FIRST RESPONDERS

1 John 4:7-19

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%204%3A7-19&version=NIV;NLT

 

 

In high school, there was this kid named Blake who was a bully; a bad kid. On the other hand, I tried to get along with everyone; a good kid. The good and the bad were about to get ugly.

 

One day after school, Blake and I ended up on the athletic fields behind the school. I wouldn’t fight anyone because I was a chicken, but Blake bullied me into it. By the time I had pinned him to the ground, another student came along and said he’d take over. Blake didn’t have many friends, and I was happy to be done.

 

I don’t remember disliking Blake. For the most part, he was off my radar until this incident. One thing for sure though, I avoided him from that point forward.

 

John wrote his letter to address false teachers of the day. They didn’t believe that Jesus was the incarnate son of God. Instead, they believed that the body was evil, so in their minds, God couldn’t come in human form. As a result, some would treat their bodies harshly while others lived licentiously without moral constraint.

 

⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God,

but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us… ¹⁹ We love because he first loved us.            NIV

 

God loved us while we were still a sinner; His enemy really. Blake comes to mind. Maybe if instead of avoiding him I had tried to befriend him, we both would have changed. Or maybe I just would have got my butt kicked.

 

The question for us is, how do we treat those that God has brought into our lives? Do we love them because He loved us? Or do we avoid them because they are annoying? Or mistreat them because they offended us in some way? Or do we manipulate them because we want something?

 

Take some time to think about your relationships and how you treat others: your family, friends, co-workers and even strangers. Are you loving others because He first loved you? Are you one of God’s first responders to share His love?

 

 

Real Love Can't Be Faked

Romans 12:9-21 The Message (MSG)

^9-10 Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

^11-13 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

^14-16 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.

^17-19 Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”

^20-21 Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

I have been mulling over today’s scripture passage all week.   I have read it from different translations and prayed over it.  Last week I talked to you about trusting God and how I have struggled trusting for most of my life.  I love God and have always desired to serve Him, but I have also struggled with trusting Him with everything.

This week’s passage is a direct reflection of where I still struggle with trusting God.  Our passage for today talks about loving with sincerity, laughing with those who laugh, crying with those who cry, not seeking revenge, serving our enemy, helping those in need and on and on.

Don’t get me wrong it is an AMAZING passage!  I love what Paul is teaching us here, but it is SO hard if you struggle with trusting God.  I’m seeing how important it is to believe and trust that God loves me and will take care of me, in order to live out this passage. 

If we know who we are in Christ, we can let people in and allow them to get CLOSE.  Close enough to SINCERELY laugh and cry with them.  Close enough to be hurt by some.  Close enough to want to bless them when they do hurt us.  When we trust God, we will let people close and not throw judgement around like we know the whole story. 

Do you see why I have been praying about this passage all week?  It is not an easy one, but it is such an important lesson to learn.  I pray that you will be challenged by these words as well.

SERVE Period

41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10: 41-45


Today’s scripture is one that always reminds me how flawed the disciples were. We see two brothers trying to vie for a place of honor, once they are in heaven with Jesus. James and John have a private conversation with Jesus asking him to set them apart from all the other disciples. Jesus, of course, uses this as a teachable moment, explaining to all of them what it means to become great.

This passage is probably familiar to most of us. Jesus words, “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be a slave of all.” Although the familiarity of the words make it easy to quote, the lesson is much harder to put into action.

For the past two years, my family has served at Coastal Community Church, in South Florida. One of my favorite things our church does is, "Serve Saturday". On the first Saturday of each month we go to the same neighborhood and serve the residence there. The Senior Pastor designed t-shirts for us to wear that simply reads, "SERVE." on the front.

“The Christians are here; the Christians are here!” Those are the excited cries that can be heard from one of the houses on my block, in Collier City. On the first Saturday of every month, while a team from my church serves hot dog, chips, snow cones and provide fun activities for kids, I am fortunate to walk down “my block” and visit the families.

Each month I am blessed with conversations, where I’m able to encourage the residence as I catch up on what has been happening in their lives. I am filled with joy as I pray with them over health, financial, or family struggles; and play with the children who joyfully run out of the homes excited that the Christians are here.

It’s more than mere houses on a street. These are families with stories, stresses, and successes. Walk down any street in America and you will find families in need. In Collier City, though, the stresses seem to outweigh the successes.

That’s where we come in. Knocking on the doors is just the beginning. It’s started with conversations, then month after month I got to know the names that match the faces. Before I knew it when I prayed for Verna, Anna, Luis, James and Maria, Mac and Louise, Jerry and Lily, I not only know their faces, and their stories, I know their hearts.

Collier City is about showing who Jesus is through serving. Period. We expect nothing in return. We share ourselves with no expectations attached. One of the values at Coastal is, Saved People Serve People and serving in Collier City is a beautiful way to show the love of Christ.

In our passage today, Jesus says, “ the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” If we are called to be like Jesus, that is our job too. SERVE. And not just once a month but every day. Start looking today for ways you can serve. Don’t worry you do not have to be perfect. We are flawed just like the disciples were with Jesus, but he can still use us for his kingdom purpose.


