Years ago I joined a small group at my church. One of the things that we did was to pray for one another……for strength, for healing, for our friends, and for people we don’t even know.

In order to keep up, I learned to keep a “prayer list”. I think that most of the members of the group did this. Mine is on my cell phone. It has grown to several pages even though I prune it back every now and then. My goal is to pray these prayers every day……..after my Bible reading. You’ve probably already figured out that I don’t always follow through.

Praying for myself and my family is a piece of cake. Praying for the people I know is a little harder. Praying for strangers is harder yet. I have come to think of this part of my morning routine as “the heavy lifting”…….and it is. It is hard work and some days……..I just never get around to it.

Prayers of thanks are joyful…….but prayers of petition can be hard. Praying can be hard work.

Why is it so hard to ask God for a long list of things?

Why does it feel like I’m giving God……….a “to do list”?

I don’t think that it is the time, or the concentration, or the physical effort.

I think it is because, in my heart, I know that I am on a different plane from God. I am small and weak and he is big and powerful. I see myself as Dickens’s orphan asking for more gruel……..a tiny inconsequential blip on God’s enormous radar screen.

Like Wayne in “Wayne’s World”……….”I’m unworthy”.

And that part is true……..I am unworthy.

But……fortunately…….that is only half of the story.

The other half of the story is this:

God loves me……..just as I love my son…….only more so.

I am the son……..of a King……….a King who wants me to succeed in all of the ways that really matter………a King who wants me to experience true joy………eternal joy…….a King who rewards me when I excell……..a King who disciplines me when I fall short………..but a King who loves me wholly and endlessly………no matter how I perform.

If I focus on humility……..on my weakness, I grow the distance between me and God. If I focus on God’s love for me…… on my “sonship”, I diminish that distance.

There is a balance here…..a “sweet spot” between humility and “sonship”. I think that one of the great keys to “right living” is to operate in that “sweet spot”. Prayers of thanksgiving teach us humility. Prayers of petition remind us of our “sonship”.

Both are essential.

In the “sweet spot”……….the “heavy lifting” gets a lot easier.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Paul, NIV

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

John, NIV

“truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them .”

Jesus, NIV

God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Paul, NIV

The old testament is loaded with rules…..laws. I think that we pretty much accept that the law of the old testament has been superceded, at least in part, by the law of the new testament.

Love God
Love your neighbor

I believe that much of the old testament law still holds……for example, the ten commandments. Other parts of the old testament law…….not so much.

Don’t boil a baby goat in its mother’s milk.

Today I want to focus on the old testament law……. prior to the birth of Jesus.

Specifically, how did God feel about all of those rules……. before Jesus…….before the new covenant?

Before love God…..love your neighbor.

Needless to say……. I’m on thin ice here. So you should take what follows with a grain of salt.

I believe that the old testament law was important because God spends a lot of ink telling the Jewish people what they can and cannot do. This includes a very long list of crimes that call for a singularly brutal form of capital punishment…….stoning…….and that list is much longer than our modern list of capital crimes.

So, how serious was God about this list of laws…… especially the death penalty laws?

I believe that God intended for there to be some flexibility in the enforcement of the old testament law. I believe that he intended for there to be some room for mercy. This is clearly true after the arrival of Jesus……in the episode of the adulteress, whom he saved from stoning. Jesus was the epitome of mercy..

But what about before Jesus?

God clearly required flexibility…..mercy in the enforcement of the law BEFORE Jesus.

If the people of Nazareth had rigidly followed the bible………had rigidly enforced the law regarding adultery, they would have hauled Mary out to the local dump and stoned her.

God’s long range plan…….his plan to save us…..clearly required the local authorities of Nazareth to set aside the old testament law regarding adultery. Jesus often railed against legalism. He placed the law of love above all other laws. I think that this reflects God’s heart prior to Jesus as well.

So…….how do we apply this?

I think that we need to be careful when we take someone to task over a rule violation. Don’t get me wrong……the ten commandments stand. But we must be sure that we deal with people who break these rules from a posture of love. After all, God deals with me from a posture of love.

If we get angry with someone because they have an abortion, or have extramarital sex, or steal, or lie, or murder………or even invade the Ukraine……..we may very well be guilty of a greater sin than theirs. We may be guilty of violating rule number two……..love your neighbor.

In the end………..we cannot control them. We can only control how we respond to them.

We are not going to win someone over by beating them up over a broken rule.

And after all……..after loving God and each other…….isn’t that what we’re here for?

