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Based on Biblical teaching, my mother used to say, “We should all teach the same thing.” In I Peter 3:15 (NIV) the scripture teaches us, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” It seems eerily uncanny how often it is that I find ministers from the pulpit teaching thoughts I have recently had and shared with loved ones! How can these men be secretly invading my thoughts?
Our son and his family visited with us the weekend of the 4th of July and that Sunday morning as we gathered around the breakfast table prior to going to church services, I made the comment that I wished more people could learn to see God as “Daddy”, not Santa Claus, but Daddy. From comments I have heard there are too many people who feel God is so unreachable or high and mighty that they give up before trying. I explained that I know not everyone has had a good earthly daddy with which to compare but I have a deep desire that everyone could better understand God with the Daddy concept. The conversation ended and we went on our way, gathered for Bible Study followed by worship service. I shouldn’t have been surprised and perhaps I wasn’t but the morning’s message had a lot to do with understanding God as Daddy… just what I had been trying to get across…only my words saying the same things were not so well stated!
In the minutes between Bible Study and the worship hour yesterday, I spent some time visiting two precious sisters discussing our recent family prayers concerns. In the course of conversation I spoke of my coming to grips with the realization that it would be easy for me to cross over that line to hate some people and in that realization, I knew I needed to learn to love as God does. I said, “Pray for me.” (Maybe “hate” is too strong a word because I cannot say I have ever wished for anyone to perish in Hell.) What they didn’t know was that for a few weeks I had been praying that I learn to love more as God loves, knowing that I need to see all people more as God does. 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV) tells us, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” and that includes persons I perceive as enemies as well as those who in my mind are trying to do what is best. So, after my explaining my need for learning to love as God does, what was the lesson that was preached from the pulpit? It was based on I Samuel 16:7: “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” I sat through that lesson with full understanding of what was being taught and was able to walk away knowing that while I still needed to grow, I would always be ready to teach the same thing! And there is nothing secret in any of it. It’s all found in God’s Word.
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 8-17-09
A few evening back our Bible reading for the day took us to Mark 2:1-12, the story of the paralyzed man whose friends, determined to get him into an already overcrowded house to see Jesus, took him pallet and all, to the roof where they removed enough of the rooftop so they could let him down through and into the house! Jesus said, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” He knew the scribes were sitting there thinking to themselves, “Only God can forgive sins!” so he turned to them and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier to say to this man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Get up, pick up your bed and go’? But so you will know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” Jesus then returned to speaking to the young man, “Get up, pick up your pallet, and go home.” Later, in absorbing the story, the question came to my mind, if I were there, who would I be?
Let’s consider the characters in the story:
It doesn’t mention any women but since it does state they were in a home in Capernaum, it seems safe to assume that women were present. Would you have been a Mary staying nearby to hear each word of Jesus or a Martha busy being a good hostess?
Would you have been a small child holding the hand of a parent wondering exactly who this person was yet feeling such an attraction that you stood on tippy-toes somehow knowing you wanted to get close enough for Him to rest His hand on your head?
Maybe you would have been one of the friends who, upon seeing such a crowd, took it upon himself to make the decision for all to climb to the roof knowing once there, a way would be available to get to Jesus.
If you had been the home-owner, what would your feelings have been? Were you immediately up there on the roof asking, “What do you think you are doing?” or were you quick to help remove the clay tiles and branches to provide an opening?
Is it even remotely possible you would have been questioning, “Who does this man think he is, saying, ‘Your sins are forgiven’?” After all, those were just thoughts, not spoken aloud. And, only God could forgive sins!
That brings us to the paralytic man. Would you want to be in his shoes? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have such a one-on-one visit with Jesus as this man had, right in the middle of this throng of people?
Few of us would choose to be in a paralytic state, yet this young man had friends who loved him enough to see to his needs, to get him to where he had to be, at the feet of Jesus. Do we love our friends that much? Jesus saw the paralysis but took care of the man’s immediate need first, that of his soul, teaching a lesson to by-standers as He did so reminiscent of the way He later did at the gravesite of Lazarus in John 11:41b-42 "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me."
Whose shoes would you want to be in? Until we are walking daily with Jesus we are in the state of the paralytic before he met Jesus; if we have followed the Gospel Call, we can be free of the paralysis of our sins, washed in His blood.
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 8-11-09
If you ever wanted to learn a couple of lessons on how to love you might have been impressed with the actions of the husbands of recently-released Laura Ling and Euna Lee once these women were again in their presence for the first time in four-and-one-half months.
The two women descended the steps of the plane and once their feet were on the floor of the hangar their husbands and Euna’s four-year-old daughter swiftly came together in a beautiful embrace. The desire in each one must have been to never let go but the men…these husbands…showed what it means to love others more than themselves when instead of huddling aside as two separate units, they each gently guided their wives to their parents and other waiting family members.
Whether or not these men ever read Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others…”, they were living lessons of love.
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 8-5-09
My guess is that most of you reading this message have a list of e-mail addresses that is not just a list of names. A few of the addresses are for companies but the majority of names represent individuals. The names in my e-address book represent those people who are family members, friends, and some people I have not met in person but whose paths have crossed mine somewhere along the way.
Most of the time when I sit down to send a message, as I look at each individual name, something akin to the good endorphins that come about with laughter appears to occur. Perhaps that is because God created me to be a “people person” or a natural-born communicator. People are important to me, not so much as a group but as individuals. It goes against the grain when I have to use a group listing instead of going down through the list one-by-one; however I do make the group listing exception for the purpose of making sure no one is missed on updates for prayers requests or something of a similar nature.
I like my e-address list to be organized alphabetically according to last names but one of my e-mail programs uses first names alphabetically. I can deal with that but it is not the program I use most often, and recently when I was in a hurry I sent a message to my friend Beth instead of my daughter Beth. Immediately upon realizing the error of my haste, I re-sent the message to my daughter and then sent a brief explanation to my friend. Thankfully my family and friends all know me well and my friend probably didn’t even need any explanation.
When I send an e-message I “see” faces and often feel as if I am having a brief but personal visit with each person on whose name my tiny pink ribbon cursor lands. That means that while sitting in my chair in San Angelo, Texas, I get to visit family and friends in Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio, Tennessee, Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington, Canada, and of course I make a few stops in several places in Texas as well. There are times when I become so lonesome to visit familiar faces and places that it seems I can hardly stand it, but a few words from, to, and with the people I love, helps tide the tears. So many miles apart, yet so quickly and easily connected with a few clicks of the keys, my cyber family, friends, and me!
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you…” Philippians 1:3 (ESV)
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 8-4-09
