Week 37 Daily Dose of Love
#253 (9/10)
Who Can Be
Saved
Matthew 19:25-26
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, “Then who can be saved?”
But Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
Mark 10:26-31
They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus
looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”
Luke 18:26-30
Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” He replied, “What is impossible
for mortals is possible for God.”
The disciples ask a question that has profound implications
for all of humanity: Who can be saved?
We cannot save ourselves through our own efforts. The kingdom of
God is unlike any earthly accomplishment. In fact, it is not an accomplishment at all. Love is a gift
to us from our creator. We can open ourselves to receive it, but we cannot make it ourselves, any more
than we can make the sun shine or rain fall.
Recognizing love as a gift keeps
us from becoming preoccupied with our own efforts, successes, or failures. It helps us view
each situation as an opportunity to share our gift and to remain receptive to the love of God, which feeds us all.
Reflection/Discussion:
How can dwelling on being saved become
an obstacle to actually being saved?
Principles of Love:
Nature; Humility
Pray Through the Day:
We were created
From God’s love
#254 (9/11)
The Last Will Be First
Matthew 19:27-30
Then Peter said in reply, “Look, we have left everything
and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal
of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or
father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life.
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.
Mark 19:28-31
Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left
everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house
or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will
not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and
in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
Luke 18:28-30
Then Peter said, “Look, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he
said to them, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for
the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not get back very much more in this age, and in the age to come, eternal life.”
Those
who put their self-interest first will be last because they are the least loving. Love is universal and
all-inclusive. It brings us together. Self-interest separates and elevates our ego by
placing our own individual needs above God’s desire for all of us to reach our full potential in his love.
Love transcends self-interest by extending beyond personal desire and preference. Those who put their self-interest
last are first in the eyes of Jesus. This requires deep trust and receptivity to God’s love.
It is not a matter of ignoring our own health and well being as much as realizing that the kingdom of God is open to
those who strive to improve the well being of all of creation. Those who are first in love are last in self-centeredness.We become more loving when we let go of personal attachments
and make room for God’s love in our hearts. This increases the total amount of love that is available
in the world making it a more loving place to live. Those who strive to be first have a limited view of
creation and the kingdom of God. We are able to see more of the whole picture when we place ourselves last.
Reflection/Discussion:
How do we let go of putting ourselves first?
Principles of Love:
Humility; Vision; Unity; Nature
Pray Through the Day:
Help us be humble
So we may love
#255 (9/12)
Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard
Matthew 20:1-16
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers
for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard.
When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he
said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.
When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five
o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all
day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’
When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay,
beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came,
each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more;
but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the
landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of
the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no
wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to
give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to
me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
The kingdom of heaven
is not a reward for effort. It is fulfillment resulting from being open and receptive to God’s love.
Love is not a means to an end or even an end in itself. It is simply a natural response to our creator. There is no economics of love, nothing to sort or track. With true love,
there is no accounting, no score, no competition, and no losers. The whole universe expands with every
act of love. No cost/benefit analysis and no rate of return can be calculated from love.
Trying to measure
love is like counting the brush-strokes of a beautiful painting. The number of brush strokes has absolutely
nothing to do with the quality or depth of meaning that can be seen in a beautiful work of art. God loves us because that is his nature. We love God when we realize our nature. It
is not a matter of how or when we open our hearts. The only thing that really matters is that we join God’s
loving kingdom.
Reflection/Discussion:
How can we avoid thinking about reward for spiritual effort.
Principles of Love:
Humility; Nature; Unity; Acceptance; Opening
Pray Through the Day:
Help us be humble
So we may love
#256 (9/13)
The Death of Lazarus
John 11:1-16
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary
and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her
hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love
is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it
is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place
where he was.
Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea
again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and
are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those
who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at
night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our
friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” The disciples said to him,
“Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about
his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus
is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Jesus allows Lazarus
to die in order to show us that love is more powerful than death. Just as light allows us to see clearly,
love allows us to live with clarity. In darkness there is fear and uncertainty but when the light of love
is in our hearts we need not fear even death because we can see where we are going. Reflection/Discussion:
What might Jesus’ response to Lazarus
teach us about how God responds to tragedy in our lives?
Principles of Love:
Vision; Opening
Pray Through the Day:
Open our eyes
To deepen our love
#257 (9/14)
Jesus the Resurrection and Life
John 11:17-27
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already
been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had
come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she
went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my
brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know
that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the
resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in
me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are
the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
Jesus makes it very clear that, for those who are receptive to God’s love, death
is merely a transition to eternal life. Jesus created the foundation for love on earth. Everything
that is built on this foundation is built on love, which is the basis for all of creation. Belief in Jesus is not a mental
concept. “Thoughts, images, and concepts are only symbols and commentaries, we can get into trouble
when we mistake them for reality... If we cling to solid images of God, we wind up worshiping our thoughts about God instead
of God. This is a spiritual neurosis, an idolatry of the mind.” “...To be open to the truth of love, we must relinquish our frozen comprehensions and begin instead
to appreciate. To comprehend is to grasp; to appreciate is to value.... Love, the life of our heart, is
not what we think. It is always ready to surprise us, to take us beyond our understandings into a reality
that is both insecure and wonderful.”
It is when we believe in Jesus through our hearts that we are able to transcend worldly death
and be resurrected into the kingdom of God’s love.
Reflection/Discussion:
How can we learn to believe from our hearts?
Principles
of Love:
Opening;
Vision; Learning
Pray Through the Day:
Open our hearts
To your love
#258 (9/15)
Jesus Weeps
John 11:28-37
When she had said this, she went back and called her
sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when
she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still
at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary
get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also
weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews
said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes
of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
Emotions connect and unite us. They are an integral part of human nature.
Recently discovered tribes in New Guinea who never had outside human contact exhibit the same facial expressions and
body posture in response to emotions as everyone else on this planet. Humans in every culture, time, and place experience the
same basic emotions.. Jesus, who was a man with tremendous inner strength and character, wept openly.
He puts to rest the ridiculous notion that crying is a sign of weakness. Crying is a natural response
to sadness, loss, and hurt. Even though Jesus knows that Lazarus will be raised, he cries in response to
the deep sadness of those around him. Emotions are not necessarily logical. They are
activated by a part of our brain that is separate from the centers for logic and reasoning. Emotions are
our heart’s response to experience and perception.
Jesus, being fully human, cries
because it is the human thing to do when a loved one dies.
Reflection/Discussion:
What happens when we suppress emotion?
Principles of Love:
Acceptance; Opening
Pray Through the Day:
Not my will
But
yours be done
#259 (9/16)
Jesus Raises Lazarus
John 11:38-44
Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave,
and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of
the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus
said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So
they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I
knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that
you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to
them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Love does not die. It may get tied up and buried. There
may even be a stench if it is covered up too long. But when Jesus is present, it never dies.
Love is the source of eternal life. It has little to do with individual accomplishment or achievement,
so Jesus makes it very clear that it is the love of his father working through him that returns Lazarus to life. Love can be resurrected even when it has been entombed by a long history of self-centered
attachments and addictions. God’s love is always present in our hearts no matter how much we may bury or bind it with
illusions of what we think will make us happy. Love is a constant flow that waits patiently for us to roll
back the stone that hardens our heart so that the light of God’s love can penetrate the self-absorption that limits
our vision and freedom.
Reflection/Discussion:
Were does love need to be resurrected in our lives?
Principles of Love:
Opening
Pray Through the Day:
Open our hearts
To your love 
