LIFE WITHOUT LOVE IS REALLY WORTHLESS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 31, 2022.

SUBJECT: LIFE WITHOUT LOVE IS REALLY WORTHLESS! 

Memory verse: "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." (First Corinthians 13 vs 3.)

READ: First Corinthians 13 vs 1 - 8:

13:1: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

13:2: And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

13:3: And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

13:4: Love suffers long and is kin; love does not envy, love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

13:5: does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

13:6: does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

13:7: bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

13:8: Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

INTIMATION:

Life without love is purposeless. In the Bible in Matthew 22 vs 37 - 40, Jesus said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

Jesus says that if we truly love God and our neighbor, we will naturally keep the all His commandments. The best tact to deal with this is rather than worrying about all we should not do, we should concentrate on all we can do to show love for God and others. After learning to love God, learning to love others is the second purpose of your life. 

We are often preoccupied with our own self, and act as if relationships are something to be squeezed into our schedule. We talk about finding time for our children or making time for people in our lives. That gives the impression that relationships are just part of our lives along with many other tasks. We think always that we are doing others favor by loving them. But that is wrong, instead we are doing ourselves the favor of walking in the command of God to fulfill His law. God says relationships are what life is all about. 

Four of the Ten Commandments deal with our relationship to God while the other six deal with our relationships with people. But all ten are about relationships! We might say it is in Old Testament laws, but Jesus summarized what matters most to God in two statements: love God and love people. 

Relationships, not achievements or the acquisition of things, are what matters most in life. Now you know this, why will you allow relationships to get the short end of the stick? When our schedules become overloaded, and overcrowded, we start skimming relationally, cutting back on giving the time, energy, and attention that loving relationships require. What is most important to God is displaced by what's urgent to you. 

Busyness is the greatest enemy to relationships. We become preoccupied with making a living, doing our work, paying bills, and accomplishing goals as if these tasks are the point of life. They are not. The point of life is learning to love God and people. Life minus love equals zero.

Our society confuses Love and lust. Unlike lust, God’s kind of love is directed outward toward others, not inward toward ourselves. It is utterly unselfish. This kind of love goes against our natural inclinations. It is impossible to have this Love unless God helps us set aside our own natural desires so that we can love and not expect anything in return. 

God is love, and a source of our love. He loved us enough to sacrifice His Son for us. Jesus is our example of what it means to love; everything He did in life and death was supremely loving. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to love; He lives in our heart and make us more and more like Christ. God’s Love always involve a choice and an action, and our love should be like His.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are love, and I know You. My utmost heart desire is to live a life hinged on Your greatest commandments—to love You and others. Endue me with the spirit of love, that I may be worthy to be called Your son, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

WHAT REAL LOVE IS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY AUGUST 30, 2022.

SUBJECT : WHAT REAL LOVE IS!

Memory verse: "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." (First John 3 vs 16.)

READ: Song of Solomon 8 be 6 - 7:

8:6: Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame.

8:7: Many waters cannot quench love, not can the floods drown it: if a man would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised.

INTIMATION:

Real love is as strong as death; it cannot be killed by time or disaster and cannot be bought for any price because it is freely given. Real love is priceless, and even the richest king cannot buy it. Love must be accepted as a gift from God and then shared within the guidelines God provides. Accept the love of your spouse as God’s gift, and strive to make your love a reflection of the perfect love that comes from God Himself. 

Our society confuses love with lust. Unlike lust, God’s kind of love (real live) is directed outward toward others, not inward toward ourselves. It is utterly unselfish. This kind of love goes against our natural inclinations. It is impossible to have this love unless God helps us set aside our own natural desires so that we can love and not expect anything in return. Thus, the more we become like Christ, the more love we will show to others. Love is the greatest of all human qualities and is an attribute of God Himself (First John 4 vs 8). Love involves unselfish service to others. Real love is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, 

We must not define love after the definitions of the world. We must define love after the manner by which Jesus loved us. The extent to which He loved us is manifested in the action of His incarnation and death for our sins. Our love for one another, therefore, must be manifested in our interpersonal activity in one another’s lives. 

