Loving God More Than Anything
Romans 8:32
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
What is your weakness? What is it that you hang onto or can’t do without? Do you have a keepsake that reminds you of years gone by? Is there a piece of furniture handed down through the generations you couldn’t think of giving to someone else? What is it you love?
What about your family? Do you love them? I hope the answer is yes. I have three daughters that I love very much. Because of them I now have three sons as well – I love them too. Of course my partner for life is the one I love the most. I also love my parents – my siblings – my nieces and nephews and others. Family is so important and we have a special place for in our heart for our love for them.
The passage today reminds us that the Father did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all. His love for us allowed Him to offer and sacrifice His own Son. I will never fully understand such a love.
Our love for God should be great. It should be greater than any other love we have for others. Luke records Jesus as saying these words: Luke 14:26 – If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple.
We are called to love Jesus – love God – more than we love our own family. I know I have hit on this subject several times in my devotions – partly because I think it is a challenge we need to be reminded of often. I know I do. There are times I love myself or my hobbies or my things or even my family more than I should. There are times I have not put Christ at the top of my love list.
As we approach Christmas when the greatest gift of love was shared with us – let us remember how great our love for God should be! Remind me and in love I will try to remind you too.
Just something to think about today as you go on your way.
Tweet this Blog Post
They Will Know Us By Our Love
John 13:35
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
I read an article today about an Iowa couple – married for 72 years – Gordon (94) and Norma (90) Yeager. They were hardly ever a part in life and even after a tragic car accident (Gordon’s fault) they lay in the ICU – hand in hand. Their children reported in the article how close they were – how the day after Norma graduated from High School she accepted Gordon’s proposal and within 12 hours they were married and never a part again.
After the accident and hearing how close they were throughout their life – the nurses put them in the same room in the ICU and brought their beds together. The reached for each other and held each other’s hand – his right – her left. At 3:38 pm he died – he stopped breathing – but to the children’s surprise the heart monitor kept going. They were puzzled until the nurses told them that because they were holding hands – their mom’s heart beat was going through their dad and being read by his machine. She passed at exactly one hour later. Their son mentioned that dad was holding the door open for her.
It was an amazing story – everyone who knew them – or read this story about their life – knew they loved being together – loved each other. I wonder if people looking at us – the people in the church – even our church – would tell a story of people loving each other – loving Jesus – with all our hearts? It is how Scripture says we will be known – not by the rules we follow – not by the committee meetings we hold and decisions we make – not by the degrees with have – but by the love we show one another.
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
Just something to think about today as you go on your way.
Tweet this Blog Post
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
1 John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
Often familiar sayings are grounded in Biblical truth – even when we don’t realize it. How many times have you heard someone say actions speak louder than words and didn’t know it was also found in the Bible? Maybe your spouse or significant other has used this phrase with you.
Today’s passage speaks to this familiar saying. Here is the context.
1 John 3:16-20 – 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Love is more than words. It is so easy to say I love you and so much harder to show it by the way we treat people. Love is all about our relationship with God and walking that relationship out in our lives with others. Telling someone who has a need – and you have the means to help – I’m praying for you – is all words with little action. Telling someone you love them – and then mistreating them speaks volumes more than the words. How do you show love – by doing the small things at times.
The staff talked about showing love at home and showing love at work. What do you do to show love to your spouse or family members? What do you do to show the love of Christ to the world around you? It is how we love that shows who’s we are! If God is a God of love – and we are merely talkers about love rather than livers of love – how empty is that?
Just something to think about today as you go on your way.
Tweet this Blog Post
Like this:
Create in Me a Clean Heart My Lord
Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Found as part of what we call the beatitudes – our passage today speaks of having a pure heart – being pure in heart. A pure heart is something the Lord seeks in His followers. A pure heart is a desirable thing.
The Psalmist asks for God to create a pure heart within him.
Psalm 51:10 – Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Paul writes that a pure heart produces the goal – love.
1 Timothy 1:5 – The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
How do we develop a pure heart? The Psalmist asked for God to create one in him – as we read already. Because we are a sinful people – a pure heart comes only from a deepening relationship with God – and an outpouring of grace and the Holy Spirit. Turning from sin and turning more and more toward God (repentance).
