Love One Another

" My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. I give you a new commandment: Love one another." -[John 13: 34-35].
" In a little while, the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you. . .  Do not let our hearts be troubled or afraid." -[ John 14: 23-29].


To say, "Love One Another", today, seems poignant and naive.

People who are not Christian, and who have not read the Word in the New Testament, would not recognize a Christian as one who "Loves one another as I [Jesus] has loved you." Critics of Christianity would not see that we are to know Jesus, and to recognize His followers as ones who show Love.  John 13: 34-35 says, "This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have Love for one another."

We modern people judge each other mercilessly :

A woman working in an office building is mocked for being "too thin".  It turns out she has cancer.

A guy who has turned to a vegetarian diet is ridiculed for being rigid about what he eats. It turns out he had blockage in most of his arteries. After heart surgery, his cardiologist told him that the only way to avoid a heart attack in the future is to eat no meat.

A student is harassed and bullied by another student. He goes to administration to ask for mediation and recourse. The student's grades plummet. He is told he did not "ask for help", and he is kicked out of school for poor work. The bully remains in school with no consequence.

A woman joins a prayer group. She has had many traumas in her life. She asks the prayer group to pray for her. The groups-leader prays, 'I hope you are not learning to become a victim.'

A young wife and mother learns that she has a serious and chronic disease. She tells her Christian friends about the new exercise and diet regimen recommended by her doctor.  One "friend", claiming to be a Christian, says that the mother is foolishly trying to cure herself and does not have enough Faith.

An older lady sits in the last pew at church. She has a racking cough. Each time Scripture is read or the pastor speaks, she murmurs, "Yes, Lord." And yet, people seated near her make faces and mock her. She has a chronic lung disease and is on oxygen.

We are known to each other, and to God, by our Love.

Our lack of Love today is heartless - and heartbreaking.

What passes for News - have you noticed?  - is actually shameless and shocking gossip, innuendo, cruelty, and lies. A newscaster or an online outlet broadcasts all this. Then it all spreads on social media. Each time the cruelties and lies are repeated, it is another nail crucifying Jesus.

We cannot claim to be Christian each time we participate vicariously in the Crucifixion of Jesus.
We cannot walk closer to Jesus, even as we spread lies and Hate and judgment against others whom we barely know. We cannot seek to love God, if we cannot love each other.

Loving one another is "Soul Work".  It means walking alongside one another, not standing to the side and slinging arrows. It means taking the time to comprehend each other's Joys, Sorrows and challenges.

It means "going deeper" into the Heart of another. . . Not judging from the surface and walking away, feeling smug and superior.

Love is a lot of hard work. But in the end, LOVE is all we really have!

[Related Posting: "The ABC's of Love", 4/27/13; "Hate = Murder", 2/127/11.]

(c) Spiritual Devotional 2019. All Rights Reserved.

The Voice

"Jesus said: 'My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me.  . . No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of my Father's hand. The Father and I are one.' "-[John 10: 27-30].

On the popular TV show, The View, Joy Behar ridiculed Christians for saying that they "hear Jesus' voice."  Bear said, "It's one thing to talk to Jesus. It's another thing  when Jesus talks to you." She went on to say that hearing voices is "a mental illness."

I have to say that when I decided to join my church, and my pastor was talking me through the process, he told me how to pray. After a few attempts at this practice, I ran back to him, "spooked" because I was getting answers! He chuckled and said, "Oh. I think you'll get used to it."

This "conversation" with Jesus is called Prayer. We humans may feel so limited that we believe that a conversation with Jesus is merely a one-way dialogue. We beg Jesus for forgiveness, or for personal favors, such as enough money to pay the bills, or an A+ on a test - but many of us are completely astonished when Jesus actually answers!

I have been meditating upon what Jesus' Voice is like, or what He is conveying?

Could I get confused if His Voice seems to point me in one direction, only to find it may be a false turn?

Certainly, Paul talks about the cacophony of voices in the world that can mislead or even wound. In
1 Corinthians 13: 1, Paul says, "If I speak in the tongues of men and angels but have not Love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal."

I am finding that the simplest way to discern if God is working through someone or if He is telling me which way to turn, IS THAT - when the message is not rooted in Love, it is not God!

These days, so-called friends have said some cruel things to me.  They berate me or are unkind or they judge over things they know nothing about. If I listened to everything the world told me to do, or told me about myself, I would be spinning and twisting as if buffeted by dangerous winds from all directions.

Becoming a Christian, growing as a Christian, is a long, hard walk. My pastor explained to me that we all have the Holy Trinity inside of us. The longing for God - Something or Someone greater and more eternal than ourselves- is innate; and we possess the capacity for His unconditional Love deep within us.

