Tag: Love

Posted on

Temptation

Daily Reading

Judges 16-18

Daily Thought

One of the scribes asked Jesus, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:28, 30).

Samson had God’s strength… “Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat” (Judges 14:6).

…but he loved Delilah. “After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah” (Judges 16:4).

David had God’s heart… “The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people” (1Samuel 13:14).

…but he loved Bathsheba. “He saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman” (2Samuel 11:2-3).

Solomon had God’s wisdom… “Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you” (1Kings 3:12).

…but he loved one thousand women. “He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart” (1Kings 11:3).

Lest I fool myself, believing I can resist temptation on my own, I should remember that I am not stronger than Samson, more godly than David, nor wiser than Solomon. But I know someone who is and I’m not on my own. 

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” ~Hebrews 4:15-16

Daily Prayer

Almighty God of Wisdom, God of Love, I pray that my heart reflects Your heart. You have made me for a purpose. I am Your workmanship. May I keep my eyes on Jesus. May I fully love You. May I not find things attractive that would steal my devotion to You.

May I love You with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my strength, and thank You for Your grace that carries me when I fall short.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Daily Question

How close are you to keeping the greatest commandment?

Posted on

A Guy Like Me

Daily Reading

Judges 10-12

Daily Thought

The people of Israel are again (still) doing evil in the eyes of the Lord (Judges 10:6), so God lifted his hand of protection and permitted the Philistines to torment them. Israel cried for help, and God responds, “Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you” (Judges 10:14). But the people cried louder and God relented and raised a leader and Judges 11 is beautiful grace.

His name was Jephthah and he was born of a prostitute, but lived with his dad and his dad’s wife and their legitimate sons. Jephthah was a constant reminder his father strayed, so when Jephthah was old enough to leave, he did. He collected worthless fellows as companions and formed a mob, a mob that could fight, and Israel needed fighters. How Jephthah developed a deep faith in God isn’t recorded, but he spoke of his Lord more than anyone else in Judges. He was a mix of street smarts, worldly manners, and impassioned faith. God chose Jephthah to lead Israel.

He made mistakes, one in particular. He vowed to God, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return shall be the Lord’s, I will offer it up for a burnt offering” (Judges 11:30-31). His daughter was first out the door to greet him. His vow was foolish, even wicked, pagan, and ungodly; but that was the way of the world he knew. If you want the help of the gods, make big promises. The Bible records life as it happens, unvarnished. It records that Jephthah “did with her according to his vow that he had made” (Judges 11:39). The Bible is a rough read.

A guest interviewed on “The Tonight Show” said, “I don’t know anybody who could read the Bible and still want to be a religious person. It is a book filled with immorality, wickedness, and then just plain silliness.” Yes, it is. It is raw humanity in need of God’s strength and guidance, which to me makes it eminently readable. Three millennia later, I live in a world that is every bit as immoral, wicked, and silly. I need God, the kind of God who will work with a guy like Jephthah. And a guy like me.

Daily Prayer

My Lord, You show me your love in grace. I do not deserve it, I do not even desire it, and I certainly do not seek it. And then You die for me anyway. You take my sins on Yourself, you pay the price of justification, and You share Your righteousness with me. You adopt me as Your child, teach me Your ways, and give me Your strength.

How can I possibly not love You? I love because You first loved me.

Amen

Daily Question

What skills do you have that God can use?

Posted on

Chivalry

Daily Reading

Joshua 1-4

Daily Thought

From the day I met Debbie, I began opening the car door for her. When we are leaving…

“We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt. As soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.”  ~Joshua 2:10-11

And when we arrive…

As soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water, the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away. And the people passed over opposite Jericho.  ~Joshua 3:15-16

It is more than a gesture, it is an announcement. I want the world to know she is my girl, my one-and-only, and I’d do anything for her.

And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’” ~Joshua 4;21-22

I learned this from the Lord my God..

“For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” ~Joshua 4:23-24

Daily Prayer

Lord God, not only do You go before me, but You set the path in front of me, and light the path for me with Your Word. Father, You came to bring me life and life abundantly. Almighty God, you hold the door open for me. And I hesitate? You announced that Your Kingdom is here, right in front of me. God, I choose to follow You, the King of heaven and earth.

