Be More Intent on Loving Your Neighbor 

During a recent late-night storm, the power went off in our neighborhood. We remained without electricity and all its benefits until close to lunchtime the next day. Early that morning I, along with other neighbors, ventured outside to assess the damage. We discovered that there were a few trees down in our area, along with a number of large limbs, as well as the typical smaller debris of twigs and pine cones littering the yards and streets. We had one of those huge branches sprawled across our driveway, but thankfully it missed our house.

It was interesting to see so many of our neighbors getting outside, interacting with one another, assisting with the removal of limbs, and sharing about our mutual experience of surviving the storm and dealing with the power outage. A few new acquaintances were made. For others of us who already knew each other, it may have been the most we had talked in a long time. Race, political preferences, and other factors that often separate us didn’t matter. The storm and its aftermath brought us together to support and encourage one another. It is a shame that it often brings a hardship of some kind to pull us out of our shells of isolation and self-absorption to interact with others and to help a neighbor.

 It reminds me of the story Jesus told when He stressed the importance of loving our neighbor. Many of us know it as the Parable of the Good Samaritan. You are probably familiar with the account of the man who was robbed, beaten, and left injured lying on the road. A priest and Levite, both considered to be good religious people, saw the man but passed right on by without stopping to help. However, a Samaritan, someone different racially and culturally, showed compassion on the man by tending to his wounds, personally taking care of him, and then making sure upon his departure that others would continue to look after the man.

We don’t know what was going through the minds of the priest and Levite that day causing them to pass by this man without offering any assistance. Maybe they were concerned about their own safety since it appeared that violent robbers were in the area. Maybe they had urgent duties to attend to, even religious responsibilities to fulfill, and didn’t feel like they could take the time to help. I don’t know. But it seems that they were more focused on themselves, their welfare, and their personal interests rather than on the man who was hurting.

I am afraid that too many of us tend to be like the priest and Levite in the story. And certain factors in our culture encourage us to go that direction. It is easy to stay closed up in our houses with our air conditioning running rather than to get outside to interact with others. It is easy to walk around listening to our earbuds or looking at our phone rather than talking to or even noticing the people around us. It is safer to stay wrapped in our own little world and not get involved in the messy lives of other people.

I heard someone put it this way recently. He suggested that we need to quit looking in mirrors so much and look through windows instead. In other words, we need to quit being so focused on ourselves and our interests and see the people around us and their needs. If we are going to love our neighbor as Jesus taught, we need to be more intentional about getting outside our walls and reaching out to others. And it shouldn’t take a storm to get us to do it.

 

It Is Time to Get More Involved in the War 

One of the big recent news stories has been the United States getting more directly involved in the conflict taking place in the Middle East between Israel and Iran. While our nation may have been supportive of one side, even to the point of offering assistance in various ways, the action taken to directly bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities was taking our participation to a new level. It is one thing to choose a side, to root for them to be successful, and even to provide a degree of help. However, it is another thing to directly strike blows against one of the combatants.

Regardless of what you think about this action taken by our nation, it can remind us of the fact that there is another conflict taking place in our world. I am not referring to other wars being fought between countries or peoples, but to the spiritual conflict happening between good and evil, between God and the forces of Satan. Maybe we recognize one side as being right and deserving of our support. Maybe we even align ourselves with God’s side and claim to be one of His soldiers. However, are we just sitting on the sidelines cheering for God’s army to win, or are we more directly involved in the battle ourselves? Maybe it is time for some of us to take our participation in this conflict to a higher level. How do we do that?

One of the best ways to increase our involvement is through prayer. This is a weapon that any of us can put to use. We don’t need special training. We don’t have to go to a particular location in order to utilize it. Wherever we are and whoever we may be, we can fight the enemy through prayer. Some of us need to step up in our prayer lives, going beyond simply reciting familiar religious jargon or presenting God with our superficial wish list. We need to drop some bombs on the enemy by earnestly praying for God to move to accomplish His will in this world. We need to go to war in prayer for wandering souls, for divided families, for crime-ridden communities, and for a sin-corrupted world. Zero-in on specific individuals. Target particular groups and issues. Let’s riddle Satan’s strongholds with a barrage of Spirit-empowered prayers.

