Love Your Neighbor (As Yourself)

Operation Reach Out: Love Your Neighbor (as Yourself)

"...but you shall love your neighbor as yourself..." - Leviticus 19:18 (NKJV)

Loving your neighbor may sound like a simple strategy if we were just talking about brotherly love. You know, the kind of love that does not require us to get out of our comfort zone or even move beyond the norm from our daily routine. However, the biblical mandate laid out in the Law speaks of loving your neighbor as yourself. Whoa! That means we have to put this type of love in perspective. Otherwise, we run the risk of not following the Law.

Oh, but wait a minute! We have grace. Jesus died for our sins, so we are no longer under the Law. Whew! That was a close one. What we need to do is go by what Jesus said as our Lord and Savior.

"You have heard it said,'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you."- Matthew 6:43-44 (NKJV)

The difference and distinction that Jesus makes with these words is simple. Loving someone will require something of you and something out of you. You won't be able to maintain some of your same old hang-ups if you follow what Jesus said. You will find it hard to keep your enemies at a distance is you are called to love them. You won't be able to easily hide behind the subtlety of "classism", sexism or even racism if you are to do good to those who hate you. You probably won't even be able to keep that burning hatred in your heart when the Lord calls upon you to pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. Good grief! What's a person to do?

Simply do as He has said. Jesus teaches that loving those who love us is merely hypocritical. He challenges us to be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 6:48). We can meet the challenge prayerfully and powerfully.

• Prayerfully:
  • We go to the Lord in prayer, seeking for Him to stand in our stead and speak in our stead. We must plead to be led by His Spirit, not our old nature.
  • We must continue without ceasing in prayer (1 Thes. 5:17). Our dependence must be upon Jesus as the Rock of our salvation.
  • As we pray, we will find it difficult to hold grudges and gripes against our brothers and others.
• Powerfully:
  • The victory is not by our own power. It comes about by the power of Jesus Christ.
  • God is also known as the "Almighty" and as a "strong tower" in the Scriptures.
  • We operate by God's Holy Spirit's power, so whatever fuels us will have to be faith.
    

Go beyond yourself and get busy sharing the love of Christ with others. Today is the best time time get busy.

Starting Point:

Take today as a new opportunity to extend the love of Christ to someone in ways that you have never imagined. The change in you will be come apparent by what you do.

Launching Operation Reach Out

"...and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
-Acts 1:8 (NIV)

Jesus shared a special plan with His disciples. He was open, honest and talked straight up with His people. He intended for them to carry on with a mission that was to continue beyond His own earthly ministry. Jesus' intention was for these individuals to serve as "witnesses" who could testify about Him and His mighty works. The modern-day church has the same calling, to serve as witnesses "to the ends of the earth." As such witnesses, we are called to demonstrate and disseminate the Word. It is our livelihood that shares with others and speaks volumes to people.

By launching Operation Reach Out, I sought to challenge fellow Christians to live out their faith by reaching out in faith. Operation Reach Out is a Christian crusade for community change, a change of heart for changing lives. Love Your Neighbor serves as the initial "crusade" for this challenge, a week-long venture leading into Easter for 2009. As the body of Christ, the church is the collective assembly of witnesses of Christ and His miraculous power. Through Life Path Ministries & Services, this effort extends the love of Christ beyond our mere circle of friends.

We don't have to go far to discover what we need to do for our fellow man. Can we pray for someone else, interceding on their behalf? Is it too much for us to share what we have with those who are needy? Will we be available to help those who cannot help themselves? Search volunteer opportunities on the internet. Find how you can help local ministries, youth mentoring programs, or even missionaries. Give back to the Lord by reaching out to the Lord's people.

Beyond Just Another Day (Psalm 118:24)

This is the day which the Lord hath made
-Ps. 118:24 (KJV)

Every single day is made by the Lord. True believers cannot deny that. The Creator is the creative force that creates all things. John shared such a view about Him when he wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn't make. (John 1:3, NLT) Let's just settle on this today. God made the day and it's up to Him what He provides for us day by day.

Our obligation to the Lord is simply a two-part strategy:

• We will rejoice...

We will rejoice. We will celebrate and express to the extreme that God has made this day. We express our joy by what we say and what we do to share it with others. Yet, when we rejoice, we go back to the source of our joy, to the point where our joy was provided for us. For believers, we have to take into consideration Calvary and, of course, an empty tomb where the stone had been rolled away. We have to go back to the source of our joy in order to rejoice!!

• ...and be glad in it

Not only will we rejoice but we will be glad. We have returned to the source of our joy, but we also have to get to the point where we can celebrate continually. The believer has to learn to rely upon and trust in the Lord. We have our joy and gladness because of the same God who loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son for the redemption of the world. Just with that in mind, we ought to be glad!

One Day, One Aim...Feed Those in Need!
Lemon-Aid Stand
April 11, 2009
8 am- 12 pm
Join the Team!

Expressions on Evangelism

Some things that I have learned about evangelism over the years:

Lead someone to Christ, not church.

• Christ is the focal point of the message. We're to preach and proclaim Christ. Our message is about Christ, Christ crucified and Christ risen from the dead, seated at the right hand of God the Father.
• Church is secondary to Christ. Too many are in the church without having a personal relationship with Christ. If we can lead people to Christ first, then we can get them into church (as long as we have some Christians who understand being Christ-like is part of our calling).
  

