Saturday, February 15, 2014

love

John 15
9 “I have loved you the same way the Father has loved me. So live in my love. 10 If you obey my commandments, you will live in my love. I have obeyed my Father’s commandments, and in that way I live in his love. 11 I have told you this so that you will be as joyful as I am, and your joy will be complete. 12Love each other as I have loved you. This is what I’m commanding you to do. 13 The greatest love you can show is to give your life for your friends. 

Love refers to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes that ranges from interpersonal affection ("I love my mother") to pleasure ("I loved that meal"). It can refer to an emotion of a strong attraction and personal attachment.[1] It can also be a virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and affection—"the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another".[2] It may also describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one's self or animals.[3]
Ancient Greeks identified four forms of love: kinship or familiarity (in Greek, storge), friendship (philia), sexual and/or romantic desire(eros), and self-emptying or divine love (agape).[4][5] Modern authors have distinguished further varieties of romantic love.[6] Non-Western traditions have also distinguished variants or symbioses of these states.[7] This diversity of uses and meanings combined with the complexity of the feelings involved makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, compared to other emotional states.
Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts.[8]
Love may be understood as a function to keep human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.[9]

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·             1 Corinthians 16:14 (GWT)

Do everything with love.

·             1 John 4:19 (GWT)

We love because God loved us first.

·             John 15:9 (GWT)

“I have loved you the same way the Father has loved me. So live in my love.

·             1 John 4:10 (GWT)

This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the payment for our sins.

·             Matthew 19:19 (GWT)

Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

·             Matthew 22:39 (GWT)

The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’

·             John 16:27 (GWT)

The Father loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

·             1 Peter 4:8 (GWT)

Above all, love each other warmly, because love covers many sins.

·             Joshua 23:11 (GWT)

Be very careful to love the Lord your God.

·             Psalms 119:47 (GWT)

Your commandments, which I love, make me happy.

·             Luke 6:32 (GWT)

“If you love those who love you, do you deserve any thanks for that? Even sinners love those who love them.

·             1 Corinthians 8:3 (GWT)

But if they love God, they are known by God.

·             1 Corinthians 16:24 (GWT)

Through Christ Jesus my love is with all of you.

·             2 Corinthians 2:8 (GWT)

That is why I urge you to assure him that you love him.

·             Ephesians 5:28 (GWT)

So husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself.

·             Hebrews 13:1 (GWT)

Continue to love each other.

·             1 Samuel 18:3 (GWT)

So Jonathan made a pledge of mutual loyalty with David because he loved him as much as he loved himself.

·             Proverbs 8:17 (GWT)

I love those who love me.Those eagerly looking for me will find me.

·             Matthew 5:46 (GWT)

If you love those who love you, do you deserve a reward? Even the tax collectors do that!

·             John 13:34 (GWT)

“I’m giving you a new commandment: Love each other in the same way that I have loved you.

·             John 15:12 (GWT)

Love each other as I have loved you. This is what I’m commanding you to do.

·             Romans 13:10 (GWT)

Love never does anything that is harmful to a neighbor. Therefore, love fulfills Moses’ Teachings.

·             1 Corinthians 13:13 (GWT)

So these three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the best one of these is love.

·             2 Corinthians 11:11 (GWT)

Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows that I do love you.

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·             Galatians 5:14 (GWT)

All of Moses’ Teachings are summarized in a single statement, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”




These things have I spoken unto you
Concerning the vine and branches, his abiding in them, and they in him, their fruitfulness from him, and perseverance in him, his love to them, and theirs to him:
that my joy might remain in you;
meaning either that joy with which he joyed in and over them, as united to him, and which is of the same nature as the joy of the bridegroom over the bride, and which will always remain and continue the same; or rather that joy which he is the author, object, ground, and matter of, for there is always reason to rejoice in him, even in the most afflictive circumstances of life:
and that your joy might be full;
that grace of joy which is implanted in the soul, by the Spirit of God in regeneration, and arises from, and is increased by discoveries of the person, grace, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice of Christ; and is "full of glory", ( 1 Peter 1:8 ) ; upon a clear sight of him in this life, and will be entirely full, completely perfected in the other world, when he will be seen as he is,
This is my commandment, that ye love one another
Christ had been before speaking of his commandments; and he mentions this as the principal one, and to which all the rest may be reduced; for as the precepts of the second table of the moral law may be briefly comprehended in this one duty, love to our neighbour, so all the duties of Christianity, relative to one another, are reducible to this, by love to serve each other. This was the commandment which lay uppermost on Christ's heart, and which he knew, if attended to, the rest could not fail of being observed. The argument by which, and the manner in which, he presses it, is as before:
as I have loved you;
than which nothing can be more strong and forcible; see ( John 13:34 ) .
Greater love hath no man than this
By these words our Lord shows, how far love to another should extend, even to the laying down of our lives for the brethren; which is the highest instance of love among men;
that a man lay down his life for his friends;
and in which believers, should not come short of them; and also his great love to his people, and explains what he had just said, "as I have loved you", ( John 13:34 ) ( 15:12 ) ; which in a little time would be seen, by his laying down his life for them: for he not only came down from heaven, and laid aside his glory and royal majesty, but he laid down his life; not his gold and silver, and the riches of this world, which were all his, but his life; than which, nothing is dearer to a man, is himself, his all: and besides, Christ's life was not a common one, it was not the life of an innocent person only, or the life of a mere man, but of a man in union with the Son of God; it was the Lord of glory and Prince of life, who was crucified, and slain; a life that was entirely at his own dispose; it had never been forfeited by sin, nor could it have been forced away from him by men or devils; it was laid down of and by himself, freely and voluntarily; and that "for", in the room, and instead of his people, as a ransom for them; he being their surety and substitute, and standing in their legal place and stead, he took their sins upon him, bore the curse of the law, sustained his Father's wrath, and all the punishment due to sin; and so suffered death, the death of the cross; the just, in the room and stead of the unjust; the persons for whom be laid down his life, are described as "his friends"; not that they were originally so; being enemies and enmity itself to God, when he laid down his life for them, and reconciled them; they were not such as had carried themselves friendly, or had shown any love and affection to him, but all the reverse: but they are so called, because he had chosen them for his friends; he had pitched upon them, and resolved to make them so; and by dying for them, reconciled them who were enemies; and in consequence of this, by his Spirit and grace, of enemies makes them friends; so that his love in dying for his people, is greater than any instance of love among men: he laid down his life for his enemies, without any sinister selfish views, and that freely and voluntarily; whereas among men, when one man has laid down his life for others, either they have been very deserving, or he has been forced to it, or it has been done with the view of popular applause and vain glory.



