April 30....with all my strength and my neighbor as myself

Mark 12-30-31 “And with all your strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (most translations)

“…all your energy.” (MSG)

Heavenly Father,

We expend “energy” on so many useless things! Scripture says to “love God with all our strength (energy).” No matter what we are doing…working, playing, sleeping, eating….we need to be loving You with our actions. Forgive me all the time I waste each day on things that don’t love or honor You! How can I focus more energy and more strength into loving You? This leads easily into the 2nd commandment. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Some people would “cop out” and say they don’t love themselves, so that won’t require much loving. But we all love ourselves with a protective, nourishing, self-preserving love, if nothing else. We “look out for #1” instinctively. If we love You we will also look out for everyone else we meet. We will turn some of our self-focus into outward looking love for others and their needs. Love wants to share. One thing we can share is our strength, our energy. This involves sharing our time, also. Time has become a precious gift. Most of us feel we have too little because we use it unwisely and we fill it with too many things to do…most of which are unnecessary. You deserve our strength, our energy spent in ways that show our love for you. There are more ways to volunteer, to spend energy on others, than we can possibly handle. We need your strength mixed with our strength to do your work. Works are an outpouring of our love for You. We can overdo our works, but not our love. You will guide our works if we give You our love. If we give our strength and energy to You, You will channel and guide it. Show me where I can love You right now with my strength and energy. Create your works in me, do them through me, help me spend my time wisely in love for You. Love my neighbor through the strength of my love for You. In Jesus Christ, through his Holy Spirit. Amen

April 29....with all my mind

Mark 12:30 “With all your mind” (most translations)
“With all your intelligence”. (MSG)

Heavenly Father,

“With all your mind.” Every power of intelligence, knowledge, wisdom at our disposal should be concentrated on You in love. Loving with my mind presumes knowledge…knowing who You are. You can’t love someone who you don’t know. I have to meet You, spend time with You, sit down and listen to You, observe what You have done and are doing and think about these things. Using my mind, my intelligence to gather facts about You. You have gifted each of us with different amounts of intelligence, but we can each know all we need to know to love You with all the mind we have. Wisdom is using those facts about You with discernment. Putting pieces together to make godly decisions. Understanding on many levels and the consequences of what we know about You. I know that my mind is always going full-tilt on many things. I don’t know how to channel it as much as I would like. It is full and noisy. I have trouble listening to You and fear that I don’t hear You when You want to speak to me! But I know You are a great God and an all-knowing God! You know how my mind works (and over-works!) and You have ways of reaching me even in the midst of the noise and confusion of my mind. This quiet time with You is one way. Even though my mind is racing, it is focused on Your words, on You. You slip your thoughts into my thoughts. You give me glimpses of wisdom from the words I read. You draw me in and draw me close. You give me an outlet for the busyness of my brain in this journal. I want to love You with all my mind. I want my mind focused on “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable….anything that is excellent or praise-worthy” (Phil.4:8). You are all of those things! My mind belongs to You! I love You, O LORD! Amen.

April 28....all your soul

Mark 12:30 “With all your soul.” (most translations)
“All your prayer” (MSG)

Heavenly Father,

“Bless the LORD, all my soul, all that is within me bless his holy name!" The words of this song came to my mind as I reflect on “all my soul”. Our soul is our spiritual connection, our most deep seated connection to You, O LORD. Our deepest response of love, reflecting a part of us we can’t see or touch or imagine. A soul response is from the “breath of life” You first breathed into us. I think of our soul and spirit as being the parts of us that are “in your image”. It is the part of us that makes You our Father and us your children. If we had no soul, we would be “deader” than if we had no heart pumping blood through us. “Heart” is both a physical and an emotional reaction. “Soul” is harder to define. Soul is a “fullness” as opposed to an “emptiness”. Soul is deeply ingrained, more instinctive in nature. It is the part of us that knows You exist, no matter what science can prove or disprove. The part that knows You love us and wants to respond with love and worship. Worship should be a soul response. Crying out in thanks and love and praise to our Creator, Father, God Almighty! The soul recognizes our smallness and your greatness. When we love You with all our soul, we have our inner being connected to its source. We sing: “It is well with my soul” and know peace. I think this wellness of our soul is “the peace that surpasses all understanding”. It is the “blessedness” promised in the Beatitudes. The Message uses the word “prayer”, which is harder to understand from our normal use of the word. I think this is the prayer that Brother Lawrence sought….living every moment in continual prayer, connected to You. A total oneness of nature, an abiding relationship, a constant seeking and longing and listening for your heart beat matched with ours. Let it be well with my soul and may I love you with all of my soul! Amen.

April 27....all your heart

Mark 12:30 “With all your heart” (most translations)
“With all your passion.” (MSG)

Heavenly Father,

Browning said, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” How do I love You, O LORD? What ways do I show my love for You? We are told first to “love God with all your heart.” The heart is where our life is. If the heart stops, life stops. The heart pumps blood to the rest of the body and feeds it. If our heart is yours, our life is yours. If all of our heart is focused on you, than all of our life is dependent on that focus. Whole-heartedly….no part loving elsewhere. You are first, you are all. The love we focus on You and your will is then bounced back in love for others. But the root of our love is in our love for You. If we can whole-heartedly love our God and draw into relationship with You, the rest becomes automatic. Our love for You becomes an abiding relationship….we in You, You in us….that permeates every other relationship. The Message says: “love God with all your passion.” We tend to think of passion as the erotic side of love, but passion is really just intense love…love that is so wrapped up in the One it loves, that all else is unimportant. We love You intensely, completely, exclusively. I said before that the heart pumped blood to the body to feed it….we pump the living love of God into the Body of Christ, the Church, and feed it. Our love for You gives life to the Body. Our love for You fuels the working, the heart of the Church. Our hearts, our passion abiding in You, focused on You, spills over into the fellowship of believers. Where is my heart? Do I love You with all my heart? When I am inactive, just listening, I feel I am not loving You as I should. I want You to have my whole heart. I long to have You abide with me at all times, in all things. I want your love to spill over from within me. If I give You my heart, please fill it with your love until I overflow. I love You, LORD. Thank you for all that you are! amen.

