Category: love

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Genesis 48-50 Blessings, Death, Forgiveness

Forgiveness ..man's greatest need

As we close out Genesis, we come to these three chapters which might be called, God’s Diary for in it we find how God operates through human history. 

God blesses those who obey and honor Him. He brings “home” those of his servants to enjoy the afterlife. And lastly, maybe one of the most important lesson and take away for us is the trait of forgiveness.

As we have said, God never wastes a trial but uses it to show His faithfulness and his lovingkindness. We see that in the life of Joseph and even though it was years and years, God used them to grow Joseph to be the man of God He could use to bring about His plans for his people.  In the meantime, Jacob has to learn from his sins, which were many, to prepare his sons for the next stage in their lives. God opens the windows of heaven and pours out his blessings on Jacob after he has lived in the cauldron of affliction and sin. He is now humble and ready to see God’s plan unfold in steps in the restoration of his family in a very agonizing and challenging time. God restores Joseph to Jacob so that he and his children might be spared the death knell of famine. 

Jacob has a family time and pronounces “blessings” upon each boy  “what will happen to you in future days.” It seems strange to hear the words of Jacob because they don’t sound like blessings to us, but God will use each to show us Jacob may have had 12 sons but he knew the character of each. And after this time of reflection, Jacob blesses Joseph’s children, draws up his knees and dies. 

But, the last lesson is what we want to focus on: forgiveness. Joseph has had many a year to process his life and what has happened to him but has come to terms with “God’s ways are not our ways.” [Is 55:8-9] As he welcomes his brothers and provides for them,he is astounded and deeply hurt when they announce they will give their lives to be his slaves. They have not learned the lesson of forgiveness as seen by Joseph’s tears. They really didn’t get it! 

Which brings us to our own lives. Do we get it? Do we understand that verse in Isaiah? 

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11.24.24.God’s Love

God is LOVE
God Loves

Psalm 136 God’s Love is Enduring

This psalm was sung in the early church at Passover. The notes on this psalm tell us: “The psalmist called on the people to give thanks to God three times. The refrain here and throughout the psalm explains the reason for praising Him. The repetition of the refrain in each verse serves to cause the reader to applaud every divine act that the writer mentioned.” 

This is the week we stop to praise God for all He has done. Perhaps this psalm might be a good way to begin our Thanksgiving celebration. Do we applaud God for all He has done both now and on special occasions? This is a good reminder for us.

Today as you enter the sanctuary, stop and give God praise for all He has done and will do. Praise Him in the sanctuary and in the city and in the fields. No matter where you are, stop and echo these words so all may hear: praise God for all He has done and will do because His love is enduring. 

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11.18.24. Love!

John 18 Acceptance

How full is your love cup today? Do you choose to love all or do you love piecemeal? Why is love so important? It is the mark of he who has followed the Master. Truth: “ I tell you the solemn truth, whoever accepts the one I send accepts me, and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” And now you ask me, how do I know whom to accept Lord? Jesus said this is the mark: “I give you a new commandment—to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another” 

Is your love cup full or empty or half-full? Stop and observe, listen carefully. What do you see, what do you hear? Actions speak louder than words so be busy loving so that others will know you have been in the presence of the Lord as you begin today and every day. 

Love is a gift
Share it.
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10.20.24. Called, Wrapped, Kept.

Jude 1 The Believer’s Protection

How does one encourage those who are suffering untold persecution physically, spiritually, or even emotionally. The first words of Jude give the believer in Christ enormous words from God as to how they are loved and protected from the evil one. Jude reminds his readers and us in turn: you are called, wrapped in the love of the Father and kept until the time of your departure. Each of these descriptions are words of encouragement in times of distress as these readers were. 

It is the Holy Spirit who calls us out of darkness into glorious light of salvation.He speaks to our heart words that tell us that from eternity past our names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. God calls and we answer, yes Lord. 

Secondly, Jude tells the reader that they are like a precious present wrapped not in paper and ribbon, but in the wrappings of the love of God. Wrapped has the connotation of being protected from the weapons of the evil one who seeks to kill and destroy. 

Thirdly, Jude says they are kept safe both physically and spiritually until one’s death date arrives. The evil one may seek to end our lives early but nothing will happen to us until God chooses that departure date. 

Be encouraged today as you ponder these words of Jude who loved Jesus just as you do. 

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10.18.24. How Enduring is your Love?

God is love!

Psalm 118 Enduring!

 Our world is awash in turmoil with wars and rumors of wars. There are problems with the church  and its people with fightings within and without. Yet, in the midst of this the psalmist reminds us that God is the same today as He was yesterday and will be in the future. One of the marks of God is his enduring love for His people. How enduring is your love for God and His creatures? Enduring means everlasting,  “continuous existence, perpetual, everlasting, indefinite or unending future, eternity.”

