I Love You
Posted on: February 1, 2020
Quite possibly the most famous words in the whole world, I love you. These words are used to express our affection for the love of our life, our children, our parents, our family, our friends even our pets. While some people may struggle to say these three little words, they feel them. It is easy to love the people in our lives that affirm us, make us feel cared for and meet our emotional needs.
What about the people in our lives that don’t meet our emotional needs? What about the difficult people? What about the ones that don’t live up to our standards? What about the ones that don’t bring anything we want or need to the table?
Jesus was very clear about how we are to love the unlovely in our lives.
Matthew 5:44-But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Matthew 5:46-For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Matthew 19:19-Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mark 12:31-And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Mark 12:33-And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
Luke 6:27-But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
Luke 6:32-For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
Luke 6:35-But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Luke 10:27-And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
John 13:34-A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
John 13:35-By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
John 15:12-This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
John 15:17-These things I command you, that ye love one another.
When Jesus was teaching the people about loving each other, it’s understandable that He would repeat His point throughout his teaching. He wanted to be sure the people got the point He was making. We see that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, who were His disciples, were recording His teachings as well as learning these lessons themselves.
After driving His point home with the early church and having four of His disciples record these teachings, He placed them in our Bible FOUR times. He is driving His point home to US times four!
There were unlovely people in Jesus’ time and He showed them love and compassion.
Matthew 8:28-32 Jesus cast out the demons tormenting two men
Matthew 9:1-7 Jesus healed the man with palsy and forgave his sins
Matthew 9:10-13 Jesus ate with the publicans and sinners; the very same people considered unworthy by the religious leaders
Matthew 9:20-22 Jesus healed the woman that had menstrual bleeding for twelve years; a woman was considered unclean during her menstrual cycle; Jesus not only healed her when she touched Him but He called her Daughter
Matthew 9:23-25 Jesus raised the ruler’s daughter from the dead
Matthew 9:27-30 Jesus healed two blind men
Matthew 26:6 Jesus was in the house of Simon, the leper; lepers were outcasts because of their disease
John 8:1 Jesus showed compassion and love for a woman in adultery and forgave her of her sins
John 1-39 Jesus spent time with the adulterous woman at the well; because He engaged her and listened to her, her testimony caused many of the people of the city to believe in Him
These are just a few examples of how Jesus loved.
He loved them in spite of their sin, in spite of their disease, in spite of their life condition. He loves us. We have ALL sinned, we are all diseased in some way and we all have situations in our lives that make us unlovely by His standards.
By dying on the cross as the once and final sacrifice for our sins, He didn’t just tell us but he showed us He loves us. He loved us before the foundations of the earth (John 17:24) and NOTHING separates us from His love. That’s really great news!
Romans 8:38-39 AMP For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We have all been unlovely and not deemed worthy but Jesus loves anyway. He has never rejected us, never refused us, never talked about us, never ever made excuses why He couldn’t help us. He loves us. Really, truly loves us. Let us love one another.
John 13:34-35 AMP I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”
I Am Happy
Posted on: January 9, 2019
I am happy.
I wrote these three words today.
Three words echo down the mountainside into the valley.
It’s been a very long time.
I am happy.
The ZYX of Me
Posted on: October 1, 2017
Zing, Zing, Zing…my thoughts
Yearning
Xing (Crossing) between hope and doubt
Wanting to be whole as I fall apart
Vaguely, in the distance, hearing voices of reassurance
Unmoved
Teetering on the edge
Searching
Ransacking the sky for answers
Questioning
Promises
Only to find silence
Needing something real
Meandering through life like a lost child in the woods
Lonely
Kept only by the loving Father
Jesus
In His arms
Haven from the outside world
Gracious, merciful, kind
Finding peace, real peace
Engulfed in pure love
Divinity meets real life…my life
Changed
Body, mind, spirit
Anew
Forgiveness
Posted on: June 23, 2016
What is Forgiveness?
Dictionary.com defines forgiveness as:
The act of forgiving or the disposition or willingness to forgive
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines forgiveness as:
The act of forgiving; the pardon of an offender, by which he is considered and treated as not guilty
Forgive, in its original and proper phrase, is to forgive the offense, to send it away, reject it, that is not to impute it to the offender. (We don’t keep a tab of all they’ve done to us.)
Why do we need to forgive?
The Unmerciful Servant-Matthew 19:23-35
“Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.
“But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.
“But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
“His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
“When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.
“That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”
Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Forgive (aphiemi), in this passage, means to let go, give up a debt, by not demanding it.
Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
When We Forgive
Matthew 6:14-15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Psalm 32:1 Blessed is he whose transgression (rebellion) is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
When to Forgive
Mark 11:25-26 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought (anything) against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Luke 17:3-4 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass (errs) against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
Revenge
Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place (opportunity or power) unto wrath (that in God which stands opposed to man’s disobedience, stubborn resistance to moral influence, and sin, and manifests itself in punishing the same): for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Luke 6:35-38 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not (unfairly), and ye shall not be judged: condemn (pronounce guilty) not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
Romans 12:17-18 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest (live within your means) in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
Romans 20-21 Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
According to Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible:
Coals of fire-A proverbial expression signifying to call up, by favors you confer on your enemy, the memory in him of the wrong he has done you (which shall pain him as if live coals were heaped on his head), that he may the more readily repent. The Arabians call things that cause very acute mental pain “burning coals of the heart” and “fire of the liver”.