April 26....Love the LORD your God

Mark 12:30 “Therefore you shall love the Lord your God.” (NAB)
“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God”. (Phillips)
“So love the LORD God.” (MSG)
“You must love him.” (CEV)
“Love the LORD your God.” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,
This statement is a continuation or reaction to the previous statement. “The LORD our God, the LORD is One, therefore….” Whenever we have a “therefore” we need a response following it. What is our response to the fact that God is LORD, and our God is the One God? We are to love our God. It seems ludicrous to think that there are people who can say, “yes, I believe in some sort of higher power or creator”…..and then they just leave it at that! No desire to find out who that creator is. No compunction to worship someone who is big enough, powerful enough to create them. No reaction of any sort to the idea of a GOD who is all-powerful and pre-existent! Part of it is sheer laziness. It would take effort to search for this God they “sort of” acknowledge but don’t know. After all, as long as this “God” isn’t bothering them, why should they bother to search for him? Their lives continue on a purely worldly plane. But anyone who does acknowledge that there is a God….One God….Creator….has a duty to seek to find out what their own relationship is to this God! It should become a burning need to find him. Why would He create us? What is my purpose? Our beings are spiritually connected to this God of the Universe. Millions of people have sought God, because our being is pulled to seek their Creator. Some people allow the world to crowd out that inner voice that is calling us. If they don’t seek him, they need not respond to him. Avoidance, fear, self-centeredness. You, O LORD are God! That fact remains always true. Because You are, I seek You! Because I have found You, I love You. Because I love You, I worship You! You are worthy and deserving of much more than I can ever give. You have not only created, but saved me. You are my God! Thank You! I love You, LORD! Amen.

April 25....The LORD our God is One.

Mark 12:29 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD our God is LORD alone!” (NAB)
“Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one!” (Phillips, NIV)
“Listen, Israel! The LORD your God is one.” (MSG)

Heavenly Father,

Praise and glory be to thy holy name! You are God! You are LORD! You are One! One Almighty God, Lord of Lords, El Shadai, Jehovah, Yahwah, I AM! You are all and all is yours! Today’s verse is the Shema that the Israelites pray every day. These are the words they wrote on their doorways and tied to their bodies. Words they held dear above all others in their worship. It’s praise, it’s affirmation, it’s reminder, it’s a victory cry. Like all repeated prayers it is important that they don’t become just words. They have to become heart words….true worship words….words of love. We love You! You are our God! We are your people! The first word “hear” or “listen” announces the importance of the words. This is a message to pay attention to. Israel was God’s chosen people. Christians are now chosen people also. The message is for us. “The LORD our God, the LORD is One!” We have one God and no others. This was unusual at that time in history. Most religions worshiped multiple gods. The Israelites recognized and affirmed the existence of one God, and only one…..Jehovah, Creator, Father, I AM, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We are still surrounded by a world that worships many gods. We don’t call them that, but we worship at their thrones….money, fame, possessions. Jesus told us that where are hearts are is where are “master” is. We must affirm and announce that we have One God, also! Our God is One! Our God is LORD! We must single-heartedly focus our love on You, our Father Creator, Lord Almighty. Our God is 3 in 1…Father, Son, Holy Spirit. One God, 3 persons. One LORD….our God is One! And You, O LORD are the One in our hearts, minds, and spirits! Thank you, O LORD! Amen

April 24....Are you my friend?

John 21:17 “Do you love me?” (NAB)
“Are you my friend?” (Phillips)
“Feed my sheep”

Heavenly Father,

Jesus asks Peter a third time…”Do you love me?” This time he uses the word for “brotherly love…friendship.” Jesus wants to know if Peter is his friend. This seems really strange. This final question seems to express doubt about even the lowest level of love Peter might feel for Jesus. No wonder Peter reacts with hurt feelings. He has already twice assured Jesus he loved him and was his friend, but Jesus continues to repeat his question as if Peter has said nothing. Peter says, “Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you.” Peter had denied Jesus three times…each one more loud and emphatic to the point of cursing. Jesus gives him a chance to “take back” each of those denials and affirm his love for Jesus. Peter was a bit of an impulsive hot-head. He could have gotten so irritated by now that he stormed off in a huff. But he didn’t. The weight of those denials and the time spent thinking about them and the fear that Jesus was dead and that Peter could never “make things right” again apparently helped chang Peter. His over-confidence is gone. He is ready to listen and to take whatever Jesus has to say to him. He is being reborn. In 1 Peter 1:3, Peter writes the following testimony: “Thank God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that in his great mercy we have been born again into a life full of hope, through Christ’s rising again from the dead!” Peter has found grace. With the resurrection of Jesus, Peter is reborn into hope. He knows that Jesus has forgiven him. In 1 Peter 2:10 Peter writes: “In the past you had no experience of his mercy, but now it is intimately yours.” Peter is intimately acquainted with your mercy, found in grace through Jesus from his own personal experience. Peter answered Jesus’ call to “feed my sheep.” Amen.

April 23....care of my sheep

John 21:16 “Care for my sheep”. (NAB)

“Shepherd my sheep.” (MSG)

Heavenly Father,

Jesus asks Peter a second time….”Do you love me?” When Peter denied Jesus 3 times during his trial, his confidence broke down, his self-respect shattered, his courage failed. He wept in shame because he failed Jesus. This had to be a dark miserable time for Peter. He denied his God, his friend, the one he had loved and followed for 3 years. Peter was a leader. Peter relied on his own abilities and strength. Suddenly his whole life was shaken. He was like a boat without a rudder. He was “going through the motions” of his life but his heart was heavy and burdened. Even after seeing the risen Savior and knowing that he was alive, things were still not right for him. His denial hung in the air. His shame was there every time he saw Jesus. He looked at Jesus and saw his own failure. He had let down his Master in his time of need and he didn’t know how to make things “right” again. Peter had not yet experienced grace. Jesus had died for his sins , but Peter had not yet released them to Jesus. Peter still clung to his failure and beat himself up over it. Peter hadn’t yet looked Jesus in the eye and confessed his need. It is easier to pretend everything is OK than to fix it. We all “go through the motions” in our faith at times. We feel separated from God in our heart, but we don’t know how to fix it, so we continue to act the part until we finally face Jesus and start to fix the problem. We need Jesus to ask us…”Do you love me?” Our quick answer…”of course I love you”….isn’t going to be enough. Jesus will ask us again…”Do you love me?” He will continue to ask until we give up our sin and failure and look him in the eyes and say…”Yes, you know I love you!” Jesus will know when we really mean what we say. Jesus will know when we accept his grace. Jesus will know when we are healed and ready to abide in Him and leave our strength behind to rest in His. Jesus will entrust us with the care of his sheep when we are ready to rely on his grace. Am I ready? Do I love you as I should? Amen

April 22....Do you love me more?

