Loving the Love's Day in a Selfish Way

 

…and then she said to me, “I love loving the people who are special and love me.” Huh? Wait a minute here, it sounds like the quintessence of selfishness. But then she continued to talk, not realizing my perplexity:

“I love all things sweet and sappy and sentimental. I love red puffy hearts and pink shiny bows and glittery Valentine cards. I love heart-shaped pancakes in the morning, heart-shaped sandwiches at lunch and heart-shaped pizzas for dinner. I love presents covered in heart wrapping paper and red heart-shaped chocolates.”

Now I got it. She was in love with the idea of love. She loves Valentine’s day first, and then some of the people around her: family, work buddies, church people. She loves expressing-the-love, more than the love per se.   

Then I realized that I may be on the same path. Me sending V cards and giving V presents and sweets as a cultural trend, moral obligation and also to hear the feed-back, “oh, thank you, your are so nice, so sweet, so…” No, I am not. I am trying to be, but by nature I’m selfish.

I can be so easy to get wrapped up in the “sweet celebration of love” that I forget where all this love really came from. “We love each other because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19)

Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be just about us. If we are as intentional about loving Him as we are about expressing our love to each other, the whole day can still bring glory to the God. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights. (James 1:17).

Love is a verb. Love your loved ones in a practical way beyond the paper hearts and Kiss candies. Call your parents and in-laws. 

Go out of your way to serve your children/ grand-children and celebrate them today. Do something special for your love ones. 

Let your family feel not the love of Valentine’s Day, but the love of God reflected through you.

The Bible Is Clear

 

The Bible is clear: Moabites are bad. They were not to be allowed to dwell among God's people (Deut. 23). But then comes the story of "Ruth the Moabite," which challenges the prejudice against Moabites (Ruth 4).

The Bible is clear: People from Uz are evil (Jer. 25). But then comes the story of Job, a man from Uz who was "blameless and upright man who feared God and shunned evil" (Job 1). 

The Bible is clear: No foreigners or eunuchs allowed (Deut. 23). But then comes the story of an African eunuch welcomed into the church (Acts 8).

The Bible is clear: God's people hated Samaritans (John 4). But then Jesus tells a story about a Samaritan – role-model for everyone (Luke 10).

The story may begin on human level with

- prejudice

- discrimination

- animosity

but the Spirit moves God's people towards

- openness

- inclusion

- affirmation.

 

 

I read that the cure for resentment is to pray two weeks for the person for whom you're holding the resentment. Is there something extraordinary about a two weeks cure? Or just making an effort to pray for someone with whom we're struggling softens our hearts toward them?

Actually, I think the key that makes this wisdom true is the word “for”. Praying for, not about...

What's the difference? Quite a bit, really. Praying-about prayers are the kind that go something like this: "Lord, please make this person leave me alone. Do something about her mean attitude. After all, Lord, if she weren't so awful, I wouldn't have to hate her." In other words, praying about someone is really all about me and my own suffering.

In contrast, praying-for other people calls upon God's power to change the person for his/her own good, and to bring healing in whatever may be lacking which has caused the negative actions. It can never be the wrong thing to pray for our enemies, no matter what they've done to us. The Bible says, "Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you" (Mat. 5:44). It's not easy, but it sure does put the smack-down on resentment. Become a grudgeless grudger.

Praying for the good of our enemies provides a two-fold miracle.

1 - First, it dilutes the development of bitterness in our own hearts, no matter how innocent we are and no matter how guilty the other person is.

2 - Second, it opens the opportunity for God to actually change that person rather than just to protect us from him. It also gives us an opportunity to share in the intercession that Jesus performs for us. We may offend God, but Jesus continues to pray for us and for the healing of our faults. And He say:

Go and resentment no more…

 

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them...” (Matthew 28:19)

Followers of Jesus were commanded to make disciples.

Disciples

not members,

not converts,

not decisions,

not friends,                                                                            

not admirers,

not voters.

Not supporters or donors or associates,

not advisors or assistants or helpers or counselors,

not critics or groupies.

Not pupils or customers, buddies, pals, or imitators,

not defenders, volunteers, temps, guests, visitors,

not hostesses, representatives, agents, or fans.

"Make disciples" Jesus said. We were not sent to make people religious nor to talk them into praying a magic prayer or to "like my Jesus”.  

We were sent to warn people that this lovely planet is the Titanic with an expiration date, and that the only way off is by the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior.

Go ye – yes, me/ you/ us...

 

Yearly ResolveUtions

 

This guy bragging now in February about his New Year’s resolutions made in December last year but kind of upside down, like:

- I won’t lose ten pounds this year

- I’m committed to lose 5K buying useless lottery tickets

- I’ll watch all the Netflix mindless shows

But there is one guy who I suspect played for keeps when he made New Year’s resolutions. You know, the zealot who could never do anything halfway, the let’s-get-real-about-our-faith apostle, Apostle Paul. Paul only had one resolution on his list: For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). Paul’s message is radically simple: Salvation is in Christ alone. What does this mean?

·   It’s not Christ plus my good behavior

·   It’s not Christ plus the years I taught a Bible class

·   It’s not Christ plus my tithe

·   It’s not Christ plus my title

·   It’s not Christ plus my favorite tele-preacher

·   It’s not Christ plus fasting one day per week

·   It’s not Christ plus a good driving record

·   It’s not Christ plus well-behaved children

·   It’s not Christ plus the size of my church

·   It’s not Christ plus the right type of facial mask

·   It’s not Christ plus the latest technology.

Christ plus nothing. It’s simply Christ. That’s Paul’s message, a message that is as right throughout this new year.

May your resolution for the year be nothing else but Christ and Him crucified.

S(in)TUPIDIY

Carlo Cipolla wrote his famous book "The Basic Laws a Human Stupidity" almost 50 years ago but is more relevant now than ever before. Stupidity is not going to be out of fashion any time soon. He also wrote about clocks, guns, depressions, faith, reason, and of course – he being an economist – money. His analysis of stupidity encompasses all those other topics, and perhaps all of human experience.

He did articulate the laws in plain language. They are akin to laws of nature – a seemingly basic characteristic of the universe. Here they are:

1. Always and inevitably, everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.

2. The probability that a certain person be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.

3. A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons, while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.

4. Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular, non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places and under any circumstances to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.

Stupidity is not low IQ and is not scarcity of information. Likewise sin is not the absence of knowledge or a wrong set of info, but rather a wrong perspective, the right-here-right-now self-gratification while ignoring the outcome.

This is how the Message translation renders Hebrews 11:25-27: 

By faith, Moses, when grown... chose a hard life with God’s people rather than an opportunistic soft life of sin with the oppressors. He valued suffering in the Messiah’s camp far greater than Egyptian wealth because he was looking ahead, anticipating the payoff. By an act of faith, he turned his heel on Egypt, indifferent to the king’s blind rage. He had his eye on the One no eye can see, and kept right on going. 

The Egypt social media of his time called him stupid, as well as the royal elite from Pharaoh entourage. But Moses CHOSE a different path, the path of righteousness, having his "eye on the One no eye can see".

Sin is a matter of choice. And the stupid thing a lot of people are fooling with is choosing wrong again and again. Choosing by having their eyes on stuff they can see and turning the blind eye on "the One no eye can see". Which is stupid, plain and simple.

Life like an Onion

Life like an onion 🧅: You peel off one layer at a time and sometimes you weep. A lot.

or

Life like a bunch of grapes 🍇: You eat one at a time and sometimes you enjoy. A lot. And before the last one is gone, remember Matthew 26:29 where Jesus basically says "to be continued".

Have a blessed Sabbath seasoned with joy of salvation.