Attention!!!

“Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times saying I repent, you must forgive him.” Luke 17: 3&4. I doubt the sincerity of anyone who asks forgiveness from me seven times in a day. That’s the point of this verse. We are not to look continually at others and how they treat us. We are to love them friend or foe. “Pay attention to yourselves.” When I read passages like the one above I tend to pass over them quickly, much less try to put them into practice. I am astounded Jesus wants us to do so many things difficult. Things like continually forgiving, loving our enemies, being last of all, not putting ourselves forward and take the last seat. The disciples thought these difficult too. “The Apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith.” Jesus replies, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey you.” Luke 17: 5&6. In Matthew 17: 20 Jesus says of mustard seed faith that it could “move mountains.” If one can move trees and mountains with faith the size of a mustard seed than how small is the faith needed to forgive? How small is the faith needed to love enemies? It seems that Jesus is telling us that these things take much less faith than the mustard seed size faith. No wonder Jesus ask the question, “When the Son of Man comes will he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18: 8. So this coming year may we pay more attention to ourselves and put more faith and trust in Christ to be able to love our enemies, turn the other cheek and continually forgive. Then, quite possibly, maybe, trees will be uprooted and mountains moved. Happy New Year!!!

Light

There are dark places in the world. Some believe that these are the darkest of times. The news is depressing. Our television screens are full of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Korea and Sudan. Everywhere, even at home darkness envelopes the earth. BUT, a light has been given. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.” Isaiah 9: 2. Christmas is a great time to point to the light. To tell all of the child who was born and the Son who is given. Christmas is a great time to be involved in the increase of His government. “Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end.” Isaiah 9: 7. We never know when our acquaintances, friends and relatives who we believe are too far gone will see the light and live in the land of deep darkness no more. And as for those countries who actively try to keep out the light, they don’t stand a chance. In the end there will be people from every nation along with some of our too far gone friends who will join us in saying “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9: 6.
Merry Christmas!!!

Salus Mundi

I saw a stable, low and very bare,
A little child in a manger.
The oxen knew him, had Him in their care,
To men He was a stranger.
The safety of the world was lying there,
And the world's danger.

Mary Coleridge (1861-1907)
www.edwardsly.com/coleridgem.htm

Gift

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen His glory.. John 1:14.
O. Henry has a short story about a lad who was brought up in a village. In school he used to sit beside a girl and they were fond of each other. He became a pickpocket and a petty thief. One day he snatched an old lady’s purse. It was clever work and he was pleased. And then he saw coming down the street the girl whom he used to know, still sweet with the radiance of innocence. Suddenly he saw himself for the cheap, vile thing he was. Burning with shame, he leaned his head against the cool iron of a lamp standard. “God,” He said, “I wish I could die.”
He saw himself. Christ enables man to see himself. (William Barclay )


..glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1: 14.
God’s greatest gift to us is Himself. When we see Jesus we react like the lad in O. Henry’s story or we run away and try to ignore Him. This is the reason so many try to remove Christ from Christmas. There is no person on earth who can measure up to Him, no CEO, athlete, actor, banker, forklift driver or unemployed. He makes our lives look vile. And this is great news for we actually see ourselves as we are. Blessed are the poor in spirit. We see truth. Jesus is the stone that makes men stumble and the rock that makes men fall.

And from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. John 1: 16.
If we face the truth, if we do not run and try to ignore the truth, than we can realize that God loves us and loves us so much that He would not allow us to live a lie. Jesus brings us grace upon grace, blessing upon blessing. If we ask Him into our life we can have a growing, fulfilling relationship with Him. We can have forgiveness. We can practice grace and love the way God does and we too can forgive. What freedom! What peace!

But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. John 1: 12.