Another way we can get more involved in this war is by boldly standing up for truth and upholding God’s Word. Don’t retreat from opportunities to remind people what the Bible says about sin, salvation, and Jesus. Don’t let the lies and deceptions of our day go unchecked or unchallenged. We can do it firmly, yet lovingly. Some battles may call for a big strike of missiles of hard truth. Other occasions might simply call for the small peppering of gentle reminders over a period of time. In the biblical list of spiritual weapons in Ephesians 6, the only offensive weapon listed is the sword of the Spirit, or the Word of God. Let’s be sure to make use of it, not only to defend our faith but to attack the enemy.

One other means by which we can get more directly involved is through our personal witness. This is not only our verbal testimony of what Jesus has done for us, but also the example we set by the life we live. Being a person who exhibits the love of God, who shows compassion for those in need, and who in all other ways projects the holy character of Jesus will be a weapon that Satan has a hard time discrediting. We need to let God help us get our lives in line with our claim to be a Christian. 

In what way do you need to get more directly involved in the war?

 

Let’s Pray for Showers of Blessing and Revival 

As I was out in my garage, I saw the darkening afternoon sky and could hear the low rumbling of distant thunder. I knew that there were showers in the vicinity. It seemed like we had been receiving more than our share of those summer downpours recently. Would we get another one on this occasion? At one point I heard the loud plopping noise as several large raindrops fell on our driveway. There weren’t many of them, but they were big. Sometimes those widely scattered drops are the prelude to a greater deluge that is about to come. Other times I have witnessed those large drops come and go without any other precipitation falling. On this occasion, those large raindrops ceased and there was silence for a few minutes. I wondered if that was the extent of it – if the storm had passed us by. However, a few minutes later, here came the heavier shower.

That experience reminded me of a song we used to frequently sing. Maybe you remember it. It referred to needed showers of blessing, seasons of refreshing, and the hope for revival. The chorus stated, “Mercy-drops round us are falling, but for the showers we plead.” Do we have a longing in our heart for God to pour out His showers of blessing and revival on us?

Certainly, God is still working in our world today. His drops of mercy and blessing are falling. No matter who we are and whether or not we recognize it, we are blessed each and every day. “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Jesus reminded us that God extends His blessings to all people – “for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). God’s drops of mercy, grace, love, and blessing are falling all around us and touching our lives. However, it does seem that although some of those drops are quite large and significant in our lives, they are generally very scattered, just falling here and there on individuals or small groups. As that song suggests, we recognize those drops of mercy with grateful hearts, yet we also long for a greater and more widespread outpouring from the Lord.

Let’s pray for those showers of blessing from the Lord to fall on us, our families, our churches, our communities, and our world. Some individuals, congregations, and nations seem to be experiencing a measure of refreshing and revival in these days. However, we are also witnessing a “falling away” as described in scripture as a sign of the last days. Can both be taking place at the same time? Even if the world in general is pulling further away from God and even if much of the Christian church is forsaking the clear teaching of God’s Word, we can still experience times of refreshing and revival if we will seek the Lord, put Him first in our lives, submit to His Word, and yield ourselves completely to Him. No matter what happens around us, we can experience revival in our own souls. But let’s pray that it won’t just be us who experience a few drops of personal revival, but that it will be showers of blessings that will fall on others too.

May the longing expressed in that song be the desire of our heart today – “There shall be showers of blessing; O that today they might fall, now as to God we’re confessing, now as on Jesus we call!” Thank God for His daily drops of blessing. But let’s pray for the outpouring too.

 

Something Is Wrong with This Picture 

I see it over and over. The latest example I witnessed was when a celebrity had been released from prison. He thanks God for his newfound freedom and shares what sounds like an evangelical testimony of someone who has been saved through faith in Jesus. However, shortly afterwards I hear the same person cursing while exhibiting other actions and attitudes that don’t seem to harmonize with being a follower of Christ. Such contradictory behavior is not unusual. We see high-profile people, whether politicians, athletes, or entertainers verbally express their faith in the Lord. Nevertheless, they turn around and use filthy language or otherwise behave in a manner that doesn’t coincide with their previous words. I hear other believers lift up these individuals as being good examples, praising them for their boldness to be a witness for Jesus when in the spotlight. But are they being a good witness for Jesus? A person’s testimony isn’t simply about the words they say but also about the kind of life they live. If their subsequent words and actions contradict their claim to faith in Jesus, isn’t that a sign that something isn’t right? In some ways, doesn’t that do more harm than good for the cause of Christ and His kingdom? Doesn’t that give the world reason to think of them as hypocrites or to dismiss their professed faith because “they are no different from anybody else.”

