A Crucified Life - - Speaks For Itself

 

2 Corinthians 6:8

By honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No.

Evil Report: defamation, reproach, ill-repute

From the Greek word 'dusphemia' (pronounced doos-fay-mee'-ah).

Good Report: commendation, praise

From the Greek word 'euphémia' (pronounced yoo-fay-mee'-ah).

    Slandered. Spoken ill of for speaking the Truth. To share the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ is to expect people to come against you. As they came against Christ who not only speaks Truth but is Himself Truth, how can we expect any less to happen to us as His faithful followers? 

Jesus Himself warned His disciples that as many came against Him for the Truth of the Word which He spake, people would also come against them, against us. 

>John 16:1-3

>John 15:18-20

>Proverbs 29:27

>Matthew 10:22

>Matthew 24:9

    Knowing that even the very mention of the Name of Christ could get a person killed, how does the kingdom of God keep growing? Grace.Joy. Peace. Rest. Forgiveness. Wisdom. Love. Hope. Mercy. Of God. In Christ. Through the Holy Spirit of God. 

>GRACE: Ephesians 2:8

>JOY: John 15:11

>PEACE: John 16:33

>REST: Matthew 11:28

>FORGIVENESS: Ephesians 1:7

>WISDOM: Proverbs 11:30

>LOVE: 1 John 4:16

>HOPE: Psalm 39:7

>MERCY: Titus 3:5

    All of these things Christ is to us who believe. All of these are in us and need to be displayed to everyone else by our words and our actions. The name is the reputation. Whose name are you defined by? The faithful follower of Christ is defined by Christ's Name and carries His reputation with them wherever they go. 

    Philippians 2:7, 8

But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

     As such He did, so, too, do we, His followers. We make ourselves of no reputation, and yet, we are known by many for who we are. As Christ is known, both loved and hated, we who love Him and follow in His steps, are both loved  and hated. Though we desire no reputation of our own, we are given two. We are only slightly known to this world. But in God's kingdom we are fully known.

REPUTATION

Clean Hands - Lauren Alexandria

Better Than Life - Phil Wickham

Here's My Heart - I Am They

No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus - Steffany Gretzinger

Nothing Without You - United Pursuit

I Belong To Jesus - Paul, Hannah McClure

Give Us Clean Hands - Caedmon's Call

I Speak Jesus - Here Be Lions

Hands and Feet - Audio Adrenaline

Build Your Kingdom Here - Rend Collective

Known - Tauren Wells

    

Love Is Holy

 

God Is Holy

Psalm 99:9

Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.

God Is Love

1 John 4:8

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Therefore, we must conclude that Love Is Holy Because God Is Love.

1 CORINTHIANS 3:17

If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

How do we, as God's temple, get destroyed by others, besides being killed for our faith? By compromising our Biblical values with worldly values, for one.

Another way is by listening, and adhering to, false doctrines which fall into three categories: alternative "Christian" thinking, anti-Christian thinking and legalism (following a bunch of rules).

All of these schools of thought fall under the category of anti-Christ. Anything Satan can do to keep people out of walking the strait and narrow path which God has set up for His people to walk in, he will do.

There is only one GOD, one heavenly Father, unlike any other father we have ever known.

There is only one JESUS CHRIST who is GOD's only begotten Son, who died on the cross in our place taking the punishment for all the sins of the whole world: from times past, times present and times future; Who overcame death, hell and the grave and walked out of the tomb wherein He had been buried: resurrected into a new life and a new body. It is He Who is seated at the right hand of God, interceding on behalf of His people (Psalm 110:1; Colossians 3:1; Romans 8:34). And He's coming back, when His Father sends Him, to collect a holy church (Ephesians 5:25-27)

There is only one Holy Spirit and he is the Holy Spirit of the Holy God, the Holy Spirit of the Holy Christ.

God is Spirit, Jesus is the Word He speaks, the Spirit is the breath by which He speaks the Word.

John 4:24

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

John 1:1, 14

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22

"He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches."

Now, knowing our God is holy and knowing He can only live in holiness, we know that his habitations must be holy, as well. When Jesus Christ washes away our sins, they all take up residence within us. We are a holy people (Titus 2:14), and as such, we are a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9), and a holy temple (1 Corinthians 3:16).

So whoever comes against us, as God's people, God's nation, God's temple, God will come against them. And win. Because He is God and His very presence demands holiness. Evil cannot withstand holiness. It will be rooted out and burned up.

