In the story you are about to read, Messiah was very plain about what was about to begin happening within the ranks of the high priests. Could this have been the straw that broke the camels back for Nicodemus?
Before healing the sick man’s hand on Sabbath, Messiah said, “Is it lawful to restore life on Sabbath or to destroy it?” The Savior then restored life by healing the man’s hand. The Pharisees then destroyed life by laboring in this way: {But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Messiah.}
The Savior: Resting in God’s work. The Savior was building the kingdom, one obedient action at a time.
Pharisees: Toiling with Satan
Who kept the Sabbath that day?
Nicodemus was mighty and courageous for risking his life for what he knew was right. He must have seen that the Sabbath was kept by Yeshua, and broken by his own people, even when The Messiah warned them not to. It must have been as plain as the nose on His face.
As young Americans we are taught that love is the overwhelming feeling one gets when one is around a special somebody. These feelings, we learn, can be powerful enough to shape the path of our lives. I want to help you see the true definition and proper Biblical application of love.
Here is an example of an elder teaching a younger non-Biblical love. If this describes the beginning of your relationship, I am sure you have either reached the point of divorce, or more likely have learned that love is actually all about sacrifice for the sake of your spouse. Sacrifice, trust, and most importantly forgiveness while trusting The Lord. We are learning these things together.
When people talk about “I love Jesus” they think they are being honest because of the way kids are taught what love is. By that definition ^^^^^ , they are being honest. Why, Jesus gives them a warm fuzzy feeling and they know they can count on Him for anything. That is not loving Jesus. It is liking Jesus a lot or just plain needing Jesus.
Love’s definition is very very complicated. I have rewritten this as I have learned that God did not show me all of what love is, just one facet or sliver of it.
I have learned that this is only a small part of love’s definition: To love something is to sacrifice time, energy, etc for the object of your love. Sounds simple, until it is practiced. By that definition we all love sleep, food, being sheltered and entertained. These basic needs sculpt our daily habits because we sacrifice to ensure we have them in our lives.
Today, I drove something like eight miles out of my way for coffee. ” I love (misnomer) coffee” would be a common reason for my choice. Correctly stated would be “I need coffee”. In reality, I do not really like coffee. To be honest, I wish I did not drink coffee; none-the-less I am living in a state where I go out of my way for it. We are learning that like a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square, sometimes love and need are the same thing and sometimes they are not.
The perceived outcome of having a need in one’s life is to better one’s station.
To truly love, the perceived outcome is to better the station of one or many around the persondoing the loving.
If you love enough in this world, people will begin to need you. How wonderful it is when a person loves, and receives love in return. There is a lot of love going around in the book of Ruth: Love given and love returned. It is beautiful and is the beginning of the consummation of the Davidic line: The line Messiah is born into. Am I about to take the scriptural definition of love and turn to Messiah? Yep. He created love. He created the owners manual for life too. It is focused on Him and He is the best at loving. He intended for us to love Him. In loving Him we learn how to love those around us.
Here is the sad truth followed by good news: In the case of The Lord, most of us do not go out of our way to love Him. We may have once or twice, or once or twice a month, or every so often throughout the week, but most of the time we are busy surviving. Very seldom do many of us meet people who are loving Messiah day in and day out. If you replace what you just learned about love with need, then yes, most Christians love (need) Jesus. The question is does He need you? Messiah needed the apostle Paul and Paul loved (sacrificed for) The Savior.
The Savior is like a good Dad who continues to love us even though we are constantly tugging at His coat tails and throwing His name around to better our station. We want Him to carry our weight. He is an awesome Father as He does carry most of the weight and He always will.
Here is a great way to love The Savior: It is very, very small, but does show Him love. Hold down the shift key anytime you begin a title that is referencing Him: God, The Lord, Him, They, Him Who Created The Universe, The Best Father Ever… etc, etc. Just be careful when typing God that, if you mean Satan, you type god in lowercase. Satan is the god of earth as The Savior has given him that power. It is because He loves us that He allows him to be used as a chastening tool so we can learn how to better glorify Him! It can frustrate you to see such a simple way to show God’s importance overlooked by people who are convinced that they love him.
Our job is to choose what to sacrifice for and more importantly to give Our life to Messiah so He can reveal to us things about ourselves and others that will aid us in loving Him according to His wishes. The Savior speaks to us all through His word: “God, who at sundry times and divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets. Whom in these last days has spoken unto us by His Son, Whom He hath appointed Heir of all things.” You guys have a good day today and love you some Messiah.
