burdens. Let us especially include in our prayers those who bring us Your Word each week as they have many burdens they help carry. Thank you for taking on the biggest burden – dying for us to take away our sin. Thank you for loving your Father and loving us. Amen.
Feel free to text me back or ask questions. If you have a question you would like to see answered or discussed here, let me know.
Pastor Charlene