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God has been showing and telling me so much lately that sometimes I’m feeling a little overwhelmed…but I don’t want Him to stop. I just need to rely on Him to process it all for me.

Part 2 is about not only SEEING but also ACTING.

Sunday, our sermon was about the greatest commandments and then the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37.

Matthew 22: 37-40

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Don’t remember where I heard this but it was explained that people sometimes talk about loving our neighbors MORE than ourselves because they don’t feel they love themselves very much. The speaker went on to debunk that “not me” attitude – by saying “for instance when you look at a group photograph, who do you look at FIRST?!?!?” Uh, yeah….we love ourselves plenty.  Not to be confused with low self-esteem or anything. We may have that. But we all have a tendency to think of ourselves first.

Who is my neighbor?

That’s what the expert in the law asked Jesus in Luke 10:25-37. My pastor explained that he not only wanted a clear definition of who he was to love, but WHO HE COULD IGNORE. Yikes!

Our “neighbors” aren’t always the people we may associate with, who look like us, who think like us, who agree with us. They may be.  But it’s probably going to be just the opposite most of the time.

Who is my neighbor?

Anyone of any race, creed or social background who is in need.

One of my blogger friends Anne has been having quite a lively discussion with an atheist…who is very vocal, shall we say, about his belief that we are all deluded. I have to admit my initial thoughts have not been in the “loving your neighbor” mode. More in the “cast not your pearls before swine” mode as another commenter said. However, Anne, in her loving way toward this man is showing me that I definitely need God’s Glasses to see and to act.

Who is my neighbor?

Even people who aren’t nice or easy to get along with or inconveniences me.

Anyone who is in need. The loving part means acting to fill that need.

I’ll confess – I find all the above challenging sometimes. OK a lot. It moves me OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE.

I heard about Judy Howard-Peterson, a chaplain at North Park University in Chicago, the other night during our Life Group.  A few years ago, she walked 4,200 miles across America. Why? These are her words:

This 4,200-mile journey allowed me to focus on two primary principles that I feel are essential to leaving an imprint on this earth. The first principle is one that most of us have a difficult time cultivating in our lives. This principle is the art of Being. I had very little space or margin in my life for God to do something new. And so, for me the primary goal of the walk was to learn how to make space for God and to find Him in the day to day steps of my life. The second focus of my journey across America was the commitment to walk with whomever God placed in my path. When people on the road asked me why I was walking, I would share my belief that Jesus never set up shop in the temple and asked people to make an appointment. He walked into their lives. I figure if I claim to be a follower of Jesus, I had better learn how to walk like he walked. And indeed after 4200 miles I do believe that walking the way Jesus walked is the only way to go.

Click here and scroll to the bottom to read her journal excerpts to find out about some of her neighbors, especially Under the Bridge, Spare Change, A Reason to Walk…oh, just read them all & be blessed.

Who is my neighbor?

Judy said, “If you notice them, they’re yours.”