Recognizing Love!

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. I Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV

Not only do we know how to recognize love, we know that in the absence of love--hate reigns and consumes and devours–eats away desire for compassion, common sense and logic and drowns the soul in bile and venom; hate blinds to truth and integrity and hope.

Love attempts to see the best in everyone and ignites hope in the hopeless, not despair.

Love soothes hurt feelings and seeks forgiveness for any perceived wrongs committed against others.

Love is consumed with doing what is best for all people.

Love is considerate and patient--does push itself on people, but waits for acceptance and even when love is not returned, love keeps loving.

Love does not brag about self, but will boast about the accomplishments of others and credit all their own achievements to God who led them in all they do.

Love embraces wisdom from God and knows all good things come from Him.

Love is thoughtful and disciplined; it is not thin-skinned and easily angered.

In the absence of love–hate opens doors for evil to walk in and then is amazed that they too are ensconced in the evil planned for others.

In the absence of love–self is the center of attention and no one else matters for no one else is considered worthy.

In the absence of love–one thinks their brain is so great they don’t need to listen to anyone else and certainly not God.

In the absence of love–hunger for power to destroy exists and delights in hurting others.

In the absence of love–there is no hope; only despair, hatred, and bigotry and fear.

In the absence of love–there is no light to see truth, only darkness.

In the absence of love–hate–like a fungus grows in the dark places–the voids where love should be–waiting for someone to take the first bite and be poisoned for life.

LOVE never fails! Perfect love–the ability to love all unconditionally–casts aside fear and embraces truth, honor, integrity.

When we know how to recognize love and know by what we see and hear when love is absent, we know who has received the love of God into their hearts and who has not.

Lord Jesus, pour out–in abundance–more love from on high; fill our hearts to overflowing so we will have more than enough to share with others in all we do and will know how to resist the evil from without, never giving any place in our hearts for hate to exist. Remove the scales from the eyes of those blinded by bitterness, despair and hopelessness and fill them with the joy of The Lord, restoring hope and trust in You!

 

 

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Let’s Be Honest!

Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 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. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:13-21 NIV

What the world needs now–is love–God’s love–overflowing the banks of our hearts, flooding our souls, saturating every fiber of our beings until all hate and fear is washed away.

But before that can happen, we must be honest with ourselves and everyone else.

There is brewing–just below the surface–a volcanic eruption of hate and when it spills over onto the masses, we will witness such carnage as we’ve never seen–unless we are honest about where we are–our attitudes–towards other human beings.

We cannot ignore the hatred that exists towards others: White people hating black people, hating Native Americans, Black people hating white people and black people, White people hating White people–all people hating anyone–red, yellow, brown, black or white it does not matter–what the color of our skin is–we are all precious in God’s sight!

Where there is hate–LOVE cannot reign in the hearts of people, for if we have not received His love, we have no love to give. And anyone–absolutely anyone–hiding behind any banner–Christian, KKK, law enforcement, mothers, fathers, grandparents–teachers, judges, politicians, political candidates–anyone who promotes hate is guilty of the blood flowing from inciting the masses. They are guilty and should be ashamed of themselves for their promotion of hatred–building walls of division instead of bridges for relationships–and for every person that is grieving the loss of a loved one because of someone else instigating the hatred–you, too should grieve–for you have grieved Holy Spirit by not obeying Him.

If this sounds like a rant–against hatred–so be it. I’m tired of so-called Christians supporting those who promote hatred and fear. I’m tired of so-called Christians, sitting idly by doing nothing, but quoting scriptures when they don’t apply them on a daily basis. I’m tired of so-called Christian leaders supporting fear-mongering instead of promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  We will never win people to Christ by creating an atmosphere of fear and hatred and the promotion of bigotry–it is love that overcomes the evil that pervades the land.

Can we honestly say–without hesitation or doubt–that we are capable of loving all people–no matter their circumstances or positions in life; no matter what color their skin or are we doomed to suffer the consequences of our inability to love–unconditionally?

Let’s be honest with ourselves and with others. God already knows the truth. Then, after we admit our shortcomings to live–promoting peace and harmony–let’s repent, get off our behinds and do something about it–show somebody who looks differently than we do, thinks differently than we do —and pour on the love. Can we do that?

Watch this–https://youtu.be/HrAvdqVFyjc –it’s about ten minutes–and think about what is being said and if you agree–that it’s time for a change–join me in promoting love of all people!

People With Character!

Then Solomon said, “If he is a man of character, not a single hair of his will fall to the ground, but if evil is found in him, he dies.” I King 1:52 HCSB

Dr. Martin Luther King is known for saying, he would rather people be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. Why? People with character–know how to conduct themselves at all times.

Of course, many people would take the referenced scripture of out of context and attempt to say that I’m implying people with no character should die. That’s not why I used this particular verse of scripture.

In this passage we find Adonijah–the self-proclaimed king–trying to take the place of Solomon when he knew that David had promised Solomon the throne. Adonijah was not concerned about doing what was right, only doing what he wanted to do and for that reason, when it was reported to David–the dying king–what Adonijah was doing, David arranged for Solomon to be anointed the next king [with the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan present to confirm]–even as Adonijah and his crew were celebrating what they thought was a coup.

In those days, rebellion against a king meant death. And when it was reported to Solomon that Adonijah was afraid of what he had done–trying to steal the authority of kingship from its rightful owner–Solomon commanded Adonijah be brought to him and declared that if it was determined that he was a man of character (integrity), nothing would happen to him, but if not–he would die.

I’m not advocating that anyone without character should die, but I am advocating that anyone without moral substance, integrity and honesty and incorruptible values–should never be allowed in a position of authority since we know–corruption breeds corruption and immorality breeds immorality, and dishonesty breeds more dishonesty.

Fear-mongering and hatred are character traits of evil and wickedness. We know this because The Word says, that “perfect love casts out fear.” So if love will cast fear aside–we know no love abides in anyone who instills fear in others. And those who have received God’s love, know how to love–unconditionally–and will not promote hatred of people–rather they promote hatred of sin–not the sinner.

Before anyone tries to refute that we are to hate, let’s look at what The Word says:

Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Amos 5:15 HCSB

The righteous hate lying, but the wicked act disgustingly and disgracefully. Proverbs 13:5 HCSB Those who know The Lord and try to live according to His Word, hate the thought of lying, but the wicked won’t hesitate to lie. And we know–Satan is the father of liars.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Romans 12:9 NIV It is not good to think that killing a person is “a beautiful thing.”

At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Matthew 24:10,11 NIV

The time that Jesus references through Matthew is the last days and here we are.

So, are we people with character and is there evidence for all to see by how we live? If we lie to ourselves, we fool only ourselves for God knows the inward person and He is never fooled by the externals.