The Origin of Love

 

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. But every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.  You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.  They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.  We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us.  This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God  is love. This is how God showed his love: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love:  not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." I John 4:1-9

 

Today's verse makes no small point.  Had he not loved us, we would never have the ability to love him.  He loved us, so he came.  He loved us, so he  died for our sins.  He loved us, so he sends his spirit to convict us of our sins.  He loved us, so  he opens up his Word and reveals himself to us.  He loves, so... you name it!  Everything good in our life is a result of that love.  All of our hope for help?  Rests in the love that he has for us.  Thank God for his love!

 

I feel warm, fuzzy feelings toward God.  I feel affection, allegiance and devotion to him.  But none of that is born of me.  It all originates with him.  He grants me the ability to love him back!  We are so dependent on him for every facet of life, including our love walk with God.

 

Notice the verse says "... he loves us and sent..."  He went beyond warm feelings toward us. His emotion spurred his action.  And, oh, what an action it was!  He loved us so much that he gave it all.  I know that I have belabored this point over several days, but the truth is, that we forget. We take for granted his love and his sacrifice.  We need to go back and remember all that he suffered  for us and why.  Hopefully, remembering will inspire greater love and result in greater levels of commitment and devotion to him.

 

Lord,  help me to understand and perceive the love that you have demonstrated.  Help me to never forget your sacrifice.    In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

 

Sherri

 

 

How is Your Love Life?

"For this is the message you have heard from the beginning:  You should love one another." I John 3:11

 

These days, people, groups and corporations like to adopt mission statements.   These statements tell the world what the organization is about.  They reflect the ultimate goal of the person or group adopting the  mission statement.  In my opinion, if  you were to boil the Bible down to one mission statement it would be "Love God; love people."   I know, I know, that is overly simplistic but I still feel it encapsulates the heart of the message and is the basis for most all (if not all) the commandments.

Loving God is a given.  He loved us first. He sent his son to die for us. He makes provision for us, directs and guides over us.   In many ways, loving God comes easy.  But the Lord never intended for us to stop there.   He wants us to move on to the point that we love what he loves- other human beings. 

Blended families know that if you are truly going  to love your mate, you will have to love their children.  Healthy marriage and family cannot be built when the two parents entering a new marriage, do not  first establish a relationship with their intended's children.  Dysfunction abounds in relationships where this is not the case. 

But in a broader sense,  it is still true. Love me?  Love my children.  I don't hang out with anyone that does not love- or at least like- my children.  They don't have to establish a close bond to them, but they cannot despise them!  Do you understand what I am saying?  They are my heartbeat, the apple of my eye.  My family comes first in my life and all other relationships  spring forth from that starting point.

I cannot help but feel that Daddy-God is much the same way.  He love me. He wants what is best for me.  He has big plans for me. But he feels the same way about you. And the people in other churches and denominations.  But it is bigger.  He feels the same way about serial killers, child molesters and terrorists.  Hard to swallow, but true.  Each human being is created in the image of God (their Father) with a purpose and destiny that is all about having a relationship with him. So if God is going  to reign over my heart,  that will be a guiding force in my life.  We must love one another.  I must love other people.

So what does this "God-kind" of love look like?  It  means I value other people's feelings, treat them with respect, consider their needs, have compassion for their hurt and joy for their success.   It means it cannot only be about me.  I have to open my eyes and see the world Jesus died for.

A couple of  days ago, I was slammed with things that I needed to get done.  Pressing things.  Important things.  I had a lot to do and a short time in which to get it done.  Most of it was about taking care of  others and church stuff.  (Enough to make me feel a bit smug about the "importance" of what I was doing.)  So as I left my  buggy at Wal-Mart on the sidewalk, I told myself several things: 
"I am late for a party.  I've got to hurry. and my kid needs me."  In addition, there were countless other buggies parked there as well.  But as I left my last bag in the car, I had this nagging conviction that I just could not leave it there.   Then the Lord spoke to my heart, if you leave it there you are not  walking in love but selfishness. To leave it there is to say that what I had going on was more important  than the rules.  It was more important than blocking a pathway for a little old lady with an unsteady gate.  It was more important than the cars which could be potentially be rammed if a good wind caught the buggy and propelled it across the parking lot.   It was more important than the poor guy (or girl) whose job it is to gather the buggies and whose life is made more difficult when they have to wander all over the parking lot collecting buggies that were haphazardly parked.  Ouch!  So I took the extra "precious" thirty seconds of my life and made it about someone else.   A very small sacrifice, but don't we find this kind of thing to be the hardest?

Loving will always involve sacrifice because when we establish priorities, one person comes out ahead and the other, behind. Are your words and actions in keeping in line with love?  Do you play games (that bore you) with your children because you love them?  Do you read the same book over and over again because they love it? Do you listen to the elderly man tell about his "war days" with interest and respect even when it is the hundredth time he has told it?

It is all about love. Are you doing it?  Are you showing it?  Love is an action word.  Today, try to put the verb of love to work in your interactions.

Lord, forgive me of selfishness and self-centered thinking.   Help me to love as you love.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

 Sherri

What Does God Really Want?

“You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” 

Psalm 51:16-17

To be honest, these words are one of those passages that I read and my mind says “Huh?”  When David penned these words, they were still under the Old Covenant.  Jesus had not yet come, bringing in the New Covenant.  So sacrifices and burned offerings were still very much the order of the day when David wrote this.  As a younger child I wondered why God required things that did not bring him pleasure.