As I have previously stated, real love is in action, not a feeling. It produces selfless, sacrificial giving. The greatest act of love is giving oneself for others. We can lay down our lives for others by; by serving others with no thought of receiving anything in return. Sometimes it is easier to say we will die for others than to truly live for them. This is because it involves putting others’ desires first. Jesus taught the same principle of love in John 15 vs 13.

Jesus is an epitome of real love. His example of real love was demonstrated in His disciples. Jesus knew He would be betrayed by one of them, He knew one of them will deny Him, and that all of them will desert Him for a time. Still “He loved them to the end” (John 13 vs 1). God knows us completely, as Jesus knew His disciples (John 2 vs 24 - 25; 6 vs 64). He knows the sins we have committed and the ones we will yet commit. Still, He loves us. 

How do you respond to that kind of love? We respond by loving others with the intensity of love that Jesus showered on us. It is a love that has no conditions. It is self-sacrificing love that extends beyond any conditions of one’s environment, and thus, simply acts out a selfless attitude of appreciation for all that God has done in one’s life in reference to salvation. Therefore, such love is a show of appreciation of what God did for us on the cross through His Son Jesus Christ.

Our love of perfection causes us to be irritated or angered by some negative attitudes of others. This may cause some negative reactions from us. This does not mean we don’t love them, but because of our quest for perfection. Even sometimes we are irritated or angered by others, and we don’t know why. Not all irritability stems from sinful or selfish motives, although the irritable treatment of others surely is wrong. Much irritability comes from a love of perfection, a deep desire that programs, meetings, and structures be run perfectly. 

A desire to run things perfectly can erupt into anger at events or people who get in the way or ruin that desire. Jesus was in like manner irritated and angered when He went to the temple and saw the activities of money changers in the temple. The Bible recorded that He “drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.” 

Though Jesus was irritated by their actions hence His actions against them. However, Jesus’ action didn’t not take His love for them away, He still died on the cross for their sins. Those who are easily irritated need to remember that perfection exists only with God. We need to love Him and our fellow Christians, not the visions we have for perfection here on earth. 

Prayer: Abba Father, My desire is to be a living example to others of Your unparalleled love for humanity. Endue me with the same Spirit of love, and give me the grace to practice love for others as much as You loves me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

WHY LOVING OTHERS IS SO IMPORTANT!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY AUGUST 29, 2022.

SUBJECT : WHY LOVING OTHERS IS SO IMPORTANT!

Memory verse: "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another." (John 13 vs 34.)

READ: First John 3 vs 14 - 15: 

3:14: We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.

3:15: Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

INTIMATION:

To love others was not a new commandment. The Sinai law taught that one was to love His neighbor as himself (Leviticus 19 vs 18). God gave the commandment, “…You shall love your neighbor as yourself…” One’s love of his neighbor, therefore, was based on his love of himself. But to love others as much as Christ loved others was revolutionary. Now we are to love others based on Jesus’ sacrificial love for us. Such love is very important because it will not only bring unbelievers to Christ, it will also keep believers strong and united in a world hostile to God. 

However, Jesus emphasizes an intensity of love that is different. It is a love that has no conditions. It is self-sacrificing love that extends beyond any conditions of one’s environment, and thus, simply acts out a selfless attitude of appreciation for all that God has done in one’s life in reference to salvation. Therefore, such love is a show of appreciation of what God did for us on the cross through His Son Jesus Christ.

Jesus meant that love in action would be the identifying characteristic of His disciples that would separate them from the rest of the world. Therefore, loving others as Christ loved us should be an identity for the believers. Jesus was a living example of God’s love, as we are to be living examples of Jesus’ love. Such Christlike love will show we are His disciples (John 13 vs 35).

The apostle John affirms that a Christian can know that he is saved. The evidence of the salvation is his behavioral relationship he maintains with his brother and the commandments of God (John 14 vs 34 - 35). As the world identifies the Christian to be of God by his life-style. The apostle affirms that the same life-style is evidence of one’s sonship. The evidence that one has passed out of the unregenerate life of sin and into the eternal life in Christ is the loving relationship one maintains with his brother in Christ.

