Loves Our Nation

Luke 7:1-10 NKJV Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. 2 And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. 3 So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly,saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, 5 "for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue." 6 Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word and my servant will be healed. 8 " For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go and he goes; and to another, 'Come and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this' and he does it." 9 When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him; and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, "I say to you I have not found such great faith; not even in Israel!" 10 And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick.

Now this text is also given in Matthew 8:5-13. And the book of Matthew was written to the Jewish person. The book of Luke was written to the Greek. Decades I heard this taught and thought always that Jesus was speaking to the centurion personally.....you know face to face. But when you put this text from Luke 7 next to it...Jesus was talking with those sent by the centurion! (first elders, then friends)

Now if this occurred today, the person would ask Jesus to come and when He said yes, this same person would put on a big-to-do for the event that Jesus was coming to heal someone. You would most likely see maybe a news network covering this event and how excited they were Jesus was coming to heal someone within their house, or family.

But according to this specific passage, Jesus is talking with those sent by the centurion in that he, the centurion, did not think himself worthy to stand before Jesus. Wow, what humility in a man, even though he had many men who took orders from him in the daily operations of the military.
But I want to point you to something specific here in that the centurion in verse 5 said "for he loves our nation and has built a synagogue."
This man had built us a synagogue for Israel. He also said the man loved Israel. Remembering this passage in Psalm 122:6-9 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; "May they prosper who love you. 7 Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces." 8 For the sake of my brethren and companions, "I will now say, Peace be within you." 9 Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good.

As we know of the house of the LORD, there is to be worship to God, having revelation of Him, to have unity among believers and to have God's justice. AND we are to seek the LORD'S good!

A man sought to seek out Jesus for his servant who was very ill and at the point of death. This centurion, even though a leader with much authority still kept his place in that pointed which pointed to faith that works. And this man's faith was that Jesus was and is the Healer! Within that, the centurion wanted Jesus to know what this man had done to see that Israel had another synagogue and how he loved the nation Israel.

Can that be said of us and would it be spoken about? Do we love Israel? Do we send monies to help love Jerusalem, to love Israel's people or are we those who kick Israel to the curb and use our monies to fund another 7 days at some theme park with water slides and the such?

Illness can certainly come to people. NOT that we should go looking for sickness but that we have to have proper foods and proper sleep to maintain a healthy body. Stress should be removed and loving others should be our priority. Yet, I wonder how many become ill and have not done anything to prosper. I wonder how many forget Israel and forget Jesus is a Jew!
Praying for the peace of Jerusalem was expecting an orderly society. Jerusalem the city of peace was to live up to the prayer being spoken over it.

The centurion sent first elders( verse 3) of the synagogue to speak with Jesus and then he sent others (friends)  while he stayed with the sick man under his roof!  He spoke this of this in (verse 6) saying, 'Lord do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. Verse 7: "Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You but say the word and my servant will be healed.
Jesus spoke this in John 15:12-13 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. 14 "You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.

In pertaining to life, Christ Jesus is our example. He was and is always the supreme example of love on the earth! In the above we read of a man who gave through his responsible actions to help the Jewish people have a synagogue. His unselfish manner proved his love for that nation! Sacrifices produce peace and unity with God. And those who submit to the burden of bearing one's responsibilities before God is seen. Love and sacrifice is given by the ill man and the centurion in authority. He did not demand his way!  No, he sought the Lord in the manner worthy of He greater than any sickness or disease.
If you are ill today, have you built a synagogue? Have you loved the nation Israel? Have you pulled out your debit card or checkbook and sent monies to help an evangelist in Israel or send a pastor from this nation of America to minister the truth of God through Jesus Christ?
In this we should obey God! I certainly pulled out my checkbook and wrote a check to slap the devil in the face when confronted with something that affected my eyes. YOU want to mess with me devil ....."I will show you...here in this writing" and I did  and sent it to that place where Israel is given the word of God for salvation's.
Father God began this process and did it by loving those who did not even know Him. And the Son was sent and He obeyed the Father by the giving of His life in that which was not of royalty, or anything regal, but was of death and sacrifice on the Cross that represented shame. But the joy that was set before Him, He Jesus endured the Cross and came out on the other side victoriously. (Hebrews 12:2)
Today, if something of sickness has come to your house, ask yourself if you have prayed for the peace of Jerusalem and have you loved Israel in ways that will prosper you and your loved ones? For God will perform HIS word in our lives when we speak, believe it and act on it.
To God be all the glory.....Amen!

