Tag Archive: Ministry


Jesus is the Choice of Love

Filed under: Christian Love, Faith, Jesus, Ministry, The Meaning Of Life — 1 Comment
April 8, 2010

Jesus is the Choice of Love

The world is a stage where we demonstrate our choices for either good, or evil. God stopped eternity to give us time (there is no time in eternity) to give us an opportunity to demonstrate where we choose to spend eternity.

Things are not like they we in the Garden of Eden where the perfection of God was everywhere. In the garden all but one choice was good. In addition, there was no knowledge of evil except for the forbidden Tree of Good and Evil. So, I would think that things were easier then. We only had one thing to avoid.

Adam and Eve in the Garden

Things are much more difficult now. God’s perfection is continuously being destroyed by the activities of man. There is only one choice for good and that is the Tree of Life that is Jesus. One the other hand the knowledge of evil is everywhere as people seem do evil without conscience. People seem egger for the evil choices that make them feel good, or that lead to riches or that make them seem important in the eyes of others. All of these can become stumbling blocks for Christians as well. Even Jesus was tempted by these things.

Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness by the Devil

But one thing is certain and that is we all have the power to choose and we demonstrate our choices every day. We choose to either love or to hate, to reveal the truth or lie, to save life or to kill, to be a friend or an enemy, to help others or to help ourselves, to live for God or to server the devil. The choices are all up to us. The power is in our hands.

Our choice to follow Jesus is the difficult road, the road less traveled; the narrow path if you will. It is the choice of love (see our postings on love). It is a difficult path to walk down because the world does not understand why anyone would do it. It makes no sense to them. They see self giving love as illogical. Since they live in darkness they can not comprehend the light of God.

Those who take the road less traveled will find themselves on a genuine search to find God by following the pathway to His door. They will find themselves doing His will, attempting to become like Him, knowing Him and having a personal relationship with Him that lasts forever. In this relationship they become one with Jesus. They will find that our life here on earth is to prepare the way for His return in a similar way to that of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for His first coming.

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Do We Have the Love of Jesus in our Heart

Filed under: Christian Love, Covenant, Faith, Jesus, Ministry, Prayer, Spirituality, the Holy Spirit, The Meaning Of Life — 1 Comment
April 6, 2010

Do We Have the Love of Jesus in our Heart

Continuing our discussion from our past posting we now address another important point. Based on the scriptures presented in that posting, we suggest that the law of the Jews is replaced by the love in the hearts of the true followers of Jesus. To illustrate the case in point, the law states: “Thou shall not commit adultery,” but Jesus teaches us that it is a matter of the heart:

You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Clearly this is a higher standard that simply refraining from the act alone. This higher standard requires a change in heart, something that the law could not provide.

After all, what kind of heart will not resist an evil person but turn the other cheek? What kind of heart will give a thief both the cloak as well as the coat? What kind of heart will give to those who ask and not turn away? What kind of heart gives love their enemies, blesses those that curse them, does good to people that hate them and prays for those who despitefully use and persecute them?

Disciples Carry Jesus Down From The Cross

It takes a perfect heart. What kind of heart does it take to pray to truly seek and worship God rather than pray for our own selfish desires? What kind of heart will fast simply to shed the bonds of the flesh so as to move closer to God? What kind of heart will turn aside the treasures of the earth in favor of the treasures of Heaven? What kind of heart will sell all they have and follow Jesus? Whose heart will trust Him in all things?

Hearts can only be changed by the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit

This infilling comes only when we seek to move closer to God, to change our lives and to become more like Jesus. The Holly Spirit comes only to those who seek Him. It is our choice to do so and our actions and commitment reaffirm this desire. God will not come to us uninvited.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost

So seek Him with all of you mind, body and spirit.  And pray!

The Power of Prayer

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The Meaning of Life is Manifest in our Choices

Filed under: Covenant, Faith, Jesus, Ministry, The Meaning Of Life — 1 Comment
March 6, 2010

The Meaning of Life is Manifest in our Choices

The meaning of life has been touted as one of our great mysteries of our time. There are most likely millions or perhaps even billions of people who are in the dark about the true meaning and purpose of our lives.

The body of Christ - On Earth as it is Heaven

I am also quite sure that devil’s lies and deception are at the heart of this lack of knowledge. My posting today is to communicate to everyone that I can that the meaning of life is clearly communicated in the Bible. The bottom line here is that the meaning of our life is manifest in the life choices we make. These choices will be decisive in our ultimate destination in heaven or hell. Our decisions will reflect a choice between God and the devil. If our decision is to choose God then we will live forever with God in paradise. Otherwise, we will die forever in torture, pain, and agony in the Pit of Fire and Brimstone under the domination of the devil.

Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness by the Devil

The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:10 – 15)

All of this should bring us to a reflection of the types of decisions we have been making on a daily basis. Are they choices for good or for evil? Will we choose to save lives or to kill115? Are we choosing to help those in need or focus on our own pleasures? Are we choosing God or the devil? The choices we make in life are what this life is all about!

If we love God then we choose to do the good things that he places in our hearts. If we do not love God and ignore His desires of us, then we reject the love of God and forfeit all of the good things that come His favor. If we reject God then by default we choose evil and evil will seep into our thoughts and deeds. This is the way it worked in the Garden and to a large extent it works the same way even today.

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The Love of Jesus Saves Us

Filed under: Christian Love, Faith, Jesus, Ministry, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — 1 Comment
March 4, 2010

The Love of Jesus Saves Us

Jesus is the Son of God and although being like man in every other way lived without sinning.

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew3:16 – 17)

He came to save man from the evil of the devil and He did this by giving His own life as ransom in exchange for all of us who were under the bondage and dominion of the devil.

For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village. (Luke9:56)

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, (1 Tim 2:5 – 6)

Jesus came to communicate to man the true desires of the Father who wanted a loving relationship with His children. Jesus demonstrated the love of the Father by healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, feeding the hungry and preaching the Gospel to the poor.

Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me. (Matthew 11:4 – 6)

These actions taught us that God wants us to be healthy, in right spirit and mind, alive, well cared for, and knowledgeable about Him and the love He has for all of His people.

Jesus set us free from the bondage of the devil by defeating the devil in spiritual warfare. Jesus defeated the devil by not submitting to his evil temptations, by refusing to deny the truth that He is the Christ. Even on the cross Jesus refused the temptation to come down off of the cross because our welfare was at stake (Jesus had to die for our sins.)

He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. (Matthew 27:42)

Jesus also defeated the devil by being obedient to the Father by giving His life on the cross, by descending into Hell after He died where He defeated Satan where he lived, capturing the keys to Hell and death, and setting all of the captives free (all who lived and died until this time).

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:50 – 54)

Jesus the Choice of Life

But that is not all! He then defeated death by rising from the dead as He had promised and in doing so He paved the way for us to do so as well. All we need is to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the living Son of God and know that He suffered and died on the cross for us as He took the punishment we deserved upon His own body. Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father and waits for His Bride to prepare herself for the wedding feast. He asks only that we change our hearts to love God and to love one another by to simply follow in His footsteps.

Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful. And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:2 – 8)

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The Loss of Eden

Filed under: Christian Love, Covenant, Faith, Jesus, Ministry, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — 1 Comment
March 1, 2010

The Loss of Eden

As we presented in our prior posting, Christian love requires freedom of choice. This has been demonstrated over time as God’s love has from the very beginning offered man choices, even when they resulted in a loss of the relationship with God, as was demonstrated in the Garden of Eden. Without choice there can not be love and therefore, preventing another from leaving a relationship is slavery, which is the opposite of love. All of this information has to give us much to contemplate in our own relationships.

God loved the angels as well and as a result they have the same freedom of choice as we do. In fact, this freedom was exercised by Lucifer and his angels who chose to leave God because they wanted to be equal to Him.

How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit. (Isaiah14:12-15)

It was by this freedom of choice that the fallen angels came in the form of the serpent to deceive man into a relationship of evil with him.

Adam and Eve in the Garden

And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.” (Genesis 3:11 – 14)

As a result man lost his dominion over the Garden as well as the earth. Man and his wife were cast out of the Garden by God.

Therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:23 – 24)

The devil being the victor took dominion and ensured that there were lots of evil choices to prevent man from reestablish a relationship with God. In essence he kept man enslaved to his bondage.

