Archive for February, 2018
Power, love, and self-discipline
February 28, 2018
Real love is showing and telling
February 26, 2018
The Verse of the Day for February 26, 2018 continues to focus on the love of God and comes from 1 John 4:9 (NIV):
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
To round out our discussion, we add verse 10 in the New Living Translation:
1 John 4:9-10 (NLT):
9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
Verse 9 also brings to mind one of the most often quoted verses whereby God “showed how much he loved us”: John 3:16 (NLT):
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
A parallel verse expressing the same truth comes from 1 John 3:16 (NLT):
We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.
Both John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16 bring to mind this anonymous quote: “Love is a verb. Love is doing, saying, showing. Never think just saying you love someone is enough.” There must be corresponding action to show that we love.
As the supreme giver, God practices the very principles He implements. As a liberal giver par excellence, our Father gives, withholding nothing. Without question, He is generous and extravagant in His giving. As the supreme expression of giving, God applies and benefits from those principles. Jesus Christ teaches this foundational principle in Luke 6:38:
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together,and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
The essence of this principle is poetically expressed in this excerpt opening with a poem by John Oxenham, followed by an original stanza:
Love ever lives,
Outlives, forgives,
And while it stands
With open hands, it lives.
For this is love’s prerogative:
To give and give and give.He who lives and never gives,
May live for years and never live.
But he who lives and lives to give
Shall live for years and years and years
With more to give and give and give.
Giving is a demonstration or manifestation of love. It has been said that you can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. Whenever we think of love and its connection with giving, we think of God who always demonstrates or manifests His love.
The Verse of the Day and related verses cause us to think of the teaching method “Show and Tell.” Often used in teaching young children, this classroom exercise involves bringing an item to class and talking about it through a public display or demonstration. So it is with the love of God. Our gracious Heavenly Father not only tells us that He loves us, but He continually shows us just how much He loves us.
We close with this scripture video encompassing 1 John 4:7-16, from which the Verse of the Day is taken:
In pursuit of what is good
February 23, 2018
From Proverbs come these words of wisdom as the Verse of the Day for February 23, 2018:
Proverbs 14:22
Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.
Here we see the contrast between those who “plot evil” and those who “plan what is good.” Clearly, those who plan what is good are intentional in their pursuits and rewarded in finding love and faithfulness.
In Deuteronomy 12:28 we find a similar reference to “doing what is good.”
Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.
Likewise, Job 34:4 uses a similar expression:
Let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good.
Likewise, in Romans 12:9 in the Amplified Bible we find a reference not only to pursuing what is good but to firmly grasp what we find:
Love is to be sincere and active [the real thing—without guile and hypocrisy]. Hate what is evil [detest all ungodliness, do not tolerate wickedness]; hold on tightly to what is good.
In thinking about pursuing what is good, I recall a previous blog entry:
In Pursuit of What is Good
See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone,
but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
1 Thessalonians 5:15
As a hunter reads footprints and tracks down his game,
So our desire to pursue good as we awake.
Desire, a fire, flames the passion held so deeply.
Having felt Your touch and known Your presence before,
As lovers pursue, we yearn for You even more,
Assured all who pursue the good shall also find.
As the sun rises to follow its daily course,
Zealously we seek You with our heart, soul and mind,
As one traces a winding river to its source,
As one forsakes all to purchase priceless treasure,
So we seek what is good, to know your good pleasure.
We conclude this blog entry with a song of worship that also came to mind, “My Soul Follows Hard after Thee” with lyrics by Don Moen:
Love: the fulfillment of the law
February 21, 2018
In the days leading up to Valentine’s Day and beyond, the over-riding theme for the Verse of the Day for Biblegateway.com has been “the love of God.” We note the Verse of the Day for February 21, 2018 turns out to be “another verse from that same love song” found in Romans 13:9-10 (NIV):
The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
In reflecting on this passage from Romans 13, we also recognize “The first and great commandment: To love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” Believers are further instructed to “love your neighbor as yourself.” When we love God, first of all, and then love others to the same degree that we love ourselves, we fulfill the law of love which is the highest expression of God, who is love.
An earlier blog post on this ongoing theme directed our attention to the preceding verse of today’s Verse of the Day. The Amplified Bible offers a sure-fire strategy to “get out of debt” with this exhortation which is a restatement of Romans 13:8:
8 Keep out of debt and owe no man anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor [who practices loving others] has fulfilled the Law [relating to one’s fellowmen, meeting all its requirements].
