Ever felt like giving up? Felt like nothing good was happening or going to happen. Like there was no real reason to keep going like God wasn’t doing anything all? Like God wasn’t at work? It’s easy to feel that … Continue reading
You ever wondered how God sees you? What does He see when He looks at you? How does God view you? You know what God is? God is an optimist. God sees the best in you. Look at what we … Continue reading
We all need some beauty in our lives, don’t we? We all need something beautiful in our lives. Today’s reading from Isaiah made me think about what is beauty, and where true beauty is found. Listen to what we are … Continue reading
We live in a world of divided attention. We live in a world of multitasking. We can be reading emails, texting, on social media, and listening to music, all at the same time. So many of us today are always … Continue reading
Everything in life, it has its time. It has its season. It has its moment. There’s a great passage in the Bible, one that we’ve probably all heard before, that lays this out. We see everything having its time and … Continue reading
Sometimes in life, it’s easy to think that nothing good can come from someone. They have gone too far, they are beyond redemption, God can’t possibly use them, much less forgive them. When you think that way, listen to what … Continue reading
Hello, my name is Andy. And I’m a workaholic. Many of us are like that. There is always one more thing to do, one more thing we have to fix, one more thing to get right. There is always more. … Continue reading
Sometimes it’s easy to lose perspective, isn’t it? It’s easy to see only ourselves, our problems, our issues, our lives. We get swept up in the swirl of our lives. We can lose that perspective. Listen to what it says … Continue reading
One the reasons in life, I believe, that we are afraid is that the thing the are afraid of feels bigger than whatever it is that makes us feel secure. Our fear seems bigger than our security. Think about that as you read our passage today from 1 John 1:16-18:
16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.
So many things in this passage to understand. First, this important notion that God is love. Scripture paints for us so many pictures of who God is. But the two defining characteristics of who God is, is found here (God is love) and found all through the Bible, God is holy.
God is both. We all fall towards a deeper appreciation of part of God’s character, but for us to fully understand who is, we must understand that He is love, but He is also other and different from us, He is holy.
But notice today what this text says about love and about fear. We are told that there is no fear in perfect love, because perfect love casts out fear. How is that possible? How does perfect love cast out fear?
What this means, to me, is this. Of all the things that you are afraid of, things that aren’t minor things, things that are big things, things that may plague and worry and scare us, God is bigger than them.
God’s love is bigger than them.
God’s love is bigger than whatever may happen to you. God’s love is bigger than whatever mistakes lay in your past, your present, your future. God’s love is bigger than whatever may come.
You don’t have to be afraid. God has seen it all. God knows it all. God is aware of it all. He really is.
And He loves you. Don’t be afraid. You are loved. You are perfectly loved today. God loves you.
And that love is light, and that light drives out fear.
Love is greater than fear. It is. Lived loved, not afraid.
Do not fear today. God loves you. No matter what.
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If you could ask Jesus what was the most important thing to do, what do you think He’d say? What do you think he’d tell you is the most important thing for us to do as Christians? Lots of choices, lots of options, huh? Lots of things that He could say.
Well, you know what? That scenario happened in scripture. We actually know what He’d say. Listen to what happened in Mark 12: 28-31:
28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ 29Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel:the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”31The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’
He was asked, what is the greatest commandment? What matters most? What is most important?
There were a lot of things that Jesus could say, lots of places that Jesus could go. And what did He say?
Love the Lord with all your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength. In other words, love God with all that you are. Love God with every fiber of your being. With your intellect. With your emotions. With your body. With everything. Love God with every inch of who you are.
But that’s not all He tells us. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. So there, we see two more loves. Love your neighbor. And of course, we’ve seen Jesus tell us that this doesn’t mean our physical neighbor alone, but it means all the folks we come in contact with.
Love. As Christians, we are called to love. We have to love the people we come in contact with. We have to show them that love. It’s our command as Christians. Love.
But, there is another love. As you love yourself. You matter. You are important. God loves you. That means you are to love yourself. Stop beating yourself up. God believes in you. You believe in you. You are His precious and His beloved. And honestly, you can’t fully love your neighbor, until you love yourself.
CS Lewis said, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”
We are called not just to love God, love our neighbor, but love ourselves too. Because God does.
So, we see what mattered to Jesus. And we see what should matter to us. Today, may we live out that love towards God, others, and ourselves, that He has called us to!
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