So this is how man fell from the grace of God. The road back to the Garden has been a long and tenuous journey for man. Initially, man had no knowledge of evil and as a result did whatever pleased him. God’s first attempt to reestablish a relationship (covenant) with man initiated the rules of behavior that man would have to follow to regain a relationship with God. This came in the form of the Ten Commandments as well as the laws associated with the Tabernacle and the priesthood.

Moses and the Ten Comandments

But as it turned out, man could not refrain from doing evil and as a result lost the opportunity to live in covenant with God. As it turned out, man could often follow the letter of the law but missed the intent of the law that required his heart to change and for love to flow out of his life. It was for this purpose that God send His Son Jesus to the earth. To communicate the truth that comes form the heart of God and to defeat the evil bondage of the devil, such that men once again choose to seek God and enter into a covenant relationship with Him, such that one day he could walk again in the Garden of Eden with God.

How Jesus accomplished this will be the subject of our next posting.

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Christian Love Requires Freedom

Filed under: Christian Love, Jesus, Ministry, Spirituality — 6 Comments
February 20, 2010

Christian Love Requires Freedom

In the beginning, God made man in His own image and likeness and created the Garden of Eden as the perfect environment for man to live. Since God is love, God’s desire was to have a loving relationship with man.

The Garden Of Eden

God also gave man freedom of choice by placing the, “Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil” in the Garden. Every other thing in the Garden was good because it was reflection of Gods love and blessing upon man. Because of the Tree and mans knowledge of the consequences of eating its fruit one can conclude that man has always had the freedom to choose. Therefore one characteristic of God’s love is that it offers freedom of choice, even when it comes to keeping a relationship with Him or living with Him in paradise.

It is interesting to note that the only thing in the garden that God could not give man was the knowledge of evil. This is because it represented a separation from Him and His blessings. But love can not be forced and so God had to offer man a choice. In granting us this gift, God demonstrates the attributes of love that we have presented in the postings listed below.

For example, in granting us freedom of choice, God does not seek His own, He suffers long with our choices, He bears all the things that we do, He hopes that we will have all the good blessings of this life and the next, and He never fails to be there for us when decide to choose Him. For a review of our previous work please click on the following hyperlinks:

What-is-Christian-Love

Christian-Love-Suffers-Long

Christian-Love-is-Kind

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Envy

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Parade-Itself

Christian-Love-is-Not-Puffed-Up

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Behave-Rudely

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Seek-Its-Own

Christian-Love-is-Not-Provoked

Christian-Love-Thinks-No-Evil

Christian-Love-Bears-All-Things

Christian-Love-Believes-All-Things

Christian-Love-Hopes-All-Things

Christian-Love-Never-Fails

If we think about it for just a minute we come to the realization that without freedom there is no love. Without freedom of choice we are simply slaves and how can slaves truly love those who hold them in bondage? God’s desire is for a pure love relationship with us. A relationship that is base on our choosing to seek Him with all of our heart, mind, body and spirit. One that ignores the choices for evil and seeks good in every action.

In addressing all of the above, we should examine our personal relationships from this point of view. To truly love another we must set them free. What value is there in a love that is commanded or where serious reprisals are inflicted for doing what is in one’s heart? Can we love another to the point of allowing them to leave the relationship? God did.

Simply stated, there cannot be love without freedom. Therefore, freedom of choice is required for God to love man and man to truly love God. Man’s love therefore is demonstrated in his choices in life. This in turn brings us back full cycle to the proposition that we are all here to be tested and that our eternity depends upon the choices we make in this life. Our test is to demonstrate our ability to love others as God loves us.

 

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 2:8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.

1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

In the beginning, God made man in His own image and likeness and created the Garden of Eden as the perfect environment for man to live. Since God is love, God’s desire was to have a loving relationship with man.

God also gave man freedom of choice by placing the, “Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil” in the Garden. Every other thing in the Garden was good because it was reflection of Gods love and blessing upon man. Because of the Tree and mans knowledge of the consequences of eating its fruit one can conclude that man has always had the freedom to choose. Therefore one characteristic of God’s love is that it offers freedom of choice, even when it comes to keeping a relationship with Him or living with Him in paradise.

