Tag: Love

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The Latter Rain: Celebrate Lent-Day 9

17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.  

Luke 15: 17-20 NIV

In yesterday’s devotion we recognized that no matter what the prodigal son did his Father still loved him. Today, let us recognize another powerful truth from this parable that works alongside our lenten prayer and fasting; we are worthy to be called God’s child!

I know in a great sense we are not worthy of such lavish forgiveness. We have corrupted ourselves and done evil in the sight of the Lord. Romans chapter three reminds us that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. But we must not listen to the lies of satan that would have us believe we are not worthy at all of God’s love and forgiveness. While it is true we cannot earn our Father’s forgiveness, His love, mercy and grace do flow freely for those who desire it.

The truth is, we are worthy of His love and forgiveness precisely because we are His highest creation. In every human soul resides something of the image of God, and that alone makes us worthy of his love. What the prodigal son realized was that even though he was not worthy of his Father’s forgiveness by his own merits, he was worthy as a part of his Father’s family.

“The truth is, we are worthy of His love and forgiveness precisely because we are His highest creation.”

Each of us is a part of our Heavenly Father’s family because we are his cherished creation. And while the way we live may separate us from the fellowship of His family, it cannot separate us from His love. We must only wake up to the reality of our place in the family.

When we will realize how much our Father loves us, in spite of our sins, we will know that He never closes the door on us. He is continually calling out for us to come home, who have as the prophet Isaiah said, “turned to our own way.” (Isa. 53)

So, as we journey through Lent, may our prayer and fasting bring to us a brightness in our sorrow. In the realization of our sinfulness may we know how loved we are by our Father. Let us stand outside in the latter rain of Christ’s loving sacrifice and feel His love washing over us, drawing us back to into fellowship with Him.

Shalom,

Pastor Brad

Image credit: https://www.freelifechurchva.com/sermons/

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The Latter Rain: Celebrate Lent – Day 5

14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:14-15

Often, we overlook the greatest power of the human spirit. We think our greatest power has something to do with our intellect, our creative genius, and our ability to figure things out. Yet all those things pale in comparison to the greatest power ever granted to humanity – the power to forgive.

The greatest power of the human being is to forgive. With one act of forgiveness, we can wipe away the greatest of afflictions that plagues us. When we hold on to bitterness and grudges against others, we allow them to fester like a cancer in our spirit. Such feelings steal our peace and keep us bound as slaves to our emotions.

“The greatest power of the human being is to forgive.”

Jesus came into our world to bring us the forgiveness of our Heavenly Father. He demonstrated the importance of forgiveness when He offered up the greatest act of forgiving the world has ever seen…from His cross, He forgave those who rejected and crucified Him. 

In Matthew’s account of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, we hear Jesus teaching His followers the importance of forgiveness. He links our own forgiveness from God with our willingness to forgive others. This is a most difficult thing to understand. We don’t want to think that God will not forgive us because we don’t forgive others. Instead, we think thoughts like, “After all, we aren’t perfect like Jesus. Right?”

Wrong. It is not about being perfect, it is about being surrendered to the power of His love working in and through us. Alone, we do not have the power to forgive but through His divine Spirit at work within us we can. The truth is that if we do not learn to forgive others, we are placing our souls in jeopardy. You might be thinking, “But, I can’t forgive what they have done to me!” You’re right. On your own you cannot. But we can do ‘all things’ through Christ who gives us strength (Phil. 4:13).

Today is Forgiveness Sunday for our Eastern Christian brothers and sisters. On the final day before they enter the celebration of Great Lent they turn to one another at the end of their worship service to offer forgiveness to each other; it is a powerful image of the love of God being poured out. 

If God’s grace is always being poured out, and I believe it is, then His love is always available to us. It is only in and through His love that we can forgive those who have hurt us. Alone, we cannot even love, let alone forgive. But we are never alone. His power is at work within us, teaching us and leading us.

