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Posts Tagged ‘love’

Matik Nicholls who was born in the twin Caribbean islands of Trinidad & Tobago. He grew up climbing trees and frolicking in the waves, surrounded by the vibrant creativity of soul music and the pageantry of his island people. He is part businessman, part churchman, part author, part surfer. His passion is to inspire, equip and empower people to walk in their purpose and fulfill their potential. He is happily married to his life partner; Tricia and together they have a beautiful blended family of five children and one granddaughter. He has an amazingly supportive family and wonderfully genuine friends. He is particularly passionate about wooing people from dutiful religion toward a vibrant and life-giving heart-to-heart relationship with Christ. Everything that He writes has this mission in mind. Head on over and check out his blog. http://www.authenticjoy.org

Matik shares: Love and power are two essential ingredients to an authentic Christian walk. Christ displayed both. Either one without the other is a false gospel. Jesus has this to say about authentic Christianity:

John 13:35

35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Mark 16:17-18

17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

This is Jesus Himself saying what His followers will look like! This cannot be ignored. Yet… sometimes we do just that… ignore it. It is a sad truth that finding great love AND great power together in the Body of Christ is rare. This really bothers me. It is what churns in my mind in the middle of the night. Lord help me to love You and love others well! Lord help me to walk in such intimacy with You that Your Presence affects my environment with supernatural power! Oh God, help me to follow You as You have commanded.

Thank you Matik for this beautiful and inspirational post. Friends nothing can separate us from God’s love. Amen! Let all that you do be honoring to God. Be humble obedient, thankful and grounded in Him. Always! God bless you abundantly. Please follow Matik www.authenticjoy.com

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Blessings and Love.  

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Father’s Love

Introduction

Today is Father’s Day. The greatest need in our society today is for fathers who will rise up and assume their God-given role of responsibility in the family. Our text gives basic responsibilities for manhood; but when a man becomes a father, those responsibilities are expanded. Let’s look. Read Ephesian 6:1-4

 1. A godly father loves God

I try to spend as much time as possible with God and my family. That’s more important than anything … (Albert Pujols)
A. The basis upon which happiness is built and priorities of relationship. 
But seek ye first the Kingdome of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto 
you.( Matthew 6:33)
B. If you do not have a right relationship with God, it is impossible to think you can relate properly to others.
C. If you are running from God you will never have peace. Settle that matter first of all, 
There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.(Isaiah 57:2)

2. A godly father loves his wife

The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. (Henry Ward Beecher)
A. Most husbands assume love is sex. While that certainly is a part of love, it is not all, 
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself for it: (Ephesians 5:25-33 ). 
Real love seeks to meet all the needs of another person.( 1 Corinthians 13:1-13) for a definition of real love.
B. Romantic actions are not an abandonment of your manliness. Open the car door, pull out her chair at dinner, hold her hand and help make the beds, rinse out the tub when you’re finished, the list is endless.
C. Your sons are learning from you how to treat their wives. One day they will treat their wives the same way you treat 
their mother.

3. A godly father loves his children

There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child. (Henry Ward Beecher)
A. Love is more than provision for material things. Don’t miss your children’s childhood; there is no second chance at childhood.
B. When discipline is required, do it in love, (Colossians 3:21). Don’t beat them up out of anger.
C. Children interpret time spent with them as love. Forget “quality time” vs. “quantity time”

4. A godly father is a man of integrity

God is the archetypal Father; all other fatherhood is a more or less imperfect copy of his perfect fatherhood. (F.F. Bruce)
A. “. . . to do justly . . . walk uprightly. . .” “Integrity” has become almost a forgotten word. The highest elected office in our land is tainted with the smell of corruption and a liar.
B. We are called to rise above that and be men of integrity.
C. It should permeate every area of our lives. In the workplace; an honest day’s toil, in the home; fulfilled promises, in personal business; prompt payment of obligations, in other relationships; commitment to fulfill my commitments.

5. A godly father is a role model of God

Train up a child in the way he should go – but be sure you go that way yourself. (Charles Spurgeon)
A. The image of a father nowadays is not always a good one. Over half the children in America grow up without a father in the home. Often abandoned by their father or the father is maligned.
B. Sexual abuse by the father is on the rise. Then, we tell children that God is their Heavenly Father!
C. Small wonder that they are afraid of Him. God help us! Dad, you are shaping your child’s concept of his/her Heavenly Father. They see him as you.

#Conclusion

The Word of God is challenging you to be a godly father today! Will you be a godly father to your children? We have best example of the father our Heavenly God who loves us so much who gave one and Only Son for us on the Cross, John 3:16 tells us. His Death gives us life but not just a life but eternal life.
Story:
John Griffith, the Bridge Operator at Mississippi River (1929-1937) 
that is an amazing story of Father’s Lord .

Anwar Ze Shan

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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:22-26 ESV)

If the Lord be with us, we have no cause of fear. His eye is upon us, His arm over us, His ear open to our prayer – His grace sufficient, His promise unchangeable. Amen 

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In Honor of Mothers Everywhere.


Jesus secured His mothers future on the cross. He deeply loved Mary. Mothers are beyond measure.