Now for the hardest part…………

Perhaps we need to pray for Putin……….

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Jesus, (breaking the law in an act of mercy), NIV

What is the most important thing in your life?

What is the thing that would cause you the most pain if you lost it?

I suspect that it isn’t a thing at all.

It is probably a relationship…….your spouse, child, parent, “significant other”.

Considering the list of necessities: food, shelter, clothing, it is amazing that a relationship would be what you prize the most. Yet, if we each look deep inside, that is likely the truth.

Would you rather go hungry, or lose your spouse?

Would you rather be homeless, or lose your child?

Would you rather wear used and donated clothing or lose your parent?

How can this be?
Darwin must be rolling over in his grave.

I believe that the most important truths in our lives are “written on our heart”. They are hard wired into our being. They were put there………by our creator.

Furthermore, I believe that these “most important” truths are a direct reflection of the heart of God………because we were made in his image.

The amazing truth is………that we instinctively know God’s heart.

The love of a parent for his/her child.
The understanding of right and wrong.
Joy
Justice
Mercy
Love
Generosity

Unfortunately, we have also learned some bad things along the way. This calls for some discernment. But it really isn’t too hard to sort out the good and the evil sides of our nature. It really isn’t too hard to spot “the dark side of the force”. This evil does not come from God.

So……if relationship is so important to us…….if the need for it is written on our hearts……….if that need is a reflection of the heart of God……..then relationship must be important to God.

Then relationship with you……. individually…….. must be important to God…….so important that he would suffer crucifixion in order to salvage it.

In a word, God wants relationship. He wants to be close to you…….. closer than any human relationship you have ever experienced. That is the purpose of creation……your personal creation.

God created you for one reason only………to be his friend.

GOD CREATED YOU……..TO BE HIS FRIEND.

You were created to love God and to be loved by him…….and then to love your fellow man. If you feel that your life lacks purpose, then you need to revisit this fundamental truth……..because your only true purpose is to love and be loved by God. The rest is just window dressing.

Paradise is the fulfillment of that love, that friendship. Hell is the total absence of that friendship.

God has three faces: father, son, and spirit. Father and spirit and hard to get a grip on. So when I am struggling, I focus on the Son…….Jesus. I focus on his desire for relationship…….with me personally. I focus on his love for me………..and I try to be worthy of it.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

James, NIV

“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

Jesus, NIV

In a recent post, I spent some time on the soul and how having a soul separates us from other animals and from things…….how having a soul makes man unique on this planet……..and quite possibly in the universe.

But what is your soul? What are its characteristics?

Here are a few of its features:

It is permanent………eternal. You can ignore it……but you cannot get rid of your soul…….and, perhaps more importantly, you cannot get rid of mine. You cannot define away somebody else’s soul. This was tried in the antebellum South…….and, to an extent, still goes on today in the abortion debate. Because it is eternal, you cannot destroy it. Even your death will not destroy it. As near as I can tell, even God does not destroy souls.

Your soul existed before you did…….it existed before you were conceived. This is why abortion is a problem for Christians. This is why abortion is a problem for everyone. In a way, your body is a temporary vessel that contains your soul.

It is precious………the most valuable thing that you posses. In fact because your soul is so valuable……..you too are valuable……..but, so is everybody else. No matter how low on the totem pole somebody is……..no matter how offensive their behavior………they too are valuable. This may be why even God does not destroy souls. Your soul is more valuable……..more important……..than your body.

It was created by God. In a manner of speaking, it belongs to him………..and he can do with it as he pleases.

It has a destiny……..in fact it has one of two destinies…….paradise and hell.

Your soul guides you in your behaviour……but it does not dictate your behaviour. It is very easy to override the guidance that your soul provides. The first time you do this it is vaguely uncomfortable. Unfortunately, the more often you ignore your soul or override it, the easier it gets. Of the person who listens to his soul and hurts when he overrides it…….we say he has a conscience. Of the person who habitually ignores it…….we say “he has no soul”………but of course he does have a soul, he just keeps it locked away where it cannot interfere with his appetites.

You and your soul are inseparable. God created your soul. But, you manage it……every day……and you are responsible for how you manage it. You are solely responsible for its destiny. Because what happens to your soul affects you, the fate, the destiny of your soul represents your future.

You need to safeguard your soul.

By safeguarding your soul, you safeguard its destiny…….you safeguard your destiny.

whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

Jesus (explaining the value of your soul), NIV

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Jesus (describing souls in heaven and hell), NIV

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;

God (explaining Jeremiah’s soul to him), NIV