Tag: Love

Oh, Love again?

‭Luke 6:27-31 NLT‬
[27] “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. [28] Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. [29] If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. [30] Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. [31] Do to others as you would like them to do to you. https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.6.27-31.NLT

I don’t like these verses. I don’t want to listen to them! “Love your enemies.” “Bless those who hate you.” “Give, and don’t try to get things back.”

“Be nice. Play nice. Share. Treat others the way you want to be treated.”

We are taught these things when we are little – and if we aren’t teaching it to our children, well, shame on us! If you watch any news, on whatever media you use, we aren’t doing a very good job of teaching tolerance and kindness. The American Democratic Party of love and tolerance is leading the way with violence and hate. The religion of love, Islam, produces the most vitriolic hate and horrific acts I’ve ever seen or heard of. Christians, who should be leading the way in promoting Christ and being the example of the greatest love ever experienced by man, are among the most vocal liars and cheaters (just look in Washington DC and the White House).

What to do, what to do.

Well, what would Jesus do?

Don’t ask me! I am a horrible example to follow. Love my enemies? Pray for those who have hurt me? Don’t try to get back the money I was scammed out of, or the things that were taken from me? Turn my other cheek to the boss who lied to get me fired? What about the husband who cheated? Am I just supposed to forgive them all?

FORGIVE. That’s not a suggestion, it’s a command. I rely on Matthew 6, the Lord’s Prayer, especially this:

‭Matthew 6:14-15 NLT‬
[14] “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. [15] But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.6.14-15.NLT

Forgive. It’s not an emotion or a feeling, it’s a conscious act that will probably have to be repeated multiple times. When those familiar feelings of betrayal and anger and hurt start to rise up within me, it’s up to me to make that decision – again! – to forgive that person or persons. Don’t think it’s going to be easy, because it isn’t. The only way it is possible for me to do it, is to pray and rely on the strength that can only come from the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Try it. It’s amazingly freeing. Thank You, Jesus, for Your sacrifice that makes it possible. Left up to me, I’d just be a ball of seething frustration and hate.

And there we have it, the reason our world is in such bad shape. To use a well-known phrase, “No Jesus, No peace.” Do you have Jesus? If not, He’s just waiting for you to ask Him. He loves you. He doesn’t turn anyone away.

It’s good to be back.

Wash Your Neighbor’s Feet

“So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.”

In the days that Jesus lived, people wore sandals and walked to get where they were going. As you can imagine, that made for dirty feet! Typically, it was a lowly job, and the lowest servant’s job, to wash the feet of anyone who came into the house. Jesus took on that role to make a point. Let me ask you, have you ever had anyone offer to wash your feet? (It would be unusual to visit someone today and have them offer to wash your feet. We wear shoes, so it’s not as if we need the dust washed off.) Years ago, my pastor and his wife illustrated this story by asking a couple of members of the congregation to allow them to wash their feet. I was one of those people. It was an honor, but also very a humbling experience. To have someone I honored and looked up, washing my feet. Servants who lead; leaders who are servants. The very best and most effective leaders are servants.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:12‭, ‬14‭-‬18‭, ‬34‭-‬35 NASB1995

We fail mightily today at following this commandment. Remember, Jesus gave us the most important commandments.

“One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:35‭-‬40 NASB1995

I think, if more of those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, would claim and live these verses, our world would undergo a dramatic change. It starts with me. What do you think?

Abortion: BABY, or “Fetus”

For You formed my inward parts;

You wove me in my mother’s womb.

I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully
and wonderfully made;

Wonderful are Your works,

And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;

Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;

And in Your book were all written

The days that were ordained for me,

When as yet there was not one of them.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.

When I awake, I am still with You.

O that You would slay the wicked, O God;

Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.

For they speak against You wickedly,

And Your enemies take Your name in vain.

Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me and know my anxious thoughts;

And see if there be any hurtful way in me,

And lead me in the everlasting way.

Psalms 139:13–21,23-24 NASB1995

His Grace

I need His Grace every day, every minute. What is it I am talking about, this Grace? Grace is the forgiveness we receive with our acceptance of Jesus Christ. Recognizing, acknowledging, that He is the Christ, Messiah, Son of God. He is of God, and He is God. He is the manifestation and personification of Grace.

“The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I’ve been talking about, ‘the One who comes after me but is really ahead of me.’ I knew nothing about who he was—only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize him as the God-Revealer. That is why I came here baptizing with water, giving you a good bath and scrubbing sins from your life so you can get a fresh start with God.” John clinched his witness with this: “I watched the Spirit, like a dove flying down out of the sky, making himself at home in him. I repeat, I know nothing about him except this: The One who authorized me to baptize with water told me, ‘The One on whom you see the Spirit come down and stay, this One will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ That’s exactly what I saw happen, and I’m telling you, there’s no question about it: This is the Son of God.” ” John 1:29‭-‬34 MSG

“Jesus said, “You’ve become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven’t seen anything yet! Before this is over you’re going to see heaven open and God’s angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.” ” John 1:50‭-‬51 MSG

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.” James 1:5‭-‬6 NASB1995

Have you opened your heart to Him? Just like James says, ask. Only a tiny bit of faith will open up a whole world of Grace.

