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Posts Tagged ‘40 Days Living the Jesus Creed’

Wrapping it up: 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed [Days 36-40]

LtJC – Days 36-40:

The way of Agape is not easy. More often than not, it is love that is dispensed and manifest in the faces of the unloved, in the lives of the broken, and in the hearts of the hateful…when those who are the loving are persecuted, despised, maligned and martyred. The way of Agape is selfless, sacrificial, and serving…the way of Agape is the highest calling of all. The way of Agape begins with loving God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. The way of Agape ends with loving our neighbor as ourselves. Anything in between those two points is a distraction…

The final 5 days (leading up to Palm Sunday) were focused on living examples of Jesus Creed love (days 36-40). The first example given (mentioned in my previous entry) is support. Support is evidenced in many ways not the least of which is our finances. It can be seen in other ways as well; for instance, the sharing of material resources, time, and serving with our gifts and abilities. The bottom line is love for Jesus supports his teaching and his kingdom. Read the rest of this entry »

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40 Days Living the Jesus Creed [Days 36]

LtJC – Day 36:

“Supporting Jesus turns one’s love for Jesus and for his kingdom vision and for his followers into living reality. When Jesus called his followers to love God and love others, involved in that love was the willingness to use resources for kingdom work.” Scot McKnight

Jesus Creed Thoughts for the day…

• “What we do with our money reveals what matters to us…”
• “Money matters because it reveals both what we want to hold onto and what we value enough to support”
• “Wisdom advises that giving comes first, saving second, and spending third…”
• “God’s work begins in our local community of faith and spreads across the globe.”

“Love supports the work of God”

“But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

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and so it should be now too as we live for God’s Kingdom today…

40 Days Living the Jesus Creed [Days 34-35]

LtJC – Day 34:

“Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:8-12)

Jesus Creed Thoughts for the day…

• “What we do is not eternal. What is eternal is the relationships spiritual gifts establish”
  • Our gifts forge relationships
  • Our relationships will remain
  • The relationship with God and with others that “gifts” forge is what will remain
• “Exercise your gifts to establish those lasting relationships”

“Our spiritual gifts are given to nurture what will remain forever: Love” Read the rest of this entry »

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40 Days Living the Jesus Creed [Days 31-33]

LtJC – Day 31:

“Love does not insist on its own way…” (1 Corinthians 13:5-6)

Jesus Creed Thoughts for the day…

• “Jesus Creed love is AGAPE Love…”
• “Agape Love denies self…”

My takeaway/parting thoughts: icrucified = crucify self = deny self

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ…”

Luke 9:23

Mark 14:36

“To choose to live a life of loving others is to choose against a life of loving only ourselves.” (Scot McKnight) Read the rest of this entry »

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40 Days Living the Jesus Creed [Day 30]

Give us strength with changed heart, O Lord, to love You with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength…and help us, O Lord, for Your namesake to love our neighbor as ourselves. [Amen]

LtJC – Day 30:

“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5)

Jesus Creed Thoughts for the day…

• “Love isn’t what you feel, it’s what you do…” Madeleine L’Engle
• “We are not happy with our lot in life or we are ticked with God for assigning our lot.” Scot McKnight

My takeaway: The thing about this (these) attributes of AGAPE love is the awareness that it cannot be lived to the full under the fuel of ourself (me). We cannot “will” this kind of attitude and behavior; at least with the expectation of sustaining it for a prolonged (forever) period (indefinite) of time. Loving enemies, remaining patient and longsuffering with lazy, immature people, being kind in the face of rude and boastful people…this is how love lives. This is the attitude of Christ…not me. Exactly. Not me. Therefore, the only way to live in sustainable God-Love (AGAPE) is for God to live in me. The only way for God to live in me is to for me to make room for Him. Jesus said; “You must be born again.” The inference of this statement is that I must first die or “deny self” in order for the “room” to be made. Indeed, the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26) is budded, flowered, and matured from the seed of me that falls into the ground (John 12:24-26). I cannot love like God…but God in me can. If I am not loving like Him, is He living in me??? Or am I still living in me, occupying the space that God wishes to make for His room.