1 Corinthians 13 -- Descriptive Love

 

Agape Love Described

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

 1 John 4:16

And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

Nothing Without Love

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.

Matthew 7:21-22

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

Love Profits Me

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 profits me nothing.

Matthew 6:2

So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.

Love Is Patient, Love Is Kind

1 CORINTHIANS 13:4

Charity suffers long, and is kind; charity envies not; charity vaunts not itself, is not puffed up.

Don't Gossip, That's Not Love

Proverbs 17:9

Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but he who brings it up separates friends.

Forgiveness Is Love

Ephesians 4:32

Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.

Clothed In Love

Colossians 3:12

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Love Behaves Itself

1 CORINTHIANS 13:5

Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil;

1 Corinthians 10:24

No one should seek his own good, but the good of others.

Romans 15:1-2

We who are strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

Love Shares The Joy of God's Grace

1 CORINTHIANS 13:6

Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

Here, the word REJOICE, is from the Greek word sugchairó (pronounced soong-khah'-ee-ro), which means: together sharing or experiencing God's grace.

Knowing this, we see that it is quite impossible for those who rejoice in God's grace simply cannot rejoice in iniquity. For we know that iniquity is unrighteousness, a violation of God's justice.

They who take joy in evil cannot be joyful in grace.

Love Suffers Long

1 CORINTHIANS 13:7

Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

We Are Called to Suffer 

1 Peter 2:21

For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in His steps.

Longsuffering Is A Fruit of The Spirit 

Galatians 5:22

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.

Longsuffering also means 'Patience'. Not patience in the way we would think, putting limits on how long our patience should last, but the patience of God, a direct result of divine Love. It is God living in us and working in us, on us and through us that produces the Fruit of Longsuffering.

Love Never Fails

1 CORINTHIANS 13:8

Charity never fails but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

Faith Works Through Love

Galatians 5:6

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.

LOVE TRUSTS GOD

1 CORINTHIANS 13:9

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

1 Corinthians 8:2

The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.

1 Corinthians 2:9

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

I, admittedly, do not know everything I want to know or think I need to know about being a good Christian. But I do know enough to know that I need to be more rooted and grounded in the Word of God, that I need a Savior and His name is Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God.

I do know that righteous living profits me not only in eternity but as I live my life now according to the Word of God; not just to the best of my ability but also in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

I know that much. When I need to know more, the Spirit will inform me. Until then I'll "Only Trust Him" as the song says. 

Love Awaits Perfecting

1 CORINTHIANS 13:10

But when that which is perfect is come, then that which in in part shall be done away.

1 Corinthians 9:24

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize.

Philippians 3:12

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

Love Matures

1 CORINTHIANS 13:11

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

In his or her lifetime, the born again believer, regardless of chronological age, is nevertheless viewed by God as His child.

And just like little children, we speak in the language of childhood, we understand very little of perfect Christian maturity and we think like little children. We may be mature in the Word but until the Word matures in us, we are still little children.

When the Word fully matures in us, childhood of this life will dissipate and we will be changed.

Are you ready?

Love Makes Me Known To God

1 Corinthians 13:12

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

1 Corinthians 8:3

But the one who loves God is known by God.

1 Corinthians 2:9

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Looking at God through our physical eyes, and even our less than perfect spiritual eyes, is like looking in a tinted mirror or dirt-grimed window: not seeing clearly. 

But someday when we are in His eternal presence in His heavenly realm, we will see Him in all His glory and perfection. 

Someday we will see His just as clearly and plainly as He sees us.

Love Greater Than Faith, Hope

1 Corinthians 13:13

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

Do All Things In Love

1 Corinthians 16:13, 14

Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong. Do everything in love.

Love Is Sincere

Love must be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good.

Love Is Pure

The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith. 

Love Is Generous

1 John 3:15-17

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer.  By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?

Love Is Kind & Forgiving

Ephesians 4:32

Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.

Love Covers Us

Colossians 3:12

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

The Green Fir Tree

 

Hosea 14:8

"..... I am like a green fir tree, from Me is your fruit found.'

God is the source of all our blessings and benefits. We are to turn to no other entity in prayer for communion with wood/crystals/metals/nature cannot answer our prayers, cannot speak with us. 

God created the universe and everything in it but the universe cannot communicate with us either. Only in God can we find everything our heart desires for He is our desire.