Share the good news of Jesus, not the good things about your church.

• The best we have to offer unbelievers is an invitation to have a relationship with Christ. He is the good news embodied in both body and spirit.
• It's good to have a depth of knowledge about the various programs and ministries of your church. Yet, at some point, you will need to know who Christ is and what He did in order to give the world hope for salvation.
• In evangelism, the core of our knowledge must center around Christ and His mighty works.
  

Christ is the Savior, while church is the sanctuary.

• Christ said it best. No one gets to the Father except by Him. He is the Way.
• There is no salvation without the Lamb of God. Church cannot save anyone. A person can be in church all of their life and still go to hell if he or she doesn't know Christ as Lord and Savior.

We are to make disciples of the Divine, not our denominations.

• The Lord gives the increase just as added to the church those who would be saved in the early church of Acts.
• We are called to make disciples of Christ, not disciples of our denominational creeds and charters.
• Check your Bible. Identify any denominations by name in the New Testament. We are to hold on to the Word of God, not the words of the founding fathers of our particular practicing denomination. Theology isn't relative; it's relational as it relates to Christ.

For Your Information:
Operation Reach Out launches Love Your Neighbor April 5th through April 12th. Join the effort to reach out to the local community with Christian love day by day.

Faith Cannot Fail

FAITH CANNOT FAIL

Heb. 11:1

Faith cannot fail. Let me correct that. Faith in God cannot fail. You see, we can put our faith in the wrong thing or even the wrong folks and end up sorely disappointed and dejected. We can find ourselves looking for answers from those who cannot produce answers and seeking solutions from those who are more focused on the problem than the solutions, only to find ourselves still stuck without any support.

Our faith should be in God. God never fails. The psalmist tells us that we should not put our trust in man since he cannot do anything to help us. Our faith should be placed in the all-knowing, all-seeing, and all-powerful God, the Almighty.

Having faith does not mean that we will get everything that we want or even everything that we expect. Having faith in God means that we have put our full trust and reliance in and upon Him. God is able. The issue is whether He is willing or not. God will not do what is outside of His will or His character. We cannot expect anything different from Him.

Beware of what you put your faith in these days. The stock market has proven as much. Real estate and home prices have shown us as much. The job market is continuously telling us the same thing, too. Watch where you put your trust! Marriages failing into divorce. Children disrespecting their elders. Grandchildren abusing their grandparents. Pastors and spiritual leaders caught up in scandal. God will never fail.

Beyond the Barriers

The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble.
He cares for those who trust in him.
-Nahum 1:7 (NIV)

Consider the challenges before President Obama and his cabinet. From untangling a monetary mess of an economy to restructuring and rewriting some key policies for labor, stem cell research, and other hot-button issues, these national leaders face countless challenges with bipartisanship and those who are bummed-out over bailouts. In comparison, look at today's spiritual leaders such as T.D. Jakes, Charles Swindoll, and Billy Graham. Imagine what they have to face as they seek to shepherd the flock of God. Take into consideration what weighs heavy upon them as they seek to serve the Lord with gladness.

The prophet Nahum spoke out against the wicked and cruel nation of Assyria. The name Nahum means "comfort," and it is certainly comforting to read this description of God in times of trouble. Imagine Him as a refuge, a place where you can feel protected and guarded from danger and harm. Not only is He good, but He extends His care to those who trust in Him. Peter was saying something similar when he wrote: Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). We are blessed to be in the care of one such as God Himself. Trust Him with your worries. Trust Him with your burdens. Trust in times like these like you've never trusted Him before. He's worthy!

For Your Information:
Recently, I started trying to get back into shape. Yes, I mean physical shape but I was also intrigued on staying balanced spiritually. What do I mean? Oftentimes, we can become out of balance as Christians, even with our intake of the Word. We can get wrapped up in reading Psalms so much that we rarely visit the pages of the Pauline epsitles. Our attention can be on the Gospels without giving any attention to minor prophets. a friend of mine in the ministry made the suggestion of taking on a Bible reading plan such as the One Year Bible to keep such a balance. If we are what we eat, then we must be mindful of maintaining a balanced diet, even with the Word.

Wisdom for Today

Wisdom is the principal thing. . . - Proverbs 4:7 (KJV)

These days we can see where lack of wisdom can get someone into a little bit of trouble. From Chris Brown to T.I., we find young brothers facing charges for everything from assault and battery to weapons violations. Would I rather have wealth or wisdom? It appears that wealth does not guarantee wisdom. With wisdom, I can at least manage my wealth. I say so because we see how the Bernie Madoff scandal and other economic turmoils have caused a major stress and strain among baby boomers and others. To exercise wisdom in such times, we have to be careful enough to use discretion and discernment beyond dollars and cents. Pray to the Lord for wisdom, much like Solomon did before he even made an executive decision.

BEYOND BELIEF:
I can''t believe how some folks can be in church so long but have so little faith. My soul grows weary of people who have been in the building but don't feel a part of the Body. I recently read Chuck Colson's The Body and still feel excited about what the Lord has to say about ministry. Let us not lose hope. Our work is not in vain.