'But his brothers, seeing how much more his father loved him than all his other sons, came to hate him so much that they could not say a civil word to him.' GENESIS 37: 4 Oh boy... haven't we heard this before! We all know that super annoying person who we don't ever want to talk to, right? Well, when you read the story of Joseph, you see that Joseph was actually a really nice guy!! His brothers, though... YIKES!!! And sometimes we act like Joseph's brothers. Out of jealousy, envy, or simply misunderstandings we decide that we don't like so-and-so and we are mean and even cruel. We cut them off. We gossip about them. We are rude. And sometimes... well we even try to deliberately hurt them. When you read Joseph's story, don't you just want to say "UGH, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU GUYS!! YOU ARE JUST HORRIBLE PEOPLE!!!!" Think about that next time you are about to be mean to a person. I know it's hard. But... 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. Remember words kill. When we do these things we are letting pride take over us--we believe ourselves to be better than others. May the Lord help us be more like Joseph and less like his brothers. May He who is humble help us be humble, like Joseph, so that we may accept people as they are.
'Blessed is anyone who trusts in Yahweh, with Yahweh to rely on.' JEREMIAH 17:7
Do you trust the Lord and His plan? Do you completely surrender yourself to His will? Are you filled with anxiety about the present and the future? Do you feel angry or frustrated when life seems to get out of your control? I don't blame you--me too!! I am a control freak and I always want for my plans to work to perfection. This was my main problem with God for years!! But, you know, when things were just not going my way, when nothing was working anymore, I found myself needing to just give up what was left of my life to God. I literally gave up: I was so tired of fighting and of being angry about life not going like I wanted it to. And you know what happened? I said, "fine, God! FINE! I can't do this anymore. Here I am, take me, with whatever I have left". And He did. Things started to change from that day. It turned out that it wasn't that whatever I wanted was bad, but that I wanted to achieve it through my own merits. I was arrogant and proud, I wanted to be master of my own life. But when I surrendered to God, then He gave me what I wanted and more! Even things I didn't know I needed. Because He truly knows our hearts. So, rely on God. Trust in Jesus. He will not let you down.
"I shall be a father to him and he a son to me; if he does wrong, I shall punish him with a rod such as men use, with blows such as mankind gives." 2 SAMUEL 7:14 In this passage, God is telling King David that his son, Solomon, would be a son to Him. What does fatherhood entitle? Love, of course. But also discipline. To the point of punishment. But not a punishment for revenge, for anger, or for jealousy. A punishment to mend us, to get us in the right path. But you know, the thing about God's "punishment" is... it's never really punishment in the sense we think because something good always comes out of it! I promise. And do know that sickness, loss, or death are not "punishments". Sometimes God allows those things to happen for something greater to come out of it. Death is a part of life, so is our lot. But if we rely on God during those difficult times, then He will see us through. And if you've been abandoned, mistreated, or neglected by your earthly father, do know that God is your Father! Today is the feast of St. Joseph, the adoptive father of our Lord Jesus. If you are a man, may you strive to be like St. Joseph: an excellent father, an admirable husband. And if you are a lady, pray to God that you find a husband like him (wink, wink).
'though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool' ISAIAH 1:18 What a beautiful passage!! We've talked about this: no matter where you come from, what you've done before, God can make you whole, can restore your purity, innocence, joy.
Where there is chaos, the Lord can bring calm. Where there is violence, He can restore peace. Where there is sadness, He can instill joy.
And I'm not talking about the world out there---of course God can work a miracle and give us the perfect world, but that would involve taking our wills away. He has given us the power to choose for ourselves, to make decisions. He won't take that away.
But what I'm talking about here is, once again, restoration of our hearts, minds, and souls. And He does give us the option. We can always say "no, God, I'm fine like I am... I don't need you".... but that, my friends, is the ultimate spiritual death.
So let God turns that scarlet of vice, lust, addiction, and sin and purify it into innocence, peace, and joy.
If you feel like you can't leave that hole of sin, ask the Lord to pull you out, to open your eyes, to finish this race for you! He has faith in you.
36 'Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate.
37 Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.
38 Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap; because the standard you use will be the standard used for you.'
LUKE 6:36-38
Don't you just want to be like:
'Dear God,
please stop asking for things that are so hard to do.
Okay, bye.'
I get it... be compassionate, do not judge, give... too.. much... work...
