The Golden Rule

I am cleaning out some of my computer files, and I came across this writing from October 2011. It doesn't look like I posted it here, so now I will. It is just some thoughts on the Golden Rule.

Do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31).

I wonder: do I pervert the Golden Rule? I have to admit, I wasn’t sure if it was a quotation from Shakespeare or a quote from the Bible.

When I say we want to live by the Golden Rule, do I really mean to. What is my motivation? Is it selfish? Am I going to demonstrate love to you, because I want you to demonstrate love for me? What if you do not demonstrate love to me? Do I then do to you as you did to me? I know for years I did well to others, because I might need to use them later for a job.

What does it say; it says to do to others, as you would have them do to you!

Please, understand, this is a tall order! The statement is made among other hard to comprehend commands:

                       1.         Love your enemies.

                       2.         Do good to those who hate you.

                       3.         Bless those who curse you.

                       4.         Pray for those who mistreat you.

So what are the qualifiers for doing unto others? Well, I can tell you it is not that you do to them AS they have done to you!

More to the Story

I've been traveling, so I apologize for the delay in posting more...

Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Christ. ’”

They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered, “No.”

 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”

 Now some Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”

The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.

Grateful for Her Grace

Ya know music plays such a powerful role in my life. Today I was listening to a song that  has brought tears to my eyes over and over again in the last 5 years or so. It is one of those songs that speaks to the depths of the most difficult times I've ever been thru, mostly self induced. The tears are not of the shame and sorrow associated with the time, The Lord has taken those from me, but they are associated with remembering the darkness of my heart. But there is a transition in the mix to tears of appreciation associated with the grace, mercy, and strength demonstrated to me by my wife, to the celebration of what we have in our marriage now. The chasm between then and now seems immeasurable, thus the tears. Thank you for waiting for me my love. I am so grateful for the light you bring to my life!

The Word

I thought I would just cut and paste this wonderful book in here so that all could read it! I will continue mixing it in with my other posts until it is fully here.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me. ’” From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.