Posts Tagged ‘Love’

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THE KINGDOM

Monday, November 15th, 2010

Day 252

“Fear not, little flock, for your Father takes pleasure in giving you the kingdom”
Luke 12:32

This is the very heart of God our Father.

It reveals the tenderness of God and His pleasure in giving us gifts. He not only has freely given us grace and mercy, but now He imparts His kingdom to us. He gives of Himself so that we may rest under His kingship, rule and sovereignty.

He says to us, “Fear not.” We need not be anxious about our life. We are not to live in fear of man or the world. He takes care of the less and menial, so how much more will He care for us. We are His children, He is our Father and knows our needs and will supply them. We are free from worry to live in His kingdom, a gift to us.

We are the crown of His creation, the joy of His heart and He takes great pleasure in us. God is so pleased, joyful and happy that He sings! Yes, He sings—”He will rejoice over you with singing” [Zephaniah 3:17].

“Fear not, little flock”

“He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart;
He gently leads those that have young”
Isaiah 40:11

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THE GOD OF MUCH MORE – PART 4

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010

Day 247

“Christ reconciled us to God by dying for us, surely now that we are reconciled we may be perfectly certain of our salvation through His living in us” [vs 10, J.B. Phillips]
Romans 5:6-10

Christ stands at the center of God’s redemptive divine plan. It is through His sacrifice that we live. His death and resurrection has made it possible for us to be cleansed, saved and translated into the kingdom of God to become a child of God.

Jesus Christ, Son of God, Second Person of the Holy Trinity, our Savior, gave Himself so we may live and enter into an eternal relationship with Him and His Father. He is our Helper and now through Him we receive deliverance from the power and dominion of sin. He has made every provision for us to live in holiness and enjoy a joyful relationship with the Father. We “have been set free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness” (6:18.

There is “much . . . much more;” our sins are forgiven for the past, the present and the future. Paul declared, “…it is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). What more could we ever ask? We have been richly and deeply blessed by a loving Father who freely gave of Himself. True love is the voluntary placing of other lives ahead of one self. It is an action, not an intent or sentiment.

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us!”
1 John 3:1

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THE INVESTMENT

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

Day 221

“We should go up and take possession of the land,
for we can certainly do it.”
Numbers 13:30

The Old Testament reveals a history of God preparing a land for His people. After freeing them from their long Egyptian bondage, the people amazingly grumbled, complained and rebelled during the time of reaching the new land. The verse today sees them at the place where they can enter the land. They had a good report about the land, but they believed the bad reports. They saw their enemies as giants and they grumbled against Moses and Aaron and accused God of leading them into a death trap! Joshua spoke and declared the Lord was with them and they could take the land; but the whole camp turned on them and began to talk about stoning them to death.

The people’s hearts were stubborn, hard and filled with rebellion and wickedness. They saw God as their enemy and wanted to kill His leaders in the face of His blessings! God wasn’t happy about their response and wanted to strike them down with a plague and destroy them. In the midst of this Moses pleaded for their lives and God heard him. He spared them and sent them back into the wilderness for 40 years. Both Joshua and Caleb made a decision to stay with these people, bearing their burden by going back into the desert with them for the 40 years. They made a decision to serve though they tried to kill them.

Joshua and Caleb’s decision to stay with the people in the face of their rebellion foreshadowed Jesus Christ who came in the midst of our sinfulness to die for us. Through it all, He continually demonstrated His love towards us in His actions, bearing our burdens, ignorance, and sins. It is this sacrificial love that redeemed us. What an investment Christ and those before him made! Shouldn’t we also invest ourselves in the brethren?

“He is a faithful God, keeping His covenant of love . . .” Deuteronomy 7:9

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THE ONE REQUIREMENT

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

Day 220

“You servant was tending his father’s sheep”
1 Samuel 17:34

What is the one overriding characteristic of our Father in heaven? It is His love for us. First, He created us with the explicit purpose of being partakers in His divinity and having fellowship. He proved to be unchangeable in this purpose. He has never deviated from His original plan in spite of man’s rebellion. Everything He does points to the completion of His eternal plan.