John 21:15 “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” (NAB)
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than the others do?” (CEV)
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than the others?” (Phillips)

Heavenly Father,

Every Christian who reads these words probably feels some shame. We’ve all denied Jesus at some time, just as Peter did. We may not have been forced into an actual denial to save our lives, but we’ve denied him by our silence and by our actions. After denial comes repentance and restoration. The risen Christ is a forgiving Christ. By his death and resurrection Jesus has removed condemnation from sin and shame. When we face the risen Savior, we can repent and be restored. Jesus wants to know how much Peter loves him. Jesus wants to know if Peter is ready to commit his heart fully. Peter denied Jesus to save his own skin. Peter denied Jesus in fear. Yesterday’s verse says that: “love has no room for fear.” Jesus wants to know if Peter has moved from fear to love. “Perfect love casts out all fear.” Perfect love will attack fear. Jesus wants Peter to love him enough to attack any fear. Jesus is molding Peter into the leader of the Christian church, preparing him to face many hardships, suffering, persecution. Jesus wants Peter to be in the place of perfect love, where fear is driven out. Over and over he will ask Peter if he loves him more than these….more than anyone or anything. Jesus wants Peter to shout his love as loudly as his fear shouted his denial. Each question to Peter from Jesus is followed by a command to “feed my lambs”. Peter was a fisherman, not a shepherd. Peter had heard Jesus call himself the “Good Shepherd” and now Jesus is commanding Peter to follow in his footsteps. “Do you love me more than these?” Where do you truly abide? Do you abide in my love? Is the fear driven out by my presence? Are you ready to show my love to my lambs? Love is an easy word to say, but much harder to live. The Abiding presence of the risen Savior through the Holy Spirit is necessary to live the love of Jesus Christ. Jesus will keep asking “Do you love me more….” Until our fear turns into love….the perfect love that takes up the cross and serves him. Take away my fear! Thank you, in Jesus name. Amen.

April 21....Love has no room for fear

1 John 4:18 “Love has no room for fear, rather perfect love casts out all fear.” (NAB)
“Love contains no fear…indeed fully developed love expels every particle of fear.” (Phillips)
“There is no room in love for fear. Well formed love banishes fear.” (MSG)
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

“No room”….love should have no room for fear. Love is incapable of sharing space with fear. Not only should there be no room, but love should actively attack fear….”cast out”…”expel”….”banish”…”drive out.” This isn’t a passive thing. Love is so great….God is love….that it crowds out anything else that has no part of it. Fear and love are incompatible. They can’t be roommates. Love here is described as “perfect”….”fully-developed”….”well-formed”. This is not some weak emotional reaction. This is the love that comes from God’s abiding presence. This is love that allows God to guide it and form it. This is love that is “the fruit of the Spirit.” We don’t generate this perfect, fully-developed, well-formed love on our own. It can only come from a relationship with You, O LORD. We must know our God, to know this fearless love. Your love has no fear because it is born in us in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Your love acknowledges a Savior who came to redeem us. Your love is the thing we call “grace”…all of your treasures, all of your presence, all of eternity through Jesus Christ given freely, unmerited to us. Your love is a gift we can receive and open. Your love is eternal and everlasting and unchanging. Your love is perfect….needing nothing to make it better or complete. When we allow you to abide in us and bring your love into our hearts, we crowd out all fear. Your love is all-consuming, all-filling, all-encompassing. God is love. Love has “no room” for fear because God has “no room” for fear. If we have You, we have love. If we have love, we have no fear. Fill my heart with your loving presence and crowd out all fear! “Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.” Make my heart a habitat suitable for your love. Chase fear out the door and change the locks! I have no room for fear, for my God abides within me in his perfect love! Amen.

April 20....God is love!

1 John 4:16 “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him.” (NAB)

“God is love, and the man whose life is lived in love does, in fact, live in God, and God does in fact, live in him.” (Phillips)

“God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us.” (MSG)

“God is love. If we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God and he will stay one with us.” (CEV)

“God is love, whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

All 5 of these translations agree beyond a doubt that “God is love!” We should have no problem understanding that. You showed your love in creation when you made the worlds. You showed your love throughout history always sustaining your people. You showed your love most clearly when you….”so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” You sacrificed your son that we might have life. That is love. Your love is so high and so perfect and so consuming that we have trouble understanding it, but we can feel it. We feel the relief that grace and its forgiveness brings. We feel the security of your providing and protecting love. We feel the assurance of your promises when we pray. We feel the reality of your presence throughout our daily life. We seek an abiding relationship with You. This verse tells us that if we abide in love, than we abide in You. “Abiding in love” is described in the other translations as: “whose life is lived in love”….”take up permanent residence in love”….”keep on loving others’….”lives in love”. Abiding is not meant to be temporary. To abide in something, we move in lock, stock, and barrel. We choose this place as a home. Home is where the heart is. Our home must be in love, in You who are love. Living in love is living in You. I like the CEV translation here: “we will stay one in our hearts with God and he will stay one with us.” Abiding is becoming one with You. Your characteristics began to form in us. The fruit of your Holy Spirit forms in us and becomes our nature. We can’t contain a holy God within us, and not change. Your holiness, your love will make us one with You. I seek to abide in your love always. I seek to become one with your holiness, within me. I seek to know a permanent relationship with you. Live in me, O God, and fill my heart and being with your abiding love, through Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for abiding in me and teaching me your love. Amen.

April 19....God dwells in us

1 John 4:12 “No one has ever seen God. Yet if we love one another God dwells in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.” (NAB)

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is made complete in us.” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

No one has ever seen You. Moses came close. He radiated your presence after being with you. Jesus was your presence in human form, but the man-shell hid your glory from man’s view. You are Spirit, and as such can’t be seen. You are too “radiant” for us to bear looking at You. Isaiah “saw” You in a vision and it overwhelmed him. Your presence is too powerful and great to be seen by human eyes. The close encounters that various saints had in your presence always overwhelmed and made them feel small and unworthy. Although we cannot see You, we can experience your presence through the Holy Spirit. This verse says that “if we love one another, God lives in us”. If we have your abiding presence within us, it is reflected as love for each other. You are love. Love is a way to define or characterize You. Understanding your love, experiencing it as grace through Jesus Christ, seeing it lived out in others, helps us “see” You. Your love will be made “complete” or “perfect” in us. How can a love that represents a God too great for us to see, be within us? Trying to imagine your greatness condensed to a form that can be within me, is a great mystery! But You assure us here that “if we love one another”….than you are truly within us and your love is being made perfect and complete. When we love others….totally, unconditionally, sacrificially…..we began to truly know your presence and take on your character. Love is the first and most important step towards “seeing” you. Jesus showed us what love should look like in human form. The Holy Spirit helps us become like Jesus and exhibit that type of love. We need to always seek more of your Holy Spirit and your love. We must focus on that love and manifest it towards others as the Spirit enables us. Come Holy Spirit, teach me to love. Dwell within me! May I see You through the love of others in whom You dwell, and show You to others by your presence within me. Amen.

