Law, Love And Joy

John 15:10-12

If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy will be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

We are to love one another with God's "agape" love, that unconditional, accepting love that is sacrificial. When we do that then we are obeying all the other laws that have been given. We are not under the Old Testament Law because are subject to the higher Law of Love. Just like pilots do not "break" the law of Gravity, but obey the higher law of Aerodynamics to fly their planes. We cannot "break" any of God's laws, including His moral law--we only break ourselves over them. When we obey His Law of Love, then we're cooperating with how He designed this world to work, and we reap the benefits of our actions and attitudes--His joy!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Garments Of Salvation

Isaiah 61:10-11

I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of Salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

O my dear Father, thank you so much for Your great and precious promises! Thank you for Your perfect Faithfulness to remain True to fulfill every detail of what You have said! Teach me, Father, Your great Plan of the Ages, and my small part in that Plan, to bring in Your Kingdom here on this Earth, under King Jesus. Make me Your hands, Your feet, Your voice; put Your thoughts into my mind and allow Your glory to shine in me, and praise will redound to Your Name.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

A Muzzle On My Mouth

Psalm 39:1-2

I said, "I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence." But when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased. 

O my Father, help me to put a muzzle on my mouth, especially in the presence of those who do not yet know You. Put Your words in my mouth to boldly tell of Your greatness and goodness to all of Mankind You have made. Help me to speak only when Your words are on my tongue and keep the muzzle on if I have only my own words. Let me share Your Word with others, for it will not return to You empty, but will fulfill the purpose for which You have sent it.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

In The Land Of The Living

Psalm 27:13-14

I am still confident if this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

O my Father, I don't know all the good plans You have for me while I am still in this land of the living, but I know I can trust You to have my best in mind.

Wait for the Lord: Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

So I will wait for You, my Lord, in strength of heart, and continue to learn new things about You and about this world You have made for us to live in. I am open to Your showering of blessings, of either gaining material possessions or the loss of what I now possess for the gaining of spiritual riches. Teach me Your ways and Your will for me, Father, dear.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Prayer For A Lost Loved One

II Corinthians 12:20-21

Rephrased, Personalized:

For I realize that when you came home to me, I did not find you as I would want you to be, and you did not find me as you wanted me to be. Instead, we found quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. I realize that when you came, my God humbled me before you, and I am grieved over how you have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which you are still indulging.

O my Father, please take hold of this loved one of mine; whatever it will take, convince them of Your holiness, Your purity, and Your love for them that You sent Your only Son to take their place in death so they could have eternal life. And help me to be Christ to them, not my flesh, that they may be drawn to You.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Paul And John Mark

Notes on Paul's relationship with John Mark:

Acts 13:4-5 -- When Barnabas and (Saul) Paul embarked on their first missionary journey, they took Mark with them.  They went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cypress. When they arrived at Salamis . . . John was with them as their helper.

They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. . . . From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. (v. 13)

According to the Holman Bible Atlas, this was a very marshy and unhealthy region with a mountain road that was extremely difficult and dangerous. It looks like John Mark had found that he had bitten off more than he could chew, and the harsh conditions overwhelmed him. This may have deprived Paul and Barnabas of needed help, and made it even more difficult for them. 

Acts 15:36-41 -- Some time later, Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the Word of the Lord and see how they are doing." Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it was wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cypress, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

Paul seemed very apprehensive of taking Mark back to the very area that was too difficult for him before, thinking that he might desert them again. So Paul and Barnabas parted, and went different ways. We know all about Paul's journeys, because he had Dr. Luke with him, who apparently wrote this Book of Acts. But since Mark had gone with Barnabas, he apparently matured in his faith and his ability to withstand hardship to be helpful.

Paul later wrote to the Colossians and to Timothy and Philemon, commending Mark: 

Colossians 4:10 -- My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (you have received instructions about him, if he comes to you, welcome him).

II Timothy 4:11 -- Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.

Philemon 23-24 -- Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.

So, after refusing to take Mark with him, he calls him, "My fellow worker," along with others, including Luke the Physician, who wrote the Gospel bearing his name; and says of Mark that, "he is helpful to me in my ministry." And Mark went on to write the Gospel that bears his name, too. 

God mended that broken relationship between Paul and Mark. And He can also mend our relationships with those with whom we are separated and cut off, our broken relationships. He is so good and great!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Wrestling In Prayer

Colossians 4:12

Epaphras . . . is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.

How do we wrestle in prayer? When we cry out to God with tears? When we pray so earnestly and honestly that we weep for those we are praying for? When we spend nights in deep pain in grief for the sorrows we bear for those we care for? 

Please, dear Father, give us the words to give to our dear ones to encourage them to become mature in their psyches and minds and to be united as families. Father, You know how fractured and broken we are, when we agree on almost nothing. Help!

Even so come, Lord Jesus!