Read today's entire passage here Mark 10

Giving from the Heart

Today's scripture keeps our focus on generosity. 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 talks about what happens when we live generously. Living generously cannot be merely an act of obedience.  True generosity is a matter of the heart. It is not always something you can plan.

I love how The Message interprets this passage. Verse 9 says,  “As one psalmist puts it, He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon.”

Have you ever thrown caution to the winds? It’s fun to do if we think of going on an adventure, but when we think of giving our resources we definitely tend to be cautious.

We say we are being a “good steward” with what God has given us when really our hearts don't want to give.  While I don't think God wants us to waste our time, money or talents, when I read this passage I can't ignore where it says God wants us to give with, “reckless abandon” so that people will come to know Christ through our generosity.

Last weekend my family and I were out in a really poor neighborhood, that our church has adopted, knocking on doors seeing if there are any kids we could provide Christmas presents for.  While we were out one of the residents, an elderly woman was taking out her trash.  I told my ten-year-old to run over and take the bag of trash to the garbage for her.

She insisted that he didn't need to do that for her, but I just winked at her and said please let him give her his time.  My son was extremely happy to be able to help in some way. The woman was touch when she saw how he really wanted to help and allowed us to stay for a bit and talk.  Before we left we were able to pray with her.  

Generous living isn't just giving your money.  It is giving what is needed recklessly and with abandon if need be. “God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done.”

Ready today's passage here 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Better Together

Elephant herds are unique communities. Did you know, elephant mothers do not raise their babies on their own? Baby elephants are born blind and completely dependent. While the baby is growing, they are fortunate enough to have a great support system consisting of multiple full-time babysitters, called “allmothers.” Elephants intentionally stay together in order to care for the weak calves.

People are not much different.  Babies are born totally helpless. Parents don’t abandon the infant, expecting it to care for itself.  Often times other family members and friends rally around the couple to help support the family.

As Christians, we are family.  Some are infants, with weak faith, in need of support. Our scripture passage today is from Romans 15:1-7.  Verse one starts by saying, “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak…”  By “weak”, it means someone with a weak faith. 

Let's be honest, it's not easy to walk along side a Christian with weak faith. It can get messy.  Christians with weak faith make bad choices. This is when they need us the most.

We need to be careful not to judge them.  Just as a family wouldn't leave one of their own weak and alone. We ought to rally together, intentionally bearing with and accepting them just as Christ accepted us. 

Search My Heart

Philippians 2: 1-11 is one of my favorite passages in scripture. My bible is filled with notes on this page. I love how it lists benefits we receive being a follower of Christ; encouragement, fellowship, tenderness and compassion.  I experience these wonderful benefits most, when I am around other believers.

The passage immediately gives us a challenge. God doesn’t want us to only stay around situations where we only experience these benefits. We are called to take those benefits and serve others.  As a Christian this shouldn't be a surprise.  We hear and read that our job is to serve.  But, this is where a lot of us struggle.

I think there are three kinds of Christians when it comes to serving others.  

1. The one who “gets” it.  Serving seems to flow from them.  It is who they are. They give of themselves freely.
2. The one who serves but it just doesn’t seem or feel natural.  They serve because they know it is what God wants.
3. The one who leaves serving to others.  They will give their money and donate items to their church or community outreach projects, but they think they are not gifted to serve.

No matter where you may fall, I believe we can all check our heart with regards to serving. If you relate to the third example, let me encourage you. I have not read anywhere in the bible where serving others is only for those naturally gifted to do so.

God has called you to serve!  Philippians 2: 5-7 tells us, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus...he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant…”

I think the rub comes with, WHO and HOW do we serve…

WHO do we serve?  Paul says in Philippians, “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit...consider others better than yourself.”  

If we have a hard time serving, we have possibly put ourselves in a higher position than the one we are called to serve. Is there a particular group of people or even a singular person, you think you're better than? I know this is a hard question, but spend some time honestly searching your heart.  Take time to pray about it, asking God to reveal the truth.

When you see who it is you put “below” yourself, THIS is WHO you should serve.

So, HOW should we serve? Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

In humility.  This is hard.  The easiest way to serve in humility is when we've been humbled. It can feel very humbling when we realize we put ourselves before so many others.  This is a good place to start. It will take HUMILITY and faith, and when you are not sure you can do it, remember; Jesus did it for you.

You Want Me To Love Him? John 13:1-17,34

And if your Lord and teacher has washed your feet,
you should do the same for each other.
I have set the example, and you should do for
each other exactly what I have done for you. (John 13:14-15)

Yesterday you read how my mom can’t wait to plant her seedlings firmly in spring’s fertile soil. God is as eager to plant us into the world and then watch us grow His kingdom harvest.

My mom explained how love is essential for the harvest to grow, today’s passage shows how love is to be shown. For some it is a hard word to utter. Service!

Jesus showed us as he washed his disciple’s feet that the only way we can model him is by serving others. We read at the beginning of today’s passage that Judas already betrayed Jesus and still Jesus washes his feet.

Who is Jesus calling you to love through service? Is it someone you struggle to love? Jesus understands. Don’t get me wrong, his understanding doesn’t excuse us from serving but he understands the pain some can deliver despite our love.

Read today's passage at Biblegateway John 13:1-17,34