Love

Friday, November 9, 2007                                               “Love”

“God is love, but get it in writing.” - Gypsy Rose Lee
 

            OK, I happen to have it in writing:

Psalms 42:8 (NLT)
⁸ But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life.

Psalms 63:3 (NLT)
³ Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!

John 3:16 (NLT)
¹⁶ “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

John 16:27 (NLT)
²⁷ for the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God.

Romans 5:8 (NLT)
⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

1 John 3:1 (NLT)
¹ See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.

1 John 4:19 (NLT)
¹⁹ We love each other because he loved us first.

            God is love; He loves us; we love one another in Jesus name. We live for Him and give to Him—all because of love. Tomorrow—how we can love Him in word and deed.

Prayer Points for the Day

1.         Thank the Lord for His tremendous love given to each of us

2.         Pray that God will use you to share that love today

3.         Pray for our congregation of believers and our love for each other

You MUST

Thursday, November 8, 2007                               “And you must…”

“Do I have to eat the broccoli?”  Average American Kid

            As a kid, there were a few things which I did not relish eating. But my parents thought otherwise. If it made it to the plate—it had to make into my stomach. No manner of excuse was acceptable. Starving children in China, stomach ache, cold food; or whatever excuse—it did not hold up under the scrutiny of my mother. You MUST eat it, NOW.

            Maybe this explains why so many of us cringe at someone who tells us that we MUST do this or that. You know, you MUST pay your taxes; you MUST obey the speed limit; you must—must do what we say or else. So it goes. And then when we read in the scriptures, “you must” it in some ways alarms us in some extent. Being told again to do something that we might find unpleasant does not sound good to us at all.

            So, exactly how do we become agreeable to the scriptural commands and learn to accept the “Must” word in our lives? We must allow God to melt our hearts to His will. David gives us the proper perspective in this Psalm.

Psalms 131:1-3 (NLT)
¹ Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp.
² Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.
³ O Israel, put your hope in the Lord— now and always.

            Put your hand in God’s hands; trust Him to lead you. His will is not grievous or hard with Him at your side. You must—you really must love Him and Him alone.

Prayer Points for the day 

1.         Pray for strength to overcome the sins which entangle us the most

2.         Pray for strength to trust God to lead in His way; His time; His purpose

3.         Praise God for His presence in your life