But anger, jealousy, bitterness, impatience and so forth threaten the fulfillment of that unconditional Love. When I hear those cruelties, I have a visceral response, because that is not what God wants for me, and that is not God speaking to me!

I have been whipped around by the viciousness of the world lately. Someone makes one small, unintentional mistake or utters something unwittingly insensitive, and that person is driven to the edge of society. This viciousness is flamed by social media and lives on forever in the cloud. The person who erred is never forgiven and never allowed to redeem himself.

But then again, complete strangers have spoken the Word of God to me, have lifted me up with their kindness and wisdom.

That is, that must be Jesus' Voice! That Love and compassion is what I shall follow:

"I heard the voice of Jesus, say, 'I am this dark world's Light; Look unto me, thy morn shall rise, and all thy day be bright. I looked to Jesus, and I found in Him my Star, my Sun; And in that Light of life I'll walk, Till traveling days are done." -[Hymn: "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say."]

[Related Postings: "She Talks To God", 4/23/18; "The Shepherd's Voice", 5/8/17; "Hearing the Shepherd's Voice", 4/19/16".]

(c) Spiritual Devotional 2019. All Rights Reserved.

Feed My Lambs

"Simon Peter [and the disciples] went out and got into the boat [to go fishing], but that night they caught nothing.  . .  Jesus said to them, 'Children, have you caught anything to eat?' They answered Him, 'No.'  So He said to them, 'Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.'  So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord.'
When the climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. . . Jesus said to them, 'Come have breakfast.' Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish.
Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon Peter, do you love me more than these?'
Simon Peter answered Him, 'Yes, Lord, you know I love you.'
Jesus said to him, 'Feed my lambs.'
He then said to Simon Peter a second time, 'Simon, do you love me?'
Simon Peter answered Him, 'Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.'
Jesus said to him, 'Tend my sheep.'
Jesus said to him a third time, 'Simon, do you love me?'
Peter was distressed that Jesus had said [this] to him a third time, and he said to Him, 'Lord you know everything; you know that I love you.'
Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep.'
And when He had said this, He said to him, 'Follow me.' "
 -[John 21: 1-19].


This Scripture is laden with symbolism: when Jesus' ministry began, he appealed to the disciples to leave their nets and become "Fishers of Men". This meal on the shores of the Sea of Tiberias mirrors in a poignant and earthly way, the Last Supper which became the basis of Communion for Christians. Upon Jesus taking the bread and the fish, and giving it to His disciples, Jesus is recognized for who He is. The great number of fish in the net has been numbered at 153, the number of different kinds of fish believed to be in the sea at that time; meaning that Jesus and His disciples fish for ALL, not just for some.

But the most important and poignant part of this Scripture is when Jesus says, "Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep."

In the series, "Jesus: His Life" aired over Easter week on the History channel, Biblical scholars argue that Simon Peter, having denied Jesus three times before His Crucifixion, returns to fishing believing that he is a failure; and that the Way, the Truth and the Life are over.

Imagine Peter's astonishment when the Risen Jesus appears at the shore. Not only does Jesus literally feed His disciples, he commands them to go forth and to, "Feed my lambs."

This ministry of nourishment can be found in this meal of fish and bread, and more crucially, in the meal of the Eucharist. But, this ministry of nourishment expands into a worldwide command to love others- when Jesus tells His disciples, "Follow me."

Jesus makes the command to love others directly personal. Nothing can be more clear than the explicit connection with Jesus established in Matthew 25: "And He will answer, 'I tell you the truth, when you refused help to the least of one of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.' " -[Matthew 25:45; New Living Translation.]

I read the news and social media today - and what I read is judgment, hard-heartedness, hate, jealousy, scapegoating, contempt, abuse, harassment, ego, selfishness, racism, violence and so forth.

Yes, there is good and evil. Yes, we must fight for justice.

But, however it is that we approach the poor, the ill, the marginalized, the folks who stumble badly - THAT approach is what we do to Jesus Himself.

Christians "have an irresistible love for the down-trodden, the sick, the wretched, the wrong, the outcast and all who are tortured with anxiety." -[Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "The Cost of Discipleship"].  We do not judge such as these, instead we share their burdens and we work to alleviate their sufferings.

Nor do we respond with violence, verbal or otherwise, at being rejected by the world. For the world does reject us for refusing to accommodate its selfishness and greed, its vicious judgment of others, its bitterness and war. "The disciples keep the peace by choosing to endure suffering themselves rather than inflict it upon others." -[D. Bonhoeffer].

