Tag: christian love

Trinity Sunday (John 16:12-15)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
Holy Trinity, by Andrei Rubley

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (New Revised Standard Version)

Trinity Sunday is an annual celebration on the Christian Calendar which focuses intentionally on the mystery, power, and beauty of the triune God – Father, Son, and Spirit. All three persons of the Holy Trinity exist together in eternal love, harmony, and unity with each other as one God.

This day is much more than a doctrinal and theological affirmation. It is a reminder that our theological impulses are to have movement toward union with this triune God, to participate in the Divine dance of the Trinity.

The Christian life is oriented toward the Trinity. Christianity is a path, a road, a journey with God. It is a pilgrimage of the soul that demands our time, effort, and courage.

In other words, we are meant to experience God as Father, Son, and Spirit, rather than merely acknowledging the Trinity. Not only are we to know God; we are designed to feel at the core of our being the existential presence of God. What’s more, the Holy Trinity participates within the Godhead to help make that happen within us.

The Trinity we see in the Gospel of John is a presentation of God’s love for us. A gracious window is opened to the mystery of the one God in three persons. This allows us to see and feel that this trinitarian love holds us in a Divine embrace.

In Christ’s Farewell Discourse (John chapters 13-17) love is the dominant theme. Love is what Jesus wanted to leave with his disciples, and to remind them that all things are to be said and done with love. Christ promised the giving of the Spirit as a gift of love, so that we will learn to love ourselves and others.

There is eternal love, unity, and harmony continually flowing from the Father who sent the Son for us and for our deliverance, and from the Spirit who dwells with us in an abiding presence of love. Together the Father, Son, and Spirit develops us as lovers, loving the world just as God does.

The heavenly Father holds us in love so that we will hold the world in love.

Jesus the Son comes among us and reassures us of Divine love so that we will bring love to the world.

The Spirit guides us into the truth of love so that we will display love for one another in front of the world.

As Christians bravely, patiently, and calmly walk the road of the Christian life, they grow more and more in love with God, and therefore, more in love with the world that God loves so much.

There is an interaction between the Father and the Son marked by truth and love. Jesus graciously invites the believer into this conversation. In addition, the Spirit instructs us so that our speech and behavior will emulate the love which always takes place within the Trinity.

The reality of the Holy Trinity helps us experience and feel that God is for us; God is with us; and God is in us.

Sometimes we get hung up on the timing of things. We want what we want now. We don’t understand why God isn’t coming to our rescue. We wonder if God is even around because of this crud-encrusted planet we live on with all of its natural disasters and human destruction.

Yet, let’s keep in mind that the triune God has forever existed. God is constant. Father, Son, and Spirit are continually working in the immediacy of the now. We have been offered Living Water, but the water pouring forth now is not the same as what came before and what is to come – just as the water in a river flows by us, having come from somewhere downstream, and going somewhere else.

Time is irrelevant. All we have is the now. When we hold on to the past and/or have anxiety about the future, we are failing to live in the present. And in this very moment, the triune God is present with you, is in you, and is for you. Live in the now, and not so much in the has been and the not yet.

God only becomes real to us when I am. Then, the great “I AM” is able to dwell with the little “I am” of me in the present tense of now.

Because God is God, there will always be a mystery, because trying to understand the Holy Trinity – the great Three in One – shall forever elude us. We have not been called to understand God; we are called right now to submit to the unfolding of what God wants to reveal to us.

The triune God has shown us that within the Trinity there exists perfect love, harmonious unity, infinite beauty, and great goodness. As people created in the image of this God, we have the capacity to pursue these very same qualities. With God’s enablement, we can be a source of light and hope to a world which needs an experience of Divine love and truth.

God of heaven and earth, before the foundation of the universe and the beginning of time you are the triune God: the Author of creation; the eternal Word of salvation; and the life-giving Spirit of wisdom.

Guide us, O God, to all truth by your Spirit, so that we may proclaim all that Christ revealed and rejoice in the glory he shared with us. Glory and praise to you – Father, Son, and Spirit – now and forever. Amen.

Questions About Sex (1 Corinthians 7:1-9)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

Now regarding the questions you asked in your letter. Yes, it is good to abstain from sexual relations. But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.

The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.

Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. But I wish everyone were single, just as I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another.

So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—it’s better to stay unmarried, just as I am. But if they can’t control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It’s better to marry than to burn with lust. (New Living Translation)

After getting into several issues of interpersonal relations within the church, the Apostle Paul turned his attention to matters the Corinthian congregation had questions about. Primary among them were issues of sex and marriage.

