From Pastor Zeke Page 1 From the Desk of Pastor Zeke Demonstrating God’s Love “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” - 1 John 4:7 The top 2 of the Christian faith- love God and love your neighbor- seem simple enough on the surface. When you get down to the nitty gritty of it, it is really tough. It can seem almost impossible to love God when everything is falling apart and God seems absent or at the very least apathetic to your woe. Have you ever shaken your fists at the sky and asked God “Why?” and God was silent? Reconciling faith with suffering may be the hardest work in one’s faith journey. I don’t have a simple plan as to how to go about this. The work is tough and requires a tenacious faith and some thick skin. Even now, I struggle with this myself. It certainly isn’t for the faint of heart. Also, when your neighbor is hateful, hurtful, egotistic, self-righteous, vindictive… it is hard to love them if not almost impossible. It is one thing to shake your fist at the sky at God but it is another when you know exactly what a person said or did and your trying to love them anyway. Faith begins where certainty ends. Faith itself is a gift from God. It is a gift from the graciousness of God for us to weather life and its storms. In part, we demonstrate God’s love with how we go about living our lives. The greatest testimony one can offer is the way they live their life. Actions do talk louder than words. When we gather on Wednesday to prepare our backpack food for the elementary we are demonstrating God’s love. You probably will never know one kid who receives a backpack but you are choosing to love anyways. When you do this, you demonstrate God’s love. Actions do not purchase God’s love. Actions testify to the love of God found in each of us. Actions become the hands and feet of Christ. Actions are faith in motion. Actions of love confront the darkness of our lives. For some, being a mere consumer of God’s love is just far enough with faith. For others, those seeking a deeper relationship with God, actions of love demonstrate and testify to the presence of God in our midst. It is in those individuals that the world becomes a better place and others have the potential to be blessed through us. In February, the love month, choose an avenue where you can demonstrate the love of God. There are tons happening just within our church. Let that work become an action of faith. In doing so you will not only demonstrate the love of God but you will also be transformed in the process. - Keep the Faith Strong, Zeke Wesley UMC Newsletter February 2020
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