This verse also provided the introduction to this poem which was has been revised and reposted from that earlier entry discussing the love of God:
This Debt of Love
Owe no one anything except to love one another,
for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:8[NKJV]
What can we give when all we have is not enough
And when we have exhausted all our resources
And we still come up short as we assess the worth
Of the precious love given to us so freely?
When the last dram of oil from our vial has been poured
As a sacrifice and we have no more to give
But still feel this unction to offer even more.
What more can we say beyond a feeble thank you
When words cannot convey all we desire to say?
Though we try to show Him as we follow His ways,
We still stumble from time to time and miss the mark,
But He looks beyond our faults and sees our intent.
As we live your lives to serve, we will come to see
This debt of love so great we can never repay.
Lamar Campbell and Praise express the essence of the message in song with “This Debt of Love I Owe.”
He made the stars also
February 19, 2018
The first chapter of Genesis opens with the bold declaration: “In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The Verse of the Day for February 19, 2018 on the Logos Bible software homepage goes on to relate other aspects of God’s creation by stating:
Genesis 1:16:
And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.”
Not only did God fashion the sun and the moon, but almost as if an aside, “He made the stars also . . . in their seemingly endless hosts of galaxies. The Psalmist goes on to remind us: “He tells the number of the stars; he calls them all by their names.” (Psalm 147:4)
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Sun is but one of about 200 billion stars just in the Milky Way galaxy alone. Altogether, astronomers have found more than 500 solar systems and are discovering new ones every year. Given how many they have found in our own neighborhood of the Milky Way galaxy, scientists estimate that there may be tens of billions of solar systems in our galaxy, perhaps even as many as 100 billion, indicating hundreds of billions of stars in the universe.
The Verse of the Day also brings to mind Psalm 19:1-2 9 (Revised Standard Version):
The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge
In addition, these verses bring to mind the fact that the Hubble Space Telescope has observed tens of thousands targets and has collected more than half a million pictures in its archive. Since its launching in 1990, this remarkable scientific device has taken pictures of planets, stars and galaxies. Hubble has seen the birth and death of stars in the midst of galaxies that are billions of light years away. These amazing photographs provide a glorious display of the handiwork of God, as the Psalmist declares.
By means of the technological advancements, such as the Hubble Telescope, we are now able to observe the heaven as never before, making the Word of God more alive than ever. We are now able to see the glorious handiwork of God on glorious display. The Verse of the Day also proclaims the awesome creative power of God poetically expressed in this way:
“. . . He Made the Stars Also”
Genesis 1:16
Thousands upon millions upon billions of stars,
Ten times more than grains of sand that cover the earth;
Galaxies that span far beyond Saturn and Mars:
Each star formed and fashioned and called by name at birth.
Ten times more than grains of sand that cover the earth;
Sparkling the night with lights, God made the stars also.
Each star formed and fashioned and called by name at birth.
The heavens declare God’s glory that men might know.
Sparkling the night with lights, God made the stars also:
Witness to Abraham of what was yet to be.
The heavens declare God’s glory that men might know.
As the stars and grains of sand, so shall your seed be.
All creation unified by a single bond.
Galaxies that span far beyond Saturn and Mars
Express the breadth of God’s love, reaching far beyond
Thousands upon millions upon billions of stars.
Karen Clark Sheard offers a variation on the theme from Genesis 1:16 and Psalm 19:1-2 with her stirring rendition of “The Heavens are telling.”
Nothing can separate us
February 18, 2018
Yesterday’s Verse of the Day introduced a series of questions raised in Romans 8: beginning with verse 35:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
The Verse of the Day for February 18, 2018 responds to that series of questions:
Romans 8:38-39 (NIV):
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Despite the adverse circumstances of life that seek to negatively impact our relationship with God and cause us to question whether He really loves us, Paul offers this blessed assurance: Simply put, nothing can separate us from the love of God:
Beginning with death, the end of life, not even life itself can separate us;
Neither legions upon legions of angelic entities nor powers, neither all the demonic forces that follow the commands of “him who has the power of death—that is the devil”;
Nothing in this present life nor in the life to come; Nothing is higher than the love of God which reaches beyond the highest height and lowest hell; “There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still.”
Since God who is love created all things, then no created thing is outside the love of God. Nothing—literally “no thing”– shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
As we think about these verses, 1 Corinthians 13 also comes to mind, relating to the constancy of the love of God which never fails:
Nothing can separate us
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love
–and the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13 (New Living Translation)Father, expand our minds and widen our comprehension
To recognize Your ways at an even greater dimension.
As we call upon Your name and bow in humility,
Striving to be all that You have called us to be,
Enlighten our eyes, strengthen our hearts to endure,
As we walk in the love of God, boundless and pure.
