As children we may not look like we’re listening…but our heart is attentive. As teenagers we roll our eyes and sigh…thinking our parents are so out of touch and old fashion…but our heart is listening. And when we finally reach adulthood with some age under our belt, we look back at all the godly instruction and disciple we’ve received by our parents…and decide, they really did know best.
Tag: acts of kindness
Joshua 22:5 “But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to obey His commands, to hold fast to Him and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul.”
This verse brings together the very essence of what every Christian strives to do on a daily basis. We are to love God and in doing so, love others. We are to imitate His ways… obey His word…and resist the pull of the world, cleaving only to God…for in that is eternal life and unspeakable joy.
Isaiah 58:7 ” Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”
In this entire chapter, Isaiah is contrasting how the Children of Israel fasted, to what true fasting was meant to be. Fasting can become very self-centered…I’m denying myself, I’m going without, I’m abstaining from…I, I, I….you get the picture. But Isaiah wanted them to know that true fasting wasn’t about them and what they were doing at all, but rather, of reaching out to others around them. And interestingly enough, another meaning for fast – firm and secure – is exactly what the message of the Good News is. And what better people to help the poor than Christians who can fill the need both physically and spiritually?
Matthew 5: 38-39 ” You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
Jesus was quoting Leviticus 24:20 where the law stated that as a man had injured someone, so he was to be injured. But then, Jesus turned that law completely upside down by advocating loving your enemy and not repaying evil with evil…of doing good to those who hate you, and turning the cheek.
Philippians 2: 3-4 ” Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
What would this world be like if everyone honored and sought the good of others before themselves? If there was only humility and kindness rather than conceit and selfishness in all our interactions? What would the world be like if our focus was on becoming more like Jesus and less like the world?
Acts 20: 23-24 ” I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”
We all have the same goal as Paul…to complete the calling God has charged us with. Whether that be small or large, in the public eye or in the background – everyone has a ministry to fulfill. And even when forewarned by the Holy Spirit of what was to come, Paul resolutely set his eyes on Jerusalem and the finish line…knowing he had accomplished everything the Lord had mandated for him.
Genesis 4:9 ” Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ ‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ “
From the first time that question was uttered by Cain, to today, we must all be accountable to God for our fellow-man. If we see someone flailing in the water…we help. If we see someone drowning in sin…we need to go to their aid as well. We can never become an island unto ourselves…for God commands us to love and protect one another, just as He loves and protects us.
James 5:14 ” Is anyone of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.”
The early Church was a hospital, in the sense that the duties of the elders included caring for the sick among the congregation. Ancient medicine used what was readily available…olive oil, wine, balms, and salves for cleansing, soothing, and treating the body. The Lord wants the modern Church to incorporate the same” hospital concept” today. Every Sunday hurting people come through the doors needing healing of mind, body, and spirit…and it’s up to us to minister to those needs.
James 2: 18 ” 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.”
As Jesus said in Matthew 7:16-17, ” By their fruit you will recognize them.” It’s not good enough to just talk the talk…we must also walk the walk. We can preach all day to our friends, neighbors, or co-workers, but it’s how we act and the things we do…or don’t do, that they’re really watching. Our faith…our obedience, is shown by who we are, and our actions towards others.
Romans 15:13 ” May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may over flow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
That deep inner psychological sense of hope, confidence and expectation can only be reached and fully satisfied when we allow the Lord to fill that “God shaped” void inside us. And that wonderful transformation then allows us to “spill over”….for the God of all hope fills us to over flowing so that we might give that hope to others.
Safetypinlove 