A Crusade for Compassion

Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
- Romans 13:10 (NIV)

Love fulfills the law.  That's not the local ordinances of your city or municipality.  No magistrates or legislators are looking for you to love your neighbor.  The police and other law enforcement do not expect it out of you.  Otherwise, why would they exist?

We are called to live at a level above the low standards set by many.  We are called to live at a higher level than the low expectations that many people have for their fellow man.

If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? - 1 John 4:20 (NLT)


Love is about doing no harm.  Love is a life-giving force.  Love will make sacrifices of the self for the good of the ones who feel unwanted and unworthy of even being considered for love.

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. - 1 John 4:12 (NIV)

If we really love the Lord, let's start showing our love by loving our neighbors.  We can do better by being better towards one another.  It starts with you and I, then it moves on from there.  Let's love somebody today and make things better by fulfilling the law.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love.
- 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

Our Merciful God Loves His Children

When Israel was a child, I loved him,

and out of Egypt I called my son.
The more they were called,
the more they went away;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals
and burning offerings to idols.
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them up by their arms,
but they did not know that I healed them.
I led them with cords of kindness,
with the bands of love,
and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,

and I bent down to them and fed them.

-Hosea 11:1-4 (ESV)  

God speaks of Israel as a loving parent speaks of his beloved child.  He speaks of a time when Israel was a child and the love that He had for His chosen people.  God speaks from the perspective of a loving and caring father.  In fact, God points out that He loved Israel so much that He truly went out of His way to extend His love to the nation of people.

Isn't Hosea the perfect book of Bible for such love to be stated and shown? I asked it in another blog: Who is your Gomer? Could you love like Hosea loved Gomer? Could you love like God loved Israel? Could you love like the Lord loved the world and gave His only begotten Son for all who would believe on Him to have everlasting life? The Lord is trying to teach us to be more like the Father, to be merciful, forgiving and loving.

Take a clue from the Father.  Love despite the response.  Love in spite of the lack of gratitude or praise.  Love without any conditions or hang-ups.  Love.  Love like Jesus.  Love like the Father.  In a word, love.  Just love and just keep on loving.

From Eden to Egypt- Day 50

And Joseph situated his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with bread, according to the number in their families. - Genesis 47:11-12 (NKJV)

Joseph assisted his family.  He advised his family on what to say when they entered into the presence of Pharaoh.  He approached Pharaoh with news of his family's arrival in Egypt.  He advocated for his family.  He made allowances for his family to survive by giving them bread.

In the land of Rameses, Joseph's family was better off for the time being than they had been in the land of Canaan.  Based upon how God had favored Joseph, his family was able to benefit.  They were blessed based upon Joseph's favor and blessing.

Think on that for a moment.  Joseph's blessing allowed Joseph to provide for his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household.  Joseph's favor helped his father and his family. Picture that happening today.  What if you used your blessing to bless others? What if you used your favor to grant others favor? Imagine how much of a blessing that would be for others.

We need to see Joseph's character coming alive right here.  Joseph, the same dreamer that his family had despised and questioned, was now living the dream.  However, Joseph's dream did not just benefit and bless Joseph.  The Bible makes it obvious that Joseph did not simply sit in a position of power and prestige. His heart allowed him to forgive and give to those who had even sold him into slavery. 

Joseph depicts the epitome of forgiveness and favor in a man.  He obviously could have let his family live without any contact or consideration, still being okay with it as many Christians do so daily.  He could forgive and never allow himself to forget how they wronged him and set him up for failure.  No, that is not the path that Joseph took.  He did not allow it to harden him.  He did not allow it to turn him sour.  He forgave.  He gave to his father and his family.

Do you need to forgive someone? Have you made the first move beyond saying so? How have you shown that person that you have truly forgiven them?

Look at Joseph.  The Bible doesn't say he had to fast for 40 days to get ready to forgive.  It doesn't say that he needed to meditate on verses in Psalms to prepare to forgive.  He showed his forgiveness.  He said it.  He demonstrated it.  He did it.

