The Power of Love

How many of us have ever stop to think about this statement “God is Love”?  if you think about what love is and all the goodness that you feel about love, that IS God. To understand the depths of His love for us would take an eternity and even then we would come to no end. Are we capable of loving the way God has loved us and are we willing to love as Jesus has shown us?  Well, let’s see what the Bible has to say of love.

In the Song of Songs 8:6-7 (NLT) “Place me like a seal over your heat, or like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, and its jealousy is as enduring as the grave. Love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame. Many water cannot quench love, neither can rivers drown it. If a man tried to buy love with everything he owned, his offer would be utterly despised.” This heart of a young bride who eagerly awaits her mate sends her to contemplate the depth of her love. One that is strong as death; that cannot be destroyed by time or disaster; and it cannot be bought at any price. The intense power of love affects the heart and mind of those in love. Love is freely given and it is priceless, there is no price in all the world that can buy true love. You must accept love as a gift from God and shared within the guidelines that He provides. Love is strong, quenchless, indestructible and invaluable.

In the Lord’s teachings of the guidelines of love, we must remember most of all that “love is an action” word; “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. Treat others the same way you want them to treat you” Luke 6:27-31 (NASB).  Jesus was telling the people to love their enemies, but such words were hard to hear especially since the Jews despised the Romans for the oppression of God’s people. In our own strength, we can’t love as Christ instructed, we need the power of the Holy Spirit to help us love our enemies. Most of us can’t even begin to love our enemies, because the things of the past are still fresh on our minds. Some of us consider another race their enemies, then, there are those who would not be obedient to the words of Christ because of unbelief and harden hearts. Love cannot grow as it should in darken, harden, rebellious hearts.

What Jesus was teaching is that, love is an act of your will, to do what God has commanded, and this kind of love takes a conscious effort and a yieldedness to the Holy Spirit. If you remember the mess of your own life and how God loved and forgave you, then loving our enemies means acting in their best interest. And the way we can do this is that, we can pray for them, we can ask God to forgive them and bless them and we can treat them the way we want to be treated. Jesus said; “You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Mat. 5:43-44 NKJV).  We need the Holy Spirit to guide us as well as help our understanding of God’s will. Even though some of us would like to get revenge on our enemies, it’s not necessary for God says, “…avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Rom. 12:19).  God did not instruct us at any time to get revenge on those who have wronged us. He knows just how to deal with those who have hurt us, so what we must do is follow His command.

Think of how Jesus was treated the time He spent here on earth, He knew that men’s hearts were evil, yet He loved them, He gave His life for them and He wants all men who believe to be saved. Now we are not Jesus, I know this, but we have put our faith in Him, we have surrendered our lives to Him and now we must conform our lives to walking in the Spirit. For He says; “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Mat. 5:45). By loving and praying for our enemies, we can overcome evil with good, and by loving our enemy as Christ loved us and treating them well, we will truly show that Jesus is Lord of our lives. For Romans 12:20 says it so clearly: “therefore if thine enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.”  If we loved as Christ loved us, we will be willing to forgive our enemy, we will be willing to pray and we will be willing to show compassion. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as you Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Mt.6:48).

Again, loving our enemy is not easy, our task is not to please self, nor hold others in condemnation, but it is to do God’s will. Look again at Luke 6:27-31 above, for our instructions are:

1.       Love your enemies

2.       Bless them that curse you

3.       Do good to those that hate you

4.       Pray for your persecutors

As believers, we are all call to excel, to rise above our weakness of living in this flesh, and become strong in Spirit by much study of the Word, and walking in obedience to the will of God. The true test of love is when your enemy becomes your friend, when you can see your enemy through the eyes of Christ, their need to know a Savior who can love them and forgive them. Now, you have that opportunity to deliver the gospel of Jesus Christ to them, to share the love that was shed on you. Because we choose to walk in love, and in forgiveness by giving our enemy a drink, we’re not excusing their misdeeds we’re only recognizing their need for Christ, their need for forgiveness, and their need for love in spite of their sins – just as Christ did for us. Our hearts must be changed from vengeance, anger, malice, and even hatred, love was given to us while we were walking dead in this flesh. He came and taught us God’s ways, He showed us God’s mercy, and love gave His life for all people, and all who now and will believe, have been cleansed by His atoning blood. Love has redeemed us from the grip of death, and love has given us eternal life.

