Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of rightness and justice.
ISAIAH 41 : 10 ALLOW GOD TO TOUCH YOUR LIFE AND LET YOU KNOW THAT HE IS NEAR Father, I am well aware I can’t make it on my own, So take my hand and hold it tight, For I cannot walk alone. In Jesus Name, AMEN! "Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day." Colossians 2:16
Jesus was attacked by legalists throughout His ministry. Perhaps the most outrageous example of this was when He healed a man with a withered hand. The Pharisees attacked Him because He had performed this miracle on the Sabbath. That's right, Jesus was accused of law-breaking because healing was considered work, and Jewish law forbade doing work on the Sabbath. Understand this about the Pharisees: they were the self-appointed judges. They were constantly looking to accuse Jesus Christ because they felt He was oblivious to their concern for their man-made rules and traditions. While rarely as outrageous as those Pharisees, this type of legalism continues today. Some people serve as self-appointed judges—or enforcers—of man-made rules for godly living. This can happen in all religions. But it's especially sad when Christian denominations and churches impose man-made rules that are imposters to real faith. The Bible states the rules fully and unequivocally. And with so many, how great it is that Jesus' life shows us how to live them out completely. How great it is that Jesus sums them all up with the Great Commandment, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself." "God is Love", but how do we define it?
The American Heritage Dictionary defines love as "an intense affection for another person based on familial or personal ties". Often this "intense affection" stems from a sexual attraction for that other person. We love other people, or we say we love other people, when we are attracted to them and when they make us feel good. Notice that a key phrase in the dictionary definition of love is the phrase "based on". This phrase implies that we love conditionally; in other words, we love someone because they fulfill a condition that we require before we can love them. How many times have you heard or said, "I love you because you are cute;" or "I love you because you take good care of me;" or "I love you because you are fun to be with"? Our love is not only conditional, it is also mercurial. We love based on feelings and emotions that can change from one moment to the next. The divorce rate is extremely high in today's society because husbands and wives supposedly stop loving one another-or they "fall out of love". They may go through a rough patch in their marriage, and they no longer "feel" love for their spouse, so they call it quits. Evidently, their marriage vow of "till death do us part" means they can part at the death of their love for their spouse rather than at their physical death. Can anyone really comprehend "unconditional" love? It seems the love that parents have for their children is as close to unconditional love as we can get without the help of God's love in our lives. We continue to love our children through good times and bad, and we don't stop loving them if they don't meet the expectations we may have for them. We make a choice to love our children even when we consider them unlovable; our love doesn't stop when we don't "feel" love for them. This is similar to God's love for us, but as we shall see, God's love transcends the human definition of love to a point that is hard for us to comprehend. God is Love: How does God Define Love? The Bible tells us that "God is Love" (1 John 4:8). But how can we even begin to understand that truth? There are many passages in the Bible that give us God's definition of love. The most well known verse is John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." So one way God defines love is in the act of giving. However, what God gave (or should we say, "who" God gave) was not a mere gift-wrapped present; God sacrificed His only Son so that we, who put our faith in His Son, will not spend eternity separated from Him. This is an amazing love, because we are the ones who choose to be separated from God through our own sin, yet it's God who mends the separation through His intense personal sacrifice, and all we have to do is accept His gift. Another great verse about God's love is found in Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." In this verse and in John 3:16, we find no conditions placed on God's love for us. God doesn't say, "as soon as you clean up your act, I'll love you; " nor does He say, "I'll sacrifice my Son if you promise to love Me." In fact, in Romans 5:8, we find just the opposite. God wants us to know that His love is unconditional, so He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us while we were still unlovable sinners. We didn't have to get clean, and we didn't have to make any promises to God before we could experience His love. His love for us has always existed, and because of that, He did all the giving and sacrificing long before we were even aware that we needed His love. God is Love: It's Unconditional God is Love, and His love is very different from human love. God's love is unconditional, and it's not based on feelings or emotions. He doesn't love us because