Christians and love

 Christians and love

The apostle John writes,

"This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.... 

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1John 3:11,17,18.

The Bible is full of admonitions to the believer to help those in need. 

While to Talmud is not a Christian book it holds many Christian principles that Christian should follow,

“Rabbi Akiba was asked by a Roman general, "Why does your God who loves the needy not provide for their support Himself?"  He answered, "God the Father of both the rich and poor, wants the one to help the other so as to make the world a household of love." The Talmud.

Are you making the world around you a household of Love?

Please think about it.

Jesus Lunatic or Saviour

Jesus Lunatic or Saviour

John’s gospel records this interaction between Jesus and his disciples,

“Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  

If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  

Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.  

Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.  John 14:5-11.

This if you think about it is quite the extraordinary statement. Jesus makes two statements that if not true makes him a lunatic. He states,

1. “I am the way the truth and the life. No one come to the Father except through me.”

2.  “I am in the Father, and the Father is in me.”

What Jesus is saying is He is divine. He is God incarnate. The way to Heaven. 

 C. S. Lewis said it best in his book Mere Christianity when he wrote,

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

This is the choice the writers of the New Testament lay out before the whole world. Either Jesus is God incarnate, the Saviour of mankind, or he is not. The choice is yours.

Please think about it.

His love endures

  His love endures 

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving 

and his courts with praise; 

give thanks to him and praise his name. 

For the LORD is good 

and his love endures forever; 

his faithfulness continues through all generations." 

                                                                         Psalm 100:4,5.

I find one of the good thing about believing in Christ Jesus is that we can count on his love. That at any time we can enter into his courts and praise him. 

That Gods love does endure forever. His faithfulness continues from one generation to the next.

Do you praise and thank for all that you have and for all he has done for you?

Please think about it. 

The Psalmist writes

  The Psalmist writes

The psalmist writes,

“You are my God, and I will give you thanks; 

you are my God, and I will exalt you.” 

                                                             Psalm 118:28.

If you consider yourself a true Christian. A true believer in Christ Jesus do you give God thanks for all you have. Do you exalt him daily?

Please think about it. 

Lending to the poor

  Lending to the poor.

In the book of Proverbs we read,

“He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.” Proverbs 19:17.

There are over 2000 verses of scripture that deal with responding to the needs of the poor. Which tells me God cares a lot for the poor.

In the book of James we read,

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?  

Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  

If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 

But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.  

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 

You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?" James 2:14-20.

Our faith should spur us on to doing good works. To helping the poor wherever we can. Are you doing this?

Please think about it.

What God Accepts

  What God accepts

In the book of James we read,

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27

Is this the kind of faith you exude? Do you do what you can to help the orphans, widows and others in need?

We here in Canada live in a rich country. Yet there are thousands of people living on the street or who’s incomes are so low that they have to choose between what they pay for, rent of food. Our church and many others in the city where I live reach out to those on the street with food and at this time of year warm clothing. 

We deliver thousands of food parcels each month for those in need. And the need never seems to end.

So I ask you if you are a Christian who has a good income with some to spare, are you doing your best to help those in need? For this is what God wants.

At the same time we are told to keep ourselves from being polluted by the world. Our actions should be driven by our faith in God and not influenced by the world.

So what are you doing to help the widows and orphans in their distress?

Please think about it.

Need Help

 Need Help

“That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.  

Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.  

Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed.  

As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  

Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  

But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  

Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.  

  Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.  

He who has ears, let him hear."...

“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:  

When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.  

The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.  

But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.  

The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.  

But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”  Matthew 13:1-9,18-23.

Here is a parable that tells where each believer stands. There are many people who go to church. Many claiming to be Christians that have fallen away or struggle for one reason or another with their faith. Thus the apostle Paul writes to the rest of us,

"We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves." Romans 15:1.

We who are strong in the Lord ought to help those who are weak in their faith.

Are there people around you whom you need to help spiritually?

Please think about it.