The love for others as Christ loves us occasions reaching beyond friends to enemies and persecutors (Matthew 5 vs 43 - 48). Love should be the unifying force and the identifying mark of Christian community. Love is the key to walking in the light, because we cannot grow spiritually while we hate others. Our growing relationship with God will result in growing relationships with others. 

Real love is in action, not in feeling. It produces selfless, sacrificial giving. The greatest act of love is giving oneself for others. How can we “lay down our lives”? By serving others with no thought of receiving anything in return. Sometimes it is easier to say we will die for others than truly live for them—this involves putting others’ desires first. We may not have to die for someone, but there are other ways to practice sacrificial love: listening, helping, encouraging, giving. Think of someone in particular who needs this kind of love today. Give all the love you can, and then try to give a little more. 

As children imitate their parents, we should imitate Christ. His great love for us led Him to sacrifice Himself so that we might live. Our love for others should be of the same kind—a love that goes beyond affection to self-sacrificing service. Jesus was a living example of God’s love, as we are to be living examples of Jesus’ love. 

The apostle John echoes Jesus’ teaching that whoever hates his brother is a murderer at heart (Matthew 5 vs 21 - 22). Christianity is a religion of the heart, outward compliance alone is not enough. Bitterness against someone who has wronged you is an evil cancer within you and will eventually destroy you. Don’t let a “root of bitterness” (Hebrews 12 vs 15) grow in you or your church. 

Prayer: Abba Father, My desire is to a living example to others of Your unparalleled love for humanity. Endue me with the same Spirit of love, and give me the grace to practice love for others as much as You loves me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

SHOW YOUR LABOR OF LOVE FOR CHRIST!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY AUGUST 28, 2022.

SUBJECT: SHOW YOUR LABOR OF LOVE FOR CHRIST!

Memory verse: "For God is not unjust to forget your work and labour of love, which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister." (Hebrews 6 vs 10.)

READ: First Thessalonians 1 vs 2 - 4:

1:2: We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers,

1:3: remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,

1:4: knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.

INTIMATION:

Your labor of love for Christ is primarily your commitment to Christ out of love for Him. Through your ministry you prove your faithfulness to the saints and Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me..” (John 14 vs 21.) “ “...If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word...” (John 14 vs 23.) Jesus said that His followers show their love for Him by their commitment and conduct toward His commandments. Jesus, before ascension, left His followers with specific commandments which is called the “Great Commission”: 

“And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.” (Matthew 28 vs 18 - 20.)

“And He said to them, Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not  believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16 vs 15 - 16.)

Prior to His ascension, Jesus left the disciples with those last words of instruction: They are under His authority, and are to go into all the world with the Good News,”, telling everyone that He had paid the penalty for sin and that those who believe in what He has done for us on the cross and declare it are forgiven and live eternally with God. In spreading the “Good News” many people will join them as disciples of Christ. The new believers will be baptized and will be taught to obey God. It’s not an option but a command to all who call Jesus “Lord.”

The commission is to go all over the world preaching the “Good New.” You can start from your family, next door, your colleague in the office, and to town, state etc. Your assignment can be within the area you are capable to reach. There are other believers in other places to do the same work. Now that the whole has become a global, and life has been made less stressful by technology, you can reach anywhere in the world staying at a place. 

It’s obvious we are not all evangelists, pastors, preachers, apostles, prophets, and so on, in the formal sense, but we have all received gifts that we can use to help fulfill thr “Great Commission.” Where you cannot go, or what you cannot do, your money or possession can assist you through others to accomplish the same task in obedience to Christ. As we obey, we have comfort in the knowledge that Jesus is always with us.

Christians today in all parts of the world are telling this gospel to people who haven’t heard about Christ. On personal assessment, where are you in this assignment of laboring in love for Christ! Do you ever feel as though you don’t have the skill or determination to be a witness for Christ? Even if you don’t, God has blessed with other gifts you can serve Him with. You must personally realize that Jesus arose from the dead and lives for you today. You are bought with a price, therefore, you are committed to Him, and should glorify Him with whatever you have. As you grow in your relationship with Christ, He will give you both the opportunities and the inner strength to spread His message.