I feel now that David was operating through the revelation of the Holy Spirit.  He probably did not understand why these things did not bring God pleasure.  But under the New Covenant we can clearly see what David was speaking of.  God desired to have open communion with His people, just as he had done when he communed in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.  He did not take pleasure in the burned offerings, but they were necessary until the fullness could come under the New Covenant.  Once Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice once and for all, we can now pretty much enjoy the same type of relationship Adam and Eve did. We can freely pray to God, talk to Him, and enjoy His presence.  We do not need to run out a kill a sacrificial lamb.

But the part of this that particularly speaks to us today is verse 17.  The sacrifice that He really, really wants, is your broken spirit.  Your broken and contrite heart.  These are the things He can take pleasure in.  These are the things he will not despise.

What exactly is a broken and contrite spirit and heart? It is one that recognizes a need for God. It is a person who knows they cannot do it on their own without Him.  This is a person in sorrowful repentance for their sins.  One who has poured themselves out freely before God.  Because the Bible is clear that in our weakness, he is made strong.  (II Cor. 12:9) 

What do I have to give to God?  Really, nothing.  But at the same time, everything.  I have nothing of consequence to bring to the one who has done so much for me.  But everything that I am, I bring back to Him in surrender.  “Take me I’m Yours.”  This is a sacrifice that pleases the Father because all he has every really wanted is the heart of mankind.  The devotion of mankind.  When we are most broken, we are most useful to him and in the best place to give to Him and receive from Him.

If you are feeling broken today, give that brokenness to Him.  People who have walked with the Lord for a long time will admit that in their seasons of brokenness, is when they have most enjoyed the presence and comforting power of the Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord, I come before you, bringing all that I have, all that I am.  Take me and do what you will in my life.  Rid me of all that is evil and all that defiles.  Make me a dwelling in which your Spirit can reside.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri

What is Your Worldview?

“He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”  I John 2:2

I love the song “Here I am to Worship.”  Especially the line that says, “I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sins upon the cross.”  It is something very sobering to think about the price He paid for my sins.  He is such a personal Savior, freely laying down His life on my behalf.  For every sin I will ever commit, He has already given Himself to atone for me.

But that verse does not stop there.  It goes on to say “but also for the sins of the whole world.”  It is not enough to know that Jesus died for me. We must be mindful of the fact that he died for the sins of all the world- even the people I don’t like. Even for the people I have never met.  This is so much bigger than me…. or you.  Jesus is a personal Savior, but he is also a universal Savior- for anyone who will accept His sacrifice.

Jesus is always the example we are to look to in everything.  His worldview was quite clear at Calvary.  He paid the price for the whole world.  He paid the price for Jews.  He paid the price for Gentiles.  He paid the price for Indians.  He paid the price for Caucasians.  He paid the price for Africans.  He paid the price for male.  He paid the price for female.

We must pray to see the world as Jesus did.  A world full of precious people- people worth reaching; people worth serving; people worth dying for. We must pray to be evangelistic in our everyday life.  We must seek to see beyond our own families, neighborhood and nation, looking outward to the world.

Dear Lord, thank you for your sacrifice.  Thank you for enduring the pain, the humiliation and rejection it took to be my Savior and the Savior of the world.  I honor you and I honor your sacrifice.  Help me live my life by your example.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri

Cheap Sacrifices

“But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it.  I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” II Samuel 24:24

This passage of Scripture has always spoken deeply to my heart. In this text, David had sinned against the Lord in taking a census of the fighting men.   Because of his disobedience, the Lord allowed him to choose one of 3 consequences for his sin:

1-   3 years of famine

2-   3 months of fleeing from their enemies

3-   3 days of plagues

David chose the third option and 70,000 died from the plagues.  The reason that the census was such a great sin and resulted in such severe punishment is a discussion for another day.  But suffice it to say, that God saw it as a grievous offense.  During the time of plague, God spoke to Gad and he went and commanded David to offer a burned sacrifice on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, who freely offered to give it to the king.  For free, David could have the threshing floor, the oxen, the wood and the location spoken about through Gad.

This is the point in the story that always speaks to me.  After David acknowledges his sin, he is given an opportunity to make a sacrifice to restore his relationship with God and to stop the judgment he has brought on the land. Here he has a chance to obey God- but without it really costing him anything.

Thankfully, we live in a day of God’s grace.  The sacrifice that Jesus made once, for all of our sins prevents us from needing to make animal sacrifices.  We need only call on the name of the Lord, ask Jesus into our hearts and confess and repent of our sins to receive salvation.  To enjoy forgiveness as needed, we need only confess and ask for forgiveness.  I am so grateful that Jesus loved us enough to pay the ultimate sacrifice to unite us with Him.

But as Christians, there is still a cost to following Jesus.  We still should make sacrifices of praise to him.  We should still sacrifice our time, our talents, gifts, and priorities to Him.  As children of God, we willingly give everything back to the one who gave so much for us.

This verse always reminds me about the beauty of sacrifice- the importance of freely giving to God.  The importance of making it personal.  It is not a sacrifice if I give money to you that someone told me to hand you.  The sacrifice comes in when it is my money and I will not get to use it for what I have in mind when I give it to you.

I want to offer authentic sacrifices to the Lord.  I want my gifts to Him to be meaningful, expensive, and precious.  I want Him to know I love Him enough for it to cost me something.  I want to be the one to “foot the bill” for the things that I offer to the One I love most.

Dear Lord, thank you for paying the ultimate sacrifice for me.  Thank you for purchasing my freedom.  Help me today to please you as I live my life as a living sacrifice back to you.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri