Tag: #ministry

What Is LOVE?

Seems like “love” to the world means sex, money, position, and prestige. We are constantly on the prowl for this elusive feeling. Once you have experienced even a tiny taste, it is something that is an instant, instantaneous, addiction. Love is more addictive than heroin or cigarettes or alcohol, and it is so much more than just a feeling. We spend our lives chasing “love” and in most cases, missing it entirely. A mother’s love is both fierce and protective, and it is gentle and nurturing ….. at least, it should be. Satan has screwed it up, just as he has perverted every single thing, every single place, every single molecule on this earth.

Should I find out that anybody is messing with any of my kids*, I transform into a mama grizzly! (*My kids consist of any person who is vulnerable or fragile, my nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters, even my Mom. It also applies to my 4-legged buddies.) I’ll never know just how fathers love (since I’m not one 😁 ), but the men whom I admire most are providers and protectors, and they will go to almost any length to care for their loved ones.

The Bible, the Words of our Creator, speak on love in a number of verses and contexts. The Songs of Solomon are beautifully written, telling about the sweet love between two people. (Men, pay attention to those verses! They are dynamite for the love of your life. You can melt her heart, using it as an example.) Paul wrote to the followers of CHRIST in Corinth and Colossae about love.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4‭-‬8a NIV

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” – Colossians 3:13 NIV

That last sentence of verse 13 is such a critical part of true love. Without forgiveness, how we possibly be patient or kind to that person? Being unforgiving is so harsh. It ruins relationships at work, between friends, within families, with our children and parents, and our spouses. Whatever was done to you (real or perceived) is nothing to what we have done to JESUS – and yet, He FORGIVES us, 100%, no grudges or plots for revenge. I would lay down my life in a heartbeat, putting myself in harms way to protect my loved ones. The BIG question is this: would I lay down my life for my enemies, for the men who have hurt me? JESUS did.

“This is how we know what LOVE is: JESUS CHRIST laid down His LIFE for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” – 1 John 3:16 NIV

No Matter What (sung by Ryan Stevenson and Bart Miller)

No matter what the end is
My life began with you
I can’t deny what I believe
I can’t be what I’m not
I know, I know
I know this love’s forever
That’s all that matters now
No matter what

(Photo credit Love Dare – WordPress.com )

Oh, BAM!

My devotion this morning was based on this verse:

“He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect.” – 1 Timothy 3:4 NIV

The writer went on to talk about how men are so macho when it comes to sports and athletics, and who pride themselves on their hard work and achievements, are absolute wimps when it comes to leading their families spiritually. I can testify to the truthfulness of this concept in my own experiences. Most recently, I had a good friend who talked a lot about his involvement with his church and how his life revolved his church (we were in different states). We made the decision to become a couple, and he moved several hundred miles to be close to me. After about a month of attending different churches, he decided that none of them were the right ‘fit’, and he quit going. He quit praying at meals; refused to join me in any Bible study or Christ-centered activity. He ‘didn’t need it, he had his own, private relationship with GOD.’ He was very proud of his work and his achievements, but trying to bring GOD back into the relationship was at a dead end. As much as it hurt me, the relationship – and the 20 year friendship – ended after 2 years with him walking out with no warning.

I would love to have a companion to do life with, but GOD has shown me that it must be a man with a strong spiritual life, a man who demands respect – not with words, but with actions. Not a wimp, not self-righteous, or pompous; not wrapped up in being ‘religious’, but loving GOD and loving – and living – life. No phonies, no wimps need apply. Until (and if) GOD sees fit to put this man in my life, I must be content with Him.

“I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.” – Job 40:4 NIV

Yes, I am unworthy of any blessings, but my LORD has bestowed many on may despite my lack. Whether I end up alone for the rest of my life, or He sends me a companion, I pray that I remain strong and steadfast in my love and praise for my GOD.