But the thing is--why should we expect compassion, or a fair judgment, or to receive things from God? Do we deserve any of that? NO. Yet He still does all these things for us. But there's the condition, per usual: do unto others as you would have it do unto you. If you are judgmental, of course God is going to hold you to a stricter standard (because being judgmental implies we think ourselves better/smarter/holier than others), and if you are compassionate, of course God is going to be like "aawwww, this one has a good, loving heart, let's give her/him a break!"
You know, a few years back I found an old journal that I kept in high school and read a few pages. I was so appalled--- my writing reflected how judgmental and self-righteous I was! Reading that made me feel so ugly, it was sickening! Because being judgmental means lacking love. And a person who lacks love is an unhappy person. I don't want to be that person, do you?
And you know the thing about giving---it might hurt at first, but the joy that it begets makes up for any loss. Like St. Francis of Assisi says, 'it is in giving that we receive'. That's what Jesus is saying in the gospel!
So don't be afraid to love until it hurts--but truly love, not in a romantic type of way, but in the way of The Passion: to give yourself entirely to others. Don't be afraid to give--He will reward you a hundred-fold!!
'But Jesus came up and touched them, saying, 'Stand up, do not be afraid.'
And when they raised their eyes they saw no one but Jesus.'
MATTHEW 17:7-8
I love this passage of the Bible: Jesus has transfigured and the disciples have seen in in all of His glory, chilling with Moses and Elijah, and then suddenly there's a voice (the voice of God the Father) who says 'This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.'
Imagine hearing a voice coming out of a cloud---worth of a horror movie, huh? John, James, and Peter FREAKED OUT! They were terrified!! It was already crazy enough to see Moses and Elijah and Jesus all shiny, and now this?
But what happens then? Jesus comes and touches them and says 'don't be afraid'. Sometimes in life, problems overwhelm us... and we just want to hide, terrified. But Jesus comes and tells us 'hey hey, look at me, here I am, do not be afraid!!'
And scripture says that Peter, James, and John raised their eyes and saw no one but Jesus! What a beautiful sight, don't you think? Imagine what that would be for us--to find, in the midst of our problems and worries, the face of Christ, the beloved.
I can tell you that the face of Jesus is the most beautiful sight I've ever beheld. And yes, this happened at a time of my life when I was crippled by fear, anxiety, and trouble. I was bent with worry, I was burdened with sadness. And Jesus touched me and said 'do not be afraid. I am here, with you. I am your beloved' and I saw nothing but Jesus, and my life changed.
43 'You have heard how it was said, You will love your neighbour and hate your enemy.
44 But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you;
45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike.'
MATTHEW 5: 43-45
Yup, this is the day: the day when God has to come and make us all feel bad and uncomfortable because He's asking us to love our enemies.
Oh, God, why? Don't you see that's basically impossible. I mean... they are our enemies for a reason... or are they? Think about the people you consider enemies, or the people you really don't like... or even hate...
Why don't you like them? Why do you hate them? Did they hurt you? What did they do to you?
Sometimes, when you think about it, you don't have a good reason. BUT, if you do, think about this: if you hate them because they have been bad to you, how does hating them make you any better than them? AND, like we said yesterday: that hatred... who is it hurting? Them or you?
I know, I know... you're probably asking: "well, Cris, do you love your enemies!??!?!?!" And I will tell you: no, I do not. I fail daily at it. I have to remember myself constantly that God loves these people as much as He loves me. I have to ask God to help me see His face in these people so that I can at least feel like loving them. But you know, when you pray like that, suddenly you start noticing you have a lot less enemies than you used to... somehow I find myself being less conflicting than before, when I used to go around hating on people (yeah, being a big hater is right up my alley, but I trust God is gradually making improvements).
But you and I , we're friends right? So I pray for you to love your enemies, and you pray for me to love my enemies, ok? We got each other, ok? Okay.
The whole loving your enemies thing distinguishes us from the world--so we need to do it proudly! Because, when Jesus was being nailed--NAILED--on a cross for our sins, he didn't have a single resentful, bitter, unforgiving thought for those men. He forgave them. Now, unless you've actually been crucified, I don't see how the offenses people have done to us are greater and harder to forgive than being nailed to a cross, naked, bruised, and bleeding.
Hey, listen, I love you! God loves you. God IS love. So let Love do His work. If you abide in His love, you will be able to love a lot easier!
