Category Archives: Love

Praying for the Nation–Jesus’s Unanswered Prayer

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The title likely comes as a bit of a jolt, as most people don’t think about the fact that some of Jesus’s most fervent prayers seemed to go unanswered. If we consider it at all, most would probably think of His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-44 among others), but few would think about John 17:21 “I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.” (CEV).

We Christians seem to be splintered into so many factions it makes Humpty Dumpty look whole. From conservatives to liberals, from exuberant worship to quiet and staid, from those who love modern music to those who treasure the ancient hymns–we look at all these differences, and it’s hard to figure out how we could ever remotely be united with each other. And yet I think in a very real sense, we are.

Those who are called by Christ’s name, i.e., who bear the name of Christian, or “little Christs”, must first of all love and follow Jesus. We’re also told in numerous Scriptures we need to love each other, Luke 10:27 being just a single example.

Ephesians 4-10 says:
“Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people.
God was kind and decided that Christ would choose us to be God’s own adopted children.
God was very kind to us because of the Son he dearly loves, and so we should praise God.
Christ sacrificed his life’s blood to set us free, which means that our sins are now forgiven. Christ did this because God was so kind to us. God has great wisdom and understanding,
and by what Christ has done, God has shown us his own mysterious ways.” (CEV)

He did those things for you, for me, and for all whom he has chosen. God is our Father, which makes us a part of God’s family. Christ has already united us, but our lives have to make that a reality.

Unification will not come in putting aside our differences in worship style, music, and political beliefs. That’s not necessary, though putting away our animosity toward and quarrels with each other regarding them most certainly is. Unification will come when we begin to understand that God doesn’t play favorites with His children and that He loves each one of us equally–so much that His Son died so we could be with Him.

Christ washed His disciples’ feet–even the one who would ultimately betray him and instructed us to do likewise (John 13:14). To that end, Bob Goff, in his book entitled “Love Does”, points out that love is not a feeling, it’s actions. (check out Bob’s site here . In this footwashing scene, Jesus was saying the same.

This week I join in Jesus’s prayer that we would be united, so the world would know that God sent Christ to be with us. Or, perhaps, to put a little different spin on it, I pray that we Christians would be united so that this nation would know God Sent Jesus to be our brother and example.

Praying for the Nation–The Truth Will Set Us Free

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“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”. John 8:32 CEV

Contrary to much current thought, there is universal truth. Our forefathers knew this when they penned the declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” …

The truth of the words remains, the fact that they were applied by their authors strictly to white men notwithstanding. Nonetheless, truth doesn’t always seem to be very clear-cut. Pilate’s question to Jesus, “What is truth? (John 18:38, CEV), is a question that’s been asked many times throughout the ages. As Christians we at least say we believe that Jesus is truth (John 14:6), but often find ourselves in sharp disagreement regarding anything beyond that point. And yet, that’s an important unifying force.

Though we may not now (or ever) agree on the specifics of what constitutes the truth, perhaps we can agree to pray that Jesus will open our hearts to it, no matter how painful it is, no matter the preciousness of our beliefs that need to be set aside in deference to it. My mom used to say that truth hurts–& she’s right–it often hurts a lot. But just like surgery, which is initially painful but often eventually curative, the application of truth, though at first painful, provides us with freedom, because being imprison by falsehood often causes wasted, and at times lost, lives.

I’m going to meditate this week on the verse that began this post, and I’m going to pray that we as individuals and as a nation will unite in a fervent search for and being open to the truth. I pray you’ll join me, and I pray you’ll ask your friends to do so as well.

MAGA

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For everyone, or just about everyone, this has been a rough year. First, there’s been a global pandemic, the likes of which few have ever seen. Many have experienced severe economic upheaval. Then, there was a contentious election in the US, which, although it’s been called, still may not be over.

Given all that, it’s hard to find gratitude. Yet, there is still a lot to be thankful for, & I want to give a particular call out to a client with whom I’ve recently had the pleasure of working who pointed that out. His name is Rob Prater, and he works with and for the Desert Rose Bahai Institute here in AZ. He suggested that perhaps MAGA should stand for “Make America Grateful Again.” I think he’s right. Thanks, Rob, for the reminder.

You’re Acting Like An Idiot

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To many, the old Testament seems frought with images of blood and guts and war, and a wrathful God who takes vengance on helpless humans at any chance He gets. A lot of folks would therefore be surprised at this single verse penned by an obscure profit in a little-known book of the Bible called Zephaniah. It’s found in chapter 3, v. 17:
“The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

Any of you who have ever held children in your arms and sang over them as you rocked them, rejoicing, know precisely what this verse means. Have you ever thought about the fact that God loves you just exactly like that? Yeah–I know–it’s hard to fathom, but He does.

The Other side of that coin is that he loves others like that as well. And he loves us even when our behavior doesn’t warrant it, because He knows we are separate from our behavior. We might be acting like an idiot, but we ourselves aren’t one. We can change our behavior, but God created us in His image, and that will never change.

Again, that applies to others as well. I’m trying very hard during these extremely stressful times to understand that even when people act like idiots, God nonetheless sings over them just as He sings over me. They’re created in His image just as I am. And just because they (or I) act like idiots doesn’t mean we are one.

I pray we’ll all extend grace and prayers to one another during these extraordinarily frought times.