Good and Happy Fourth of July to everyone. May you enjoy a safe and joyous time today. May we also spend it with an attitude of gratitude for what God has shared with us in our being a part of this nation. We're thankful for the gift of electricity! This morning as I awoke I found the house completely dark and found we had no electricity at all. At 7:33 a.m. it came back on.
During the week I was too ill to send out ConCafe, the Reverend Paul Grout died in Austin, Texas. Paul was a retired United Methodist minister who began his ministry in the Rio Grande Conference and years later transferred to and retired in the Southwest Texas Annual Conference. Paul was a faithful servant of the Lord. May we hold his family in our prayers.
We continue to study if Jesus was only a great moral teacher. Of course, we as Christians affirm no, Jesus was more than a great moral teacher but today we'll look at some of those moral teachings. Here's our study guide.
Tuesday: Looking at Sunday’s list of moral teachings that Jesus followed, are these yours as well? Do you love your enemies? Do you forgive others? Would you lay down your life for someone else? Do you worry about material possessions? Examining that list honestly, what could Jesus do to help you rise above the physical to the spiritual?
The teaching of love is a great moral lesson. We must learn to show and receive love as a part of any moral life. But to take it to this extreme that Jesus taught and lived is where most of us balk. How can we love those who don't love us? Jesus never said it would be easy, but He did stress loving even those who hate us. Jesus asked, what do we gain from loving back those who love us? Even those who don't know God can do that; we should love even those who hate us and would stop at nothing to hurt us.
Forgiveness is another part of good moral living. To be in a successful and fruitful relationship involved give-and-take and showing and receiving mercy. To lose count of the times we've forgiven someone is something else. We have that lesson in when Peter asks if we should forgive someone seven times. Jesus' reply in essence said we must lose count of the times we forgive someone. Is this easy? Again, no. Being a Christian is not an easy calling. It is a higher calling and one that requires God's grace with us at all times to be able to do what is expected of us by God not by people. Jesus' whole ministry could be summed up in three words: Do the unexpected.
What would you be willing to do for someone else? Would you lay down your life for someone else? If it's your child, one readily says, yes, I would lay down my life for my child. But what if it's someone else's child, would you lay down your life for them? In some situations we say, were it wartime and a grenade came into our area I woudl fall on it. And many have been the ones who have done that, but in peacetime, in the right here, right now, what would you be willing to do? Jesus laid down His life for you and me.
We're such a blessed nation we have so much we take for granted. If we're sick and have insurance, we can pick up the phone and ask to see our doctor. In most cases that will happen that same day. Can you imagine living in a place due to your poverty that medical care is whenever the government provides the free clinic in your area? Growing up in Houston during my middle school years we had to wait hours in the clinic near Hermann Park for our yearly shots and to receive dental care. For us then it was an adventure, be it a very scary one for those of us who hate needles, but we still received what we needed. And yet, now, do we worry about material possessions? The answer is yes if we're honest. We sometimes think we don't have enough or the latest and greatest. The sad part is when we lose sleep or our patience because of this. Jesus taught and lived that we should not be possessed by our possessions. We should strive for the things of God, and then all these things will be added unto us.
PRAYER: Come, Lord Jesus into my life. Make me a moral person but lift me beyond that to making me your disciple. I pray in Your name. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day. Please be safe!
e.v.
