Bless Us

God be gracious to us and bless us

And cause your face to shine upon us—

That Your way may be known on the earth,

Your salvation among all nations.

Let the peoples praise You, O God;

Let all the peoples praise You.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy;

For You will judge the peoples with uprightness

And guide the nations on the earth.

Psalm 67:1-4

God's Harvest

Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

Then He said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

Matthew 9:35-38

Sometimes I Am Not Too Nice

“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”

Luke 6:45

Jesus wants us to act in a way which reflects the goodness of God and to do things which will build the kingdom of God.  We cannot expect to feel the peace of God if we live in a way which violates the laws of God and man. 

This extends to situations in which we need to correct someone.  This is not easy because sometimes we are so angry that the words fly out of our mouth with little regard for the feelings of the individual on the receiving end and with little regard for the how effective our words will be in resolving the situation. 

We can be firm, without being cruel.  When we speak, we can strive for our words to be clear in communicating with others and without profanity. 

When we have goodness in our hearts, we should have goodness in our mouths too. 

What About Enemies?

Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly.  Do not be wise in your own estimation.  Never pay back evil for evil to anyone.  Respect what is right in the sight of all men.

If possible, so far as it depends on you be at peace with all men.  Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine.  I will repay,” says the Lord. 

“But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if He is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:16-21

When we go out into the world, we may encounter angry people who have an axe to grind and they may not care who gets hurt in the process.  What Paul is suggesting we do is not easy, but it can make a huge impact on how we feel about ourselves and how our enemies regard us.

We will feel in control if we do not lash out but hang back and perhaps offer a kind word to our enemy and maybe even up the ante by offering to buy them a coffee.  Our enemies will think one of two things; either that we are really strong or we are crazy.  In either case, they will tend to back off and perhaps think twice before jumping us again.

Love God, Love Your Neighbor

One of the scribes came and heard them arguing and recognizing that He (Jesus) had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is foremost of all?” 

Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel!  The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’” 

“The second is, “’You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”  There is no other commandment greater than these.” 

Mark 12:28-31

Believe

…If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 

Romans 10:9-10