“God is interested in the freedom of the whole human race.” Dr Martin Luther King
Miraculous Musing: Glean From The Thoughts Of God
I listened to a message from Pastor Greg Suratt at Seacoast Church on Sunday, August 5th, 2018. It is from a teaching series called “Where Is The Love”. This message was entitled: Why Is Loving So Hard? This message hit me straight between the eyes and I knew there was much to change up in my life. There was so much to glean. We all will pick up what the Holy Spirit speaks to us personally, my gleaning was this: Speaking the truth, without God’s Love has no power to change. Truth and Love need to go hand in hand, in order to add value that remains. I highly suggest you listen to this message, it is truly for us, and our nation, for a time such as this:
https://www.seacoast.org/seacoast-go/recent-series/wheres-the-love/
Where is the Love? When you think of this, do you think of a song? Which One?
I think of the song by Christy Nockels: By Our Love. How about you, put your song in the comment section below, it will be interesting to see what reaches each of us.
My Musing: What Do You See All Around You?
Just look around you. What do you see? Do you see unity? Do you see civility? Do you see kindness? Do you see respect? Do you see compassion? Lately what I see and hear is hatred, bitterness, rebellion, resisting of authority, riots and many other things where our “flesh out” is hurting, defaming, and even in the worse scenarios, killing. Has our nation ever been more divided then it is now? This message will change you. I highly suggest you listen to this message and take it in with an open heart that acknowledges the need to change it up, our human condition.
Pastor Surratt started his message saying something like this: “Barely a day goes by that someone doesn’t tweet something or post something that makes your blood boil. Social media was supposed to help us be friendly, but it has not unified us, it has been used to bash each other. Where Is The Love? Why is it so hard these days to love one another? Why can’t we practice what we preach and turn the other cheek again?”
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:25–29 (NIV)
My Musing About: What We “Think” We Know
I liked the use of this scripture in Luke 10, because for me, it showed an obvious character flaw in the human condition. We all think we are experts and we share what we “think we know” as if it is the reality of truth. In the past, I did this so many times. I did not have documented truth, I just had, cultural say-so. Believe me, there is a huge difference. In this season of my life, I have turned off the Main Stream Media, there is too much speculation, presupposition, assumption, wild theorizing and not enough real news, truth. I have sought the Lord for truth and He has led me outside of the main media to investigative journalists who are seeking and revealing truth. Don’t settle for anything less than truth, don’t speak truth with anything less than the love of God.
My Musing About: Getting Rid Of Presupposition
How can we love the Lord with all of our mind if we have formed a bias through cultural say so? How? Be open-hearted. How do I walk that out in my reality? Well, being openhearted means, I don’t have a mind-set agenda of my own. I let go and let God speak the truth. How? By not being closed up to the reality of truth by a blockage of bias, preformed theory, presupposition, assumption or speculation. Presupposition is really a tough enemy of truth, because it is set by what we think we know and it forms a blockage in our hearts, keeping our hearts from being wide open to what God is saying, snarling up the revelation He is giving, with the deception we have already bought into. If it is a speculation, assumption, a presupposition, it is not wholly-holy truth.
My Musing About: Living Out Of A Kingdom Perspective
If I am seeking the truth with an open heart, God will speak revelation into my spirit and as I understand this wisdom, receiving it wholly-holy. I will walk with a Kingdom perspective which is a reality of truth way different from my worldly viewpoint. I will actually live life out of a kingdom perspective, and this assures I will not be reacting with a “flesh out” of personally biased opinion, but responding with God’s truth and love. For me, this scripture I share below, really seeds a need for a navigational course adjustment of my inner character:
Then he said to them, “Be diligent to understand the meaning behind everything you hear, for as you do, more understanding will be given to you. And according to the depth of your longing to understand, much more will be added to you. For those who listen with open hearts will receive more revelation. But those who don’t listen with open hearts will lose what little they think they have!” Mark 4:24-25 The Passion Translation
GK Chesterton: “We make our friends, we make our enemies, but God makes our next door neighbor!!”
My Musing About The Good Samaritan Story
I really loved the way Pastor Greg Surratt brought out a question we all need to ask ourselves. Who is my neighbor? This lawyer was an expert in Jewish law. Pastor explained to us that politics and religion were not separated in that culture. Jesus wanted to teach us, to show people then and now that love supersedes our politics. Jesus disrupts the Lawyers way of thinking, because the good guy in the story was a Samaritan, this would be hard for a Jew to take. Jews and Samaritans did not speak. Jesus is constantly messing with our mind-sets, disrupting and interrupting our cultural say-so in that purposeful way of His.
