Letters to Christ's Beloved Church

Two shootings today bring us once again to our knees. My daughter worked in maintenance at Evergreen High School. While she was thankful none of her co-workers were hurt, her heart is broken and torn over yet another symptom of the heart decay that has gripped this country.

Beloved for whom Christ Jesus died…

We mourn with those who mourn. We offer no judgment, though we are tempted, because the Judgment belongs to God and to those who are called in our country to judge.

Prayers are offered, but I need to challenge every person who believes in Jesus Christ, that without love whatever we do is nothing. 1st Corinthians 13 we can have faith to move mountains but if we do not have love, we gain nothing. We can have knowledge, we can pray in tongues in other languages, but without love we are a clanging cymbol or noisy gong. Then in 1st Corinthians 13 it outlines What Love Is.

I would challenge you to look it up some point in the next 24 hours and read it out loud, not too fast, slowly enough to understand what it’s saying.

I often see a bumper sticker that says,  “Prayer is our most effective form against evil.”

But the Bible does not say that.

It says that the fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

James 5:16 KJV
[16] Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

https://bible.com/bible/1/jas.5.16.KJV

So first before we pray we need to ask, are we righteous?

The Bible teaches us that we are forgiven of our sins through the blood of Jesus. That we are made righteous through him. He is our righteousness. So have we received that or are we looking to our own works as being better than others and enough to qualify us as “righteous”? If we’re standing on our own Works thinking we are better than other people, we are in Pride and we’re not walking in his righteousness.

Romans 3:21-24 KJV
[21] But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; [22] even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: [23] for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; [24] being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

https://bible.com/bible/1/rom.3.21-24.KJV

We, who are guilty, are declared not guilty because of cross of Jesus Christ.

The Bible does not say that prayer is the most effective form against evil. Don’t get me wrong, when people are praying out of faith in Jesus and a heart for God, it is highly effective – when we are praying out of a motive of faith and a Godly love.

The Bible talks about things that hinder prayer and I won’t go into that here. You can simply look up the word prayer on the internet with the word Bible and see what Bible verses speak about prayer. But one of the biggest things that hinders prayers from being heard from the Throne of Heaven is unforgiveness. Because unforgiveness and refusing to forgive others their sins mocks the cross where Jesus Christ was tortured died descended into hell for people who did not deserve it including the people who killed him. If you desire for your prayers to be heard for protection, I would hurt you to come into the presence of the Living God and understand powerful love of God. Spend more time reading the Bible and praying that we do playing video games with our entertainment and sports. Seek God, seek him. There is Great Divine protection in him. And he longs to keep all people safe including the shooters.

This does not negate Justice. But our sins of Pride and cowardice lies are Abomination before God. Greed is a damnable sin for the throne of God. Not loving people when we see them suffering. Not just the people in our Circle, all people. Jesus didn’t just die for the people that liked him. He died for all of mankind. Take time daily to read The Sermon on the Mount and ask God to help implement it into your life.

Many prayers are going up today, but prayer is a two-way street because it’s communication with God. We have to listen to him, hear what he has to say to us because if we close the door to our heart to hearing his voice to our spirits, that same door in my reflection, this is what I think it is not scripture but this is what I perceive, that same door that we closed to listening to God is the same door that is closed when he is trying to bless us and answer our prayers.

God is longing to bring all people protection. He is longing to put you and your family in a safe place. So much so that prophets and the writers of the Bible many of them were killed to bring you the truth and the grace that he offers. The number one protection he desires is eternal protection. And there is divine protection for this life as well, but that is a time and season thing. And sometimes we don’t see the things we want in this life but if our lives are hidden in Christ and we are truly worshiping God, not just with our mouths with with our hearts and lives, then our faith in the sacrifice paid for us works by love and we are received into his kingdom.

We have a law strongly set in our minds that this kind of shooting is evil. We see the instantaneous harm, destruction and death.

However there is another law. One God set in motion when he created the Earth. There is a law of sowing and reaping. We cannot so thistle seeds in The Gardens of our souls and expect apples to be produced.

