Tag: Love

The Love that Alleviates

I will open with the fact that there is a lot of talk in our country lately about unity, or unifying the people, mainly the political parties.

To have unity we must have love, so unless we as a country get back to seeking God, unity is just an ideal. Ideals are actually the root cause of what’s the matter in our society today; with social media, everybody seems to have a voice and much of that voice is causing our division.

God gives us some very sound advice in Romans 12:16-18, “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceded. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Amen!

Unless we are in tune with the Holy Spirit and following the Words of God, all of our ideals and opinions are wrong.

I have a saying, “opinions are like hindquarters, everybody has one!” All the opinions of man are no match for one word from God! Amen!

It seems social media is a good place for all the speck finders in our society, they fail to realize that they have a plank in their own vision that keeps them from seeing the power of love as it pertains to unity.

Love must be at the base of our ideals and vision if we truly have a desire to alleviate the division that is so rampant in our nation.

Love unifies vision; Jesus said to love one another 100 times in the New Testament alone, I am sure He had a reason for repeating Himself.

Loving one another attaches us to Him and prepares an opening in us to receive people just as He does.

We, as He does, must lead with grace to have a chance at unity.

God spoke to my heart something I would like to share with you, please open your heart as well: “Love is here, Love is near, Love’s in place, Love’s in My grace. Grace is good, grace is good, it is My Grace that needs understood.”

When we talk about unity we must talk about love, and when we talk about love we must talk about grace.

Grace is the unmerited love and favor from God that is the source of all the benefits we receive from Him.

Grace gives us the ability to refrain from sin.  Refraining from sin would certainly help with unity, don’t you think?

When we as a nation placed “In God we trust” on our money that was a faith statement.

In 1955, (which is actually not that long ago), President Dwight Eisenhower signed a bill into law that the inscription “In God we trust” would appear on all paper and coin currency.

Both political parties had the “unified” consensus and one even said, “Nothing can be more certain than that our country was founded in a spiritual atmosphere and with a firm trust in God.” WOW!

In those days our country’s freedoms were being attacked and placing, “In God we trust” on our currency gave us a constant reminder that our nation’s political and economic fortunes were tied to its spiritual faith. “Wait, what?”

Just three years later, by an act of Congress in 1957, “In God we trust” was made to be the official national motto.

I have a very obvious question at this point. What Happened?

Did opinion and greed override faith and trust? Did man’s ideas and lust for power override the provision and trust in God?

You see I believe the Bible that says, “God is Love”, and I also believe that if we inscribe this on our hearts, we can have unity.

Unity based on this would give all of us, peace of mind, grace and patience with others, and a grand vision that would catapult us into a common bond of truly trusting in God.

Without the love of God in our hearts, we have no chance of loving one another, and that would mean no chance at unity.

Let’s start a new movement in our sphere of influence today.  Let’s look inside ourselves and purging all the divisive ideals and ungodly influence that is keeping us from receiving the love of God because God’s love would lead us to a unified society. Amen!

Remember that sin word we mentioned earlier?  In 1 John 1:9 God gave us a remedy for that, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

We can have unity in our community, state, and country when we decide to unify ourselves with God’s plan of redemption. Here is that plan “Believe in His Son Jesus Christ and love one another”, it is that profound, but also that easy.

Only 66 years ago our congress was so unified that it made God and faith in God the base of our power and authority as a country, have we lost some of that power today?

We need to get back to God if we are ever going to have unity and have a grafting in of different branches of people to form a perfect tree. Amen!

Love that alleviates comes from a desire to become a lifeline to anyone around you that is hurting.  Leaving people alone or behind cannot alleviate the affliction that God so wants to heal.

Let’s let God heal our land! Let’s help God heal our land.  You see, unity is simple for those who are willing to “walk by faith” and “walk in love.”

Behold, it is good and pleasant when we walk together in unity, for there (in unity) God commands the blessing! Psalm 133:1-3 paraphrased.

If you need a faith boost today, please leave a comment and I will prayerfully respond.