“Your life will become less stressful when you give up your right to anger and offense.” ~Brant Hansen, Unoffendable
Lesson Learned
Posted on: January 1, 2016
Thinking back over 2015, there is one important lesson I think I have mostly learned.
I can’t do ANYTHING on my own.
Self-reliance has been the biggest stumbling block in my mental and emotional health, ridiculously believing I can fix it. I can, somehow, change it. As a mere mortal, I have no power. I cannot change the world. I cannot change the people around me. I cannot even change myself. Oddly enough, this is a huge relief to me.
I can take the cape off that I tied around my neck and hang it up for good.
Proverbs 3:5 says to trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. I cannot see the big picture except in hindsight. The day-to-day details of how God works in my life are hard enough to wrap my mind around sometimes. But, I know He is faithful. I know He is worthy of ALL my trust.
Freeing myself of expectations I cannot meet and, with all my might, leaping into the arms of the Almighty, I find peace I’ve never known. Peace that reassures me that everything is going to be okay. My kids are going to be okay. My finances are going to be okay. I am okay.
- In: My Life
- 2 Comments
Today, my baby sister got married. My sister is a beautiful, wonderfully sensitive, caring person. She is also 35 years old and this is her first marriage. She did not put off getting married and having a family for a career. She has, in fact, dreamed of this day for many years.
Dreams are hard sometimes. They are so vivid in your heart but life has a way of trampling all over them. For as long as I can remember, my sister has received jabs from others about why she wasn’t married. Jabs that wounded. Jabs that hurt and left her in tears. Jabs that caused the wait to be much harder.
The jabs my sister received were not from mean people, trying to hurt her. They were from well-meaning people. People who thought if they gave one more bit of advice, it would somehow change her circumstances. The jabs came from Christians who thought it was naïve of her to believe God would just send the man of her dreams to her doorstep. The jabs came from “friends” who wanted to fix her up with anything male and breathing regardless of their morals or intentions.
Jabs came in many forms.
When are you getting married?
You just need to get out more.
You’re too picky.
What’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you married yet? (That’s my personal favorite)
But then…
My sister was at home, not bar-hopping, not participating in a singles group, not out trying to meet someone, when she was contacted by a family member we rarely see. She told my sister she had someone she wanted her to meet. My sister agreed. He contacted her on Facebook and they started chatting. They have been inseparable since that moment.
It’s interesting to me how God works. He did, indeed, send the man of her dreams to her doorstep. She didn’t have to do anything to make it happen. She didn’t pursue him, he pursued her. Exactly the way it’s supposed to be. He came in a most unexpected way and his love and affection for her is plain to see. How he came was unexpected to us but God had His plan in place the whole time.
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” Jeremiah 32:27
Trust
Posted on: September 26, 2015
Proverbs 3:5-6 (AMP)
Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.
Genesis 15:6 (AMP)
And he [Abram] believed in (trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness (right standing with God).
2 Samuel 22:31 (AMP)
As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried. He is a Shield to all those who trust and take refuge in Him.
Psalm 9:10 (AMP)
And they who know Your name [who have experience and acquaintance with Your mercy] will lean on and confidently put their trust in You, for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek (inquire of and for) You [on the authority of God’s Word and the right of their necessity].
Little By Little
Posted on: September 5, 2015
In our Bible study this week, we were reading in Exodus 23. In this chapter, Moses is on Mount Sinai listening to God’s instructions for the children of Israel. God begins talking about the Angel that He will send before them to lead them into the promised land.
In verse 27, God begins to explain how the children of Israel will occupy the land of their inheritance. He says, “I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you.”
But, in verse 29, He tells them that He will not drive out their enemies all at once. He says the land would become desolate and the number of animals would increase against them. It is wonderful to know that God sees the big picture.
Instead, in verse 30, God says He will drive the enemy out little by little “until you have increased, and you inherit the land.”
In this verse, the word increased is a verb that comes from the word parah which means to bear fruit, be fruitful, branch off.
God promised to lead the children of Israel, fight their enemies and work with them until, little by little, they increased and outnumbered their enemies. God does the same for us. If we choose Him, He will lead us, fight our enemies (that is already finished per Jesus on the cross John 19:30), and work with us until we bear fruit and begin to branch off. Of course, He does not stop there. He will be with us until the end of the world Matthew 28:20.
The Resurrection
Posted on: March 14, 2015
He wants to give us resurrection life, but more than that, He wants us to know the Resurrection and the Life.
~Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word, Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds
Posted on: February 7, 2015
He is God.
Our lives have been sanctified by the one true God.
Heaven is His throne.
Earth is His footstool.
Awesome creatures never cease day or night singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty!”
Lightning flashes from His throne.
The winds do His bidding.
The clouds are His chariot.
The earth trembles at the sound of His voice.
When He stands to His feet, His enemies are scattered.
He is transcendent over all things.
Absolute.
Uncontested.
Omniscient.
Omnipresent.
The Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
He is our God and there is no other.
And, yet, this very One is our Father.
Our Abba.
~Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word-Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds~
Cindy A. Barrington
Just Me! 