From Eden to Egypt Day 37

So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. - Genesis 29:20 (NIV)

Jacob & Laban as depicted by Restout

Jacob was willing to work with his uncle Laban in return for his younger daughter Rachel.  Laban appears to agree with the "wages" for the young man's labor.  After all, to summarize Laban's words in verse 19, it would be better than Jacob have her than some other man.  As the passage reads in more than one place, Jacob loved Rachel.


One of my favorite songs is Bobby Caldwell's What you Won't Do for Love.  It appears that before such a song was even recorded, Jacob demonstrated that love will take you on a strange ride.  It drove Jacob to work for seven years to get the one he loved.

25 When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?”

26 Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. 27 Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.” - Genesis 29:25-27 (NIV)

Did I mention that Laban was Rebekah's brother? The very same woman who had favored one son over the other and who schemed with her son to steal the other's birthright was related to Laban.  That pretty much explains how we arrive at the situation where Laban has duped his young nephew, replacing Leah for Rachel.  Imagine being in that family.

 

Yet, after confronting Laban, Jacob still agrees to do another seven years in return for Rachel.  The man was in love.  He knew what he wanted and he was determined to get it.  He definitely went out of his way for this woman.

Jacob teaches us a lesson here.  He didn't simply settle.  He went for what he wanted with determination.  He didn't get detoured or distracted by Laban's deception.  He maintained his focus on his love for Rachel.  He didn't sue Laban or try to give her back to Uncle Laban.  He dealt with things as they were and went forward with focus.  Many of us need to see this and understand that we, too, need to deal things and move forward.  Delays and downfalls will happen. We need to move on and move forward with determination and focus on our goal, even if it is for love.

Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years. - Genesis 29:30 (NIV)

From Eden to Egypt- Day 9

Now the man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

- Genesis 3:20 (NASB)

She was called Eve.  She was the "mother of all the living." I find it interesting that the man "named" his wife

 according to the New International Version.  This occurs in chapter 3, but let us look at chapter 2 for a moment.

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. - Genesis 2:23 (KJV)

He called her "Woman" before he called her "Eve." He identified with her being a part of him before he recognized her as being the "mother of all the living." He saw her as bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh "because she was taken out of Man."  He saw them as interconnected beyond what they're coming together would produce.

 
That's the beauty of male-female relationships.  There's so much that we see as differences between us.  Yet, God saw fit to take from the man to make the woman.  He created them both.  He utilized their union to symbolize Christ's union with the body of believers.  He sanctified and ordained the union of man and woman long before municipalities authorized and legalized marriages.  Yes, we were made for each other because He made us so and He saw that it was good.
Let us not neglect the blessed union that God has provided for us.  Let every marriage be seen as God's sacred unification of man and woman as one flesh.  We should love one another, male and female, husband and wife, as gifts from the Most High to us.

And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. - Genesis 2:25 (KJV)

*From Eden to Egypt is a series for Life Path Ministries by Rev. Bruce Jackson that chronicles a daily study and reading of the Book of Genesis and The Genesis Record by Henry M. Morris.

Loved and Loving

He loved us not because we were lovable, but because He is love. -C.S. Lewis

We love because he first loved us.- 1 John 4:19 (NIV)

He loved us.

He loved us first.

He loved us enough to reach out to us and extend love towards us.

He loved us so much that he grace His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for us.

When you love someone as much as God loved us, you will go out of your way for them.

He loved us.

He loved us first.

Since we have encountered and experienced His love for us, we ought to be examples and expressions of his love towards others.  James said it would fulfill the "royal law."  Paul wrote of what love did and didn't do.  John wrote extensively on love, quoting Jesus in the Gospel of John and sharing about the "new commandment" of the Master. 

Psalm 136 is replete with a repetitive phrase about God's love: for his steadfast love endures forever (ESV).  It appears again in Psalm 100:5; 106:1; 107:1; and multiple times in Psalm 118.  What we discover is that God has a steadfast love and a that endures.  His love endures our disobedience and lack of faith.  His love is an extension of Himself towards us because God is love.Study His Word and discover His love.  Study His Word and discover how to love once again.  Discover how to love like the Master.