It is interesting to note that the only thing in the garden that God could not give man was the knowledge of evil. This is because it represented a separation from Him and His blessings. But love can not be forced and so God had to offer man a choice. In granting us this gift, God demonstrates the attributes of love that we have presented in the postings listed below.

For example, in granting us freedom of choice, God does not seek His own, He suffers long with our choices, He bears all the things that we do, He hopes that we will have all the good blessings of this life and the next, and He never fails to be there for us when decide to choose Him. For a review of our previous work please click on the following hyperlinks:

What-is-Christian-Love

Christian-Love-Suffers-Long

Christian-Love-is-Kind

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Envy

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Parade-Itself

Christian-Love-is-Not-Puffed-Up

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Behave-Rudely

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Seek-Its-Own

Christian-Love-is-Not-Provoked

Christian-Love-Thinks-No-Evil

Christian-Love-Bears-All-Things

Christian-Love-Believes-All-Things

Christian-Love-Hopes-All-Things

Christian-Love-Never-Fails

If we think about it for just a minute we come to the realization that without freedom there is no love. Without freedom of choice we are simply slaves and how can slaves truly love those who hold them in bondage? God’s desire is for a pure love relationship with us. A relationship that is base on our choosing to seek Him with all of our heart, mind, body and spirit. One that ignores the choices for evil and seeks good in every action.

In addressing all of the above, we should examine our personal relationships from this point of view. To truly love another we must set them free. What value is there in a love that is commanded or where serious reprisals are inflicted for doing what is in one’s heart? Can we love another to the point of allowing them to leave the relationship? God did.

Simply stated, there cannot be love without freedom. Therefore, freedom of choice is required for God to love man and man to truly love God. Man’s love therefore is demonstrated in his choices in life. This in turn brings us back full cycle to the proposition that we are all here to be tested and that our eternity depends upon the choices we make in this life. Our test is to demonstrate our ability to love others as God loves us.

 

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 2:8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.

1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

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The Meaning of Life

Filed under: Christian Love, Faith, Jesus, Ministry, Spirituality, The Meaning Of Life — 2 Comments
February 15, 2010

The Meaning of Life

The simple truth is that we are all spiritual beings that inhabit physical bodies. These bodies enable our journey through this world but they will eventually die, while our spirits will live on forever.

Jesus is the Light of the World

Most religions believe in life after death. This being the case then the questions has to be, “Why the fist life?” If there is to be a second life that is dependent on a first life, then what is the first life to have accomplished and what are the consequences of not achieving them?

Many people do not understand why they are here. Some never think about it all that much. In some circles the meaning of life is an unobtainable joke.  The consequence of these conditions is a belief that this world is the only reality.  Therefore their focus is on the world and making their way in it by focusing on themselves. They believe that it is up to them to make something of themselves, to make a living and to find a way to provide for their well being and safety. Often this comes at the expense of others. They are blind to the spiritual side of their lives, the reason that God created them, and their true purpose in this life. They are unaware of a common purpose we all share in being here in this world in the first place.

In this respect that the lives of so many are often like the well arranged deck chairs on the Titanic. Everything looks fine but they are destined for disaster.

God gave us all the freedom of choice. Interestingly, this freedom of choice is a necessary component of love. As a result, God had to give us choice in order to establish a love relationship with us. This has always been the case as we find that even in the Garden of Eden we had the choice to leave our relationship with God.

The Garden Of Eden

Unfortunately, man chose to know evil and the consequence of this choice was that he had to leave the Garden where he dwelt with God. But God still loved us and wanted to restore the relationship that had been lost. So He sent Jesus His son to the world as a man to defeat evil and give us all the chance to recover what had been lost. Jesus gave His life as full payment for our sins and in doing so He broke the domination of sin and the devil. This gave us another chance to choose to enter into a love relationship with the Father.

Jesus on the Cross

Because of the acts of Jesus our days are filled with the choices between good and evil, and these choices will determine our spiritual destiny. This is very similar to what happened in the Garden. Either we will spend the rest of eternity in heaven with God, or in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone with Satan (you may want to refer to my book: “Possess-the-Vision – Inside the Pit of Fire and Brimstone” to get my own personal experience on this subject). The bottom line is that we are here to be tested; it is as simple as that.

