Commandments or Keys to a Blessed Life?

My word for today is COMMANDMENT: an authoritative command or order; mandate; precept.

What was God thinking? Ten Commandments to live by? After all, we have just one life to live and shouldn’t we live it with no restrictions and no holds barred? Weren’t they just suggestions? Those questions almost seem sacrilegious, don’t they?

By the same token, why do we COMMAND our children: “Look both ways before you cross the street” and “DO NOT touch that burner on the stove” and “DO NOT put that screw driver into the electric socket”. Are those commandments or are they words of wisdom and great love to keep them from harm?

I’ve been pondering how great God’s love was for us when He gave Moses the Ten Commandments. He loved His children so much that He wanted them to be blessed beyond measure and spared the pain of regret and harm. Here’s a reminder of those COMMANDMENTS:
1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make idols.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6, You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet.

Like we give our children COMMANDMENTS, God gave us the Commandments to protect us from harm – mentally, physically, and spiritually. I think about the protection, peace, joy, being close with God, hearing His voice, having daily sweet communion with our Father and experiencing the comfort of “It is well with my soul” when we obey and keep those keys to a blessed life. It truly baffles me that anyone could object to them unless they are willing to be subjected to harm, loss of peace, and destruction.

If the Ten Commandments weren’t setting the bar high enough, what in the world was Jesus thinking when He came up with an even “stiffer” set of commandments in Matthew 5:21-48? “Do not murder” wasn’t enough because Jesus said, “Anyone who is ANGRY with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.” Apparently, “Do not commit adultery” wasn’t enough because Jesus said, “I tell you that anyone who LOOKS at a woman lustfully, has already committed adultery.” And, I might add, He even said “If your eyes cause you to stumble, gouge it out.” YIKES!!

Yes, Jesus raised the bar on the Ten Commandments and took them to a new level by wrapping them all up in one concise GREAT COMMANDMENT: “You shall love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31). He taught that everything is summed up in love of God, love of self, and love of neighbor.

Before His death on the cross, He reminded his disciples of that COMMANDMENT in even more concise words: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (John 13:34).

Here is the crux of what I’m trying to say to my dear friends and family today. God didn't create us for mediocrity. He created us in His image -- He makes the impossible, possible. He makes can't, can. There's nothing mediocre about Him. His expectations for us are extremely HIGH! Why should we be satisfied with a just-get-by mindset, when we have a Father who is unlimited and abounding in love and favor toward us? He desires that we live and experience an abundant life of blessings. He wants us free from heartache and pain. If we want to protect our children from anything harmful – how much more does our Heavenly Father want to bless us? And, if He didn't think it were possible, He would have never set such high standards for us. That's raising the bar. God didn’t set the bar high so that we would fail. He did it to show how high He can take us! We'll have to stretch out of our comfort zone, but the benefits of stretching gives us rewards beyond our greatest expectations.

JUST LOVE

I had the most precious grandmother who was known for the love she had for everyone. My grandfather was an "Old Time Gospel" Baptist Preacher. He could out-preach the best of them with his "hail, fire and brimstone" sermons. And, my precious polar-opposite grandmother would temper his words by saying, "JUST LOVE". I still remember her standing up in church and looking around at everyone and say “You just gotta’ love.” If those sweet words were relevant to us back then – how much more are they needed today?

I heard such a beautiful message last night that stirred my heart so much. It was all about LOVE -- God’s love for us and the love we should have for each other. Luke 10:25-37 was read where Jesus had been approached by a lawyer trying to put Jesus to the test. He said, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Then the lawyer asked Jesus “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus commenced to tell him the “Good Samaritan” story. A man had been robbed, stripped, beaten and left half dead. A priest saw him and walked on by. A Levite saw him and passed on by. But a Samaritan known for their own questionable ways, came to where the man was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. We know the rest of the story where he poured oil on his wounds and took him to an inn and told the innkeeper to take care of him and he would pay for everything. Jesus asked the lawyer, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” There lies the answer for all of us. Whether the people in our lives and in our world are close friends, family or enemies, as children of God, we should show mercy and love for everyone.

How can we LOVE when there is so much wrong in the world? Grace. God treats us -- not with what we deserve, but He treats us with loving-kindness and mercy. GOD IS LOVE -- and that means He is good to those who deserve it as well as to those who don't deserve it. His love embraces saints AND sinners. As His children, doesn't it make sense that our love for others should be marked by the same kindness and mercy that God has given us?

