MAY 24 "A NEW COMMAND I GIVE YOU"

       JESUS is going to be leaving his disciples, I'm sure that brought allot of thoughts to his mind about what was best to address with his disciples.  In Jesus' absence, what would need to be addressed? With this going through his mind, this is what Jesus comes up with. " a new command I am giving you, "love one another" by this men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another".  What would be one of the major concerns in Jesus' absence, according to Jesus, that these men would bicker, fight and devour one another without him there to be the peacemaker.  Pastor's spend half their time trying to convince congregations members not to kill each other.  Paul writes in his epistles, "stop devouring one another". No doubt, Jesus' foremost concern, concerning his leaving the disciples is that He will no longer be around to be the peace maker. Who will keep these men from ripping each other apart....hmmm....hey guys, listen, A NEW COMMAND  I give you, LOVE ONE ANOTHER, okay? What is the response of the disciples? "Lord, where are you going?"  Nobody says, "yes, Lord, you're right, we need to love each other".  Jesus has just said, " A NEW COMMAND....."  and not one word is recorded in scripture as to any response from either of the twelve men that are sitting with him, concerning Jesus' new command. It goes right over their heard. I wonder if Jesus thought, "excuse me, did anybody hear what I just said, A NEW COMMAND, does anybody have any response, anybody here wondering why I gave you A NEW COMMAND?".  "Yeah, yeah...we know Lord, we know, love each other, love your neighbor as .....we know Lord".   BUT you don't know, that's why this is being brought up, you DON'T KNOW.   LOVE is sorely lacking 'till this day amongst the brethren.  We either despise one another because of our differences or we despise one another because we see each other as competitors.  We will befriend the young lambs, but ignore the older sheep.  LOVE ONE ANOTHER....yeah, yeah, I know, i know....Lord where are you going, that's what really concerns me.  JESUS I LOVE, it's people I can't stand, it's his sheep that get on my nerves.  Peter you love me? Than.....FEED MY SHEEP. (That will come later when Jesus re-appears to them after his resurrection.) We put much emphasis on "winning souls" and little emphasis on loving them. Could it be that we find it easier to preach to someone, fill out a convert card than to love and nurture them on their journey and walk with God. MANY want to catch fish, but few want to clean them up once they're caught. I once went fishing with my wife, she liked to catch the fish, just didn't want to mess with them after they were caught. How accurately this describes the Church today. What's ironic about all this is the bible clearly tells us that we CAN DOD NOTHING to save a soul, but we can do everything to LOVE.  Jesus didn't tell Peter to "save souls"...what did Jesus tell Peter???.... "Feed my sheep, care for my sheep".  A NEW COMMAND I GIVE YOU, LOVE ONE ANOTHER, BY THIS MEN WILL KNOW THAT YOU ARE MY DISCIPLES.  When we put this into practice, then we will see the scripture fulfilled, "and those that were being saved were added to the church daily."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NOVEMBER 6 "DOES GOD STILL DO MIRACLES?"

 The Psalmist writes, "who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord!" I dare say, there are some reading this blog that might challenge that!"  They would say, "list them, I'm hard pressed to think of one! How'' your miracle life? Miracles go hand in hand with opportunity. We have our lives so structured and we don't venture out in faith, we keep it safe. Well then don't complain you have no miracles. Peter had to step out of the boat to experience a miracle, but don't forget there was a handful of other disciples that stayed in the boat, safe and experienced no miracle! You can have it both ways.  Christians who venture, in faith, are the ones that have the "lists of miracles" to write about.   "Does God still do miracles? In your intellect you say, "yes of course", but in your heart what do you say? God does miracle, yes! Does He do miracles for you? Do you encourage others to believe in miracles and now you need
Read more

FEBRUARY 8 "ABANDONED IN MY TIME OF NEED"

   This may end up being one of the greater indictments against The Church of Jesus Christ at our judgement; that we abandoned our brothers and sisters in their most dire time of need. In our reading today, the Psalmist eludes to a time of great anguish in his life and because of this his strength is failing; he then goes on to say concerning his friends, "I am a dread to my friends....I am forgotten by them". Unfortunately, it is when we are not at our best that our brothers and sisters in Christ seem to get turned off by us and often abandon us when we need them the most! Why is that? Is it because of selfish reasons, after all, who doesn't want to hang around upbeat people full of joy and victory, but are there not times that we need to also grieve with those that are grieving?! Another reason is their weakness probably turns us off, "why are you even struggling with this ....what's wrong with you!!?" Thence, we're turned off and leave them to struggl
Read more

OCTOBER 17 "DON'T THROW IN THE TOWEL YET"

    "Don't throw in the towel yet" ....This idiom comes from the world of boxing, when a boxer's manager or coach throws the white towel into the ring, signaling that his boxer is done, he can fight no more. We should have this idiom up on our fridges, up on the mirror in our bathroom or we could simply read the Word of God and get it there. "It will be a time of trouble for my people, yet in the end they will be saved." How important it is to know that. If we can see the goal in sight, it re-invigorates us to keep pushing forward. We've all heard the story of the world distance swimmer that stopped short of the beach because it was hidden by the clouds and fog. Had she seen the shore was so close in sight, she would have pressed on, but exhausted and discouraged, not be able to see the shore, she gave up. Praise be to you, who does not need the shore in sight to keep pressing on, but for the rest of us, we do. Hold on there are better days ahead. As I m
Read more