All We Need Is "LOVE"

Religion does not have a patent on LOVE 
Nor can Religious Law or Church Doctrine contain it 
Sim Rushton 

Questions:   We often used the word training when it comes to animals but what about people.  Do we train people?  

Can you think of some positive ways you personally have been trained?  What about some negative Ways?    Have you ever personally felt restricted and confined or inadequate because of your training?   

Aug 23 2015 Hebrews 12: 18-29  Psalm 7  Luke 13: 10-17

Healing in Jesus time was consider part of the professional work of a Doctor and practising ones profession on the Sabbath was prohibited by religious law.  Therefore the great physician Jesus was breaking the law and was looked upon with scorn.   When Jesus confronts the leaders of the church with the truth about their abuse of the law, they are humiliated.  Every time Jesus shows up and begins to preform acts of compassionate love or speaks the truth it causes discomfort and division.  Isn't it ironic that every time truth shows up, instead of embracing it, most people, especially the religious both then and now want to shut it up.  Do you suppose, that there is something to this old saying “the truth hurts”.   Or is it a myth, because the scriptures tell us that the truth was not meant for hurt, the truth was meant to set you free.    

Listen to this story:    

A young man had found a baby eagle in the forest which had fallen out of its nest.  The man took the eagle home and placed it among the fowl, ducks and turkeys on his farm and gave it chicken food to eat.    Five years had passed when a naturalist had heard stories of an extraordinary chicken and so came to see it for himself.   The bird had grown into a magnificent creature with a wing span of over 12 feet.  “That is not a chicken” said the naturalist, “this is an eagle.”   No said the man, “I’ve trained it to be a chicken and it will never fly.”   “That’s ridiculous” said the naturalist  “Once an eagle always an eagle,  besides  it has the heart of an eagle and I can prove it to you.”       So he picked up the bird perched it on his arm and said, “You are an eagle, you belong to the sky not the earth, stretch your wings and fly.   But the birds head remained looking down, its saw the chickens eating and so, jumped to the ground and began plucking and eating.   “See” said the man “it’s a chicken and it will never fly”.   That naturalist would not give in and asked to take the bird up to the roof top and try again.  But the bird head looking down saw the chickens eating and jumped to the roof, then the ground and went back to plucking and eating.   “See I told you so” said the man “It is a chicken and it will never fly.”  The naturalist stunned, but not ready to give up, ask if he could try one more time.  So, the next morning he took the bird and went into the wilderness to a mountain top.  The sun was just beginning to rise above the peek.   He placed the magnificent bird on his arm and said “you are an eagle; you belong to the sky not the ground, spread your wings and fly”.  The bird trembling with its head still looking down, back and forth, but no one was there.   The naturalist gently lifted its head skyward so it could see and feel the brilliance of the morning sun, then all of a suddenly, with the screech of an eagle, the bird took to flight, higher and higher until it went out of sight. 

Although it had been tamed as a chicken, it really was and always will be an eagle. Now comes the question folks, and this might seem strange to you at first, but can anyone here relate to the eagle in the story.   How many of us have felt restricted, confined or held back by our training?  Never really feeling that we able to spread our wings and take to flight, never really experiencing our real full potential.  You may think this an odd question because when we think of training we usually think of an animal or pet, not humans.  But think about it folks, how many of the women here today can claim to have trained your husbands?  Right!!! or vice versa.      We all have been and do train ourselves and in many ways don’t we?    We train kids to ride a bike, play hockey, and compete athletically.  We train doctors, lawyers, teachers etc.   We can also train ourselves in the forming of habits, some good some bad.  TV and magazine advertisers love the fact that we can be trained. Trained to buy their technological wonders, clothing like Nike, Puma, Roots, Polo products like Mary K, auto-mobiles like Ford, Chrysler, Chev, Toyota you name it, we have been trained.  Now I will go one step further to say that most of us have had religious training of some sort, some bad, some good.   

A lady described  for me a therapy session where she was asked this question: “have you ever consider this, that everything your mother, father or your religion taught you might not be right or true?  Now for those who cannot get beyond their earthly parents as their true parent or claim that their religious doctrine is the way, this might be a hard pill to swallow.  But folks may I suggest to you that there is only one true parent, your heavenly parent, creator of us all and there is only one true way, and "the way" is love, shown to us through the divine light of the Christ.   

Before Christianity, Jesus offered and shows his disciples by example the WAY of God and in the process his followers became known as "People Of The Way"   This way of loving people was and still is so radical, no religion can claim to own the patent and it cannot not be contained by religious laws or church doctrine.  Gods love is not about following a set of rules, belonging to the right religion, doing good or about becoming successful in the eyes of the world.  It is all about being trained to love as we are loved, without conditions, not strings attached, a love full of forgiveness and grace.   This wisdom gave Jesus the insight and ability to love and forgive all.   Jesus understood that and we too must be enlightened by His love and forgiveness so it can free us from the bondage of Christian denominations, religious laws and church doctrine.   Jesus was trained and programmed to bridge religious barriers and to love not matter what.  It was because of his love that He broke the rules, healed the bent women and that same love can heal and restore you, and  His truth can set you free . 
Want to understand the root of this training.  Paul wrote about it in 1 Corinthians 13:  read it, study it, take in its wisdom, it is all about love.  There you shall find the attributes of your heavenly parent which brings real love, real peace and real contentment into your life and it will spill over into your family and your other relationships no matter what, be you poor or rich.  May I suggest that this is the only training we need, to know who’s we are and to love as we have been loved.  
                                                ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE