God's Commandment To Love

Yes, God has commanded His people to love one another.

The fruit of the spirit is love.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23

This love wears work gloves.

It hugs the lonely, feeds the hungry, tends the sick, comforts the sorrowful, and puts up with the insufferable.

Agape love

Sacrificial love

Unconditional love

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. - Ephesians 5:1-2

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

- John 13:34

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. - John 15:12

These things I command you, so that you will love one another. - John 15:17

And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. - 1 John 3:23

Love is an action, a response, it's a verb and it's what we do.

Feelings follow not precede.

When the Ephesians church lost its first love, God said what?

4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. - Revelation 2:4-5

The love commands effect you in every walk of your life, your home, your church, your community, your job.

Yes, even love your enemies.

 And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments. - Luke 23:34

God commands the impossible.

Cultivation of love.

God gives to you and you give to others.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. - 1 Corinthians 14:1

The Challenges to love.

 Reflect on God's love for you.

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. - 1 John 3:16

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. - 1 John 4:11

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8

Trapped by the enemy, hopeless and surrounded on every side, this is our plight without Jesus who held out His hands and gave himself as a sacrifice to save your soul from Hell. He is still reaching out to save the lost! Christ loved the world through His agony on the Cross. This is genuine love.

Pursue genuine love.

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. - Romans 12:9

Let Your love be sincere.

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." - John 13:35

Pray for greater love.

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, - Philippians 1:9

Let Your love grow.

Don't be afraid to risk.

If you love, you will be vulnerable.

Practice love everyday.

Be imitators of God.

Let all that you do be done in love. - 1 Corinthians 16:14

Show the world what it means to love.

Remember that Christ died for you!!

Thanks Pastor David!!

Sharing Jesus With Your Children

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” Deuteronomy 6:7

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Have you ever tried to take a tasty bone away from a dog? It’s a good way to get bitten! But what if you put a steak down on the ground? The dog will drop the bone to get that steak.

This is the mistake so many parents are making today. They spend their time telling their children “Don’t do this. Don’t do that. That’s wrong.” By such behavior, these parents are failing an entire generation. Many times, children are never shown the riches of Jesus Christ. In every 24-hour cycle, there are a multitude of teachable moments for sharing and modeling life in Christ.

ACTION POINT:

Children must be shown that what they have in the Lord Jesus Christ is so much better than what this world has to offer. But are they seeing that in your life?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Harvest Of The Earth Is Fully Ripe

Eternity definition

Infinite, unending time, endless 

And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe." - Revelation 14:15

18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.

19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name." - Daniel 9:18-19

20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God,

21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.

22 He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, "O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding.

23 At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision. - Daniel 9:20-23

Eternity is coming!

A time of reckoning will come!

We have been warned!

There are many witnesses who testify of the truth to all the non-believers.

We are not a perfect people!

We are sinners saved by grace!

We have turned from sin to follow Christ.

We believe and know that Christ alone has redeemed us!

We don't look down on you because we are equal in committing sin.

We warn you of the coming judgement!

We fight a battle!

We run from sin!

Sometimes we fail, we humbly beg for forgiveness and push on toward our prize, who is Christ Jesus!

I beg of you to repent!

37 He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,

39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.

40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.

41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,

42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. - Matthew 13:37-43

13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great. 

14 Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.  - Joel 3:13-14

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. - Ezekiel 36:26

The Artist Is At Work

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

In Scotland some men were sitting around drinking tea and swapping fishing stories. One man, with a flamboyant gesture of his hand, knocked another man’s hand, splattering his tea on the white plastered wall, creating an ugly brown stain. He was horrified, but the man said, “Never mind.” And he started to sketch around that stain. Suddenly there emerged a royal stag with his antlers spread.

The artist was Sir Edwin Landseer—England’s foremost painter of animals. He was able to take that old stain and make something beautiful out of it.

ACTION POINT:

Jesus Christ is that kind of an artist. He can take a life that has been stained, and by His transforming power He can make something beautiful out of it.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Praying Life

Praying definition 

A humble petition to God who is able.

For me praying is essential.

It is my quite time, alone with God where I ask for forgiveness, mercy, guidance, wisdom, the ability to obey and strength to run from sin.

I ask for God to give me understanding of His His word so that I may teach others. I pray for the lost to be open to the salvation that comes from the death and resurrection of Christ. I pray that the nations will know the only one true God and His Son's power of saving grace.

pray without ceasing, - 1 Thessalonians 5:17

1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

2 He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.

3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.'

4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man,

5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'"

6 And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says.

7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?

8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" - Luke 18:1-8

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. - Romans 12:12

17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, - Ephesians 6:17-18

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. - Colossians 4:2

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, - 2 Corinthians 4:16-17

Why we should pray.

Jesus, on your behalf, intercedes in prayer to God the Father for your mercy!

So we need to humbly pray to Jesus for He alone has the power to ask God for our reconciliation. 

3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,

4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. - 1 Timothy 2:3-6

16 who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life.

17 For it is witnessed of him, "You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek." 

18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness

19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

20 And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath,

21 but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, 'You are a priest forever.'" 

22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office,

24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.

25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. - Hebrews 7:16-28

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. - Romans 5:8-11

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. - 1 John 2:1-3

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

For me, my prayer is not always asking for something but sometimes it is just praising God, thanking God and marveling at Who God is! 

One Way To “Get Prayer Back In Schools”

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.” Hebrews 10:24

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

One area where Christians can shed the light of Christ is in our school system. We have a generation who has no standards of right and wrong—everything is relative. In our schools our children are being taught that they have descended from animals. Is it any wonder that many have begun to act like animals?

What can you and I do? We must “love” our way back in! We must get involved by becoming members of the PTA. We must encourage teachers and tell them we are praying for them. We must go to school board meetings and find out about policies and curricula. We must pray daily for our classroom teachers and administrators.

ACTION POINT:

We must seek to be holy people in a godless world. And if we don’t, we are contributing to the demise of the next generation.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

First, Read How It All Turns Out!

BIBLE MEDITATION:

 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

A boy was reading a murder mystery one day, and he became anxious about whether the heroine was going to live. To alleviate his anxiety, he read the last chapter and discovered that she survived!

Afterwards, when he read that the villain was planning a dastardly deed, he chuckled to himself and thought, “If you knew what I know, you wouldn’t be so haughty.”

ACTION POINT:

Christians know the last chapter, and that helps us cope with the present. Indeed, the glories of the future can help dilute the sorrows of the present. The devil’s doom is pronounced in Genesis—and it’s executed in Revelation.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers