Book Club

The other night, a friend graciously opened her home for our Book Club meeting.  Women of all shapes, sizes, ages and backgrounds gathered to share their thoughts about our most recent Read.

With bowls of popcorn and chips in our laps, and soda or coffee in our hands, we began to discuss our book.  While quoting C.S. Lewis, an amazing thing began to happen; we began to share more and more about ourselves.  The guarded hearts were opened, masks removed from faces, and we all realized that, in this group, we were all accepted.

And isn't that what we as humans crave?  Acceptance?

All because of the book we read.

We are also accepted into the beloved as God's children.  Jesus makes that all possible:

Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

One of my favorite accounts in the Bible is when Jesus ministered to the rejected woman at the well in Samaria.  Verse 39b says, 'He told me all that ever I did.'

And the result?  He loved her anyway.

Jesus accepted her.

Jesus will accept you too.

Webster defines Acceptance as this: received.

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

Words of Jesus, John 6:37

Turn to Christ, He is waiting with open arms.

    It's true!

        But that's just me!

"Believing that you are loved will set you free to be who God created you to be.  Rest in His love and just be yourself."  Lisa Whelchel

 

Wellness Check

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  Psalm 139:23-24

I have an appointment this morning for a Wellness Check.  I had blood work done a couple of weeks ago, and today I will go in and let the doctor go over the results with me.

I'm always a little hesitant because I'm prone to sickness, seems like they always find something to improve on.

When I was a little girl, I usually waited until I was sick before I went to see a doctor, but now, as we grow older preventive medicine is being more and more recommended.  

What a novel idea!  See the doctor BEFORE you get sick so you can prevent sickness!

The key to physical health.

So, what's the key to Spiritual health?

King David knew.

He prayed and asked God to search his heart to see if there was wickedness present, and if there was, to cleanse him from that wickedness.

Christians still fight a sin battle every day.  If we aren't careful, sin will creep in without us even being aware that it is there.  We are prone to sin.

Psalm 19:12 says, 'Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.'

Like preventive medicine can prevent sickness, preventive prayer and bible reading can prevent sin.

Only Jesus can cure us of the disease of sin.  1 John 1:9

So, before I go to my physical wellness check this morning, I'm going to meet with the Great Physician and get my Spiritual wellness check taken care of.  I want my heart to have a clean bill of health before my Saviour...

    But that's just me!

"We must not trust our heart at any time; even when it speaks most fair, we must call it a liar; and when it pretends to the most good, still we must remember it's nature, for it is evil and that continually."

Charles Spurgeon

Search me, O God

hymn

J. Edwin Orr

𝅘𝅥𝅮 Search me, O God, and know my heart today;

Try me, O Saviour, know my thoughts I pray.

See if there be some wicked way in me,

cleanse me from ev'ry sin and set me free.

I praise thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;

fulfill thy Word, and make me pure within,

fill me with fire where once I burned with shame,

Grant my desire to magnify thy name.

Lord, take my life and make it wholly thine;

fill my poor heart with thy great love divine,

Take all my will, my passion, self, and pride;

I now surrender; Lord, in me abide. 

True Love

 "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Words spoken by Jesus, John 15:13

When I was a little girl in Elementary School, a week before Valentine's Day each student would receive a list of names for everyone in our class.   Our teacher told us that "if you are planning on giving out Valentine's, then you must give a Valentine to each one of your classmates.  No one is to be left out."

In other words, there would be no 'Charlie Brown's' allowed in our class!  Each student would be included regardless of if we liked them or not.

Salvation is ALL inclusive.

Jesus died for each and every one of us, even while we were sinners.  We weren't His friends when He died for us, but He was our friend.

But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  

Romans 5:8

So, on this Valentine's Day, I want to give you your own personal Valentine:

         For God so lo V ed the world,

that he g A ve

   his on L y

  begott E n

     So N

                                  T hat whosoever

    believeth I n him

             should N ot perish

                  but have E verlasting life.