For instance, the apostle Paul, in comparing himself to other disciples. gave instances of his labor for Christ in First Corinthians 11 vs 23 - 29, enumerated all he had encountered in witnessing for Christ. Can you, as a Christian, make a list of encounters and achievements in this regard? This should the  starting point for all believers.

Jesus chose the believers and appointed us to go and bear fruit, and our fruit should remain. We didn’t choose Him, He chose us. Being chosen by God comes from the heart of God (not our minds), and should be an incentive to please God (not ignore Him), and should give birth to gratitude (not complacency). Human responsibility requires that we actively confess Christ as Lord, focus on living to please Him, and share the gospel with others. God’s choice of us energizes us to obey and to serve. Our choice of God challenges us to build lives worthy of Him. As you consider God’s selection of you. how do you respond? 

God is just in all His ways. He never forgets or overlook our hard work for Him. Though, you may not be receiving rewards and acclaim presently, but God knows your efforts of love and ministry. Jesus said, “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give every one according to His work” (Revelation 22 vs 12). Let God’s love for you and His ultimate knowledge of your service for Him bolster you as you serve, and face disappointment and rejection here on earth, knowing that your reward awaits you.

Prayer: Abba Father, I love You with all my heart, and my labor of love for You abound. Give me the grace to be steadfast in my service to You, Your kingdom, and others, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Forgiven for Jesus’s Sake

 For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. (Psalm 25:11)

In knowing what is right, God does not consult any authority higher than himself. His own worth is the ultimate value in the universe. Therefore, for God to do what is right means acting in a way that accords with this ultimate value.

The righteousness of God is the infinite zeal and joy and pleasure that he has in what is supremely valuable, namely, his own perfection and worth. And if he were ever to act contrary to this eternal passion for his own perfections, he would be unrighteous — he would be an idolater.

How shall such a righteous God ever set his affection on sinners like us who have scorned his perfections? But the wonder of the gospel is that in his divine righteousness lies also the very foundation of our salvation.

The infinite regard that the Father has for the Son makes it possible for me, a wicked sinner, to be loved and accepted in the Son, because in his death he vindicated the worth and glory of his Father.

Because of Christ, we can pray with new understanding the prayer of the psalmist, “For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great” (Psalm 25:11). The new understanding is that, because of Christ, instead of only praying, “For your name’s sake, pardon my guilt,” we now pray, “For Jesus’s name’s sake, O God, pardon my guilt.”

First John 2:12 says, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake,” referring to Jesus. Jesus has now atoned for sin and vindicated the Father’s honor so that our “sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.”

God is righteous. He does not sweep sin under the rug. If a sinner goes free, someone dies to vindicate the infinite worth of God’s glory that the sinner defamed. That is what Christ did. Therefore, “For your name’s sake, O Lord” and “For Jesus’s name’s sake” are the same. And that is why we pray with confidence for forgiveness.

Jesus Will Trample All Our Enemies

 

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. (1 Corinthians 15:24)

How far does the reign of Christ extend?

The next verse, 1 Corinthians 15:25 says, “He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” The word all tells us the extent.

So does the word every in verse 24: “Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.”

There is no disease, no addiction, no demon, no bad habit, no fault, no vice, no weakness, no temper, no moodiness, no pride, no self-pity, no strife, no jealousy, no perversion, no greed, no laziness that Christ will not overcome as the enemy of his honor.

And the encouragement in that promise is that when you set yourself to do battle with the enemies of your faith and your holiness, you will not fight alone.

Jesus Christ is now, in this age, putting all his enemies under his feet. Every rule and every authority and every power will be conquered.

So, remember that the extent of Christ’s reign reaches to the smallest and biggest enemy of his glory in your life, and in this universe. It will be defeated.

LOVE ENSURES ANSWERS TO PRAYERS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY AUGUST 27, 2022.

SUBJECT : LOVE ENSURES ANSWERS TO PRAYERS!

Memory verse: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." (First Corinthians 13 vs 1.)

READ: First John 3 vs 21 - 23:

3:20: For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

3:21: Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

3:22: And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

3:23: And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

3:24: And he who keeps His commandments abides  in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. 