The recorded history of God’s relationship with us continually demonstrates His love. He first loved us. He seeks us. He restores us. He is faithful, even when we are not faithful. He continually thinks on us. He sustains, girds, strengthens, and prospers us. And, in our weakness and wickedness, He sent His only Son to show us the way back. And for that He paid a price of suffering and death. All for us.

Do you aspire to minister? There is only one requirement. When David made his case to challenge Goliath, his reason was that he took care of his father’s sheep. Go all the way to Jesus’ last days and listen to His conversation with Peter; “Do you love me more than these?” Jesus asked Peter the same question three times. Each time Peter said yes and the Lord’s answer was, “Feed My lambs,” “Shepherd My sheep,” and “Feed My sheep.” There is the one requirement; you must have a compelling and practical love to the point of laying down your life for God’s people. It is as He Himself has shown us.

“Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will praise you forever; from generation to
generation we will recount your praise”
Psalm 79:13

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LOVE OPPOSES US

Sunday, September 19th, 2010

Day 197

“I have come here to oppose you because
your path before me is a reckless one”
Numbers 22:33

Sometimes God opposes us.

God will not permit us to be consumed by our own devices. In our self-sufficiency and independence we often are blinded by our own thoughts, desires and plans. Balaam had that problem. Even though he sought the Lord, his motives in carrying out the Lord’s direction were wrong. Balaam was occupied with the honor and riches he was promised instead of exactly heeding God’s direction. This is a great danger.

How many of us are eager to do God’s will. We pray to get direction. We fulfill scriptural commands. Yet, in the process our motives and desires are of the flesh. Our earthliness is mixed in with God’s labor and purposes. An evangelist once announced he prayed and had a plan to convert everyone in the world. All we needed to do now was pray and get God interested! Sadly, many hearing him believed in what he said.

God loved Balaam and because He loved him, he stood in His way and opposed him. Three times he attempted to stop Balaam. Yet, Balaam resisted, blinded by his own thoughts. The donkey had served him all his life and yet Balaam didn’t see his behavior as a sign. He got very angry. Finally the Lord caused the donkey to speak! When the Lord opened his eyes, he then knew how blind he was. Yes, God’s love compelled Him to stop Balaam before he was destroyed.

Prayer

Father help us to be pure of heart in all our
labor before you so that our motives
and desires are for You only. Amen.

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SALVATION AND MORE

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Day 181

“I have given you an example to follow.
Do as I have done to you”
John 13:15

There is no question that God’s salvation is the greatest gift anyone could receive. It has set us free from sin and death, made us new, partakers of His nature, His children, personal friends of our Lord and Savior and residents of a greater kingdom than any other on earth or in the heavens. What we’ve gained is endless. The height and depth of it is not measurable. His love is the foundation and basis for this great salvation.

Christ’s love that brought us salvation is not a one time act. The power of His love equips us to not only live, but grow every day in Him. He has given us the means to make our salvation rich and full. How? “Do as I have done to you,” He said. And He showed us how by example. It could not be seen more powerfully then at the last supper when He girded Himself and became a humble servant washing the feet of the very people He created!

How is God glorified; by walking in His love with humility. “We should please others” [Romans 15:2]; “Live a life filled with love for others” [Ephesians 5:2], “You must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy … You must make allowances for each other’s faults … the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony” [Colossians 3:12-14]. Oh, how rich and full our salvation is by loving Him and our brethren!

“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because
He laid down His life for us, we ought to
lay down our lives for the brethren”
1 John 3:16

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THE POWER OF LOVE

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

Day 179

“Overwhelming victory is ours
through Christ, who loved us”
Romans 8:37

God is love. God’s power is the power of endless love. How do we know this? Because He first loved us when we were unworthy and unable to love Him. Incredible as it may seem, God brought us His love in humility, gentleness and servanthood.