“You have to love your neighbor and usually God choses them for us.” Pastor Greg Surratt
Loving God, Loving Others~Just then a religious scholar stood before Jesus in order to test his doctrines. He posed this question: “Teacher, what requirement must I fulfill if I want to live forever in heaven?”26 Jesus replied, “What does Moses teach us? What do you read in the Law?” The religious scholar answered, “It states, ‘You must love the Lord God with all your heart, all your passion, all your energy, and your every thought. And you must love your neighbor as well as you love yourself.'” 28 Jesus said, “That is correct. Now go and do exactly that and you will live.” Wanting to justify himself, he questioned Jesus further, saying, “What do you mean by ‘my neighbor’?” Luke 10:25-29 The Passion Translation
“God has put you in the neighborhood and the time you are living in, with His divine purpose.” Pastor Greg Surratt
My Musing About: Our God Determined Path
Why do we need to respect one another, treat each other with dignity? We don’t have the luxury of being a racist or a bigot, nor do we have the right to label people as such. The Reality of Truth is everyone has been created in God’s Image. When we label people, we devalue them, the image of God in them. Everyone has been created in the image of God. Our universal God, is the One who makes all people and determines whatever their nationality or culture or religion is. Accepting others as they have been shaped is respecting God. Throughout the ages, our enemy has kept this truth hidden by stirring up strife against one another because of our differences. We are uniquely shaped by God, He has purposefully determined our path. The enemy has disrupted and distracted us from this very foundational truth and cause great strife over all the ages by changing the navigation of our human condition with enmity, and taken us off course from God’s Image. We have rejected God and gone our own way, therefore we do not respect or honor the differences in our humanity. Our identity needs to be in Christ, wholly-holy so, it is here that the God Image we bear is purposefully shaped for our life season, for a time such as this one. There is no better time than to surrender to God and give Him total access to Your Identity: Listen Up And Pray It Up:
Acts 17:26 This God made us in all our diversity from one original person, allowing each culture to have its own time to develop, giving each its own place to live and thrive in its distinct ways. The Voice
“In the Kingdom, love supersedes everything and if love does not get up into our politics we are in a heap of trouble. You will never agree on most things. But, do you love?” Pastor Greg Surratt
The Wisdom Of This Message Will Change It Up In Us And In Our Nation And There Is Much To Glean:
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When we label people, we devalue them.
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And who is my neighbor? Are you having a hard time loving your neighbor. God has chosen them, purposefully so. Sometimes your neighbor is not someone you would have chosen.
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Jesus set up uncomfortable political situations to show people that love supersedes our politics.
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The good guy in the story is the Samaritan and this would never be the pick of the Lawyer. Jesus upsets the Lawyers way of thinking. Jesus is constantly disrupting our foolish status quo.
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When people see life differently from us, this makes for messy relationship. It is no accident the people God allows to cross into your life path.
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God chose your family for you. What about your family, would you have chosen them? Your family is your very first neighborhood. Jesus calls you to love your family.
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You don’t choose the people to be in your church God does. Just love them, serve them unconditionally, point them to Jesus. You can’t fix them, He can.
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Who is your neighbor? Everyone. People bear the image of God, they are your neighbor and you have to love them. Does the person who aggravates you like no other bear the Image of God? Yes. All people do. Love your neighbor as you do yourself.
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When we have a difficult time loving someone, see everyone as an image bearer of God, ask yourself how would I want to be treated, look for the next unlikely step to take, and love like Jesus did.
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Everyone we come into contact with bears the image of God. We don’t just love everyone like us, we love everyone, treating them with dignity and respect.
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God’s image was place in humanity at creation, not at redemption. When we were created, God stamped us with His image.
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If we classify someone as less than the image of God and we dehumanize them, we need to pray and ask God to help us to see them as God sees them. Take off the labels we have put on people, because this devalues them.
If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both. 1 John 4:20-21 The Message
“I was excited to be a pastor until I started pastoring people. People can be irritating. Do you have anyone that irritates you in your church? Are you having trouble loving the people in your church? This is who you have to do life with. What needs to change is our willingness to love them.” Pastor Greg Surratt
Having a hard time loving your neighbor? Having trouble loving others? Answer these three questions:
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Does this person that I am struggling in relationship with bear the Image of God. It is not do they reflect the image of God, it is do they bear the image of God. Yes they do. Everyone is made in the image of God, every single person on this earth.