Within an ancient port city that was rife with all sorts of sexual practices and immorality, it was inevitable that the Corinthian Christians would wonder about the nature of sex and the marital relationship. Is it okay to have sex? Is sex good? What’s sex supposed to be like in marriage? How am I to treat my spouse when it comes to sex?

It seems every culture in every era has plenty of questions about sex and marriage.

The Apostle’s answer to the Corinthian believers is that sex is a good thing, that is, within a proper context. Sex is similar to fire. They’re both good, but they both have an incredible potential for destruction if there are not some solid boundaries and limits to them.

And that’s where marriage comes in and has a significant role for us as sexual beings. Marriage is also a good thing; it’s good to have a marital partner to share life with and to consummate a loving relationship with the intimacy of sex.

Our sexual drives are strong. After all, we were created with both the desire and the bodily equipment for sex. And marriage is a sacred institution which is strong enough to provide those boundaries and limits that we need to enjoy sex without harming others and ourselves.

In a world full of all manner of sexual deviancy and disorder that destroys many people, the marriage relationship is, ideally, a safe place for sexual expression and enjoyment.

For that good to happen, it is most necessary for the marriage bed to be a place of mutual love, of equal acceptance and sharing. Sex always turns bad when it is forced or coerced. It must be an agreed upon activity, or it moves into the place of covetousness, greed, and selfishness.

Again, ideally, marital relations are an opportunity for the marriage partners to think about and satisfy one another. In other words, the best sex happens when each partner considers what is best for the other.

The marriage bed is not the place to insist on your way. Rather, marriage, at its heart, is a deliberate and volitional decision to serve the other person – whether in bed, or out of bed.

It’s not uncommon for individuals who come to Christ out of a culture awash in unhealthy sexual practices to question if sex is good, or not; and whether one ought to abstain from sex, even if already married.

The Apostle Paul’s counsel is that abstinence from sex between two married partners is good – but only for an agreed upon period of time, and only for the purpose of prayer and fasting. In other words, if and when a couple agrees to forego sex for a time, spiritual practices must replace sexual practice. Without a clear plan, married couples can cause one another more harm than good.

Always know when to come back together again. That’s because our old adversary, Satan, is far too crafty in arranging temptations to derail us from the good gift of sex, and the good institution of marriage.

Paul made it clear that he was not pronouncing some ex cathedra instruction concerning abstinence for couples; he was only answering a question and providing some helpful counsel in order to maintain legitimate relations with each other. Nobody is under obligation to abstain, let alone be celibate.

However, the Apostle, an unmarried and celibate person himself, wanted to point out that there are advantages to the celibate life. I must say, I cannot disagree with Paul’s observation that life is whole lot simpler being single than married!

Yet, Paul also understood that the celibate single life is not for everyone. He gave the sage teaching that both marriage and celibacy are gifts from God. One is not necessarily better than the other.

Unmarried persons are not in a lesser class of people simply because they are single. And if they have the ability to manage their desires and emotions when it comes to sex and relationships, then Paul would say, more power to them. There is no need to be married, just to be married.

Conversely, however, there is certainly no need to be single and celibate, as if this were some superior spiritual situation. Believing that singleness is necessary for spiritual commitment, or mandating that an entire group of people must be single and celibate in order to serve Christ, is completely foreign to the Apostle Paul’s line of thinking.

Any single person who discovers they are swimming in sea of sexual desire ought to marry, rather than be frustrated and struggle with self-control. Imposing unnecessary suffering on oneself is not at all spiritual or preferable – it’s masochistic, and helps no one.

The reality of married and non-married relationships is that they both have their advantages and their disadvantages. Both marriage and singleness are good. Both sex and celibacy are gifts to receive with gladness and joy.

So, make sure to unpack your gift well.

Holy God, in the midst of our sexualized world of insanity and disordered loves, I ask for your mercy and grace to be pure and holy, just as You are holy. Enable us all to live into healthy forms of sexual relations, without succumbing to the sexual immorality all around us.

Almighty God, I thank you for the gift of sex and marriage, as well as the gift of singleness and celibacy. May Your healing love meet us in our sexual brokenness, and Your compassion overflow to the sexually oppressed.

Blessed God, I am grateful for Your blessing upon us, for never shaming nor humiliating us, but making us pure and holy in Jesus Christ our Lord, through the enablement of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I Am Coming to You (John 14:18-31)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Upper Room, by Gail Meyer

“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” 

Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.