You Shall….. And You Shall Not

I think GOD was pretty clear when He gave Moses and the Israelites the Ten Commandments. Sometimes, though, we need a little nudge or reminder….
* You shall put the LORD GOD above all else. You shall have no other gods before Me. Focus. Read your Bible. Study GOD’s Word. Pray. Share your faith, even when it is scary. Live it.
* You shall put all these things behind the LORD: sports teams, kids, spouse, job, food, drugs, toys (y’all know what I’m talkin’ about here!) You shall not make for yourself an idol.
* You shall watch your language. Be creative with your language rather than cursing the LORD. (Leapin’ lizards! Oh, SNAP! Ah, Snickerdoodle!) You shall not take the Name of the LORD your GOD in vain.
* You shall set aside a day for rest and worship. Remember the Sabbath day. (Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday. Just pick one!)
* You shall Honor your father and mother. Respect!
* You shall forgive (He doesn’t say forget, He says forgive.) You shall not murder (no matter how much the person might deserve it!) Leave it to the courts – whether earthly or divine.
* You shall be faithful to your spouse, in heart, mind, and body. You shall not commit adultery. If you are considering it, just stop it now.
* You shall be honest, whether at work or play, and respect other people’s belongings. You shall not steal.
* You shall refuse to listen to or spread gossip, and always be truthful. You shall not bear false witness. That includes lies and half-truths.
* You shall respect the belongings, and the bodies, of each individual. You shall not covet.You shall not covet.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy [generous], your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy [stingy], your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both GOD and money.” – Matthew 6:22‭-‬24a NIV

Not just money, either. You can’t serve the LORD by being immersed in other things. Back to the second commandment, anything we put in front of GOD, whatever it is, is what you are serving. A football / sports team, your career, money, addition, food, family can all be idols we stumble over (mea culpa; I’m guilty of it, also) when we should be focused on our LORD. It all boils back to the basics. JESUS summed it up in these 4 sentences:

“ ‘Love the LORD your GOD with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37‭-‬40 NIV

Hold My Hand!

Parents all over the world say to their children, “Hold my hand!” We reach out to our children to (try to) keep them out of mischief and trouble, and we’ve all seen or experienced the child who twists and turns and pulls and cries in order to get loose. Think about how protective a human parent is …. how much more must our Creator Love us and want to protect us? Regardless of how irritated and frustrated we become with our children, or how much they pain us, we don’t stop loving them. Neither does our LORD quit loving us when we make poor choices. He is right beside us, holding our hand, through every life event, every sickness, every trial we go through. He holds our hand while we are making life-changing decisions, and He continues to hold it throughout our lives.

I am personally at a crossroad, facing some major life decisions. Would you pray with me that I see clearly the direction the LORD is urging me to go? Hold my other hand, as He holds my right hand? As the Apostle Paul wrote: “But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the LORD JESUS – the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful Grace of GOD.” – Acts of the Apostles 20:24 NLT

“For I hold you by your right hand— I, the LORD your GOD. And I say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.’ ” – Isaiah 41:13 NLT

Photo credt Hellokids.com

Without Love

Listen to ‘I Just Need U.’ sung by Toby Mac.

“Last night put the heavy on me
Woke up and I’m feeling lonely
This world gotta a way of showing me (showing me)
Some days it’ll lift you up
Some days it’ll call your bluff
Man, most of my days I ain’t got enough….”

Every day, every night, every hour, every second, I just need You, LORD. Without Your Love, I am nothing, but with it, I am everything. We search all over the world, looking for love in mankind, and if we ever think we have found it, we will be disappointed. We (all of humankind) seem to think that we can do what we want, with whom we want, wherever and whenever we choose, and we do it with impunity. When I’m searching for love on earth, and ignoring the only Love that will never let me down, I am living for me rather than GOD. We mock the LORD of the Universe when we decide that our decisions about love and justice are better than His. We often act with impunity, and to what end?

“Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of GOD. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.” – Galatians 6:7‭-‬8‭, ‬15 NLT

Without love we are nothing. Paul wrote about love, true, unselfish LOVE, to the church at Corinth. As followers of JESUS CHRIST, we really should take this to heart.

“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” – 1 Corinthians 13:1‭, ‬7 NLT

While we search for love, GOD, through the sacrifice of the LORD JESUS, and the presence of the HOLY SPIRIT in our lives, He is waiting patiently for each of us to let Him in so that we can experience real Love, lasting Love, never-failing and never-ending LOVE. Without LOVE, I am nothing. With the LOVE of the LORD, I am everything.

