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Posts Tagged ‘love’

Live in Peace

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , , on October 5, 2011|

Romans 12:18 – If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

This almost sounds like an impossibility in our world today. To be at peace with all men, including non-believers and especially believers.

With all the different thoughts and ideas, the different denominations, interpretations and beliefs, different religions, how could it be possible to be at peace with everyone?

The dictionary says of peace: freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions; harmony in personal relations.

I think this is what God is saying, that we are to live in harmony with our brothers and sisters in Christ, not allowing any oppressive thoughts or emotions to take control of our feelings towards others. In other words, we live in love. Just because someone doesn’t interpret the Bible the same way we do, or go to the same church we do, or doesn’t go to church at all, we need to realize that in regard to other believers, we are all wanting to please our Father and do what He wants us to do. We need to accept one another in love, and respect the fact that God is working different ways in people and just because it isn’t what we are used to, doesn’t mean it isn’t of God.

In regard to non-believers, we don’t need to condemn them, or force our beliefs on them. We need to let them see the love of God. They don’t need someone beating them down or twisting their arms to get them to believe like us. We are to love them and let the Holy Spirit do the work that needs to be done in their lives.

If we believers could just understand that we are responsible for ourselves in the way we live for God. We aren’t responsible to live the way others do or think we should. We are to allow our Father to work in our lives the way He wants and follow Him on the path He has for us. Our responsibility is to love God and love everyone we come in contact with, accept them for who they are, and pray that the Holy Spirit will work in their lives. Living in this manner would accomplish much more in showing the love of Christ.

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Fulfill the Law

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , on September 29, 2011|

Romans 13:8-10 – Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another, for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, ‘you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

To love others is to fulfill the law.

The Old Testament law was given as a guide to show people that they could not measure up to pleasing God. If anyone could keep all of the law, then they were perfect. Unfortunately, we humans cannot live a perfect life. The law showed us that we could not do it.

When Christ came in bodily form and lived on earth, He lived a perfect life. He became the perfect sacrifice that would once and for all make a way for us to be considered ‘perfect’ in God’s eyes and be able to receive the gift of salvation.

When we live in love, we are fulfilling the law. We no longer do ‘things’ out of obligation, or out of a need to earn God’s love and favor. We no longer have to keep the 10 commandments to earn our salvation. Salvation is now a gift given to us. When we love others as we love ourselves, our lifestyle will be one that actually fulfills the law by the way we live and love.

Am I saying that we shouldn’t try to live by the 10 commandments? In a way yes. We can’t. When we live in love we will be living a life that is pleasing to God without trying to live by laws and regulations. If we are depending on the law, regulations, doing things to earn God’s love, then we are wasting our time. Once we are living in grace (God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense), only what is done out of love for Christ will make a difference.

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Love

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , , , on September 23, 2011| 2 Comments »

Colossians 3:12-14 And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

It seems these days so many of us Christians want to condemn people for what they do, who they are, for not believing like us, going to church, not going to church, and so on. We need to stop and re-read what God has said on the matter.

We aren’t called to be God, we are to be people who allow God to live in and through us. We are IN Christ. Our lives should be in the process of being transformed into the life of Christ. Basically we are to be Christ’s body on earth today. We are The Church, not a building we go to once a week, but His body living in love day by day.

Remember, the Holy Spirit convicts of sin. God is the judge, but we are called to love others.

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Hell…No?

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , , on September 23, 2011|

Rob Bell, the pastor who enraged Bible-believing Christians with his book ‘Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived’, has resigned from Mars Hill Bible Church. Bell, who argues that hell does not exist, says God is calling him to pursue a “growing number of strategic opportunities.”

Love is the main theme of God. God is love. I’m not sure I am ready to say that God saves everyone and that hell doesn’t exist, but I do know that no matter what, God loves us all.

True, love is how Christians should be known. God loves everyone and has made a way for everyone to receive the gift of salvation. But God doesn’t force this gift on anyone and those who choose not to take it may one day have to take the consequences for it.

Now, is hell a real place of eternal torment or was it a dumping ground near Jerusalem that has nothing to do with punishment? There is a very real debate over this issue and I certainly don’t have the answer. The thing is, trying to get people ‘saved’ with the threat of spending eternity in hell is not the way to do it. People are truly changed by God’s love, and by God’s people living out that love to everyone they meet.

God does not want anyone to spend eternity in a place of torment. He has provided the way of escape if there is a hell. But we want to focus on the fact the God loves us all, and we want to accept and enjoy his love, not just escape the thought of eternal punishment.

When we love someone, we want to do things that please that person and make them happy. Same with God, we want to be pleasing to Him and do things for Him. We don’t do these things out of obligation, or because of rules and regulations. That’s law. We do them out of love and that is the way we should help lead others to Christ, through love.