King of kings, I pray for your guidance and protection. I pray that I would reflect Your way of life. That I would embrace goodness and godliness. Thank You for not only instructing me as to what is good, but showing me the good by sending Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Amen

Daily Question

How do you know you belong to God?

Posted on

The Act of Love

Daily Reading

Deuteronomy 5-7

Daily Thought

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). If we love because we are commanded to love, is it truly love? Isn’t love “a many-splendored thing,” a rapturous mystery that springs from my heart, over which I have little if any control?  

Not according to God’s Word, and not according to life either. Attraction springs up and disappears at its own whim, but not love. Love grows into reality with a decision, I choose to love you. I choose to love you no matter what, no matter how I feel or how you make me feel. I love you the way I learned to love, the way God loves me. Even at my worst, God sacrificed his best for me–“God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God wills his best toward me, and I in turn will my best toward others. I love them as I love myself.

More than feeling and beyond choice, love is action, and often an act of sacrifice. “God so loved … that he gave” (John 3:16). Count the emotions in 1Corinthians 13:4-8, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” I count two, maybe–irritable and resentful could be emotions, and even they are what love is not, not what love is.

What love is is displayed by God toward me in his Son, Jesus Christ; and by me, in turn, toward God, presenting all of me, my heart, my soul, my might, to him. When I love God in this way, I will love those he loves, as well–my neighbors, my enemies, everyone.

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, I am amazed at Your love. Your Son sacrificed for my sake. Your Son considering me and everyone else on this planet above Himself. He released His hold on Your presence, and emptied Himself of glory, and died. Shamefully died for my shame.

Thank You. You saved me, showed me what love looks like, and gave me the capacity to love others. If You had not first loved me, I would not even know what love looks like, because I was consumed with me first. But now, I too am learning to consider others before and above me. To love them as I love myself. What an amazing love.

Amen

Daily Question

What are your greatest obstacles to loving certain people?

Posted on

The Cup

Daily Reading

Luke 21-22

Daily Thought

It was his last Passover with the disciples. They did not know that, but Jesus did. He knew what was coming, and, during the meal, Jesus gave them (and us) something to remember: the bread and the wine would be his body and his blood. “This is my body, which is given for you. This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:19-20). The disciples would, the following day, watch these words play out on a Roman cross. “But behold,” Jesus warned, “the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table” (Luke 22:21). Jesus already knew about Judas! “And you, Peter,” Jesus said, “the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me” (Luke 22:34). And it happened. 

The disciples will remember that Jesus knew ahead of time all that would happen, that he was still and always in command. But foreknowledge does not make the cross easier, rather, it makes it all-the-more terrifying.

Daddy had the flu. Five-year-old Sara wanted to help, and in she walked carrying a tray. On the tray, a Sports Illustrated magazine, some saltine crackers, and a cup of tea. 

“I didn’t know you could make tea,” smiled Dad. 

Sara smiled back and nodded her head. “I put the tea leaves in the water like Mom does, and then I strained it into a cup,” explained Sara. “But I couldn’t find a strainer, so I used the flyswatter.” 

Do you drink the tea? 

Taking some disciples with him to the Mount of Olives, Jesus “knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.’” Jesus knew exactly what was in the cup set before him. He did not want to drink the cup. “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:41-42). He drank the cup, the cup of wrath for the sins of the world.

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” ~1John 3:16

Our choice is not to sacrifice, but to love, and sacrifice gladly follows.

Daily Prayer

My Savior Jesus, You came to this earth and drank the cup of death that belonged to me. You took my sin and made it Your own and bore my penalty of death for my sake. You demonstrated a love that I can barely comprehend. You are God, my Creator, and I rejected You–but You never rejected me. In fact, You became like me so You could go to the cross for me. You knew exactly what was coming.

I want to pray what You prayed, not my will, but Yours be done. Make me into someone who is willing to drink the cup of sacrifice, to display my love for You through my love for others, taking last place in order to serve those ahead of me.

Amen

Daily Question

Did Jesus want to die on the cross?

Posted on

Unexpectedly

Daily Thought

Luke 12-13

Daily Thought

My dad popped into my room every so often just to see how I was doing, and, I suspect, to see what I was doing. I did not have a lock on my bedroom door–by design of my parents. It was my bedroom, but it was Mom and Dad’s house. No locking them out. Sometimes he knocked; more often he did not. My bedroom door would suddenly swing open and Dad would enter, which meant the door could suddenly unexpectedly swing open anytime. Some of my friends hid stuff and did stuff in their rooms, stuff they did not want their parents to see. Not me.