Christ’s kingdom and all its power is manifested by love. It is love that brought Him, the second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God, to take on the nature of us on this earth. It is love to have lived among us for His 33 years. It is love that called twelve men and made them the first leaders of His church. He invested His life to train and show them God the Father. And it was love that brought Him to the cross to die for us.

And how was this love demonstrated? With great power, thunder, lightening? No, it was in servanthood. The Last Supper told it all when He girded Himself as a servant and washed the feet of His disciples. The Son of God, Lord of Lords, King of Kings, girded Himself as a humble servant to wash the feet of men! And He instructed us to do the same. Here is His glory: we are more than conquerors in Him who loved us.

“I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come,
No height, nor depth, nor any other
creature, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord”
Romans 8:38-39

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FOOLISHNESS AND THE IMPOSSIBLE

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

Day 175

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than
man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God
is stronger than man’s strength”
1 Corinthians 1:25

Peter was a fisherman, Matthew a tax collector, Paul an eloquent statesman. Moses murdered a soldier in anger. David was a very young teenager, Gideon was farmer, Ruth a foreigner whose husband died, Rahab a prostitute. The list goes on, but each person was chosen and called of God and the end result was He used each one in a way that was opposite of who they were at the time He called them.

We are always trying to put God in a box. He will escape every time. We become victims of our own nature by believing we know everything. Our doctrine is perfect, theology correct and practice consistent, but in the end we know only in part and all of our wisdom is foolishness. We believe ourselves invincible and self-sufficient, but in the end all our strength is weakness.

No man has seen God. No man knows God wholly. We know in part. He has given us His wisdom and His strength. We will walk in righteousness if we lean on this. And more than all, He has revealed His grace and mercy to us through love. What more could we ask? His glory is our resting in Him, living our lives through Him, knowing and relying upon His love.

“I no longer live, but Christ lives in me”
Galatians 2:20

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GOD IS LOVE

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Day 174

“God is love, and all who live in love
live in God, and God lives in them”
1 John 4:16

It’s God’s love that overcame and conquered us. He poured His love into our sinful hearts. He pursued us down the alleys of life and was there in our darkness and rebellion. It mattered not where we ran and hid. It mattered not how wicked and vile we had become. He was there. He would not let go.

God is a God of love. He wills nothing but good. He yearns and longs for those He has chosen. The love of God is unfathomable. We cannot grasp it. His love is all that is right and perfect and all that makes happy. He revealed His love to win our hearts through His Son Jesus Christ. And Jesus willingly stood the shame of the cross to gain us. This is the heart of our Father.

Christ’s love controls us. He has poured that love into us through His Holy Spirit. And He gave us this love to give to others. Imagine that! He has entrusted us with His love. His great wisdom is that we pour out that very love He has given us so others will increase. And we will increase as we give that love. His glory is then known by this love.

“Whatever we do, it is because
Christ’s love controls us”
2 Corinthians 5:14

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HOW MUCH GOD LOVES US

Saturday, August 21st, 2010

Day 171

“For we know how dearly God loves us,
because He has given us the Holy Spirit
to fill our hearts with His love”
Romans 5:5

Paul prayed that, “you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love really is” [Ephesians 3:18]. He prayed this because we deeply need to know that love God has for us. It is that love that sought us, called us and brought us home to Him.

God’s love is so powerful that it overcame us. We did not love Him. He first loved us. And then He put that love in us to love Him! Incredible! He saves our wretched being and then enables us to love Him. This is the glory of our God – He brought into existence what didn’t exist before.

Now we are filled with His love to love Him. And not just Him, but all men. We can pour His love out to others as He did to us because love conquers in the end. It covers a multitude of sins. There is no excuse for us not to do this. It is His love and He has given it to us through the Holy Spirit who will empower us to love. It is a choice we make – to love in His strength. And when you pour out His love He will fill you in a way that there is no end of love. And this is the glory of God – to love Him and all men.

“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each
other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you”
1 Thessalonians 3:12

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