Some of our testing may be over large and significant circumstances, while at other times seemingly trivial matters will test us. In either case we will have to choose between good or evil. For example, we can choose to help a person in need or we can focus on our own life and look the other way. We can speak encouragement to the down heartened or we can kill their dreams with our words. We can choose to save the life of someone who is in trouble or we can choose to play it safe and let them die.

The bottom line is that it is all about our love for others and how we demonstrate that love. We have explored the subject of Christian love in a number of our previous postings. An understanding of this subject is foundational to everything that we post, including our current series on the “Meaning of Life.” You can view these postings by simply clicking on the following links:

What-is-Christian-Love

Christian-Love-Suffers-Long

Christian-Love-is-Kind

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Envy

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Parade-Itself

Christian-Love-is-Not-Puffed-Up

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Behave-Rudely

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Seek-Its-Own

Christian-Love-is-Not-Provoked

Christian-Love-Thinks-No-Evil

Christian-Love-Bears-All-Things

Christian-Love-Believes-All-Things

Christian-Love-Hopes-All-Things

Christian-Love-Never-Fails

Our next posting will start an analysis of the Holy Scriptures relating to the Garden of Eden and the meaning of life. Hope to see you then.

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Love the World with Christian Love

Filed under: Christian Love, Jesus, Ministry — 1 Comment
February 10, 2010

Love the World with Christian Love

I received a lengthy comment from a reader the other day proclaiming that we should not love the world. It is true that Jesus did not pray for the world but rather that His disciples be kept from the evil one. Therefore, there is some validity to his comments. A counter point would be that Jesus taught that we should love our brother as ourselves, and He was also quite clear that all men are our brothers. Therefore, we are called to love the world, but not in a way that most would expect.

I bring it up because it raises the differences between loving the world for the things in it and for what we can get out of it, and the Christian love that we have been discussing for quite some time. Christian love is a love for the betterment of others and is perfectly demonstrated in the life of Jesus (of which we have provided numerous examples in our prior postings.)

What-is-Christian-Love

Christian-Love-Suffers-Long

Christian-Love-is-Kind

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Envy

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Parade-Itself

Christian-Love-is-Not-Puffed-Up

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Behave-Rudely

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Seek-Its-Own

Christian-Love-is-Not-Provoked

Christian-Love-Thinks-No-Evil

Christian-Love-Bears-All-Things

Christian-Love-Believes-All-Things

Christian-Love-Hopes-All-Things

Christian-Love-Never-Fails

Christian love is a gift of self for the benefit of another. The love the world knows is a self serving love of which we as Christians should avoid at all costs. It is a love of self gratification, often at the expense of others. So should we love the world? Yes, we should love the world with the intent of making the lives of others better, and no, we should not love the things of the world or what we can get out of it.

It is written:

“that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”  (John 3: 15-17)

We can see from the passage above that God loved the world. Since we are to be imitators of God then we should attempt to do likewise. We who be doing as Jesus did in His ministry. We should be leading others along the Way of salvation. We should help others develop maturity in Christ such that they can become empowered for ministry. We should lead them into “the Truth” of God’s ministry, such that they can find their purpose on this earth, receive guidance in the steps that they must make, develop a deep and personal relationship with the Father and enter into spiritual warfare which is bring down the forces of worldly love.

In addition, we must help others to find their way to “the Life” of covenant, such that they can live forever under God’s protection and have their every need provided for. Yes this is the way that we should love the world.

From my point of view our life is all about the choices we make as we pass through this world. We can look at the people around us and take action in one of two ways. We can either love them with Christian love or we can love with worldly love. At a broad level we can seek to bring others into the light (Jesus said I am the light of the world) or cast them into darkness. We can seek to feed and care for the disadvantaged (Jesus said I am the bread of life) or we can allow them to starve. We can see another man struggling for life and we can choose to save him or save ourselves. We can take a chance of loosing our own life in exchange for the life of another or we can play it safe. It is for these reasons that we are here on this earth. We are here to choose the way of God or the way of the world. Why else could it be that we are still here? Jesus already came to save us. So what is He waiting for? He is evaluating our choices to determine what we are so that He can properly separate the goats from the sheep. This is what our lives are all about. Our time on this earth is the time that we have to demonstrate that we are God’s children and we can accomplish this by loving the world with Christian love.