We all have our differences, political, sports, what type of barbecue is best, etc...   but where the bible is fairly clear we are to love one another just as Jesus has loved us.  Were we worthy of his love pouring out on the cross?  were we worthy of his giving all he had?  do you love him enough to take his place?  my question for anyone who reads this is whom does your flame of love burn for?  does it just burn for those you are close to...or does it also burn for the homeless person on the corner...does it burn for the soldier who had seen the most horrible atrocities imaginable?  I can't speak for others, but my heart burns for all those i come in contact with, those who have nobody, those who need a friend, or maybe just a shoulder to cry on, or maybe just an ear to listen to them.  Listen to the songs below and really ponder, close your eyes and listen to them and really think about whom your love is for.





(commentary by john gill, scripture reference courtesy of bible.com, love definition courtesy of wikipedia.com)

Saturday, February 8, 2014

All in his hands

Christian and his companion are faced by two ferocious lions that block their way;  the path lies between two lions.  The pilgrims are terrified until they notice that each lion is chained so he cannot quite reach the narrow path they must follow.  The lions can roar at the travelers all they want, but they cannot quite reach them.  The pilgrims tremble as they proceed, but they are safe.  The lions in the believers path are never unchained.  And the one who holds the chains is a carpenter from Nazareth.

The above is taken from pilgrims progress, I read it while reading a devotional by Dennis kinlaw.  

It our journeys through life we often encounter lions along our path.  Often they are just off to the sides just out of reach.  At times they are directly in our path, but god would never leave nor forsake us.  He at times like this carries us till our path is safe again.  Will life always be easy?  No, but I do know that my savior has control of the lions along my path.  No matter how stormy, no matter how close their bite seems, I know it's just out of reach! I know the master carpenter from nazereth has everything in his hands.


Saturday, February 1, 2014

Secret jar

I would imagine we have all been here, we all have a jar. A secret jar. It only gets taken out when something bad, or hurtful has happened. We pull our jar out and stuff whatever has happened into our jar, we put on a smile and continue on, like everything is good. When inside we are on fire we are sick with worry, or anger over what has happened to us. But...there is someone who can take the pain, one who will take our jar from us and put it somewhere we will never see it nor hear from it again.


Matthew 11:28-30 NLT

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”


Psalms 46:1-11 MSG

God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him. We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in seastorm and earthquake, Before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains.secret Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, God -of-Angel-Armies protects us. River fountains splash joy, cooling God’s city, this sacred haunt of the Most High. God lives here, the streets are safe, God at your service from crack of dawn. Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten, but Earth does anything he says. Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, God -of-Angel-Armies protects us. Attention, all! See the marvels of God ! He plants flowers and trees all over the earth, Bans war from pole to pole, breaks all the weapons across his knee. “Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything.” Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, God -of-Angel-Armies protects us.


Close your eyes for a minute, and imagine the most loving relationship you have in your life. Got a picture of it? I do. It may be a relationship with a spouse, parent, a really good friend...that person would do anything for you, even lay their life down to save yours. God loves each of us this much. Being a parent makes it a little easier for me to see gods love. I would do absolutely anything for my wife, children, parents...and to think as much as I love them, god loves them more...its overwhelming. He loved us so much that while we were not in a place to love him back he loved us so much that he sent his son to earth to bleed and die for all of us.


Jesus wants to remove the baggage you have been carrying, he wants to smash our jar of sins and hurt...question is will you let him? He doesnt want to hurt, only to help.

Listen to the youtube link below...while it is playing if you need rest, if you need your burdens gone because you cant carry them anymore I invite you to cry out to him, let him into your life.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yu5cRT9uno&feature=youtube_gdata_player