Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Bottom Line Spirituality: Worldly and Godly Thinking

Click here to go to the Bottom Line Meditations for Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Godly Abiding Spiritually in Jesus Changes the Meaning of What we See Worldly When Not Abiding in Jesus.

Spirituality is our innate ability to feel the difference worldly or godly thinking makes to the way scripture translates to our daily life and relationships.

Remember: The DISCIPLE-SHIFT

(see Pentecost Sunday Meditation by Clicking Here)

The Virtual Small Group

Members share once a week with their group through the internet when a shift from being out to being in the Presence made a difference.

All Scripture is a testimony to Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God. He is the complete revelation of God’s will of grace for salvation. Grace is the only unfailing rule of faith and practice for the Christian life.

The Gospel of grace is: rather than doing it right to become right with God, to be right with God to do what is right.

The War on Legalism

God declared War on Legalism when He sent His Word into the World. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us … full of grace and truth. John 1:14 Legalism fought back against grace believing the Bible, not Jesus, is the word of God. Grace is based on the Two Great Love Commandments. All the Law and the Prophets have now been changed into “do the loving thing.” Matthew 22:37-40 The New Command is to be in His Presence in order to Love one another. John 13:34 “Apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

Galatians 4:21 “Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?”

Legalism: The beatings will continue until morale improves.

Luke 13:10-17 "Come on another day, not on the Sabbath day.”

Jesus was wrong to heal on the Sabbath. No matter what you might think or would have done, you would be wrong to do so. Breaking the law has its consequences. What if you make a right hand turn on a red light without stopping in the middle of the night when no one is around? I did this one night after a long day. The officer was quick to put on his lights and siren. He pulled me over. It was against the law. He was understanding and no ticket, praise the Lord.

Jesus didn’t have the right to heal this woman just because it was the right thing to do. It was not. It broke the law. The rabbi had the right and duty to quote the Law, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work. Why don’t you come back on a non Sabbath day and do your healing? Why pick on this sacred day to break the Fourth Commandment?

Jesus had the right to heal on the Sabbath because He was because He was God. He had the authority to break this Commandment and any others He wished to break. As a matter of fact, He did not break any laws; He changed all of the Commandments and all the Laws and the Prophets. The minute He proclaimed the Two Great Commandments to Love God, neighbor and thyself, all the others were changed in one way or the other. Matthew 22:40 Anytime you find a Law that demands you do something that is not the loving thing to do, do not do it if you are a follower of Jesus.

Jesus believed in keeping the Sabbath. Keeping the Sabbath meant to do all that grace commanded every day which is the opposite of keeping the legalistic Commandment one day a week. Hebrews 4 teaches, “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” There remains then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God. Hebrews 4:4-9

What a relief the Two Great Commandments are. We do not have to try to remember every big and little law, nor do we have to try to follow them. According to Jesus, all we have to do to follow the Law and the Prophets is to do the loving thing. The reason for this is that Jesus is the Word of God for Christians.

The new rational Christian struggles with the concept of Love as a commandment. How can Love be a commandment? You cannot command anyone to love. It must come from the heart. Grace must be a choice not a command.

The spiritually mature Christian knows why it is a commandment. It is like in the olden days when my boys were still young teenagers. Their main chore on certain days was to clear the table and wash the dishes. There came a time when they refused to do it. I told them they have a choice. It was to do the dishes tonight or clean the garage on Saturday. They said that was not a choice. Certainly it was. I ask the reader was that a choice or not? Yes it was in one sense. In another sense it was not.

The choice of being in the Presence of the Love of God or not is a much more serous choice than doing the dishes or cleaning the garage. It is the choice of spiritual life or death. We need to realize being out of His Presence is the low road leading to dependency. Being in His presence and filled with His Love, Peace and Joy frees us from dependency and transforms our life. Understanding the three Principles of Thought, Consciousness and Presence leads us to live on the high road.

The Love Commandment is only for us. It is not up to us to demand others do the loving thing. It is up to us to feel the Love of God in order to do the loving thing. And that is an order. It is a choice of life or death. Do you get it?

THE DISCIPLE-SHIFT: The Virtual Small Group:  Members share once a week with their group through the internet when a shift from being out to being in the Presence made a difference.