we're lovable or because we make Him feel good; He loves us because He is love. He created us to have a loving relationship with Him, and He sacrificed His own Son (who also willingly died for us) to restore that relationship. When the Scriptures say, "God is love," they aren't telling us that God is some nebulous, warm fuzzy feeling of love. The writers who penned the scriptures weren't saying that in our limited form of human love we will find God. Not at all, in fact, when we read that God is love in the Bible, this means that God defines love. And when we say that God defines love, we don't mean that He defines it like Webster might define something -- we mean that God is the very definition of love itself. There is no such thing as love without God. As hard as we might try, we cannot define love outside of knowing God. This essentially means that our human definition of love is false. God is the Creator of all things, and by His very nature, He is love. God says love is unconditional and sacrificial, and it's not based on feelings; therefore, love is not an "intense affection… based on familial or personal ties". To understand what true love is and to be able to truly love others, we must know God, and we can do this through a close personal relationship with Him. We can have that close relationship with God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ, who was God's sacrifice of love for us. God is Love: True Love Only Comes Through a Relationship With Him God is Love! As such, true love: God's love can be summed up in this passage of scripture: "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein 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 ought also to love one another." 1 John 4:7-11 If you want to know this love, true love, get to know God. He is ready to pour out His love on you, and He wants to teach you how to love others as He loves you. 1 Corinthians 1:31… “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” If someone asks you, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” you would probably tell him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved,” wouldn’t you? Well, a rich, young ruler asked Jesus the same question, but instead of telling him to believe in Him, Jesus gave him the law. (Mark 10:17–22) Jesus saw that the young ruler lived his life taking pride in his ability to keep the law to earn salvation and the favor of God. But because of His love for the man, Jesus had to show him that those who live by the law must realize that their self-efforts cannot save them. He therefore reminded him, “You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery…‘Do not steal...‘Honor your father and your mother.’” The young ruler showed that his trust was in his law-keeping when he replied, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” So Jesus had to tell him, “One thing you lack…sell whatever you have and give to the poor…and come…and follow Me.” When the young ruler heard that, he walked away sorrowful. When we boast of having kept the law, it will always point out something we lack or have failed to obey. The law is so holy and perfect that if we don’t keep even one iota of it, it has no choice but to judge and curse us. (Galatians 3:10) That is what the law was designed to do. God does not want us to boast in our abilities to keep the law. If we are to have confidence in anything at all, if we are to boast in anything at all, it is in the grace of God. Only His grace can completely keep, save, heal, deliver and bless us. So let’s not boast in what we have done or are able to do, but boast in His grace for us—that He is our strength, health, favor, provision, wisdom, hope, salvation and glory. That is how we will see ourselves enjoying our inheritance of abundant life! Not even David, God’s anointed king, lived without troubles. He penned the words of Psalm 57 while hiding in a cave to escape Saul’s death threats. We may never face challenges like David’s, but we all face troubles we’re incapable of overcoming on our own. In a world that takes pride in the power of humanity, we’d do far better to surrender our strength and run to God in challenging times. He will give us true victory. Even David, who had killed bears, lions, and a giant, didn’t operate in his own strength. His writings confirm that he gave God the glory for every success. Are trials and terrors troubling you? God has all the power you need to overcome the challenges. While you rest in His faithfulness—disasters will pass and an unwavering faith will emerge as you witness His might overcoming your enemies. God longs to be your refuge in troubled times. Our Heavenly Father is longing to do good things for us. If we aren't experiencing His goodness, it is because we really don't believe it. - M. Basilea Schlink
Prayer enables me to surrender to God - but prayerlessness results in surrender to the enemy. - Benny Hinn
Prayer is loving and not thinking. - Thomas Green Prayer is not a mere form of words. It is not just calling upon a Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action. - Mohandas Gandhi "Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night" - Charles H. Spurgeon |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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