We both in our history of the Ten Commandments at one time posted in schools. But that is just a fraction of the law of God. Jesus Christ summed up all of the laws of God saying the two most important Commandments were this:

Mark 12:29-31 ESV
[29] Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. [30] And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ [31] The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

https://bible.com/bible/59/mrk.12.29-31.ESV

I believe posting the Ten Commandments and teaching that to students and not teaching any of the other commands of God or the loving structure that surrounds all of the commands of God would be harmful not beneficial.

One could post the commands of Jesus. He had a number of commands he himself gave his disciples and gives us to be obedient to. One of those commands is to forgive even our enemies. To forgive as he has forgiven us of our sins.

God does not give us an expectation that he himself has not lived. God created A Beautiful World and the purpose for that world and this home that we live in that we call Earth was fellowship with God. But that Fellowship was broken. When the fall came after Adam’s sin, things that were good did not always feel good. And things that were bad often did feel good.

And so the only way to be obedient to doing what God commanded and to do what was good was often through a life of suffering and going against the natural tendency of our brains and bodies. We might feel like drinking enough alcohol to make us completely sick and worthless to society and ourselves. And to go against that craving is sometimes impossible without help from God and others. We might feel like we need to have sex with somebody but it’s not the appropriate time or place and God had laws keeping human nature which goes crazy from just doing whatever it wanted to do.

There are many laws against oppression and greed in the Old Testament and in the new. One of my favorite stories is that of Boaz in the Book of Ruth. And you can see his love for God because he took care of the poor and obeyed God’s laws that commanded you not go over the fields twice when you’re harvesting the wheat or the crops but you’re to leave the gleanings for the poor. And you can see that he ran a safe operation where poor women could come and glean without fear of molestation. Because human nature just Wants What It Wants when it wants it.

And we don’t care about the poor. But God does.  The old Covenant and the Old Testament was so completely different from the New Covenant and the New Testament.

Because at the cross of Jesus Christ the sins of the world and our own sins were completely forgiven and through the new birth we were given power, not infinite power because then we would be completely prideful, but the body of Christ who believed in Jesus Christ death and Resurrection, and surrender to his lordship, believing in the hope of eternal life that comes only through the sacrifice paid for us at the cross, those who choose to believe were given power to become the sons of God.

Not to do the things that the flesh demanded. Not to do shootings when one felt like it, or be greedy or lie or be arrogant and prideful just because that makes us feel good. Not to withhold forgiveness from our enemies but to Love Like Jesus Christ loves. Because he forgives and loves greedy, prideful, self-centered, immoral, unloving people. People who really don’t want to know what God’s laws are let alone obey them. He died for those people. He died for me. And when we realized that that reality is an eternal reality that will last when Every Lie is gone, life Takes A New Perspective.

Romans 6:23 ESV
[23] For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.6.23.ESV

In our society we can be accomplices to murder and receive a punishment not because we were the ones doing the shooting but because we stood by when we could have done something or we in some way aided the killing.

God in his laws make it really clear what sins he counts equal to murder.

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus speak of a man who didn’t kill anybody. Probably a really nice guy, that walked past Lazarus every day he opened his door. Lazarus spent his years in pain and agony. The dogs would lick his sores. He spent his life being hungry. That wouldn’t sound like any of our neighbors in America or around the world would it?

Please know that I’m not writing this to you. I am writing this to us. I’ve been struggling. We technically have lived 50% below poverty level a good portion of my life we are still some of the richest people in the world. We have three meals a day plus snacks because of the abundance and kindness of people donating to food banks for which we are truly grateful. Granted we’ve had a few times and not having hot running water but for the most part we’ve had hot running water and even showers. We have a house over our heads that protects us from the bad weather and we are warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I have looked and evaluated my life and I’m not happy at the self-centeredness that I’ve seen. I know I’m loved by God and I’m saved by grace alone but right now I hear his cry for the suffering of the world around me and I’m asking for his help to let go of my addictions to so many things not needful for life that we might get into the suffering of the world around us and let them live. Because I don’t want to go to the end of my life, and find out there was a few thousand people I could have helped live, if I would have just lived a little more simply. I don’t want to stand Before the Throne of God and the judge of all the Earth and be told, “I never knew you. Depart from me you worker of iniquity.” Because we cover ourselves with so many fun things, so many interesting things, so many busy things, because the reality is doing the good things that God desires us to do, getting into the suffering of the world, number one is impossible without him, and number two brings us into a position of suffering. Of not having what is comfortable and what pleases us. We are loved of God. Guilt was paid for at the cross. We are saved by grace alone not by works so no one can boast. Faith Works by love and faith without works is dead.