Today, on Forgiveness Sunday, the latter rain is falling. Showers of blessing are being outpoured. We need only step out into the rain. Now, let us turn to one another and offer our forgiveness to all who have hurt us. Let us confess that we too have hurt others and need to be forgiven, not only by God but by those whom we have hurt. And let us live in the power of His love.

Shalom,

Pastor Brad

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The Latter Rain: Celebrate Lent – Day 3

8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
    the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
Isaiah 58:8-9 RSV

Fridays in Lent are a special day. Each Friday we remember the death of our Lord Jesus on the cross. The heart of learning to ‘celebrate’ Lent, instead of just observing it is seen in how we view the cross. Do we see in the cross of Christ, death or life?

Death is easy to see. The way Jesus was killed was a heinous, murderess act. But we must look upon His ultimate, self-giving act of love, not with sorrow only but with joy and gladness. The cross of Christ is the instrument of Love; it was the greatest act of love possible. God could do nothing greater to prove His love to us.

The prophet Isaiah gives us great insight into how to celebrate Lent with joy and gladness. In chapter 58 he speaks convicting words to God’s people for their false worship through fasting without meaning. They fasted for selfish, self-righteous purposes which God condemns. And all the while they complain that God does not hear them…

‘Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not?
    Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,[a]
    and oppress all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
    and to hit with wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
    will not make your voice to be heard on high.

Isaiah 58:3-4 RSV

Then the Lord God reveals the fast that he accepts…

“Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of wickedness,
    to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
    and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Isaiah 58:6-7 RSV

If we wish to please God with our Lenten sacrifices, we must allow them to move us to action, to life-giving acts of love toward others – that is what Jesus did. He continually acted in love toward all humanity. 

When we view the cross of Christ, may we offer our Lenten fasting up to God with joy and gladness in thanksgiving for His breaking the yoke of our sin and setting the captives free. Then, let us go forth and shower the world with the latter rain of God’s love.

“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.”

1 John 3:18 NLT

Shalom,

Pastor Brad

Image credit: https://cradio.org.au/homilies-reflections/archbishop-julian-porteous/embracing-cross-christ/

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The Greatest Force In All the World

The Greatest Force In the World

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Romans 8:35 NRSV

 

Because-God-is-Love-We-can-Love-Blog-HeaderGo ahead. Let your imagination run wild. I guarantee you won’t be able to think of anything so powerful, or so horrific it can separate us from the love of God. St. Paul tried to think of something – but he couldn’t. It just doesn’t exist.

The love of God is the greatest force in all the world, because it is the very essence of His being. St. John tells us this in his first letter, “…God IS love,” (1 John 4:16 emphasis added). John goes on to say that to live in God is to live in love. The problem in our world is, too many people ‘believe’ in God, when not enough actually ‘live’ in Him.

When we who believe in God, actually begin to live in Him, we change the world. It took less than three hundred years to convert the Roman Empire to Christianity; and that was with no mass media whatsoever. What began as a small band of radical Jews in a far-off unimportant corner of the Empire spread like a wild fire out of control. The fuel of the fire was the love of God that was poured out through those who called themselves Christian, those who chose to live out the mystery of participating in the life of God in Jesus Christ.

The love of God is the greatest force in all the world, because it is the very essence of His being.

You and I have that same choice to make today. The choice isn’t to just believe in Jesus Christ as Messiah, but to realize that He is God and has given His life, His love, His all for and to us. And, a part of that ‘all’ is that we may partake of His divine life, empowering us to live a life of unparalleled love for everyone, even our enemies.

Today, on this Lenten Friday, as you look upon the cross of Jesus and view His tortured, bleeding body, think about His love. Think about His goodness. Why not meditate on these words from songwriter Don Moen:

Think about His love, think about His goodness
Think about His grace that’s brought us trough
For as high as the heavens above
So great is the measure of our father’s love
Great is the measure of our Father’s love
So great is the measure of our Father’s love 

The cross of Christ… what love! Now that is turning ashes into beauty!