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Love One Another

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 9, 2011|

John 13:35 – By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another….

This verse is one of the main points of Christianity, next to loving God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind. The way we are to be noticed as being Christ followers is by the love we have for other Christ followers. I think this is an area where we modern-day believers have gotten off track.

The early followers of Christ were of one mind and one purpose, loving God, loving others and spreading the Good News. They took care of each other, supplied for each other and were generally concerned for the well-being of each other. Today we are divided up into so many different groups and denominations because we can’t agree and get along on basic points of our Christian faith. Non-believers watch us and see all the arguing and back-biting among Christians, and they don’t want anything to do with us.

It is time for the body of believers to get past their differences and start truly acting in love and concern for each other. This is the way that those outside the Christian faith are going to see a real difference and start asking what it is that we have. It is then that we will have a real impact for our faith in God.

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Works vs Faith

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 27, 2011| 3 Comments »

Galatians 2:16 – nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus…….

We Christians sometime spend our time trying to obey the 10 Commandments and trying to do the right thing, when in actuality, we don’t need to be trying to keep the law at all.

We will go to church every time the door is open, tithe our 10 percent, we will not smoke, drink, dance, go to movies, we will look down and condemn those who do or do not do what we feel the Bible commands. We feel guilty every time we mess up and think God is going punish us if we do not do everything we know is ‘right’ to do as Christians.

What happened to grace? What happened to being saved through faith in Christ, and Him alone. Not Jesus and baptism, not Jesus and doing this or that, not Jesus and refraining from doing certain things. We are saved through faith in Christ and to be quite blunt, we do not ‘have’ to do any of these things or do not ‘have’ to avoid certain things to be a child of God. We have a freedom in Christ that was bought and paid for with the death and resurrection of Jesus. That does not mean we just live our lives doing whatever we want, but we living in the freedom we have through grace. We do things out of love, love for God and love for others. It is no longer out of obligation or trying to follow any law.LoveGod

Let’s stop putting all the rules and regulations on others that we think will make them better people and love them with the love of Christ and let God lead them in the way He wants them to go.

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Equality

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , , , on July 19, 2011|

Romans 12:16 — Be of the same mind toward one another, do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

To be of the same mind to me means to think of each other on the same grounds, not one better than the other, but equals. To be haughty is to be proud and snobbish. We should not be this way, but we are to associate with the lowly, the everyday people and the ones that others might look down on. So many people spend their time trying to be noticed by people who they think are someone important, or someone who can do something for them. We aren’t to treat others like that. We are to treat all with love and respect, as equals, and not as better than another.

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Comfort

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , on July 19, 2011|

2 Corinthians 1: 3,4 — Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Our Father loves us so much. Just as a parent will look over their child and suffer in troubled times with them, our Father does the same for us. He comforts us in our time of trouble, no matter how small and minor, or how overwhelming, He comforts us with His mercy. Just as with money and riches, we are not to horde them or store them up, but we are to give them away to help others. So we are to do the same with the mercy and comfort we receive. When we come across someone who is hurting and going through troubled times, we are to share with them the love, comfort and mercy we received from our Father.

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Confidence

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , on July 19, 2011|

Acts 4: 13 — now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John, and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were marveling, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.

In our present day where everyone emphasizes a college education and so much specialized training, we need to remember that this is all man-made thoughts and ideas. It was obvious that Peter and John were uneducated and untrained in spiritual things, they were mere fishermen. They didn’t stand out, had no confidence in themselves, and felt they could not have any impact on their world. So many of us feel the same way today. We couldn’t afford college, we didn’t get into any specialized training of any kind, and we feel insignificant in our world.

The difference in this verse, and the difference in our lives is if we have been with Jesus. On our own, we really can’t do much. Some people do great things in life and make somewhat of a difference in man’s eyes, but when talking about eternal purposes and making a real difference in the lives of others, only those who accept Christ and spend time with Jesus have a noticeable difference to them that impacts others. In Christ we can have a confidence and a spirit of love that makes us different, loving and caring of others.

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Abide in Love

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , on July 19, 2011|

John 15:7 NASB

To abide means to reside with, to remain with, to submit to. When we reside with Jesus and submit to His words, we can ask whatever we wish. Why is this? When we abide in Him and He is us, we fulfill His command, which is love.

When we love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and love others the same way Jesus loves them, we aren’t going to be asking selfishly or with wrong motives. When Jesus prayed to the Father, it was always in perfect line with the Father’s will.

When we come to truly abide in Him and ask Him to abide in us, we will live in love and in complete agreement with the will of the Father.

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