 When people deliver such mixed messages by their words or actions, it isn’t right. That isn’t just my personal opinion. The Bible declares it to be so. In talking about the tongue or our words, James declares, “With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so (James 3:9-10). That is the first truth we must realize and admit. It ought not to be that way. Something is wrong when people are praising Jesus one minute and either spewing out curse words or hateful speech in the next. This isn’t behavior to be praised. These aren’t examples for us to emulate. It simply isn’t right, godly, or Christlike.

However, even after recognizing that it isn’t good, we still need to be careful about making excuses for the person involved. It may be true that the person could be a believer, but immature in his or her faith. Likewise, we know that we all fall short of godliness at times. Nevertheless, if our words and behavior are consistently at odds with the godliness that should accompany salvation, it suggests an issue in the heart that needs to be addressed. It could even indicate that a person may only be outwardly professing something which they don’t really possess. In that passage in the book of James it continues, “Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh” (James 3:11-12).

The fruit we bear in our lives is evident of what is in our heart. And it is not just the fruit of what we say when put on camera. It is the fruit of what we say and do every day, when the pressure is on, and when rough times come. Our witness for Jesus isn’t just about giving Him praise when we win or when we are in the spotlight. It is about honoring Him through our words, spirit, attitudes, and actions under all circumstances.

Blessing and cursing, godliness and ungodliness, springing from the same source just isn’t right, whether it is coming from us or from others. It is a heart issue that God needs to deal with.  

 

Our Detour May Be God’s Chosen Path 

Last week I visited one of our church members who was recovering from surgery at a rehabilitation facility. As I was preparing to leave, I debated in my mind whether or not I should use this opportunity to go and check on my elderly parents. I talk to my mom each day and had visited them just a few days before. However, since this trip had taken me in their general vicinity, I thought it might be nice to surprise them by stopping by to say a quick hello. But as I considered other duties and activities calling my name, I decided to head back toward home instead. Being in a neighborhood I wasn’t very familiar with, I was relying on GPS to guide me. Nevertheless, at some point it either misdirected me or I took a wrong turn and ended up traveling the opposite direction from what I had intended on a major interstate highway. I realized that by the time I could turn around, I would be very near my parents’ house. So I made the quick decision to go ahead and visit them after all.

As soon as I arrived, I knew there was a reason for my being there. They were dealing with an issue I had been unaware of and needed my help. I was thankful that in spite of what I had initially thought was the better choice, God led me in another direction. What I had considered a detour or a mistake had turned out to be the path He knew I needed to take.

I am grateful for God’s guidance in our lives. A favorite passage of scripture for many followers of Jesus is the one that says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). We naturally gravitate to that promise about the Lord directing our paths. However, there are conditions to be met in order for us to be able claim that truth for ourselves. We need to acknowledge Him for who He is and put our trust in Him. And we need to rely on Him rather than depending on our own understanding of the situation.

On that day I mentioned, I felt a definite tug in my heart leading me to go see my parents. However, as I reasoned it out in my own mind, weighing the fact that I had just visited them and that I had other duties I could attend to, I decided to ignore that inner inkling. More often than not, when we make choices like that, God lets us go our own way and face the consequences of those decisions. I am thankful on this occasion that He intervened to give me another chance. Even after I made the wrong turn, I still could have stubbornly chosen to follow my plan. But I sensed that maybe God was trying to tell me something, and I am glad I listened.

Does it seem like you have taken a wrong turn in life? Are your circumstances such that you feel like you are on a detour rather than the main road you had intended to follow? Maybe you should consider if this detour may actually be God’s chosen path for you, at least for this particular moment. There may be a reason He has sent you that direction. Look for His purpose in it or for the person along that way who may need your help. If you are seeking the Lord, trusting Him, and relying on Him, be assured that He is doing exactly what He promised – He is directing your paths.

 

God Can Make Us Inwardly Beautiful 

On my regular commute to our church building, I pass several houses that are currently up for sale. I have noticed the typical real estate signs next to the road at those locations, often including a picture and contact information for the agent involved. Recently I spotted a secondary marker that was added in front of one of those homes. It reads, “I’m gorgeous inside.” Obviously, this statement is meant to be from the perspective of the house, declaring to any prospective buyers that not only does it look nice on the outside but that its unseen interior is also beautiful. However, I could see how someone at first glance might misinterpret this as a rather egotistical statement being made by the real estate agent whose picture was right next to it.

