I have heard it said so many times
LOVE is faith in action
I have grown to understand that many can operate with a gift
but are quite unloving
So these days I don't look at how great one manifests the power of the living God
I look at how they LOVE
The enemy can mimic every gift except LOVE
It was because of LOVE that God sent Jesus to be the once and for all propitiation for our sins, so that we could be reconciled to him and enjoy the fruits of relationship with our Abbah Father
It was LOVE that caused Jesus to go on that cross
and if he had to do it again for each of us, he would
Let LOVE undergird all our actions, thinking and speaking
It starts with first having an encounter with God as he pours out his
LOVE, GRACE AND MERCY
and THEN
Being filled with his LOVE which automatically overflows
One will begin to care for others, their needs and well being
One will esteem others more highly than themselves
Choose to love today
1 Corinthians 13 Amplified Bible (AMP)
The Excellence of Love
13 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not [a]love [for others growing out of God’s love for me], then I have become only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal [just an annoying distraction]. 2 And if I have the gift of prophecy [and speak a new message from God to the people], and understand all mysteries, and [possess] all knowledge; and if I have all [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love [reaching out to others], I am nothing. 3 If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body [b]to be burned, but do not have love, it does me no good at all.
4 Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant. 5 It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured. 6 It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with the truth [when right and truth prevail]. 7 Love bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening].
8 Love never fails [it never fades nor ends]. But as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for the gift of special knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part [for our knowledge is fragmentary and incomplete]. 10 But when that which is complete and perfect comes, that which is incomplete and partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now [in this time of imperfection] we see in a mirror dimly [a blurred reflection, a riddle, an enigma], but then [when the time of perfection comes we will see reality] face to face. Now I know in part [just in fragments], but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known [by God]. 13 And now there remain: faith [abiding trust in God and His promises], hope [confident expectation of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out of God’s love for me], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love.
Walk Good in Christ
My friends
Till we meet again
Pastor J
Comments