April 18....God's love for us

1 John 4:10 “Love, then consists in this: not that we have loved God, but that he has loved us and sent his Son as an offering for our sins.” (NAB)

“Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven.” (CEV)

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

We are co accustomed to defining love in human terms….love is the emotion we feel for husbands, wives, lovers, family….that trying to understand Your love is beyond our comprehension. It doesn’t make sense to us. How can someone give their Son up to die? Why is that love? It is easier to understand Jesus’ part….He willingly accepted death to save us. Sacrificial love is known to us….we would sacrifice for those we love and many have given their lives for others in love. But why would You, the Father choose to send Christ to die? Why wasn’t there another way? Holiness can’t accept sin. So why did a holy God create creatures who are capable of sin? Creatures without free will would have no reason to exist. They would be mere puppets. We are creatures made in Your image. We have the ability to reflect our character, if we remain in obedience to your will. We chose to sin. Our choice must have hurt You deeply. You want our love. This verse says that “real love” is not our love for You. Our love is only a response, an echo of Your love. Our love is gratitude for something we received. Your love is something given freely. We did nothing to deserve it. Real love is a gift. Your gift was to provide an “out” for the problem of sin. You gave your Son, a part of You. This was unsought by us, unearned by us, underserved by us. The answer came before we asked the question or recognized the need. That is real love….anticipatory, problem solving, unexpected, provisionary. Any love we show is a mere reflection, a learned response, a mimicking love. Your love teaches, our love learns. Your love nurtures, our love grows. Your love heals and redeems, our love gives thanks. We can never duplicate your love or anticipate it, but we can mimic it, learn from it, be thankful for it, reflect it, spread it, bask in it, be healed by it, seek it, desire it. We praise you for your love. We recognize you by your love. We seek you through your love. Thank you! amen.

April 17....know love, know God

1 John 4:7 “Let us love one another because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten of God and has knowledge of God.” (NAB)

“Let us go on loving one another because love comes from God. Everyone who truly loves is God’s son and knows him.” (Phillips)

Heavenly Father,

Loving is knowing You. If we don’t love, we don’t know You or have a relationship with You. The fruit we bear is the evidence of our relationship. A year ago today we read of another horrible killing spree on a college campus killing dozens of innocent people. That isn’t love. Our soldiers struggle in foreign lands to try to stop terrorism and the fanatics who practice it. That isn’t love. We live in terror of what horrible thing will happen next and avoid interacting with others we don’t know. That isn’t love. If we hide out in our own homes with our families around us, we feel as safe as we can in a crazy world. That isn’t love. If love is knowing You, than we have to spend more time with you. We have to read and listen to your words of love and we have to live them by example. We have to “love one another”….even when it’s scary to do so. We have to come out of hiding and interact with those around us, so we aren’t scary strangers any more. We have to listen to each other’s problems and try to help each other. We have to share each other’s burdens. We have to pray for each other ….even the strangers and the enemies. We have to spread your love. You “came down” to love us. You seek us out. You sacrificed for us. You forgave us, had mercy on us, showed compassion to us. “ Love is begotten of God”…..love is born in your character and nourished by your Holy Spirit. Love flows from the throne of heaven . Love is a fountain of living water streaming from your presence. If we tap into that well of love and let it flow through us to others, love will prevail. Love will be the victor over hatred. Love will win over evil. Love will blanket the world if your presence is sought. “Let us go on loving”….no matter how hard it seems at times! Love is the only answer and it is found only in You, the God of love, the Father of love. As Jesus loved, let us love. Thank you for the hope we find in your love and your presence. Amen.

April 16....how and why we love

1 John 3:16 “The way we came to understand love was that he laid down his life for us; we too must lay down our lives for our brothers.” (NAB)

“We know what love is because Christ laid down his life for us. We must in turn lay down our lives for our brothers.” (Phillips)

“This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers and not just be out for ourselves.” (MSG)

Heavenly Father,

How and why…the Message breaks this into 2 parallel thoughts. The first is “how we’ve come to understand and experience love”….or how we know what love is. We can define words and search for their meaning based on other words, but the best way to know what something means is to “experience” it or see an acted example of it. Our acted example of love is: “Christ sacrificed (laid down) his live for us.” When we let this fact sink in, we see a type of love we see nowhere else. Jesus was human as well as God. This God/Man lived and experienced all that we do. His only difference is that he was sinless. He conformed perfectly to his Father’s will. Death is for sinners. Jesus had no reason to die, especially not the cruel sort of death that he did die. But Jesus made a choice. He gave his own life to take our place in death. He voluntarily substituted his perfect life for our sinful ones. This is love. Love personified as sacrifice. Love so perfect we give it another name…grace. Jesus graced us with all the riches of eternal life and all that belongs to our Father in heaven, by removing the punishment we were slated to receive…death. Jesus and grace are the “how” of our learning to understand what godly love is all about. Then comes “why”….”why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers and not just be out for ourselves”. Seeing Christ’s example and really understanding the enormity of all he did for us, calls for a response. He who is forgiven much, should forgive much. Christ was not only our Savior, but our example. We should feel so blessed, so free, so relieved, so loved, that we shine that love, that blessing, that freedom to everyone else. When the weight of the world is lifted from our shoulders we should cry out in great happiness….amazing grace! I’m free! If we have that sort of happiness and joy it should permeate everything we do and say to others. It should be a joy, a love, that we can’t help ourselves from sharing. It should flow from us as rivers of living waters! Love begets love! Grace begets grace! Christ begets sons of the Living God, the Father. Thank you, O LORD, for your love bestowed in Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit! Amen.

