A Way of Life

A few people have actually seen Jesus. Maybe in a dream or a vision, but they have seen him and heard from him. My mother was one of these privileged ones. She told me that she was struggling with Christianity. She felt like she had to do something to deserve Him. She felt so guilty about making mistakes and not being better. She was tired and laid down to rest. Then she saw a stairway with many stairs and she had a large heavy load on her back. She was struggling to get up that stairway. She looked up and saw Jesus at the top of the stairs and He looked at her and smiled. He reached down and took the load off of her back. She told me that she was free at that very second. “I was so free that I felt like I could fly I was so happy.” She knew Jesus loved her just the way she was. She felt the liberty that comes with belief and repentance.. My mother did not say an unkind word about anyone. She never judged another. She had love for everyone that she knew. Her life was Jesus first, then Daddy then her eight children. I remember the hot homemade bread with real butter when I got home from school. Talk about love. One day Mabel Smith sees Peggy White coming down the isle in the grocery store. She can hardly wait until she gets to Peggy and let her know what has happened at the church. “Did you hear what happened to Wanda?” “No.” “Well,” Mabel draws a deep breath. She has a lot to say and doesn’t want to loose any time. Peggy is all ears. “Well Wanda and her husband are getting a divorce. I believe that he has been running around on her. Her kids are running wild. She doesn’t seem to have any control over them. Probably the divorce. Poor Wanda.” She is such a sweet lady. Joyce told me who all her husband has been running around with.” She took another deep breath, but before she continued, Peggy cut in and spoke. Mabel, have you been to see Wanda? Maybe that’s only a rumor. Maybe Wanda needs us if it’s true. I wouldn’t tell anyone else until we check it out. Wanda may need our help.” Mabel looked slightly deflated and she replied “Yes, you’re right of course.” We see a lot of Mabel’s but we rarely see the Peggy’s. We need to respond similar to Peggy. God puts people that carry tales right up there with murder. Read the first chapter of Romans. We need to read and re-read it, myself included. We don’t know other people’s hearts. We can’t judge them. We need to seriously pray for someone that is having a hard time in life. Don’t tell it to the world. We need to be very careful how we talk about anyone. The book of James says that the tongue no man can tame. It is an unruly evil and full of deadly poison. The Bible says out of our mouth comes blessings and cursings. We bless God and curse men. It says “does the same fountain give sweet water and bitter water? Can the same fig vine put out figs and also olives?” The third chapter in James also says that our tongue is a fire a world of sin and it defiles the whole body. “The wisdom from God is peaceable, pure, gentle, and full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy.” That’s pretty straight talk from James. That is what we need to strive for. If we have a problem with this and I imagine most people do, then we should call on God to help us. God knows our hearts and it’s better to admit our faults and ask for help than stick our head in the sand and pretend that we don’t have faults. Religion is all about do and do nots. Christianity is about love. God knew we couldn’t keep all the do and do nots. These were very harsh rules that the Jews had to keep. The rules that God gave to the Hebrews to live by were impossible to keep all the time. There was a lot of sin sacrificing that had to done for the sins of the people. This release from all these laws should be one of the first things we thank God for in the morning. God didn’t destroy all these laws he fulfilled them. So what am I saying? Love fulfills the law. If you love Jesus you will automatically love people. You will not want to hurt or judge your neighbor. As a matter of fact we will help our neighbor when they need help. No law is necessary.