Sunday, August 27, 2017

Approaching #Jesus Like A Child #JesusFollowers

When we were just children, and attended Sunday School with pure hearts and wide eyes, we accepted God, and the one God anointed, with a childlike faith.

We believed that God was good, and we thanked him for our food.

We believed that he sent out Jesus to preach goodness, mercy, justice and love.

We believed the teachings of Jesus were good, and that we should follow them.

Among those teachings, we accepted that we should do to others what we would wish to have done to us, and that turning the other cheek - rather than fighting back in anger, was the most pure and best way to handle conflict.

We accepted his teaching that being selfish was wrong, and to serve others - even before ourselves - is our mission here in this life.

Going the extra mile, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, comforting the sick, were all simple, clear teachings of our Master.

It was obvious to us as children that we were called to be servants of others, and that we would be rewarded with Heaven - closeness to God forever - if we obeyed God's will for our lives, which was purely exemplified by Jesus' life.

And we believed  that the best way to show that we are followers of Jesus by showing love towards others.

Now, we must sit back today and ask: What happened to that faith?

Jesus calls us to become like little children in our faith.  He says: "Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." (Mark 10:15) and, elsewhere, he says, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 18:3)

This means that we are called by Jesus to be pure, hopeful, faithful, and loving, because that's how children, who have not been tainted by life's cynicism, are in their purity.

It also means we are called to ACT, and our actions are important to Jesus, and to the God Who called him.

This command of Jesus is confusing to those who are raised in churches to believe that we are born "evil" or thoroughly impure and unable to obey God.

This doctrine leads to a complete misunderstanding of his teaching, with some believing that we must simply accept Jesus WHEN we are children, and need never seek to obey Jesus at all, because we are unable to do so (the flawed King James Biblical translation leads directly to this confusion.)

Another misunderstanding is to believe that this childlike faith in God is a call to be CHILDISH in our faith. This leads to some to say that a starry-eyed belief in man-made doctrines about God that cannot be understood - and are not based on anything Jesus said or taught - are "childlike."

The book of Proverbs asks, "How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?" (Prov. 1:22) And Jesus never called us to be fools for him. Instead, God's chosen one tells us to love God with all our minds and understanding.

The teachings of Jesus can be understood by a child, and are MEANT to be this easily understood.

We are called to simply and completely follow the teachings of Jesus, the one God chose to be our example in all things. He taught us the way to enter God's Kingdom, God's ideal way for all humanity to live together, and the way we can live with God forever after our earthly lives end, if God judges us worthy of entry.

All other teachings of men seem to be mere corruptions of God's simple plan, and Jesus' simple, childlike teachings.

Sunday, August 20, 2017

#Jesus Shows Us The Way Of Godliness! #JesusFollowers


The life of Jesus shows us that we can do all things that God asks us to do, because God's chosen one has done them as an example we can follow.

God, our eternal Creator, knows us better than we know ourselves. He creates our souls and wishes us to enjoy Him and love Him.

Our lives have meaning when we are following a pattern God sets for us. But He has not given us this pattern to mock us, nor has God given us impossible tasks so that every person would fail.

God gives us, from birth, gifts that are meant to be used for Good. Therefore, we must do all that is in our power to perform Good Works, relying on these natural gifts.

We also have the perfect moral example of Jesus whom God chose and out to us, to show by his teachings, life and death how we should live our lives.

God also grants us ongoing gifts of wisdom and strength - to supplement all we have been already given - so that we might better accomplish what His chosen one, Jesus, calls us to do.

When we fail to live up to the standards Jesus sets for us, we repent and seek God's inexhaustible mercy and forgiveness. But we must not make excuses for not seeking what Jesus commands, nor hold God responsible for HIS promises if we refuse to strive to fulfill our own.

But how do we KNOW that we can do what God has required of us?

Because Jesus, God's spokesman and our example, lived in perfect obedience, doing in all things that pleased God, his and our Father, and showed by this example that ALL are able to do as he did, and to obey God.

Jesus, therefore, has made God's Kingdom possible, through his life, teachings and even through the example of his death.

It's possible for us to understand and actively pursue Godly concepts like virtue, righteousness, honesty, self-sacrifice, and service.

It's possible to treat others with dignity, serving them and loving them as Jesus did.

It's possible for us to actively pursue Godliness, and seek the Righteousness that Jesus calls us to pursue.

It's possible for us to avoid sinful behaviors that separate us from God, our Creator.

And it's possible for us to gain eternal life and reunite with God, not through vain words or demanding it, but by trusting God to be the Judge, and letting us be His children.

In truth, Jesus assures us by his life and teachings that we can achieve all that God asks of us.

We thank God that we have the ability to understand, learn and follow His Will, thanks to the teachings of His chosen Son, Jesus!

Let us go forth and do Good Works in humility and for the glory of God's Kingdom!

Sunday, August 13, 2017

The #Parable Of The Vineyard Teaches Us To ACT, not Judge! #JesusFollowers


In the Parable of the Vineyard, Jesus teaches us that God alone is our Judge, not ourselves, and that we should be working for God boldly and without hesitation in the earth's Vineyard.

