Love Has To Be Your Foundation

...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.

1 Corinthians 13:3

The societies that we live in and the communities in which we dwell have lost the meaning of the word love… Some people do not understand what love means and/or what it will do; however, Paul pens in our focus verse today the point that a child of God is defined by love… If love isn’t the center of your motivation to act, then the deeds you do are done in vain… Understand today that Love is more than a word, it’s more than a feeling; love is the ability to go above and beyond, to look beyond faults, and extend a hand despite what others may say and/or feel… Paul’s letter to the church of Corinth reminds us again that love has to be the igniting element to the fire which leads us to take action… It doesn’t matter how much you give, but that you give in love… It doesn’t matter how much you do, it matters that you do your acts in love not for prestige or repayment… 

 

What is your intent when you give to someone in need? Are you doing it out of genuine concern, or is it so that everyone around you may see your good deeds and praise you for your efforts? Do you give to those in need expecting something in return, or are you simply wishing to help those who stumble upon hard times? These are the questions that we must ask ourselves as a child of God when it comes to giving and extending a hand… Giving to the poor is indeed a great service, but it loses its value if you’re giving for the wrong reasons… Sacrificing of yourself is truly an awesome commitment, but it is worthless if your sacrifice is in vain… When we think about love, we must remember that the bible clearly tells us that “God is love…” Paul is informing us that when we take part in giving, when we sacrifice, when we extend a hand; make sure that it is for God’s name to be glorified… Make sure that your actions aren’t to promote your own ego, but rather exalt God’s name through your actions! Look at the order of this verse, it talks about giving and sacrifice and then says that it is meaningless without charity… If God is not the center of your life everything is meaningless… If God is not the driving force behind your actions then everything is pointless! God is love...love has to be your foundation!

ALL FOR HIS GLORY!

Your Duty...Fear God

"Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things he hath done for you."

1 Samuel 12:24

Your only duty on this earth is to “fear the Lord…” When you fear (honor, revere or admonish) the Lord, your life is lived in total submission to Him… This means that you walk according to His will and are not focused on things of this world… This passage provides great advice for us to live by; we are called to “serve him in truth” knowing that He knows what's best. This passage also brings into remembrance all the things that He has done and the paths that He has paved… We have to have an attitude that reflects on what God has done and dispel the notion of living with the mindset of “what have you done for me lately…” According to worldly standards and ways of living, we must approach life seeking our own way and desires; however, we are reminded today that we serve a faithful God; one who already demonstrated His might by sending His son and promising to supply all our needs… 

Don’t lose sight of the fact that as children of God, we often want things to happen according to our desires and standards… When we are faced with opposition, we question or blame God; however, when things are working in our favor, we find a way to place confidence in ourselves or mankind… Just like the Israelites, we need to be reminded to “Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart…” The only thing that we should fear (revere, respect, and pay honor to) is the Lord… The Israelites (having been led from bondage) desired a king to rule over them… Samuel reminds them today that they already had a king in the Lord and that they must Only fear Him… As the story continues, we see that Saul, a man of physical gifts (well-built, handsome) was selected to be king and after thirty years was rejected due to disobedience… No matter who is placed in positions of authority, if they do not align themselves with the will of God they will fail. 

ALL FOR HIS GLORY!

It's A Two-Way Street

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 10:32-33

Religion is not something that we take off of our bookshelves and wear 1 day a week; it isn’t something that we keep hidden in the crevices of our lives and display around certain individuals… As a child of God, we are called to walk daily in His divine light and this means that we are to show our faith in Him and trust that this is the only way… When we second guess speaking up in defense of the name of Jesus or withhold comments concerning our Lord and Savior, we are doing a disservice to those we have come in contact with as well as ourselves… Through speaking up and standing up, we display our belief and initiate the standing power of Jesus Christ who continues to make intercessions on our behalf… Peter denied Christ and left a courtyard weeping; however, when standing after receiving the Holy Ghost 3,000 souls were saved… 

The power that God has and is willing to display in our lives can only be exerted when we “confess him before men…” Make no mistake about it, you will not be able to wheel and deal your way into heaven… The Bible declares that anyone who“confess with their mouth” and believes in their heart shall be saved… You are accountable to the call that God has on your life; however, you are also accountable to bear witness to His name and walk in obedience… You disobey God when you “deny him before men” which is why Jesus will “also deny you before his father…” You are pretending, you are an imposter, you are fraudulent… You cannot talk the talk; you have to walk the walk… Jesus said that He came that we may have life and have it more abundantly; however, He walked the walk when faced with the cross and humiliation… Today, you must carry your cross; you must walk through the cities declaring your love and appreciation for the most high… 

ALL FOR HIS GLORY!

Love Is Sacrificing Personal Agendas

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

1 John 4:20-21

Paul, in his first letter to the church of Corinth, pens the characteristics of love in the 13th chapter… Throughout these verses he writes and describes how important love is; however, it is one particular piece from this chapter that we will look at today as it relates to John’s writings in our focus verses today… This particular piece is found in the 5^th verse where Paul says, “It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” You cannot be rude to someone, seek to do what is best for you, and become upset when things don’t go your way or keep a record as to why it is that you don’t like a particular person and then say that you are so “in love with God…” There are so many people who openly profess their love for Christ; however, they often fall short in showing it when that love must be displayed not only upward to Him but also horizontally to all that you come in contact with… 

The rich man had a love for God; however, He was not willing to give his possessions away (show a love for his brethren and thus he fell short)… This is why John says that a person who claims to love God but hates his brother is “a liar…” Ask yourself today, how is it possible to love someone without displaying it? Love is an action word and it requires movement beyond your lips… The question I just posed to you is the question that we must ask ourselves as a child of God… John records in this passage that we can’t love God without loving our brother; this statement is very true because the only way we can show our love for the Lord is by loving our fellowman… Our Father desires for us to extend a loving hand to one another, He desires for us to keep no record of wrongs, He desires for us to walk in humility, never focusing on our own desires… These are the ways we show our love and appreciation to the Lord… 

ALL FOR HIS GLORY! 