Listen to the full song here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVo4otd9LGI

Shalom for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad

Image credit: https://philadelphiabapt.org/tlof-because-god-is-love/

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Dwelling with God

4 One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.

 Psalm 27:4

If you could ask the Lord for one thing, just one thing, what would it be? I used to play a game with friends when I was young where we would ask each other the one thing we wanted more than anything else. The answers were usually something like wealth and fame, or to live forever. Clearly we had some pretty superficial dreams.

However, as I grew and matured I began to ask myself, “What good would it do me to have all the money in the world if I didn’t have love?” I would be miserable. I had a comfortable life. I wasn’t suffering, but I knew something was missing. I can still remember when I found what my heart was really longing for.

Money can buy a lot of things, but it can’t buy true love. True love by it’s very definition is God. St. John tells us, “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). To want all the money and fame possible in this world is a most selfish wish, and it’s where we start in this life. In our fallen state of sin, we are attached to the world and detached from God.

As we grow and learn in this life, we become conscious that someone other worldly is out there calling to us. That someone is God. From before we are born He is seeking us. His divine providence has orchestrated things such that we humans have encounters with Him in this world. To encounter the beauty of nature is to encounter the goodness of our Creator. However, the greatest and fullest of all encounters is found in the person of Jesus Christ. God took on human flesh to become our kinsman redeemer.

Psalm 27 is the song of the Church calling out to God in faith and love. The psalmist begins (verses 1-3) in faith knowing that the LORD (Jesus) is his light and salvation. No one and nothing can harm him, because he knows he is the LORD’s most prized possession. Such knowledge leads the psalmist to ask only one thing of the LORD – to dwell with Him forever (Psalm 27:4).

I will never forget the Good Friday service when I realized how much Jesus loved me. I had heard His story all my life, but I hadn’t fallen in love with Him. But that Good Friday I was sitting in a darkened church experiencing what was called Living Pictures of Easter. As I watched a live man playing the role of Jesus, stripped, beaten, and hung on a cross, I felt in my heart what I had always known in my head – He died for me.

That night I found the real meaning of love, and my only response was to love Him back… more than ever. Loving Jesus Christ more than anything or anyone is the purpose of our lives. Our journey to such a relationship is like a pilgrimage on which we move from one holy place to another encountering the Living Christ through the events of our lives. The psalmist knew he could always count on the LORD to deliver him, no matter the danger (Psalm 27:5-12).

When we open the eyes of our hearts to the love of God that surrounds us, to the providential care of His will for our lives, we find ourselves in sweet communion with Christ. He led me to that Good Friday service, and He wants to lead you to a special encounter as well. It’s in those special encounters we realize that with Christ in our lives we have all we really need. Then we can be strong and courageous. Then we can say with assurance, as did the psalmist, “I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!” (Psalm 27:13)

Shalom,

Pastor Brad

image credit: http://www.elimgrace.org/multimedia-category/david/

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It’s All About Love

Waves of Mercy pentecost-1024x493For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

 

The entire message of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation can be summed up in these four words – “For God so loved”. God created because He loved. God saved Noah because He loved. God called Abraham, and made him the father of all who would be redeemed because He loved. God gave the promised land because He loved. He restored Israel to their homeland after their captivity because He loved. The story of God and humanity is all about love.

Too often we lose sight of the Father’s love by focusing on the difficult elements of the many stories of God’s people through time. We often think the story of God is about disobedience and punishment. Those are both a part of the saga, but they are not what the story is all about. Just as there are consequences to sin in our lives today, the many harsh punishments we see in the Bible were as such. And, punishment is actually loving if the intention is for us to learn from our disobedience. But, if we fail to see the love of God poured out over and over again in the pages of the Bible, we miss the main point.