The psalmist gives glowing praise to the Father: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good and his loyal love endures.” Stop today and ponder that thought and meditate on it for your daily walk. Be encouraged and share this thought with another. 

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10.15.24.Keeping Love Fresh

How do you sound today

2 Cor 11 Paul loved the Corinthian church and its people, but like many then and today, the love between them had become strained. We see this in churches and in marriages today. How do we keep the love fresh? We purposely spend time with one another and we encourage one another. It is in the absence of these that our love grows cold and we lose our first love as the Ephesians had, and now the Corinthians had done the same. 

Paul charged the Corinthians: “But I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by his treachery, your minds may be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus different from the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the one you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough!” In fact, the Apostle John told the early churches that they were too falling for those false teachers who had sought to infiltrate the church. 

Beloved reader, we must be on guard for the evil one will seek to usurp our love for Christ. Spend time in the ‘Word, spend time in prayer for those you love, spend time encouraging one another as the days are growing colder. 

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9.24.24. Love is…

God is LOVE

1 Cor 13 Love is Supreme

God so loved….therefore we are to emulate His love. “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue but in deed and truth.” [1 John 3:18] Without the Father’s love, we are wandering in the wilderness and are bereft of His blessings. Love is the mark of those who belong to God and the opposite is true, you have no claim to be God’s child. The Apostle John explained it this way; love is what is required, not as a convenience thing to do as Cain attempted to do. 

So what is this love thing? It is what God requires of His children so that the world will know we are His and He has bestowed it upon us as His precious gift. It is the gift of life through His Son Jesus Christ. Practically speaking, it is being kind to those who are undeserving. It is a gift that is ongoing with no end. It is as John said, what we do and what we think and what we say. Paul explains it this way: what love is and what love is not. The contrast is clear and is worthy of our reflection. Is God first in our thinking, our motives, our actions? What do we love: God or the world that fancies itself as loving. Reader, remember this:  actions speak louder than words and without God’s love you are empty and void of this truth: God is love and He so loved. 

Use 1 Cor 13 as your checklist. 

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Encouraging One Another

Colossians 2 How do we encourage others who we do not see face to face? That must have been on Paul’s mind as he pondered the flock at Colossae and Laodicea. His heart was there with them even though he could not be there in person. As with many of us, our hearts yearn to see others face to face so we can read their countenances and hear their thoughts. However, when that is not possible, it is with pen in hand that we write our thoughts just as Paul did. His first thought was that “their hearts be knit together in love and be encouraged, and that they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ,”

Paul knew that even in a Roman prison there were distractions that would cause one’s faith to be challenged. He knew that to also be true for these believers so far away.So he reminds them to consider their walk in Christ, that their life be rooted in Him. He also wants them to be discerning when others come with false teachings and philosophy. Truly even today we must be on guard. 

Today, don’t let the world tell you that you must have a list of do’s and don’ts, instead let Christ rule your heart and your life. Freedom is in Him, not the list. 

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Children are our gift!

Luke 18. But Jesus called for the children, saying, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them. 

In today’s world children are seen as a problem to be cast aside. We have many who support abortion rather than carrying a child to term. If it breaks your heart imagine how it breaks God’s heart!  Psalm 139 reminds us that we are fashioned by the Creator God from the first two cells that join. “Your eyes saw my unformed substance;in your book were written, every one of them,the days that were formed for me,when as yet there was none of them.”[Ps 139:16]

Today stop and give God praise for the work that He has done and for the gift of children. They are the next generation. We must protect them at all costs and we must raise them up to honor God. 

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What does your heart reveal?

Luke 7: Do you have a heart of compassion for the most needy among our society or do you wonder and think that there is no hope for them. Listen to the story Jesus has recorded for us about two individuals; one is a noted sinner and the other is one who feels or thinks he is the righteous one. The most “righteous” one says to himself, doesn’t he realize what kind of woman this is that has come uninvited to my home? How often do we too make judgments and we presume without the compassion of God? That was Simon, the Pharisee.

The scene is this: Simon invited Jesus to dinner and while dinner was being served, a woman of the streets crept in uninvited and lay down at the feet of Jesus. Scandalous! Doesn’t Jesus realize who she is? While this happening, Jesus tenderly turns to her as she lay weeping, wiping his feet with her tears and pronounces her faith and her forgiveness. Jesus then turns to Simon and in compassion asks him about who should be more forgiven, the one who has sinned much or the one who has sinned little. 

Jesus placed this story here to remind us that we quickly presume and often judge without compassion. We wonder if Simon learned that lesson that evening. We never know when Jesus will open our eyes to our sin and our lack of compassion. Be alert! We are not forgiven because of our many works but because our heart is open to His love. 

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