INTIMATION:

Love is more important than all the spiritual gifts exercised in the church—the body of Christ. Great faith, acts of dedication or sacrifice, and miracle working power have little effect without love. Love makes our actions and gifts useful. Although people have different gifts, Love is available to everyone.

In the passage we read today, the Scripture, when explained, says, "Beloved, if those who have trained their consciences by the word of God feel guilty when they do not do that which is right, then they are condemned by God who knows our conscience. The Christian who is guided by the word of God must be aware of the fact that if he does not walk according to his Bible-trained conscience, his guilty conscience indicates that he is not right with God. 

But if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God, and whatever we ask, we receive of Him because we are walking in love—doing the things that are pleasing in His sight.” It makes no difference how many promises you plead, if you are not walking in love, your prayer life will be a failure.

First John 3 vs 23 is worthy of meditation because there lies the greatest commandment, ‘And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ (John 6 vs 29), and love one another, as He gave us commandment.’ If you walk in love, you can walk into the Father's presence just as Jesus did, and know that your prayers will be heard and answered. Jesus usually says to the Father "I know You hears Me." This is because He is always walking in love hence the Bible noted in Acts 10 vs 38 that "He went about doing good," showing love and compassion on people.

If you walk in love, there will be no problem of faith to confront you as there was no problem of faith with Jesus during His earth walk; you are walking in love; you are doing the word; you are letting Jesus live His life in you. The Father can see Jesus in you, feeling Jesus in your petitions for others. God knows all things including the intents of our heart. If you are not walking in love, He knows you are not obeying His commandment, and is not pleasing Him with what you do.

Jesus Christ gave us the greatest commandment in Mark 12 vs 29 - 31; love your God and love your neighbor. In verse 31 He said, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." In John 13 vs 34 - 35, Jesus emphasized the importance of the new commandment, “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” In the two verses of forty words, Jesus repeated ‘love one another’ three times, for emphasis sake.

Now, in Matthew 7 vs 24 - 25 Jesus said, "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock." And the apostle James says in his epistle. "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (James 1 vs 22.) Walking in love is the sure way of walking into the Father’s heart, and a solid foundation your life in Christ.

This lover here is a doer of love. He lives in the love realm. It is not the old Phileo love, but the new kind of love that Jesus brought, "Agape" and so we love in deed and in reality. Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth and persuaded in our hearts to stand in confidence before Him in prayer because we have done His will. Your heart is your spirit. Your heart knows whether you are practicing love toward other people. If they need clothes and you are able to give them, and they cannot get them, then it is up to you to meet that need, if you are able. You are to treat them as Jesus has treated you. He died for you, you live for them.

Let us now also join this to First John 5 vs 14 - 15, "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His Will, he hears us. And if we know that He hears us , whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him." If we walk in love, we never pray out of His Will, and if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions we ask of Him.

Now we can understand Hebrews 4 vs 16, "Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." This love life permits us to walk into the very presence of the Father. You may go into the ‘Throne Room’ and stand in His presence and make your petitions known in the name of Jesus, and as sure as you do, the petition is heard.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with the spirit of love for You and for others, that I may walk in love pleasing You in all my ways because I do Your will—obey Your commandments, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

WALK IN LOVE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY AUGUST 26, 2022.

SUBJECT: WALK IN LOVE!

Memory verse: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another." (John 13 vs 34.)

READ: Ephesians 5 vs 1 - 2:

5:1: Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

5:2: And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering, and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma.

INTIMATION:

Love concerns the attitude of one toward another. Love is the essential nature of God. It can be known only from the actions it prompts. For instance, God’s Love is seen in the gift of His Son as a propitiation for the sins of the whole world: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (First John 4 vs 9 - 11.)

Love has its perfect expression among us in the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s love is obviously not the love of complacency, or affection, that is, it was not drawn out of any excellency in its objects—not of any good in us; “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5 vs 8.) It was an exercise of the Divine will in deliberate choice, made without assignable cause save that which lies in the nature of God Himself. God sent Jesus to die for us, not because we were good enough, but just because He loved us, in accord with His nature.