April 15....love not the world

1 John 2:15 “Have no love for the world, nor the things that the world affords. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love has no place in him.” (NAB)

“Never give your hearts to this world or to any of the things in it A man cannot love the Father and love the world at the same time.” (Phillips)

“Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father.” (MSG)

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

We are to not love the world or its things. We are surrounded by so many things, it is hard to not love some of them. We become attached to things that give us pleasure or that help us or that make life here enjoyable. We love our homes, our cars, our TV’s, our computers, our knick-knacks. It is human nature to make ourselves comfortable and contented. I guess the Phillips translation puts the matter a little clearer….”Never give your hearts to this world or any of the things in it.” The idea of giving our heart makes clearer the degree of worldly love we must avoid. When the “things” come first in our lives, we have given them our hearts. When we “have to have” the newest and best and most powerful, even though we have something that is adequate and does the job we need it for….we have given our heart. Lust for “things”. When we spend more time with these “things” and less time with You…that is giving our hearts to them. You told us we can’t have 2 masters. We have to choose. Most of us try to walk a line between loving You, but also taking advantage of the things of this world. We try to divide our money and our time between them. We really don’t understand how to live “in the world, but not of the world”. We don’t know where the line is between love for the world and just being in it. The Message mentions not loving the world’s “ways”. I think that is important. We can bring the world’s goods into some sort of perspective, but the world’s “ways” are a greater danger. We must live as redeemed Christians, saved sinners, children of our Father. That requires changes in the way we live, the attitudes we have, the motives and driving forces of our lives. Your love should be reflected in our walk here on earth. We can own and use “things” but we can’t let the acquisition of them become important. Our hearts must belong to You, and You alone. Our actions must stem from following your teachings. Our time, talents, and treasures belong to You. We are stewards. Teach me to be a better steward of this world’s goods and to follow only in your way. Amen.

April 14....love always perseveres

1 Corinthians 13:7 “There is no limit to love’s forbearance, to its trust, its hope its power to endure.” (NAB)

“Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope, it can outlast anything. Love never fails.” (Phillips)

“Puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back but keeps going to the end.” (MSG)

“Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful and trusting. Love never fails.” (CEV)

“It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,
The NIV translation brings focus on an important word here that is easy to overlook….”always”. Everything that godly love is, it always is. The type of love we need to exhibit and that Paul describes in such detail is to be an ‘always’ kind of love. We aren’t to be kind sometimes, but not other times. We aren’t to be patient only when we feel like it or it is easy. We aren’t to avoid anger, rudeness, jealousy, self-serving on a ‘pick and choose’ basis. Real love, your kind of love, based on the grace shown us in Jesus Christ is to become an ‘always’ kind of habit. The 4 words here that the NIV prefaces with the word always are big aspects of love…it protects others, it trusts, it hopes, it perseveres. If our love is turned outward, as your love for us is, than it will strive to protect or forebear or support the one we love…always. If our love, reflecting your love, is focused on others it will trust them, because our trust is based on a God who is faithful at all times. If our love is hopeful and seeks the best at all times, our hope will not fade or diminish but continue to expect all that is promised in Jesus Christ. Our love will preserve, endure, never look back, outlast anything. Your love is permanent. If we rest in your love, our own capacity to love will grow. If you abide in me, and I abide in you, I will have to take on characteristics of your presence. If I don’t reflect godly love, than I am not abiding in your presence. You are too powerful, too mighty to not have an effect on someone who is walking in your presence. Your Holy Spirit should produce its fruit in me and show evidence of your love through me when I abide. Always is abiding. Abiding is not a casual acquaintance, but a permanent state of being. 'Always' is an important factor in all things that come from You. Help me remove any limits to my ability to show your ‘always’ kind of love to others. Amen.

April 13....love is not easily angered

1 Corinthians 13:5 “It is not prone to anger, neither does it brood over injuries.” (NAB)

“It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people.” (Phillips)

“Doesn’t fly off the handle. Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others.” (MSG)

“It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” (NIV)

“It isn’t quick-tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do.” (CEV)
Heavenly Father,
Record keeping….we’ve all been guilty of it. We easily forget the unkind words we say or the unkind actions we do, but we have written in our minds and hearts forever each injustice or wrong someone commits against us! We ‘brood over injuries’. We ‘keep score of the sins of others’. This all begins in anger….being quick-tempered and ‘touchy’. We ‘fly off the handle’ at the slightest provocation. Our world is full of stress. Our world is filled with too many people, too many demands on our time, too many ‘things’ to worry about and care for. I get many e-mails that are nostalgic for ‘the good old days’ and the ‘simple life’. But no one knows a practical way to achieve it. We can’t go back to our childhood. We can’t simplify our lives, without a willingness for major changes that would cut us off from other people. So we remain stressed and quick-tempered. We don’t really want contact with other people and we are quick to react if they bother us. How do we get rid of stress and the anger it produces? How do we simplify and become ‘mellow’ in our approach to others? How do we stop counting up other people’s wrongs and brooding on them? How do we love others when we don’t even want to be around them? Our answer has to be found in our relationship with you, O LORD. We must make time for you! It effects every other part of our life. We must seek peace through You, to have peace anywhere else. We must find your love in order to feel love in return and show it to others. The world has nothing to offer us that satisfies. The world is the cause of our stresses and our anger. The world makes us ‘touchy’. If we concentrate on loving you…with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, all our strength….then anger is less likely to surface, we become less concerned about how much others ‘wrong us’ because we know that you love us and you are always there. Contentment and stability are found in your love. Thank you! amen.

April 12...love is not rude

1 Corinthians 13:5 “Love is never rude, it is not self-seeking.” (NAB)

“Love has good manners, and does not pursue selfish advantage.” (Phillips)

“Doesn’t force itself on others, isn’t always ‘me first’” (MSG)
“…rude”….”selfish” (CEV)

“It is not rude, it is not self-seeking” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,
The Message sort of sums up these two non-loving characteristics when it says “It isn’t always ‘me first’”. The ‘me first’ attitude is a very ‘selfish’ one, as well as being ‘rude’. We have a direct commandment from Jesus against this kind of love. We are commanded to love You, our God, first and fully….no one or nothing should come before or between our love of You. We love you with our whole being….all my mind, all my heart, all my soul, all my strength. Than secondly we love our neighbors (everyone else). This commandment leaves no room for a ‘me first’ attitude or for rudeness or selfishness! If our love is concentrated on you, than we are in a relationship with you. We cannot love one, who we do not know. Knowing someone takes time. Knowing someone means finding out who they are. Knowing someone means listening to what they say. If our heart, mind, soul, strength is committed to a relationship with you, than there is little time for selfishness. If our love is concentrated on you, it will ask what you want, what your will is in all things. Our love will seek to please the one we love. If we love ourselves we will seek to please ourselves. If we love you, we will seek to please you. Rudeness is a lack of consideration for another’s thought and desires. It is abrupt and inconsiderate and closes its ears. Selfishness results in rudeness. I think of the word “interruption” in connection with rudeness. We “interrupt” another to express our own thoughts. We “interrupt” another to get what we want. We “interrupt” another to turn the focus onto our own concerns. We literally ‘cut them off’. We stop our interaction, our sharing, our attention, our listening, and our loving. Love doesn’t interrupt. Teach me to interrupt less and listen more! Teach me to focus my love away from myself. Teach me to love you first….always….and completely! Focus me on the unselfishness of your grace. Thank you! amen.