“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’

“If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way.” (New Revised Standard Version)

Ethiopian Orthodox Church depiction of the Last Supper in the Upper Room

“He’s leaving!? What!? Huh!?” Although Jesus had tried to prepare the disciples for his impending cross and resurrection, they didn’t quite catch on. It was in the Upper Room, in their final meal together, that Jesus made it plain he was leaving and going back to the Father. (John 14:1-17)

There was both confusion and distress amongst the men. Anticipatory grief had suddenly smacked them like a golf club upside the head. Dizzied and dazed with thoughts that their Lord would no longer be with them, Jesus sought to assure them that this would be temporary.

Christ is coming, again. In fact, three comings are to be realized:

  • Rising from death and appearing to the disciples
  • Sending the Spirit as the continuing presence of Christ on earth
  • Returning at the end of the age to judge the living and the dead

Jesus was caring for his followers, including us, by providing future hope.

That is just what happened with the first two comings. Christians everywhere celebrate the rising of Christ from death, his ascension into heaven, and the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Christian tradition holds that the Spirit – the Paraclete, Advocate, Comforter, and Counselor – is now presently with us.

Although the world no longer sees Jesus, believers see him with eyes of faith, hope, and love. Christians intuitively perceive another spiritual dimension in which Christ is beside them in the person of God’s Spirit. Some things can’t be intellectually explained. They just are.

Meanwhile, while Christians everywhere await the return of Christ to this earth, they are busy loving their Lord through obedience to his commands. And his command is to love one another as he demonstrated his love for them. Love and obedience go hand in hand. To know the love of God in Christ is to willingly give oneself to obey the merciful Lord.

We are not left alone to fumble around on this earth, trying to love in our own strength or ability. The Spirit is present, helping us to do loving work. There is real spiritual assistance in applying Christ’s teaching to the practical aspects of life in the here-and-now. Such constructive down-to-earth support gives Christians a sense of peace and integrity of living.

Worldly peace, which typically uses war to try and end war, has merely the absence of conflict as its goal. However, the peace of Christ is intensely personal and has the goal of unity, harmony, and love. It is his very own peace. Through Christ’s suffering and death, he absorbed in himself the malice and hatred of others and introduced a true and settled peace.

The profound absence of love, the rebellion of humanity against concern for the common good of all, and the shame of selfishness that damns the world, is overthrown by the obedience and self-sacrifice of Jesus. The world will learn this – either by discovering the love of Christ now or, at the end of the age, with the return of Christ.

Jesus came in the past through the incarnation and resurrection. Jesus is presently here in the person of the Holy Spirit. Jesus will come again in the future to judge the living and the dead.

These comings are for us and for our deliverance from all that is unjust and broken in this world. We are not alone. There is ever-present help. This is the basis of the Christian’s confidence.

Come, Holy Spirit, and fill the hearts of your faithful with divine love. Come as the wind that blows, come as the fire that refines, come as the dew that refreshes. Convict, convert and consecrate us until we are wholly yours, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Remain In Me (John 15:1-8)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
The Vine and the Branches, by Irene Thomas

I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (New International Version)

In the New International Version of the Bible, the word “remain” is repeated 8 times in 8 verses. The original Greek word translated as “remain” is μένω (pronounced “men-oh”). It means to linger in the present moment; to be mindful to ourselves and our situations; to stay connected.

Remaining with Jesus means we that have continual unbroken connection of unity and fellowship with him.

In order to have a connection, there must be two ends to connect. The Jesus connection is always there. We are the other connection. And, frankly, we can be flaky – pulling away and coming close – which is why Jesus gave a repeated invitation to keep the connection.

Some other translations of John 15:4 may help to fill out an understanding of this invitation to remain in Christ (emphasis mine):

Stay joined to me, and I will stay joined to you. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit unless it stays joined to the vine, you cannot produce fruit unless you stay joined to me. (CEV)

Live in me, and I will live in you. A branch cannot produce any fruit by itself. It must stay attached to the vine. In the same way, you cannot produce fruit unless you live in me. (GW)

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. (NKJV)

Stay connected to me, and I will stay connected to you! A branch cannot produce fruit on its own but only if it has a vital connection to the vine. In the same way, there’s no way you can produce fruit at all, unless you have a meaningful connection with me. (my own translation)

The task of every Christian is to remain connected to Jesus. So, the question is: How do we keep the connection without breaking it? How can we be fruitful?

Focus on the Relationship

Christianity, at its core, is a living relationship with Jesus. Yes, doctrine is important; and it’s necessary to know the basic tenets of Christian faith. Yet, any knowledge we gain about Christianity is to be channeled into developing the relationship.

