The Light That Has Lighted The World.5

"I must do the work of him who sent me while it is day: because the night is fast approaching when no one will be able to work." 

--Jesus

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"Every morning when he went out ere it was day, every evening when he lingered on the night-lapt mountain after his friends were gone, he was offering himself to his Father in the communion

       of loving words,

       of high thoughts,

       of speechless feelings;

and, between, he turned to do the same thing in deed, namely,

      in loving word,

      in helping thought,

      in healing action towards his fellows;

for the way to worship God while the daylight lasts is to work; the service of God, the only "divine service," is the helping of our fellows."

--George MacDonald. 

In a recent sermon the speaker admonished the flock to remember that what we are doing and why we are here is a reflection of the purpose God created into us. Today let us show the world what Jesus would look like cutting hair, harvesting crops, building houses, teaching children, driving school bus, crunching numbers, arresting criminals, reporting the news, caring for the infirm, repairing cars, sewing clothes, playing sports, selling goods, cleaning homes, handling money, watching children, and blessing others with the life we've been blessed to give!
For a troubled world let us be more like Jesus!

The Light That Has Lighted The World.4

"If I do not the works of my Father, then you are free to turn away. But, if I do his works, even if you don't believe in me, believe in the works that I do; 

that you may 
know and believe
that the Father is in me and I in him."

--Jesus

When twelve year old Jesus told his frantic parents that "I

must be about my Father's things," little could they know that of all the fears for his safety, from the violent to the beastly, the greatest threat to his life would eventually be from the very men he engaged in the temple!

The kind of men who, to this day, elevate Intellect over Spirit, Self-Will over Perfect Will, Hypocrisy over Purity, Power over Poverty, Ambition over Aspiration, Doctrine over Doing, Mammon over Ministry, Status over Service, and Politics over Propriety.

The Power Worshipers of Jesus' day tried in vain to engage Him on doctrinal grounds.  Jesus' response was to point to the works He performed giving all the evidence they needed to explain His origin and center.  His entire life was a testament to this fact: faith is obedience to the Perfect Will.  Our own proof of discipleship is not in what we believe about God or Jesus, it is the works born of loving trust and obedience that show we believe. 

• Can the Love of God be expressed in any other way than by connecting to His heart through obedience to the things He says?
• How is it that supposed "cultural leaders" cannot or will not recognize true works that demonstrate the love of God? 
• What monstrous darkness that responds to genuine compassion with violent intent to put out the light that exposes falseness?
• What happens to a society when its foundational institutions (historical, educational, spiritual, political and commercial), designed to emulate and encourage true faith, become the instruments of destruction?
• Which is the greater power: those who use death as a weapon of intimidation or the One who conquered death?

For followers of Jesus, the cross and empty tomb remind us that not believing in Jesus is the most dangerous thing!  Rather than seeing human struggle as an opportunity to score political points, faith in Jesus calls us to act in mercy to help, heal and save! Let us then in these troubling times, when credentials, permits and titles supplant genuine service and accomplishment, continue to do the things He did, the things the Father always does, demonstrating to a dark world the light in us.