We who were guilty are declared not guilty.

Do you believe this message? Eternal damnation is averted not because of what WE have done but because of what HE has done.

This is what truth and grace comes to bring us, guilty – yet not guilty.

The sins of mankind are forgiven. Do we dare say Christ’s blood was not enough? Do we dare trample on God’s grace by refusing to offer it to others? If we are too weak, take heart! He is strong! We can reach out to him and grasp His nail scarred hand to offer forgiveness and love around us.

Read Corrie Ten Boon, “The Hiding Place.” She forgave the Nazis who abused and killed her sister. Their sins were gone, washed in the blood. When they received Christ, they received the same bountiful grace you and I have received. They became a new creation. Dare we close the door to that love and grace so freely poured out?

Father, Lord God, what do you want of me today?

My generation has shootings in schools. My generation has suicide and opium addiction going rampant. Is it your will that I live primarily to be happy now? Surely YOU must be our delight and joy above the temporary tinsel treasures of this world!  Or perhaps right now in this time and season, this side of the Veil of death, is it your will that I enter into the suffering of the world, giving up the things that I don’t need for life as my worship to you and find ways to bring your salvation, your truth and Grace, freedom from Fear and meet the daily needs of those around me?

Father lead me into the balance of these things that you desire into your truth and Grace. Help me to read the words that your Son spoke and to take them seriously and be a doer of the word, acting on your command to forgive, acting on your commands to give to the poor, acting on your command to take up my cross and follow you.

A cross is intense suffering. It was a symbol of one of the worst tortures in the world. God please remove from me my love for complacency and comfortable because I don’t want you stand before you and be ashamed that I didn’t care about the hurt in the world around me.

But God help me to grow please continue your patience with me. And Lord some people are in a spiritual Hospital and they’re just needing your love poured out and healing. My father others are young children in your kingdom and their only job is to worship and enjoy but father for those who leave called that are mature and that you are calling to grow and be mature, please help us Lord to follow you.

Father you see what I can and cannot do. You see my strengths and weaknesses and love me. All that I am I surrender to you and I ask in the midst of my mess, that you might have mercy on me and for the sake of your son please God would you please declare me not guilty? Even though you know how guilty I am.

And father I forgive the boy that tried to kill me in the middle of the night. Lord I forgive the lady that enslaved me for 10 years threatening to kill me if I left her. Lord you know I forgave them a long time ago. And I asked you please to forgive me as well for all of my sins.

And I don’t say that to boast because my boast is only in you Lord Jesus and only in the cross, because I don’t have the power to forgive such evil, but you have given that Grace to me and you forgiven me my damnable sins of pride and arrogance and lies that you say clearly are an Abomination for you the judge of the whole Earth.

You don’t say that they are less of a sin than murder. Only man says that. My sins are horrible God. Yet you were tortured and killed and worse than that you were separated Lord Jesus from your father and entered hell for our sake. Such love.

Father there are a lot of people right now praying and asking for your protection. Please give them a heart to turn to you and rep entance ears to hear eyes to see and a heart that turns to your repentance.

And I speak and pray for myself for that as well father.

Forgive our idolatry Lord we have so many idols. So many things we pour our time and energy into instead of obeying your commands throughout scripture to work hard to care for the poor. To do justice. To love mercy and walk humbly before God.

Lord we are the modern day slaves and we are the modern day slave drivers. Lord set us free from our addictions to the things of the flesh. Please father. Help us know that we can stay on our knees for is it long as it takes until the transformation that we are crying out for is done in US. Abba father help us please, in Jesus name we pray.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from the evil one, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever, amen.