In respect of love used for God, it expresses the deep and constant love and interest of a perfect Being—God—towards entirely unworthy objects—us, exchanging what is of limitless value with what is completely worthless! It produces and fosters a reverential love in us towards the Giver—God, and a practical love towards us that are partakers of the same, and should put a desire in us to help others to seek the God.

Christian love has God for its primary object, and expresses itself first of all in implicit obedience to His commandments; “If you love Me, keep My commandments.’ (John 14 vs 15.) Self-will, that is, self-pleasing, is the negation of love to God. Christian love, whether exercised toward the brethren, or toward men generally, is not an impulse from the feelings, it does not always run with the natural inclinations, nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered; it ought to have no boundaries.

Love seeks the welfare of all (Romans 15 vs 2), and works no ill to any (Romans 13 vs 8 - 10). Love seeks opportunity to do good to all, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith (Galatians 6 vs 10). See further First Corinthians 13 and Colossians 3 vs 12 - 14.

Our memory verse embodies the concept of walking in love. For the Bible says, “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore; love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13 vs 8 - 10.)

Love is considered something we owe, because we are permanently in debt to Christ for the lavish love He has poured out on us. The only way we can even begin to repay this debt is by fulfilling our obligation to love others in turn. Because Christ’s love will always be infinitely greater than ours, we will always have the obligation to love our neighbor. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15 vs 13.) We may not have to die for someone, but there are other ways to practice sacrificial love; listening, helping, encouraging, giving, and so on.

Walking in love fulfills the law. For the Scripture says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6 vs 2.) Look around you today, and you will definitely find someone that needs your love—your help, and seize the opportunity to help the person, and thereby walk in love.

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to be like You, and endue me with the spirit of love for my neighbor, that I may walk in love, fulfilling Your law, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Shadows and Streams

 

May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works, who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke! I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. (Psalm 104:31–34)

God rejoices in the works of creation because they point us beyond themselves to God himself.

God means for us to be stunned and awed by his work of creation. But not for its own sake. He means for us to look at his creation and say: If the mere work of his fingers (just his fingers! Psalm 8:3) is so full of wisdom and power and grandeur and majesty and beauty, what must this God be like in himself!

These are but the backside of his glory, as it were, darkly seen through a glass. What will it be to see the glory of the Creator himself! Not just his works! A billion galaxies will not satisfy the human soul. God and God alone is the soul’s end.

Jonathan Edwards expressed it like this:

The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. . . . [These] are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the ocean.

This is why Psalm 104 comes to a close in verses 31–34 with a focus on God himself. “I will sing praise to my God while I have being. . . . For I rejoice in the Lord.” In the end it will not be the seas or the mountains or the canyons or the water spiders or the clouds or the great galaxies that fill our hearts to breaking with wonder and fill our mouths with eternal praise. It will be God himself.

WHEN YOU ARE NOT MOTIVATED BY LOVE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY AUGUST 25, 2022.

SUBJECT : WHEN YOU ARE NOT MOTIVATED BY LOVE!

Memory verse: "For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Romans 13 vs 9.)

READ: Galatians 5 vs 14 - 15:

5:14: For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 

5:15: But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

INTIMATION:

Our vertical relationship with God is established on the foundation of love. Our horizontal relationship with our fellow man is established on love. The principle of love permeates and identifies the very nature of Christianity. This is the principle by which one can determine both the true God and those who serve Him. 

God demands that our motivation in all we do should be by the geatest gift of love. That our driving force should be ‘love,’—love for Him and others.  When we believers lose the motivation of love, we become critical of others. We stop looking for good in them and see only their faults. Soon we lose our unity. 

When you are not motivated by love, you form the habit of talking behind someone’s back. You will then be focusing on others’ shortcomings instead of their strengths. When this habit persists, remind yourself of Jesus’ command to love others as you love yourself. When you begin to feel critical of someone, make a list of that person’s positive qualities and harp on them. When problems need to be addressed, confront in love rather than gossip.

When we are not motivated by love in our doings, we are actually breaking God’s law. Examine your attitude and actions toward others. Do you build people up or tear them down? When you are ready to criticize someone, remember God’s law of love and say something good instead. Saying something beneficial to others will cure you of finding fault and increase your ability to obey God’s law of love. 