“You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” ~Luke 12:40

After his resurrection, Jesus met with his disciples and told them to go everywhere and share the good news of God’s love with everyone. Then he disappeared into the heavens and the disciples were left staring. “And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven’” (Acts 1:10-11). 

Suddenly. Unexpectedly. Be ready.

This is not to be a message of fear, however, but wonderful anticipation. “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them” (Luke 12:37). Jesus is more anxious to return than we are to see him. He cannot wait to set the table and serve a feast. 

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.” ~Luke 12:32-33

Fear may be an effective deterrent against doing what is bad, but it does not make one good. Love does. 

We love because he first loved us. ~1John 4:19

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, we live in a world You created for us, a world that is good. I am so sorry for the bad I bring into it, and I am looking forward to the day Jesus comes and makes everything good again. I am amazed at Your love for me in spite of the way I mess things up. I am not just sorry, though. I will turn around and be a part of bringing good back into this world. Because You love me this much, how can I not do otherwise!

I pray, God, that the good things people see will turn their eyes toward You. May I live every moment eager for Your coming and hunger for Your blessings as much You love to bless me.  

Amen

Daily Question

How ready are you Jesus to show up at any moment? 

Posted on

Oil and Whine

Daily Reading

Mark 14

Daily Thought

When a woman poured a flask of very expensive ointment on the head of Jesus, he accepted her offering as fitting and good, “She has done a beautiful thing to me” (Mark 14:6), but some in the room objected, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor” (Mark 14:4-5). In criticizing the woman, they actually demeaned Jesus. The oil, they said, could have been put to better use. The woman thought it best used for Jesus, no matter the cost. Besides, you cannot waste love.

One of those in the room, Judas Iscariot, however, put a price on Jesus, and “went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. They were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him” (Mark 14:10-11). To Judas, Jesus was a commodity, worth 30 pieces of silver. He came to Jesus for what he could get out of Jesus. But the woman adored Jesus–to her, Jesus was her Savior and Lord, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. She looked to gain nothing, but to give her all. If the woman had any regrets about emptying her jar of perfume on Jesus, it would be that she did not have more.

Daily Prayer

My God and Savior, what is amazing is that You gave Your all for me before I cared. You poured out Your blood for my sake, an act of love I can barely fathom. I am learning more about You, knowing You better each day, following more faithfully, loving You more fully. It is a lifetime of growth, but there is no better life to live.

My desire, Jesus, is to empty myself for You, as You did for me; to give up my desires and replace them with Yours; to lose myself in Your love for others; and to worship You by giving myself to You completely.

Amen

Daily Question

When have you loved someone without any thought of what you get back?

Posted on

Blessed to Bless

Daily Reading

Mark 8-9

Daily Thought

At the beginning of Mark 8, Jesus feeds a crowd of 4,000 people with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. It was a miracle, but if you have been following along, you might be thinking, “Wait a minute. haven’t I heard this one before?” You would be right. Almost. In chapter 6, Jesus fed 5,000 people. Now he feeds 4,000, and everything is just about the same. Mark is the shortest Gospel, yet he tells the same story twice. 

Why? Because there is a difference that matters.

To the Jews there were two types of people, Jews and the unclean non-Jews called Gentiles. For centuries, Israel followed a system of purity, including a special diet, some food was clean and some unclean. This kept them holy, set apart from the non-Jews. But a few days earlier, Jesus had called the disciples together “and said to them, ‘Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.’ Thus he declared all foods clean” (Mark 7:14-15, 19). 

They did not understand.

Now the feeding of the 4,000. Everything is the same, except they are “in the region of the Decapolis” (Mark 7:31), where lived many Jews and many more Gentiles. Jesus is feeding the unclean the same way he fed the clean, except when Jesus fed the 5,000 Jews, it was the disciples who noticed the hunger. Here, it is Jesus, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat” (Mark 8:2). The disciples, even after 3 days, do not mention the need. 

Jesus cares for people the Jews did not care about and Jesus treats them the same.