When we are tempted, knowing that You love us dispels all fear.
As we seek to please You, open our ears that we might hear
Your word and endeavor to hide it deep within our heart.
Despite past failures, misdeeds, and shortcomings on our part,
Your love is constant, never changing that we might know
The fullness of such love abounding in us as we grow,
For we walk by faith, rest in hope, looking above,
Assured nothing can separate us from God’s love
This powerful musical rendering of Romans 8:35, 37-38 by Wayne Tate raises the question and offers the answer expressed in the Verse of the Day:
More than conquerors: What does it mean?
February 17, 2018
Verse of the Day for February 17, 2018 introduces a series of questions raised in Romans 8: beginning with verse 35, followed by verse 37 in the New International Version:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Here is the rendering in the New King James Version:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
If we add verse 36, we note a series of questions expressed this way in the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition:
35 Who shall ever separate us from Christ’s love? Shall suffering and affliction and tribulation? Or calamity and distress? Or persecution or hunger or destitution or peril or sword?
36 Who is there to condemn [us]? Will Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who died, or rather Who was raised from the dead, Who is at the right hand of God actually pleading as He intercedes for us?
The passage culminates with a powerful response that thunders with the answer to this barrage of questions. The answer is more emphatic in other translations which begin with “No!” The familiar King James Version declares:
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us.
The Phillips Translation puts it this way:
No, in all these things we win an overwhelming victory through him who has proved his love for us:
So says the New Living Translation:
No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
The response is definite and emphatic: No, absolutely not! No way, Jose! No! [Expletive deleted—No!] Paul goes on to close out this section to remind believers of who we are and whose we are and most importantly what we do:
The Amplified Bible puts it this way:
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us].
The expression “more than conquerors” is translated from the Greek verb hupernikao, a compound word with the prefix huper—a form of the same prefix found in “super”—meaning over, beyond, above exceed, more than. Today, common expressions of the preposition would say “over and above” or “above and beyond.” The stem would be nikao, translated “to conquer, prevail, overcome, overpower, prevail.” Although translated as such, being “more than conquerors” or “super conquerors,” is not who we are, but it is what we do, how we live. We prevail completely in the present tense with continuous action; we prevail mightily every day of our lives: “In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”
Romans 8:37 is the epigraph or introduction for this expression of our new identity in light of the Word for the Day:
Not Just Survivors
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors
and gain an overwhelming victory through Him
who loved us [so much that He died for us].
Romans 8:37 (AMP)Not just survivors, more than conquerors,
Defying the odds as brave conquistadors.
Despite intense pressure we learn to rest in grace,
More than enough to withstand the daily tests we face,
Not merely to survive but to thrive even more.As mighty warriors, triumphant super victors
With a cause, prepared not to die but to live for.
At times we fell behind but fought to keep the pace:
Not just survivors, more than conquerors.
.To fulfill all the will of God and then to soar
To heights sublime where we have never been before.
Overcomers, bearing light in the darkest place,
We still fight the good fight, as we finish our race,
Moving forward, seeking to find the next open door:
Not just survivors, more than conquerors.
The perfect music to accompany the Verse of the Day is “More than Conquerors” by the Rend Collection:
Power in the blood of Jesus
February 16, 2018
The Verse of the Day posted on the Logos Bible Software Home page for February 16, 2018 comes from Hebrews 9:22
Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
The context related to this verse points out the distinction between the Old Covenant established by blood sacrifice of animals and the New Covenant implemented through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 9:13-14 points out this distinction:
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
The reference to the distinctive power inherent in the blood of Jesus Christ brings to mind these lines related to the color red:
red
red clay red
Adamic dust red
red man
red
yearning
to return to Eden
red
red
blood red
red
yes, Lord, red
Lamb’s blood
red
precious blood
red
blood-stained banner
red
like the crimson flow
that cleanses scarlet sins
and washes white as snow
red
Amen red
red
blood red
Lyrics of the stalwart hymn also reminds us “There is power, wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb,” as Ephesians 2:13 also makes known:
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
In Hebrews 10:19 we find this exhortation:
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confide1nce to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
1 John 1:7 also reinforces the message of the Verse of the Day
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
The context for this section of 1 John chapter 1 is fellowship with God and with fellow believers. Verses 6-10 begin with the conditional clause “if we” followed by a verb: “If we say…, if we walk…, if we say…, if we confess…, if we say….” These expressions establish the conditions which if met on our part, will result in a corresponding action on God’s part. These two parts of the conditional sentences are especially noted in 1 John 1:9. If we do our part, which is confess our sins, our faithful and just God will do His part, for the “blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all unrighteousness.” Without question, the blood of Jesus Christ is an amazing spiritual repository of life-generating power.
