Love That Fulfills The Law

Romans 13:7-10

(7) Render to all what is due them. --

Pay your bills, pay off your debts.

Tax to whom tax is due; --

This is tribute, an individual assessment on persons or property, a tax.

Custom to whom custom; --

This is a general toll on goods or travel.

Fear to whom fear; --

To be put in fear of, alarm, fright, be afraid; exceeding, fear, terror.

Honor to whom honor. --

Valuables; by analogy, esteem, especially in the highest degree; or the dignity itself.

(8) Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; --

This is God's agape love for us, that we are to love one another with.

For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. --

When we have God's love for one another, we will choose to consider their needs and to do for them whatever it means, no matter what it costs us. We will put the other first, not even thinking about ourselves. That way we will be obeying all the laws: we won't commit adultery, we won't murder, we won't steal, we won't covet their property, we will automatically do good to others and not harm them in any way.

(10) Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the Law.

There is no way we can love others this way in our own human nature; we must have God's Spirit living in our spirits, giving us that New Life that comes with the New Birth.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Our Lifestyle

Ephesians 4:1-3

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, --

Paul is in jail for his preaching the Gospel.

entreat you to walk --

He is begging us in regards to our manner of daily living.

in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, --

Up to the standards of the position we have been invited into in Christ.

with all humility --

This is lowliness of mind, which means we don't even prioritize our own selves, but consider others first.

and gentleness, --

This is meekness; a word that describes a powerful, strong horse which has been tamed and is under the control of the rider.

with patience, --

Longsuffering, suffering long, forbearance or fortitude.

showing forbearance --

"To hold oneself up against:" that is, (figurative) put up with; bear with, endure, suffer.

to one another in love, --

We are to think this way, have this attitude toward each other, considering their needs as having a higher priority over our own. This word love is the Greek word for God's agape love for us.

(Greek is a very precise language, with 5 different words for different kinds of love. God did not need to use all five of these words in His Word; the different phileo love words He used describe brotherly love; parental love for a child; the love of being first, preeminence; and love of silver, of money, avarice. The words used for God's love for us are the phileo love of parent for child, and the agape love that goes beyond the mere emotion of affection, to the decision area of the brain and thought processes that chooses to love unconditionally.)

being diligent --

This is: to use speed: that is, to make the effort, to be prompt or earnest, be diligent (forward), endeavor, labor, study.

to preserve --

This word means: to put a watch on, to guard from loss or injury by keeping the eye upon, to hold fast.

the unity of the Spirit --

This is oneness, unanimity, agreeing fully with one another.

in the bond of peace.

What holds us together; peacefulness, both literally and figuratively; oneness, quietness, rest; set at one again.

So we are to live our daily lives in our relationships with one another loving them as God has loved us, bearing with their faults, giving them the benefit of the doubt every time, giving their needs a higher priority over our own, no matter what the cost, and putting forth the effort to maintain the oneness of mind the Holy Spirit promotes in each of us and all of us.

And to accomplish this will take God's enabling through His Holy Spirit, as we cannot start to approach this kind of living in our own flesh.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Deprived Of Good

Jeremiah 5:24-25

They do not say to themselves, "Let us fear the Lord our God, Who gives autumn and spring rains in season, Who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest." Your wrongdoings have kept these away; your sins have deprived you of good. --

So much of the troubles and problems of our lives, our families, our towns and cities and our Nation have been the result of our deliberately ignoring the principles God has devised to run things of this world according to how He designed it to run. So we have instead decided that we're smart, we're our own gods who can decide for ourselves how we want to run things. But it is our Maker Who provides the means for our well-being, according to How He designed it.

When we humble ourselves to listen to His Word and obey His rules of conduct in our attitudes and our relationships, then God will see to it that things run for us according to His order. But when we decide to take matters into our own hands, then the chaos that results makes for brokenness in our relationships, our finances and in our Nation. We need to return to the Lord.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Prudent And The Naive

Proverbs 27:12

A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, the naive proceed and pay the penalty. --

All the preppers and contrarians "see" so much "evil" around us and recommend that we "hide" ourselves by taking care of our families "off the grid," or invest our money in ways that do not conform to the majority of investors. 