When we grasp hold of His outreached hand and cling to Him, He will take us with Him wherever He goes. 

But why does He compare Himself to a green fir tree? The fir/juniper/cypress tree is home to birds, who nest in their branches or use their needles for nest building. It's shadow spreads across the land and covers all who live under it, not just draw near for shelter from the heat of the day. 

Psalm 91:1

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 

Both Israel and the Church are God's extension of Himself to a lost and dying people who need saving, saving on God's terms. We are not here to judge each other's sins, nor to condemn each other for sin. John 3:17

For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

As representatives of Christ we are to be like Christ. God is Judge, we are not. We are the body of Christ: His hands, His feet, His eyes, His heart, etc. With our hands we hold, with our arms we cradle or embrace, with our legs we stand and lift, with our eyes we see what He sees, with our heart we love with His love.

John 13:34

A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.

Only then will our families, our friends, our strangers and our enemies know that there is, indeed, a God who loves them. We are not to hate each other, for in hate there is no love; therefore the love of God cannot be extended to another when it is not in us in the first place.

1 John 4:20

If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

We cannot love each other properly unless we have the Holy Spirit, for it is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that our love is truly an extension of God's love and mercy towards all of us. Think of Him as being the sap in the fir tree.  God is the Gardener: He not only created the Tree, He planted it. Christ is the Trunk. We are the branches. 

Spider Webs vs Cobwebs

     

    Spider webs are built by spiders. Spider webs are sticky traps meant to trap unaware travelers to be eaten at a later date. Cobwebs are built by dust mites in areas that are unused on a regular basis. For instance, empty houses and basement ceilings get cobwebs built in them quite often.

    But what if cobwebs were built in less familiar places, places the eye never sees? Cobwebs not built by living dust mites, but lack of use. Take our hearts, for example.

    When the heart fails to perform in The Way that it should, it becomes less useful and more hardened. As if the arteries of life were clogged by bitterness and pain. Secretive, dark places of the heart, where Love and Light barely, if ever, make a dent.

    But Truth Light and Truth Love will surely persevere when a person is seeking to know God's will for their life. When they're looking for a way out of the darkness, pushing past the cobwebs that drape across the entrance to the heart.

As the Truth Love and Truth Light work Its Way across the heart, the heart expands, the cobwebs disappear and darkness fades into nothingness.

Love Notes August 24 thru August 29

MONDAY 

AUGUST 24

LIVING THE DOCTRINE

TUESDAY

AUGUST 25

CONTRARY DOCTRINE

WEDNESDAY

AUGUST 26

MY SOUL PROSPERS

MY SOUL PROSPERS

3 John 2

Beloved, I pray above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.

1 Thessalonians 1:3

Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.

The believer is to prosper in preaching the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. We are to live Christ's example of service by being lovingly obedient to God our Father; to serve one another in Love, TRUTH Love, Divine Love.

Honorably and with integrity.

1 Timothy 1:14

And the grace of our Lord overflowed to me, along with the faith and love that are in

 Christ Jesus.

Now, I ask you, how could God's grace overflow unless I was prosperous in His work?

THURSDAY

AUGUST 27

DEVOTION TO TRUTH

DEVOTION TO TRUTH

3 John 3

For I was overjoyed when the brothers came and testified about your devotion to the Truth, in which you continue to walk. 

Psalm 119:11

Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee.

The Word and The Truth are the same: JESUS CHRIST. 

FRIDAY

AUGUST 28

NO GREATER JOY

SATURDAY

AUGUST 29 

SHOWING FAITHFULNESS

Blessed Instruction_Psalms

The King James Version reads the word instruct as chastisement, which by implication means severe criticism, harsh rebuke, as well as corporal punishment. This is not how the Word is to be applied. For the Word of God is Jesus Christ, and He is to be applied willingly to the heart, not forcefully. God's Love is Mercy and Grace; Patience and Strength. We are not to wield such Love as if it were a paddle board, nor should we be meanly spoken with it or by it.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love studying with my KJV Bible and I love reading it because I know that the Holy Spirit will reveal to me what I need to know when I need to know it. But I love studying with the Interlinear Bible, too. It tells me the Hebraic word and pronunciation, as well as the Strong's reference, and specific meaning for a word in any verse, not just a general definition or description. 

Knowing also that "blessed" when referring to man means "happy" and "to be envied", we read with a better understanding the verses in which we are to be blessed. 

