Love Never Fails

I Corinthians 13: 8-13

Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophesy, they will be done away;

When everything that has ever has been prophesied all comes true in time.

 if there are tongues, they will cease; 

Languages will one day be moot when we will all be able to converse without regard for words except for the language of the heart.

if there is knowledge, it will be done away.

All the scientific knowledge mankind has accrued to that point in time will suddenly be obsolete in the light of the reality of the New Heaven and the New Earth.

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part 

We only know a small portion of the whole story of what God has planned and is carrying out in the line of Time; of everything we can know, or be able to predict will happen in the future, we will never be able to fill in all the gaps.

but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.

When what is complete and finished becomes our reality, then all the pieces of what we thought we knew will all fall into place, displaying how all the dots are connected and what it really looks like, and what all the pieces we knew really meant.

When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; 

Before I grew up or attained any maturity, I lived a little child's life: assuming that all was well in the world and that I would always have everything I need, as I didn't need any more than the bare necessities, and was satisfied with that.

when I became a man I did away with childish things.

When I became an adult, I realized that everything wasn't automatic, that I needed to bear my responsibilities to see that my needs and the needs of my family would be met, and I "did away" with the attitude that the world owes me a living.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face-to-face; 

Now what we see is merely a dim reflection of the reality we will understand when God draws to a close this era of Man, to give way to a new Era of Christ's Rule. Then we will perceive clearly the new reality.

now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known.

Now what we can understand is only a tiny piece of what is actual, and when this new Era dawns, we will be learning and knowing fully the whole picture of Human History, and how God guided the movers and shakers to accomplish the working out of His Plan for all of us all along. Just as God already knows every molecule of my being intimately.

But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

So we will always believe God (faith), we will always have confidence in His Plan working out His Way in whatever system He will be focused on throughout Eternity (hope), and we will always respond to God's love for us with love for Him and those He loves, which will continue to be the foundation that all of His Creation runs on. (Love makes the World go 'round--God's love!)

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

What Love Looks Like

I Corinthians 13: 4-7

Love is patient, -- 

It does not give up easily.

love is kind, -- 

Sympathetic and thoughtful graciousness.

is not jealous; -- 

Not resentful, possessive, or suspicious.

Love does not brag -- 

Boast, gloat, exult.

and is not arrogant, -- 

Presumptuous, aloof, pretentious, self-important.

Does not act unbecomingly; -- 

Indecently, inappropriately, offensively.

It does not seek its own, -- 

Self-absorbed, selfish, self-obsessed.

is not provoked, -- 

Does not take personally a slight or insult.

does not take into account a wrong suffered, -- 

Even an obvious abuse or harm done deliberately.

does not rejoice in unrighteousness, -- 

Does not promote what God condemns.

but rejoices with the Truth; -- 

Feels good when what is right and moral and pure overpowers what is wrong, twisted or backward.

Bears all things, -- 

Puts up with others' mistakes without condemnation.

believes all things, -- 

Always gives the benefit of the doubt and puts the best frame on it.

hopes all things, -- 

Always looks for the most beneficial result.

endures all things. -- 

Lasts through extended hardship without losing faithfulness or the looking for the best in the end.

Love never fails. -- 

Real love will never give up, never fall out, and never end.

How many times, I wonder, have I not been loving according to all these ways, in my thinking about others, my attitudes toward them, and my actions resulting from my faulty natural ways. Please forgive me and teach me Your ways, O Lord, and strengthen me to follow them.

Tomorrow we'll see the conclusion to the matter.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Tongues, Gifts, Miracles

I Corinthians 13:1-3

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do  not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 

No matter how convincing I may speak, in whatever beautiful language; if I do not consider my hearer before I consider myself, my words will mean no more than useless noise.

And if I have the gift of prophesy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

No matter what gifts I practice,  or miracles I can perform, if I do not love my hearers, it means nothing at all.

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

And no matter how generous I am, or how sacrificial in being willing to be martyred I am, if I don't love my fellow man, it will not do me any good at all, either in this world or in the next. 

So what does this love look like? Tomorrow we will discuss its characteristics.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

To Find Life

Nehemiah 9:28

...People will find life if only they obey....

O my Father, You have laid out for us all the details that lay out the principles by which we will find life and health, if only we just humble ourselves to obey. In our foolish pride we turn from Your ways and go our own way, which leads to death: sickness, weakness, illness; physically, emotionally, relationally, and especially spiritually. 

