ALL – Psalm 79:1-13
ALL – Proverbs 24:30-34
OT – Jeremiah 12:1-14:10
NT – 1 Thessalonians 1:1-2:8
Interesting passage for the day: We loved you dearly—so dearly that we gave you not only God’s message, but our own lives, too. – 1 Thess. 2:8, The Living Bible
Thought: That’s what ministry should look like. It should be about love. Love is the motive for telling people about Jesus—for giving them the bad news that they have rebelled sinfully against their King who created them, but also giving them the good news that this Creator King Jesus loved them so much that He Himself died for their sins so they wouldn’t have to pay their own penalty, rose to life, ascended to heaven, and invites them from heaven to become loyal to Him, to receive His Holy Spirit, and to look forward to eternally unblemished life with Him.
But love goes beyond delivering a message—whenever possible, love should cause us to give people ourselves, too.
Confession time: This is where I feel like I fall short, personally. I do pretty well at making sure that I deliver God’s message (in love, too!). I really want people to know Jesus. But giving myself is a lot harder. I feel like I have given people too little time with me—not that it would be a great privilege for them to spend time with me, but just that I want to be a more of a blessing to the people I’m around all the time than just the blessing I offer as a professional preacher. Am I clearly also a friend? Am I helpful? I pray that I will love well—not just well enough to “do my job,” but well enough to give myself to those around me.
Question: Where does your love fall shortest—in giving yourself to your neighbors, co-workers, families and friends, or in sharing God’s good news with them (or both)? Let’s cry to Jesus to make us people who love well in every possible way for the good of every person we meet.
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
Showing posts with label love God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love God. Show all posts
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Gods Provoke Emotions
ALL – Psalm 147:1-20
ALL – Proverbs 18:4-5
OT – 2 Kings 15:1-16:20
NT – Acts 19:13-41
Interesting passage for the day: At this their anger boiled and they began shouting, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” – Acts 19:28, The Living Bible
Thought: People like to blame the world’s wars on religion. They push their blame a bit too far, but the charge is not without evidence. Passions get aroused by religion. And why not? If (since) there is a Creator God who oversees the entire universe and sent His Son to redeem sinful humanity, as I believe there is, He deserves the adoration of the world. People who believe in other gods likewise want their gods to be honored. And when a person’s god begins to be ignored, it is natural to try to draw attention back to the honor of the deity that person believes in. I am not advocating the harmful and violent methods that people have used throughout history to promote their gods—false gods don’t deserve such allegiance, and the true God who gives and takes every person’s life in His time doesn’t need our violence to achieve His goals. But I am trying to make a point: My God deserves my feelings. My God calls me to be reasonable, but not to such a point that I don’t care whether people love, respect and adore Him or not. I am to be His faithful witness, no matter what responses I get from those who deny my God’s authority and care for them. And the people I speak to are right (even if they respond wrongly) to take God seriously enough to respond not just with their heads, but with their hearts. God matters. Love Him or hate Him, but don’t think of Him with apathy.
Question: Do you love God? Do you care about God? Or do you just like to think of yourself as someone who loves God? What convinces you that you love God as you should?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
ALL – Proverbs 18:4-5
OT – 2 Kings 15:1-16:20
NT – Acts 19:13-41
Interesting passage for the day: At this their anger boiled and they began shouting, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” – Acts 19:28, The Living Bible
Thought: People like to blame the world’s wars on religion. They push their blame a bit too far, but the charge is not without evidence. Passions get aroused by religion. And why not? If (since) there is a Creator God who oversees the entire universe and sent His Son to redeem sinful humanity, as I believe there is, He deserves the adoration of the world. People who believe in other gods likewise want their gods to be honored. And when a person’s god begins to be ignored, it is natural to try to draw attention back to the honor of the deity that person believes in. I am not advocating the harmful and violent methods that people have used throughout history to promote their gods—false gods don’t deserve such allegiance, and the true God who gives and takes every person’s life in His time doesn’t need our violence to achieve His goals. But I am trying to make a point: My God deserves my feelings. My God calls me to be reasonable, but not to such a point that I don’t care whether people love, respect and adore Him or not. I am to be His faithful witness, no matter what responses I get from those who deny my God’s authority and care for them. And the people I speak to are right (even if they respond wrongly) to take God seriously enough to respond not just with their heads, but with their hearts. God matters. Love Him or hate Him, but don’t think of Him with apathy.
Question: Do you love God? Do you care about God? Or do you just like to think of yourself as someone who loves God? What convinces you that you love God as you should?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Two Devastating Failures
ALL – Psalm 75:1-10
ALL – Proverbs 12:12-14
OT – Deuteronomy 23:1-25:19
NT – Luke 10:13-37
Have you ever been on a bridge or narrow pathway so high that you could look over the edge on either side and know that a fall meant death?