Psalm 94:12 Happy and to be envied is the man whom You instruct, LORD, and out of Your law teach. 

And don't be getting all feminist on me, either. When God's Word speaks of 'man' in general, He is not excluding women: it is mankind, or man-kind (Genesis 1:27): male and female. But the Word must be applied individually. While all blessings from God to us are for each of us and all of us, we must first believe not only that God is, but that His Word is Faithful and True. Only then can we seek, search out and find how God wants to bless us. 

Once we are living the blessing life, those around us will see the difference in us. Our blessings will indeed be enviable to those folks who are in our daily lives; they're going to wonder why we are like we are and what brought about this change in us. A few may even decide they want these blessings, too. That's when we tell them about our Jesus, the Savior of all mankind, who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. Who even now is interceding on our behalf to His Father. 

Do you know what the Holy Spirit tells me, when I begin to judge the surface of a person? "I love them, too." Only God knows the heart of an individual, only God knows whether or not a person is truly saved when that person dies. It's not my place to know and I should be content with that knowledge. And, yet, occasionally I still hear the Spirit say, "I love that person, too". Contrition and humility are the catch words of the moment. I repent, am forgiven and move on. 

The second part of this verse "out of Your law to teach" means more than expounding the verse, whether personal study or teaching another. It is accusative. The Law of God reveals sin and shows us in it that it is impossible to obey said laws without the strength of God aiding us. We are taught by God that we need Him to help us obey Him. And we do. For our God is a holy God and demands us to be holy, too (Leviticus 20:7; 1 Peter 1:16).

Jesus did not abolish the law of God, He fulfilled it (Matthew 5:17). In Romans 3:31 Paul writes to the church at Rome the question of faith vs law and reminds them, and us, that our faith in Christ establishes, fulfills, upholds the law of God. Through our faith in Christ we recognize that the law of God reveals our sin and that without Him we are lost and undone. I would be lost, undone, alone and miserable if I did not know Jesus as my Lord and Savior. 

If you are lost, undone, alone and miserable I know Who can save you, keep you, befriend you and love you. His name is Jesus Christ. He died for you, fought death, hell and the grave for you, rose from the dead for you. And is seated at the right hand of the Father waiting to intercede for you. "I love the person reading this, too". 

Dear Jesus, 
I recognize that I am lost without You. Please forgive me of my sins, come into my heart and be Lord of my life. Guide me through Your Word as I read and study it. Holy Spirit fill me with Yourself and help me be who God wants me to be. 
In Jesus' Name,
Amen. 

As I Have Loved You

A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so also you must love one another. 
John 13:34






How has Jesus loved us? 

• Jeremiah 31:3  The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
• Proverbs 8:17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. (with a reciprocal love)
• 1 Peter 2:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.
• Romans 13:9-10 The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law. 
• John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. (Love is not selfish, self-centered nor does it value itself as 'better than'). 
• 1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (we should be willing to lay down our lives, and share our life in Christ for/with others)
• 1 Peter 4:10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. (use our God-given gifts to serve each other)
• John 13:14-15 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. (have a servant's heart towards each other)

The Altar and The Throne

    
 My heart is both throne and altar. 

Jesus Christ sits on the throne as 

my King, my Lord, my Savior. 

His Word is law and His law is love.

 "This is My commandment, 

that you love one another, 

as I have loved you."

(John 15:12)

And how has He loved me?

"I have loved you 

with an everlasting love:

therefore, I have drawn you

with loving devotion."
(Jeremiah 31:3)

Jesus Christ is my high priest.

I bring an offering to Him daily,

a sacrifice of praise

to lay on the altar,

that He might find it acceptable,

that it would be a sweet perfume to Him. 

(Romans 12:1; Romans 15:16; 1 Corinthians 3:13, 15)

Jesus.

He is my Everything.

The air I breathe,

that I might glorify Him with my words.

The steps I take,

that I might glorify Him on my journey.

The flexibility of my fingers,

that I might glorify Him with my writing.

The beating of my heart,

that I might glorify Him with 

everything that is within me.

Everything to me He Is.

Jesus.

Strength.

Wisdom.

Righteousness.

Salvation.

Fortress.

Refuge.

Hiding Place.

Healer.

Shepherd.

Savior.

King of Glory

Friend.

He calls me friend.

Jesus. 

