Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. It’s a cool and clear day in Virginia and I spent my time reading my Instruction Manual on the porch this morning. I lingered with the Master of my Life and I clung to His Word as if they were both “new” to me. This morning I couldn’t let go of one very small chapter with a very big Message of Love. Even though I’ve read it before, the Compassionate message overwhelmed me…so I read it over and over again today. A simple letter was written from a prison cell by someone who once would have killed someone like me over my Faith in Jesus Christ. But God got ahold of that guy and He changed his Heart the same way He changed mine. He went from persecuting people like me to Loving people like me in ways that can only be understood by Understanding the Heart and Nature of the Living God. One simple letter filled with Love and I’m flying high to put into Action what I learned this morning from the front porch. Isn’t that just like God?

If there’s one thing that can cause me to lose my patience it’s hearing people of Faith judging other people for where they are (or aren’t) in Life. It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not true – if it’s a big offense or a little one – we were all Created by the Hand of the Living God and He loves us ALL the same. That’s a tough pill for arrogant Christians to swallow. The arrogant ones want to pass judgment, and they prefer to spread their own version of “truth” about someone they may or may not have ever even met. Somehow they’ve convinced themselves that they are one of God’s “filters” here on earth to determine who is worthy of Him and who isn’t. They’re told NOT to cast stones…but they do it anyway. They’re told NOT to judge… but they do it anyway. They claim to believe that Christ died for ALL of us but they Live (and judge) as if they’ve “earned” the Grace of God. I’ll bet if I handed one of the arrogant ones a letter from a prisoner – a man who was once so cruel to Christians – a man who perhaps had persecuted a friend or family member – a man who shared His Faith from behind bars – they’d probably mock him, spit on the ground, and refuse to read his letter at all. But that’s not the way God sees the sinner. It’s man who creates “categories” of sin, and it’s man who quickly judges based on how “bad” it is. BUT when it comes to Jesus…HE DIED FOR ALL…a (not so) minor detail the arrogant ones forget.

There are plenty of people of Faith who claim to “love everybody” but their actions tell an entirely different story. You can’t “love everybody” and pass your own judgment on their lives. You can’t “love everybody” and shun them because of their wrongs. You can’t “love everybody” if you’re glad when people get what they deserve in your eyes. You can’t “love everybody” and scurry off to the other side of the street to avoid them. You can’t “love everybody” if you have no compassion for them. You can’t “love everybody” if you have the means to help but refuse to because of where they are in life. In fact, the Bible says “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” Hmm…”how can the love of God be in that person?” That question should keep lots of people professed Christians awake at night…but somehow it doesn’t phase them at all. The One I follow hung out with some pretty “low” people and He loved them enough to die for them the same as He did me. If you REALLY want to be a Follower of His, being willing to Love ALL is at the top of the Qualification List. “The greatest of these is love.”

I’m an imperfect woman living an imperfect life but it is my desire to LOVE the way Christ tells me to love and I’ll never take for granted the Gift that was given to me without judgment. He “saved a wretch like me” when I didn’t deserve it, and He loved me through it all. He met me where I was and He saw what was possible for me in the Journey of Faith and Ministry. I want to meet people where they are too no matter what their offenses look like or where they are or aren’t in life because I remember where I was too before Christ got ahold of my Heart. I want to extend Compassion and Love the same way Paul the prisoner did so long ago. Thank you, God. Thank you, Paul…a prisoner for Jesus Christ.

How about you?