How can we possibly love those who are just plain evil? With the response that He had for Saul and Zaccheas and the thief on the cross. "WITH GOD, all things are possible." Matthew 19:26. In our own strength, it will be impossible, but in His strength and in His love, our hurts, fears and prejudices can be conquered. Only the cross of Jesus Christ can free us from the cruelty of malice, hatred, revenge, and resentment. His cross gives us the courage to return evil with good.

We have a choice. To be a hater or a lover; to be angry or joyful; to be a finger pointer or a forgiver.

"Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21
In the words of my sweet grandmother....."JUST LOVE!"

All for One -- One for ALL -- "One Another Living"

Maybe we should take the battle cry of the Three Musketeers and make it our motto. That sounds like a lofty goal, especially in the light of all this presidential campaign rhetoric, bitter and contentious words and remarks from both candidates and parties.

If ever Christians needed to become "All for One and One for All", it's today. What does that mean? It means that our lives should become so "light" bearing, that it is so obvious who the Christians are. People need to see Christains who manifest the character of Christ, speaking the truth in love with courage and compassion. I love Rick Warren's statement "God teaches us to love by putting some unlovely people around us. It takes no character to love people who are lovely and loving to you." The more bitter our nation's politics are, the more persuasive OUR witness will be.

No pun intended, but LOVE trumps everything! It trumps gender and ethnic diversity. It trumps cultural differences. It trumps religious preferences. It even trumps political affiliations.

We’ve gotten so consumed with being right that we’ve forgotten about being IN LOVE. That’s right! We are supposed to be in love with each other.

God's love.....Christ’s love trumps all! ALL! I know it’s not polite to yell (all caps), but we’ve got to get this right and soon.

Back to "All for One -- One for All". In Galatians 5:14, Paul wrote, "For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” I think what Paul is talking about here is the kind of love of neighbor that the Musketeers had for each another. We can learn from their unity and loyalty. As followers of Jesus Christ, not only do we strive to serve, protect, and love God, but we are ALSO called to serve, protect and love each other.

Today, I'm thinking of ways that we can join our hands and hearts together to be a part of something greater than my 4 and no more -- greater than "What's in it for me?" What if we began to pray and humble ourselves to become servants that live a life of ONE ANOTHER LIVING? "What can i do for you? What can i do for the cause? What can i do for the team? What can i do for others that helps them to win?" We're ALL on the same team -- we're God's kids, and we represent our Father Who WILL WIN and win BIG TIME (yes, I'm yelling again) in spite of who this nation's next president will be! Everyone will know us by being on the LIGHT side by our love for one another. All for ONE -- ONE for all.

Who's Your Neighbor?

Remember the really cool dude that greeted us daily on TV, Mr. Rogers? Today, he'd have to come packaged as a rapper or be able to hip hop dance for us to think him "cool". BTW -- the word "cool" is still in -- I checked! Mr. Rogers sang this to us: "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won't you be my neighbor?" That was dear, Mr. Rogers! He made having neighbors one of life's greatest gifts.

In Luke 10, Jesus told the scribe ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself" and the scribe replied, "But who is my neighbor?" That's when Jesus gave His brilliant explanation in a parable about the Good Samaritan. What a story teller Jesus was! Mr. Rogers' stories were similar. He taught kids to love themselves and others.

But, hands down, Jesus took neighboring to a whole new level when he talked about the Jewish man who had been stripped, beaten, robbed and left for dead by bandits. A priest and another religious man saw him, but passed him by, but the Samaritan (enemies to the Jews) saw him and was moved with compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day, he gave the innkeeper money and said, ‘Take good care of him. If you spend more than that, I’ll repay you when I come back.’

So, Jesus' answer to the scribe's question, "Who is my neighbor?" was answered when he said, "Go and do what the Samaritan did.”

Whew! In our day and time, that's a HUGE statement! It suggests that all of God's children must be our neighbors and we must love them just as the Samaritan man did! In this time of so much political hostility, biased opinions, questionable decisions being made about equality and what's right and wrong, I wonder if Jesus would still say the same thing today. After all, there is so much more to consider: Christians, Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Hindus, Buddhists, African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, Asians, the poor, the homeless, the unattractive, gays, lesbians, the handicapped, the mentally ill, and countless other groups are still sometimes the victims of ridicule, hatred and discrimination. Hmmm! So, the question is: "Jesus, who IS MY neighbor?" And somehow, I think He must be looking down and saying, "ALL MY KIDS are neighbors! After 2,000 years of Me telling you that.....nothing has changed in my record books. It's STILL 'Love your neighbors as you love yourselves!" L-O-V-E -- that's a 4-letter word to be AND do!