By Helian Cornwell

Bible trivia is only as good as the understanding we apply to build the relationship. Knowledge makes us proud of ourselves, while love makes us helpful to others. Knowledge makes us feel important, yet love strengthens the Church. Knowledge puffs up but love builds up. (1 Corinthians 8:1)

Christ’s redemption – his incarnation, holy life, death, resurrection, and ascension – are meant to restore the severed relationship with humanity. Only knowing doctrinal truth is not the same as using the doctrines to connect with God in a loving relationship.

It takes planning, dedication, time, and effort to grow and maintain our relationship with Jesus Christ. If we fail to use our time and energy on that relationship, then the leaves on the branch begin to wither.

Scripture, silence, solitude, community, prayer, giving, and fasting have always been at the center of Christian practices designed to put us in a position to hear and receive from God.

Relate Well to the Other Branches

The Church is a living growing community. Christ and the Church have a vital union with each other. I used to live in a place where there was a tree that had grown up next to an old fence post. The tree grew tall and engulfed the post to the degree that now you can only see part of the fence post.

To remove the post, you would have to remove the tree; the two have become one. Not only are we connected to the trunk, but we’re also connected to each other. We are all part of the same vine; we aren’t separate vines. So, we all need to do our part in the vine’s system.

Keep Close to the Vine

My grandmother had a grapevine in her backyard when I was a kid. I have firsthand understanding that the sweetest, juiciest, biggest, and best tasting grapes are found in the middle, securely next to the vine’s stem.

The sour grapes are found at the end of the branches. Show me a sourpuss Christian, and I’ll show you a Christian who is not close to Christ. Show me a sweet Christian and I’ll show you a believer who daily works at their close connection with Jesus.

Pruning is Necessary

Healthy vines need pruning, at least once a year; ideally, twice a year, in the Spring before budding, and in Autumn, after the harvest. Without pruning, the vine’s ability to produce good and abundant grapes is compromised. The grapevine’s branches need to be kept short because the nutrients are concentrated in and near the vine stem.

Pruning hurts. From the perspective of us branches, pruning feels like judgment. But it isn’t. Even though pruning is painful, it makes us healthier and tastier.

It’s better to do a few things well, rather than try and do a lot of things for which there is limited time and energy. So, do some spiritual pruning twice a year!

Know Why You are Connected

Yes, Christians have a connection with Jesus so that we are saved from sin, death, and hell. And, yes, we are connected to experience abundant life. Yet, the goal of that connection is to produce succulent fruit.

If there are no grapes on the vine, the vine is useless. Grapevines exist to produce grapes. Christians and Churches exist for the life of the world, to produce the fruit of righteousness consistent with our Christ-connected union: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

The Church is not an end in itself, but exists for the life of the world. Using other metaphors, Jesus said:

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16, NIV)

Pray

If we live in union with Christ – with the words and ways of Jesus powerfully within us—then ask for anything, and it will be done. Prayer is both an event that anyone can do, as well as a spiritual practice that needs growth and development.

The words of Jesus are the nutrients for our spiritual life. When those words find a home within us, there is a divine/human conversation. Christ promises that if we just ask, we’ll receive.

As the relationship with Christ grows, we learn to be thoughtful about our asking. Flippantly or selfishly asking for things disrespects the connection we enjoy with God. Claiming or demanding answers to prayer demeans the relationship. We can also dishonor God by simply not asking, at all.

Prayer is the delivery system for receiving our nutrients; and is also the means of delivering fruitful blessing so that the world might live. Jesus modeled a prayer for us that is grounded in connection and unity with the Father:

I am not praying just for these followers. I am also praying for everyone else who will have faith because of what my followers will say about me. I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.

I have honored my followers in the same way that you honored me, in order that they may be one with each other, just as we are one. I am one with them, and you are one with me, so that they may become completely one. Then this world’s people will know that you sent me. They will know that you love my followers as much as you love me.

Father, I want everyone you have given me to be with me, wherever I am. Then they will see the glory that you have given me, because you loved me before the world was created. Good Father, the people of this world don’t know you. But I know you, and my followers know that you sent me. I told them what you are like, and I will tell them even more. Then the love that you have for me will become part of them, and I will be one with them. (John 17:20-26, CEV)

We must live and pray consistent with who we are, and what our mission is. The Church is to be one as God is One. Christians are to pray for unity because the triune God is always united. Believers everywhere need to remain in Christ through a vital connection of loving God and loving their neighbors. Amen.