Godly Love - Accountability

The Christian has accountability to The Word of God. We must abide by God's rules in order to live a life filled with God's presence. There is no compromise in the pages of The Holy Bible, and there can be no compromise with sin.

"A little leaven, leavens the whole lump." Galatians 5:9

In fact this chapter reminds us that we must walk in love, the liberty of love; loving one another without sin in it. "Love one another" is a repeated phrase in our King James Bible. It stands to reason, therefore, that this Godly Love, this Agape Love, must be used to love each other wholly.

Love based on the color of one's skin, or on cultural unity, or on denominational status is not Agape Love. That love is compromised, for within its exclusivity there is no room for any other than themselves.

The love of God exceeds all man-made boundaries: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." John 3: 16,17.

God's Love is for THE WHOLE WORLD. And every one in it. We are to love each other with this love. This love is sacrificial and beneficial to both the one who loves and the one who is loved by the other. This love is in me because Jesus Christ lives in my heart. This love is active in my life because The Holy Spirit was sought after by me and given to me by God.

I am whosoever will because I believe that Jesus Christ is The Only Begotten Son of God. He died on the cross to pay the death penalty for my sins because He loves me. He fought death, hell and the grave and walked out of the tomb because He loves me. But before He ascended on clouds into His Father's presence, He reminded us that He would send The Comforter in His place.

This Comforter would reveal The Truth in God's Word: The whole Bible is The Word of God. And we now know through much study and prayer that Jesus Christ Is The Word of God. That Bible on your shelf isn't just a representation of God's Holy Word: IT IS GOD'S WORD. IT IS, in print, GOD'S SON.

That is not a relic of times past. To change The Bible is to condemn your soul to hell by your actions and your own wisdom, which is foolishness. Therefore, any Bible which has been modified to redact certain verses which make a person uncomfortable, is not a Holy Bible any more. It is just a book.

What makes The Holy Bible difficult to read for many is not the 'thees' and 'thous', but it is the declaration of what is sin and what is not sin. It is the Do's and Don'ts of living a righteous perfect life before God. It is the unwillingness to surrender one's heart and mind and life to God's Will, God's Heart, God's Salvation.

Without first surrendering your heart to God when you believe on The Name of The Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation, you cannot understand The Written Word on your own. You and I both need this precious Holy Spirit of God which Christ sent into the world on they who believe and wait for It. Without The Holy Spirit revealing Truth and Wisdom in God's Word, I could not speak to you as such.

Without the love of God working in me, perfecting my soul, I could not boldly tell you of God's redeeming love. A love which is unconditional: there are no strings attached to Godly love. This love is defined in 1 Corinthians 13, using the word 'charity'.

Godly Love is longsuffering. Longsuffering means patiently enduring. Hebrews 12:1-4

Godly Love is kind. Mercy and Compassion are evident in action and speech. Psalm 23:6

Godly Love is un-envious. It does not want what someone else has. Philippians 4:11-13

Godly Love is not prideful. Proverbs 8:13, 16:6; Psalm 97:10

Godly Love is mindful of one's actions. Unseemly behavior, acting out and tantrums, are not a way of life with this love. Psalm 112:4; Romans 12:1,2

Godly Love seeks to please others before self. John 13:34, 35

Godly Love is not easily provoked. Every offense must not be reciprocated with vengeance. Remember Godly Love covers all sins and forgives all. John 3:16

Godly Love does not think evil thoughts. Philippians 4:8

Godly Love rejoices not in sin, but in truth. Hebrews 11:24-26

Godly Love bears all things. Psalm 91

Godly Love believes all things. Romans 8:38, 39

Godly Love hopes all things. Galatians 5:5, 6

Godly Love endures all things. 1 Timothy 6:11, 12; Ephesians 6:13, 14

Godly Love never fails. Endures everlastingly, for ever. Absolute. Without end. From everlasting to everlasting. Psalm 145:8, 9

The born again Christian chooses to allow Christ to live and breathe through him and her. We choose to live godly lifestyles. We choose to be perfected by The Holy Spirit, that we might become holy and then be allowed into God's eternal presence, after our bodies die. We choose to have Christ love through us to whomsoever we may encounter in our lives. We choose to love you even if you do not reciprocate that love to us. We cannot help ourselves. We are the love of God to the whole world. 

