Will You Pass the Test of Love?
Good Morning Friends,
The concept of heaven and the resurrection is difficult to find in the Hebrew Bible. That is why the Sadducees had such trouble with Jesus. They looked to the past whereas Jesus looks with a perspective outside of time. The Hebrew Bible focuses on this world and this life. It claims that when a person dies, the person goes to Sheol, the place of the dead and awaits judgment. But by the time Jesus walked this earth there was an idea present in Greek thought that the soul of the righteous ascended to heaven to be with God during the time between death and the Judgment. Christianity shares this common belief. It is with a blend of these perspectives that we are asked to welcome others as we would welcome Christ on His return. The emphasis is on trust and love now, not so much the reward later. The message here is that God above all else wants us to see through the eyes of love and walk in the light of Christ. For when we love, the light of Jesus envelops us and shines forth a witness of God’s presence and influence. This is the splendor of holiness. Will You Pass the Test of Love?
Scripture: Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8 (NRSV)
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.
1 John 4:18 (NRSV)
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
John 3:16-21 (NRSV)
Message: God’s perspective about how to live in the light of love is the one to have. We read about it in the writings of Peter and John. We have Peter teaching us how to live as if Jesus would come back today and John instructing us on the personal, perfecting, and preserving power of a love that castes out fear. This scripture in good Hebrew fashion asks us to live like there is no tomorrow but it also asks us to see God’s Kingdom at work in the lives of all of us. It does not ask us to put all our eggs into the get to heaven basket. It just asks us to love in the love of Jesus. The most important thing Peter argues is an ever widening circle of love. We are to learn to love like God, mature in the faith, joyously recognizing the value of the poor and sick and suffering, but also learn to be loved by God so that He abides in us. Here the life of Jesus, the man, God and love became linked in an accurate, detailed and permanent, way. Here we are reminded that this unity of God and love becomes available to us when we focus on Jesus Christ. We learn to love God’s way, a way that casts out the wants of the world, the fear of the world. We learn that we can live deeply in Christ’s love and the love of the Father as His children. We begin to understand that though we live in a world where sin is fatal, the God begotten are the God loved and can become the God protected, the God forgiven. Friends, too many people make a mess of their lives because they do not deal with the issue of God in their lives…love in their lives properly. With so many concepts of love in the world, it is important we discover Jesus and the perfect love that castes out fear…the love that creates a good work in us and others. Friends, because Christ first loved us so too we can love. Because His standard and example of love meets the test of time and is applied without boundaries, we too can discover the greatest possession, experience the greatest certainty, find joy in the greatest difference, have assurance in the greatest promise, and rejoice in the greatest opportunity…love.
Pray we walk in love as children of light. Pray we trust that the love we share today will not be lost. Pray we never abandon love. Pray we are at home in the love of Christ.
Pray we live expectantly. Pray we live responsibly. Pray we live to glorify God. Pray that we feel God’s love. Pray that Jesus bless our homes in this life and the next. Pray we have a faith-filled love that encourages others. Pray we love one another today with a love that lasts. Pray that our memories of love extend out in the world with a love that we can live each day in Christ. Pray that we understand the greatest of all relationships is one with God. Pray that we know that when we are in God we will discover that God is love.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 