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NO SHAME!

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The Love that We Share

Psalm 90:14
O satisfy us with Your mercy and loving-kindness
in the morning [now, before we are older], that we may
rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad in proportion to the days in which
You have afflicted us and to the years in which we have
suffered evil.
16 Let Your work [the signs of Your power] be revealed to
Your servants; and Your [glorious] majesty to their children.
17 And let the beauty and delightfulness and favor of the Lord
our God be upon us; confirm and establish the work of our hands--
yes, the work of our hands, confirm and establish it.

In this Psalm we are directed to prayer!
I always hear my husband pray for our meals, and over our family, home and that which God has given to us as in the job (finances), a vehicle for driving to work, a place to attend church to worship our God and especially that extra time to have with our grandchild and family. We plan to come together with our love ones at different times during the year. But it was just over the weekend, I heard my husband speak, "the love that we share".

I told my husband that is important for the love we all share for the Lord, binds us together. In thinking and praying on this for today, I was brought back to Moses who prayed this for the whole of those who would ultimately die in the wilderness. There were many who were not going into the Promised Land. And Moses prayed a prayer.
Take a look back at the entire prayer in Psalm 90 and think on the wilderness, and the surroundings. The only people were those they had known in Egypt. Moses had brought them out of bondage under the leading of the Lord. Moses had obeyed to do what the Lord showed him to do in his connecting with Pharaoh, to the plagues, and to ultimately bring them all out. Moses prayed from what we read here from Psalm 90...and verse 11-12...."Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of you, so is Your wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

In dealing with people, as to living around large volumes of people, and being in contact with many different ethnic groups ( men and women alike) we are to have a love that can only come through knowing Jesus and His love. It is having the wisdom of God.  Like Moses and his leadership ability, much was gained by hearing and obeying God and His directions. He had much to contend with and mostly was due to a people who were "slaves" to their own thinking, their lack, their depending on making bricks, and not looking for the "new" to life!
If we take note and look back for a moment we can see that which Moses probably saw for all that was recorded. Persecution was to come, and it came in the Garden of Eden. In all that was recorded and we can read here in the Holy Bible, we can see Cain kill his brother Abel (Genesis 4:8), Ham the son of Noah, mocked Noah (Genesis 8:20-23). We also see in the time of Isaac the son of Abraham being mocked by Ishmael.(Genesis 21:8-10)
8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac." NIV

 Esau had wanted to kill his own brother Jacob. (Genesis 27:41-42)
41 So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob." 42 And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, "Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you.
NKJV
And we come back to that of Joseph who was the exalted in Egypt and became the deliverer to bring food to a people and a famished land. Forgiveness!

It was by harassment and bitter hate that Joseph was given over into a pit, to become a slave and become the deliverer for his family and many others in a time of severe famine. It was in that love he had for them all, the ability to forgive, that allowed him to move forward in live and see a life that was beautified by the glory of the Lord.

We see Joseph as the fourth son of Jacob. It was the not the first son or the second son of Jacob, but the fourth who played such a great role in the history. Yet, the tribes are all important in the foundation of the family of God and those who would follow.

Yes, the love that we share.

We may not understand the thinking of some we come in contact with, but surely God gives us wisdom to understand our fellow man or fellow woman!

In Matthew 25 we find this: 34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you blessed of My Father [you favored of God, appointed to eternal salvation], inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me [with help and ministering care]; I was in prison and you came to me [ignoring personal danger].

37 The the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?"

40 the King will answer and say to them, ' I assure you and most solemnly say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it for Me.' 41 "Then He will say to those on His left, 'Leave Me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (demons);42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me [with help and ministering care]' 44 Then they also [in their turn] will answer, ' Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You?"