John 3:16

This Valentine's Day, I want to hold close the greatest Valentine given of all, Jesus.

        But that's just me!

        

Love is...Part 5

"Love sees perfect that which is imperfect."  Anonymous

As we come to the end of 1 Corinthians 13 and have pondered what love is and what love is not, I want to ask you a few questions:

Is it easier to love the lovable or the unlovable?  Is it easier to love those you have things in common and think the same way about things as you, or those who do not?  Is it easier to love those you get along with rather than those who rub you the wrong way?

Hard questions, but easy ones to answer.

"God did not love us because we were lovable, but because He is love."  CS Lewis.

"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"

Words of Jesus, Matthew 5:44

"But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you."

Words of Jesus, Luke 6:27-28

If we are to love like Jesus, we are to freely love all.

Even those who don't love us.

And we are not only called to love them, but to pray for them; after all, Jesus prayed for the very ones who put Him on the cross.

    Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. Luke 23:34a

"Love stronger than the deepest hatred."  Anonymous

So that brings us to our last verse:

1Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

    When one day we see Christ, faith and hope will fade away.

    But love will always remain.

"It is love alone that gives worth to all things."  Santa Teresa de Jesus

    And I agree...but that's just me!

Love is...Part 4

When you look up the definition for LOVE, there are too many definitions to write down.

Often times you will hear the term, 'I fell in love,' or 'I fell out of love.'  Honestly, is 'falling' even part of love?

There is a worldly love, and a godly love.  Selfish, and giving.

A feeling based on emotions, and a decision based on commitment.

So, the question remains, what is Love? 

1 Corinthians 13:7-8a  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Charity never faileth:

    Beareth-supports the weight

    Believeth-accepts

    Hope-expects with confidence

    Endureth-to remain firm under suffering or misfortune without yielding!

    Faileth-to lose strength, fade or die away, to stop functioning.

Love means to hang on to Love and Truth no matter what.  True love can support the weight of other's burdens, we accept who they are, and we can expect great things!  Love allows us to stand firm under any circumstance and prevail!

    Everything will fail, except love.

In verse 8, I like to insert 'Jesus' for the word 'charity' so it reads like this:

    Jesus never fails!

Love does not have to broadcast what it is, or what it is not.

Dwight L. Moody once said, 'If we have got the true love of God shed abroad in our hearts, we will show it in our lives.  We will not have to go up and down the earth proclaiming it.  We will show it in everything we say or do.

When people look at my life, I want them to see genuine love for others...

    But that's just me!

"Love is taking a few steps backward, maybe even more...to give way to happiness of the person you love."  Winnie-the-Pooh (A.A.Milne)

Love is...Part 3

In 1965, Jackie Deshannon sang, What the World Needs now, Is Love. 

    It's still needed today.

In 1984, Tina Turner asked the question, "What's love got to do with it?"

    A question still asked today.

The answer:

    Everything!

1 Corinthians 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

    Behave-actions or conduct

    Unseemly- inappropriate, not according with established standards of good form or taste. (manners)

    Seek-to go in search of

    Provoked-stirred up, incite to anger, to arouse to a feeling or an action.

    Think-to form or have in mind, to has an intention, opinion.

This tells us what love is not.  Knowing what love is not, allows us to see what love is.

Love will show kindness and our life will reflect our Saviour.  Love will have manners and common courtesies towards one another, and love will place others before themselves.  Love will seek out the needs and desires of others before self and will only possess the fruits of the Spirit in all situations.  Love regards not opinions or feelings but will seek Truth and Goodness in all things and towards all others.

1 Corinthians 13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth;

    Rejoice-to give joy, to feel joy, or great delight, to joy and joy again

    Iniquity-gross injustice, wickedness, SIN

    Truth-Fact, Right

When I read this verse, I could not help but think of those who March and take pride in their sin.  They rejoice and flaunt in sin because they do not know The Truth.