Teach me Your ways, for You are my Lord, my Guide and my Teacher. Strengthen me in Your Spirit to both will and to do of only Your good pleasure. Open my mind to understand and comprehend Your ways; but even what I don't understand (because Your ways are so far above my ways!), help me to obey, trusting You to work out the details. I am so weak in myself, Father; strengthen me in Your strength, to always stand and walk confidently, continually going forward toward You, and achieving good success in Your plans for me. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

In His Eyes

Exodus 15:26

Then God said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, Who heals you."

Here I am focusing on, "do what is right in His eyes." We are to formulate our days and value our own lives by God, what He says about us, what we are to do, how we are to think; not any other human being. When we consider our worth by another person, that is called co-dependence, which is dysfunctional. We each stand before our Master, not before one another. We are not to put another human being above us as the determiner of our worth--that's God's place. 

I don't know how many times I've read in the Bible that we are to "be careful," "listen carefully." "pay attention." To really listen to what God says takes a concerted effort. I can't just read carelessly and expect to absorb God's ways by osmosis, I have to narrow my focus onto what God is actually saying to me. I need to remember what I read and think about it as I go about my day. I need to sit down and really ponder what it means, and how I am to incorporate it into my thinking and my attitudes. I need to constantly muse on how all the principles fit together into a comprehensive program that affects all of my life. 

This is what all the laws, rules, commandments, regulations and decrees were to teach the Hebrews. This whole Law was to direct God's people into living their lives God's way. Then God would bless them with great worldly prosperity and healthy relationships with one another. And they would enjoy exceptional physical health, also. 

Today we can read all these pages and discern the basic principles that underlie the laws. Jesus fulfilled all the letter of these laws; now He has written these principles on our hearts, to understand why He had the Israelis do the things they were to do. So we are to "obey" at a much deeper level: we can align our thinking and attitudes with the ideas behind the statutes, and not just consider our actions. Actions are the final result of what we have already thought about, considered and decided. 

People look at the outward, what we do. But God looks into our hearts and souls, to see our inward motivations and reasons for why we do what we do, and He is the One to Whom we will give account.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Indifference, Luke-Warm

Revelation 3:19

I am the One Who corrects and disciplines everyone I love. Be diligent and turn from your indifference.

This is one of the admonitions we are to heed as God's church today. And this is not the only place we see this in the Bible.

Hebrews 12:5-6 tells us: And have you forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son."

The writer of Hebrews is quoting Proverbs 3:11-12, that says, My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent His rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in.

Even in the earliest scroll ever recorded in the Bible, the Book of Job, Elihu tells us, But if men are bound in chains, held fast by cords of affliction, He tells them what they have done--that they have sinned arrogantly. He makes them listen to correction and commands them to repent of their evil. If they obey and serve Him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment. But if they will not listen, they will perish by the sword and die without knowledge (Job 36:8-12).

So we see that the whole Word, from the first to the last records, admonish us, as His church, His sons and daughters, to listen to His rebuke and correction when we err; to pay attention to what we are learning of God's ways to apply them to our thinking processes and attitudes and our daily lives and in our interactions with one another, and not be indifferent or luke-warm about any of these things. 

And to consider our own hearts whenever we encounter opposition or trials or troubles or temptations or persecutions, to see these sorrows as our dear Father's teaching us to change something that we are holding on to; to let go of that grudge, or to pay that bill, or to forgive that one that hurt or harmed us, or change our entertainment to something more wholesome, or whatever we are allowing into our lives that we are indifferent to, that is not conducive to our spiritual maturing in growing closer to our Lord.

Jesus is coming soon, and I want to be ready to meet Him face-to-face, having nothing in my mind or heart that I would be ashamed to share with Him. And I want the same for all of us.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

We Need To Listen

Revelation 3:22

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

As God's church, we need to listen to what His Spirit says to these churches, because God has told us what to watch out for and be on guard against, to stay true to our Lord and His ways.

O my Father, I come to You, willing and desirous to hear and learn. Please give me an accurate understanding of what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Please help me to sort out all the things I have previously heard about these chapters, and discard whatever is not accurate according to Your Truth. Teach me what the Spirit is saying to me, that I may apply these Truths to my own daily life and my prayer life with You. Teach me how to pray: for myself, my family and their families, my church, Your church in America, Your church in the rest of the world, Your precious ones who are being persecuted and martyred, and Your Plan of the Ages that You are executing even now, today. Lord Abba Daddy Father and King Christ Jesus, continue to proceed with Your great Plan to bring everything to its culmination, its finish.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!