45 Then He will reply to them, ' I assure you and most solemnly say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these [my followers], you did not do it for Me.' 46 Then these [unbelieving people] will go away into eternal (unending) punishment, but those who are righteous and in right standing with God [ will go, by His remarkable grace] into eternal (unending) life." Amplified Bible

Now in all my years of hearing and being taught, I always heard this as for doing for those who are lacking, sick and without........anybody.. especially those you did not know.......BUT.......never heard it as verse 45 speaks..............the "followers" of Jesus. Now that takes or makes a shift in another direction.
Let's see, if we start in the "home", are we seeing after ........say not only those within our home, but what about those who live far away and maybe alone?  (you know a relative) What about those who are the saved, and in need of some help and  ministering care?
It is interesting that the whole chapter is talking about two kinds of people. In light of the teaching, we see people who are to be lights to the world. As the Gospel is presented to us, we too, look for those outlets to minister that same light to others. It begins within us and then to others. It begins in our character of that which we boast. Is our boast in the Lord or in our own goodness and  what you might do for me?

Let's look first in the home: as the spouse, do we look out after our spouse? Do we see where we might help them in their day, in their work, or around the home? Will we see after them when they are not well, see after them when they are not around.......say, like at the work place? Then do we help in the way of laundry, doing dishes, or maybe planning and preparing a meal, the wife usually prepares. How about taking the "kids" to school even though they ride the bus? What if we took some extra time to show those of the house of God, those "followers" of Jesus we care about them even when they are not around!
To that spouse, do we say........"I appreciate you". "Thanks for all you do to help me!"? Do we take time to text them that message of how important they are to us? Will we take time to mend a favorite shirt, a little girl's princess dress, or how about designing something of ribbon over a neckpiece for earbuds that you do not use, but is a help to another? What about calling someone to invite them out for dinner with your family?
Then the "follower" of Jesus you go to church with, will you invite them over for a holiday? If they are alone most of the time, what if we had them come for dinner on Sunday or maybe a barbeque on Friday evening?

There are all kinds of harassment going on right now! One surely has a view whether on the roadway, in a mall, at school or in the workplace. At some point today in a given moment someone is being bombarded by those who will hate and harass, and seek their own agenda. But ours is suppose to be that like Jesus........and to love no matter what.
I believe that the Psalm 90 that Moses prayed for those who would die in the wilderness was a prayer for any who live out their lives in knowing nothing but slavery, although God has the way through His mercy and grace. I believe he desired the children of these people to see and know of the miraculous that their God had done for them in that wilderness. Yes many died there. But many went into the Promised Land to see and know more of God. Our choice is choosing that which is or should resemble Moses that he cared for those given into his hand for keeping watch. They brought a lot of heartache and much time in prayer to Moses for them.

In our coming in and our going out, may we speak with peace to others with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May we speak grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. It is the Lord Who gives grace to the humble!
May we respect those who work hard and who is over us in the Lord and who admonishes us. (2 Thessalonians 5:13-24)  In close encounters with family and those of the family of God, we desire to hold each in the highest regard in love because of his work.  We pray to be those that would encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone making sure nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Praying for those of the body of Christ to be joyful always (verse 16) to pray continually (verse 17) to give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for us in Christ Jesus.
Today, may we, "the beloved" build ourselves up on our most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit and to keep ourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. To guard and keep ourselves in the love of God, expect and patiently wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) which will bring us unto life eternal. And refute [so as to] convict some who dispute with you ( or us) and on some have mercy who waiver and doubt. We strive to save others, snatching [them] out of the fire; on others take pity [but] with fear, loathing even the garment spotted by the flesh and polluted by their sensuality. [Zechariah 3:2-4) It is to the one only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord be the glory (splendor), majesty, might and dominion and power and authority, before all time and now and forever (unto all ages of eternity). FOR IT IS THE LOVE THAT WE SHARE!  Amen. (so be it.) Amplified


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