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Scripture of encouragement and content, Romans 12:16-18, Matthew 7:3-5, Titus 2:11-12, Psalm 91:2, 1 John 4:7-11, 1 John 1:9, Hebrews 4:16, Romans 11:17-21, and Ephesians 5:1-2, “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Amen!

Wisdom’s Partner, Humility

Humility is a partner with and privy to Wisdom, they share the most important qualities of life and wellbeing.

Proverbs 22:4 says, “Humility is the fear (or reverence) of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.” Compared or paired with Wisdom as stated in Proverbs 3:16, “long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.”

Both humility and wisdom provide us with long life, monetary prosperity, and honor.

Long-life would be a totally satisfying, productive, and fulfilling high quality of life, nothing missing and nothing broken.

Shalom means; nothing missing, nothing broken, it is having an unbreakable promise that everything supplied for us is full and complete in Christ Jesus. 

2 Peter 1:3 in the Amplified Bible says, “For Jesus’s divine power has bestowed on us (absolutely) everything necessary for (a dynamic spiritual) life and godliness, through true and personal knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” Amen!

So long life is a wage earned for humility and is a benefit and/or promise coming out of the attainment of wisdom!

The twin enjoyment of riches that is attached to humility and wisdom would be; “God supplying all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus.”

This is a distribution of resources that has a whole host of implications; material needs and desires being met, material blessing being supplied to others, as God directs.  Physical, mental, and emotional support as found in Christ’s abundant generosity to us.

As we take on God’s generosity we fulfill the Law of Christ, which is “bearing one another’s burdens.” Galatians 6:2.  This may seem like I have digressed from riches, but generosity and giving are true forms of humility and wisdom that lead to riches!

Placing others above ourselves is true humility, that isn’t thinking less of you, but is thinking of yourself less than others. Wow, that would place us in a Jesus capacity and give us an inkling of His Divine Power, which is shown in love!

Love is always giving of Himself. Amen! This giving in love would lead us into the third promise of humility and wisdom, “honor”.

Romans 12:10-20 in the NIRV translation says, “Love each other deeply. Honor others more than yourselves. Never let the fire in your heart go out. Keep it alive. Serve the Lord. When you hope, be joyful. When you suffer, be patient. When you pray, be faithful. Share with God’s people who are in need. Welcome others into your homes. Bless those who hurt you. Bless them, and do not call down curses on them. Be joyful with those who are joyful. Be sad with those who are sad. Agree with each other. Don’t be proud. Be willing to be a friend of people who aren’t considered important. Don’t think that you are better than others.”

This passage does an amazing job of capturing true humility and wisdom; it touches every part of God’s character, and shows us how to operate in wisdom, shows us how to be humble -really- not proud or disdainful.

Pride is the root of a humility disease and it removes us from God’s grace without which wisdom will elude us and a gross misrepresentation of ourselves will manifest. It will get us out of our humble and Shalomic atmosphere.

Humility keeps us free from pride and arrogance and keeps our Godly manner of being; having a submissive heart, being receptive and inclusive of others.

Humility also provides riches, honor, and long life, just like its paraclete, Wisdom who has long life in her right hand, and in her left hand are riches and honor.

Humility and Wisdom partner together to guide us out of our own will and into God’s will for our long, prosperous, and honored life.

By humility and wisdom, we receive instruction for proper conduct, care, and morality; we receive a defined meaning for our life and are given insight into our future.

A future of Godly moral conduct would entice those around us to search deeper in their own lives and hopefully find the relationship with God that humility and wisdom provides.

Let us keep our eyes on the right and left hands of Wisdom and humility, and live a long and strong life, in Christ Jesus!

If you need a faith boost today, leave a comment and I will prayerfully respond.

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Scriptures of content and encouragement: Proverbs 22:4, Proverbs 3:16, 2 Peter 1:3, Philippians 4:19 NLT, Matthew 6:19-21, John 3:16, Romans 12:10-20 (NIRV version), Proverbs 30:11-13 and, Revelation 5:11-13 (The Passion Trans.), “Then I looked, and I heard the voices of myriads of angels in circles around the throne, as well as voices of the living creatures and the elders-myriads and myriads! And as I watched, all of them were singing with thunderous voices: “worthy is Christ the Lamb who was slaughtered to receive great power and might, wealth and wisdom, and honor, glory, and praise! Then every living being joined the angelic choir. Every creature in heaven and on earth, under the earth, in the sea, and everything in them, were worshiping with one voice saying: “Praise, honor, glory, and dominion be to God-Enthroned and to Christ the Lamb forever and ever.” Amen!