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How would I want to be treated in similar circumstances?
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What is the next loving thing to do?
Reality Of Truth: Everyone Bears The Image Of God. God Made Human Beings In His Image, God’s image was placed in humanity at CREATION, not at REDEMPTION.
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So God created human beings in His image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female. Genesis 1:27 New Century Version
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Whoever sheds the blood of a human, that person’s blood will be shed in return by another for God made humanity in His own image. Genesis 9:6 The Voice
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The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in His image. James 3:9 The Message Bible
My Sunday Glean From Pastor Gregg Surratt’s Message: Where Is The Love?
Love Is The Main Point
No matter who we are struggling to love, they are our neighbor and we need to love them. Why: Because they are created in the Image of God. The main point of the parable was we are to love everyone. Who is our neighbor? Everyone is.
At Creation ~ Not Redemption
God’s Image was created in people at Creation, not at Redemption. The Image of God can be seriously flawed by our choices, but it is still there. We should treat every human being, flawed or not, with compassion and respect, adding value to their lives. Everyone is deserving of our respect, compassion and kindness.
Love Like You Want To Be Loved
Who is your neighbor? Everyone. People bear the image of God, they are your neighbor and you have to love them. Does the person who aggravates you like no other, bear the Image of God? Yes. All people do. Love your neighbor as you do yourself. This really simplifies relational strife. If I made a mistake, how would I want to be treated? We forbear with people because we also want people to forbear with us. It is not about us, our primary goal should not be how can we make this difficult relationship comfortable for us, keeping our personal comfort zone in tact? When other people walk out of a hard relationship where “extra grace is required”, we should be staying in, patiently enduring, because this shows we have come to grips with the reality that this is how we would like to be treated if we were this person.
“In everything you do, be careful to treat others in the same way you’d want them to treat you, for that is the essence of all the teachings of the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12 The Passion Translation
The Golden Rule~
Jesus emphasized it, lived it and required it of His followers. What is hateful to you, do not do to someone else. What you don’t like said to you, don’t say it to someone else. This will simplify life. What if we didn’t react impulsively, we stopped and reflected how we would want to be treated in this difficult relational situation we are in and we did just that, what we would want done or said to us, instead of fleshing out through our human condition outrage.
Pastor Gregg Surratt’s Closing Wisdom
Your Next Step
Two Jewish religious guys do nothing for the Jew that got beat up and then the Good Samaritan, politically opposite of the Jews worldly viewpoint, became the hero of the story. Love is more important than your political affiliation. You don’t have to vote the same on your ballot box, but you do have to love one another. Go and do likewise. What is the next loving, gracious, merciful thing you can do. The issues of the relationship can be so complex that you don’t even know what your next step is. What do you do next? You refocus on love. Jesus boils it down to the practical next step. Don’t get lost into the details, just take the next step and be merciful, love like Jesus would love.
You Can’t Fix It
We can’t fix it. How can we unscramble eggs? If something is severely tangled up, we can’t untie all the knots at once. What we can do is see everyone as an Image bearer of God and we can put ourselves in their shoes and respond likewise. Then we can find the next merciful thing to do and walk in love and kindness. We have to begin somewhere. Jesus says: Just go and do likewise, find the next merciful, kind thing you can do and do it.
Pastor Gregg Surratt Prayer Challenge:
What if we all started practicing what we are preaching and get along. Father help us, give us guidance from above. Where is the love? God’s guidance is not complicated, it is one command: Love one another. Help us Jesus to take the next loving step. Help us to obey You, Lord God and treat every human being with dignity, respect and compassionate love. because they were created in Your Image. So where do we go from here? How do we apply this amazing message? God, what are you saying to me? How do you want me to flesh this out?
“What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation. Go and learn.” – Hillel the Elder
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:37 (NIV)
Miraculous Musing is a great table at The Bridegroom’s Café, the meals are very soul nourishing. We hope you enjoyed your, Sunday Glean, written from a Message shared by Pastor Greg Suratt at Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. It is so important to be in God’s Word daily, listening up to His amazing Voice. I highly suggest to you an amazing Biblical Journey, the book: The Bridegroom’s Voice. You will have a Great God Adventure and grow in hearing and responding to God’s Voice. You can purchase it here:
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