June 15th 2014
Is There A Deep Desire In You To Do Whatever You Can In This Life To Glorify Jesus?
Matthew 5:43-48 (NIV)
"You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
We all need to spend less time reflecting upon the good things we "ought" to do, and more time in thanking God for His plan to "give" us our salvation. Our salvation is a gift from God through Jesus death upon the cross! This is it the only plan God devised for our salvation! So can we do enough good things to offset the sins we have committed? The answer is a resounding "NO!"
We are expected to do good deeds, because God has already assured our salvation, and therefore, we will want to do good deeds! Why, because we want to glorify God while we live upon this earth. That is our only true purpose for this lifetime He has given us! We are to glorify Him during our lifetime by being the servant of all the other people He has created! We are to love them no matter what they look like, or how they speak, or where they are from, etc., etc. We are also expected to treat them nicely, even when they do not reciprocate! So if you have been looking for some difficult things to do to earn your keep here on this earth, Jesus has just told us! If you are still looking for some difficult things to do to earn your entrance into heaven, you are out-of-luck! O wait, there is that thing you can do, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Is Jesus really telling His disciples (us) to be perfect? Can we really aspire to, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect?” We are also told to work on becoming more like Jesus every day, and we attempt to do it! Don’t we? AND we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who is our Father in heaven. We are also told we were created in the image and likeness of God which means there is a part of us that is godlike! It seems that Jesus actually expects us to be very different from those who we must love, who we may not really like!
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35) Could anyone identify you as a disciple of Jesus, if they followed you around to see how you treated everyone whom you came in contact with? Could anyone even identify you as His disciple by how you treat your fellowship family members at the church of your choice? Do you love everyone there, even those you do not really like?
Okay, by now you are likely wondering what this seeming doubletalk is all about. How can anyone love someone they do not like? I believe it is possible, because there are people who disagree with much of what you believe, and they are argumentative about it. Yes, this is even true in the church of your choice. It is definitely true of people in this world, and remember, we are to think of ourselves as being aliens in this world, in which we are just passing through on our way to immortality, and life with God our Father in heaven. To like is a human characteristic, but to truly love others requires a relationship the God/Jesus.
In this modern world we hear comments almost every day about falling into love with someone, and then in many cases falling out of love with them. This is bogus as falling is not a good description of love, but more of like. If you can ever really love someone, it is NOT because they fit perfectly into the mold you have created for them, but in many cases, because they don’t. The most helpful kind of relationship is one that compliments yours by offering a different opinion, or an outlook on life that fills in the gaps left by your omissions of recognizing life’s blessings. Too many people believe they have earned everything they have, and thus, do not see any reason to give thanks to God, for everything there is!
Are your blessings being received because of what you are doing, or are you just being included because of your physical location? Your relationship with Jesus is supposed to be personal, but it is never meant to be private! We are called to mingle with other believers to strengthen our understanding of God’s Word, and to develop a pattern of Christ likeness, so that we can share His light with those people who do not know Him, and/or who care less about such things in this lifetime! Some people just do not have time they wish to devote to getting to know Jesus Christ! How do you feel about your personal relationship with Jesus? Do you really want such a relationship?
Is almost everything in this lifetime more important to you than your relationship with Jesus? Are you not even willing to spend one hour or so, each week going to a place of worship for the purpose of offering your worship of God? Some reading this commentary today do not attend a church of their choice on a regular basis, BUT they claim to have a relationship with Jesus. Attending a church on a regular basis is important, but it MUST be done to worship Jesus! God/Jesus has promised to always be with you, so you do not have to be in a church to worship Him. However, Jesus chose to attend a church on a regular basis when He walked this earth as a man. Do you need less support from other believers than Jesus did?
Are these questions being posed non-sense? Maybe such questions should remain unasked, but you must answer for yourself, how the answers should reflect a deep desire in you to do whatever you can in this life to glorify Jesus! Do you agree with that opinion? Paul wrote about good deeds that God prepared in advance for us, His followers to do. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no-one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10) Do you believe you are “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works?” Created in Jesus and “born again” to do good works! Now that is a big order, and a narrow path to follow!