Live a Life of Love

Love is patient, love is kind, and the love necessary to live in a peaceful habitation is not self-seeking, easily angered, or rebellious.

Anger is always a negative pull that instigates rebellion and leads us into the realm of selfishness, I didn’t get my way, you don’t listen to me, I want all the control of people and situations.

As we seek to satisfy our feelings we are not even remotely in the realm of love, because love is not a feeling. Sacrificial love has transforming power and is volitional rather than emotional. We love because we made a decision to love. Amen!

The Bible tells us to love with our entire being; heart, soul, and mind, and we attain this love by our inherent spiritual attributes gained by yielding ourselves to the inner Spirit of God that dwells in all who choose to believe in His Son Jesus. Amen! 

Patience and kindness are some of the attributes that show us that God is God, and when we search inside ourselves we too have a better understanding of the power of love and how it produces acts of kindness.

As patience has its perfect work in you the power of serenity produces a calmness that is necessary to act on and endure in love.

A life of love is also filled with thoughtfulness, which is the consideration for the needs of other people. Then benevolence is found in your acts of kindness and goodness and leads to the good of God being shown out of a willing heart.

When your heart is full of good you are now operating in the love that was shed abroad in your heart through the Holy Spirit. This transformative experience gives us a newfound love for God and His people and completes the never-ending cycle of divine-human reciprocity, which is a mutual dependence on one another.

This mutual dependency would lead us away from judgment and more in line with fulfilling needs. Leniency can exert a soothing influence over every thought and spoken word and lead to a situational value of life.

Good thoughts and kind words omit any wrong that has been done and set us on the path to the love of God that was initially set forth by way of charity.

Charity is thought to be the highest form of love and is actually where we derive the word, love, that we use in modern vernacular. Charity is the reciprocal love between God and man that is manifested when we have unselfish love for one another.

Here is a quote that gives some understanding; “Charity is a virtue which, when our affections are perfectly ordered, unites us to God, for by it we love Him”!

Charity is at the root of every other virtue that has related God to man, and man to man. (Man here, being male or female).

So to have a life of love we must have the desire to remove the burdens people are carrying and help all of those around us move into a benevolent state, and then all of us reaching to those in our communities, states, and countries to bring love to center stage.

We reach the whole by loving those around us unconditionally and then expecting that the love will speak with a new tone, you see our God has a tone and love causes that tone to have some notes and when we sing out or speak out these heartfelt notes, love abounds. Amen!

 We must, however, face the fact, I repeat, “we must face the fact” that we don’t naturally have this kind of love in us, we must gain this love from following God’s word and following God’s example of love, His giving us His only Son Jesus, you see giving of oneself is the greatest act of love.

By the love that is in Jesus, we can live this never-failing love life, and have all our relationships transformed into mutual affection, one for another.

We can love even the so-called unlovable, and as we do, things will change because if our love is rejected we just come back with more love. We remain full of faith, abounding in hope, and as we think more charitably, our love never fails. Amen!

Unfailing love removes all self-seeking, all malice, and all the desires to spitefully use others for our gain. As we practice living the life of love, we lead with love again and again and come to a place where we are proficient in love.

Our proficiency advances us into the main principles practiced in the Kingdom of God, and that should be our heart’s desire.

Living a life of love, we know the Way! Jesus truly is our Way Maker! Amen!

If you need a faith boost today, please leave a comment and I will prayerfully respond.

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Scriptures of encouragement and content:  1 Corinthians 13, Matthew 22:37, John 6:29, Acts 16:31, Romans 5:5, John 14:6, and 1 Peter 1:22 TPT, “Now, because of your obedience to the truth, you have purified your very souls, and this empowers you to be full of love for your fellow believers. So express this sincere love toward one another passionately and with a pure heart”. Amen! So be it!