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Radical Love: A Servant’s Heart

Radical Love: A Servant’s Heart “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28 Jesus taught His disciples many things during their time together.  In the last week of His life, He taught them the lesson of radical service in the Kingdom:  washing one another’s feet.  This is far from the darkness of the forced subjugation of African people and many others in our day. Jesus is Light.  He is Love.  Read His heart as the scene opens: “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end (the last and to the highest degree)” (John 13:1).  From this sacred place of…

Radical Love: Sins Forgiven

“Jesus said: Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:48,50 There are many who are not named in the gospels.  That doesn’t make them any less important.  The nameless woman in Luke 7 comes in while Jesus is having dinner with a religious leader, Simon.  She is thought to have been a prostitute.  Jesus at some point healed her and forgave her sins and she came to show her love and appreciation by washing His feet. In those days, because everyone wore sandals, their feet were dusty.  It was a custom to remove the sandals and have the feet washed.  Simon invited Jesus and had the table set, but he didn’t bother to wash Jesus’ dusty feet. The moment…

Radical Love: Not Condemned

“Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” John 8:11 “Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 The religious leaders were bent on getting a reason to accuse Jesus of wrongdoing.  They brought a woman caught in the act of adultery to Him for judgment. According to the law, if anyone committed adultery, they were to be stoned to death. They waited for Jesus to pronounce judgment upon her, but that didn’t happen.  Condemnation fell upon them as Jesus’ words caused their own sin to rise before their eyes.  What these men didn’t understand about Jesus was His purpose in coming to earth.  They did not grasp that God is love and His mercy endures forever.  They tried to…

Radical Love: Traditions Busted

“Then Jesus said to his critics, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” Luke 6:9 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27 The first mention of Sabbath rest was in creation, when God rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:1-2).  God did not need the rest. He decreed the day for human beings to rest from their labors. He set the example us to follow.  The religious leaders in Jesus time hated Him from day one, so they looked for any excuse to kill…

Radical Love: The Hated Samaritans

Radical Love: The Hated Samaritans “The Samaritan woman said to Him, How is it that [a]You, being a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan [and a] woman, for a drink?—For the Jews have nothing to do with the Samaritans”. John 4:9 The story of Jesus encounter with the Samaritan woman is one of my favorites.  I love it because He is doing what He was sent to do, regardless of where it took Him. There is a long history of animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans.  The question she asks Jesus captures this history and immediately sets up a barrier between them.  But Jesus dispels that history with His presence there at the well and His conversation with her.  He has something to give her that…

Navajo Nation

Navaho Nation“And they sang a new song, saying:“You are worthy to take the scroll    and to open its seals, because you were slain,    and with your blood you purchased for God    persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.”Revelation 5:9 The history of the indigenous peoples of America is well known. The pain of their oppression is felt in the reservations that still exist on American soil as a perpetual reminder of their suffering at the hands of invading Europeans. The blood of innocents slaughtered for their land cries out from the dust. We have only God Almighty to thank for the freedom He gives those who are His children by faith. Two weeks ago, a group of ladies and myself visited Crown Point, New Mexico, part of the largest reservation in…

Radical Love: Introduction

 “They hated Me without a cause.” John 15:25 Radical: “relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough”. During the sixties, my Uncle Ernie Chambers was branded a radical because he battled in word and deed against the unjust treatment of the Black community in Omaha. He fought established institutions to try to effect deep, fundamental change in a racist society. Jesus, when He was on earth, was heaven’s radical.  He spoke the truth. From the time He stepped into His ministry, He blew the minds of men as He touched the leper, raised the dead, and committed crimes of compassion on the Sabbath Day.  Jesus transformed the world through His radical love.  I believe Jesus is calling us to transform the…

Blessed and Highly Favored

Blessed and Highly Favored “Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord caused her to conceive, and she bore a son.” Ruth 4:13  Ruth sacrificed much when she left the land of her birth to enter a place where she was a stranger.  She didn’t hesitate to take her place with Naomi, who could only promise an impoverished future. Her sacrificial obedience led her into the field of Boaz, a wealthy man who grew to love her and was more than ready to bring her and Naomi into abundance.  Their union produced a son, who continued the unbroken line of King David and eventually, the Messiah.  She did not know all of this when she pledged…

The Pathway to Blessing

“I will do everything you say.” Ruth 3:5 Ruth’s obedience opened the pathway to blessing. In Israel, those who were in difficulty like Naomi, could count on their kinsman redeemer to rescue them and bring them out of their dire straits. Ruth did not question the protocol that was to be followed in the presence of Boaz. She loved and trusted Naomi’s word.  She did everything exactly as Naomi instructed.  She was willing to lay quietly at the feet of Boaz, the man who had the resources to lift her from poverty and struggle to place her in the glorious lineage of the Messiah.  As we yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit, God orders our steps in the paths of His purpose: “The Lord directs…

Humility and Obedience: A Servant’s Heart

 “May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” (the words of Boaz) Ruth 2:12 Now that Naomi and Ruth were back in Naomi’s hometown, they needed to make a living.  It was no coincidence that they came during the barley harvest. Ruth was ready to do whatever she could to bring in provision.  God in His providence moved Ruth to the field of a wealthy man named Boaz.  The scriptures say that she “happened to be in the portion of land belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family” (2:3).  Her plan was to go behind the harvesters and glean what they…

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