God’s love is from before all things because His very essence is love. All that flows from Him, yes even His wrath, flows from His love. As St. John tells us, “God is light” and “God is love”, and there is no darkness in Him (1 Jn. 1:5; 4:8). And, in the ultimate act of light and love He sent His only son, Jesus Christ, into the world, that through faith, all who will believe on Him may be saved.

If God’s story is all about love, then shouldn’t ours be as well? Is yours? Believe me, I’m asking myself the same thing. Every day when we rise to look in the mirror, let us remember how much God loves us, and let that love overflow in waves of mercy to a lost and hurting world; that’s God’s plan; it always has been and it always will be, and – it’s all about love.

Grace and Peace,

+Pastor Brad

Prayer

Merciful, loving Father, thank you for loving me even when I am most unlovable, and for your just punishments of my sin. Help me to learn from them, and help me today to be a conduit of your love to everyone I meet. Let your waves of mercy overflow through me. Amen.

Image credit: http://www.hbcridgeway.org/sermons/sermon/2015-06-28/pm-its-all-about-love:-love-my-family

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Waves of Mercy

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:1-4

Love doesn’t always look like what we think. We often think love looks like hugs and kisses, and smiles, but it can look completely different. On the morning of Pentecost, it looked like waves of mercy, blowing into the upper room and filling those who gathered in faith, overflowing them with the Spirit of God.

The gift of the Holy Spirit was a gift of mercy. Ever since the tower of Babel humanity had been separated by their languages, which caused them to scatter and create differing cultures. But, on Pentecost morning a new universal language was given – love. The Father showed how much He loved the world when He gave His only son for the life of the world. Now, He has given us His Spirit too, that we all may be one.

Mercy is the expression of God’s love. St. James tells us every good and perfect gift comes from the Father who does not change (Jas. 1:17). The gift of the Holy Spirit was for them that day, and for us too, and for all who will believe. The waves of God’s mercy are abounding with His love. He wants to fill us up till we overflow. And, when we overflow with his Spirit, His love and Spirit will flow out in mercy to our lost and broken world. And so we pray – come Holy Spirit, come.

Grace and Peace,

+Pastor Brad

Prayer

Father of all Mercy, fall on me today, for I need you. I need the fullness of your Spirit. Come in your strength, come in your power, come in your own gentle way, but come sweet Spirit, I pray. Amen.

Image credit: https://missionalpreaching.com/2015/05/21/pentecost-and-and-patterns-of-new-creation-acts-21-21/

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Peace in Our Time?

…and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:7

Peace, is there anything more desired yet so seemingly difficult to apprehend? It seems it can be broken with a single word, or even sometimes even a look. But did we really lose it. We cannot lose what we don’t have. Peace, real peace, only comes through Jesus Christ, all else is only an illusion.

True peace is beyond our comprehension according to St. Paul. That’s because it is of the very nature of God. Jesus told his disciples in John 14:27 he was giving them His peace; He was leaving it with them. He also told them it was not the kind of peace this world gives. This world thinks of peace as the cessation of hostility, when actually it is an inner state of being made possible by the love of God poured out in our hearts by power of the resurrection.

To love those the world hates, because we see them as children of God, as brothers and sisters, only comes from true inner peace. Mother Theresa said, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” You see, Jesus teaches us that we are all brothers and sisters, children of the same Father, from the same earthly ancestors. Until we realize this in our soul real peace will always elude us.

Do you sense real peace in your soul as a gift from Christ and His Spirit? The gift comes from being connected to God in prayer as Paul says in verse 6. Prayer is the conduit of God’s peace. Thus we must pray about everything. Won’t you pray about whatever is robbing you of peace today?

Peace only comes from Jesus Christ, all else is only a facade. He longs to give it to us, and when we receive it, He becomes the guardian of our hearts and minds, but we must leave all our burdens, all our anxiety with Him. Then, the power of His resurrection will enable us to live at peace with our brothers and sisters. Yes, there can be peace in our time.