Love Him And Let Him Work

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

There are positive outcomes to your circumstances that appear to be negative… Notice that I used the word “Appear”... Oftentimes we equate obstacles with negativity, but Paul reminds us today that this concept is false… In the Old Testament Abraham had to relocate to be blessed and called the father of many nations, Joseph had to endure slavery to see His dream fulfilled, Jacob ran from Esau and was subject to countless attacks before being named Israel… The point is that when we are walking according to the will of God, everything in our paths will be used as a tool to mold us and guide us toward the ultimate prize… Paul wrote a letter to the church of Corinth about his “thorn in his flesh”, he ended by saying that God told him “His grace is sufficient…” 

When storms arise, learn to appreciate the rain because that is what helps flowers grow, just like the sunny days… Paul declares to the Church of Rome that all things work together for the good of those who love God. Notice that he states all things work, the bad and the good will come together and fulfill God’s purpose. Some of us take this verse to read that everything will be peaches and cream, when in reality Paul is saying your suffering has a place in God’s divine will for your life! Every obstacle you face, every trial that is presented, and every storm that comes knocking will align you and prepare you for a new level in the will of God… 

ALL FOR HIS GLORY!

He Chastens Those He Loves

My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Proverbs 3:11-12

Growing up, I believe I was whipped more than congratulated… I think that scars and welts on my backside far outnumbered the hugs for a job well done… That said, I look back on my childhood and thank my parents for correcting me back then instead of allowing me to suffer the consequences of my actions now… When a parent loves a child, correction is a form of throwing a life-line before it’s too late… There is nothing worse in life than to lose the support of your parents… I can recall a time in my life when I was all about fitting the image and being amongst my friends… School was nothing to me and my grades showed that very thing. I can remember a time when I received my report card and it seemed as if my parents would have been proud just to see a “C” on the paper. There was one time in particular when my actions actually sunk in, my father looked at my report card and said, “If this is what you have decided that you want to be and do, fine…” 

I realized at that point that my father wasn’t going to beat me, he wasn’t going to ground me, but that he simply had come to the realization that his love to see me prosper was completely poured out. I could feel the disappointment, but more importantly, I could feel the separation… The book of Proverbs teaches us today that discipline is love, not that your parents love to beat you, but that they love you enough to try and get you on the right path and course. These verses from Proverbs draw a parallel to the fact that correction equals love. When God punishes you, or corrects you, it is in love! When He makes you face consequences, it's because He doesn’t want to see you fall by the wayside. On the contrary, He wants to see you reach the heights and goals He has ordained for your life! So when you are dealing with hardships, when you are disciplined, when you are facing the corrective rod of God, know that He loves you and cares for you! If you are doing the things YOU want to do, without chastisement or correction, this is the time when you need to be concerned and worried…

ALL FOR HIS GLORY!

God's Spirit Empowers You

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7

There is nothing of this world that we should fear… In this world so many people have their minds filled with nonsense and things of no significant value that they inherit this worldly fear spoken of in this passage by the apostle Paul… We fear losing jobs, a lower income, or alterations to our lifestyle; however, in the body of Christ, we are reminded today that we have not been given a spirit of fear… More importantly, the spirit we have and have been given in Christ is a spirit that contradicts what the world thinks we should be afraid of… When you are under the spirit of fear, there are elements in your life that you are scared to lose or allow to change; however, when you are in Christ, you don’t fear these things but learn to trust that God doesn’t make mistakes and that He has my best interest at heart. This is why Paul says the spirit you have been given is a spirit of “power, and of love, and of a sound mind…” Understand today that you cannot be a child of God if you are walking in fear of things changing in this world or around you… Children resemble their parents; so if you call yourself a child of God, you shouldn’t fear what circumstances you face in this world or endure through your life’s journey… Jesus endured the most humiliating death known to mankind; however, His spirit didn’t fear and He stole the sting and victory of death and the grave… Remember who is writing this passage today, Paul faced many obstacles, trials, and tribulations… 

Even through His trials, He goes on in the book of Romans to ask the question, “Who can separate us from the love of God…?” He then goes on to say after dealing with much pain, controversy, and suffering (remember throughout his missionary journeys that he was shipwrecked and stoned by a faction formed from Antioch and Iconium), “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Paul wrote this at a time when several distractions were present. At the time of this writing, the scholars of the law were trying to discredit him and punish him for his faith and these are the words that he spoke… We should echo these words when we face obstacles and hurdles knowing that nothing will separate us from God’s love and His divine will… Understand that trouble doesn’t last always and know that God will never leave you nor forsake you. The days that we live in now were made possible because the ones who lived before us were not controlled by fear… Likewise, you have been given a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind! USE IT! 

ALL FOR HIS GLORY!