Read more… or Expand… »

While I hold true the need to bring correction where it is needed, I question the methods. And I have to admit that there are areas that I don’t want to be corrected. But each day is a new day in the Lord and change can come in His timing. We are not to point the accusing finger but to present correction in a way that reflects Lovingkindness, so that those who are with fault might find a more fulfilling way to serve Christ. Try to correct with Lovingkindness so that they have Christ more abundantly and so that you may grow in grace with them. This is the ministry of Discipleship: “I have come that they might have life and have it in the Fullest.” John 10:10b. The discipleship of the Wholeness of Christ’s purpose is to help each other to obtain fullness and thereby be Wholly in Christ. If we offer correction without the same lovingkindness we seek to obtain for ourselves, we do not serve Christ’s statutes of Love and Forgiveness.

It is very important not to confuse discipleship with legalistic behavior. Discipleship, as I am presenting it here, means following example while legalism means to be obedient to rules and law for the sake of the rule. Both Jesus and Paul criticized the Jews for their legalistic attitudes. It is important that we are able to separate what is legalism, that is the rules that are of the church and what is Spiritual, the will of Christ. Since the desire of Jesus Christ is to be in correction, that is the Lovingkindness and Forgiveness, it is important that we establish that as our primary course as a people of God. As the Body of Christ, correction through Lovingkindness is the point that directs us to the unification of the Holy Spirit within the Whole of the Body of the church.

Does the function or tradition of your faith give Glory to God. or does it solely give obedience to a church? If it is the later, it is legalism and does not reflect on the discipleship with Christ. If the rule or tradition brings comfort and encouragement to the church and its members, leave it be. Let our efforts be to what promotes faith growing. To cause friction between walks simply because of a point of scriptural dispute or understanding does not bring correction nor does it cause one’s faith to be fruitful. We must seek to establish a unification in our Love of God, through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and our service to God. Follow Christ and His Purpose in Lovingkindness. We are to Love the sinner as Christ did, but we are not to condone the sin. We are, by our love, to bring those who are in sin out of their sinful nature. Even those who are in the church who still struggle with the sinful nature are worthy of our love because Jesus saw fit to Love us while we were still sinners. Before we can lead others out of a wrongness, we must first examine ourselves as to the nature of sin within ourselves. We are instructed by Christ and confirmed by the writers of the Letters to come to forgiveness and to give forgiveness. We can be assured that without a forgiving nature, we can not fully appreciate the Love of Salvation.

Christ’s command to love and His command to forgive have equal bearing in His desire that we have Fullness in His Love. He desires that we seek out correction for ourselves first. We are to love to keep His Will. Discipleship is not only the desire to be one of Christ (and His Chuch), but to have a great desire to act upon His Forgiving and Loving Nature. We must, if we are to following His footsteps, open ourselves to the Love and Forgiveness for others., both in giving and in receiving. We must extend His Mercies to others as they have extended them toward us, even if we are not in agreement with their Christian expression. Grace is still Grace! God’s Grace is poured out upon all who call by His Name, even those we deem foolish. His Mercy is to all who call Him the Lord of their lives. We may disagree about many things but we are in agreement that Jesus is LORD and His Resurrection and the Life Everlasting. We may have different approaches as to how we worship and praise Him, but WE STILL, AS HIS CHOSEN, DO WORSHIP AND PRAISE HIM!!!

Before we criticize or condemn others for their worship expression we must examine our walk and say to ourselves: “What is there in MY walk that prevents me from being a true and whole disciple of Jesus? What is there that angers me or distraught me, what is there that separates me from God for even the slightest moment? Is there anything in My life that prevents Me from being wholly Christlike?”

I find the more I seek to be the perfected Christian, the less I like the Unchristianess I really am. If I, who seek to be the imitation of Christ, am so far removed from my ambition, how can I dare to compare the walk of others as less than mine?

In my studies of the Word I find that there are many copies of the early manuscripts, many translations and adaptations. And I found that they don’t all agree with each other. There are many translations into the English language that seem to be different in how they have translated the Greek and Aramaic texts. I have found that there are writings that were available to the Jews and the Greeks, that are not in the bible that shaped the early church. These writings are not scripture but they reflect the attitude of the early church. Many of the traditions we have in our churches today are from those times. Some are distortions of scripture or just memories relived. But even when the memories were fresh, there was disagreement.