Some people do think rather highly of themselves, often in connection with their outward appearance. They post their selfies on social media either suggesting or seeking the suggestions of their friends that they are beautiful, or handsome, or cool, or whatever look they are trying to achieve. They might as well post a sign next to their picture saying, “I’m gorgeous!” However, that real estate sign should remind us of a more important question. No matter how we look outwardly, what are we like on the inside? Do we have a beautiful spirit and a good heart? Are we gorgeous on the inside?

Peter specifically reminded wives of this truth, although the principle applies equally to all of us. “Do not let your adornment be merely outward – arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel – rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God” (I Peter 3:3-4). This statement doesn’t forbid us from trying to make ourselves look nice outwardly. It simply reminds us of what is more important and what God values most. He is more concerned about the type of person we are on the inside. That should be our priority too.

You may recall the account in the Bible when God directed Samuel to choose a new king for Israel from among the sons of Jesse. When the first of his sons was presented to the prophet, Samuel’s initial reaction based on the candidate’s physical appearance was that certainly this must be God’s chosen one. That is when God reminded His servant, “Do not look at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (I Samuel 16:7). Although we get glimpses into the hearts of others, we can’t see what is on the inside of people as God can. Therefore we have to be careful about judging them. But we can look into our own hearts. What does God see when He peers into our thoughts, attitudes, spirit, and motives? Is it gorgeous and pleasing to Him? Or is it an ugly mess? 

We are all too aware of the bad attitudes, evil thoughts, and selfishness that can spring up within us. If we thought we were gorgeous on the inside and posted it for others to see, that would probably be a sign that we aren’t. Nevertheless, beginning with the new heart we can receive through faith in Jesus, He can clean up our thought life. He can give us a more Christlike attitude. He can purify our motives so that we are seeking His will and His glory rather than our own. Let’s yield ourselves to Him, letting Him make us the beautiful people on the inside that He knows we can be.

 

Let’s Surrender to God’s Will for Us 

As I walked into the garage, I noticed one of those unusual giant beetles crawling along the baseboard. Since I was about to leave and close the garage door, I decided for its own good that I would try to guide the insect to safety and freedom. However when I got it out on the driveway, it headed straight back into the garage. I tried again, this time attempting to hurriedly pull my car out and close the door before the beetle could return. Nevertheless, it moved faster than I did, squeezing back into its desired destination just before the door could block its path. I didn’t know bugs could be so stubborn. Later I would find the beetle caught in a cobweb in the corner of the garage, struggling to survive. Once again I offered assistance, freeing it and taking it farther out into the yard this time. Its difficulties in the garage seemed to have taken its toll, possibly injuring one of its legs, as it hobbled slowly through the grass away from the house.

I will admit that I had no real affection for that beetle. It was simply the fact that since I rarely spy one of those larger, interesting-looking members of the species, I decided to try to spare it some trouble, maybe even save its life. Nevertheless, it refused to take advantage of my efforts on its behalf, as it was determined to go its own way.

 Isn’t that much like us in relation to God? He is more than mildly interested in us and our welfare. He loves us deeply. And He is much wiser about us and what is best for us than I was concerning that insect. He wants to help us. He provides guidance for us. He sees the pitfalls and dangers in our pathways, making efforts to help us avoid them. He is working for our good, if we would just listen to Him and follow His leading. However, much like that bug, we tend to stubbornly insist on having our own way, often to our detriment.

I don’t know that I understand all that was involved in the unusual incident recorded in Genesis when Jacob wrestled with God. However, it seems to have been a turning point for this man who had been accustomed to using his cunning and wits throughout his life in order to get his own way. From manipulating his brother into giving up his birthright to wheeling and dealing with his father-in-law over his wages in sheep, Jacob found ways to obtain what he wanted. Nevertheless, at this point he seems to come to the place of surrendering to God’s will for him. He didn’t give up his own will and plans easily. It was a struggle. And Jacob came away from this encounter with a permanent limp in his step. It served as a constant reminder to him that God was greater than he was, that He knew best, and that Jacob could trust Him to direct his life.

Have we come to that realization in our own lives? Are we stubbornly refusing to listen to God’s voice and submit to His will because we are so determined to go the direction we want to go? If so, we are only hurting ourselves. God knows what is best for us. And He truly cares about us. He isn’t trying to spoil our fun – He is looking out for our best interests, both in connection with this life and for eternity.

Let’s quit fighting against the One who loves us most and who is most concerned about our welfare. Let’s stop frustrating His efforts to help us. Let’s come to that place of surrendering completely to Him and to His will for us.