Hello brother and sisters of Africa, greetings from the
United States of America! My name is Keith Davidson and I am a friend of
Sylvester. I hope your time during this general conference has been and will
continue to be a blessing. I have something on my heart to share that I titled
Righteousness, Justice, Mercy, and Love.
God is good and His love is as high as the heavens, He created us to love us and to be loved by us. Everything about Him is good and He desires good for you, for your family, for your friends, for the city you live in, for your country, for Africa and for the world. We are to be ambassadors of Gods love, the good news of hope and life in God that Jesus bought through his death and resurrection.
Righteousness
He wants us to walk in truth and righteousness, to speak
honestly and to let our words be continually full of or covered with grace as
it says in Colossians,
Colossians 4:5-6
5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders;
make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your
conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know
how to answer everyone.
Our trust and continued faith in God is considered a
righteous act before God as it was for Abraham.
Romans
4:2-3
2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."
Our righteousness is in our honesty, good works, grace
toward others, and in our trust and faith in God. Trust Him with all of your
heart.
God desires justice in the earth; He desires the sick, the
needy, and the oppressed to find comfort, hope and peace in life. We can extend
justice to others by helping those in need and by always speaking the
truth.
Psalm 106:3
Blessed are they
who maintain justice,
who
constantly do what is right.
Isaiah 61:8
"For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery and iniquity.
In my faithfulness I will reward them
and make an everlasting covenant with them.
Remember to seek wisdom concerning justice in all that you do.
Mercy
God desires our lives to be full of mercy all of the time.
Jesus told us how to be merciful in Luke chapter 10.
Luke 10:25-37
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27 He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37 The
expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus
told him, "Go and do likewise."
Remember to always be merciful.
Love
Most of
all God who the bible says is love desires us to love Him and to love others,
love ties all things together.
Matthew 22:36-38
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
It is our benefit to love God and to be loved by Him because He is great and beyond finding out. The Bible describes Him as a consuming fire and our great reward.
Hebrews 12:28
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our "God is a consuming fire."
‘A consuming fire’ helps to describe God’s awesomeness and great and powerful love.
Genesis 15:1
After
this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
"Do
not be afraid, Abram.
I
am your shield,
your
very great reward.
God Himself will be our great reward,
1 Corinthians 2:9
However, as it is written:
"No eye
has seen,
no
ear has heard,
no mind has
conceived
what God has
prepared for those who love him"
Love one another not just in words but also with much compassion.
Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in
Christ God forgave you.
The story
of the good Samaritan demonstrates the love we should show to others, the same
love we would like others to show to us when we are in need. Remember always to
love God and to love those around you both those that are Christians and those
that do not know Jesus.
The
follow story is from a book called the Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning.
Remember God put the law in place for the good of mankind and to help man. This
story is a story of righteousness, justice, mercy, and love … (I hope you can
understand the English)
A story is told about Fiorello
LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the
Great Depression (1930’s in the US) and all of World War II (1940’s in the US),
was called “the Little Flower” by adoring New Yorkers because he was only five
foot four and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character
who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the
police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the
New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the
Sunday funnies to the kids.
One bitterly cold night in January
of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of
the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench
himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him,
charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter’s
husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were
starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop
the charges. “It’s a bad neighborhood, Your Honor,” the man told the mayor.
“She’s got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson.”
LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the
woman and said, “I’ve got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions – ten
dollars or ten days in jail.” But even as he pronounced the sentence, the mayor
was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into
his famous sombrero (hat), saying, “Here is the ten dollar fine, which I now
remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everybody in this courtroom fifty
cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her
grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the
defendant (the old lady).
So the following day the New York
City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady
who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents
of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner, while
some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City
policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing
so, gave the mayor a standing ovation (stood and clapped hands).
God
desires good for the men and women he created, the earth is in the hands of men
and we are for the most part responsible for one another. Jesus came to save
and to forgive, what this old woman did may have been wrong but what the judge
did was close to the heart and desires of God, to forgive and to bring hope and
comfort to those in need.
Psalm 33:5-6
5 The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.
6
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,
their
starry host by the breath of his mouth
Psalm 36:6-9
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.
7
How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both
high and low among men
find
refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8
They feast on the abundance of your house;
you
give them drink from your river of delights.
9
For with you is the fountain of life;
in
your light we see light.
I pray that you all are able to find righteousness in your lives, to administer justice, to show mercy, and most of all to love the Lord your God with all of your heart and your neighbor as yourself. This will be a blessing to the cities and homes you come from; you will be great lights for the kingdom of God. Do all of these things with great humility always esteeming others higher than yourself, those with wealth along with those that are poor.
May the Lord richly bless all of your lives and the remainder of time at the conference!
Keith Davidson