In the parable, the owner of a vineyard pays workers at the same rate, regardless of how long they worked during the day. Some pointed to this as being unfair, but Jesus stressed that the owner had every right to pay what he chose, and that as long as the terms were clear for every worker, they had no cause to complain.

In ages past, this was seen to represent those who came after Jesus' ministry, and that the Jews (who didn't have that teaching before then) couldn't complain about Christians getting into heaven. This seems to miss several aspects of the story.

If the story teaches about God, and heaven, then it surely teaches  that we must work in the vineyard in which we are employed (i.e. the earth, in our own time) and that we are to not judge others' work in it.

If we were to truly be honest, and honestly assess the religion that Jesus points us to, we would fully understand that is not US who determine whether we are going to live eternally in heaven, but God alone who is our judge.

We certainly have been "saved" from a life of aimless sinfulness and unrighteousness by coming to know the example Jesus sets for us. But whether we are allowed into heaven is based upon what we do with that knowledge - and God alone judge that.

In fact, it is none of our business, but God's business alone, where our spirits reside eternally.

Once we understand this, we can let go of the arrogance that leads us to say that we alone are "saved" for Heaven, and that all others are not, simply based upon our own self-selection, and based on criteria most often invented by human beings, not God.

God Himself has set the conditions for our salvation, and we are assured by His spokesman Jesus that He will be merciful - more merciful than those who seek to judge us and our beliefs as "unworthy."

Just as those religious elites in Jesus' time set the bar high for those who sought to serve God - and who claimed that God wouldn't let certain people into heaven - today, people say those who don't believe in their man-made doctrines will not be allowed entry by God into eternal life.

We may rightly reject those who make such claims, based on Jesus' own words and experience. And we must be wary when those who are making such claims ignore all of Jesus' teachings or demean them as "unimportant" or irrelevant to our own times and lives.

And the teachings of Jesus call us to simply act righteously, humbly and with compassion, putting others' needs ahead of our own.

Jesus calls us not to judge others' actions, or determine their worthiness, or even our own. Instead, he calls us to act in a way that conforms ever more closely to his perfect example.

Those who say we need not enter the Vineyard of Good Works, and instead may simply cry out "Lord, Lord" on the sidelines so that we may instantly demand eternal life from God, are like those who complained that the owner of the Vineyard was being unfair.

It is not for them, or us, to say what is unfair, but God alone, who gracefully accepts whom He chooses. And God has given us a perfect example by which we may model our lives, so that we have no excuse for not seeking after it.

Rev. Henry W. Bellows said once,"The Gospel calls us to redeem the time, employ our talents, exercise our affections, multiply our sympathies, and work ceaselessly in the vineyard of our Master."

We are simply called by God - and the man God chose as His spokesman and our example, Jesus - to take ACTION. God alone will determine whether we have acted well. Not others, not ourselves, but God alone.

So let us boldly and without hesitation serve others in the Vineyard in which we are called to work: our homes, workplaces and communities!

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Called By #Jesus To Serve Others First! #JesusFollowers


More than anything else, following the path that Jesus sets out for us means serving other's first.

Contrary to nearly Universal popular opinion, accepting the way of Jesus is not primarily a self-centered means by which we can personally get ourselves into heaven, or to simply enrich ourselves here on earth.

In fact, the teachings of Jesus tell us explicitly that those who seek to be first, and that those who seek personal gain above others, will be last in God's Kingdom.

"Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:27-28)

"The greatest among you shall be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Matt. 23:11-12)

"And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 8:39)

God, our Father and the Creator of all things, has chosen this man, Jesus, to be our perfect example in all things, showing us of what we are capable.

We are called through the example of Jesus to seek to do righteousness, to forgive others just as God forgives us, to be good examples to others, and to bring God's Heavenly Kingdom into the Earth through our daily actions.

This, and this alone, is the kingdom that Jesus preached, and we should seek everyday to conform ourselves to it.

It's clear that Jesus calls us all to a life of action and Good Works on behalf of others. Every one of our actions in our daily lives should show to others how God wishes humanity to relate to one another and to our Creator.

We are called to act selflessly, in the service of others. And Jesus left us a template by which we can act as God wishes us to act here on this earth.

We are called, not to judge, or to only mouth praise to God or to Jesus, nor to hope someone else acts, but we are ourselves called to act righteously and justly in our dealings with others.

The example of Jesus - a human being like ourselves - shows us that we are ABLE to act, and have from birth the moral ability to act, on behalf of others. And it is our duty to do so, without excuse.

Feed the hungry; clothe the naked; comfort the sick; welcome the stranger; visit those in prison. (Matt. 25:31-39) Jesus never shirked his duty to serve others, even washing the feet of the disciples as a sign of his humility and how he was living as a "ransom" to others. (John 13)

When others teach, and preach, that we can serve OURSELVES first, or that we may enrich ourselves without caring for others, or that God can be used exclusively to grant our material, selfish desires, it becomes easy to forget who our Master is, and that because we have one Master and one Teacher (Matt. 23:8-10) Jesus' words alone are to be our pathway to the life God wishes us to live. 

Jesus calls us to follow his example in all things. Let us commit to doing this, collectively as followers of Jesus and on our own in our daily lives.