Nov 16, 2007
Day 17 - Luke 17
What Luke 17 says to me:
Forgiveness
Do not shine a light on another's sin unless it is being done from a place of love, support and encouragement.
To do it any other way, is to be judgemental and is likely to drive the person closer to their sin.
Only GOD can judge because only GOD knows the truth.
Any judgement made from one of 'us' is based solely on our interpretation of scripture.
Faith
The question is not "Is my faith strong enough, big enough ....
The question is "Am I fertilizing and watering my faith enough?"
The 2nd Coming
"... because the kingdom of God is within you." (17:21)
God is Love.
The gift of HIS Holy Spirit in us is Love.
We are called to reflect that Love outwardly.
When there are more people in the world living their lives from a place of Love heaven will have arrived.
In the words of The Beatles ..
"All you need is Love,
all you need is Love,
All you need is Love, Love,
Love is all you need"
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2 comments:
You’ve introduced some colour into the blog this morning Gemma! You must be in a colourful mood :)
I agree Gemma that we are not called to judge but in verse 3 we are called to rebuke (in love!) The emphasis here though is not on the rebuke but ongoing and unconditional forgiveness!
Faith is critical – I am seeing this more clearly as I read through Luke. But it is not a faith we try to generate ourselves. I believe it is a faith based on hearing God’s word, putting it into practice and experiencing God’s faithfulness. God is not interested in the quantity of our faith but its quality.
I agree Gemma: Love is everything. I am not sure though that when people use the word “love” that we always mean the same thing. True love comes from God through Jesus Christ.
Ten lepers were healed but only one returned to thank Jesus! Interesting.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Rebukes etc... it struck me that this is in the same chapter as stuff about Jesus coming again - and we have no idea when. So any rebuke needs to be from that position of lovingly wanting a brother or sister to be ready to meet Him! We are rightly worried about this area because as Gemma says - we are not the Judges - but as Heidi says we are servant lovers, encouraging & helping each other to persevere....
Re faith: "Total dependance on
God" it is interesting that Chapter 6 P85 - Life principles illustrates that when the Bakers (and several hundred children) were completely dependant on God alone - with no backup plan - God showered miracles on them.
We have faith - but we also have so many backup plans that it is seldom tested! But when it IS tested - God is faithful! I can testify to miraculous evidence of Gods amazing capacity to intervene. I need to take that evidence that I have and step forward in faith knowing that that same God who has rescued me several times in my natural life (apart form my soul of course) is the same God who longs to bring healing and restoration to the outcast people he has placed my heart, or others I may meet today and tomorrow.
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