Do Unto God as You Would Have Him Do Unto You

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Who didn't grow up hearing the "Golden Rule?"

Turns out, it is in the Bible, in Matthew 7.

Here's a twist:

Do unto God as you would have Him do unto you.

Ignore Him? You don't want God to ignore you.

Reject Him? You surely don't want God to reject you.

Love on Him? That's more like it--you certainly would enjoy Him lavishing His love on you.

Maybe this is the "God Rule."

That fits, because it is, in fact, Jesus speaking in Matthew 7:12:

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

I guess a God Rule would be the one that sums up everything.

Maybe today you have an extra moment to consider how you are treating God.

God is a God of invitation...invite Him into your circle in a new way.

An Ill-Fitting Topcoat

Somewhere I read that white flour is a by-product of grain produced for cows.

A by-product.

Even worse, food producers discovered that it has a shelf-life of, well, pretty much forever.

No matter how you slice that news, white flour is an ill-fitting topcoat for our bodies, though we wear it often.

Sin works like that. It is a by-product of decisions produced by going against God.

A by-product.

Even worse, we discover that this sin-life has a shelf-life of, well, pretty much the forever of our time on earth.

No matter how you slice that news, sin is an ill-fitting topcoat on our hearts. Why do we wear it so often?

Our hearts, before the decision to go against God, were free and sinless.

We didn't even have clothing because regret and the need for covering didn't exist. Our step against God carried us into shame and nakedness

We can stop wearing the topcoat of white flour and find more freedom of health for our bodies.

We can stop wearing the topcoat of sin--asking God for forgiveness--and find more freedom of health for our hearts.

Wear freedom.

When Tempted to Slight Israel

That tiny nation, Israel, must be dear to God's heart.

His revelation to Abraham in Genesis 12 is frequently ignored:

I'll make you a great nation and bless you.

I'll make you famous; you'll be a blessing.

I'll bless those who bless you; those who curse you I'll curse.

All the families of the Earth will be blessed through you.

Israel is the nation created from Abraham's legacy.

The lineage of Jesus traces right back to Abraham.

God's opinion holds sway here...certainly not ours.

Are you understanding this puzzle?

Slight Israel in word and deed...be cursed.

Bless Israel in word and deed...be blessed.

America...choose wisely.

The Art and the Artist

Is this a scene that gives God delight?

For sure, He endowed the artist with obvious talent.

Is He even more delighted with His artistry of the child, unhindered in expressing her delight that He painted, at that moment, in her unabashed heart?

The Great Artist will paint delight in our hearts as well.

Could we take a moment to find unabashed delight in our surroundings and share it with Him?

(Photographer unknown: copied from 98.5KTK homepage.)

Famous...For Generous Hospitality

Romans 16:

Be sure to welcome...in the way of our Master, with all the generous hospitality we Christians are famous for.

Famous...for generous hospitality.

That's quite a calling.

Let's break it down:

God's hospitality toward us.

Our hospitality toward ourselves.

Our hospitality toward others.

Are you famous for being hospitable toward yourself?

Do you speak kindly to yourself, take steps to strengthen yourself in a balanced way, nurture yourself the way you nurture others?

Is the enemy fighting you harder on your hospitality toward self or toward others?

How you see yourself--how fearfully and wonderfully made--dictates your hospitality toward yourself.

Doesn't it slight God when you see and treat yourself less hospitably than you treat others? He tenders you with the same love He extends to them.

Be famous toward yourself. Then you'll be famous toward others with that same love.

When Granting Love Seems Impossible

Love should lead us to a place of safety, nourishment and strength. Does that seem impossible with someone you know?

Think of the thorniest, close relationship you are in.

Is it safe?

Is it nourishing?

Is it strengthening for you?

If you are packed into the relationship by blood or present, unavoidable circumstance, then the thorny must be faced.

What can accompany you into the thorns that will bring hope and change?

Render your heart to God each morning. This means dump, yes, dump the relationship in God's lap each morning so He will be carrying the weight of it for you.

Be an admirer to that person even if it is the slightest operation imaginable. Find one thing each day that you can tell God you admire about that person.

Ask God to change your heart toward that person. More love, supernaturally given, somehow absorbs thorny and may, over time, create an exit door for that other person to leave his or her state of meanness or other roadblock to a healthy, loving relationship.

Then, even the rockiest relationships become safer when rendered to God, nourishing when your energy turns toward admiration, and strengthening when your heart is changed to lead you both to higher ground.

Impossible love, in the skilled hands of God, becomes a tentative step toward hope once again.

Life Abounds When We Apply Friendship

How does life abound, when there is such trouble, such gravity of circumstance, such disruption even in relationships among believers?

2 Corinthians says:

Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: one man died for everyone...because of this decision, we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong.

Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! Al this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other.

God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: become friends with God; he's already a friend with you.

Friends with God.

Friends with each other,including relatives and immediate family.

A circle of friendship speaks life into those who settle differences with the love of Christ.

Carry your God-friendship into your circle and lead with love.