When you are motivated by love you see that others are fed, clothed, and housed as well as they can be. You will be concerned about issues of social justice. But when you are not motivated by love, the reverse is the case. Loving others as ourselves means actively working to see that their needs are met. Interestingly, people who focus on others rather than on themselves rarely suffer from low self-esteem. 

In the passage we read today, the apostle Paul tells us to love others as much as we love ourselves. Somehow many of us have gotten the idea that self-love is wrong. But if this were the case, it would be pointless to love our neighbors as ourselves. But the apostle Paul explains what he means by self-love. Even if you have low self-esteem, you probably don’t willingly let yourself go hungry. You take care of your body and may even exercise. You clothe yourself reasonably well. You make sure there is a roof over your head. You try not to let yourself be cheated or injured. This is the kind of love we need to have for our neighbors. 

Christians must obey the law of love, which supersedes both spiritual and civil laws. How easy it is to excuse our indifference to others merely because we have no legal obligation to help them and even to justify harm on them if our actions are technically legal! But Jesus does not leave loopholes in the law of love. Whenever love demands it, we are to go beyond humans’ legal requirements and imitate the God of love. 

Law governs our interaction with one another. Love of our neighbor motivates us to act in a lawful manner on our relationships with one another as the organic body in society. When we are motivated by love, we go beyond the limitations of law or commandments. But when we are not motivated by love, we are strictly limited by law and commandments in our doings. 

Love will carry one beyond the limitations of law. We could keep all the commandments, but still be limited in our relational behavior with our neighbor. Love always goes beyond a list of commandments. Commandments limit, love expands, commandments restricts, but love frees. Commandments lead us to believe how little we can do; love opens the door to unlimited possibilities. 

When we are not motivated by love, we ignore the rich by believing they have they need. We should not ignore the rich, because then we would be withholding our love. But we must not favor them for what they can do for us, while ignoring the poor who can offer us seemingly so little in return. We must treat people as we would want to be treated. 

Prayer: Abba Father, Your love has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit Who was given to us. Endue me with the spirit of lovely motivations in all I do, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

When God’s Love Is Sweetest

 

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. (Ephesians 5:25–26)

If you only hope for unconditional love from God, your hope is great, but too small.

Unconditional love from God is not the sweetest experience of his love. The sweetest experience is when his love says, “I have made you so much like my Son that I delight to see you and be with you. You are a pleasure to me, because you are so radiant with my glory.”

This sweetest experience is conditional on our transformation into the kind of people whose emotions and choices and actions please God.

Unconditional love is the source and foundation of the human transformation that makes the sweetness of conditional love possible. If God did not love us unconditionally, he would not penetrate our unattractive lives, bring us to faith, unite us to Christ, give us his Spirit, and make us progressively like Jesus.

But when he unconditionally chooses us, and sends Christ to die for us, and regenerates us, he puts in motion an unstoppable process of transformation that makes us glorious. He gives us a splendor to match his favorite kind: his own.

We see this in Ephesians 5:25–27. “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her [unconditional love], that he might sanctify her . . . and present the church to himself in splendor” — the condition in which he delights.

It is unspeakably wonderful that God would unconditionally set his favor on us while we are still unbelieving sinners. The ultimate reason this is wonderful is that this unconditional love brings us into the everlasting enjoyment of his glorious presence.

But the apex of that enjoyment is that we not only see his glory, but also reflect it. “The name of our Lord Jesus [will] be glorified in you, and you in him” (2 Thessalonians 1:12).

LET ALL YOU DO BE MOTIVATED BY LOVE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24, 2022.

SUBJECT : LET ALL YOU DO BE MOTIVATED BY LOVE!

Memory verse: "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." (First Corinthians 13 vs 3.)

READ: First Corinthians 13 vs 1 - 3:

13:1: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

13:2: And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

13:3: And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

INTIMATION:

Love is having great affection for, feeling a passionate attraction to, and being fond of something or someone. God demands that our motivation in all we do should be by the geatest gift of love. That our driving force should be ‘love,’—love for Him and others.  God considers love as the greatest gift anybody can give, and demonstrated it when He Himself gave to the world His only begotten Son as a propitiation for our sins out of His love for the world.