Some people see demons everywhere, and others contend that everything's okay and what's problematic will take care of itself.

I want to find that middle ground, that sees clearly what evil will harm, and act accordingly, not going overboard either left or right. I am looking to discern what is truth in all the chatter out there.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Lord Be Magnified

Psalm 35:27-28

Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication; --

May the people who are glad that God has caused His Truth to win out on my behalf tell of it out loud.

And let them say continually, "The Lord be magnified" --

May they constantly remember that God is the One Who designed how this world is to run, and makes sure that His order prevails over the chaos.

"Who delights in the prosperity of His servant." --

Prosperity: (Hebrew, shalowm; [total] welfare, in [good] health, [financial] prosperity, and [national/political] peace.)

God smiles when His people do things the way He designed in obedience to His rules, and reap the benefits in this world.

And my tongue shall declare Thy righteousness and Thy praise all day long. --

And whenever I realize that the "good life" I am experiencing here is the result of following God's instructions in my daily life and thinking processes; then I will also say out loud to whoever will listen that God is good, every day, to all He has made and everyone who wants to know Him and His ways.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

"Filthy Rags"

Isaiah 64:6

All of us have become like one who is unclean, --

Someone who had touched a dead body was considered to be contaminated by it and was required to go through a process of cleansing to prevent the spread of disease.

and all our righteous acts --

All the best things we can do, even when we try our hardest to be good and do right.

are like filthy rags; --

These filthy rags are actually putrid, uncleanable menstrual cloths; the most disgusting thing Isaiah could think of. 

This means that even the best, most noble, fine things we can do are still contaminated by uncleanness and unacceptable to God. This uncleanness is our fallen human nature; that's why Jesus said we must be "born again" (John 3:3ff).

We all shrivel up like a leaf, --

Like a fall leaf looses its chlorophyll (that gives it its green color, revealing the fall color) and then looses all its moisture and dries up and crumbles; we all "shrivel up" with wickedness and old age.

and like the wind our sins sweep us away. --

Then like the wind blows away the leaf, so our sins (iniquities; twisting the Truth) cause us to "twist in the wind," the way we twist God's good rules that are meant for our good, by "re-interpreting" them to mean something else that they're not. And we end up "blown away" from the prosperity and peace we used to know, when we acknowledged God.

Wake up, people. Do what God has enabled you to do. I know you're just one person, but it takes every one of us to constitute that "moral majority" that used to be talked about. All together we can do it, with God's help & in His strength. Persevere. Occupy until He returns, don't bury your talent by sitting on your hands.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Does A "Fool" Rule Over Us?

Isaiah 32:6

For a fool speaks nonsense, --

A "fool" is a vile person who is morally deficient and without good character. He speaks nonsense, villany (Hebrew for nothingness, no substance).

and his heart inclines toward wickedness, --

This word wickedness is "hypocrisy" (moral filth, hypocrisy).

to practise ungodliness --

His programs are based on ungodliness or wickedness, the word here is "iniquity" (twisting, bending);  in presenting himself as a good, moral person who wants to help, but promoting a deceptive world-view of scarcity.

and to speak error against the Lord, 

He thereby speaks error against our Lord God Who has blessed this Earth with His riches in glory to provide over-abundantly for everyone in the whole world with much more than we need.

(In order) to keep the hungry person unsatisfied and to withhold drink from the thirsty.

This scarcity view promotes the welfare state, in providing the poor only enough to sustain life but never allowing them to get ahead. This has resulted in many families being kept poor for generations, deceived by the lie that those who worked for and accumulated an abundance must have "stolen" it all from the poor, creating class-envy resulting in class-warfare.

This is a wake-up call to all God's people who know His ways. There is still hope for us, if we will acknowledge our Lord God in our public life and turn from all our wicked ways and call upon His Holy Name to help us, then He will hear from Heaven and forgive our sins and heal our land. This applies to all His people everywhere, in every Nation.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!