Our God

Our God is greater. Greater than any of our weaknesses. God is greater than any addiction, any hold that the devil has on a person. God is greater than any power you believe you have, or believe someone else has over you. God is all powerful. His strength, His love, His faithfulness, His grace, His mercy, His righteousness is above all. Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.

Our God is stronger. Stronger than any superhero, able to be in more than two places at the same time, and still aid us in our troubles and struggles. God's strength is supreme. His love never fails: that's strong love. His mercy endures forever: that's strong mercy. His lovingkindness is to all generations: that's strong lovingkindness. His grace covers all sins: that's strong grace. His righteousness is upon all believers: that's strong righteousness. He never leaves us, nor forsakes us: that's strong nearness. Time is not a restraint over God; He is every where at the same time, any time. 

Our God is higher. Higher than any other god you acknowledge or worship or bow your head to or put first in your life. God is a jealous God and desires all of your love to be given to Him. The first commandment on the list is just that: “You shall have no other gods before Me”. And the second declares that no graven images, no statues of anything in heaven, in earth or beneath the earth, shall be made and worshiped. There is no god like our God. There is none like Him. God is to be loved with all of our hearts, all of our soul and all of our mind. His thoughts are higher and greater than ours, and He knows what we are thinking; He knows when our minds are not on Him, when our hearts are not right in Him. God is God and there is no other god.

The Word of God was placed in Mary's womb via The Holy Spirit resting upon her. The Word of God became flesh, a small baby boy born in a stable, whose birth was foretold by the prophets hundreds of years before He was born. The Word of God is God's only begotten Son Jesus Christ. Our God did that.

 His birth was foretold, His death was foretold, His resurrection was foretold. And, also, His journeys to this earth have been foretold. Now, it has been several hundred years since He was here. As the disbelief was then, it is greater now and the world is more evil. The next time He returns to this world will be to remove His Bride and The Holy Spirit, until such time as He returns and destroys the wickedness upon the face of the earth. Our God will do this.

Our God is greater, stronger and higher than any thing you hold onto in your beliefs, your faiths. Our God is The God of The Holy Bible. He is The God of The Old Testament, the old covenant under which men lived and righteousness was difficult to obtain, but still worth reaching. He is The God of The New Testament, the new covenant of grace under which we now live, but must first come to God and acknowledge that God Is and that Jesus Christ is His only Begotten Son, Who died on the cross, rose from the dead and is ascended into heaven, where He is seated at God's right hand, interceding on behalf of His people.

But not every person is God's people. Not every one who says, “I am a Christian” is a Christian. Those who follow other gods are not God's people. Those who participate in other religious ceremonies and rituals, honoring other gods, idols, are not God's people. God's people are those who believe God's Word. And what do we know now about God's Word? God's Word is Jesus Christ. If you do not believe Jesus Christ is God's Son and that He died for you and walked out of the grave for you, then you are not a Christian and you do not belong to God. 

Therefore, if you are not God's children, God's people, then you are not under God's umbrella of grace and mercy and lovingkindness. You are outside of God's realm. You need to be inside with God as your God and your King. All those who do not acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord before they die, will never live with God in His home.

I do not want you to be outside God's realm of glory. I want you to know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. I want you to be with me and my God in heaven after this life is over. But wanting you to be with me is not enough. You have to want Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You have to want to be loved by Him and love Him in return. You have to decide now before it's too late and the decision is moot. Once we die there is no coming back to change your mind.

I share God and Jesus with you because I love you. I love you so much, I don't want you to die without Him. When you choose Jesus Christ as Lord of your life and Savior of your soul, you are choosing an eternal relationship with God's only begotten Son, not a religion. The Bible says that true religion is to take care of the widows and the fatherless. Making sure your heart and your soul are right with God is not religion, it's relationship. 

A strong relationship requires spending time in that person's presence and sharing your thoughts and heart with that person. In this case, the person is Jesus Christ. Real Christians spend so much time with their Lord and Savior, that Jesus can be seen in their faces, their eyes, their actions and heard in their words. Christians are people who are Christ-like in their behavior and lifestyles. Christians love to go to church. Christians study their Bible every day and apply what they read to their lives. Christians joyfully give of their time, themselves and their finances. Christians share. Christians love. Christians get stronger every time they read and apply God's Word to their lives, to our lives. 

God is able to overcome whatever it is that is holding you back from believing in His Word. Nothing is greater or stronger or higher than our God. Great is His Name, and greatly to be praise is He.