Paul complained about the false teachings that crept into the church even during its infancy. We will never be able to tell what was the “literal” word of God because we do not have even one original work. Everything is a copy of a copy. Because Hebrew is an inexact language using picture phrasing, Greek is an expressive and mathematical expressive language and English is a inconsistent language and we are a people that change word meaning at a drop of a hat, we need to reexamine what we have every so often to see if it reads what it meant to read.

We can become confused in what was meant in the writings of the Word of God. What does remain the same is that, we as a people chosen of God, are to love, forgive and care for one another. Expressions may change, method is flighty and temporal, but the Love of Jesus is Forever! If we are obedient in Love, Mercy and Forgiveness, the Spirit of God will direct us in the rest of our relationship with Him as He desires it. It is the compassion of Jesus Christ that separates us from those that do not know Him at all.

« Collapse

Read more… or Expand… »

Exactly what is she saying in this brash proclaimed? I’m using the Jerusalem Bible.
vs 46-47: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exalts in God my Savior” If I had been told that my son was the Christ, I would be walking around in a daze. I can’t imagine what my wife would be doing. I know that when she heard that our son and daughter-in-law where expecting their son, she was in gaga-land. Her eyes were glazed over and she just sat there with a silly grin on her face eating candy all night. I wasn’t much better behaved. Yet, here a young girl is telling and elderly relative that her spirit is Loving God and Praising Him for the son that she is carrying. Every Jewish woman prayed that she would be the mother of the redeemer, the new king that would lead them to freedom, but Mary saw it as it was; HER Son was the Son of the Most High GOD.

vs 48a: “because he has looked upon his lowly handmaiden.” Most translations put this as a new sentence, but this translation uses it as the completion of the prior one. To me it makes more sense this way. Mary exalts God, because she is, in her mind, not worthy of this honor. You expect that the king would be born of a royal family, or at least one of the priestly line, or maybe a prominent person of Judea. But God chose her, a quiet girl from Bethlehem. God gives each of us that honor, we are chosen to carry Christ in our hearts. As born into Salvation by His Blood, Christ Lives within us so we can shout as did Mary, “I am blessed because God has looked with favor on His lowly one.” But look more closely at this verse; handmaiden in this verse is in the Greek the same word used for slave. It doesn’t mean virgin, bond servant or housekeeper, it means SLAVE.

vs 48b-49a: “Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me.” I read this not as a boastful statement but , instead one of realization that she is not to be afraid of what people might say of her being pregnant. We know that she wasn’t properly wedded at this time, people were going to talk about her in a negative way, but now she realizes that she will be remembered as the mother of God. All will call her blessed even until the end of time. But because some people would elevate her to a place equal to God, other want to almost demonize her. But let us not forget, she WAS favored by God, She WAS chosen to be the mother of Jesus because of her virtue, she IS in Heaven and she is the only human that can call Jesus, “son”. God did do a might work in her, but we would treat her like a surrogate host rather that the most blessed woman in all history.

vs 49b-50: “Holy is his Name,[Psalm 111:9] and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.[Psalm 103:17] Mary has the presence of mind to quote scripture in her excitement. She places all glory right back to God. She was afraid, but she was obedient, she was young, but she acted with the wisdom of ages. She knew that the child she carried was the Mercy of God and she was his mother.

vs 51: “He has shown the power of his arm, he has routed the pride of heart.”Now she is telling of what Jesus’ life will mean to the “rich and famous” of her society. The Power of God will be revealed in her son. The meaning of the prophets is being revealed to her and she now starts to prophecy.

vs 52-54: “He has pulled down princes[Job 12:12] from their thrones and exalted the lowly.[Job 5:11] The hungry he has filled with good things,[Psalm 107:9] the rich sent away empty. He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy.”[Psalm 98:3] Mary is mindful of dreams of the Jewish people. She knows what God can do. All of a sudden, she sees that the prophecies are about to be fulfilled. She sees that Israel will prosper, not as the way envisioned before but in the perception of God. Those who hunger for righteousness will be satisfied. Those who extort the word of God will be cast out and replaced by those who are mindful of God’s mercy. God will help those who truly love Him to lifted up and then Israel will be the servant of His Grace.