Will You Be Moved By The Spirit To Pass The Test Of Love?
Good Morning Friends,
Close your eyes and think of a person you love and the things that you love about them the most. Now think about a person you dislike and the things that prompt you to dislike that person. Now remember that God’s love is so profound that He gave His Only Son so that both individuals you just considered might have life eternal. Now friends open your eyes, it is easy to assume that God loves the people we love, or the people who seem to be doing good things. But that is not the way God’s love works. God’s love and God’s message will not be thwarted by our attitudes or the disbelief of those who have no hope, or even our shortsighted focus on perceived self-interest. We as Peter need to feed Christ’s sheep. So, Will You Be Moved By The Spirit To Pass The Test Of Love?
Scripture: Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy, arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought them out, and said, “Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.” When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching. When the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the temple police went there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on. Then someone arrived and announced, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!” Then the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
Acts 5:17-26 (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 (NRSSV)
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
John 13:34 (NRSV)
He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
John 21:17 (NRSV)
Message: God has an incredibly deep and unconditional love for the world. It really boggles the mind. We might expect this love is just for those of us whom God created to reach out to the Creator and we would not be totally disappointed, but God also reaches out to the lost, broken and horribly messed up part of creation who have rebelled against Him as well. God reaches out to us through Jesus Christ. And the implications of this are massive. Now before you say not fair, think for a moment how lost, broken and horribly messed up we all are. And think about how Jesus was rejected, and the disciples rejected. And understand that the birth and life of the Church faces the same challenges. Friends, there is a pattern set here of birth and success and persecution. We see the pattern in the life of Jesus and the imagery of the Bible teaches the same thing. But the message of God will not be obstructed. We see it in the example of what happened to the disciples in today’s passage from Acts. The Lord taught His disciples that persecutions would come but Jesus also made it clear that even the gates of hell would not prevail against the love of Christ. So, we are compelled to be kind. We are compelled to love in the face of rejection. Jesus makes it clear, God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world. God sent his Son to teach us the Way of love. Friends, with each heartbeat, with each breathe, God is telling us that we have an invitation to life abundant if we would only love.
And So, 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 John. We have 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 is that it hopes for 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 realize that our hearts will be restless until they rest in God’s love. Pray we realize that wherever we find Jesus we will also find the love of the Father. Pray we understand that believing in love is the joy of life. Pray we have courage in the face of challenges of those with jealousy and indignation. Pray we have love that overcomes the world. Pray we serve to point others to the life from above. Pray we realize that the goal of life is not the accumulation of power and prestige. Pray we not live in the land of addiction to short-term fixes. Pray we share a love that lasts…the satisfying love of salvation. Pray we realize that to love Jesus we must love life.
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 