God created you to worship Him, and to lead your life in a way that will bring honor and glory to Him! Maybe that is too much to ask for a mere human being to do? You can only do it if you are also a mere Christian! God needs nothing from you, but He wants a personal relationship! Believe it and live anew! Thank you, Jesus!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Matthew 5:43-48 (NIV)
"You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
We all need to spend less time reflecting upon the good things we "ought" to do, and more time in thanking God for His plan to "give" us our salvation. Our salvation is a gift from God through Jesus death upon the cross! This is it the only plan God devised for our salvation! So can we do enough good things to offset the sins we have committed? The answer is a resounding "NO!"
We are expected to do good deeds, because God has already assured our salvation, and therefore, we will want to do good deeds! Why, because we want to glorify God while we live upon this earth. That is our only true purpose for this lifetime He has given us! We are to glorify Him during our lifetime by being the servant of all the other people He has created! We are to love them no matter what they look like, or how they speak, or where they are from, etc., etc. We are also expected to treat them nicely, even when they do not reciprocate! So if you have been looking for some difficult things to do to earn your keep here on this earth, Jesus has just told us! If you are still looking for some difficult things to do to earn your entrance into heaven, you are out-of-luck! O wait, there is that thing you can do, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Is Jesus really telling His disciples (us) to be perfect? Can we really aspire to, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect?” We are also told to work on becoming more like Jesus every day, and we attempt to do it! Don’t we? AND we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who is our Father in heaven. We are also told we were created in the image and likeness of God which means there is a part of us that is godlike! It seems that Jesus actually expects us to be very different from those who we must love, who we may not really like!
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35) Could anyone identify you as a disciple of Jesus, if they followed you around to see how you treated everyone whom you came in contact with? Could anyone even identify you as His disciple by how you treat your fellowship family members at the church of your choice? Do you love everyone there, even those you do not really like?
Okay, by now you are likely wondering what this seeming doubletalk is all about. How can anyone love someone they do not like? I believe it is possible, because there are people who disagree with much of what you believe, and they are argumentative about it. Yes, this is even true in the church of your choice. It is definitely true of people in this world, and remember, we are to think of ourselves as being aliens in this world, in which we are just passing through on our way to immortality, and life with God our Father in heaven. To like is a human characteristic, but to truly love others requires a relationship the God/Jesus.
In this modern world we hear comments almost every day about falling into love with someone, and then in many cases falling out of love with them. This is bogus as falling is not a good description of love, but more of like. If you can ever really love someone, it is NOT because they fit perfectly into the mold you have created for them, but in many cases, because they don’t. The most helpful kind of relationship is one that compliments yours by offering a different opinion, or an outlook on life that fills in the gaps left by your omissions of recognizing life’s blessings. Too many people believe they have earned everything they have, and thus, do not see any reason to give thanks to God, for everything there is!
Are your blessings being received because of what you are doing, or are you just being included because of your physical location? Your relationship with Jesus is supposed to be personal, but it is never meant to be private! We are called to mingle with other believers to strengthen our understanding of God’s Word, and to develop a pattern of Christ likeness, so that we can share His light with those people who do not know Him, and/or who care less about such things in this lifetime! Some people just do not have time they wish to devote to getting to know Jesus Christ! How do you feel about your personal relationship with Jesus? Do you really want such a relationship?
Is almost everything in this lifetime more important to you than your relationship with Jesus? Are you not even willing to spend one hour or so, each week going to a place of worship for the purpose of offering your worship of God? Some reading this commentary today do not attend a church of their choice on a regular basis, BUT they claim to have a relationship with Jesus. Attending a church on a regular basis is important, but it MUST be done to worship Jesus! God/Jesus has promised to always be with you, so you do not have to be in a church to worship Him. However, Jesus chose to attend a church on a regular basis when He walked this earth as a man. Do you need less support from other believers than Jesus did?
Are these questions being posed non-sense? Maybe such questions should remain unasked, but you must answer for yourself, how the answers should reflect a deep desire in you to do whatever you can in this life to glorify Jesus! Do you agree with that opinion? Paul wrote about good deeds that God prepared in advance for us, His followers to do. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no-one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10) Do you believe you are “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works?” Created in Jesus and “born again” to do good works! Now that is a big order, and a narrow path to follow!
God created you to worship Him, and to lead your life in a way that will bring honor and glory to Him! Maybe that is too much to ask for a mere human being to do? You can only do it if you are also a mere Christian! God needs nothing from you, but He wants a personal relationship! Believe it and live anew! Thank you, Jesus!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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