2021-06-04
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, the subject was love, the first gift of the Holy Spirit; there are nine altogether. Within the word “love” are different types: agape-the love between God and believing mankind; eros-the love between two partners, which has a sexual component; philos adelphos -brotherly love; parental. Referring to eros, when one has committed himself to a partner, he is saying that this partner will be his sole mate for as long as they both live. Same sex marriage is not God’s will, but in the practical sense, it is a part of life. I believe that God isn’t satisfied with this, but being in touch with reality says to me it’s part of a subset of our world. God would much rather we live in heterosexual relationships that are committed and hopefully long term. Parenthood that arises from these unions is healthy in every way. Where fornication (uncommitted relationships) and adultery (sex outside of a marriage) are concerned, children are born that are not nurtured. I was once asked, “Does God hate me, because I’m a homosexual” by several seekers while I was conveying God’s word in a real time computer chat. Seekers are trying to establish a relationship with God. The truth is God doesn’t hate them. In fact, quite the opposite. God finds the homosexual lifestyle (particularly if it is promiscuous) detestable, not the person.
So, what does God want? GN 2: 24, “…A man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one.” My dear husband of almost 45 years, Peter, passed away last Saturday, April 17, 2021. It is God, Who gives me the strength to write about this subject to you today. Losing one’s spouse is like loosing one’s other half, but physical death is indeed a part of life. Our marriage was a blessing to us, our family, and everyone who knew Peter and loved him. We must remember there is only one Gospel, even though some people try to change it [1 COR 1: 7].
While many of us are familiar with the city of Philadelphia, PA, the name of this city was taken from the Greek. William Penn named the city Philadelphia, which is Greek for "brotherly love," derived from the Ancient Greek terms φίλος phílos (beloved, dear) and ἀδελφός adelphós (brother, brotherly). This kind of love can build communities, which are subsets (to borrow a term from math) within the set of all people. Within our congregations we have the subset of people involved with music, another of people involved in prayer, and yet, another group of those involved in Bible study, and so on. I’m a supporter of team building like this with small groups who share interests and skills together. All of this is for the benefit of the whole, which in this case is the family of God. It’s appropriate here to discuss friendships and what they can mean to one’s life.
Emotionally and spiritually healthy friendships can be faith-building and a kind of food for life like no other. There can and should be friendship within marriage, as there was in mine. However, minus the sexual component, there can be friendship with either sex that can serve to bring great satisfaction and move the parties involved closer to God. With the changing attitudes toward equality for women, it is possible to establish lasting friendships that uplift, satisfy, and help to mature us in our faith. There are some small groups that will be only male or only female, as well as mixed small groups. Despite one’s gender, he or she has been given specific skill sets that will draw people together with each other. Often, I cite Rev. Martin Luther King’s words, “People should be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.” Our communities should not be so ghettoized any more. This doesn’t mean it isn’t okay to have a group that shares a common heritage; it just means that we should be open to reaching out for the Lord to any group [MT 28: 19-20]. The Lord weighs in on this in 1 PET 3: 8, “To conclude: You must all have the same attitude and the same feelings; love one another and be kind to and humble toward one another.”
PRAYER: O Lord, love is Your foundation that You taught Your Son, Jesus, and by which You live. He modeled it for us, so that we might know and understand what it is. How blessed we are that You offered Your Son on the cross, so that we might learn Your will for us and offer the gratitude we feel for this sacrifice. We know that it is because of His obedience to You that we have been eternally forgiven for our sins [1 JN 1: 9], You justify us [RO 4: 3], and that we can be saved [JN 3: 16]. Being saved is having the expectation that if we obey Your teaching, we can be one day be glorified i.e. be raised to haven to enjoy eternity with You. Despite how undeserving we are, we have faith that You will do these things for us. There are so many ways that You demonstrate Your love for us. One such way is that You always hear our prayers when we pray. Your wisdom leads You to the appropriate answer, whether it be “yes,” “no,” silence for a while, or “maybe.” You are always determining Your answer by what is in our best eternal interests. We offer You our loyalty, honor, praise, thanks, and love, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The Holy Spirit directs me to begin next week’s message with philos, which is the love of friendship. As you, readers, can imagine this has been a difficult, painful week for me. I don’t worry about my husband, Peter, anymore, because I know with surety that he is in heaven with the best Company he could have. Our amazing Lord has healed him physically, emotionally, and in every other way. However, I am missing Peter’s physical company very much. We were each other’s best human friends. The Lord is a spiritual Resident of my home; I know He will see me through whatever trials are ahead of me, including the present one making all of Peter’s arrangements. I stand by what I’ve said about the love the Lord has for me and all of us. It is my pleasure to go on serving Him and each of you, according to His will. It is my hope that each of you will search your hearts and join me in prayer for our faith to grow ever stronger each day. Praise and thanks be to the Lord!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2021. All Rights Reserved.
<-- Back to Archives