Submission to Government

Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.  For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—  as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bond servants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.--1 Peter 2:13-17

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

The previous two verses of 1 Peter chapter 2 speak of living before the world in a way in which unbelievers will see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.  This next section (through vs 25) addresses a believer's submission to government, to masters and wives to husbands.  Further on in Chapter 5, Peter addresses a younger believer's submission to elders. He gives specific instructions to each one but the bottom line is if we are submitting to our Lord Jesus Christ and serving Him in love, we are fulfilling the law and will as much as depends on us put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.  The best answer to persecution and accusation of wrong doing from unbelievers is to live a life blameless before them....to be not of the world but to be a good citizen who is above reproach submitting to our government as unto the Lord.  We are to do this "for the Lord's sake"—so that His gospel and His people will be respected. If we are to be persecuted, it should be for obeying God, not for breaking moral or civil laws. (Romans 13:1-7, Matthew 22:21)

The verse that spoke to my heart was this one:

"For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—  as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bond servants of God."

 Whenever, I see "for this is the will of God" I sit up and pay attention.  My behavior should be above reproach for my Lord's sake.  It is about Him.  The bottom line of this life for each and every one of us is what we do with Jesus.  Do we believe and accept His free gift to us or do we reject it.  Jesus came so that we might have life in His name.  Whatever else we might think is important is not in light of Jesus. We need to become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation so that we can shine His light to a lost and dying world.

A transformed life dedicated to Him is a supreme witness in this world.  We are His hands, feet and mouth here and are to share His good news with as many as we can.  Our lights become dim, however, when our own fleshly desires get in the way. That is why we are not to use our liberty in Christ as a cloak for vice but as bond servants of God.  Galatians 5:13 says this:

"For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."

The key to that verse is but through love serve one another. The kind of love that links us to Jesus is the love that sacrifices.  The love that does not seek its own.  The love that  puts the other first.  Jesus when He walked on this earth did nothing from selfish ambition or conceit.  He esteemed  us as the joy that was set before Him and endured the suffering, humiliation and death of the cross so that we could have the opportunity to believe and be delivered into His kingdom of Light.  He was despised and rejected by men...He was despised and we did not esteem Him.  Jesus came not to seek His own will but the will of Him who sent Him....His Father in Heaven.  We are to imitate Jesus who submitted to His Father in heaven in everything and in humility served us and made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men, humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Serve one another in love...love fulfills the law.

Love
Mom

Exhortation to Love...

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

Now there are many verses in Scripture that exhort us to love but my favorite one is in Romans 13..."owe no one anything but love." Here is the verse in its entirety.

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.  For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,”^] and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.--Romans 13:8-10

Girls, if you got this one down...you got it all. If you can return good for evil, you are doing well. You have learned how to live.  Read how Paul addresses those the Lord put in his care.  He calls them dearly beloved.  He tells them how he longs to see them.  He is not short on expressing his love nor is he short on what love really is...action.  It is a verb.  I like to think of it as active kindness.  Love is self-sacrificing.  Love loves the lovely and the unlovely.  Love loves even through much offense. Paul's motivation for all he did  here on this earth after his conversion was love.  For Paul to live was Christ and to die was gain.  He magnified His Lord in his body and like Christ reached out in love despite the provocation to do the opposite.  He knew that eternity was at stake.  He knew that the offenses were not important...having others see His Lord working through Him was.


Love like this can only come from a humble mind.  It stems from humility.  We only need to look to Jesus to see. Chapters 13-17 of John are filled with Jesus reassuring His disciples of His everlasting love for them. When I read these chapters I always picture a dying mother taking her last breaths with her children surrounding her and completely losing herself in her love for them.  That is what Jesus did.  He met the greatest of betrayals with what...love.  He washed all his disciples feet just hours before He would be nailed to a wooden cross.  All includes Judas, the disciple that Jesus knew would betray Him.  He faced the cross with what...love.  He thought of others in the midst of the deepest suffering anyone could ever know. Read the chapters...see His absolute grace and humility.  Jesus prayed for you and I in Chapter 17 reaching out across centuries with His love. Jesus knew who He was...and yet he stooped down and washed His disciples feet....He knew who He was and yet He faced the cross.  Can we as His followers do any less? 

Here is what Paul says in the third chapter of Colossians. 


"But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,  and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,  where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

Character of the New Man

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;  bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.  But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

1 Corinthians 1:4-8 defines love:  Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;  does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

This is what we are to do girls.  We are to put off the old, unloving, unforgiving, and bitter practices and in humility put on love because it is the bond of perfection.  Your life will not be your own until you do...you will eat yourself alive and bite and devour those around you. Bitterness, unforgiveness and selfishness destroy both spiritually and physically.

If you find yourself today running around with bitterness and unforgiveness towards someone in your life, here is what you do.  Remember that it is the wrong response.  Jesus never displayed bitterness or unforgiveness.  You really have no place to hide.  Repent...go in the other direction.  Get down on your knees and ask God to help you love that person, to help you forgive that person.  Surrender to the Spirit of God inside of you whose ministry is to manifest Jesus Christ and love that person.   Next, go to that person and see if you cannot build a relationship of love with them. Yield to His love shed abroad in your heart and let it flow. It will be the most wonderful and not to mention healthiest thing you do in your life.  Do not be bound by unforgiveness.  Jesus greeted all offenses with more love...in fact he turned the blackest evil into the greatest good by love. He met the greatest offense and injury with the greatest kind of love. We have no excuse. None.

This Thanksgiving owe no one in your life anything but to love them.  Love fulfills the law. Love never fails...it always has an effect.

Love
Mom