1 John 4:8

 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.  1 John 4:8

God gives everyone a capacity for love.   In my own life I knew the love of my mother, father and brothers and sisters growing up.  I had some 'crushes', and even some more serious relationships as a young adult.  But when I met my precious Monica, I learned to love at a much higher capacity.  Then along came Connor and Elijah and God enlarged my ability to love even more. 

  And God's love for us: His children, works the same way.  It is a familial relationship, but in a spiritual sense.  I am God's child, His adopted son.  And he loves me.  He loves me infinitely more than the capacity he gave me to love.  But to make sure I know how to love He gave me my earthly mother, father, and family growing up.  Then later in life he gave me a wife and my own family, all to demonstrate to me the family model of love.  That is so AMAZING. 

 God is Sovereign.  He made me.  He gave my family to me and set me as the head over them.  They are my responsibility.  It is my duty and privilege to love them,  serve them and care for them.  They are precious gifts from God.  I do cherish them and I consider my love, care, and attention to them as an obedient act of worship to my Lord and Savior.  Loving my family and serving them is also one of the greatest pleasures of my life that has been gifted to me from God. 

If we do not love, then we do not know God.   1 John 4:8 is a true statement.   

Not everyone 'knows' Love.   Our job as Christians is to sow seeds of love. Our job is to share the Gospel.  Our mission is to be God's witnesses in the sphere of influence He has given us.  Our job is to share Christ's Love.


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. John 3:16

Friends, That was the ultimate act of Love.  It  REALLY  happened.  

I understand John 3:16  now better than ever because as a parent and as a husband, I would literally give my life for my family so that they would not perish..

Tell someone you love today how much you love them, then use that conversation to discuss our Heavenly Father's Love for us.  Today is a good day to share the Gospel of Christ!

Brothers and Sisters:  I love You with the love of Jesus.  May the Lord Bless You and keep you safe in his loving protective arms.  In Jesus' name I pray, AMEN.

God's Perfect Love

Wow... Dr Stanley's message this morning perfectly addressed the issue about love I had a few days ago... Remember when I said that I didn't 'hate' anyone but there were definitely a few people whom I didn't 'Love'...? Here's what Dr Stanley has to say about that...

We were created to be members of God’s family and recipients of His perfect love. Through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus, He demonstrated just how much He loves us. When we receive Christ as our Savior, we become His children. We experience His unconditional love. Divine affection for us does not vary in quality or quantity. It’ll never end or even diminish. No circumstance can cause the Lord to stop loving us. ...The human mind can’t fully comprehend divine love. In Christ, thieves, persecutors, and those who may look like outsiders are all equally loved. -Dr Charles Stanley

Hey, I know for sure that I am not perfect. In fact, my past is very colorful and I am honestly quite ashamed for the man that I once was. I was definitely a thief, persecutor, and outsider in my former life. And sadly, I am occasionally those things even today at times. The fact is, I'm 'currently a work in progress'.

Everyone is...

But if I have truly accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior, then I have no choice but to give grace to those whom 'annoy' me, because I was once 'them'.

I think loving with God's love means that You've finally got your eyes open wide and see things (especially yourself) more clearly. -And I think my vision is starting to get better...!

Praise God...!

Love...1 Corinthians 1-13

I've been thinking about love a lot lately. I love my family so much. I would do anything for them. I would lay my life down for them in a heartbeat. God's love is bigger, wider, taller and deeper than that. I mean think about it. God invented all things. HE must have invented love.

Love is the most precious commodity on the earth. Remember: every good and perfect gift comes from God...! God is Love.

Who needs Hate...? Who needs indifference... ? Those emotions can not be part of a true believer's existence.

Love is the greatest power on the earth. -For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son so that we might not perish, but have eternal life...!

Jesus told us to love one another like He loved us.

So What is Love...? Well, one way the bible describes love is by explaining what it is not.

