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!

JAH

And Jesus looking upon them saith, with men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.  Mark 10:27

For with God nothing shall be impossible.  Luke 1:37

When was the last time you asked God to do something that only He could do?

I've always been told that we can pray to God about the 'small stuff.'  That God cares about every aspect of our lives, even down to the very infinitesimal situations.  I believe this to be true, but in doing so, have we neglected to pray about the 'big stuff?'

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

I think, sometimes, it's easy to pick and choose what we are willing to trust the Lord with.  We have trusted Him with our eternal salvation, and yet we hold back our day-to-day situations in life, almost saying, "Don't worry, God, I've got this!"

When we do that, we carry burdens we were never meant to carry, and we forget Who God truly is.

We forget the great things He has done:

    He is our Creator-

    He carved His Law in stone with His finger-

    He parted the Red Sea-

    He turned water into wine-

    He made the lame to walk and the blind to see-

    He walked on water and calms the storms-

    He knows our thoughts and sees our hearts-

    He healed the sick-

    He fed thousands with a loaf and two fish-

    He called a dead man by name and brought him back to life!

    He bore the guilt, shame and sins of the entire world on a cross, meant for you and for me-

    He died, rolled the stone away, and resurrected Himself from the Grave!

That, my friend, is the God we serve!

Yes, we can pray about our small stuff, but don't forget to hand over the big stuff, after all, we serve a Mighty God!

    But that's just me!

The lack of prayer limits God- TH

God leans forward with exceptional interest when He hears a gutsy prayer- Anonymous

"If God sees that my spiritual life will be furthered by giving the things for which I ask, then He will give them, but that is not the end of prayer.  The end of prayer is that I come to know God Himself."

Oswald Chambers

Divide and Conquer

Divide and Conquer:  The policy of maintaining control over one's subordinates or opponents by encouraging dissent between them, thereby preventing them from uniting in opposition.

"And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand."  words of Jesus, Mark 3:25

"And just how do you expect to thwart him where once you could not?"

"I will go to the saints first.  Already there is plenty in Bacon's Corner for them to be upset about, plenty to divide them.  I will keep them busy censuring and smiting each other, and then their hearts will be far from praying."  (Excerpt from Piercing the Darkness, by Frank Peretti.  Crossway Books, 2003, pg. 37.

Galatians 5:15 says, But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

Is your church growing?  Souls being saved?  God working in your midst?

Then be prepared, you are now a target of the enemy for disunity.  Why?  Because disunity prevents growth.  

It's the oldest play in Satan's Playbook.  Get the eyes of the Saints off of God and on to each other.

What can cause disunity?

    Different opinions-

    Hurt feelings-

    Gossip-

    Unforgiveness-

    Pride-

    Bitterness-

    Jealousy-

    Comparing ourselves among ourselves-

The list is unending!

Disunity descends and disrupts our sole purpose: Glorify God in all things, and leading souls to Christ.

So, what do we do? 

    Forget opinions, and Trust God's Word, it is our final Authority-

    Don't react with emotions, what does Scripture say?

    Don't Gossip, but instead, edify-

    Humble ourselves one to another-

    Let go of bitterness, jealousy, criticism, and put on the Fruit of the Spirit-

    Be of one mind, having compassion one of another, be courteous!  1 Peter 3:8

    Realize we are in a Spiritual Battle.  Put on the whole armour of God-

    PRAY!

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Ephesians 6:12

Unity- a condition of harmony.  

    I want to make beautiful music!

            But that's just me!

Holy Ground

And he said, Draw not nigh hither:  put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.  Exodus 3:5

Moses was out keeping the flock of sheep owned by his father-in-law, Jethro, one day in the desert when he came to the mountain of God, Horeb, when an Angel of the LORD appeared in the midst of a bush.

As Moses approached this flaming bush on fire, and yet not consumed, he turned to go see this great sight, when the voice of God Himself called out to him from its midst.

The salutation?  In verse 6, God told Moses that he was now in the presence of I Am, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that Moses needed to remove his shoes because he was now standing on Holy Ground.

I've noticed a disturbing new trend.  We enter our Auditorium before church Services with our coffee filled travel mugs and cell phones, and neglect to put them away when the preaching begins.  Why is that?  Have we forgotten why we are there in the first place?  

When the Word of God is opened, and the Word of God is preached, we are no longer in an auditorium. We are in a sanctuary, a consecrated place of worship.

So why don't we behave as if we are in the presence of the Lord?

Wouldn't it be something, if one morning we were to hear God's audible voice saying, 'I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, remove your shoes, put away your cell phones and put your coffee down, you are now on Holy Ground.'

When we remove the distractions of the world, and enter into God's presence, we enter into true worship.  My Saviour deserves my total attention, after all, He is waiting to speak to me from His Word.

    But that's just me!