“You must be born again…” Jesus (John 3:3-8)

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40 Days Living the Jesus Creed [Days 28-29]

“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.  It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” [1 Cor. 13] Give us strength with changed heart, O Lord, to love You with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength…and help us, O Lord, for Your namesake to love our neighbor as ourselves. [Amen]

LtJC – Day 28:

“God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean” Acts 10:28

Jesus Creed Thoughts for the day…

• Other people are listening for God
• Resistance to boundary-breaking is normal
• God is impartial
• God dwells with all who face God Read the rest of this entry »

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40 Days Living the Jesus Creed [Day 26-27]

“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.  It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” [1 Cor. 13] Give us strength with changed heart, O Lord, to love You with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength…and help us, O Lord, for Your namesake to love our neighbor as ourselves. [Amen]

LtJC – Day 26:

We’re talking LOVE…AGAPE Love… “unflinching love” Read the rest of this entry »

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40 Days Living the Jesus Creed [Day 23-25]

O God, who has given us the great and saving truths of Your gospel: grant us, we ask You, to live amid these things, to meditate on them and seek them; for one who goes on seeking, finds. Help us, therefore, to learn those things on earth, the knowledge of which shall abide with us in heaven. Grant this for Jesus Christ’s sake. [Amen] Give us strength with changed heart, O Lord, to love You with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength…and help us, O Lord, for Your namesake to love our neighbor as ourselves. [Amen]

“Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace-in peace because they trust in you.” (Isaiah 26:3)

“Scriptural living comes from trust in the Lord. When our eyes are fixed on the Lord Jesus and we trust in His word, we will be steadfast and mature.” Deep-Rooted in Christ; Joshua Choonmin Kang

“Your decrees are my meditation…” (Psalm 119:99) Read the rest of this entry »

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40 Days Living the Jesus Creed [Days 21-22]

The Golden Rule: Principles to Live By [Day 21]

“Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within.” (Romans 12:1-2 J.B. Phillips Translation)

I really enjoyed the all so practical approach to this day’s reading. Our focus and meditation was taken from chapter seven of Matthew’s gospel; key points are highlighted below: Read the rest of this entry »

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40 Days Living the Jesus Creed [From Day 20]

Wake-Up – Wake-Up – Wake-Up

Christ is the Most Important Thing

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:33)

A Canticle and Prayer:

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left… Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. [Amen] -And Jesus spoke to them saying; “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength…and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Canticle of St. Patrick -Scripture from Gospel of Mark 12:28-31)

“Busyness scatters our inner life…”

I am convinced that distractions are one of the most insidious tools used by the enemy of our soul to destroy us. Why would I say this? I’m thinking of the parable of the boiled frog. They say that if you put a frog into a pot of boiling water, it will leap out right away to escape the danger. But, if you put a frog in a kettle that is filled with water that is cool and pleasant, and then you gradually heat the kettle until it starts boiling, the frog will not become aware of the threat until it is too late. The frog’s survival instincts are geared towards detecting sudden changes. I checked a few sources for the veracity of this parable and there seems to be differing opinions on whether it is entirely accurate; however, I think in either event, it serves to make a point that is used to illustrate how people might get themselves into terrible trouble. This parable is often used to illustrate how humans have to be careful to watch slowly changing trends in the environment, not just the sudden changes. It’s a warning to keep us paying attention not just to obvious threats but to more slowly developing ones. Wake-Up.

Life’s distractions kill us just like the frog…one increase in “temperature” at a time. The “heat” of urgency is turned up past the point of being managed reasonably in the majority of our lives. Stress and anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent diseases in modern history (especially in North America), and yet Jesus tells us unequivocally, “Do not worry” (Matthew 6:34). We are told to put Him (Jesus) at the center of our lives, but the cost (to most of us) is simply too high to do this. We are terrified at the thought of relinquishing control of our lives to an “unseen” God. Read the rest of this entry »

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