Peace is possible, if we remember Christ is risen…and so are we!

Grace & Peace,

+Pastor Brad

Prayer

God of all peace, I surrender to you all my worries, cares and concerns; all my striving to fix the wrongs of this life. Help me by your grace to see your peace in my soul, that I may love others as you love me. Amen. Alleluia!

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What’s Love Got To Do With It?

 “9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,”

Grammy Award winner, Tina Turner asked a question we all need to consider when we think about living in the power of the resurrection. Her 1984 hit single asked, “What’s love got to do, got to do with it? What’s love but a sweet old fashioned notion?” Sadly, Tina was asking her questions with a broken heart and broken hearts rarely tell the truth; they simply tell us how we feel in the moment. But, God has a word for us today about love.

Love is the essence of God, and it’s more than just a “second hand emotion”. God shares his love with us, and through his resurrection power we participate in it. The more we learn about God, the closer we grow to Him. The closer we grow to Him, the more we love Him. And, the more we love Him, the more we love his world and everything in it.

St. Paul prayed for the Philippians’ love to “abound still more and more”. He knew if they could grow in love, they would become more Christ like. Living out the love of Christ is what wins the lost and overcomes evil. We all need love – the love of God as well as one another.

Broken hearts hurt. Human love will let us down, but God’s love knows no bounds. Does your heart hurt? If so, let God’s love heal it; it’s not a second hand emotion, it’s THE greatest emotion of all. As you journey through this Easter season, let the love of God well in you richly until it overflows like a river out of bounds. Like a flood, the waters of God’s love will fill every place and cannot be held back.

Remember, Christ is risen…and so are you!

Grace & Peace,

+Pastor Brad

Prayer

Loving Heavenly Father, I want to know the depth of your love. Heal me through your love such that it may overflow through me to others. Amen. Alleluia!

Image credit: http://www.bet.com/shows/bet-star-cinema/photos/2014/05/weekend-movie-marathon-may-31.html

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The Greater the Darkness, The Brighter the Light

More thoughts on this week’s Epistle: Ephesians 5:8-19

sun_rays_john_1_5

(Image Credit: http://www.trulytruly.net)

Darkness seems to prevail. It seems each week we hear of a new tragedy of terror as innocent people are killed somewhere in the world. On Monday, those who died in the San Bernardino killings had no idea they were starting their last few days in this life. Of course no one knows when their end will come, but death by terrorism is a far more tragic end to innocent life. I began the week asking God to shed more light on my path, and yet darkness seems to intensify. But, there is something we must not forget; the greater the darkness, the brighter the light will shine.

St. Paul tells us we must walk through this world wisely, to not be foolish for the days are evil. That was true in the first century, and it is still true today. And, it will be true until Jesus returns at end of time. A part of being wise is to realize that we are at war in this world with terrorism.

The war of terror on the world is not really new. There have always been terrorists in this sinful world. However, in a digital age where things happen and are reported in seconds, and where we can see pictures that transport us to the scene causing us to feel even greater emotions than we feel from just reading headlines, it feels as if something new is happening, something far worse than ever before.

We see terror with new eyes today. But, let us be reminded that we can see light with new eyes as well. 500 years before Jesus was born, the Prophet Isaiah said, “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.“ (Isa. 9:2 NLT). Jesus Christ, who is the promise of God’s “great light”,  is for every age no matter how deep the darkness. We saw that “great light”, in the Christ like response of the people of the Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. last June. 

So, in the words of the title of Francis Schaeffer’s classic book, “How Then Shall We Now Live?”, what should be our response to the deep darkness that seems to be falling upon our land? To embrace the light and truth of Jesus Christ, who said to love our neighbor, pray for those who persecute us, and forgive those who sin against us. In the end, love will always conquer hate, and light will always dispel the darkness. May we never forget that great truth in midst of our anguish and fear.

Grace & Peace,

Pastor Brad

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

Matthew 5:6