Morning Moments

God’s Standard for ALL Humanity
[Mark 12:30] And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
[31] And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Every human being will be held to this standard by God for this is what He requires of ALL humanity. There is but one problem with the standard, it is utterly impossible. God knows that but we will not admit it. The very fact that we think we can do it indicates our complete disregard for reality.

Israel had problems with Ten Commandments so God summarized them all with two, the two in our text. Let me ask some questions:

1. What are the names of your neighbors?
2. What have you done recently to express kindness toward them?
3. Are they free to share surface problems with you?
4. Do you pray faithfully for them?
5. If you are a Christian, have you shared your faith with them?
6. Do you treat them as you would desire to be treated?
7. Do they see you as trustworthy?

I understand that some of us at one time or another are faced with real challenges with our neighbors. Some of us have known and listed sex offenders in our neighbor-hoods, some have drug dealers or drug takers, some addicted to alcohol, some abusers. Some of us just don’t want to get involved so we pretend it is none of our business. That is between you and the Lord, but my desire is to HELP lovingly.

I want to reach, not reject. My desire is to do what I can while I can to get those in a burning fire out as quickly as possible, as safely as possible. Common sense is important but the leadership of the Holy Spirit is essential. We have neighbors who need us even though sometimes they don’t want us. That is why we must earnestly and fervently pray that God will open doors of communication for us to reach them, not reject them and even when necessary rebuke them, but always with longsuffering (fruit of the Spirit) and doctrine (the teaching of Scripture).

BLESSINGS!