Among Christians, one of the most inspirational thoughts in all of Scripture is known as the “double love command.” Jesus tells us that it summarizes all the Law and the Prophets (the OT). Here is one version of it, recorded by Luke:
“It says,” he replied, “that you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind. And you must love your neighbor just as much as you love yourself.” – Luke 10:27, The Living Bible
In this case, it was not said by Jesus, who responded:
“Do this and you shall live.” – Luke 10:28, The Living Bible
No one can measure up perfectly to this command. Even among those who seek to obey and fulfill these requirements, people usually make the mistake of obeying just ONE of the TWO commands given here.
Some people love God with all their hearts. They devote themselves completely to God, or so they think. They spend all their time reading their Bibles, praying, attending services, and helping with official church programs. If someone interrupts their service to God, that person gets set aside, left behind, left alone. But God says to these people, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates (neglects, ignores) his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20, NIV).
Other people really do a good job of loving people. They open up their homes, they share their food, they give cash to every beggar, they devote themselves to programs that help people to get out of poverty and homelessness and drugs. They always sympathize with people, always listen, always care, never judge. But these people often lay aside their Bibles, sweep sins (their own and other people’s) under the carpet, neglect to pray, think of Jesus as merely a good man, and worry that any spiritual discussion will hurt people’s feelings. To these people, God says, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me” (John 14:21), and “…this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us” (1 John 3:23, NIV). Loving God is obeying God, and obeying God is believing in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Neglecting our faith is just as destructive as neglecting our neighbors.
The double-love command is a united command. We are not to love God but hate our neighbors. Neither are we to love our neighbors but neglect God. We are to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
We all fall short. We all struggle more either with loving God or with loving people (though, if we’re honest, we fall short in both). We sin. Which is why we praise God that Jesus Christ, His Son, died on the cross to provide forgiveness for our sins. There is grace for us, even as we fail in the two most important commands of all. But that grace is not intended to make us neglect the commands; instead, it strengthens us to stop wallowing in our failures and sins so that we can get up and grow in obedience and love. This requires humility and honesty. We must recognize our failure and call on our Lord for help.
Which side of the command do you struggle with most?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
ALL – Proverbs 12:12-14
OT – Deuteronomy 23:1-25:19
NT – Luke 10:13-37
Have you ever been on a bridge or narrow pathway so high that you could look over the edge on either side and know that a fall meant death?
Among Christians, one of the most inspirational thoughts in all of Scripture is known as the “double love command.” Jesus tells us that it summarizes all the Law and the Prophets (the OT). Here is one version of it, recorded by Luke:
“It says,” he replied, “that you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind. And you must love your neighbor just as much as you love yourself.” – Luke 10:27, The Living Bible
In this case, it was not said by Jesus, who responded:
“Do this and you shall live.” – Luke 10:28, The Living Bible
No one can measure up perfectly to this command. Even among those who seek to obey and fulfill these requirements, people usually make the mistake of obeying just ONE of the TWO commands given here.
Some people love God with all their hearts. They devote themselves completely to God, or so they think. They spend all their time reading their Bibles, praying, attending services, and helping with official church programs. If someone interrupts their service to God, that person gets set aside, left behind, left alone. But God says to these people, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates (neglects, ignores) his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20, NIV).
Other people really do a good job of loving people. They open up their homes, they share their food, they give cash to every beggar, they devote themselves to programs that help people to get out of poverty and homelessness and drugs. They always sympathize with people, always listen, always care, never judge. But these people often lay aside their Bibles, sweep sins (their own and other people’s) under the carpet, neglect to pray, think of Jesus as merely a good man, and worry that any spiritual discussion will hurt people’s feelings. To these people, God says, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me” (John 14:21), and “…this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us” (1 John 3:23, NIV). Loving God is obeying God, and obeying God is believing in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Neglecting our faith is just as destructive as neglecting our neighbors.
The double-love command is a united command. We are not to love God but hate our neighbors. Neither are we to love our neighbors but neglect God. We are to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
We all fall short. We all struggle more either with loving God or with loving people (though, if we’re honest, we fall short in both). We sin. Which is why we praise God that Jesus Christ, His Son, died on the cross to provide forgiveness for our sins. There is grace for us, even as we fail in the two most important commands of all. But that grace is not intended to make us neglect the commands; instead, it strengthens us to stop wallowing in our failures and sins so that we can get up and grow in obedience and love. This requires humility and honesty. We must recognize our failure and call on our Lord for help.
Which side of the command do you struggle with most?
To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.
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