Does It Take Love To Achieve Peace?

That is a question I have grappled with most of my adult life. Does it? As a young adult, I rebelled against the discipline and structure I lived with while growing up. I was a rebel; following the path of my older brother, whom I idolized. Geographically, I didn’t stray as far as he did, but as for the rest….. but it wasn’t a contest then, and it isn’t a contest now. I threw myself into the quest for ‘love’. My brother didn’t love me, at least, not in the way I needed. I rebelled against the strictures of my parent’s teachings, searching for someone who would love me and protect me againt the world. Someone who would have my back. Remember the song, ‘Looking For Love’, sung by Johnny Lee?

I spent a lifetime lookin’ for you …..
I was lookin’ for love in all the wrong places
Lookin’ for love in too many faces
Searchin’ their eyes
Lookin’ for traces of what I’m dreaming of
Hoping to find a friend and lover
I’ll bless the day I discover
Another heart lookin’ for love ……

The basic cause of both crime and war, of turning our backs on those who do love us, is the inherent sinfulness of human nature. The world cannot be reborn until men are born again and are at peace with God. I couldn’t be reborn and at peace with myself, or anyone else, until I could be at peace with GOD.

World peace. Who doesn’t want it? I know we won’t see any real, lasting peace until JESUS returns, but I pray for wars to cease, just as I pray for crime to stop. We can have at least a partial peace, if we can individually be at peace… And the only path to true peace is accepting Jesus as your Savior.
I know this from personal experience.

Reckless Love, by Cory Asbury, says:

When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me
You have been so, so good to me ….

GOD is fighting for me, and He is fighting for you, because He LOVES us and wants the best for us. Heavenly Father, I pray for all the people who are searching, looking for love in all the wrong places. It is YOU Whose heart we are so frantically searching for. I pray for the peace of the world through individuals surrendering to Your Son, Jesus Christ. Bless all today who are spreading the Gospel, in their homes and workplaces and neighborhoods, as well as those working around the globe. I pray that we can all see that it is only through Your Love that we can acheive any measure of Peace. I pray for the rebel, that they will experience Your divine, inimitable Love, and understand that You are the source of true Love and ultimate Peace.

And JESUS said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the Authority of His Name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ While He was blessing them, He left them and was taken up to heaven.” – Luke 24:46‭-‬47‭, ‬51 NLT

“Therefore, since we have been made right in GOD’s sight by Faith, let us have Peace with GOD because of what JESUS CHRIST our LORD has done for us. Because of our Faith, CHRIST has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing GOD’s Glory.” – Romans 5:1‭-‬2 NLT

Thirst No More

“I have seen Your Salvation, which You have prepared for all people. He {JESUS} is a LIGHT to reveal GOD to the nations, and He is the Glory of your people Israel!” – Luke 2:30‭-‬32 NLT

Listen to “Come to the River” by the Rhett Walker Band

What an outstanding message. JESUS, the LIGHT of the world, reveals GOD to us all! When you have seen JESUS, you have seen the Face of the Almighty: the Creator of all things, the Holy God, YHWH, Yahweh, Elohim, El-Shaddai, Jehovah, Adonai, Ancient of Days, Father, Abba, ….. “Most High.” The LORD is given many names, but today, I believe the ONE Name that is most important to us is the Name of JESUS. He alone has the power to save us from the certain death subscribed to us by the first man and woman, Adam and Eve ….. and yet so, so very many, even countless people, deny that JESUS is the CHRIST, the Messiah. We are such a GLORIOUSLY stubborn group! What was GOD thinking, as He formed Adam from the mud of the new earth? Since He is Omnipotent and Omniscient, He KNEW that by giving Adam, and by extension, Eve, free will, they would choose to betray Him. The LORD gave free will to them, and to us, in spite of knowing the outcome. He wants us to choose to love Him, without being forced or coerced.

Short but sweet, GOD created us to Love Him. He then gave us the choice of Loving Him or not. He gave a part of Himself through JESUS to be sacrificed to cover our sins, and He gave us His WORD in the scriptures to show us exactly how we should live to optimize His Love for us.

“For this is how GOD Loved the world: He gave His One and Only SON, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have Eternal Life. ….. All who do evil hate the Light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the Light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” – John 3:16‭, ‬20‭-‬21 NLT

Who Will Go Up To Heaven?

Have you ever read the letters of the Apostle Paul to the Romans, specifically chapter 10?

“Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to GOD is for the people of Israel to be saved. I know what enthusiasm they have for GOD, but it is misdirected zeal.

For they don’t understand GOD’s way of making people right with Himself. Refusing to accept GOD’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with GOD by trying to keep the law.

For CHRIST has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in Him are made right with GOD.

For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with GOD requires obedience to all of its commands.

But Faith’s way of getting right with GOD says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring CHRIST down to earth). And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring CHRIST back to life again).”

In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart (Deut 30:12-14).” And that message is the very Message about Faith that we preach:

If you openly declare that JESUS is LORD and believe in your heart that GOD raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with GOD, and it is by openly declaring your Faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be disgraced (Isa 28:16).”

Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same LORD, Who gives generously to all who call on Him.

For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved (Joel 2:32).”

But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?

That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring Good News (Isa 52:7)!”

But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “LORD, who has believed our message (Isa 53:1)?” So Faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

But I ask, have the people of Israel actually heard the message? Yes, they have: “The Message has gone throughout the earth, and the Words to all the world (Ps 19:4).”

But I ask, did the people of Israel really understand? Yes, they did, for even in the time of Moses, GOD said, “I will rouse your jealousy through people who are not even a nation. I will provoke your anger through the foolish Gentiles (Deut 32:21).”

And later Isaiah spoke boldly for GOD, saying, “I was found by people who were not looking for Me. I showed Myself to those who were not asking for Me (Isa 65:1).”

But regarding Israel, GOD said, “All day long I opened My Arms to them, but they were disobedient and rebellious (Isa 65:2).” – Romans 10:1-‬21 NLT

This letter from Paul should dispel any question you have as to who will go to heaven. Good works; being a ‘good’ person, won’t do it. Following the Law of Moses to the letter won’t suffice. Saying you believe in God won’t work, either, for “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” – James 2:19 NLT

I know where I am going, through the Grace and Mercy of my LORD and my Saviour, JESUS. Do you?

Beauty

“Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to GOD.” – 1 Peter 3:3‭-‬4 NLT

Been there; done ALL that. For the moment, I would feel desirable and worth something, but it is, at best, a fleeting satisfaction. I looked for fulfilment in the opinions of others, even from people I had no respect for. How messed up we are! Young girls – and boys – in beauty pagents, being thrust into an adult role at extremely young ages, being taught to strut their ‘stuff’ in a provocative manner; watching their ‘idols’ promise that by showing off their bodies and acting this way will guarantee popularity and acceptance …. and we wonder why we have so many child predators.

Am I preaching? You bet I am! Yesterday I heard about a new ride-share aimed at children. Instead of Uber or Lyft or a cab or other ride offering for adults, there are now companies just for kids to be taken to their destinations. I can only ask, how much more can we be disconnected from our kids? How have we gotten so busy that we can’t find time for the ones who should get the most of us? I understand that things happen and we aren’t able to fulfill our responsibilities and obligations. Medical issues are often unforeseeable. Emergencies happen. LIFE happens. I don’t have the answer, but I know Who does.

“Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.” -Proverbs 22:6 NLT

Parents, how are you teaching your children? It seems that the overwhelming lesson being taught is to do what makes you feel good; to put yourself, your feelings and your wants, above anyone or anything else. The path to happiness is through appearance, popularity, and things….. but we know that path isn’t right, it isn’t REAL, and it won’t last. There is much to be learned from the scriptures, and by not teaching our children, we are doing them a serious disservice. Even though I rejected the teaching for many years, I came to realize that no matter where or how hard I searched, the real truth wasn’t found in the world. It can only be found in the Word of GOD. Everything – EVERYTHING – else pales in comparison.

“Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold. The rich and poor have this in common: The LORD made them both. A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” – Proverbs 22:1‭-‬3 NLT

The LORD made us to be in fellowship with Him. Everything will fall into place when we embrace the Truth in JESUS. Amen.

Beautiful depiction of the Love Jesus has for us. Unknown artist…. found on the internet.