Scripture: Jeremiah 31 v 33: "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people."
As Christians under this New Covenant, given first to Jewish believers at the Last Supper, we too have God's law within our spirits. Jesus narrowed it down from over 600 Mosaic laws to just two.
The first is that we must love and worship God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with all our hearts, souls, minds and every fibre of our being. This leaves no room for other gods, idols, or statues to confuse us.
The second is that we must love our neighbour as ourselves. We need to overcome self-loathing, rejection and negativity, if we have those problems, to love as Jesus loves us. We have to block proud, judgmental attitudes to esteem others more highly than ourselves.
Phillipians 2 v 1 - 3: "If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."
There are times when this is hard to achieve, especially in countries that are being badly governed. Right now Britain is reeling after an horrific knife attack on the train from Doncaster to Manchester last night. Ten innocent British people were stabbed and injured near Huntingdon by two masked men who are now in custody. Their identities unknown for fear of reprisals to a certain community being over-protected by the weak-kneed Starmer.
We pray for the British people to put their faith in Jesus Christ for His protection, which is greater than any human security. Trust Him even till death which is but an entrance into His eternal kingdom of Heaven. Without Him death is a horrible nightmare that never ends.
On the Cross Jesus destroyed the enmity between God and man, caused us to be saved, forgiven of sin, washed in His Blood. He said love one another as I have loved you. How do we destroy the enmity between human beings? How do we love savages with a violent agenda and no accountability? How many of us were just like that but forgiven and saved by the love and mercy of Jesus?
Let me share a few things the Lord wrote on my heart many years ago to keep me humble and submitted to His Word.
Isaiah 16 v 3 - 4: "Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.
4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land."
My family and those who know me, know that over the past 45 years there has seldom been a time that this Word has been neglected. It has not always been easy to keep but if Jesus is in me its His love on the line. I was an outcast being adopted at 5 days old.
I only discovered it 25 years later when I ran away from an abusive alcoholic husband with my 3 year old son. The day the divorce was finalised I was truly born again and Jesus filled my heart with the first real love I had ever known. He took me in, and I have never tried to leave. He told me I was adopted and it was confirmed a few days later. Shattering all my roots but at least I had Him to lean on.
Isaiah 25 v 4: "For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall."
Over the years the Lord has blessed me with the above verse. This is what it means to love your neighbour as yourself. The first person sent was a young suicidal mother with two small daughters.
She was married to a Satanist who wanted to rape his daughters. As a young Christian this was a huge challenge and a frantically fast introduction to a dark world I never knew existed. I was trained on the spot by the Holy Spirit while trying to run a business and tend to a family.
There was a year's break after they left having been with me for six months. We moved and at the new home the church came to pray and bless it. They left behind a very dysfunctional couple who needed major ministry. The wife was manifesting demonic behaviour like witchcraft.
I was praying for her unsuccessfully for quite a while but noticed she was staring fixedly at her husband. I asked him to make us a cup of coffee and while he was gone I rebuked that witch spirit in her, which was drawing power from her husband. The wife was glazed in her eyes but a strange voice spoke out of her saying, "You are too strong for me, tell this bitch to vomit me out in the toilet!" So I did and it was gone from her by the time the coffee arrived. All hail King Jesus. It is He who treads down our enemies.
He had taught me a lot of things through the first family that stayed with me, and it helped me help these two as well. For the nine years we stayed in that house there was never a time that no outcasts lived with us. Some were really hard to love but we learned to let Jesus work His blessings until He moved them elsewhere.
What has Jesus written on your hearts? Sometimes He says don't drive today. He knows what's lurking, what Satan has planned to hurt us in some way. This does not mean we alert all whatsapp groups and twitterati telling the unwary that nobody must drive cars today! That's making a religion out of a personal instruction for you alone.
Our Father spreads the love of Jesus through us to others. It is unconditional love and its up to us to show others that type of love. No one is perfect but they are sent our way because they need something the Lord wants us to give them. Godly love is written in the Bible as charity and it has become the world's GoFundMe forum.
1 Corinthians 13 v 1 - 6: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;"
Charity is God's love that does not gloat over sin but rejoices in truth. Love is not physical affection and emotional feelings. Love is speaking the truth even though it may be unacceptable or uncomfortable. Love is sharing the gospel with people who object. Some little seed gets past the bluster and the Holy Spirit waters it diligently until it responds.
My favourite Bible verse is John 15 v 9: "As the Father has loved me, so love I you." Spoken by Jesus to His disciples. It is a source of comfort to me. Right now the Lord is repaying my years of accommodating outcasts by allowing dearly beloved brethren to take me in and care for me until another door opens. The power of the Holy Spirit has been a huge blessing, even overwhelming at times.
We are here to win the world into the Kingdom of Heaven. We cannot decide who is worthy. We cannot reject people whom the Lord loves. We cannot be judge and jury on what we think of those less fortunate. So let's get real with the Lord and break those barriers down. Let's love one another and whoever our neighbours may be on this journey. It's expected of us!
Prayer: Heavenly Father, how gracious You are. Help us dear God to be like You. To love those we deem unworthy because You love them. Change us into the likeness of Jesus who got down to the level of humanity to lift us to Heaven. Thank You Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen.