A new commandment I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. (John 13: 34)

Jesus describes His command that we love one another as being new. How can this be since the old law reminds us to love God with all our heart, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves? It is not a new commandment, but an old one. What is new about it is the urgency of the love Jesus commands us to give one another. The old law also drew people toward a hatred of their enemies, yet Jesus taught us to love our enemies and pray for them.

While love has always been a priority quality of God, Jesus’ ministry places a new and determined emphasis on it. It is also new because, through Christ, we have a new and greater example to follow. No one taught or exemplified it the way Jesus did. Jesus made it clear that love was the one quality that would define a Christian follower more than any other sign.

In today’s world, we see thousands who claim to be followers of Christ and they use bumper stickers, jewelry, knickknacks in their homes or they listen to Christian music, yet many of us watch their self-centered and reckless behavior. Jesus stated clearly that we would be known by our fruits and the greatest of those is love the way He defined it.

God of love, may the world know we are Your followers by the way we show our love to others!

...If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. (Isaiah 7:9)

A legend has it that a just and good man went to Sodom one day, hoping to save the city from God’s impending judgment. He tried talking to first one individual and then another and another, but nobody would engage in conversation with him.

Next, he tried carrying a picket sign that had “Repent” written on it in large letters. Nobody paid the least attention to him except for a casual glance here and there at the sign he carried.

Finally he began going from street to street and from marketplace to marketplace, shouting loudly, “Men and women, repent! What you are doing is wrong. It will kill you! It will destroy you!”

The people laughed at him, but still he went about shouting. One day, a person stopped him and said, “Stranger, can’t you see that your shouting is useless?” The man replied, “Yes, I see that!” The person then asked, “Well, then why do you continue?”

The man answered, “When I arrived in this city, I was convinced I could change them. Now I continue shouting because I don’t want them to change me!”

Speak out for those things you believe to be true and good. If you remain silent, others may take your silence as agreement with their position–which may not be at all what you believe.

Holy Creator, may our voices be heard above the noise of today’s world. May our message be heard in our own hearts!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature, a slave to the law of sin. (Romans 7:25)

Several years ago, a Union Pacific Railroad train barreled across the tracks somewhere in western Nebraska. The train had two engines, one in the front and one in the rear, operated by a remote control from the lead engine. Apparently a motorist became irate because the train was blocking traffic so he uncoupled the long string of cars near the middle. When it moved out, the engineer was unaware of what had happened. As the train rolled along, it separated until there was nearly twelve miles between the front section and the rear section. For nearly fifty miles the train moved along crossing roads and passing other trains until the conductor noticed what was going on. It is fortunate that no one was hurt or killed by the rear section which was moving forward without lights, whistles or an engineer to control its movements.

Our lives are much like that when we separate ourselves from God, our personal “engineer.” We feel like the last half of the train. We find ourselves doing things we know we should not do and failing to do things we know we should.

Paul was keenly aware of this conflict in our nature. He states in his letter to the Romans that he wanted to do good, but sin seemed to wage war against what he knew to be right. Almost in desperation he cried, “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” He knew, of course, that there is only one answer to the divided self – Jesus Christ.

God of the lost, help me to remain whole in Your sight. Help me to refrain from dividing myself between Your love and goodness and the snares of this world.

I am your passing guest, an alien, like all my fore-bearers. (Psalm 39: 12)

The psalmist writes that we are God’s “passing guests.” What a revelation that image is to us! What a new and wonderful way to look at life! We are guests on this earth and God is a good and perfect Host! We are totally dependent on God’s hospitality. Food, shelter, companionship, security, even our ultimate salvation–all that we have is ultimately provided by God. As grateful guests, we seek to honor and glorify our Host by living in a way that displays our gratitude and love.

The image also carries the idea that we are passing through, here only temporarily. Our situation is not permanent. As my health has begun to change with age, that truth becomes more and more evident. One day I will go from being a passing guest in this world to a permanent home with my Host. I pray that I will live my remaining days here in a way that pleases God, a way that shows appreciation for the accommodations that have been provided me as a guest. I pray also that when it is time to leave, I may leave gracefully and joyously.

Thank You, Holy Creator, for being such a good and generous Host during my visit here on earth. And thank You for the eternal home You have prepared for me when I am finished with my visit!

And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward humanity. (Acts 24: 16)

These lines from the writings of Dr. Arnot give an interesting description of a person’s conscience. “A person may be saved from death by seeing the reflection of danger in a mirror, when the danger itself could not be directly seen. The executioner with his weapon is stealthily approaching through a corridor of the castle to the spot where the devoted invalid reclines. In his musings, the captive has turned his vacant eye toward a mirror on the wall; and the faithful witness reveals the impending stroke in time to secure the escape of the captive victim. It is thus that the mirror in the human breast has become in a sense the person’s savior, by revealing the wrath to come before its coming. Happy are they who take the warning-happy are they who turn and live.”

It has been said that human’s conscience was given after the Fall in the Garden. The creature’s desire to know good and evil had been granted. But God, in Divine Mercy, gave also a means of telling good from evil. That mechanism, which God placed in the human heart, was the conscience. Don’t ignore the prompting of your conscience or let your conscience become calloused. It’s more than a sixth sense–it’s a beacon whose homing signal is heaven.

Holy God of Love, thank You for the beacon within our hearts. My we never lose the signal or ignore the messages You send through Your Holy Spirit!

And God saw everything that had been made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31)

When a painter completes a painting, the colors, subject matter and style define characteristics of the artist. The emotions, feelings, turmoil, peace – whatever the artist has drawn on from deep within his own soul are a part of what he has created on the canvas.

The same can be said of God. What God created, God deemed as good, and the intricacies of creation are a reflection of the mind of God and how things are intended to function and work together.

Geese are a marvelous example of working together in one-ness. They fly in a V-shaped formation that creates an aerodynamic flow making it easier for the geese behind the leader. They take turns being the leader so one does not tire too much and drop out of the formation. If one goose is sick, two fly low with it until it is ready to return to a flock and if two V-formations meet, they merge into one rather than compete.

In the middle ages, the pelican was used by the church as a symbol for Christ. The mother pelican, if faced with drought and a lack of food for her young, will tear open her breast and sacrifice her life so the young can survive.

We know that the seed of wheat and other grains must die and fall into the earth before new birth happens. It is through death that the new life is formed.

God’s creation reveals the mind of God. We can learn so much about how life has been defined by God simply by watching the world around us.

Creator of everything that is, may we see You in Your world as well as in Your Word!

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5: 20)

In every major capital throughout the world you will find an embassy for the United States. An embassy is a representative of our national interests abroad. It flies the American flag, is protected by US Marines as well as local guards, and is considered as American soil. It oversees the needs of American travelers, expresses American views to the local government, and is an ear on local political matters for the American government. An ambassador is a highly respected representative of our government and its interests.

Paul wrote that Christians are ambassadors of Christ. As ambassadors, we proclaim a message of peace and reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to God’s self through Jesus Christ. Christians are, through Christ’s death, a new creation. Through Jesus’ unselfish sacrifice, we are brought into a new state of being that did not exist prior to that time, we are united with Christ and clothed in a newness and goodness, the goodness of God.

We have a marvelous message to share with others, a message too good to keep to ourselves. As ambassadors, we are sent to proclaim what has happened and to make God’s appeal known to others.

God of love and delight, may our tongues be blessed that we might open the sight of those around us to Your goodness and blessings.