God’s love

God Loves Ordinary People!

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And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” 2 Kings 4:2 ESV

Often when we face problems, we wonder if we should pray. After all, we reason, why would God be concerned with our needs, when there are other far greater needs in the world all around us? We wonder why a big God, would be concerned with our ordinary needs. But in this brief story in the book of second Kings, we meet a poor and rather unimportant widow, whose debts mattered to God. Just as her scenario though scarcely remarkable, mattered to God, so God is interested in our needs today. Though there were certainly many other needy widows at that time, and we don’t know why God didn’t send Elisha to others, what we do know is that this lady asked for help. Maybe we are too embarrassed by our problems to ask for help, but God isn’t ashamed of us or our needs. He may simply be waiting for us to ask so that we can be ready for the answer He sends.

Sometimes we don’t ask God’s help, not only because we think that our issue isn’t important enough, but also because we think we aren’t important enough. Yet, despite what the media, our neighbors or even our family think or say, the Bible tell us that we are made in God’s image. All of us in some way are a reflection of the Creator of this entire universe., Though no one else may think much of us, God thinks the world of us, and He cares so much for our needs, that He sent His only Son to die in our place. To God, there are no big and little people. no big or small needs. We all are precious to Him and the one who watches sparrows and widows, also cares about us today!

This is My Commandment That You Love One Another

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 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. .John 15:12 NKJV

Now, when Jesus told His disciples, “This is my commandment”, He certainly didn’t mean, that there were no other principles, commands or expectations within His teachings about the Kingdom of God. But what it does mean, is that if we aren’t loving one another, then none of the other stuff matters. As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13, “Even if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” With a single sentence, Jesus levels the playing field among Christians. Rich or poor, male or female, young or old, brilliant or just folks with plain intelligence, we are all equally His children. Even if we are alone, we still are each given an opportunity to love someone today, if only through our prayers. Even though this chorus was not in their songbook, it so resonated with the residents at Life Care Center, that many were tapping their feet, singing along and smiling broadly. Are you struggling to love someone right now? Don’t worry. God isn’t expecting us to do all the heavy lifting. All He asks of us is to open our hearts and allow His love to pour through us to others. The world may never run out of people who are tough to love, but God will also never run out of love, because the Bible tells us, “God is love” (John 4:8).

Have a blessed weekend everyone, Happy Father's Day and remember that even the Beatles said, 
"We all need somebody to love!"

Gone Fishing

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Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. John 21:3 NKJV

Thirty years ago, when we lived in a small farming village, I was often astonished at the hours, the handful businesses kept. Our tiny bank was only open on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The post office closed for lunch, and one general store was sometimes unexpectedly closed, leaving a sign in the door, “Gone fishing!” Today’s verse comes about one week after the miracles, the drama, the tears and the joys of Holy week. Just like us, the disciples wondered what to do with what came next. Maybe some of the other people who played a part in the Easter story also asked the same question. Have you ever wondered what the soldiers, who guarded his tomb, said to their wives when they went home? Did Joseph of Arimathea open his shop again on Monday morning? Did Nicodemus return to teaching in the synagogue? You might think that when the disciples of Jesus woke up, they would have talked about the earthquake and darkness after Jesus died, or the reports of the guards falling like dead men when the angel rolled back the stone. We can’t be sure of all their conversations, but John tells us that one evening Peter, much our like neighbors, said: “Let’s go fishing!” It is easy to laugh or criticize Peter, but Peter couldn’t read ahead in the Bible, he didn’t know what to do, so he went back to the ordinary things he understood. After a night our fishing, Jesus showed up on the shore, He didn’t scold the disciples for fishing. In fact, Jesus had been fishing that night too! The only difference was that Jesus actually caught fish and they didn’t! No, instead of lecturing, Jesus came to meet them for breakfast, and Jesus wants to meet with us in the same way today. Even when we aren’t involved in a religious activity, Jesus shows up. He wants to talk to us while we are mowing our lawn. doing the dishes or sitting in the break room at work. Jesus knows where we are, even when we are out fishing and He loves to come to us in the simplest activities of our day and listen to our conversations. After the Cross, the grave and the resurrection, Jesus came to them even when they went fishing, and He is sending us to others, not just when they come to the prayer meeting, or some other church activity. Instead, He asks us to carry His message to the grocery store, the gas station, and our neighborhoods, to all kinds of people, even when they have gone fishing!

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