Mission Faithwalk

            Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. (I John 3:18)           Some people have an advantage when it comes to loving people. They like people. They enjoy being around them. They are energized by their interactions with people. It’s easier to love when you like and enjoy. It’s also a disadvantage, because sometimes it’s hard to tell whether you’re actually loving the person, or merely enjoying them. Are you giving to them, or feeding off of them through the energy you get from being around people?           Other people have an advantage when it comes to loving people. They really aren’t all that fond of people. They may, in fact, dislike them. People exhaust them. Love takes an act of will. The disadvantage these folks have is that they can mistake doing for loving. How many of the 156 things they did for others was truly for others, and how many were done because doing things makes one feel successful, powerful, or loving? How

            But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (Matthew 5:44)   and My people  who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (II Chronicles 7:14) “For I say to you that unless your  righteous ness far surpasses  that  of the  scribes and  Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven . (Matthew 5:20)              For our  struggle is not against  flesh and blood, but  against the rulers, against the powers, against the  world forces of this  darkness, against the  spiritual  forces  of wickedness in  the heavenly  places . (Ephesians 6:12)             Even before Mr. Trump took the oath of office, Democrats and Leftists were calling for his impeachment, declaring him to be a monster, etc. Even before Mr. Biden took the oath of office, Republicans and Rightists were calling for his impeach

            But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. (James 1:5)           It’s said we should never pray for patience because praying for patience results in our needing to have patience. The same is probably true of wisdom. After all, if we already know how to handle a situation we don’t need wisdom, and the best way to learn how to handle a situation is to struggle our way through it. As a friend of mine put it, what we want is to go about our lives, come to a difficulty and have a note lowered on a fishing line that tells us what to do. “Ah!” We say, and, putting on our best Sherlock Holmes or Fourth Doctor demeanor (arrogance), we stride forward with all the answers. We want the glory of wisdom without the pain.           And, of course, God could grant us sup

            For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the  Lord , ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:11-13) And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)           This is another of those verses we need to keep coming back to. Some verses we treasure because we like them. While we may like these, we need to remember them because we’re too apt to forget them or to tell ourselves stories about them that aren’t true.           First, foremost, and once again, God’s idea of prosperity isn’t ours. These vers

  It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor, but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy. (Proverbs 14:21) And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)             When some folks read this, they will perform the following mathematical equation: needy=lacking enough money (whatever enough means.) The problem is, while that is the most common equation, it’s not the only one. There are other things needy people may need even more than money: Hope                    Love                      Joy               Peace Patience                 Kindness               Goodness     Faithfulness Gentleness             Self-Control           Courage       Time A listening ear        Encouragement      Mercy          A shoulder to cry on        Discipline              A friend                 A Break       Food Water                    Perspective            Forgiveness Direction Guidance               Notice   

  T here is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (I John 4:18)           Maybe I’m finally growing up. I’m pretty sure that over the years, I’ve thought of this verse in terms of the lover never doing anything that would cause the beloved to need to fear. The universe revolves around the beloved who can do whatever he /she wants without anyone frowning. I’m exaggerating a little, but only a little.           As I consider the verse today, I find myself wondering if that slightly exaggerated perspective is completely wrong, or, at best, only half of the picture. What if the whole point is that the one who is loved endures the process of having fear driven out? What if the reason there is no fear is that one has learned to live in a way that doesn’t necessitate punishment? What if one learns that the “punishment” (AKA discipline) we endure produces in us a perfection that no longer n

  Do you not know?      Have you not heard? The  Lord  is the everlasting God,      the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary,      and his understanding no one can fathom.   He gives strength to the weary      and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary,      and young men stumble and fall;   but those who hope in the  Lord      will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles;      they will run and not grow weary,      they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)               I feel the need to give you the whole passage, but my mind is focusing on the last verse. Read through the whole passage several times, slowly, and aloud. Soak it in.             Now, as I walked yesterday afternoon, I saw a familiar sight. I wish I could say it was a Bald Eagle soaring on the winds, but it wasn’t. It was a vulture, but it brought the eagle and this passage to mind. Normally, when we explore this pa

  Differing weights and differing measures— the  Lord  detests them both. (Proverbs 20:10)           When you stand in judgment of the person looking back at you in the mirror, do you render the same judgment as you would if your enemy did the same thing? Or the same as you would if the person you love “more than life itself” did it? I know that there are times when I do something I know to be sinful and make excuses. I can’t help it. I’m weak. I’m human. You probably know the litany.           There are other times when I do something or fail to do something, that you’d probably think trivial, and glower at the woman in the mirror, giving her a dressing down as a miserable failure. You probably know that litany, too.           Or, perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps other people are more accurate and honest in judging themselves. Ah, but that comparative determiner, more . It doesn’t mean that other people are accurate and honest, just that they might do a better job than I do. I suspe

              Better a  patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city. (Proverbs 16:32) Be joyful in hope,  patient  in affliction, faithful in prayer. (Romans 12:12)   And  forgive   us  our debts, as we also have  forgive n our debtors. (Matthew 6:12)   Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered,  “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. (Matthew 18:21-22)   Guilty. Yesterday, my patience was tried, and I showed myself lacking. Short version of the story: I put one of my accounts on seasonal hold back in October. I heard nothing from the company until January, when they charged me for a regular month’s service. I called the company, was told that my account wasn’t on vacation hold, but by the end of the call, that the vacation hold had been established. In February, I got a bill for two months service. I calle

             For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)              To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:3)           It seems that Biblegateway.com is determined to look at passages that I wrote about recently, and since I don’t have any other topics in mind at the moment, I think I’ll take a closer look at this one. The first thing that needs to be noted is that the second passage tells us precisely to whom the first was written. It wasn’t written to everyone, but to those who are loved by God, called to be his holy people, for whom God is their Father in the same way that He is Paul’s (he uses the possessive pronoun “o

            The  Lord  had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.   I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”   (Genesis 12:1-3)            He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”   Abram believed the  Lord , and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:5-6)   I took yesterday (Wednesday) off to visit a park, to give my hands a rest from weeding, and happened to listen to three Joyce Meyers sermons about hope. I’m not a bit fan of Mrs. Meyers, but I am of the subject and my next “novel that authors should read” hasn’t come in on hold for me yet. She quoted Genesis 15:5 (above) and said som