PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Matthew 12:1-21
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“The Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.” (Matthew 12:14)
You can tell that Jesus is a true prophet by his fruit (Matthew 7:15-20).
The Pharisees on the other hand show their true colours.
Jesus works to heal and help, the Pharisees to plot and kill.
You can tell whether a person is motivated by love or not.
They might claim to be law keepers, or bible followers.
But without love, they are a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
Love does not mean that you always agree or ignore bad things.
Love can rebuke and correct, but you will sense the love in it.
In Jesus we see the sacrifice he makes to show his love.
The Pharisees are prepared to kill, Jesus is prepared to die.
In our polarized world, you can sense whether people are motivated by love.
Love seeks to understand, to heal what is broken, to help those who are different.
Non-love is harsh, judgmental, accusatory, finger-pointing, and forceful.
To be honest, I often do not feel the love in how the church works today.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, it does not help for me to be critical of the church. Can people feel the love in me? Am I plotting ways to serve, to bless, to heal, to help, and can others sense it?
That answer to your prayer question is a resounding yes! If some people do not “feel-the-love”, it’s because they are distracted and/or are just not listening and/or are engaged in their own agenda or their troubles.
Re: “Not feeling the love in how the church works today” … I get you there, but keeping in mind, the “Church” is a just a bunch of imperfect people who likely have a really hard time being collectively objective & unbiased. Having said that, “individually”, from what I hear from others, the love is STILL flowing and that’s why people are hurting. Hurting for the church (and for it’s people & hurting for you). We love the church, but the church is as broken as the rest of the world, so we have to keep our focus on Jesus. You do that and you help us to do that too as Jesus speaks through you … so thank you & thank you LORD Jesus!