Jesus gave His life for us out of love of the Father, that we might have our own life and live through Him. He considered it the greatest gift anyone can give, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15 vs 13). No such gift has ever been given, and I doubt the possibility of ever having any gifts greater than this; exchanging something of inestimable value with something completely worthless. 

However, we may not have to die for someone, but there are other ways to practice sacrificial love: listening, helping, encouraging, giving, sharing in grief etc. Sacrificial love is demonstrated in stretching yourself more than normal in offering yourself in love for God and others.

In giving His Son, the driving force to God is love for the world; “For God so loved the world that He gave...” (John 3 vs 16.) The apostle John said that by such act of God, in given His Son who laid down His life for us, we know love. And that should be our motive in all we do; we should love one another and ready to ‘lay down our lives for others,’—that is, serving others with no thoughts of receiving anything in return. 

John further stated that “everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (First John 4 vs 7 - 8.) The person who in not motivated by love does not know the first thing about God, because God is Love—so you can’t know Him if you don’t love. 

The Scripture makes it clear that no one has seen God, ever, or can see God. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and His perfect love becomes complete in us. And this is how we know we are living steadily and deeply in Him and He in us. When we take up permanent residence in a life out of love, we live in God and God lives in us.

Love is more important than all the spiritual gifts exercised in the church—the body of Christ. Great faith, acts of dedication and sacrifice, and miracle-working power, all have little effect without love. Love makes our actions and gifts useful. You aren't going to see a supernatural return on your giving when you do it with the wrong motive. It has to come from a humble and loving heart that desires to bless other people. The motive behind what you do is more important than the action itself, and giving with a wrong heart motive is of no benefit. Although people have different gifts, but love is available to everyone.

In the passage we read today, we can understand that you can go so far as to make the ultimate sacrifice of laying down your life, but it will be of no benefit to you if it isn't done out of a motivation of love. It will bless the person you sacrifice yourself for, but it isn't going to result in a supernatural return for you. 

Jesus gave us the ‘Greatest Commandment’ of love, saying, “And You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. ‘This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There are no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12 vs 30 - 31.)

In John 14 vs 23, Jesus said, “…If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” And His word is the commandment He has given us as stated above. The life of “love” for God and others engenders companionship of God and His Son with you. What love can be more enduring than this?

God’s laws are not burdensome. They can be reduced to two simple principles: Love God and love others. These commands are from the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 6 vid 5; Leviticus 19 vs 18). When you love God completely and care for others as you care for yourself, then you have fulfilled the intent of the Ten Commandments and the other Old Testament laws. 

According to Jesus, these two commandments summarize all God’s laws. Let them rule your thoughts, decisions, and actions. Let sincere love for God and others be your motivating factor in all you do. When you are uncertain about what to do, ask yourself which course of action best demonstrates love for God and love for others.

Prayer: Abba Father, Your love has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit Who was given to us. Give me the grace to showcase my abiding in You, and You in me by my love for You and others, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Message of Creation

 

Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Romans 1:22–23)

It would be a great folly and a great tragedy if a man loved his wedding ring more than he loved his bride. But that is what this passage says has happened.

Human beings have fallen in love with the echo of God’s excellence in creation, and lost the ability to hear the incomparable, original shout of love and power and glory.

The message of creation is this:

There is a great God of glory and power and generosity behind all this awesome universe; you belong to him because he made you. He is patient with you in sustaining your rebellious life. Turn and bank your hope on him and delight yourself in him, not merely his handiwork.

According to Psalm 19:1–2, day pours forth the “speech” of that message to all who will listen in the day, speaking with blindingly bright sun and blue sky and clouds and untold shapes and colors and beautiful designs of all things visible. Night pours forth the “knowledge” of the same message to all who will listen at night, speaking with great dark voids and summer moons and countless stars and strange sounds and cool breezes and northern lights.

Day and night are saying one thing: God is glorious! God is glorious! God is glorious! Turn away from the creation as your supreme satisfaction, and delight yourself in the Lord of glory.