Love will not brag about sin, or what they think they are getting away with in the dark recesses of their heart.  Truth will one day expose sin for what it is:  sin.

Love joys and joys again in Truth.  Truth is freeing, liberating and the Bible tells us that Love covereth a multitude of sins! (1 Peter 4:7)

"What does love look like?  It has the hands to help others.  It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy.  It has eyes to see misery and want.  It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men.  That is what love looks like."  Augustine

I want to love others the way Christ loves me!

    But that's just me!

Love is...Part 2

In 1970 Kim Casali began drawing cute little figures of a husband and wife defining what Love is.  What began as private love notes to her husband, grew into a worldwide sensation.  It became a popular cartoon in newspapers around the world by 1971.  I have one that I cut out of the paper years ago, still hanging by a magnet on my fridge.  It says, 'Love is...doing your best.'  

I'm learning a lot about what love is, and what love is not, in my study this week in 1 Corinthians 13.

1 Corinthians 13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

    Bestow-put to use

    Burned-consumed, used up

I don't think I have ever sacrificed 'all' my goods or used my strength to the extent that I literally had nothing left to give, to help anybody. And yet even if I did, without love, the effort and cost would be worth nothing.

Love is the key to every action.

1 Corinthians 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind: charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

    Suffereth-endures

Love will patiently endure everything that is thrown at them!

    Envieth-this is the opposite of rejoicing with those who rejoice.  It's when something good happens to someone else, or someone else gets something that we desire to have, and it causes us to resent them, because good things are happening to them and not to us.

    Vaunteth-call attention too.  'Hey, look at me!'

    Puffed-swell, inflate, praise with exaggeration.  Reminds me of a peacock all puffed up and strutting about!

Love repays suffering with kindness.  We are to be happy when God blesses others, and we need to remember to give God the Glory for all things, instead of turning any praise or acknowledgement towards ourselves.

Love is never about us.

Love is always about others.

I will leave with you with a quote my friend shared with me during our study:

"It's more important to be kind, then right."

    I agree...but that's just me!

 

Love is...Part 1

"Love means never having to say you're sorry."  Quote from the 1970 movie Love Story.

HOGWASH!  

Then there is the song, Lookin' for Love, by Johnny Lee, 1980. This may be more accurate, the first line in the chorus goes something like this: "lookin' for love in all the wrong places..."

And here we are in 2022, and the world is still looking for love and acceptance in the wrong places, and in the wrong people.

My friend and I have been reading 1 Corinthians 13.  It's known as 'The Love Chapter' in the Bible, because it clearly defines what love is, and what love is not.  This chapter is a very familiar chapter to me as I have read it many times, but this time I decided to look up each individual definition to the words in each verse, and I have come away with a better understanding about love.  I'm not a theologian, but I want to share what spoke to my heart.

1 Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 

    Sounding-means pompous.

    Brass-one of the definitions used here is 'empty cartridge shells.'

    Tinkling-high ringing, or clinking sounds.

So, even if I was an elegant speaker, and knew what I was talking about, if I don't have love, it's not worth hearing.  My words would sound pompous, and annoying.  My words would be empty, meaningless, and not useful.  I would be shooting blanks.

1 Corinthians 13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

    Prophecy-inspired utterance, declaration of divine will and purpose, a prediction of things to come.

    Mysteries-something not understood, enigma.

    Knowledge- the fact of knowing.

The gifts of prophecy and mysteries and knowledge would be extremely COOL to have, but they are all worthless when love is missing!  

Love is the key factor in every aspect of our lives.  Without it we have nothing, and we are nothing.

The world sees power money and brains as success, and yet they are harmful in many ways.  Why?  Because there is no love.  

My friend, if you are looking for True Love, turn to Christ.  He is the Author of Love.  He IS love personified.

    

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.

Jesus speaking, John 3:16

Lord, help my words and works bring you honor and glory, because they are spoken in and done with love!

    But that's just me!