April 11...love is not proud

1 Corinthians 13:4 “It does not put on airs, it is not snobbish.” (NAB)

“It is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance.” (Phillips)

“Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head.” (MSG)

“It does not boast, it is not proud.” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

These are all expressions of inward looking love….being “in love” with yourself. Having an “inflated idea of your own importance” is self-love. We have made ourselves the “star” of our lives and everything revolves around us….our wants, our desires, our things, our ideas, our needs. There isn’t time to look outward to the needs of others. There isn’t any real desire to look outward….we are very happy looking at ourselves. When we have this inward turned love, we act out the first list above….”put on airs”, “strut”, “are anxious to impress others”, “boast”. Scripture often warns against pride and boasting and lifts up humility as a desirable trait to have. Humility is not something one can really “learn”…it has to develop. Love is the basis of humility. If our love is focused where it should be….”Love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your strength, all your soul” and “Love your neighbor as yourself”….than humility will develop. You, O LORD, are so great and incomprehensible that if we focus on You, we become small…..as we should be. If You are the One we always compare ourselves to, than we will not boast, we will not put on airs, our head won’t swell, and we won’t cherish any inflated ideas of our own importance. We will recognize that we are as small and insignificant as a bug…easily squashed. And we will also see that every other human is just the same in comparison to You! How does this translate to love? Love is knowing You are great, but You still care for us. Love is knowing that You came down to lift us up. Love is knowing You are the Father, with his arms outstretched, coming to meet us when we return home. Love is humble enough to “come down” and we have the knowledge of that humble love in our hearts to sustain us and be our example. Our only boast, our only pride is in You and your love through Jesus Christ! Thanks you! amen.

April 10....Love is not jealous

1 Corinthians 1:4 “Love is not jealous” (NAB)
“It is not possessive.” (Phillips)
“Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.” (MSG)
“It does not envy” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,
Here we move to something that love “is not”…..jealous, possessive, wanting what it doesn’t have, envious. Not pretty words. Not uplifting words. Not kind words. We have all experienced jealousy from both sides. We have been envied and we have done the envying. We have been possessive and we have had others show their possessiveness to us. This goes back to one of the 10 commandments at heart….coveting….wanting what others have. Someone else has more money, a nicer house, more “things” and we want the same. We don’t necessarily want to have theirs, we just want to be equal! These words….jealously and envy stir up dissatisfaction. We are saying we are not happy, that God has not given us all we need. We think God or the world has been unfair to us. We are seeking our happiness and our love from outward appearances, from possessions, from comparisons to others. Jesus gave us a list in the Beatitudes of the things that we truly need in order to be “blessed” or have inner peace and happiness. Our true contentment comes from our relationship with You, O LORD. If we have you, we have all we need or should want. Your love, that is patient and kind, should cancel any need to be jealous or envious on our part. We already have it all in your grace! If we are filled with your love and your gifts how can we be jealous of others? Love should include a desire to give, rather than a desire to keep. Love cares enough to want everyone else to have what we have….especially your grace and forgiveness and salvation. Jealousy looks inward at ourselves while love always looks outward. Help me to love others without jealousy, possessiveness, envy or discontentment. May I always be aware that you have given me all that I need in your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank you! amen.

April 9......love is kind

1 Corinthians 13:4 “Love is kind” (NAB)
“Love cares more for others than self.” (MSG)

Heavenly Father,

Kindness…I always have the feeling that when the word 'kindness' is used in the Bible that it means much more than how we usually perceive kindness. We tend to use kindness to describe any act of giving, however small or trivial it might be. Is that really kindness as the Bible uses it? I have seen the words “unfailing love” translated as kindness in other passages. Unfailing love certainly encompasses more than a simple act of kindness such as giving someone a piece of candy or opening the door for them. Compassion, mercy, and even grace would be closer to Biblical kindness! When Paul says that “love is kind” he does not mean something trivial, although all acts of kindness perhaps begin with the simple….a smile, an act of consideration, a thoughtful word, a remembrance of something another person considers important. Kindness does include these simple acts, but only if the heart is engaged in them and they are more than a social obligation. Kindness involves heartfelt consideration of another person’s needs. As the Message puts it: “Love cares more for others than self.” Kindness wants to help another, even if it is a burden to do so. Kindness wants to take away another’s burdens. Kindness looks outward, rather than inward. Compassion, mercy, unfailing love are definitely expressions of Biblical love and kindness. Love directed at another person for their benefit. Grace is the greatest Biblical kindness of all. You, the Father loved us enough to send your Son to redeem us. Jesus loved us enough to obey his Father’s will to die to save us. The Holy Spirit loves us enough to abide, within us. Grace is the ultimate unselfish loving kindness! Grace is the Father’s love expressed toward us. Love looking outward from God toward all mankind. Thank you, O LORD, for your kindness and unfailing love! Amen.

REMEMBER ME
Psalm 25:7 "Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD."

"According to your love remember me",
Not the follies of my youth, or the prodigal days
See me only through eyes that see my Savior
Who came and lifted all my sins away.

Jesus Christ so lovingly redeemed me
He focused all your perfect love in death on Calvary
Through grace I have been cleansed and given every hope and joy
So "according to your love, remember me."

I know you see me now as a re-born daughter
From my death and shame I've been at last set free
I will praise you face to face someday in heaven
Because "according to your love...You remembered me!"(June 3, 2007)

April 8...love is patient

1 Corinthians 13:4 “Love is patient.” (NAB) (NIV)
“This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience.” (Phillips)
“Love never gives up.” (MSG)

(written on Easter 2007)
Heavenly Father,

1 Corinthians 13 is known as the love passage of the Bible…a detailed description of what love is. It begins with patience. We are often the most impatient with those we love. We want their attention, we want to make choices for them, we want to live their lives for them, we want what we think is best for them and we want it now. We think that loving someone is smothering them with our presence. Patience means waiting. Patience means observing silently at times. Patience means not forcing our love on them. I find it very hard to be patient with those I love. I want them to love me exactly the same way I love them at all times. I want a reaction from them to my love. I’m disappointed if I don’t get it. That isn’t patience….or even perhaps real love. You, O LORD are the supreme example of patient love. You love us. You wait for us to return that love. You did all that was necessary to prove your love….you sent your Son, Jesus Christ to live with us, die for us, and raise us up with Him, that we might have every opportunity to be redeemed and come home to our loving Father. Now, You wait patiently. It must be hard to see us refuse your love! You wrapped up the most beautiful gift the world has ever known….grace…and held it out to each of us. Many of those gifts are still unopened. You welcome each child who accepts the gift and wait patiently for the rest to find theirs. Just like a giant Easter egg hunt….some of the eggs still lie hidden in the grass waiting to be claimed. Today we celebrate your gift. I’m not very patient, LORD! I want every potential child of God to wake up this morning and seek their gift and open it! I want everyone to love You, as You love them. “Love never gives up”….please let that always be true and wait for all the children to come! Thank you, Father! Thank you, Jesus! Thank you Holy Spirit! Your love is patient when mine is not. Amen

April 7....love your enemies

Matthew 5:44 “My command to you is: Love your enemies, pray for your persecutors.” (NAB)
“I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you.” (CEV)
“…that you may be sons of your father in heaven.”

