1 Thessalonians 2:7 But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. (NASB)

Central Texas has been hit with heavy rains lately. The drought is over. Praise God. The storms have been very heavy. Saturday night found us with tornado warnings and flood alerts. Our phones went off three times during the night with the weather alerts. I had been awake since 2 A.M. and around 4 the electric power went out.

Sometime around 5 in the morning I received a call from my accountability partner. “How are you doing? Are you OK?” What a sweet thing to do, to call and check on us. That is the kind of partner I have. Well he is that and more.

“Electric is out and the rain is coming down hard but we are on high ground, so we will be alright. How are you doing?” I answered.

That’s when I heard in a calm clear voice, deeply embedded in faith, “We are standing on the roof waiting on a rescue helicopter to spot us and take us out. We lost the cars and the house is flooded.”

There is the heart of our Lord and Savior at work in one who believes with deep abiding faith, who loves as the Lord would have us. A YOU FIRST credo has been part of our church from the beginning. Never before had I seen it lived out so profoundly as this Sunday morning.

May the Lord give me the strength to live up to this shining example of Christ in my brother.

Romans 15:2 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.

Who is my neighbor? Is it the guy next door? In this case, one has to look beyond location to answer that question. If the end result is edification, then the people living next door are NOT my neighbor. I say that because they are not Christians. Edification, a building up, can only occur within the body of Christ.

When Jesus was asked this question He answered with the parable of the good Samaritan. The parable is significant to the answer in that it portrays Jesus. In this day and age we are the body of Christ, so therefore our neighbors in this sense are members of the body of Christ.

Does Jesus teach us how to entreat the lost? Absolutely, but those actions are not related to edification. I cannot help but think that some of our frustrations in witnessing to the lost is that we mix behaviors and actions meant for edifying Christians. We do not see the results we expect because you cannot build up that which does not have Christ as the Cornerstone.

Matthew 5:42-44 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

These instructions become difficult to follow if discerned without the guiding hand of the spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:13-15 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

This I write for your edification my brothers and sisters in Christ.