Paul says it this way:
2 Timothy 2:22 – Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Lord – create in us all a pure heart to seek after Your righteousness!
Just something to think about today as you go on your way.
Tweet this Blog Post
My Prayer for the People of God at Mt. Oak
Philippians 1:9-11
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.
As a pastor – I often spend time praying for the congregation I am blessed to serve – and the other people I have served or know in my life. It must come with the territory! As a church planter – Paul had a heart for the congregations he helped start – by God’s grace and mercy. In today’s passage Paul speaks the heart of many pastors I know – for the people they serve.
He prayed for this congregation – and his prayer was that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. Love is so important. We spoke of the importance of love in our Vision and Mission series – the need to fully love with our hearts our Lord and His cause. Loving others is what allows us to minister to others – to reach out to others. We want to build people up in knowledge – but if we haven’t grabbed the heart along the way – the knowledge will be destined to be merely knowledge. Paul connects the abounding love with the growing knowledge in his prayer for these folks – and I pray this for us at Mt. Oak.
With a growing love and deepening knowledge comes a depth of insight, so that we may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless . . . filled with (or producing) the fruit of righteousness. . . to the glory and praise of God. That is my prayer this morning – and many mornings – that Mt. Oak will be filled with people who will seek after the love of God – the knowledge of God – in order to discern the best way to serve God and bring Him glory.
Just something to think about today as you go on your way.
Tweet this Blog Post
Love One Another! It Will Help Your Attitude!
Galatians 5:22-26
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Over the next few days we will examine the Fruits of the Spirit as found in Galatians 5. We just took a few days to look at attitude – and several have remarked at how those hit home. Our love quotient goes a long way toward having the right attitude my friends.
The first fruit listed is love. Love is THE most important of the fruits – because without love we could have all the rest – all of the fruits and gifts of the Spirit – and something would still be missing.
1 Corinthians 13:2 – If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
We are called to imitate Christ and the love He showed us.
Ephesians 5:1-2 – 1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
The commandments were summed up by Jesus with a heavy dose of love.
Mark 12:30-31 – 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Today – and throughout the rest of our lives – we should be working on being more loving. Allowing the fruit of love to invade our very being. For some that is easier – because it is their nature to be loving. For some – this will be a task – but it will help us produce a better attitude and will help us be a better witness for Christ.
Love one another – even as Christ loved us.
Just something to think about today as you go on your way.
Love Is An Awesome Concept – If We Could Only Live a Life of Love!
1 John 4:11-12
11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Love is a word that many of us have said to someone – even a bunch of people. Some of us say it to family members. Some of us have said it because it was said to us. Some have used it as a means of getting something from someone.
A whole generation was once called the love generation because they tried to love everyone (not always with great results – often aided by sex and drugs). Love is an emotion for some and a decision by others. Love is a word often used too often in the wrong way.
News flash – I am not always lovable. I know that is not news to those who know me – but it might be to others. This might be news as well – you are not always lovable either. I think I can boldly declare without fear of reprisal that none of us are always lovable. We are all sinners – and at times – unlovable.
When we marry someone we promise to love them forever – through the good and the bad – through sickness and health – through riches and poverty. Most of us really mean it – I believe – yet every marriage has two people who are unlovable – at times. We can promise to love someone in marriage – not because they will always be lovable – but because our love is supposed to model the love of God who loved us before we loved Him and at times in spite of our lack of love for Him. The love chapter in the Bible gives us a picture of God’s love – the love we are to strive to model in our marriages and in our relationships with others.
1 Corinthians 13:3-8 – 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.
We are told that showing love is the most important of all the commandments of God – that by showing love we actually obey all of the other commandments.
Mark 12:30-31 – 30 ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
I declare on this blog page today that I will strive to love you – even if you are unlovable at times. I only ask that you strive to do the same toward me – even when I am unlovable. Let God rule our emotions and our feelings!
Just something to think about today as you go on your way.
God’s Love & Judgement
A question was asked about God’s love. I thought I would give a Scripture that describes God’s love and see what comments might arrive on the blog page.
1 John 4:7-12 – 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Is there a conflict between God’s love and the passage in Revelation we referred to in the sermon Sunday?
Revelation 3:15-16 – 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
RSS Link for Ray’s Blog
Blog Page Hits