Heavenly Father,

Another command from Jesus concerning love. So far we have been told to “love as Jesus loved us” (sacrificial love) and “Love others as we love ourselves” (equal for all). Now we are specifically told to “love our enemies” and to pray for them. Few of us take this command seriously. We may strive to “tolerate” our enemies or “avoid confrontation with them” or to “put them out of our minds” or perhaps to obey the letter of the law and not take them to court, but ignore the intent and continue to hold a grudge in our hearts. Loving enemies is hard work and totally unnatural. How do we love someone who causes us physical harm, or destroys our reputation, or steals our possessions, or kills a loved one, or goes to war with our country killing 1000’s of innocent people? This is too hard! It is inhuman to expect this! I guess that is part of the point. Humans can’t do it. God can and does. We don’t even understand a God who supports or loves our enemies! You chose to create a world of humans, all of whom you choose to love and care for. You do not love our sinful actions and you do not expect us to love the sinful actions of others. Only to understand that You are the Father of all of us, and that you love all and wish a relationship with each one of us. Where we see evil you see a potential child of God who may return to You. To learn to love the potential for righteousness that is hidden in each of us is how we love our enemies. We don’t give up on them. We don’t turn our backs to them. We don’t concentrate on our hatred or pain. We learn to pray for them….for their healing, not for our sake but for their own salvation. We treat them lovingly to save them….just as you treated us lovingly to save us. Your love came down and suffered great agony on a cross to save us. You loved your enemies….all sinners….us. Jesus prays for us. Our goal in loving our enemies?….”that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” We want to grow up like our Father. Thank you! amen.

April 6....love each other

John 15:17 “The command I give you is this, that you love one another.” (NAB)
“This I command you, love one another.” (Phillips)
“…But remember the root command: Love one another.” (MSG)
“This is my command, love each other.” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

Jesus repeats his command: “Love each other”. By repeating this command, Jesus puts emphasis on it. Throughout Jesus teaching, love is a key word. Everything we do in Jesus’ name is to follow the commandments to love God first and foremost and completely, and then to love everyone else as well. I like the NIV translation of “each other” rather then the “one another” in the other translations. Each means all. We aren’t to pick and choose who we love. Each person is a potential child of God. Where Jesus has loved, we too must love. Jesus talked about loving our enemies. It is easy to love our friends and family. As he pointed out…even sinners do that. Jesus’ love went beyond the natural boundaries of love and embraced the whole world. We have all met people who are not easy to love…unkind people, people full of hatred, cruel people, crazy people, dirty people, repulsive people, people with serious problems, boring people, selfish people, mean-spirited people, ugly people, imperfect people. Like it or not we fit on that same list in someone else’s mind. It’s hard to think of ourselves in that “unacceptable” class of people, but we belong there, too. Jesus saw beyond all that. Jesus saw the perfect children that God the Father created. Jesus sees our potential. Jesus sees us washed clean and dressed in fine clothes to be presented to the Father….redeemed. Many times during a movie, I have shut my eyes to avoid seeing a terrible or repulsive scene. But You, Father see it all….all the dirt, all the filth, all the evil, all the misery with eyes wide open. Jesus saw it all and took it upon himself for us. Every bit of human filth went on the cross with Jesus. Every dirty sin. Every evil. What a weight to bear! If Jesus can do this for us, how can we refuse to love “each” other. Forgive me, Father, for killing your Son with my sins! Thank you, Jesus, for your love and grace. Help me love each other person that I meet. Amen.

April 5....as you love yourself

Matthew 22:39 “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (NAB)

“Love others as well as you love yourself.” (MSG)
“Love others as much as you love yourself.” (CEV)

Heavenly Father,

Another command from Jesus. Basically the same as yesterday’s in that it tells us to “love others”. Here the qualifier is a bit different. We are to love others “as much as” we love ourselves. Many of us don’t love ourselves very much, so this is confusing. Those who tend to “love themselves” the most, actually seem like poor examples! When you love yourself you are self-involved. Everything is about you. To love others requires looking outward rather than inward….away from ourselves rather than towards ourselves. Wasn’t the problem of the rich young ruler that he loved his wealth (his comfort and security) more than Jesus? We comfort ourselves with things we love and wrap them around us like a security blanket. A desire to protect ourselves….self love. So how does loving ourselves become a good thing that lead to loving others? I guess it doesn’t lead to it, but merely shows us the depth of love we need to show others. If we need a security blanket of love, so do they. If we try to protect ourselves, they too need protection. What we want, they want. What we need, they need. Looking out for “number one” has to become looking out for “everyone”. If we don’t love ourselves at all, we will have trouble showing love. If we feel unloved and unlovable this should waken an empathy for others who feel the same. Every step we make toward loving ourselves better should also become a step in loving others. You, O LORD, loved us all enough to send your Son, Jesus to die for us. He removed the weight of the things we don’t love about ourselves. We should love ourselves as redeemed children, washed clean in the blood of the Lamb! I must love the child You have made me in Christ! And I must love every other redeemed child of God. I must love the unredeemed and want them to share in Jesus’ love and salvation. Whatever level of love we are at, is to be shared with others. Love is the rule at all times. Thank you! Amen.

April 4....this is my command

John 15:12 “This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you.” (NAB)

“This is my command: Love one another the way I love you.” (MSG)

Heavenly Father,

Jesus gives us a “command”, a “must do” statement. Something we are not to argue with, not to try to get out of, but something to obey, something to follow, something important. That command is: “love one another” and it is qualified by a description of that love….”as I loved you.” Following his example, walking in his footsteps, doing as he has done. He loved us in a way few people feel they can ever duplicate. He loved us….all of us….enough to lay down his life for us. He was willing to accept a punishment he didn’t deserve, a death that was unearned and painful, humiliation, suffering, shame. None of it his, but all of it ours. He stepped into our place. If we are to love as he loved, we must step into the place of others around us and take their pain, their suffering, their shame. We have to want to "save" them, just as Jesus saved us. We have to look away from ourselves and instead look at others. This is hard! This seems impossible. We care about others, but most of us don’t have a clue about how to love as Jesus loved. We don’t know how to step into someone else’s place and become a substitute for them. Part of what Jesus did can only be done by him. He is the Lamb that was slain. He is the sacrifice for all mankind. If we feel a great sense of our burdens being lifted when we hear this, then that is part of how we love like Christ. We tell others how he can change their lives. We try to make them understand what Jesus did for them and what he can do for them. We bring others to the “real thing”, to Jesus, to their salvation, to “the Way, the Truth, and the Life”. I need to think real hard about how I can “love one another as I have loved you.” This is a command and I need to follow it. I need to take it seriously. Forgive me, Lord, when I don’t obey your words or live your commands daily in my life. Help me have the courage to follow you more closely, to love as you loved me. Amen.

IT’S MY SIN
It’s my sin that Jesus bore that day on Calvary,
It’s my sin that nailed him there upon that cursed tree.
It’s my shame that held him there to suffer, bleed and die
I can’t lay the blame on anyone else….for that would be a lie.

It isn’t just the pain he suffered, the beatings and the scorn.
It’s all the filth from all mankind that covered his perfect form.
I took a pure and perfect Lamb; innocent without any blame
And dragged Him through my muck and mire, until he looked the same.

And then I let him hang there, on the cross that should be for me,
I let him pay my price, my debt, so I could be set free.
I owe him my love, my life, my all, for bearing my sin that day
Jesus Christ, my Savior, redeemed me so I might say:

Hallelujah! He is risen!
Hallelujah! I’m set free!
Hallelujah! Jesus Christ has come
With grace for you and me!

(4-1-2007)

April 3.....I chose you

John 15:6 “It was not you who chose me, it was I who chose you to go forth and bear fruit.” (NAB)

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit….fruit that will last.” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

Jesus did the choosing. He isn’t our Lord and Savior because of anything we did. We didn’t select him for this honor and make him our king. We tend to think in terms of our choosing….we accept him as our Lord and Savior, we choose to follow him, we decide to obey him. There is a mistake in this thinking because it puts us in control. Yes…we have free will and on our own must decide if Jesus is who he says he is. But Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior because of what he did. Jesus is Lord and Savior because You, the Father love us. Jesus is Lord and Savior because he was obedient to his Father’s will. Jesus is Lord and Savior not because we “crown him” as such, but because he earned the position by right of his birth and his obedience. We merely recognize the rightness of this and bow down to the One who is our King, our Lord, our Savior. Jesus chose us to be the recipients of his love and sacrifice. Jesus chose us to become his Church, his continued ministry here on earth. Jesus appointed us to do 2 things….”go forth” and “bear fruit”. We must first accept our calling to go out to others as a representative of Jesus’ love, as his friends. And we must “bear fruit”. The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Bearing fruit for Jesus will include these things….the evidence of our fruit bearing. We were chosen by Jesus Christ to share his love with others and to love as he loved us….sacrificially. Jesus chose the Church to serve in his name, to be his hands and feet here on earth in his absence. Jesus did the choosing from start to finish. He is Lord! He is Savior! He is the Way, the Truth, the Life! He is love! He is the Chosen and the Chooser! Thank you, O LORD, for choosing me! Send me in your power to bear fruit that will last. Amen.

April 2....my friends

John 15:3 “There is no greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for ones’ friends.” (NAB)

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (NIV)

“This is the best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends.” (MSG)

(written in 2007..Easter was in April)

Heavenly Father,
The best way to learn is by example. Jesus said, “the best way to love”….is to “lay down your life for your friends.” Then he did it the next day He went to Calvary and hung on a cross for every friend he had or will have….the whole world! This week we think a lot about Jesus’ death because it is holy week, when we think about the events that led to Jesus’ death. We remember. We feel our guilt and shame. We see his pain and suffering. We cry tears of remorse. Jesus went willingly to this death because he loved his “friends”. He follows today’s verse with another: “You are my friends if you do what I tell you to do.” He began the passage telling us that: “This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you.” We can look just at today’s verse and be awestruck at the sacrifice Jesus made for us, or we can sandwich it between these other 2 verses where it belongs. Jesus commands us to love others. Jesus than describes this love and then lives it by example. Then he defines who his friends are…those who do what he tells them. Just being aware of Jesus’ sacrifice isn’t enough. Jesus died that we might live. He was resurrected so we too can be resurrected. We want to move into this reborn life. This is what Jesus’ friendship has bought us. This was the purpose of the whole thing. Not so we can live as we’ve always been, but so we can live as we should be! Resurrected! Reborn! Renewed! Jesus’ friends do as he did. We don’t always understand how to love this way…but he can show us if we are willing. “Living for Jesus”…this is a start. Living like Jesus….harder. Loving like Jesus…the best. We can only do it through him and his love. Show me how, Jesus, to love and live a life ready to die for others. Amen.

April 1.....I love you

APRIL THEME: DO YOU LOVE ME?

Psalm 18:1-2 “I love you, O LORD, my strength, O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. My God, My rock of refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” (NAB)

“I love you, O LORD, my strength. The Lord is my Rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God is my rock in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

It is not about me….but about the One who is mine. David found this personal relationship with You. After winning the battle he cries out in words of praise to “You, O LORD….my strength, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock….my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” David has spent time with You and come to know you. David has put his trust in You and feels confident in claiming You as his personal Savior and personal Rock and stronghold. You are his “strong Savior”. Each phrase he uses speaks of your strength, your power, your protection, your permanence, your presence. And the result of that is summed up in his first 3 words….”I love You!” David has put his love on the One who saves and supports his life. I just spent several days studying Peter, another one who knew You in such a personal way that he staked his life on You and could cry out with David….my rock, my Savior, my stronghold! A “stronghold” is just that…a place that holds strongly and can’t be shaken. Jesus becomes that for us. When we come face-to-face with him and recognize our own weaknesses we learn to put our faith and trust in the only place that is truly a “stronghold”….that can’t fail. This month’s theme is your love and our responding love for You. This is what the Good News is all about….your love that sent Jesus Christ to die for us. Your love that conquers sin and death. Your love that we celebrate next Sunday on Easter (2007). Your love that lets us have a relationship like David had, with a personal Savior, personal stronghold. Your love came down to abide in us through Jesus Christ that we may abide in You forever! Thank you, O LORD, I love You! Amen.