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I have been “walking
around” in the text of The Good Samaritan; Luke 10: 25-37. It is a power packed
text. I was taught by a fine professor that when a story has several layers,
just to pick one for your sermon this time and then perhaps do another one next
time. I have currently titled my sermon “Have you heard the one about Jesus and
the Lawyer…? It is my plan to write the
sermon tomorrow and practice the remainder of the week. Say a prayer as I
prepare this text for the folks at Hurst Christian Church this coming Sunday.
Thanks.
Prayer request: Please pray for Randy Travis. He is in a
Dallas hospital with a virus in his heart and is in critical condition. I know
his press has not been very good lately. He has been one of my favorite singers
for a very long time. I have seen him twice in concert at different churches
and he was wonderful. Let us pray for his restored wellness and healing.
Prayer: Lord of the enduring spirit. Sacred scripture
tells us the Law of God is to love the LORD your God with all you heart all
your soul, all your mind and all your strength and your neighbor as yourself.
Lord, strengthen us to carry out this great commandment. Sometimes this means
that loving is not easy, but You keep the word all in front of us. If we
do not love all then we have failed in this great commandment and we have
failed You. Forgive us LORD when we do not love as we should. Teach us to love
as You love and to see You in all we meet. We also pray that others see You and Your love
in each of us. Lord, in You mercy, hear this prayer. Amen.
Our citizenship is in heaven, And we
eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power
that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our
lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
Philippians 3: 20-21
I don’t know whether
God gives us mountains to climb or if life presents situations that require the
skills of a mountain climber in terms of spiritual endurance, but I know that
the journey is not complete until we have scaled the mountain and reached the
top. Mountain climbing is tough, especially when you are an inexperienced
climber and the peak looks very far away and the grade looks very steep. It is
during the climb that we really wish it was easier and less complicated and we
entertain thoughts of giving up. Here is the thing - when we go through really
hard situations in life just like the peak of the mountain we cannot always see
the top, but we still know it’s there. We don’t know how the problem is going
to be resolved but rest assured that it will resolve itself one way or another.
As believers in God
we can trust that God knows the way and has already mapped out the path and
walked it ahead of us. Then the best part is that God will walk with us in love
and not let us give up even when our strength gives out. As we walk the
mountain of our hurt we will be given the skills and encouragement to continue.
The grade of the journey might become steep and scary, but God is our strength
and will give us the tools of faith, trust, joy, hope and
gladness that defeat the enemies of fear, anger, brokenness and sadness.
My friends, each day
we are given is a day of thanksgiving filled with challenges. Habakkuk 3: 19
tells us, The Lord God is my Strength,
my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hind’s feet
and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and may
[spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering, or
responsibility]!
Take joy in the journey remembering that
hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, give thanks with a grateful
heart, let us cast our cares upon the Lord and get some sleep. God is up all
night anyway so there is no need for all of us to be awake. Love you all, Bruce
and Gaylene.
I am not moved by what I see. I am not
moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.
PS Please continue to keep us in your
prayers. I believe that the prayers of the prayer warriors and the One who
hears the prayers are breaking though the icy wall of forgiveness. Thank you, dear friends.
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