”And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:” (Matt 5:1)
We all know what comes next; it’s easy to find! Right there in Matthew 5. All we have to do is read. Takes about a minute. . . or two at most. I just read through Mathew 16 twice, then all the way through to 48. ‘Tis a beautiful chapter in the Bible. I think I know what it means, at least to me. . . today. Tomorrow it may mean something else to me. Who knows?
That’s the beauty of the Gospels; when speaking, reading, and writing about God, depending upon one’s circumstance, the stories can mean so many different things. The only constant is God, who dwells within me all the time.
Jesus was a great orator. Whenever He spoke, people listened and understood. He spoke in parables allowing those close to God to receive the blessings. He always spoke of Love. God always speaks of Love. All we have to do is listen and understand. No secret. . . just listen to understand.
I just happened to open my Bible to Isaiah this morning, Isaiah 3 to be Exact. And as I’m reading, I’m saying to myself. My God, are you speaking about the United States today? Are we due for a downfall? Our president is threatening to take over two more countries as he has already taken over Venezuela. Our Congress seems too weak to stand up to him. He is putting armed forces in the street To calm protests while supporting protests in other countries.
As I’m reading Isaiah 3, I’m comparing the United States society, Of which I am guilty., and I’m saying that is us; that is me; we are complicit and falsely building up our country. Almost a blueprint of Isaiah! Is Isaiah speaking of us? Is it too late to tur around? Dear, God in heaven. OH, God surrounding us. Oh, Ancient God of the Israeli world, Yahweh! Please join us! Please help us to save us from ourselves. Please do not make it be too late. . .
I believe in the poor in spirit, for they have shown us the kingdom of heaven. I believe in those who those who mourn, for they will show us how to be comforted. I believe in those who are meek, for they will show us how to inherit the earth. I believe in those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will show us to be filled.
I believe in those who are merciful, for they will show us how to attain mercy.
I believe in those who are pure in heart, for they will show us how to see God.
I believe in those who are the peacemakers, for they will show us how to be called children of God. I believe in those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for they will show us the way to the kingdom of heaven.
This is why I pray: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt 5:16)
Russell Kendall Carter, BA. MAT. Dlitt.
If you are inspired, read my latest book. Kindle eBook $3.99
We attend church and pray. And we know and understand and do our best to do what our leaders suggest. We volunteer and give to various causes in the community. We pride ourselves and say that this is enough and return to our lives of hard work and hard play.
Maybe we should put the love we learn in church into action in the form of love in the community. We should take our love and share this, not necessarily with the person in the pew next to us, but with the poor family living in the dirt of the city streets. And we must share our most precious possession, our wealth.
Is it necessary to show off driving to church in a Porsche 911 when a Ford Mustang is also sporty? Jesus asks us to love our neighbor as ourselves, but we don’t. Let us forget our tithe and begin to share. Stewardship is making sure our neighbor has enough to support himself, not enough to continually accept handouts.
Henceforth, let us love God with all our hearts, then love our neighbor as ourselves. Then perhaps you will understand when I say ,“I Love You!”
As we get closer to December 25th, I wonder at all the wonder sights I see as my wife, and I drive around our small town of Smalltown USA. I know it is the Christmas season, but I am in no mood to celebrate in a country that seems to be preparing for an unnecessary war. Our leaders seem to be daring the leaders of a southern country to make a daring move so that our leaders have the perfect reason to “ open fire” ASAP.
I have never been to war, but I did train to go to war when I served in the United States Marine Corps long, long ago. caring and compassion in their vocabulary or their daily understanding of others’ lives. I do not say that others are not loving people; it is just that they do not understand that the poor people they see n the street are living souls who also have lives and dreams other than poverty and misery. They hear the sermons in church and are heartbroken but cannot believe it is happening right in their own communities.
The time has come for us to reconcile our hearts and minds with all others. Our dislike and mistrust of people with different religions, or people who come from a country different from ours, must be eliminated. Look at our immediate neighbors. We all love God, no matter what name we call him; we all pray to God, no matter whether we kneel, stand, or prostrate ourselves to do this. We all have children that we love and cherish, and we all have worked to improve the American society when we were younger to leave a better country for our children and grandchildren.
We did this with divided us, love in our hearts, not hate. We did this with the idea that we wanted a better place to leave our children than the one we grew up in. It seems that things and society did get better for a while, then another war broke us apart,
We are a see-saw society; one year we love God; one year we don’t. But each year we celebrate His birth and each year we mourn His death. Hypocrites all!
Christmas is five days away. This year, when you see a homeless person at the corner, don’t drive right, by, give him or her a five-dollar bill and wish him a very merry Christmas. Who knows, it may help her buy an extra something for her family and make her Christmas special. And it might even give you a little extra tingle also.
Merry Christmas, Readers, I love you.
Russell Kendall Carter, BA. MAT. Dlitt.
If you are inspired, read my latest book. Kindle eBook $3.99
Meditating to Heal 
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