“And now I commend you to God and to the Word of His Grace – the GRACE of the LORD Jesus Christ – which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Acts 20:32 NASB1995

AMEN.

I Heard the Bells

“I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.” Psalms 27:13‭-‬14 NASB1995

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells….. I love hearing the church bells as they peal out their songs, especially on Christmas Eve night. There’s something about the sound that stirs my soul. As they ring, it brings to mind the sounds of angels announcing that the Messiah, Jesus Christ has been born and is waiting, even now for us to believe in Him and to love Him. The ringing bells are the sounds of the angels, reminding us that we are not alone on this earth. There is no need to despair, for our LORD is here and in control. The bells remind us that though He came here as a baby the first time, He is coming again as the Lion of Judah, to conquer sin and defeat for the final time! I can’t wait!

And This Is LOVE

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones.” Proverbs 3:7‭-‬8 NASB

The nature of love:

“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,” 1Corinthians 13:4 NASB

LOVE is defined by the cross, not by culture; Sacrificial Love, for the best and highest good of others. It is Patient, it is Kind. Read verses 4-7 to understand the SPECTRUM of love, the components of love.

What exactly is Love?

Love is showing patience to people, and it is long suffering. We don’t know what anyone else is dealing with, so how can we judge them? Love is being kind, easy, mellow, and comfortable – easy to receive, difficult to practice.

Those words should describe all Christians, the people who are supposed to be like Jesus. We are to cultivate contentment and gratitude and Love by focusing on God’s Sovereignty.

“The LORD is the One who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8 NASB

“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:40 NASB

THIS is Love:

Where Did Love Go?

“31 But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way. 1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” – 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:1-3 NASB

Do you know GOD’S Love? It is Essential, it is Effectual, and it is Eternal to Life. Not life, but Life. Without God’s Love, there is no Life. Without it, we are just going through the motions; living through emotions. Love and hate. The emotions we base our lives on, the feelings we base everything on. Emotions aren’t bad. God wouldn’t have created us with them if they were. Emotions, like everything good on earth, have been distorted through sin and the enemy’s manipulation of Creation. Love was twisted into envy, despair, jealousy, malice, prejudice, ill will, covetousness, rivalry, resentment….. hate. We are all guilty, and I am guilty above all else.

It is Essential that we who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ give His Love a priority within ourselves. No matter what we do, if we do it without God’s Love, it means nothing. It is all ashes.

There are 4 Greek Words for love: eros, storge, philia, and agape. Most people know that eros is erotic love, the physical. Storge is familial love. It refers to the natural and instinctual love of a parent towards their children and vice versa. Philia is the love we have between good friends. Agape is the most important, because that is God’s Love. It wasn’t a common word for the Greeks to use, but it is the word for love that the Bible uses and it is the essence of Love, the kind of love that Jesus personifies.

“4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. …… 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:4‭-‬8‭, ‬13 NASB

We would do well to focus on these verses, especially in light of what is going on around us today. I’m talking to myself. When I see rioting and destruction, and hear the hate filled rhetoric that is being spewed across all forms of communication, it’s so easy to fall into judgement. Those things aren’t right, but I still need to love those people. Not agree with them, but love them in spite of their actions. People in positions of influence and authority have a huge burden to do the right thing, and they are failing miserably. I think that’s why it’s so important for you and I to do our best to emulate Jesus today.

Remember, “the greatest of these is love.”

Oh Give Thanks

“Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His Name; Make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders. Glory in His Holy Name; Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad. Seek the LORD and His Strength; Seek His Face continually. Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done, His Marvels and the Judgments from His Mouth, ….”

1 Chronicles 16:8‭-‬12 NASB

No matter what else is going on, give thanks to the LORD. With all the uncertainty and chaos today, Oh give thanks to the LORD!

He is our Rock; He alone is our Shelter. No One but GOD can make sense out of the senselessness of our world. Praise the LORD; Bless His Holy Name!

Vengeance

“To those who are the Called, Beloved in GOD the FATHER, and kept for JESUS CHRIST: May Mercy and Peace and Love be multiplied to you. Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the Love of GOD, waiting anxiously for the Mercy of our LORD JESUS CHRIST to Eternal Life.” Jude 1:1‭-‬3‭, ‬20‭-‬21 NASB

Are you among the Called? Have you given your heart to JESUS? Do you belong to Him, heart, mind, and soul? Or are you just following the church crowd, (trying to be) “good” enough to spend Eternity with Him? No one can be good enough. Salvation only comes through JESUS CHRIST. BELIEVE IT. Without JESUS, the vengeance that GOD, the ALMIGHTY FATHER, spoke about in Deuteronomy will be enacted against you. Don’t wait! Ask JESUS to be your Savior today, right now. The only path to Salvation is through the Grace and Mercy of our LORD.

Don’t wait until it is too late. You aren’t giving up anything; you are gaining everything. AMEN.