26When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 
27Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.John 19:26-27 

(NASB)THE BIBLE)

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arizonaSIN IS A LACK OF LOVE

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THE BELIEVER’S GOAL

*  John 5:14 – “Afterward Jesus findeth Him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole:  sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.”

*  John 8:11 – “She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

*  1 Corinthians 15:34 – “Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God:  I speak this to your shame.”

*  Ephesians 4:26-27 – “Be ye angry, and sin not:  let not the sun go down upon your wrath:  neither give place to the devil.”

*  2 Timothy 2:19 – “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His.  And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

*  1 John 2:1 – “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.  And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED WHEN YOU FAIL

*  1 John 3:1-3 – “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:  therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:  but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.”

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 WHILE WE WAIT TO BE CHANGED INTO HIS LIKENESS

*  Romans 13:8-10 – “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law.  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law.”

*  Galatians 5:13-14 – “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.  For all the Law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

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Love of the Father for the Son


11401581_1002728093070965_3653008188951254770_nby Henry Morris, Ph.D.

“The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.” (John 3:35)

The gospel of John, in a special sense, emphasizes the love in the divine Trinity of the heavenly Father for the Son. The words “love” and “Father” and “Son” occur more in this book than in any other book of the Bible, and there are at least eight references to this love in John’s gospel.

The first is in our text above, revealing that the Father has entrusted the care of the whole creation to the Son whom He loves. He has also shown Him everything in creation: “For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth” (John 5:20).

The Father also loved the Son because of His willingness to die for lost sinners. “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again” (John 10:17).

Then in the upper room, as Christ prayed to His Father, it was revealed that this divine love had existed in eternity, and therefore must be both the root and the measure of all forms of true love ever since. “Father . . . thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). Parental love, marital love, filial love, love of country—all types of genuine love—are derived ultimately from this eternal love of the Father for the Son.

And it is this love that can also be in us, if we will have it. “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. . . . If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love” (John 15:9-10).

It was thus He prayed (and still prays) for us: “That the world may know that thou . . . hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. . . . And . . . that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:23, 26). HMM

http://www.icr.org/article/8711

Evidence for Creation

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How Much Mercy Do You Need?

CC Photo Credit: Sean MacEntee

Just in case you were concerned that all this talk of mercy and justice was only an Old Testament concept; today I share the words of Jesus.  Matthew records Jesus’ scolding words in Matthew 23.  If you are afraid to come to Jesus because of some sin you carry, if you have never accepted the amazing gift of God’s grace and mercy that Jesus embodies, if you think becoming a follower of Christ is all about following rules, keep in mind the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 23 are not for the “sinner.”  Jesus never spoke harshly to a sinner.  God didn’t sacrifice His only Son to lord your sin over you or simply for the pleasure of reminding you how wrong you are.

Too Weary to Love

Jesus’ words in this passage are for those who claim His name.  Jesus’ words do sting, only because God wants His followers to be HIS ambassadors, not free agents who claim His name.  The call of the Christian is not to make our own rules.  The call of Jesus is not to disregard the rules.  The call of Jesus is to give the rules the proper weight.

A few days ago, in the post, Accept No Substitutions I shared my real-life experience with the concept Jesus was trying to get across.  As I read this passage, it stings my heart because I’m content to do my best at what I’m good at doing.  I will, in essence, give a tithe of my spices; for me that’s easy.  Jesus is saying that isn’t enough.

When I look at the call to be merciful, just and loyal, it’s then I realize I underestimate my need for God’s mercy.  How can I possibly be merciful to others, if I don’t completely understand the magnitude of God’s mercy to me?    How can I act justly if I see others as different from me in our need for a Savior?

Seeking God’s Mercy

This month as I’ve read about and pondered the notion of justice and mercy I’ve come to realize how my heart harnesses and stifles God’s goodness.  I’ll admit, I need salvation.  I’ll admit, I need grace.  I’m reluctant to admit I need mercy. Remember, mercy is not getting the punishment you deserve.  If I’m reluctant to admit I need mercy, I’m not very likely to act in mercy toward others.

Have you asked God for His mercy?  How much do you think you need?  A few weeks ago, I would have shrugged at both of those questions.  I’ve come to realize I need an infinite supply of His mercy.  I can follow the rules good enough to be accepted by those around me, but I need a huge, daily shot of God’s mercy; more than I ever realized, to be truly obedient.  I need God’s mercy not only to be obedient in my motives and actions, but also to make sense of the world around me.

Lamentations 3 is one of my favorite chapters.  I looked at it differently today.  Life is a constant barrage of consequences, inconvenience, suffering and in some cases pain.  In the middle of all of that, regardless of the situation, God offers new mercy each morning.

For what?  To make it through the day.  Each day, I need to rely on God’s mercy for the events of the day.  I need God’s mercy; not for some Herculean task but simply to make it through the day.  I need mercy.

How about you?

Father, thank you for your infinite mercy.  Thank you for giving it freely.  Help me truly understand your desire, not for robotic obedience, to act in justice and mercy and to seek a deeper relationship with You.

By • February 14, 2014 

Reblogged from http://blog.febc.org/faith/much-mercy-need

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A Mother’s Love – Jim Brickman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=g-Z9sXqr44s

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Joy As the Power to Suffer in the Path of Love for the Sake of Liberation

http://vimeo.com/60122673

desiringGod.org

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