Love and forgiveness was given to you when you accepted Christ, then, who are we to deny showing God’s love even to our enemies? You are the light of the world, allow God to use the light in you to draw desperate, hurting, despondent soul to your light. Don’t let the enemy steal from you any longer, your peace, your joy or your love for God. Rise above your feelings and allow the Holy Spirit to have His way in your life, through teaching, guiding, humbling you and showing you how to love your enemy.  “And now abides faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13)

Father, help us to love as you love us each and every day. Help us to forgive our enemies as we show compassion and love towards them and as you have shown to us. Let us not dwell on past hurts and injustice, but we choose to dwell on your goodness, your love and your mercy.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Chosen2Prayer

A Father’s discipline

“It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” Hebrews 12:7-8 (NASB)

It seems funny to me when you hear people say, “I’m grown” as if it’s not noticeable already. But does that mean that everyone else are children?  God sees us as His children, and as such we must endure His chastening from time to time.  Correction is something that grown folks don’t take to kindly too, but we hand out correction to our children, in order to direct them on the right path.  God does the same with His children, we have all had days, even months when at every turn there seems to be a battle waiting to confront us, and there are reasons why we just can’t seem to get ahead of all the troubles. One important thing to remember before I go on, is we can’t live as we please or do what as we please or treat others as we please knowing we are His Children. The seeds that we sow will one day come to full harvest and we will reap what we have sown. God’s Word has given us an answer for our rebellious ways and the reason for our chastisement:

“My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of His corrections. For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” (Prov. 3:11,12)

God’s purpose for discipline is when He sees that we are depending upon the worlds way of handling things more than upon Him.  Or that we have become lax in our spiritual walk and our old ways are beginning to pick up strength, like a car going downhill. Teaching is necessary to help us go the way God desires for us and discipline is necessary to render that teaching to be effectual. Correction is mandatory to bring our minds into submission, without which it cannot acquire knowledge. Never reject the procedure or process of God, only humble yourself under His mighty hand.  It is no use trying to rebel, for every act of rebellion against God, is a wound to your own soul.  God will either end you or mend you; the choice is yours.

He loves us and He wants the best for His children. “…we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of Spirits, and live? (Heb. 12:9). It is never pleasant to be corrected or discipline by God. But this discipline is a sign of His deep love for each of us. When God corrects us, you must see it as poof of His love.  How we respond to His correction has a lot to say; again we can accept it with resignation, we can accept it with self-pity, we can be angry and resentful toward God or we can accept it gratefully, as this is the appropriate response – the choice is yours.  

“As many as I love, I rebuke: and chasten be zealous therefore, and repent” (Rev. 3:11)

God is not only a disciplining parent but also a demanding coach who pushes us to our limits and He requires our lives to be discipline. We may not feel strong enough to push on to victory, but as long as we keep following Christ we can draw upon His strength to make it through. Most of our thinking is not all that great and we tend to make choices out of fear, anger, jealousy, spite and so many more emotions that leads us down the path of bad choices, which then leads to more intense correction from the hand of God. Matthew Henry said it best and in a clear and precise way that one cannot miss the true meaning of the scriptures above.

“There is a proneness in believers to grow weary, and to faint under trials and afflictions; this is from the imperfection of grace and the remains of corruption. Christians should not faint under their trials. Though their enemies and persecutors may be instruments to inflict sufferings, yet they are Divine chastisements; their heavenly Father has his hand in all, and his wise end to answer by all. They must not make light of afflictions, and be without feeling under them, for they are the hand and rod of God, and are his rebukes for sin. They must not despond and sink under trials, nor fret and repine (complain), but bear up with faith and patience. God may let others alone in their sins, but he will correct sin in his own children. In this he acts as becomes a father. Our earthly parents sometimes may chasten us, to gratify their passion, rather than to reform our manners. But the Father of our souls never willingly grieves nor afflicts his children. It is always for our profit. Our whole life here is a state of childhood, and imperfect as to spiritual things; therefore, we must submit to the discipline of such a state. When we come to a perfect state, we shall be fully reconciled to all God's chastisement of us now. God's correction is not condemnation; the chastening may be borne with patience, and greatly promote holiness. Let us then learn to consider the afflictions brought on us by the malice of men, as corrections sent by our wise and gracious Father, for our spiritual good.” (Matthew Henry Concise Bible Commentary)

If truth be told, we bring on God’s chastisement because we persistently ignore His guidance, and insistently take our own path. Even though that still small voice deep within us says not to do that, we turn a deaf ear and proceed down destruction avenue. We should never listen to the voice that goes against the will of God or that puts an uneasy feeling within us. Our faith is not in figuring a way out or listening to the counsel or advice of others, but we must humble ourselves under His hand of judgment. We must look to Him for direction and guidance as children. However, He chooses to bring correction, it is imperative that we keep our faith in the promises of God, we must keep our focus on Him, we must remember how much He loves us, we must repent of our wrong and we must endure chastisement till our hearts are turned and our minds renewed by His Word and by His loving hand. Claim the promises of God, resist the devil who walks about like a roaring lion, and never give him any place in your life.

For God tells us: “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him…”       2 Samuel 7:14-15 (NASB) 

Father, sometimes I don’t understand the “why” of situations that happen in my life and I know that I may have caused much of my own suffering by going and doing what I thought was right, without acknowledging you. I ask your forgiveness for my wrong thinking, I ask your forgiveness for not taking heed to the voice of your Holy Spirit. I ask forgiveness for being foolish to think my way was better than yours. I know that when I am judge I will be chasten of you Lord, that I may not be condemn with this world. For you told me clearly, be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son who he receiveth. Thank you Father, for I am your child, for if I endure chastening, I know that you deal with me as your child.