We conclude with CeCe Winans offering in song “The Blood Medley”:
The love of God prevails every day
February 15, 2018
On the day after Valentine’s Day, love still prevails, as the Verse of the Day for February 15, 2018 continues to focus on love:
1 John 4:10 (NIV):
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
With love, as with any other emotion, there must be a demonstration or manifestation whereby one knows the reality of the emotion in question. We speak of the love of God in manifestation which is so clearly demonstrated in one of the most widely recognized verses in the Bible, John 3:16:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
It has been said that you can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. Indeed, all love is giving. The essence of love as defined by giving is also seen in this poem by John Oxenham:
Love ever lives, outlives, forgives,
And while it stands with open hands it lives.
For this is love’s prerogative:
To give and give and give
As believers, once we recognize the absolute depth of love expressed in the atoning sacrifice of God’s only begotten son, we realize just how much we are indebted to our gracious Heavenly Father:
This Debt of Love
Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:8[NKJV]What can you give when all you have is not enough
And when you have exhausted all your resources
And you still come up short as you assess the worth
Of the precious love so freely given to you?
When the last dram of oil from your vial has been poured
As a sacrifice and you have no more to givek
But still feel this unction to offer all the more,
What more can you say beyond a feeble thank you
When words cannot convey all you desire to say.
Though you try to show Him as you follow His ways,
You still stumble from time to time and miss the mark,
But He looks beyond your faults and sees your intent.
As you live your life to serve, you will come to see
This debt of love so great that no one can repay.
We close with a scripture video of 1 John 4:7-16 to remind us again of the love of God:
A new command: Love one another
February 14, 2018
On February 14, 2018, Valentine’s Day, a day generally set aside to celebrate love, the Verse of the Day is found in John 13:34-35 (NIV):
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
This passage brings to mind the fundamental principle that can be universally applied to build and enhance all relationships. Expressed as a verb that connotes action when specifically applied in terms of what we must do: the first principle is “Love—one another.”
Put another way: Love is the application of the first and great commandment: Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. On these two hang all the law and the prophets,” said Jesus Christ.
Love is where it begins, and love is where it ends. Also remember that the last shall be first, and the first shall be last. Each day we must
Decide to demonstrate, freely give and practice love:
The first thread whereby we must launch all relationships
And follow Christ’s command that we love one another.
“Love one another.”
The Verse of the Day also reminds us that love must be demonstrated, as 1 John 4:9 relates to the love of God:
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
How do you know that someone loves you? Listen to what the individual says and watch what that person does. There must be a demonstration of love, first of all with God, and secondly with others. God didn’t just say, “I love you, world” and blow the earth a kiss, He communicated his love when He so loved that He gave His only begotten son.
1 John goes on to discuss the love of God in more detail, exhorting believers, likewise to show their love to one another:
1 John 4:7-11 (NIV)::
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 Dear friends since God so loved us, we also ought to love one
God desires that we become more aware of the magnitude of His great love, the driving force of the universe. His desire is that we “know the love Christ which passes knowledge.” May we grow in our understanding of this eternal truth expressed this prayer:
“. . . Just how much You love us.”
“Oh, how He loves you and me. . .”
Traditional Gospel Song
Father, expand our mind and widen our comprehension
To recognize Your ways to an even greater dimension.
As we call upon Your name and bow in humility,
Help us to understand to a greater degree.
Enlighten our eyes with the wisdom that comes from above.
You call us beloved, ones worthy of Your endless love.
When we are tempted, knowing that You love us dispels all fear.
As we seek to please You, open our ears that we might hear
Your word and endeavor to hide it deep within our heart.
Despite past failures, misdeeds, and shortcomings on our part,
Your love is constant and never changes but ever grows,
Unfolding in matchless beauty as a dew-kissed rose.
You say do not love worldly things or pleasures that they bring.
You show us God’s love is more to be prized than anything.
God desires that each individual believer might know Him and experience His unconditional love, that is, to have a deeper personal knowledge of who He is. We come to know God through the Word of God which makes known the love of God. As we establish and maintain our relationship with Him, we also experience the love of God, the most powerful force in the universe. Once an individual knows God on such a close, experiential level, that person “knows God for himself or herself,” and that individual is forever changed. God desires that we know just how much he loves us, so that we, in return, will follow Christ’s command to love one another.
We close with “They’ll know we are Christians by our Love” sung by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir:
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