We live in world that is showing fruit of utter starvation. A person does not get to the physical signs of starvation, like what is pictured above, overnight. This is a slow process of going day after day, maybe even year after year, of not having what the body requires.
What I am writing to you about today is not a starvation of food but one of love. Man requires love. Our society struggles to admit it, but you can tell from society’s fruit that we are missing love. The rise in numbers concerning depression, anxiety, and homosexuality (of all its forms, shapes and sizes) screams that there is a great confusion amongst people from all races and social status regarding how to receive and convey love.
One authorized group of humans was authorized, given clarity, and assigned the task of going out unto all the world to teach on love— the New Testament church. Matthew 28:16-20 “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” We will labor to prove by the end of this article, that among all of the things the Lord taught them while He was with them, love was most prevalent.
We, here in a America, are presently in an election year. This will be the easiest time to gauge the hearts of our people. Are they well cared for? Well loved? Do they have a love for their fellow Americans?
Over the past month my family has been hastily cut off in traffic four times, flipped off each time and brake checked once. Why?
At a local restaurant here in Tulsa, a woman was nearly beat to death with a baseball bat for merely asking someone to turn down their car radio. She lost 25% of her skull and spent most of the month on a ventilator. Her life will never be the same because she asked someone to be respectful of others. You can read her story HERE, and we ask that you pray for her and her family as she heals. Why did this happen?
What will cause all of this to stop?
I saw a shirt back in 2020 that came to my mind as I typed up that last question. “Normal isn’t coming back, Jesus is”. Rest assured, beloved, He will put an end to all of this madness!
In the mean time though, we must be reminded that during this church age, we are the ones, like the disciples of old, that are called to redeem the time. Listen to what the Lord said in His sermon on the mount:
Matthew 5:3-12 “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
This sermon is commonly referred to collectively as the “Beatitudes”; I jovially refer to them as the “How-to-Beatitudes”. Many commentators will be quick to tell you that these attributes were given so that a Christian could know how to be happy in the work the Lord has called us to. I cannot reduce this sermon down to "how to be happy". Rather, I know that man equates the concept of happy to easy, and what the Lord is telling us to do is definitely not easy.
“There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.” President Ronald Reagan
The Lord’s sermon is, in fact, simple for those who will be courageous and truly follow after Him, but its message conflicts with our natural state. Our natural minds say that I should not love on someone until they have proven themselves lovable; I should not forgive until they have proven themselves forgivable. That is NOT what was commanded of us though.
The world is starving of love, and it is the local New Testament church’s fault. Dear reader, answer me this: what is the royal law?
James 2:5-17 “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
The local New Testament church is to blame every time we have decided that there is a better solution to a problem than the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, AND every time we have been found guilty of declaring an audience worthy or not worthy of that love. Who is our neighbor?
Luke 10:25-37 “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? -- He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”
The question then, beloved, isn’t who is your neighbor, but who have YOU been a neighbor to? Each of us can make a difference. Go give your neighbor a hug, and tell them about your Savior Jesus Christ. Do not do it with the expectation that they will join your church; do it because they MUST be born again.
“If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin…”