After the feeding, Jesus and the disciples returned to the Jewish side of the sea, and were met by the Pharisees, who “began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him” (Mark 8:11). Prove yourself, they demanded. Jesus sighed, refused, and instead, “left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side” (Mark 8:13), back to the people you are not supposed to care about. In the boat, Jesus explained, “When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” (Mark 8:19-21). 

Not yet.

“For God so loved the world…” ~John 3:16

Daily Prayer

My God–but not just mine–You are the God of the heavens and the earth, and all who live in this world. My love for You is displayed by my love for others–all others. When I feel blessed, I must remember why I am blessed–to be a blessing, going overboard to care for those most unlike me. Build in me that kind of love.

I’m so glad You have that kind of love, God, because without it, I would never know You. I was most unlike You, doing what I wanted, following my ways and rebelling against Yours, and You loved me and You found me. Thank You for caring.

Amen

Daily Question

Do you care about people who are more like you or more unlike you? 

Posted on

The Wrath of God

Daily Reading

Nahum 1-3

Daily Thought

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, a brutish people who crushed Israel. The city once repented briefly when warned by Jonah of God’s coming wrath, but returned again to evil and worse, “Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder–no end to the prey!” (Nahum 3:1). This time, there would be no prophetical warning, but a pronouncement of doom, and no nation would shed a tear over Nineveh’s demise, rather, “all who hear the news about you clap their hands over you” (Nahum 3:19). Imagine a funeral where everyone is happy you are gone.

Their doom is set–“the Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies” (Nahum 1:2). Such words seem ungodly to our ears, wrath and vengeance and jealousy, possibly because we like our soft-focused, air-brushed pictures of Jesus, or because we think God a watchmaker who merely wound up creation and turned her loose to run her course, but the true God is intimate and personal. His jealousy is not of the kind we favor, enviously desiring the possessions of others, but the jealousy of God is the loving desire to protect the people who belong to him, wrathfully if necessary, for one does not truly love if there is no anger kindled toward an enemy who brings harm. And where is justice if injustice is not avenged, and who better to trust vengeance to than the holy righteous God. 

Toward Nineveh is written, “Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts” (Nahum 3:5). This was welcome news to Judah in the face of her enemy. “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him” (Nahum 1:7). This is the God of heaven and earth, who is an intimate father and passionately protective of his people against evil.

Daily Prayer

Lord God, Maker of the heavens and the earth, God outside of time and space, Creator of time and space, Author of life, the beginning and the end, Eternal Father, Savior and Lord, Yahweh, I Am That I Am.

Thank You for loving me.

Amen

Daily Question

When is jealousy and good thing? Have you ever been jealous in a good way?

Posted on

The Image of God

Daily Reading

Obadiah 1; Jonah 1-4

Daily Thought

Of Ninevah had been written, “Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder–dead bodies without end–who betrays nations with her whorings, and peoples with her charms” (Nahum 3:1, 3-4). Ninevah was an evil nation, hated by Israel, and God called the prophet Jonah to “arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me” (Jonah 1:2). 

Ninevah was 500 miles east. Jonah immediately boarded a ship for Tarshish, two thousand miles west–the opposite direction. Jonah hated evil Ninevah, so he did not want God to be “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” (Jonah 4:2). Jonah wanted Ninevah to burn so he disobeyed God and set sail to remove God’s mercy as far from Ninevah as possible.

It did not work, of course. God sent a storm to get Jonah tossed from the ship, “so they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging” (Jonah 1:15); and God sent a great fish to swallow him up and deliver him back to Israel, “and the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land” (Jonah 2:10). 

“Let’s start over,” God said. “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you’” (Jonah 3:1-2). Jonah obeyed this time, “and the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them” (Jonah 3:5), and God relented, just as Jonah feared, “when God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry” (Jonah 3:10-4:1). 

Jonah would prefer a god made in his own image, a god who would hate the same people he hated. But that is not God.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” ~Matthew 5:43-45

It turns out, the way you can tell God has made you in his image is how much you love the same people he loves.

Daily Prayer

Savior God, You are full of mercy and grace. My love for You is displayed as I love people. In fact, You said it will be apparent that I am Your disciple by my love for others. God, help me improve at love. Teach me Your ways. May I be a servant like Your Son.

Thank You for Your salvation. It has changed my heart. If You can show that kind of love for me, can I not love others the same?

Amen

Daily Question

Is it possible to love your enemies? What would that look like?