Chosen2Prayer…

The God who sees...

“…the God who sees me, for she said “I have seen the One who sees me!” (Gen 16:13 NLT)

El-roi – The God who sees

Sometimes it’s hard to grasp the idea that God does see all things, for many times we ask the question “God don’t you see what is happening?” At these moments our state of mind is not clear and neither can it remember any scriptures.  Hagar was in a precarious situation, she was running away from Sarai her mistress, because Sarai’s actions had cause her to be jealous of her handmaiden, who now was carrying her husband’s child.

You must remember this, that God sees even our mistakes, our evil hearts, our wrong motives and even our wrong attitudes as well as our ways and actions. Even our thinking is not hidden from Him:

            “The Lord knows the thought of man…” (Ps.94:11)

You see, sometimes our actions for the better good, (our own way) of solving a problem, only causes the problem to get worse, thereby causing our decision to bite us in the end. God also sees that we are not following His instructions when things happen:

            “Casting all your care upon him…” (1Peter 5:7)

He does see that we are trying to fix something that we are not qualified to fix. Know this, there is no problem too complicated for God to fix, but you must be willing to give it to Him completely and let Him work it out.  You never know what blessings God has in store for you, until you walk-it-out, walk out the pain, walk out the disappointment, walk out the frustration, walk out the anger and walk into blessings.

Now does God see you and all that is going on? I say emphatically YES, He sees and He is ready to help you walk through.  What must we do? Take every problem, every situation, and every negative event to God in Prayer, be comforted in knowing God is in control, be faithful to God and His promises, be strong to stand upon the Word, be grateful for the love God has for you and be sure that He will never leave you nor forsake you.

Prayer:

Father God, I thank you that you see and know what I am going through. Help me Lord to cast this burden upon you for you care for me. I release all my concerns, all my anxieties, all my fears and all my stresses and because you see, I can rest knowing that you are completely in control.  Thank you for your answer to my prayers and thank you for your loving care in my life. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, amen.

Chosen2Prayer

A Time to Shine

There are times in life when we wish that we can let go of our past and start a fresh life someplace else with the hope of never seeing familiar faces that remind us of the past. We tend to base our self-worth on past failures, dissatisfaction with how we look, or bad habits we engage in, and we develop the “I am what I am, or the I cannot change and the I am hopeless” attitudes.   Even if you are able to move past your past, somehow deep within it still lingers in your person, in other words it affects your attitude, your words, and it even affects your perception of life. 

Some people may say “well this is just who I am and either you accept me or you don’t!” not realizing that their view of themselves demonstrates low self-esteem.  Robert McGee (Search for Significance) says it this way:

“If we excuse our failures with an attitude of hopelessness, too often our personality can become glued to the failures.  Our self-image becomes no more than a reflection of our past…many times the opinion of oneself is based on past failures, and those failures keep us from enjoying new experiences.”

 Ask yourself:

·         Am I capable of going forward?

·         Do I have what it takes to go forward?

·         Do I truly believe what God is saying about me?

·         But what if I fail, what then?

You cannot allow your past to dictate your future.  If the past dictates how we treat yourself and others, or how we react to new situations, or how we behave, then growth has been stifled. We are not moving forward but standing in the current and holding tightly to the past. How can you ever begin to understand who God says that you are and what has been given to you if you don’t let go of the past?  How can you appreciate the blessings when you feel so little about yourself?  

“Too often our self-image rests solely on an evaluation of our past behavior, being measured only through a memory.  Day after day, year after year, we tend to build our personalities on the rubble of yesterday’s personal disappointments.” (R. McGee; 1990).  We must have a new perspective which must be based on the Word of God, and the unconditional love and acceptance of God.  The reality of what we face is that God’s love is unconditional and our past is just that – past.  But if you continue to value all your failures, then you will be swallowed up in the self-pity pit.

How does one start to get out of this stronghold and lies of the devil?

·         Be honest with yourself and with God, He already knows everything

·         Talk with someone whom you can be totally honest with and who can keep what you tell them, and one you can be accountable to

·         Study the Word of God, search it for what you are experiencing, whatever your need is at that moment God’s Word has an answer

·         Apply what you have found, don’t think that it was for “back then” God’s Word is relevant today, now.  You can trust His Word that it will not fail

·         Pray daily or as often as you need to.  We must communicate with the one who knows all about our weaknesses and failures and still He loves us

·         Praise Him as often as you can, for praise will destroy the schemes and plots that the enemy will try to throw back at you to make you doubt

Do not allow to the past to come into your future, God loves you and He chose you to be His child.  Don’t ever think that you can hide anything from Him because He is Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent.  Jesus gave His life for you, His blood was shed for your sins and with His Resurrection, it is to give you eternal life. When we abide in the present and still holding on to the past we are not walking in faith, or hope, we are not embracing newness of life and we are not trusting in God. 

It’s time to put the past that you are holding on to at the foot of the cross and raise your eyes to behold our Savior and Lord who loves you and go forward into a new and wondrous future.

God bless

Nina Jenkins

Chosn4God