Day 33: 50 Days of Passion

There is a video out there of a man walking around his town just asking people how he can help them. From all appearances and his intro to the video, we can assume he is legit and really just wants to help people do anything for his “social experiment”. The people who he talked to on the most part were very hesitant to accept his help. He intentionally didn’t offer anything specific other then helping them with whatever they needed.

Now I have done something similar to this. The group of men I have a bible study with went door to door in our neighborhood asking if they needed help with anything on an upcoming Saturday as we were going to be loving our neighbors. People in most part were friendly to our visit, but no one wanted help, they were hesitant to receive.

 

“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.”

Romans 12:9 NLT

 

Hate and anger have become staples in the lives of many believers and unbelievers alike. Some wrong that has been done against us or to someone we love that we have a hard time accepting or forgiving. These strong emotions can grip us to the point where our faith becomes ineffective when working to reach the lost. They see us working to love them yet the anger and hate festering on other issues cause them to wonder where your heart really is.

 

We are to live out our life like Christ. No, we are not prefect, that’s why daily we need to come to the foot of the cross and ask to be cleansed of our sins. Jesus was clear about this, especially when he was sharing the Lords supper, he reminded them that if they had any anger or unforgiveness towards a brother they need to go right away and make it right.

 

Again and again we are called to love others. Love is the most powerful thing in the world that can break those who are hardened, bitter and angry. We need to learn to love those in our communities that feel unloved. How can we do that? Get out into your community and find the needs. Then work to meet them. Ask them ‘ what can I do for you?’ Then work hard at meeting the need, whether it is physical, spiritual, or financial. Be Jesus to them.

 

Wait, doesn’t the last part of todays scripture tell us to hate what is wrong? I thought as a believer we were to not hate anything? Love is preached as the key, isn’t it? King James Version says abhor, amplified tells us to ‘detest all ungodliness, do not tolerate wickedness.” How does this then translate what our lives should be reflecting? I believe that we can’t be living a life where we are tolerating things that are wicked and promote sin. We should hate these ungodly practices are destroying the lives of our friends, family and coworkers. Yet we shouldn’t let that hate consume us. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to show us what we can do to reach the people lost in these things.

 

 

Jesus, if I have anger in my heart I ask that you forgive me. Let me be a man of God who loves those around me. Let your love exude my life. Let me be an example of you. I don’t want to tolerate wickedness, show me how to not accept it and work to reach those caught up in it. Show me how I can love those around me in my community and use me to help them. Give me wisdom and strength to be a light. They matter to you Jesus, so they matter to me. Amen

Day 32: 50 Days of Passion

How do you choose who your friends are? Do they build you up causing you to grow in your faith? Are they there when your hurting, an ear to listen to your feelings? Or are they the kind of people who drag you down the wrong kind of roads? Inviting you to parties that will cause you to sin, taking you places that you don’t need to be? Maybe they talk about other people tearing them apart, gossiping and telling lies, these ‘friends’ will slowly but surly drag you down and get you in trouble.

 

 

“Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.”

Proverbs 13:20 NLT

 

Jesus didn’t surround Himself with people of religious stature. He found twelve men who showed faith to leave everything and follow Him. He was steadfast in His mission so that even when they tried innocently or with other intentions to distract him, he was able to bring them back to the mission.

 

How does one know if a friend is building or distracting your walk with Jesus? Some things to look for;

1. How do you feel after an outing with them? Do you feel built up and encouraged or dirty about what you did or talked about?
2. How does you friend respond when you bring up your relationship with Jesus? Do you have meaningful conversations, or do they change the subject quickly or become argumentative?
3. Think about what you did with your friend. Would it be cool if Jesus was actually physically there hanging out? Would he be shocked or smiling? Don’t kid yourself he is there maybe not physically, but he is there.

 

We need to have unbelieving friends, don’t get me wrong. But they can’t be bringing us down, we need to be light to them, connecting as to share the love of Jesus with them. Many have unbelieving friends for years with out sharing your faith. They may know about it but you have never taken the time to truly tell them why it is important to you and should be important to them. This is what Jesus talked about when he said we shouldn’t put our light under a basket.

 

Jesus, we all have friends who need you. Give us the moments to finally take the time to share your love with them. Maybe they know or don’t know about our faith by now is the time for us to open our hearts to them. Let us be an example of your love to them. They matter to you, they matter to us, so let’s start doing something about it. Amen