A Christian judges others for their struggles or their mistakes- at his peril - because, "Every idle word which we think so little of, betrays our lack of respect for our neighbor, and shows that we place ourselves on a pinnacle above him and value our own lives higher than his.  . Let us see whether we have tried to win popularity by falling in with the worlds' hatred, its contempt . . For if we do, we are murderers." -[D. Bonhoeffer.] For as we display anger with our brother, or judge him despite the immensity of our own sins, we assert ourselves as God.

Consider the sum total of all news and social media content. . . what percentage of it amounts to contempt, anger, egoism, and the inserting ourselves as a false God in society?

Because, in the end, only Love vanquishes all sin, all evil, all fear, all rejection and abandonment. Jesus proves this, as He loves and forgives Peter three times- that Love of Jesus triumphing over Peter's thrice denials before the cross.

Because, "Who needs our Love more than those who are consumed with hatred and are utterly devoid of Love?" -[D. Bonhoeffer].

[Related Postings: "Feed Me", 4/11/16; "Do You Love Me?", 4/14/13.].

(c) Spiritual Devotional 2019. All Rights Reserved.

Worshipping In Fear

"On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of [crucifixion], Jesus came and stood in their midst and said them, 'Peace be with you.'  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.' " -[John 20: 19-31].


On the morning of the first day of the week- - Sunday - - Mary of Magdala "came to the tomb early in the morning while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb." -[John 20:1-9]. Jesus in physical body was gone! He had risen!

That evening, the disciples hid in fear in a locked room. They were terrified that they, too, would be crucified. It seems hard to believe that the disciples were not out right away, preaching and healing and converting unbelievers.

But, it is clear from their actions and demeanor, even before the Crucifixion in the Garden of Gesthemani, that the disciples were confused, overwhelmed, and fearful. It is quite possible that they did not even comprehend what had just happened.

Yes, Jesus had told them for a long time, how He had to suffer and die and return to His Father. But, when someone says that to you, there is an air of unreality, as if it is all a dream or perhaps a nightmare. That cannot BE, the disciples likely agonized.

The central story of Easter is that Jesus came to walk among us, to show us in human form the unconditional Love of His Father. The other enduring part of the story is that there is another life to come, in Heaven, which is made possible to us because of Jesus' Resurrection and Ascension.

The disciples' reaction to this is very much a mirror of our own reactions - incredulity; unawareness of its Truth; somnolence, as in the way the disciples literally fell asleep in the Garden of Gesthemani; confusion even as to Jesus' identity. And yes - Fear.

It is one thing to have an idea of the Divine, and of another Life in the supernatural. It is another thing to live it and confront it and experience it. Imagine Mary of Magdala's utter joy, but total shock, upon discovering that Jesus was simply gone!

But, imagine also the terror of the disciples when they realize the true cost of being followers of Jesus. He paid with His Life. The disciples could very well do the same.

The dawn of Easter brings the "dawning" realization that devotion to Jesus cannot be half-hearted. Jesus wants all of us, in the same way that He gave all of Himself, to us.

I see plenty of Fear in faith communities today. Synagogues and mosques and churches are being bombed and being subjected to mass shootings. I cannot in any way mock the Fear of the disciples. Their fear, OUR fear, are well-founded in some ways.

God and Jesus do not want merely a Sunday devotion. They want us to devote our lives- and our Life - to them. Our walk with Jesus merely begins on Sunday, but it continues on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday . . .

And Jesus walks WITH us: Jesus the wounded, Risen Christ, who walks through walls to reach us, who calls us all disciples because, "As the Father has sent me, so I send YOU."



The world's churches and mosques and synagogues, by rights, should be filled with worshippers, who literally stand up to be counted. The Faithful are not called to hide in the dark, in fear.

The Faithful are called to come out in the light, to BE the light.

Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about "Cheap Grace" vs. "Costly Grace."  "Cheap Grace" is the kind of Faith that requires us to merely sit in church on Sundays and sing hymns. "Costly Grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again. . . It is costly because it costs a man his life, because it cost God the life of His Son."

Bonhoeffer goes on to write: "The messengers of Jesus will be hated to the end of time. They will be blamed for all the divisions which rend cities and homes. Jesus and His disciples will be condemned on all sides for undermining family life, and for leading nations astray; they will be called crazy fanatics and disturbers of the peace. The disciples will be sorely tempted to desert their Lord."

And WHY would a Christian ever contemplate such a journey, such a Grace Walk? Because Jesus shows us His wounds, and as He shows us the Truth of His wounds, He shows us that He is one of us, and we belong to Him.

[Related Postings: "Peace Be With You", 4/8/18; "Without a Doubt", 4/26/17; "Fear", 4/4/16; "The Benefit of Doubt", 4/29/14; "His Divine Mercy", 5/17/12; "The Truth of His Wounds"; "Doubt", 5/1/11].

(c) Spiritual Devotional 2019. All Rights Reserved.