Love is not selfish. True love puts the needs of others before our own needs. -I could go on and on but I must stop for brevity's sake.

I will close for now with this: The greatest act of love ever recorded was Jesus going to the cross to save our souls. If we dwell on anything today let us dwell on that...

To be continued...

Real Love 1 John7-8

This morning I read 1 John 4. I have a feeling I'm going to be studying the books of John for awhile...

1 John 4:7-8 tells us that God is love, and if we don't love one another then we can't really know God.

Verses 20-21 tell us that if we say we love God but have hate for someone else then we are liars and deceiving ourselves for we can not love God and hate someone else at the same time.

I definitely have love present in my life. The love of my sweet precious family are definite givens. We love each other. I love them and they love me. I know what love is. -I am blessed.

Now what is hate...? Is hate merely the absence of love, or is it something deeper, worse than that...?

I can't put a definition on it this morning.... I don't think I have 'hate' for anyone in the world. But if I don't have love for them what do I have...?

There are definitely relationships in my life that are strained and dysfunctional. There are people in my life whom I seek to avoid in order to not have negative thoughts, feelings and emotions about.

Are those relationships separating me from God and keeping me from enjoying the fullness of life that God wants me to have...? Yes, I think so.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Lord I'm praying for a heart transplant this morning. Help me to love with Your Love. Lord my love is so ineffective and so inadequate. Your love is bigger than this whole universe.

You said that people would know us and we would be set apart by our love for one another. Father help me to love more completely. Help me especially with those difficult relationships in my life. I don't want anything separating me from Your Love, my King.

You loved even the most vile of sinners. You died for us all. Thank You, Lord. I praise You, my King. I bow down to you Lord Jesus. I give those difficult relationships to you, my King.

I know you will heal them. I know you will heal me. I love you Lord. And I pray these things in Jesus' Name,

Amen.

One Reason God Gave Us Children

Proverbs 3:11-12 says 'Do not despise chastening of the Lord....For Whom the Lord loves he corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.'

God gave us children so that we would teach them and bring them up in His ways.

Indeed, Solomon's Proverbs three is basically a manual of guidance for the young. The verse above really jumped out at me in my study this morning. What first caught my eye is the part about a Father delighting in his son.

I began thinking of my relationship with Elijah. I hadn't previously thought about it in these terms but I DO delight in that little boy. And although I haven't had to administer very much discipline to him at this point in his life I certainly won't hesitate when the time comes because I do love him that much. And the bible says the Lord loves us the same way. WE are HIS children. And that we should not get discouraged when the Lord 'chastens' us.

Wow... If I didn't have kids I wouldn't have the complete understanding of that verse that I do now. It's hard to believe that in my younger days I was adamantly opposed to having children of my own.... I certainly have a different perspective now.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Lord thank You for making Your love for me love more clear through my understanding of my love for my own children. You are amazing. You are an awesome God. You are my holy Father. It is my desire that You do delight in me as I delight in Elijah.

Father God I'm sure that Brian delighted in Connor as I delight in Elijah. Lord I want to lift up my relationship with Connor to You this morning. And I lift Connor up to You, my King. He's growing up without his earthly daddy, and I can never replace Brian. But Lord I am here for Connor and I need Your help to be the best step dad I can be.

Lord our relationship needs You. This family needs You. THE ENTIRE WORLD NEEDS YOU, FOR THAT MATTER... But Father I want to have a better relationship with Connor. I don't need to be his best friend, but I need to be more to him than I currently am. And I believe that You require more of me than I'm currently giving to that situation.

Father God I love You. And I want to do Your will and be right in the middle of Your will for my life and the life of this family. Lord I can't do that on my own.

I need you Jesus, to come in and rescue me. Today I choose to live my life completely for You, my Worthy King...! And I give You the Glory for my successes and yes, even my failures because I know that when You chasten its only because You love me . Thank you, Lord. Thank you Jesus. And I pray these things in the power and glory and might of Your precious, holy name, Amen.