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Christian Love Never Fails

Filed under: Christian Love, Faith, Jesus, Ministry — 16 Comments
February 5, 2010

Christian Love Never Fails

Love never fails! This statement seems false to those who live in the reality of this world. This is because the love that the world is referring to is often a self-centered and therefore the opposite of the love that God leads us to adopt.

Jesus Our Priest In Heaven

To start our presentation on “Love Never Fails,” we present a passage taken from the first letter of John:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 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. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world; our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood; Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. 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 anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death. We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 4:1- 5:21)

There are a number of key points in John’s letter that support the proposition that love never fails. They are;

· God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment; If we love we abide in God and if we abide in God then how could we possibly fail?

· 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. This statement indicates that if we love according to the definition of love identified above, that our love will be a reflection of His will and therefore, He will give us what we pray for.

The Power of Prayer

· We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. This indicates that the devil cannot touch us if we remain in God’s love.

Finally, the saints that remain in true love as demonstrated by Jesus can rest assured that their destiny is secured. The next passage is a second scripture that reaffirms the proposition that love never fails:

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Revelation 3:19 – 22)

Jesus Knocks

Therefore, love never fails because we will live and reign with Jesus on His throne forever.

In our previous postings we have presented definitions and examples of God’s love as demonstrated in the life and words of Jesus. I have provided the following list of hyperlinks for anyone who may want to review these prior postings:

What-is-Christian-Love

Christian-Love-Suffers-Long

Christian-Love-is-Kind

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Envy

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Parade-Itself

Christian-Love-is-Not-Puffed-Up

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Behave-Rudely

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Seek-Its-Own

Christian-Love-is-Not-Provoked

Christian-Love-Thinks-No-Evil

Christian-Love-Bears-All-Things

Christian-Love-Believes-All-Things

Christian-Love-Hopes-All-Things

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Christian Love Hopes All Things

Filed under: Christian Love, Faith, Jesus, Ministry, Prayer — 14 Comments
February 1, 2010

Christian Love Hopes All Things

If love believes all things (the subject of our prior posting) then most certainly love hopes all good things as well. Hope is the belief in things not yet seen or fully experienced. We live in a world where we have seen and experience many good things, and as a result, we can hope for these good things in the future as well.

However, there are spiritual things that are not often seen or experience in this world. Most of the things in the kingdom of heaven are outside our normal perception on earth.

Jesus is the Light of the World

For example, how many of us can say that we have seen angels or have talked with God face to face as Moses did?

Moses before the Burning Bush

Despite the fact that these types of events are not as frequents as we would like them to be, we have hope that they will be manifest in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones as well. Our hope is that these things will be bestowed upon those who earnestly seek them in love.

I am sure that Jesus had hope for His disciples and all who would follow them because of their testimony. Jesus hoped for the unity of all of His disciples in His Holy Spirit. Jesus hoped that all would receive the glory that He received and that they would be kept from the evil one.

Paul Follows in the Spirtual Warfare of Jesus, even to Death

All of this hope is presented in the following prayer of Jesus:

I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;  that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:6 – 26)

Jesus prayed for what we all hope for, that we may be one with Jesus, one within the Father, and that the world may know that the Father send Jesus to be the Savior of the world. The answer to this prayer is the love that we all hope for, the love that will provide all good things forever.

We have presented a number of posting that address the principles of Christian Love. Each of them is reinforced by examples taken from the life and words of Jesus. The following list of hyperlinks is provided to help those interested in reading these other postings. Clicking on any of the links below will transfer you to the posting of your choice:

What-is-Christian-Love

Christian-Love-Suffers-Long

Christian-Love-is-Kind

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Envy

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Parade-Itself

Christian-Love-is-Not-Puffed-Up

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Behave-Rudely

Christian-Love-Does-Not-Seek-Its-Own

Christian-Love-is-Not-Provoked

Christian-Love-Thinks-No-Evil

Christian-Love-Bears-All-Things

Christian-Love-Believes-All-Things

Christian-Love-Hopes-All-Things

Christian-Love-Never-Fails

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